The matter was simple. From the start, Eleanor had been struggling to explore the gate with Kang Shin-hyuk, and Lee Na-hee intervened without saying anything. Kang Shin-hyuk could be relieved if he was just with Eleanor, but the two of them together would be a recipe for trouble. Since Baek In-ha wanted to entrust Oh Hye-na to him anyway, then the best option would be for all of them to go together.
“Shinyuk, youtricky…”
“Why are those people here, oppa?”
Baek, who had been quick to grasp the circumstances, glared at Kang Shin-hyuk with remorse for bringing Hye-na to such an awkward position. He also felt mad at the fact that Kang Shin-hyuk was going to enter the gate with two women without telling him as well. On the other hand, Oh Hye-na looked around the party in a daze as she couldn’t figure out the situation. When Kang Shin-hyuk met her gaze, it quickly shifted to one of hostility despite the last ‘thank you’ she had givenhim.
“How could you bring ushere?”
“Quiet. Oh, you know you have to come too?”
“Madman, leave meout.”
“Okay…”
As Kang Shin-hyuk worked hard to convince Baek, Eleanor was staring at him with a look that said all the evils of the world had been presented before her. Baek could tell she had misunderstood him.
“Well, why did I bring Hye-na? To get Shinyuk to teach her swordsmanship…”
“What do you want with our vice-captain?”
Eleanor put a great emphasis on the part ‘our vice-captain.’ It seemed that Lee Na-hee had been bullied into joining the club, at least for the sake ofthis.
“I was asking him for a favor…”
“If that’s thecase…”
Eleanor’s resentful gaze turned to Oh Hye-na, who had been brought here with no warning of the situation she was walking into. Compared to when she had previously met Kang Shin-hyuk, she seemed much more spirited when she greeted her seniors.
“Hello. I am Oh Hye-na from Vanguard. I will be entering Shinyoung in March. Thank you verymuch.”
“Yes, I know that. By the way,Vanguard…”
Instead of Eleanor, Lee Na-hee spoke up. Oh Hye-na seemed more confident now.
“Yes. Although it is probationary, I am working in aunit.”
“Okay, okay, cool. I like types like you.”
“Thank you. I came here because of In-ha oppa. I didn’t hear what I was doing… shall we goback?”
“Huh? No…”
Lee Na-hee, who wasn’t a welcome guest herself, greeted Oh Hye-na with a large smile, quickly calculating that she would have an advantage over Eleanor if they had more people around.
“Isn’t it okay? It’s a large gate, anyway. Ellie, are you okay?”
“Large is large… yes. Everyone, come here.”
Eleanor grumbled, then sighed and gathered the group together. The party had gathered together in a vacant lot on a hill outside of Seoul, with no one else around except for a member of the British royal family guarding the gate. Even if Eleanor had been kicked out or whatever, her power was still valid even in a distant foreigncountry.
“Where we’ll be entering is an S-rank gate.”
“S-rank?! An S-rank among the gates nearby… ah!”
Oh Hye-na, who had been maintaining a calm attitude, suddenly appeared frightened. It was a place that even famous guilds wouldn’t enter without a thorough plan of attack. It certainly wasn’t the type of place for a few students to gather and attack lightly. However, all of them appeared to be comfortable, and she soon realized why.
“All of them, Masked Bacchus…”
They hadn’t been dealing with anything below S-rank these days. Their skills have been growing rapidly from the intense practice they had engaged in over such a short time, so of course, they could approach an S-rank gate so casually. Oh Hye-na had heard about the members of Masked Bacchus from Baek so that she could understand their confidence.
“To be honest, more than half of our team’s power is from Shinyuk and Claire noona.”
“What are you talking about? These days, unnie doesn’t even use a weapon.”
“First of all, Na-hee is weakest.”
“Junior, beat up your friend.”
He didn’t plan on listening to Lee Na-hee’s command, but he still smacked Baek as a precaution. Oh Hye-na spoke up,however.
“Why hit In-haoppa?!”
“It feels as natural as walking to do so.”
Kang Shin-hyuk replied so profoundly, but Lee Na-hee and Eleanor’s eyes lit up, and they approached Oh Hye-na.
“Oh, don’t you think this will be okay?”
“Yes. Are you interested in the Wyvern Knights?”
“Uh, yes?” Oh Hye-na tilted her head, confused as to why her seniors seemed to like her somuch.
“Yes, I’ve always wanted to join the Wyvern Knights.”
With Oh Hye-na’s ability, something like joining the Wyvern Knights was a likely outcome, although that may not have been her goal. Regardless, she responded quietly to the captain’s question. Kang Shin-hyuk narrowed his eyes at the differential treatment she gave others compared to him, but she wasn’t paying him any mind.
“The student council will still accept you.”
“I said that I don’t want the vice president seat.”
“It’s up toyou.”
“I don’t.”
