How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

As I held Na Yu-ri’s hand tightly, creating a friendly atmosphere, Choi Soo-jung interrupted.

“Hmm? Is it your first time in the simulation, Na-hyun?”

“Yeah. I’m a government-supported Awakened, so this system is all new to me.”

“I see. What’s your position?”

“Sniper. What about you?”

“I’m a magician! A magician who controls the wind!”

Choi Soo-jung grinned, showing her buck teeth.

“Wow, Na-hyun, I think you’ll match better with me than Yu-ri! Wind and sniper are a perfect match, right?”

At her words, Na Yu-ri seemed about to argue but then tightly closed her mouth. It was true that the wind element and snipers went well together.

As a diligent person, Na Yu-ri would find it hard to contradict Choi Soo-jung, no matter how much she disliked her.

The reason she had argued with the con artist at the training ground before was that she hated the con artist that much. What a heavy karma, Na Yu-han.

Na Yu-ri silently pouted, gripping my hand even tighter.

“But Na-hyun is my friend. Not Soo-jung’s friend.”

As she said this, her expression changed to one of slight pride. It was a relief that she had found something to argue about.

The sight of the blonde girl with red eyes and a cat-like smile looking so confident reminded me of a proud cat striding along.

In fact, she looked more like a cat than Choi Soo-jung, who was a real cat-human hybrid.

“Oh, really? Then Na-hyun, how about—”

“Everything’s ready.”

Just as Choi Soo-jung was about to make a bombshell suggestion, Dum Dum interrupted, cutting off the fuse.

“We decided to lower the difficulty instead of going with a burst type. Is that okay?”

The con artist, who had followed behind, came closer and continued speaking.

“Of course it’s fine! I’m actually worried about making mistakes.”

Since it was my first time practicing the fantasy, I put on a tense expression to match the occasion.

I am a beginner, after all, so I would probably make mistakes. I thought it would be good to set that up in advance.

Just as I was about to continue speaking, Dum Dum opened his mouth to address us.

“Mistakes are completely normal. It’s practice.”

He was speaking directly to me.

“The point of practice is to avoid mistakes in real situations, so there’s no need to feel burdened. If you’re too nervous, your skills won’t come out. What’s important is the will to try your best.”

Was he trying to be considerate of me?

Thanks to Dum Dum’s encouraging words, the atmosphere lightened up.

As expected, some people really do have better character. I won’t say who specifically.

“Exactly! Blaming a child who’s just learning to walk for not being able to walk perfectly right away is wrong!”

Na Yu-ri added.

“If there’s someone like that, I’ll get mad for you!”

I could feel my balloon-like tension easing a bit.

I was prepared, but I was still worried about lagging behind during the actual exercise. After all, everyone else was from the Awakened Society.

“…Okay!”

I didn’t want to be seen as a burden. I didn’t want to give off a bad impression either.

Thanks to both of their comments, I wouldn’t be openly blamed for making mistakes.

They were all good kids.

I may be a bad person for trying to take advantage of that, but still.

After a while, the simulation finally began.

As the ranged damage dealer, I was positioned in the back along with the con artist. Since Choi Soo-jung was a magician, she was supposed to stay in the back, but she claimed that formations were free, so she positioned herself in the middle. Dum Dum and Na Yu-ri naturally moved to the front.

“They’re coming! Prepare formation!”

The con artist raised a flag.

It was a new flag with several functions, unlike the worn-out supply flag from the academy.

***

Everyone tensed up, watching the gate.

The start of the war was signaled by a single gunshot.

Bang—!

A flying monster was accurately shot through its core and fell helplessly.

As expected, the sniper skills were better than I thought. I nodded in satisfaction and gave orders.

“Front, prepare for charging monsters!”

“Magician, use the wind to drive the flying monsters down!”

“I know without you saying it!”

“Okay~!”

Na Yu-ri swung her flaming fist and shattered the armor of a charging monster that resembled an elephant. In that gap, Kang Na-hyun took the opportunity to shoot the core.

This was more stable than I had anticipated. The synergy among us was good. No, it should be said that the four of us worked well together.

