Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Back to the Academy (4)

"Here it is."

Three days later, Park Seohu brought A-team's training footage.

"Good work."

I played the footage he handed me.

Park Seohu didn't seem confident in the training content, as his expression was less than great.

First, I checked the footage from day one.

─Watch above while moving up! Everyone advance together!

─Hiyaaah!

"Hm."

A-team's movements after changing tactics had some rather clumsy spots.

How should I put this?

I understood why Park Seohu was making that face.

They were out of sync, everyone's movements going every which way.

Honestly, individual play would've been better than this.

In a word, it was a mess.

"Hm, the second day... forget it."

I could already predict what the second day's footage would look like, so I just skipped it.

I went straight to the third day's footage.

I didn't want to watch this one either, for the sake of my eyeballs, but I had no choice if I needed to assess the current state.

"Hmm, hmmm......"

I skimmed through it and reached a conclusion.

First, Park Seohu was innocent.

Truthfully, Park Seohu was always innocent, but regardless — innocent again this time.

Na Jinsu, the assassin, was a bit ambiguous.

There were moments where he drifted slightly out of step with the team.

But befitting his status as a Playable Character, he had several flashes of brilliance that made those missteps look irrelevant.

That was innate combat instinct.

Once I set those two aside, the conclusion was that the three rear-liners were the problem.

And in truth, they were.

First, the rear-liners' movements weren't consistent with each other.

They needed to watch and match each other's movements, but they were way too misaligned.

The two mages' coordination in particular was the worst.

The priest was the problem child who lacked any will of his own and just got dragged along by them.

"Can you see the issues?"

"...Yes."

"Tell me."

Park Seohu cautiously shared his thoughts.

"The rear line's movement seems to have problems."

"Well said. So how are you going to improve it?"

Park Seohu sank into thought for a moment.

He had every right to be flustered by the sudden question, but he was remarkably composed.

Soon, Park Seohu answered with a bright expression.

"How about... designating one person to give orders?"

He seemed to think it was a decent answer, as a flicker of confidence showed.

But it was the wrong answer.

"That'd be hard to pull off. Giving orders means accurately reading the state of the battlefield and issuing the appropriate directives. If bad orders get issued, it's worse than having no orders at all."

"You mean......"

"Right. They don't have that capability."

There was nothing more dangerous in a party than an incompetent member holding the authority to call shots.

I'd said the team members needed to be a bit more proactive, but putting them in charge of orders crossed the line from "a bit."

One wrong call could send the entire party into a pit.

"Then what should we do?"

"Instead of one person giving orders, it's better for all three to put their heads together and voice their opinions. What those kids need is communication."

Until now, A-team probably never had a chance to speak up, whether in training or real combat.

Park Seohu would issue commands as Control Tower, and all they had to do was follow.

Trying to reduce their dependence on Park Seohu at this point wouldn't be easy.

Those kids needed more time.

But A-team didn't have much time left.

So I decided to use a drastic measure.

"Starting from the next training session, you'll sit out, Seohu."

"What?"

Shock was apparent in Park Seohu's voice.

He clearly hadn't expected me to say that.

"You can watch from the back, or train on your own away from the group — it doesn't matter. What matters is that they learn to stand on their own."

"...Understood."

Park Seohu's face all but had "I'm worried" written on it.

He'd always been the one holding A-team's center, so being told to step away probably made the remaining members look like children left by the water's edge.

"I've also noted down some minor points, so read through them carefully."

"Okay."

"You can go now."

Park Seohu left, clutching the printed feedback in his hands.

A-team.

I couldn't afford to have them bumbling around in the back like this.

I'd assembled what was, in its own way, the best roster for that team.

Not to mention, it had two Playable Characters.

"That way my experience goes up too... no, at this point, experience is meaningless."

After the Pacific expedition, the experience required to raise my stats had ballooned enormously.

In the past, every bit of experience from the students had been precious, but now it didn't even register.

"Tch, well, the Playable Characters' growth is still important."

No matter how strong I got, this game was a party game.

Even if they weren't much help right now, I needed to develop useful NPCs for the game to progress smoothly later.

"So please, do well."

***

The southern forest of Florian Academy.

The forest, cultivated to mimic a dungeon-like environment, was a popular training spot for many students.

It was also A-team's most frequented location.

Recently, A-team had increased its training volume.

Being dead last among all teams in Professor Cha Eunwoo's course had been a major shock to everyone in A-team.

No one brought it up directly, but they all felt the need to train.

True to the kids Cha Eunwoo had handpicked through interviews, A-team had drive.

The drive to get better, to improve.

"Let's give it our all today too!"

"Yeah."

However, that drive was undermined by A-team's noticeably dampened morale.

The cause was the change in training methods that Park Seohu had brought.

'We're going to practice a new and improved tactic, building on the ones we've been using.'

At first, everyone had been excited to hear that the team leader had received feedback from the professor.

But when they actually tried training, it was anything but easy.

In fact, A-team had become more of a mess than before.

'Still, Seohu and the professor came up with it, so.'

Yet no one complained.

Park Seohu was A-team's pillar.

Even when things got tough, they leaned on Park Seohu's presence and soothed their anxieties.

Let's trust Seohu.

Seohu will figure something out.

But today, Park Seohu dropped a bombshell.

"Starting today, I won't be participating directly in training."

"What?"

Until now, they'd endured the hardship with their eyes fixed on Park Seohu alone.

But without Park Seohu?

An ominous thought crept through everyone's minds.

