How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

***

“Have you thought about me a lot~?”

“Ehhehe… yes!”

I’m sorry. Life has been so busy.

I silently apologized to Choi Soo-jung, who was tugging at my cheeks.

“I was worried…”

Na Yu-ri clung to me, trying not to let go.

The trickster was sitting next to me, looking rather hesitant. He seemed like he wanted to say something, so I reached out first and took his hand.

“How have you been, Yu-han?”

Just say it already. This is getting annoying.

He glanced down at our joined hands, his face slightly flushed.

Yu-ri, don’t glare at him like that. Just let it go this once.

“Yeah.”

Yu-han barely managed to utter a word before falling silent again.

As I was about to say something more out of frustration, Na Yu-ri pulled me in closer, complaining as if to show off.

“Don’t pay attention to that trashy human.”

“Yu-ri, Yu-han isn’t trash…”

I smiled awkwardly.

Still, it seemed like they had gotten somewhat close. There was no longer the same sharp hostility in Yu-ri’s tone as before. It felt a bit softer, perhaps?

But since I didn’t want to dig into that point, I decided to change the subject.

“I heard everyone did amazing at the Pangyo Fortress! I heard!”

At my words, Choi Soo-jung squished my cheeks again and smiled brightly.

“Nyahaha~ We were first!”

As Soo-jung said, it was true.

Except for Min Jae-yoon and me, who were in the concentrated surveillance group, most of the first-year students went to Pangyo Fortress for their field training.

There, our party had truly overwhelming success.

The students who witnessed our performance with their own eyes still looked at us with envy. Thanks to that, it seemed like the trickster had regained quite a bit of his honor.

Soo-jung joyfully recounted how incredible their achievements were, telling the story as if it were a play. I had confirmed some of it in the intro part, but hearing it verbally was something new altogether.

“I heard from Baran that you guys had a hard time too.”

At Lee Hana’s words, I nodded without hesitation.

But…

“Still, the instructors and hunters did their best to protect us.”

Having read the novel, I knew how difficult that choice was.

Just looking at the Pangyo Fortress situation, when they were in crisis, didn’t the students get ordered to go into battle?

I only felt gratitude toward the Bucheon Gyeongin Fortress.

In the end, we might have acted a bit recklessly, but I hope they can overlook that given the circumstances.

While talking about what happened at the Bucheon Gyeongin Fortress, the topic of Shin Barun came up, leading to a praise session for Shin Baran.

…This is troublesome.

The praise for Baran’s older sister went on for quite some time.

“When she swung her weapon beautifully at that moment, she said, ‘Everyone, get ready!'”

“I, I see?”

“…Baran really likes her sister…”

While everyone was distracted, staring at the clock, the trickster suddenly spoke to me.

“…I heard you ran into Park Yul-han. Were you okay?”

At the trickster’s words, I smiled brightly.

The higher-ups were speculating that this unusual incident was caused by a Wild Hunter. It had similarities to the sudden gate incident that happened at the academy before.

Because of this, it seemed that rather than relocating the academy due to the risk, the trend had shifted to strengthening defenses against the Wild Hunter.

Also, it was assumed that Park Yul-han or the Tiger Child possessed rare teleportation items or skills, so teleportation defense magic had been activated in important facilities. The academy had already activated that magic a long time ago.

In my opinion, they might have a limited number of uses for their teleportation items. This was because, during the previous incident with suspicious items being installed at the stadium, they had tried to use me.

“Yeah, this time we properly defeated him. Baran’s sister helped too! Are you okay, Yu-han?”

The Holy Ring played a significant role in defeating Park Yul-han. For reference, I currently had the Holy Ring stored in my inventory.

Only after hearing my answer did the trickster seem to relax, turning his head slightly to respond.

“Yeah.”

He was still holding my hand tightly, as if he wouldn’t let go.

Aren’t you going to loosen your grip…?

“Nahyun,”

At that moment, Park Si-woo casually released the hand that the trickster and I were holding and placed something in my palm.

“It’s the brooch I mentioned before.”

“Oh, that?”

I recalled the conversation we had on the Ferris wheel.

“Conquerors carry symbols representing their squads, either tattooed on their bodies or as emblems.”

“I see.”

“So I was thinking, could I make it into a brooch for you?”

“Of course! I’m your teammate.”

After that conversation, I decided to wear the squad’s symbol as a brooch.

“Did you make it already? It’s beautiful.”

I gasped in admiration.

The slender silver brooch, shaped like a long vertical cross, shone beautifully, and a blue gem was embedded at the intersection, drawing attention.

It was a simple yet elegant design.

“…that?”

But giving it at this moment felt a bit awkward, didn’t it? Hearing the trickster’s low voice, I anticipated that this reader response wouldn’t be good.

Park Si-woo answered the trickster’s question with an expressionless face.

“I promised to give it to Nahyun as a gift.”

Hey, are you doing this on purpose?!

I pondered why Park Si-woo was acting like this and suddenly realized that he knew my secret. This meant that as the trickster’s feelings for me increased, the rewards I received would also improve.

Isn’t this a common tactic used in shoujo manga to help a friend with their romance?

Jealousy strategy.

“…”

Internally, I broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that I needed to find a day to properly tell Park Si-woo the truth.

Just as I was about to say something,

“Is everyone here?!”

Yggdrasil burst through the door. What timing. I started to suspect that Yggdrasil had intentionally chosen this moment to enter.

Of course, unaware of my inner turmoil, Yggdrasil confidently walked to the podium and began the assembly.

After a few announcements about school life, Yggdrasil presented the final and most important topic of today’s assembly.

“This is the most important topic of the day. You’ve all been waiting for this moment: it’s finally time for you to choose your majors!”

With that, the class began to buzz.

Choosing a major. To put it simply, it’s about selecting between the Hunter major and the Research major.

The Hunter major focuses on practical skills centered around monster hunting, while the Research major is primarily theory-based, concentrating on studying gate movements and developing new items.

Therefore, the subjects emphasized and the interests of the students differ completely based on their majors. Naturally, the ratios of practical and theoretical exams also vary by major.

“I will distribute the application forms!”

As soon as Yggdrasil pressed a button on the device, an application form appeared on my device.

Starting from the second semester of the first year, students will begin specialized courses tailored to their chosen major, as opposed to the common subjects learned in the first semester.

My major, of course, is Hunter.

“The application period is until the vacation ceremony!”

Without hesitation, I checked Hunter.

All of my club friends are in the Hunter major. The only person among my acquaintances who might choose the Research major would be Park Yul-ah.

Speaking of which, it feels like it’s been a while since I last saw her. I wonder what she’s been up to? Hmm… she’s probably doing better than most of the misfits, anyway.

“What are you going to choose?”

“I’m going with Research. The fieldwork just doesn’t suit me. So I’ll be in the research lab this time too.”

“Me too! I’ll be in the same lab as Park Yul-ah, but she really only picks the weirdest items to research. What was it? The Affection Lens?”

I casually listened to the chatter around me. It seems like she’s researching some strange items again.

But I remember that there haven’t been any incidents related to Park Yul-ah recently, so it should be fine.

“What major is Yuhan going for? Still Hunter, right?”

“Yeah. I want to try it out in the field.”

Well, if I’m going to explore hidden dungeons, the Hunter major is definitely the better choice. I nodded.

“Has everyone finished chatting? Then let’s head out for training!”

As the noise settled down, Yggdrasil boomed. The class erupted in cheers.

I got up slowly for no particular reason. Training in the morning feels like I’m finally returning to my routine.

“Nahyun! Let’s go!”

“Okay!”