I provided overall direction and instructions while Choi Soo-jung drove the flying monsters down. Na Yu-ri dealt with the monsters that had fallen and those that approached.

Monsters with protruding cores were taken down directly, while those with armors were defeated after breaking through the armor, allowing Na-hyun’s sniper skills to finish them off by destroying the cores inside.

Occasionally, flying monsters that managed to resist Choi Soo-jung’s wind were swiftly dealt with by Kang Na-hyun using her magic bullets.

It was turning out to be a surprisingly ideal flow. It felt like we could make a party with this.

Park Si-woo?

He was wielding all sorts of weapons by himself at the front, smashing through both the armor and the cores, so I left him alone to ensure that too many monsters didn’t rush in.

Seriously, how did that monster get so strong?

Of course, that didn’t mean we had the upper hand.

Usually, when it came to protruding gates, it was standard practice for multiple parties to gather and attack in an alliance. One party alone couldn’t handle the amount.

As we continued fighting fiercely,

“Ugh!”

Kang Na-hyun’s magic ran out.

“Ugh…!”

The shot fired accurately hit the monster’s core, but a bullet without magic only left a scratch.

Kieeeek!

The monster charged toward Kang Na-hyun.

I used the flag’s skill to create a barrier.

“Kieeeek!”

The flying monster’s sharp claws struck the barrier.

Clang! Clang! The barrier shook precariously.

Kang Na-hyun frowned as if trying to squeeze out more magic, but it didn’t seem to be working as she panted and continued shooting her gun.

This is troubling. I hadn’t considered Kang Na-hyun’s specifications. I thought she was holding out longer because of her gear, but that was a mistake.

“Choi Soo-jung! Kang Na-hyun is incapacitated! Guard this side!”

“Okay~.”

Choi Soo-jung’s wind shot toward the flying monster. The monster, torn apart by the wind, vanished in an instant.

“I can still fight!”

“You’re out of magic. You’re useless right now. Rest.”

An Awakened without magic is nothing but a heavy burden when it comes to defeating monsters. She had mana potions, but it would be a waste to use them in a simulation.

“Ugh…!”

With Kang Na-hyun’s support gone, it seemed that Na Yu-ri was slowly being pushed back.

Park Si-woo was taking on more monsters, and Choi Soo-jung was pushing monsters while occasionally attacking, but it was too much for them to handle all the increased burden.

Especially since Kang Na-hyun, who had been dealing with a few monsters that Choi Soo-jung missed, was gone, Choi Soo-jung’s burden had increased.

As soon as Kang Na-hyun dropped out, the tide that had been slowly tilting began to shift when a few flying monsters missed by Choi Soo-jung broke through the rear barrier.

Kang Na-hyun, trying hard to protect me, kept shooting her gun, but bullets without magic could only leave scratches and wouldn’t break the core.

With us declared dead, the simulation ended.

“Ugh… it’s my fault…”

Kang Na-hyun sniffled.

But despite her blurry expression, I wanted to praise her.

Kang Na-hyun’s passive skill usually adds a correction to accuracy.

However, if the correction is too high, it takes away a lot of magic. For someone like her, with magic at E level and level 1, the skill’s efficiency was really terrible.

Despite this, I had managed to maintain the routine for so long that I didn’t pay attention to her magic because her hit rate was high enough that the skill didn’t drain much magic.

…Why hadn’t such a character appeared in the game? Was she a discarded character?

I had unexpectedly found a gem. I felt the corners of my mouth rise.

“No! Thanks to Na-hyun, we could fight for a long time!”

“Right. It was hard to believe you were a beginner.”

Both Park Si-woo and Na Yu-ri were comforting the gloomy Kang Na-hyun.

“Nyahaha! That girl really doesn’t realize what talent she has, does she?”

Choi Soo-jung looked over and grinned.

“She’s really in a convenient environment with a convenient personality, isn’t she?”

It felt like there was an unspoken implication that she was thinking of taking advantage of that.

“Well.”

Yeah. I am thinking of taking advantage of it.

“By the way, senior, are you interested in a real gate experience? I’m planning to go to a good place later.”

So are you.

I threw out bait that I thought Choi Soo-jung would find interesting.

This kid would be more fun than I thought.