The Tough Guy Hides the Villainess

“I am Choi Chang-sik, the ‘Artist’. I have a basic 1st-class concept. But, I’ll tell you in advance, don’t expect much help from me in actual combat.”

Swoosh-.

The male student, Choi Chang-sik, who introduced himself as an artist, picked up a small stone nearby, placed it on his palm, and blew on it—whoosh.

What was going to happen?

As I watched with slight anticipation, the stone turned into a round candy!

“My ability is ‘Transformation’. But all I can do is turn stones into candy or transform random junk into something slightly useful. And as for the backlash of my power, I have to speak in this weird way. If I don’t, I will get a headache all day.”

He scratched the back of his head nonchalantly, but I was genuinely impressed.

The ability to turn stones into candy?

That’s awesome!

Damn!

“Hey, you’re seriously amazing! Can you change the flavor of the candy too?”

“A…amazing? That’s the first time I’ve heard that. As for the flavor, I can change it based on what I remember. It doesn’t have to be candy either. If it’s food I’ve tasted before and of a similar size, I can change it to that to some extent.”

Is this for real?

If I had this ability, I could live happily eating candy every day in a world that’s going to collapse a year from now!

I’ve got to befriend him no matter what.

“My name is Oh Deok-hee. My callsign is ‘Silence’. My concept is ‘Stillness’. I can make the surroundings quiet. The backlash is… d-dancing…”

The girl student, Oh Deok-hee, who had long bangs, also introduced herself and explained her ability.

Her explanation was brief and simple, but after she finished speaking, she seemed embarrassed, fidgeting shyly.

Now it was Geum Tae-sung’s turn.

“I’m ‘Reversal’. My ability is just to heal wounds. As for the backlash, well, you could say the ability itself is a backlash. It’s a risky concept, so I don’t use it much.”

After hearing this, I realized that ‘backlash’ referred to the side effects that occurred when using a concept’s ability.

It could make you speak differently, force you to dance suddenly, or even trigger some bizarre behavior.

It felt unfamiliar to me, someone who had broken legs and ended their awakened life as soon as it began.

I, too, had the concept of ‘Leap’ embedded in me.

Would there be some sort of backlash when I used my concept’s ability?

Before I knew it, everyone’s gaze had shifted to Baek Yeoul.

Baek Yeoul hesitated for a while, gripping the hem of her uniform skirt tightly before introducing herself in a near-crying voice.

“I, I’m Baek Yeoul. My concept is… a 1st-class ability, ‘Misfortune.’ I don’t know the backlash. I still can’t control the concept….”

A small sigh arose from various places.

Misfortune.

Everyone knew well what that meant.

“The fact that we started on a cliff might be because of me….”

So that’s how it was.

Being around Baek Yeoul brought bad luck!

That’s why the seat next to her was always empty, and no one wanted to team up with her when we were forming groups!

Could the drunk truck accident have been because of her misfortune?

Was my leg getting crushed also her fault?

Global warming too?

The extinction of the dinosaurs!?

Thinking along those lines, it certainly was scary.

It was scary, but something still didn’t sit right with me.

Are we really that unlucky right now?

Nope.

That’s not what I thought.

“In my experience, the most dangerous moment is also the one where the biggest opportunities arise. Right now, there’s no one above us at this training site. That means we have the best view of our surroundings.”

I carefully scanned the forest around us.

I had a hunch, as a scavenger, where we might find useful items.

“For the record, I possess the concepts of Leap and Emotion.”

“What, Nam-jin, you’re a multi-concept holder…!?”

“I thought you were just an exhibitionist pervert, but I didn’t know you were that impressive!”

I could see the light of expectation and hope in everyone’s expressions.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t explained myself to them yet.

In truth, I preferred to show rather than explain everything in words.

“Hey! Just follow me! We need to earn some merit points!”

# # #

“This cliff is brutal!”

Climbing down a rock cliff close to thirty meters with bare hands was absolute torture. If it weren’t for the awakened ones having higher stamina than regular people, we would’ve all collapsed by now.

“We’re on the ground! That only took 30 minutes, not bad.”

Squish-squish-.

The soft weeds felt nice underfoot, like walking on grass.

The scent of the forest filled the air all around us. The breeze felt great, especially after sweating so much.

Seo Ga-eul must be feeling this same breeze right now too, right?

I wanted to meet her right away, but since I didn’t know her exact location, wandering aimlessly wasn’t an option.

It made more sense to earn merit points first and get that special lecture pass.

Ah, I really am smart!

“…So, what’s the plan now?”

Baek Yeoul asked nervously, watching me closely.

Maybe she was anxious about me, the new transfer student, taking charge of the group project?

There’s a saying that those who believe without seeing are blessed.

“Just wait. I’ve got a plan.”

Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-.

I scooped up a pinch of dirt with my hand and popped it into my mouth, chewing.

Baek Yeoul and Geum Tae-sung were both startled, their faces scrunched up in confusion and disgust.

“Hey! Why are you eating dirt?!”

“What are you doing?”

“There’s a lot of moisture in this soil. Look carefully, there are many shaded areas. I think there’s water nearby.”

Even though it was my first time here and we didn’t have a map, I had a general idea of where to go. I had spotted something from the cliff earlier.

“Let’s go!”

“Hey! Wait up!”

Thud-thud-thud-.

As I dashed off, my teammates quickly followed behind.

That’s how we arrived at the stream.

Trickle, trickle, trickle-.

The flowing water looked refreshing.

At that moment, there was a loud yelp from Choi Chang-sik, the Artist.

He looked at the sole of his shoe, his face flushed red, unable to hide his frustration.

