I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 289: Testing (2)
The entire Utopia party gathered in the training ground.
Kang Do-hee, Lee Yu-ri, Shin Se-hee, Im Ga-eul, Sophia, Ichika.
And Alice, too.
They were all staring at the bite marks covering my body with a peculiar look. Before anyone could comment, I cleared my throat and began to speak.
“Well, I think you all know why I’ve gathered you here.”
The group nodded.
“Now that everyone has completed «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» their individual training, it’s time for an objective assessment of your progress. Plus, we have a new face.”
I briefly glanced at Alice. She stood with her arms crossed, her white hair catching the light, and though she was present, she wore an expression of complete indifference.
At that moment, Shin Se-hee interjected.
“Are you planning to officially add Alice to our party?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, that’s right. Alice will be joining Utopia.”
“Not as part of the sub-party, but as a full member?”
“Yeah. In a way, it’s kind of like she’s parachuting in.”
Sub-party.
Though Shin Se-hee primarily handled it, Utopia did have a sub-party. In the original Velvet Hunter game, even characters who weren’t particularly standout performers were still useful if you recruited them.
The sub-party, led by Shin Se-hee, had been formed around a character named Lee Min-young, who had previously been brought on as an intern during one of the evaluations. They were performing well and had even become popular at the academy, with many aspiring to join them.
So, it was a bit surprising to suddenly bring in a new and untested member directly into the main party rather than the sub-party. Understandably, the group seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden decision.
But I couldn’t back down on this.
“She’s a limited-edition character.”
Besides, I had come to realize that it was time to think outside the usual limits.
In the game, the optimal party size was six:
Tank (Lee Yu-ri)Main DPS (Kang Do-hee)Sub DPS (me, Jin Yoo-ha)Healer (Sophia)Support (Im Ga-eul)Specialist (Ichika or Shin Se-hee)
This was the standard setup for raiding gates. Utilizing my knowledge of the game had been most efficient when planning around a six-person team.
However, after taking down a fire dragon in the Ice Palace with a seven-person team, and successfully taking on a chimera in Sin-ga with the full party, my thinking began to shift.
“We can’t just stick to the game’s format.”
Not to mention, this world didn’t have the gacha mechanics anyway.
Of course, if the party expanded beyond eight members, it might become unwieldy, but I figured we could manage with up to eight.
“I see...”
“I expected this, but it’s still a bit complicated.”
“Well, got it.”
Fortunately, their reactions were more accepting than I had anticipated. I guess sharing a floor of the building with Alice had helped ease the transition.
“Anyway, now that that’s settled, let’s assess the results of your training. Shin Se-hee, can you bring up the previous records?”
“Sure.”
And so, the training evaluation began.
BOOOOOM!
Lee Yu-ri blocked the massive fist of a towering golem with her shield, not just holding it off but pushing it back.
“Hmm? I think you could raise the intensity a bit more! What? This is the max?”
Even as the golem’s fists pounded her shield, she tilted her head in confusion, then casually began deflecting the blows with one hand.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Kang Do-hee moved with lightning speed, striking targets faster than the eye could follow with both her fists and feet.
“Is this really the fastest it goes?”
She furrowed her brows, dissatisfied.
“Too slow.”
She increased her speed even further, leaving afterimages in the air, shattering the regenerating targets all at once.
Watching Kang Do-hee’s movements up close for the first time, I couldn’t help but be stunned.
“They’ve really been working hard... How did they get so strong?”
Next was Im Ga-eul.
Bang!
A shotgun-like blast of metal pellets erupted from her hand.
“Slow!”
At her command, the pellets, suspended in the air by her magic, began to slow down almost to a standstill.
“Accelerate!”
And then—
BOOOOM!
The pellets shot forward with incredible force, embedding themselves deep into the wall.
I blinked in surprise and asked, “Wait, you can apply acceleration to objects too?”
“Heh, I can even do it to Ichika’s shadows or Sophia’s arrows now.”
“That’s... insane.”
“Of course! I’ve been working hard, you know!”
Im Ga-eul puffed out her chest with pride.
“Alright, my turn. Ichika, can you help me out?”
“Sure.”
Sophia stepped forward with Ichika. As Ichika extended her hand, shadows rose from the ground, weaving and swirling in intricate patterns.
Targets danced erratically in front of the shadows.
With a swift leap, Sophia shot into the air.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She moved gracefully, stepping on the swirling shadows as she navigated through the air. While the speed of Ichika’s shadows had definitely increased, it wasn’t anything too surprising. Many of the Utopia members could pull off similar feats.
But then—
Thwip! freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
I watched in shock as Sophia’s arrows hit each moving target dead-center, one after another, with pinpoint accuracy.
“She’s gained mobility!?”
Sophia’s archery had always been impressive, but with Im Ga-eul’s acceleration buff, her precision reached another level. Moving rapidly through the air, she hit every moving target as if they were drawing her arrows in.
“I still have one more trick! I can’t use it often, but...”
With a determined look, Sophia leaped back into the air, drawing her bow. This time, three golden arrows appeared in her hand.
Thwip!
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Each of the three arrows struck its target simultaneously.
“Simultaneous healing...”
Sophia’s abilities had always been valuable, but now she had become an even more formidable force—both a powerful healer and a capable ranged DPS.
“Sophia, it’s my turn now.”
“Okay!”
Sophia gracefully landed, and Ichika stepped forward.
“I’ll just go for something big.”
Ichika’s shadows gathered overhead, forming a massive shape. As she lowered her hand, the shadows crashed down with an earth-shattering impact, leaving a deep crater in the training ground.
“...Wow.”
I looked at Shin Se-hee in disbelief, and she smiled proudly.
“Impressive, right?”
All I could do was nod awkwardly in agreement.
Whoooosh!
Shin Se-hee’s flames burned more intensely than before, but there was nothing too drastic in her development.
“I’ve been focusing on analyzing the party’s growth and working with Reina to strategize. I didn’t have much time for personal training,” she explained defensively, her tone slightly bitter.
I chuckled.
“You’ve done an amazing job. Transforming the others like this is a huge accomplishment. As expected of our operator.”
“It wasn’t easy, you know,” she muttered, though I could see the pride she tried to hide.
“Well... it looks like I’m the one who’s fallen behind.”
That much was clear. While everyone else had shown tremendous growth, I had spent the past month stuck in a pit.
Sure, I’d learned to differentiate between the paths of light and dark in the Moonlight Sword technique, but that wasn’t the same as actually improving my combat abilities.
“...This is a bit embarrassing.”
As everyone’s eyes turned toward me, I scratched my head and admitted honestly, “I haven’t really grown stronger.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Shin Se-hee asked, puzzled.
“Well, I guess you could say I’ve become less reckless?”
“Less reckless?”
“Yeah, before, my sword would always look for the best way to strike down the enemy. But now, I’m also looking for ways to do it while keeping myself safe.”
“That... sounds like an improvement.”
“It is.”
Kang Do-hee and Lee Yu-ri had already heard about this from the Swordmaster, so they weren’t surprised. But the rest of the party stared at me, wide-eyed, before suddenly rushing toward me.
“Really!? Are you serious!?”
Caught off guard, I nodded awkwardly.
“Y-Yeah... It’s not like I got stronger, but I did overcome a weakness in my sword technique. I’m sorry it’s not more impressive—”
“Jin Yoo-ha! That’s amazing!!!”
“Does this mean you won’t get hurt anymore!?”
“Jin Yoo-ha, that’s a huge achievement!”
“Thank goodness, I’m so relieved!”
Seeing their reactions—some of them even tearing up—I didn’t know what to do.
“...What’s going on?”
