Episode 6: Unit (3)
As the strategy progresses in this forest, the group is attacked by various monsters.
In particular, goblins—not actual living creatures, of course, but rather robots or dolls powered by magic.
This setup allows the instructors to easily adjust their strength, making them even more formidable than real combat scenarios.
At first glance, it seems like a relatively easy task, but it’s far from simple.
“The key is forming a solid formation.”
The reason why all five team members are needed becomes clear.
Ambushes strike from six directions simultaneously.
Even if five people manage to block the attacks, one direction is always left exposed.
Given the goblins’ nature, once they get too close, things become complicated.
Even for students of a top-tier academy, getting grabbed by one means being locked in a struggle for an extended period.
From that point on, stamina and time are drained rapidly.
And that’s assuming all five team members are present.
If the team is down a member, the situation deteriorates quickly.
With the number of attack routes unchanged, the difficulty skyrockets, becoming overwhelming.
“They’re coming.”
Five minutes after entering the forest, the academy’s reputation proved well-earned.
Each team member knew their role and performed it flawlessly.
Both Yun Sang-hyuk and Lee Sang-bong fulfilled their duties in battle.
However, there were five people and six attack routes.
One person inevitably had to cover two routes.
That responsibility fell to me.
Fortunately, Yu Hana provided support in that area, making it slightly easier.
She synced with me as if she were an extension of my limbs, moving with flawless precision.
‘What is this?’
At times, when we moved together, it even felt like she was subtly crossing boundaries, almost teasing.
It didn’t bother me much, so I let it slide.
The goblin attacks continued repeatedly.
When we tried to rest, more poured in, and when we stayed alert, there was silence.
It was clearly a strategy by the instructors to exhaust us.
We had just defeated another wave.
After taking down the last goblin, I started feeling fed up with the whole ordeal.
Leaning my spear lightly against the ground, I caught my breath.
At that moment, I heard Yoon Sang-hyuk panting.
“Haah, haah… When is this going to end? I can’t keep up.”
Glancing over, I saw Lee Sang-bong sitting on the ground, rubbing the back of his neck.
While catching my breath, I scanned the area. Faint mechanical sounds from the fallen goblins still echoed around us.
On the exposed steel frames of the broken machines, I noticed the small engraving: “Mark. 8.”
“Nine waves in total.”
Mark 8 indicated this was the eighth wave.
“It’s almost over.”
I turned halfway toward Yoon Sang-hyuk and replied.
He perked up at my words, his face brightening as he nodded and let out a deep sigh.
It felt like we could finally take a brief break.
The team members began sitting down or leaning against the walls to rest.
I set my spear aside and cautiously surveyed the surroundings.
“Any injuries…”
I checked on Yoon Sang-hyuk, Lee Sang-bong, and Kim Dae-hyun to ensure no one had sustained serious injuries.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, I felt my blood boil and an inexplicable chill ran down my spine.
The back of my neck tingled as if I’d been pricked by a needle.
Looking ahead, I saw the team members urgently gesturing toward me with panicked expressions.
Everyone except Yu Hana.
She still wore a calm, relaxed smile.
–Screeeeech!–
I didn’t even turn my head. Instead, I tilted my spear diagonally and extended it behind me.
With a clang, the arrow deflected off the spear and fell to the ground after briefly quivering where it had lodged in a tree.
In one fluid motion, I twisted my body, rotating from the waist down to my legs, and hurled the spear.
It was a flawless throw, flowing like water.
–Crash!–
The goblin archer (robot) hiding nearby met its end on the spot.
“Ugh.”
The sharp, rapid movement had made my waist throb. Sudden, intense movements like this weren’t ideal, which is why I wasn’t fond of spear-throwing in the first place.
When I looked around, I saw my teammates staring at me with their mouths wide open.
“Whoa… How did you do that?”
It was Kim Dae-hyun.
“Like this, dodge like this, and then throw.”
He waved his arms around, mimicking my movements with awe.
Yoon Sang-hyuk and Lee Sang-bong also looked curious.
“…Isn’t that intuition?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk seemed to have a rough idea. He wasn’t at the top of the rankings for nothing, after all.
‘Intuition’ referred to the ability to sense situations with your entire body.
It was an advanced sense that could detect danger in blind spots, behind your back, or, in extreme cases, even perceive threats that hadn’t occurred yet. Of course, the latter was extremely rare.
It could be called a form of superhuman sensory perception.
“Something like that.”
My thoughts shifted. I just wanted to get out of this forest as soon as possible.
“How about we rest after we leave?”
When I said that, Yoon Sang-hyuk, Lee Sang-bong, and Kim Dae-hyun exchanged glances before nodding immediately.
Yu Hana, still wearing her gentle smile, silently seemed to agree with my suggestion.
I retrieved my spear from the goblin’s corpse.
“Let’s go.”
