The next morning.
In front of the shuttle bus stop heading to the downtown area.
Surprisingly, the first person to arrive and wait for everyone was Seo Ye-in.
She stood still while staring into space, but her radiant beauty alone drew the attention of those around her.
“…”
When I approached, Seo Ye-in immediately noticed and turned her gaze toward me. She then started waving her hand gently as she walked over.
I also waved back and greeted her.
“How come you’re the first one here?”
“Woke up early.”
“You did go in early yesterday. How much did you sleep?”
“A lot.”
“How much battery do you have left?”
“…80?”
Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly as she answered.
I thought it was quite inefficient to sleep that much and still be at 80%, but since she wasn’t sleepy now, I decided to let it go.
“Kim-hyung, Miss Seo.”
“Oh, you’re here.”
Afterward, Go Hyeon-woo greeted us as he approached. He was smiling as he looked back and forth between us.
“Today, you’re the last one to arrive.”
“Among us, but I’m not actually late.”
There were still five minutes left until the appointed time.
As we exchanged idle chatter, two shuttle buses pulled up one after the other.
We boarded the bus along with the other waiting students.
– Murmur, murmur…
A few weeks ago, there had only been around ten students on the bus and apart from Seo Ye-in and me, they were all second- or third-year years.
Now, the bus was so crowded that it was hard to find a seat, and there were quite a few first-year students.
Most of them were probably visiting the downtown area for the first time, just like Go Hyeon-woo.
The conversation from the next seat drifted over here.
– Get ready for the bakery. All the bread’s going to be gone today.
– You pig. Are you going just to eat bread?
– Of course I’m going to eat. What else is there?
– Aren’t you preparing for midterms?
– How can I prepare if I don’t know what’s on the test?
– You should still try to raise your specs.
Half of the students aimed to have fun, eat, and rest, while the other half aimed to improve their strength.
Our goal was closer to the latter, but Go Hyeon-woo seemed somewhat tempted by the conversation he overheard.
“Indeed, this is also an opportunity to enjoy gourmet food for the first time in a while.”
Seo Ye-in also tugged at my sleeve.
“Game center.”
“First, both of you calm down.”
Let’s decide what to do when we get there.
When we arrived at the downtown area a little later, it was so crowded that the shuttle bus felt like nothing in comparison.
Go Hyeon-woo let out a wry smile.
“I had hoped to stroll around leisurely, but that doesn’t seem possible.”
“There’s no helping it with this many people. Let’s start with the market.”
“Understood. Let’s go.”
Go Hyeon-woo led the way while I guided everyone from right behind him.
Seo Ye-in followed closely as she held onto the hem of my sleeve near my elbow.
“Where should we start?”
“Let’s begin with the nearest spot.”
The academy allowed the market to be set up in two places.
One was the upperclassmen sales area where second- and third-year students and clubs set up booths,
And the other was the graduate sales area where graduates gathered.
And the closest one was,
“The upperclassmen area.”
We pushed through the crowd to reach the sales area for second- and third-year students.
A large building that resembled a shopping mall came into view.
However, just as we were about to reach the front of the building, Go Hyeon-woo who was in the front spotted something and hesitated.
“Hmm.”
“The line is long, isn’t it?”
A long winding line stretched out like a worm.
With only two places to buy things and hundreds of students, this was already a predictable outcome.
As we joined the end of the line, Go Hyeon-woo spoke.
“We should have come a bit earlier.”
“It would have been the same even if we had.”
Even if we had arrived early and waited before the opening time, there would still have been a line.
We weren’t the only ones thinking of this.
“And coming early doesn’t always mean it’s better.”
“Why is that?”
“If the sellers don’t put out their goods, you can’t buy anything anyway.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
From the seller’s perspective, there was no need to set the time for the morning when the market was open all day.
Many items were leisurely put out in the afternoon.
Like this, whether we arrived early or late, finding good items was entirely up to luck.
“Anyway, we’ll just have to wait our turn.”
“I suppose so.”
Unless we had some connections with a big club or something.
Just then,
“We meet again.”
A soft voice came from behind me.
When I turned around, I saw the vice president of the swordsmanship club, Jegal So-so.
She waved lightly with the fan in her hand, so I bowed in response.
“Hello, senior-nim.”
“Are you here to look around the market?”
“Yes, we are.”
Jegal So-so smiled and turned her back to us.
“Follow me.”
I immediately understood her intention and signaled to the bewildered Go Hyeon-woo and Seo Ye-in.
Soon, the three of us left the line and followed Jegal So-so.
“Would you introduce your two friends to me?”
“This is Go Hyeon-woo, and this is Seo Ye-in.”
Jegal So-so looked at them with interest and then her gaze rested on Go Hyeon-woo.
She asked me to introduce them, but the vice president of the swordsmanship club must have already known about someone as skilled as Go Hyeon-woo.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you have impressive swordsmanship.”
“You flatter me.”
“I hope you’ll visit the swordsmanship club whenever you have time.”
“I will definitely do that.”
Soon, Jegal So-so led us to another entrance which led to the upperclassmen’s sales area.
She opened the door and explained briefly,
“It’s a club privilege. Simply put, it’s like an invitation.”
“Thank you. But are you sure it’s okay to use this on us?”
Allowing people into the sales area bypassing the line was like a VIP ticket or a priority bidding right of a dungeon. It was a privilege of the club.
Even as the vice president of the swordsmanship club, she couldn’t use it recklessly.
Typically, it would go to fellow club members or juniors she was close to, yet she was using it on the three of us?