One team member spoke up.

"H-hey... are we holding you back in training? We won't get in your way anymore, so can't you stay with us?"

Park Seohu smiled bitterly.

He'd secretly hoped the professor would be wrong, but everything was playing out exactly as the professor had said.

Seeing his team members grow anxious just from him stepping out of training — not even a real fight — he had no choice but to accept it.

'I was the one holding my friends back.'

Park Seohu steeled himself and pushed his team members away.

"I talked it over with the professor, and it seems best to do this for a while."

"B-but without you, Seohu......"

"I feel like when I'm there, you all hold back what you want to say and just watch my face. I want you to take more initiative in leading the party."

"Got it."

After Park Seohu stepped back, A-team's training began.

Just his absence alone made everyone's movements noticeably stiff.

Every time something went slightly wrong during training, everyone kept glancing over at where Park Seohu was sitting.

'If I were in there right now......'

Park Seohu held back the urge to leap to his feet with superhuman patience.

He wanted to go join them in training right that instant.

But he had to endure.

"Hah......"

Both Park Seohu and A-team waged their own painful battles.

Without a pillar to hold them steady, A-team fell apart all too easily.

"Ngh... they need me, the team needs me... wait! What am I thinking?"

Park Seohu shook his head furiously.

Endure. I have to endure.

In the end, that day's training concluded with little to show for it.

But unnoticed by anyone, A-team had inched forward, even if only slightly.

The next day, and the day after that.

A-team without Park Seohu looked precarious.

But compared to the first day, they were, in small ways, better.

The small changes erupted past a tipping point on a certain day.

"Over there, deer monster!"

"Let's attack from both sides!"

That day, their movements were noticeably lighter.

For the first time, the movements of A-team members — who had been going their separate ways — meshed together smoothly.

"Oh, we got it!"

"Good start!"

Gears that had refused to mesh finally clicked into place.

Once the obstacles jamming the mechanism were removed, the machine began running smoothly.

"Oh......"

Today's A-team was more than enough to draw admiration from Park Seohu.

An A-team he had never seen before.

Covering for one another, advancing together — they were incomparably better than anything he'd seen until now.

What the hell. They could do it all along.

I worried for nothing.

"Things are going really smoothly today, huh?"

"Yeah, nice."

Among them, Na Jinsu's movements stood out the most.

His outstanding talent and instincts, befitting a Playable Character, were a tremendous asset to A-team.

Even Park Seohu was impressed by Na Jinsu's movements.

'Good instincts. Could I have done that in his position?'

During the first training session, Park Seohu's opinion of Na Jinsu hadn't been very high.

He'd thought of him as an unremarkable teammate.

But the feedback from Cha Eunwoo had said otherwise.

─Make active use of Jinsu. He's a talented assassin.

Na Jinsu.

He wasn't faster than anyone else, nor did he possess any special techniques.

But he always took the optimal action in the right position, making it feel as though there were two of him.

Na Jinsu had now firmly established himself as A-team's powerful weapon.

That was wonderful news for A-team.

After training ended, one team member asked Park Seohu.

"How was today's training?"

The rest of A-team seemed to know they'd done well today, judging by their eager-for-praise eyes.

Park Seohu gave a thumbs-up and answered.

"It was the best."

A-team celebrated their collective growth together.

The fruit tasted sweeter because of how hard they'd worked for it.

Park Seohu said.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll be training with you again."

***

"You've improved a lot."

"It's all thanks to you, Professor!"

The new A-team training footage was very satisfying.

I'd had an inkling from the experience I'd gotten from A-team before watching, but seeing this much improvement in person was surprising.

A-team had achieved remarkable growth overnight.

They would only get stronger with each passing day.

"At this level, you won't fall behind the other teams."

The A-team members were visibly thrilled by my praise.

That was how high a wall the other teams represented.

Baek Seolhwa's B-team.

Baek Seolhwa, having grown, had become even stronger.

She'd previously had no idea how to utilize a party, but not anymore.

Seolhwa's transformation would make the party even more cohesive.

An Seri's C-team.

Without question, the most polished team in my course.

Behind that was the brilliance of An Seri, their shrewd team leader.

At her young age, she was a genius who had already grasped how to command a party.

Oh Jaehak's D-team.

They lacked the talent of the other teams, but their grit was second to none.

Having kept up with my course all the way through, they had each grown into individuals who could pull their weight anywhere.

Park Seohu asked.

"Professor, which team do you think will take first on the next exam?"

I could feel the competitive fire burning fiercely within Park Seohu.

Seeing how rapidly A-team had grown, he was surely coveting first place.

"Hard to say."

The unexpected dark horse, A-team.

They'd started late, but they'd grown strong enough to contend with the other teams.

I felt bad for D-team, but they wouldn't be able to beat A-team under Park Seohu's current leadership.

"You all have a real shot at A+."

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

The other A-team members cheered.

But Park Seohu didn't look satisfied.

In him, I saw a shadow of An Seri from before.

Park Seohu asked again.

"What about first place?"

First place.

Even I couldn't easily predict that.

Every team had exceeded the growth rate I'd projected.

A-team might be the underdog for now, but by exam day — no, even by tomorrow — nobody knew what would happen.

I chose my words carefully.

"One thing's for sure: you all have a chance."

"Ah......"

Only then did Park Seohu's tense expression ease, seemingly satisfied.

Park Seohu grinned and spoke.

"We're definitely taking first. Count on it."

"Good. I'm rooting for you."

I smiled along with him.