Kang Shin-hyuk continued to refuse Baek, and Oh Hye-na finally looked back at him. Her eyes made it clear that she thought he had stolen Baek from her. At that point, Eleanor coughed and gathered their attention.
“The gate’s name is [Blue Sun Desert]. It is a dungeon type, and time passes faster inside than outside. The environmental penalties are significant, so it’s a good place to practice.”
“It was thatgate…”
“Hye-na, do you know about it?”
“Yes, it’sfamous.”
Some gates had different passages of time than the outside world. While most of those were single-shot gates, persistent dungeon-types that could be cleared repeatedly were very valuable if they had such a nature. Time was a valuable resource for everyone, and even more so for busy superhumans, so gates like this often required payment to enter.
“You can benefit by about 50%. It’s awesome.” Eleanor smiled with pride that she had been able to book such a great gate. Kang Shin-hyuk couldn’t help but think she was very cute, almost like a puppy. But the administrator ruined that atmosphere,however.
-It’s only 1.5 times as much as Earth, so it’s a low level.
‘I don’t intend to argue on behalf of the Hero Universe… it’s definitely not a bigdeal.’
-A 400,000HP bonus for members who understand the administrator’s heart!
‘No, if you give me a bonus now, it would seem like I disagree with Eleanor.’
Kang Shin-hyuk had spent plenty of time in worlds where the time went by faster than it did on Earth. Now, he goes to his My Room, where the time went by three times as fast. However, he didn’t want to show off any displeasure that the time was only going 1.5 times as fast.
“But, this gate isn’t popular.”
“Huh?” Surprisingly, there was someone other than the administrator to speak up: OhHye-na.
“Gates that benefit from the time-lapse are mainly used as training centers. This dungeon has received the S+ grade because of the severe environmental penalty and the fact that monsters constantly appear. If you want to practice in such a place… it doesn’t make sense unless you’re SS-rank. In other words, most high-rankers already have their skills, so it’s rare to visit a place like to train.”
Kang Shin-hyuk nodded at her rational explanation. However, it didn’t seem right to say that the high-rankers already had completed their skills and didn’t need totrain.
“They seem socrappy.”
“Hush.”
“Are you traininghard?”
“Because you work me hard! Show me my wind orb!”
“Yes, you’re notpopular.”
While Kang Shin-hyuk teased Baek, Eleanor affirmed Oh Hye-na’s explanation. But, then she added…
“It’s still a good place for me and the vice-captain to train. You guys can,too.”
“…”
Eleanor’s confident remark caused her to quiet down.
“Even Na-hee.”
“Is it okay? I thought I would need to practice drone control too.”
“I’m not afraid of an S-rank gate anymore.”
“Me too…ugh.”
As expected, Oh Hye-na was now readying to enter the gate along with the rest of Masked Bacchus. If Kang Shin-hyuk tried to make her leave now, they would call him a demon.
“You’ll be fine too, though you may need somehelp.”
Kang Shin-hyuk handed her a sword and bracelet he had prepared in advance. Her eyes just widened as she didn’t accept it.
“What arethese?”
“Artifacts.”
“I have a lot of artifacts. If one or two could be used to overcome one’s limit, all the high-rankers would have more than they knew what to dowith.”
“Don’t take the rest. You’ll be able to practice in this gate with us.”
Oh Hye-na received the artifacts with a worried expression, but her eyes went wide upon checking the information. The bracelet had been made based on the one he made for Shu, and it was SS-rank.
“What, no… what is this? It’s like having an extra life. Besides, an overall increase in status…” Kang Shin-hyuk sighed as he watched her reaction.
“Seeing that you are unaware of my abilities, it seems that Hyeongju Ahn is pretty bad at promoting me.”
“The artifacts he brought weren’t this powerful!”
“Of course. But now you know who makes this kind of thing. Return it properly.”
Oh Hye-na looked at him in disbelief.
“What, why is there such an artisan at the superhumanschool?”
“Because he also has excellent combat power.”
“Wow…”
At Baek’s explanation, Oh Hye-na looked only more irritated with Kang Shin-hyuk. Obviously, he had only lent her some artifacts, so he didn’t know why her perception of him was growing worse.
“My junior worked alone again. Am I just a decoration? Why do you always work alone, huh? Where is there an enchanter as good as me? I mean, pamper yourself and work with me.”
“Because every time we work together, I do most of the work.”
“Ugh… when I see you working, it’s terrible! I can’t helpmyself!”
After adequately cracking down on Lee Na-hee for her remarks, Kang Shin-hyuk urged Eleanor to enter the gate. Eleanor led the party forward. Oh Hye-na caught up with them, having been distracted by the artifacts, and quietly spoke to Baek.
“Oppa, are there moregirls?”
“As far as I know, just four, but who can say. Maybe they have a local office they meet up at.”
“Baek In-ha, shutup.”
-It was a keen guess. If I had the authority, I would like to give him bonus points.
‘Noisy.’
-700,000HP bonus!
‘Why?!’
Thus, the five started their training camp.