It was reasonable to be suspicious.
Jegal So-so smiled softly and replied,
“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on, so I wanted to score some points in advance.”
I agreed that we would be seeing each other often.
There was the piece of treasure map B up for grabs and quite a few things to trade with the swordsmanship club.
“But when you say you want to score some points…?”
“…”
Jegal So-so responded with a mysterious smile.
Then she waved lightly and turned her back.
“Well, take a look around.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked Jegal Soso as she started walking away, and Go Hyeon-woo looked at me with admiration.
“You’ve got connections with a big club.”
“Seems like it.”
Somehow, I had made a connection with the swordsmanship club.
I still didn’t know what she was hiding, but that was something to think about later. For now, let’s look around the market.
The upperclassmen’s sales area was incredibly spacious. It took up an entire building the size of a shopping mall.
The stalls set up by the second- and third-year students stretched out as far as the eye could see.
It seemed impossible to see everything, but when I looked up, I noticed floating signs pointing to various places.
<Warrior>
<Mage>
<Archer>
<Rogue>
…
Even the inside of the sales area was divided into different categories.
With so many items flooding in, it was already chaotic. If things weren’t at least minimally organized, buyers would have to wander around endlessly.
So it was convenient to have things arranged like this.
Go Hyeon-woo was a warrior, I was a mage, and Seo Ye-in was a marksman, so we all had different places to check out.
Go Hyeon-woo asked,
“How about we split up to look around?”
“Let’s just stick together. We have plenty of time.”
Thanks to Jegal So-so, we skipped the waiting line.
Since we had this extra time, it was better to stay together.
We could help each other pick out items.
So, we entered the nearest archer section.
There, several seniors were sitting around and chatting with each other. When they noticed us, they paused their conversation and looked our way.
A male and a female student approached to greet us.
“Welcome. Are you looking for something specific?”
“What’s your class?”
I pointed to Seo Ye-in.
“She’s a gunslinger.”
“…Tsk, I see.”
The male student clicked his tongue in disappointment and returned to his group.
The female student chuckled and explained.
“He only sells archer items.”
Since Seo Ye-in was a gunslinger, it didn’t match his items at all, so he quickly backed off.
Then the female student asked.
“Is there something specific you’re looking for?”
“For now, we’re just browsing.”
“Alright, feel free to ask if you have any questions.”
The female student also stepped back a bit to make us feel more comfortable.
I asked Seo Ye-in.
“What do you want to look at first?”
“……”
I had already figured out Seo Ye-in’s shopping style when we visited the downtown area two weeks ago at the <Long Eared Magical Tool Shop>.
She doesn’t complicate things.
Even if I handed her various items, if she didn’t like them, she would simply pass them by, and if she did like them, she would grab them without hesitation.
“……”
As expected, Seo Ye-in scanned the surroundings carefully; her gaze was then fixed on one spot and she walked straight toward it.
There, a variety of long-range skill books were piled up like a mountain. As if she knew exactly where everything was, Seo Ye-in rummaged through them without hesitation and pulled out a skill book buried deep in a corner.
[Random Skill Book – Long Range]
How did she even spot that?
The female student who had been watching from a distance, saw what Seo Ye-in had picked up and approached.
When she realized it was a random skill book, her expression turned strange.
“Are you planning to buy this?”
“Yes.”
The female student seemed a bit reluctant.
“…It’s good for me if you buy it, but since I’m a senior, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t recommend random skill books.”
Random skill books.
When used, they grant a random skill.
In this case, the scope was narrowed to “long-range” skills but even so, it would grant one out of countless long-range skills.
Among those countless skills, the majority would be useless and not suited to Seo Ye-in’s style.
This meant there was a very high chance that she would learn a random and useless skill.
“I can’t sell it for less than the market price either. We need to at least break even.”
No matter how random it was, skill books were always valuable.
Also, since it was an item dropped in an underground dungeon, it needed to fetch its full price to recoup the resources spent on the raid.
Seo Ye-in tilted her head slightly and asked,
“How much?”
“8,000 points.”
Go Hyeon-woo flinched in surprise.
Even though he had earned a lot of points by having his replays bought by other students, it was still not an amount to be taken lightly.
Most first-year students wouldn’t even dream of spending that much.
But what if she learned something useless from this random skill book?
Those 8,000 points would essentially go up in smoke.
The female student had good reason to discourage her.
“It’s better to buy something else. Are you really sure?”
“I’ll buy it.”
“I really tried to stop you. Remember, you bought it.”
Seo Ye-in pulled out her student ID without hesitation and paid the 8,000 points.
She immediately opened the random skill book.
The female student still had a troubled expression on her face, but when she saw that, her eyes widened.
“You’re going to learn it right away?”
“Yes.”
Flaaaaash—
Before anyone could stop her, the skill book began to glow softly.
With nothing left to do, the female student sighed deeply with a mix of regret and resignation.
Soon, this light would be absorbed by Seo Ye-in and a notification message visible only to her would appear.
It would say she had learned a new skill.
Flaaaaa—sh—
However, instead of being absorbed, the light from the skill book grew increasingly intense and bright.
What was once a gentle glow became so dazzling that it was impossible to look at it directly.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“What’s happening?”
The sudden strange phenomenon drew everyone’s attention.
Despite this, the light from the skill book kept getting brighter and brighter until it completely filled the room.
Flaaaaaaaaash—!
TN: Lol. Kim Ho and Go Hyeon-woo would be like, “First time?”
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