“This… isn’t this poop! Ugh! The smell! How could someone be this unlucky!”

He stepped on poop?

The smell was intense.

It wasn’t your typical animal poop.

“I-I think it’s because of me….”

Seeing Baek Yeoul suddenly become gloomy, I thought.

Baek Yeoul’s concept was Misfortune.

Even if she did nothing, it meant bad things would happen to those around her.

I was suddenly curious.

Why did Baek Yeoul awaken with the ability of “Misfortune”?

The abilities of awakened ones come from strong desires, right?

That means Baek Yeoul must have desperately wished for either her own or someone else’s misfortune.

Thinking about it that way, it made her seem like someone with a deeply broken character.

But!

“Luck is like a seesaw, you know? Like how one side goes up when the other goes down, when someone laughs, someone else cries, and when someone cries, someone else will definitely end up laughing.”

Stepping in poop was probably terrible luck for Candy Maker Chang-sik.

But for all of us, it was a stroke of good fortune.

“Chang-sik, can you make some candy for me?”

“Candy? What are you planning!”

“Just hurry!”

“Got it. Then gather some stones for me. In the meantime, I need to wash my shoes in this stream.”

I quickly gathered the stones.

Wa-da-da!

Even Geum Tae-sung, Baek Yeoul, and the quiet girl hesitated for a moment but eventually followed my lead and picked up some stones.

They probably thought, “Well, it can’t hurt to try.”

They’d be shocked when they saw my grand plan.

“Then, I’ll turn them into green grape-flavored candies! Hooo—.”

As soon as Chang-sik blew on the stones, they transformed into similarly sized candies.

Like before, I was so envious of his ability that it almost brought tears to my eyes.

Unlimited candy refills—what a dream!

“What are you planning?”

Geum Tae-sung, showing some interest as he looked at the pile of candy, asked.

I gave him a simple answer.

“You have a lighter, don’t you?”

Geum Tae-sung, a former delinquent.

Even if he didn’t smoke anymore, he’d still carry a lighter.

Sure enough, Geum Tae-sung pulled a lighter from his pocket.

“Yeah, I’ve got one.”

I piled up the stones and gathered dry branches, creating a makeshift fire pit.

Starting a fire was easy for someone who grew up living in a junkyard.

Whoosh-.

I placed one of the mess tins, which was part of the practice gear, on the fire, poured in water and candy, and watched as the kids’ faces became even more puzzled.

“Let’s add the pudding we grabbed earlier too.”

Bubble, bubble, bubble-.

The pudding and candy began to boil over the fire.

By now, they would’ve caught the faint scent.

That sweet aroma spreading softly!

“We need to let it boil longer. Just wait a little more.”

About a minute passed as the candy pudding concoction boiled.

Rustle-.

Suddenly, the bushes nearby shook violently, and something jumped out.

━Grrrrrrraaah!

It was a black-furred dog.

Its size made it look almost wolf-like, but what stood out the most was its unusually large nose.

Its ears and eyes seemed almost underdeveloped, as if they had regressed.

Clearly, it wasn’t an ordinary creature.

Seeing it, Choi Chang-sik foamed at the mouth.

“Kiieek! It’s a monster! A monster’s here! How could we encounter a monster in this vast forest! This is such bad luck! Whenever I’m teamed up with Yeoul, things always turn out like this! Yeoul, how will you compensate for this?”

“…I-I don’t know! We need to run!”

━Grrrrr-.

The large-nosed dog drooled as it growled.

Everyone froze in fear, but I felt a chill run down my spine.

I never imagined things would work out this well.

“Even though it’s a wide forest, I figured there’d be monsters near the water.”

In a world that had collapsed, every day was about survival for me, someone who couldn’t get into a “safe zone”.

I had to keep an eye out for monsters or thugs just to drink from contaminated streams.

Who would’ve thought those days would come in handy?

“Judging by how warm the poop was, I figured the creature that left it wasn’t far off! But since I didn’t know the exact location, I boiled pudding and candy to lure it in!”

Monsters were drawn to sweet smells, just like bees to flowers.

Even Ying-ying, the pet I had tamed, went crazy for sugary water.

Man, I suddenly missed Ying-ying.

Anyway!

“Most monsters are cautious and don’t fall for bait easily. In this case, Baek Yeoul’s ability seems to have worked in our favor. Things are going so well that it feels almost wrong!”

Encountering a monster in this kind of forest was undoubtedly bad luck.

In fact, everyone was frozen stiff, like mice facing a snake.

But someone’s misfortune could be someone else’s fortune.

“It’s pretty hard to find something useful like Captain’s ‘awesome pen’ in a forest like this. So from the start, I was aiming for monsters! Hey, Tae-sung, how many merit points do we get for taking down a monster?”

“Taking it down?”

Geum Tae-sung, startled by my words, flinched slightly.

He kept his distance from the monster, nervously responding in a low voice.

“Nam-jin, are you serious? None of us have combat-appropriate abilities. Maybe the F-class filled with Supernovas could pull it off, but even in our class, only the class leader has ever taken down a monster in actual combat!”

He was asking if our ragtag group could really handle a monster.

I, on the other hand, had a question of my own.

Why wouldn’t we be able to?

We have more than enough abilities for this.

“Alright, everyone, listen closely. The key player for taking down this monster is… you, Oh Deok-soon!”

“……!”

The quiet girl trembled at my words.

She looked as if she had just been struck by lightning in her sleep—it was hilarious.

“M-my name isn’t Oh Deok-soon, it’s Oh Deok-hee…. And you’re saying I’m the key? That’s ridiculous. I’m clumsy and always get kicked out of group projects….”