Chapter 16

“I’m catching you.”

Having neatly put on my uniform, I made a resolution while looking at the quest window. The target of “catching” here was, of course, Hayden.

I had definitely decided to take it easy with this quest, but after experiencing ‘that’ class yesterday, my thinking had changed a bit.

‘I can’t be the only one to take such a precious class.’

Because I really wanted Hayden to experience Basic Training 1 as well.

For reference, this class is today too.

“Ugh, the muscle aches are real!”

I carefully moved my aching shoulders.

This was genuinely the first time I’d had muscle pain like this since awakening.

Muscle aches for an awakened individual!

But it was a workout amount that fully justified it.

Yesterday, we finally managed 100 laps around the training ground, 1,000 push-ups, 1,000 sit-ups, and 1,300 jumping jacks.

Ah, why 1,300 jumping jacks specifically?

‘No shouting the final count! Understood?’

—Because that’s what the red cap—no, the professor—said. But as always, there’s always someone who shouts the final count.

‘Are you out of your mind?!’

Every time someone shouted the final count, our jumping jacks increased by 100.

It was only after doing exactly 1,300 that all of Class F could finally come to their senses.

“I wonder if Theodore is okay…”

I recalled Theodore practically crawling back to the dormitory yesterday. And his trembling, delicate(?) limbs.

Honestly, the weakest in our Class F was undoubtedly Theodore Wither.

A protagonist in a fantasy novel is supposed to have hopeless stats before encountering his destined opportunities. That way, when he grows, people feel more catharsis.

But having experienced this insane training myself, I felt fresh pity for the protagonist.

‘So you went through all this suffering and your stats didn’t rise at all for half a year…’

Theodore hadn’t raised a single stat since awakening. Not until his status window appeared.

It’s an unavoidable part of making the protagonist’s growth narrative dramatic after being ignored, but while everyone else is growing through this insane training, he’s the only one standing still…

‘Just endure one semester, protagonist.’

I sent him a telepathic cheer and left the dormitory rather early.

“I need to catch him before class…”

I planned to grab him and go straight to class.

I didn’t know the details, but judging by how he appeared right in front of me the moment he heard the rumors yesterday, he was definitely staying near the academy.

• Hayden Tracker (Trial Version): You can determine Hayden’s current location.

When I opened the item window, a simple description and a prompt asking if I wanted to activate it appeared.

I lightly pressed the activate button. Then a blue map unfolded before my eyes. On that map, a bright red dot was blinking.

‘Is that… Hayden?’

The map showed Krangbuiyer Academy.

Judging his location based on that, it was a place surprisingly familiar to me. It was the street where Theodore and I had wandered around almost daily before enrollment.

“He said crowded places made him uncomfortable.”

I clicked my tongue at the red dot that hadn’t moved from the street.

* * *

You know, there’s a saying.

An open-book exam doesn’t mean you should look at the book to solve the problems—it means even with the book, you can’t solve them.

‘But does that apply to quests too…’

I shook my fist at the red dot that had moved again.

Being able to estimate Hayden’s approximate location with the tracker was fine. When I left the street, I was arrogant enough to think I’d find him quickly.

But this cunning system has a reason for handing out trial versions.

‘Stop moving around so much, you bastard!’

The damn red dot suddenly shifted to the shopping district on the opposite side. I changed my target point again and turned my body the other way.

“I’m definitely catching you.”

I threw out a hot-blooded detective line and ran.

In dramas, the culprit always shows up right after a line like that.

“Would you do me the honor of escorting a beautiful lady?”

“Oh my!”

And it actually happened.

Far off in the distance, Hayden and a woman were standing together.

Listening to their conversation, it seemed our setting-faithful Hayden was once again sweet-talking a blonde beauty today. Good hearing really is a problem sometimes.

I shook my head and quietly but swiftly approached the two.

“You’ll escort me?”

“Yes. I swear on my beauty, I will escort you more joyfully and safely than anyone.”

“Ohoho, you’re a funny one.”

Swearing on his beauty, of all things.

I was dumbfounded by his ridiculous pickup line.

But maybe it really is the face? The beautiful blonde woman kept bursting into laughter looking at Hayden’s face.

Right, his lines may be terrible, but his face is pretty funny-looking.

“If you would…”

Hayden smiled softly and held out his hand. The woman glanced at it, then raised her slender hand as if to place it in his.

Just as their hands were about to meet—

“Oh my, sweetheart. Did you wait long?”

I grabbed Hayden’s hand first.

At the sudden appearance of an interloper, both of them stared at me with surprised eyes.

“L-Lucy?”

Hayden stammered in a flustered voice.

He looked exactly like a playboy caught by his girlfriend while hitting on another woman, so I responded with a performance to match.

“So what were you doing just now?”

“Huh? Ah, I was just—”

“You didn’t forget we have plans, did you?”

Wow, I make a pretty good girlfriend of a playboy.

I smiled brightly enough to make my cheeks ache and looked at Hayden.

At that, the blonde woman, unlike before, glared at us with a deeply furrowed brow.

Especially at Hayden.

“What kind of person is this?”

The thoroughly angered woman spun around and left. Hayden, unable to do anything, looked back and forth between the woman and me, then shrugged as if he’d given up.

Then he quickly wiped the troubled look from his face and flashed his characteristic radiant smile.

“See you again, Lucy.”

Your recovery speed is really fast.

I inwardly admired him and gave a rough nod.

“Yeah.”

“What brings you here?”

“I have personal business. What about you, Hayden?”

“Same for me. But…”

Hayden paused for a moment. Wondering what it was, I looked at him, and he narrowed his eyes and asked.

“You’re not calling me ‘sweetheart’ anymore?”

Crazy.

I unconsciously scrunched up my face.

Hayden seemed to find that funny and suddenly burst out laughing. I figured he’d stop eventually and let him be, but his laughter showed no sign of stopping.

Eventually he was practically wheezing, so I finally opened my mouth.

“Could you stop laughing?”

“Pfft, you’re completely different from your first impression, pfft!”

Hayden couldn’t continue because of the laughter that kept escaping. Still, I could guess what he was trying to say.

Yeah, I did manage my image a bit at first. So what.

I decided to be shameless about it. He’d find it funny rather than strange anyway.

“I’m originally a bit inconsistent.”

At that, Hayden laughed once more and finally managed to calm down. He muttered to himself in a voice still tinged with laughter.

“Ah, really an unpredictable character.”

What, the character is you.

I threw out a meta comment inwardly and gripped Hayden’s hand—which I’d been holding this whole time—tightly.

Hayden flinched, then lifted our clasped hands and shook them.

“Anyway, what’s this? A confession?”

“No, handcuffs.”

There’s no way I’d hold Hayden’s hand for no reason.

Hayden liked blonde beauties, but he was fundamentally weak to women. That was the setting—he couldn’t bring himself to shake off a woman’s hand.

‘Besides, Lucy is a strength-based character.’

Could there be better handcuffs than this? Satisfied, I pulled down Hayden’s raised hand.

Meanwhile, Hayden seemed to think my answer was a joke and was still grinning. Well, thanks to that, he followed obediently and the walk back to the academy was smooth.

‘I’ll arrive right on time.’

The academy was coming into view.

At this point, Hayden must have felt something ominous, because he questioned me in a slightly urgent tone.

“Lucy, where are we going right now?”

“I told you earlier, we have plans.”

We do. It’s called Basic Training 1.

I smiled proudly, thinking of Hayden’s upcoming trials and tribulations.

After all, comrades-in-arms are supposed to share hardship and toil together.