Chapter 16
A notification popped up.
What’s this? I don’t know what it is, but create it anyway.
Sehyun created the skill first, her expression uneasy.
Skill creation complete.
The status window followed.
Skill: Eye of Truth (Unavailable)
Skill detected.
Sehyun’s brows finally furrowed.
She had generously attributed the first time to curiosity, but being scrutinized by someone twice in a row was starting to annoy her. She was about to say something when,
“That’s interesting.”
“…”
…What was that just now?
Sehyun’s eyes narrowed. Haejoon’s eyes, which had widened slightly, had shone with a strange light despite being shadowed.
Sehyun blinked a few times and looked at Haejoon’s eyes again.
They were normal, as if nothing had happened.
Did she see wrong?
Skill: Eye of Truth (Unavailable)
Skill detected.
Sehyun couldn’t take it anymore and shouted,
“What are you?”
“What?”
Sehyun and Haejoon asked simultaneously. Haejoon’s expression turned strange.
“What are you doing, staring at me like that?”
Sehyun asked coldly. Haejoon’s eyes narrowed.
“What did I do?”
“…”
“Do you even know what I did?”
Haejoon’s eyes widened, and he smiled. Sehyun bit her tongue, realizing her mistake.
She had to keep it a secret that she could recognize other people’s skills and even make them her own.
If people knew that someone like her existed, they would keep their skills a secret to avoid having them stolen.
She needed to keep it a secret until she became strong enough.
“Your eyes…”
Sehyun blurted out without thinking.
“My eyes?”
“They were sparkling.”
“…”
“Shining.”
“…”
She had spoken impulsively, but it wasn’t wrong.
Haejoon stared at her for a moment, then tilted his head with a strange expression.
“…My eyes?”
“Yes, like a cat’s.”
Haejoon looked even more puzzled. Sensing that staying with him any longer would only lead to trouble, Sehyun turned around.
“I’ll be going now.”
And she disappeared in an instant, before Haejoon could stop her.
Haejoon blinked, watching Sehyun walk away. He stood there, frozen, despite the wind blowing.
She saw my eyes sparkling…
One of the drawbacks of the ‘Eye of Truth’ skill was that his eyes sparkled. Of course, not everyone could notice it.
“Interesting.”
That wasn’t the only thing that was interesting.
Haejoon had first noticed Sehyun during today’s training.
While the others were distracted by Kang Taeoh’s flashy showmanship, only Sehyun had looked around and met his gaze. As if she had noticed the overlapping notification sounds.
When he had encountered Sehyun a while ago, he had felt an inexplicable curiosity.
So he had used his skill to check her out…
Haejoon looked at his status window floating in the air.
‘Eye of Truth’ skill activated.
Unable to confirm.
This meant one of two things.
She was a higher-ranked Guard than him, or she had the same skill.
“She’s interesting in many ways.”
Haejoon’s voice, muttering softly, faded into the air.
I think I came here for nothing.
Sehyun looked around with an indifferent expression.
An hour ago, someone had knocked on her door. She had flinched when something that looked like a mop poked through the opening. She realized it was hair only after a girl with curly hair fully entered the room.
“Is this the room of Kim Sehyun and Sung Jieun, the F-grades?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’ve found the right place. We’re having an F-grade gathering today. Would you like to join us? It’s not mandatory, of course, but we thought it would be nice to get to know each other and share some information.”
Sehyun was about to decline at the mention of socializing, but she hesitated at the mention of sharing information. She decided to attend.
When Sehyun agreed, Jieun, who had been hovering nervously behind her, finally mustered up the courage to shout, “I, I’d like to attend too!”
Her voice was so loud that it echoed through the room.
An awkward silence followed.
When the time came, they headed to the designated meeting place, an F-grade dormitory room. A few people said they weren’t feeling well and dropped out, so only fourteen F-grades attended. At first, the atmosphere was pleasant as they shared drinks and introduced themselves.
But it didn’t last long.
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell my parents that I got an F grade. I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed.”
“An F grade isn’t an F rank. The final grade is what matters. So let’s work hard.”
Someone offered words of encouragement, but the reaction wasn’t good.
“But the probability of an F grade becoming an F rank is high.”
“I know, right? I was so happy to finally become a Guard, but an F grade…”
“I heard Guard clubs don’t like F ranks…”
“You can get a job, but it’s hard to expect a high salary.”
