Chapter 2. Cube (1)
Today is the day I start my classes at Cube, so I'm glad I'm finally getting out of this dirty little apartment.
If I had known that waiting two weeks could be longer than it looks, I would have cleaned the place on the first day, but I had convinced myself that it would be a futile effort given the short time I would be staying, a decision that turned out to be otherwise, two weeks is longer than it seems.
At that time I was gathering information, getting used to Observation and Reading and training mana control, to be honest, I was trying to train mana, I saw several lessons online, but I couldn't make much progress, I don't think it was useless because now I have a much greater sense of what mana is and its properties.
Since I woke up earlier than planned and went to the bathroom to shower, on the way I am greeted by the question mark in place of my face in the mirror.
I know this will go away today, but I underestimated how uncomfortable it can be to have this in place of your face for so long.
After washing up and putting on Cube's uniform, I check the time.
[6:55 AM]
It was an hour and a half before class started.
As the 'Portal Station' is a bit far from my apartment, I decided to leave now.
Turning the knob, I looked back.
My house for the last two weeks. The apartment room I only found thanks to the address written on my cadet card. I have not harbored any kind of affection for the place in this period of time. I wouldn't miss it here.
Cube floated in the middle of the East Sea. That's why it was necessary to use portals to cross long distances in a short time.
On the way to the station, I hear people's voices in my field of vision thanks to my gift, I'm already familiar with that feeling.
Only after confirming my identity was I allowed to go through the portal.
When passing through the portal, surprisingly, I didn't feel dizzy or nauseous, only a strange feeling enveloped my body, but only for a moment. Although in the novel nothing is ever said about someone getting sick going through the portal, this is kind of a cliché.
A few meters away from the Cube portal station, there is a bus stop, which passed every 10 minutes. I had to wait about 5 minutes for a bus to arrive. He looked quite luxurious.
At the end of the comfortable ride, I thank the driver and make my way to my room.
[Novice – Veritas]
Did anyone have any doubts that I would go to another class?
Before going in I check the time again.
[8:16 AM]
Great, class is less than 15 minutes away and Kim Hajin must already be napping. Even though it's useless, I put on the hood of the uniform.
The reason I don't want Hajin to see me is because he can possibly see this stain on my face, because of Observation and Reading. I don't want to reveal myself as a reader right now.
*sigh*
'Now it really starts.'
I open the door. The interior was elegant, white with no sign of dust and with three long tables arranged in a cascade.
Upon entering the room I see Shin Jonghak sitting on the farthest bench. With his eyes closed and his hands in his pockets, he probably wanted to look cool. On his side I could see Yoo Yeonha, Kim Horak and a few more followers that were not described in the novel.
Tracing my gaze around I find Kim Suho sitting on the bench ahead. I've only seen him in videos on the internet, as I'm not Korean I couldn't watch his fight against Jonghak in person. He's more handsome in person, it's okay for you to make a handsome main character, but what's the need for him to be so perfect?
Behind him I see who appears to be Yi Yeonghan.
Since I don't want to look like a stranger standing in the middle of the entrance, I give up looking for other characters with my eyes. I go to an empty bench in the corner and wait for class to start.
In less than 15 minutes, the instructor enters the classroom through the front door, he enters silently and heads towards the podium, the students who noticed his entrance were quiet, but for those who were distracted...
-Now!
With a deafening scream, all who were scattered turned their attention to the Instructor. A few meters away from me a guy who was sleeping with his face turned to the table got up quickly, in his face I could confirm...
(?)
He was definitely Kim Hajin.
"Today is the first day, so there won't be any special training, but I hope you all trained in the morning. Training is never wrong, especially in the morning when mana density is high."
With no time for distractions, the instructor starts talking.
"Now, let's start with the introductions. I'm Kim Soohyuk, the instructor in charge of all of you for the year."
I didn't remember his name, Korean names are complicated.
"Rank Points: 3850. World Rank Placement: 9737. By the Association's ranking, I would be Upper Intermediate, Grade 5."
The students' eyes lit up. It was understandable. There were about two million heroes in the world. Rank 9737 meant he was very skilled.
"I think that's enough for now."
Soohyuk seemed to enjoy the students' reaction as the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
"The first day will be special. You may not have slept due to excitement and worry, or maybe you are feeling good about being able to improve even more. Heh, maybe you're happy to see your crushes again."
The cadets began to laugh. But the instructor froze his expression severely.
"But Cubo is not the same as before. I promise you that there will be no time for relationships. In Cube, you will experience various real combat situations. Eager to experience how terrifying the real world is? ".
After a roguish smile, he starts to explain how things work here.
"Next, the cube academy is very objective. The only indicator of your success will be your grade. Guilds only look at your grade. Thus, we will classify it accurately and rigorously. If you perform poorly, you will repeat the semester. Statistically, less than half of Cubo's cadets graduate without repeating a semester. Even so, you can only repeat 4 semesters. More than that, you will be expelled. If you cannot become a hero, you will become an agent or a mercenary. I understand that this is not what you want…"
After scaring the students away, the instructor paused and scanned the student's faces.
"I can already see some faces I know."
It was the same for me.
Kim Hajin, Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, Yoo Yeonha, Chae Nayun, Rachel.
Those six were the important characters that I could see at first glance. Shin Jonghak sat down with Yoo Yeonha. As Kim Suho and Chae Nayun saw each other as rivals, they grew apart. Princess Rachel was sitting alone and Yi Yeonghan was sitting behind Kim Suho. Kim Hajin was on the edge seat of the middle row.
"I repeat. In Cube, you'll need to confirm the things you've learned so far and hone your skills for use in battle. There won't be any kind of gentle training here. Remember that."
With that, Kim Soohyuk announced.
"Now get ready. Today's activity will not take long. The first task is "Main Weapon Selection."
*
"Any weapon you can think of should be here."
We were taken to some sort of warehouse by Soohyuk.
"Stand in front of the weapon you want. We will provide you with the training weapons. But don't despise them just for that. Their market prices are 5 million won each."
There were all kinds of weapons, more than I could imagine.
"Choose carefully. Once you choose your main weapon, you will not be able to change it for at least 6 months."
Sword and spear were obviously the most popular choice. Kim Suho and Shin Jonghak stood in front of a sword and a spear respectively. 70 out of 100 chose the sword, spear or saber, the so-called Holy Trinity of weapons. On the other hand, Yoo Yeonha chose the whip, Chae Nayun chose the bow, and Rachel chose the foil. Kim Hajin was in a trance like in the original.
I already knew what kind of weapons Eddie used.
As I grabbed my weapon, I could feel a natural affinity with it. I think I made the right choice.
In my hands were a pair of daggers.