***
“That one’s the last!”
Kim Dae-hyun shouted at the top of his lungs.
I got into a throwing stance, ready to hurl my spear at the final goblin—
But at that moment, Yu Hana dashed forward like a gale.
With a sharp, decisive slash, she cut the goblin cleanly in half in an instant.
‘…Fast.’
It made sense, though. According to the setup, Yu Hana was strong. She was likely ranked in the top 10.
Well, strength is always a good thing.
After taking down the last goblin, the foggy surroundings began to clear, revealing the safety zone ahead.
We quickly broke through the forest’s edge.
“That was intense.”
I hadn’t underestimated it, but still, this was Gaon Academy.
In the center of the safety zone, the instructor was waiting for us.
He waved us over and shouted out our rank.
“Second place!”
The rest of the team—Yoon Sang-hyuk, Lee Sang-bong, and Kim Dae-hyun—were already sprawled out on the ground.
“Nice….”
Yoon Sang-hyuk and Lee Sang-bong gave me a thumbs-up from where they lay.
If they had remained uncooperative throughout the battle, I might’ve considered splitting the unit or ignoring them altogether. But they had played their part in the end, so there were no hard feelings.
Kim Dae-hyun had also done well, playing the role of tank effectively with his straightforward personality.
Yu Hana, on the other hand, stood completely unruffled.
She didn’t even seem to have broken a sweat, and her breathing was steady.
“Good job.”
I approached her and offered a light greeting.
“Thanks to your help, things were a lot easier.”
Yu Hana smiled faintly and asked back,
“Are you sure it’s not something you could’ve handled without my help?”
“Hmm… no, not really.”
She hit the nail on the head.
Honestly, whether it was two directions, three, or even six, it wouldn’t have been a problem for me.
But it was true that her support made things significantly easier.
“Pfft, you really can’t fake your words, can you?”
She let out a soft, cute laugh, covering her mouth lightly with her hand.
“Sorry, it’s just how I am.”
She brushed her hair back gently and unexpectedly added,
“But I kind of like that about you.”
Her eyes met mine directly, and there was a certain seriousness in her gaze.
For some reason, the air around us felt like it was subtly heating up, and the atmosphere grew a bit strange.
“Ah, I see.”
I replied briefly to deflect.
It didn’t seem like she was expecting much of an answer, as she shrugged lightly with a calm smile.
Taking advantage of the moment, I turned my head to scan the other teams.
The instructor had said we placed second, meaning there was one team that had arrived before us.
Not far away, I spotted a group of people standing together.
One of them was notably tall, while another exuded a faintly holy aura.
“I can see how they took first place.”
It wasn’t the team of the protagonist, Sung Siwoo.
At this point, he wasn’t strong enough to achieve that yet.
The first-place team included Yohan the Hero and Cheon Yeoul, the Saintess Candidate.
Sung Siwoo isn’t the Hero. In this world, the Hero and the game’s protagonist are two separate entities.
“Wow, a Hero and a Saintess Candidate? No wonder they’re first.”
At some point, Yoon Sang-hyuk had approached and marveled at the sight.
I glanced at him and asked,
“Do you know the Hero?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk’s expression turned a bit bitter.
“Yeah, I do. But…”
He scratched his head hesitantly, as if debating whether to say more.
“Never mind. It’s not really my place to say.”
What’s with this guy?
There are two ways to annoy someone: one is to stop speaking halfway through, and the other is…
When I gave him a dumbfounded look, he flinched and added,
“…Well, I’ve heard that things between the Hero and the Saintess aren’t great these days.”
Ah.
That was something mentioned in the game’s storyline too.
Originally, this conflict was supposed to emerge just as feelings between Sung Siwoo and the Saintess began to blossom, but it seemed to be happening earlier than I expected.
Setting my thoughts aside, I turned my gaze back to the first-place team.
Right then, Cheon Yeoul’s eyes met mine.
She gave me a bright smile and gracefully raised one hand, waving slowly. Her movements were elegant and refined, clear even from a distance.
“What the…?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk followed Cheon Yeoul’s gaze with his finger and seemed to realize it ended on me.
“Huh…?”
I quickly raised my hand in response to Cheon Yeoul’s greeting.
I could feel the surrounding gazes shifting toward me. At this rate, it felt like everyone would be staring soon.
At that moment, I felt a sharp, intense gaze from the front.
When I turned my head slightly, I saw Yohan, who had been standing next to Cheon Yeoul, glaring at me as if he were about to shoot lasers out of his eyes.
His expression was stiff, but his gaze was locked onto me with unmistakable intensity.
In the storyline, Yohan was a character who displayed an obsessive fixation on Cheon Yeoul.
As time passed, his obsession would become increasingly disturbing and directed toward those around her.
So it wasn’t entirely surprising.
‘But… why…?’
Why am I the target?