F ranks had weak combat abilities, so it was difficult for them to catch monsters.
Naturally, they ended up doing odd jobs, and those jobs weren’t highly valued, so it was hard to earn as much as they had imagined.
“My friend got a C grade and his life changed… I guess I’ll just keep living like this. I’m so unlucky.”
Complaints, grievances, and lamentations poured out.
Sehyun listened to their words silently and decided to leave.
There didn’t seem to be any useful information here. Even if there was, it wouldn’t be anything valuable. If it was valuable, there would be no reason to share it here.
Sehyun realized this belatedly and was about to ask Jieun if she wanted to leave with her.
It would be more convenient to leave together and go to bed at a similar time.
But…
“Sniff, I know, right? It’s so hard.”
…Why is she crying?
Sehyun looked at Jieun, who was wiping away tears next to her, with a puzzled expression. As if Jieun’s tears were a trigger, people started to wallow in self-pity.
“I feel like I should do something, but I don’t know what to do…”
“I just want to give up.”
“I know, right? Some people can just slice through monsters as soon as the starting whistle blows… Did you see Kang Taeoh today? Wow, I was standing right next to him, but I didn’t even see what he did.”
“I didn’t see it either. I heard he’s really rich. He doesn’t even need the money, yet he has Guard abilities too… It’s so unfair.”
The people who were now in tears started to complain even more openly.
I really want to get out of here…
The spar with Shin Jooho was the day after tomorrow.
She had to find a way to get hit less. Whether it was studying or sparring with someone else…
Wait, sparring?
Sehyun paused and looked at the people in front of her. They were belittling themselves for being F-grades, but they were still Guards. They were F-grades now, but some of them might be lucky enough to get a C grade later. It was rare, but not impossible.
It was definitely better than doing nothing.
“Then let’s do something.”
Sehyun, who had been quiet until now, spoke up suddenly. She said to the people who were looking at her in confusion,
“Anyone want to spar with me?”
Opinions were divided in half at Sehyun’s suggestion.
“What can we do with each other? We’ll just be laughed at by the other grades.”
Half of them thought it would be useless to spar among F-grades.
“Okay! It’s better than doing nothing!”
The other half wanted to try something.
“I respect your decision, whatever it may be.”
Sehyun didn’t try to persuade those who didn’t want to participate.
Forcing them to participate would only dampen the mood. They needed to be motivated to improve.
Seven people who were willing to try something gathered in front of the sparring room the next morning.
“Hello!”
“I’m excited to be doing something!”
Sparring partners and the order were determined through a random draw. Jieun was excluded.
“I, I… I’m a healer, so I’ll t, treat anyone who gets hurt!”
Sehyun looked at Jieun with a surprised expression.
It’s a little hard to trust a healer who’s covered in bruises…
But she kept her thoughts to herself. There was no need to hurt Jieun’s delicate feelings. She had a motivated look on her face for once.
After two mediocre matches, Sehyun stood in the sparring ring, facing Hyeryeon, the girl with curly hair.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. But you really won’t laugh at me, right?”
“I’m not good enough to laugh at anyone. I just wanted to try something.”
Hyeryeon finally looked relieved at Sehyun’s words. She then focused her gaze and clenched her fists.
Sehyun also lowered her stance, her legs firmly planted on the ground.
This was so she could move freely in any direction she wanted.
“Hiya!”
Hyeryeon shouted and raised her hand.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“…”
Sehyun stared blankly ahead. Beautiful white flowers were pouring down from the air.
Ding.
Skill ‘Dazzling Dance’ confirmed.
Do you want to create ‘Dazzling Dance’ as a skill?
At the same time, the flowers, which had been floating in the air, suddenly fell to the floor.
“Wow!”
Exclamations of admiration erupted from the audience. Some even clapped.
“Hiya!”
Hyeryeon took advantage of the distraction and lunged forward, throwing a punch. Sehyun dodged easily, twisting her body slightly.
“Hiya!”
The flowers that had been scattered on the floor suddenly shot up into the air. The gently swaying flowers obstructed Sehyun’s vision.
But that was all.
Thud!
Sehyun grabbed Hyeryeon’s outstretched arm. She then kicked the back of Hyeryeon’s knee, forcing her to kneel, and quickly raised her other knee.
Hmm