First of all, it was said that there were three ways for the Siege Team to win. To win, they had to capture the crystal bead, steal the key, or find the Tears of the Mermaid. Since there were three routes for attack, the siege team had a slight advantage overall.
However, it wasn't just a disadvantage for the Defense Team. In the siege battle, there were fortress special missions. Depending on what they chose, the flow of the game could change.
But the most important thing was that regardless of offense or defense, it was too difficult for a maximum of eight people to participate.
Two members of the team would be reconnaissance, going out into the Colosseum. Essentially, everyone else would be outside the Colosseum. So, if 5 or 6 people remained to proceed with the game, having two different attack routes meant they had to divide the team members appropriately or focus on one route.
I thought it would be easy, just charging in for the siege and attacking wildly, but everything went off course. To borrow Hamin's words, it was a game that required both brains and brawn.
While everyone was pondering the unexpectedly challenging difficulty, Ihan and Haewoon threw various questions at the teacher. Thanks to them, Sihyun learned that same-team communication was possible via radio during the game. Watching the teacher leave with words of encouragement, Sihyun saw a surprisingly happy expression on their faces, given that they were being thrown into a fierce siege battle.
As the atmosphere became chaotic after the teacher left, the upperclassmen drew attention.
"Well, has everyone read the rules?"
"Let's start by dividing into teams. We should divide the members into support and attack roles and then organize them according to balance."
Ihan began, gathering the scattered people's attention, and Bandal led the discussion. The two of them became the center, drawing people together. Sihyun leaned back in his chair, relieved to have met quite competent people as teammates. Even if he called himself a Quadruple, compared to the people here, he felt he would fall behind in terms of experience.
While planning, a question that everyone had directed at others also came to me.
"Which position are you?"
"In terms of classification, I'm closer to support."
There were many ambiguous aspects to calling himself an attacker. However, considering that there were only definite healers, he belonged to the support category. With that answer, Bandal and Ihan nodded, exchanging some words together.
"We'll talk among ourselves and decide. We can change after deciding, so can you wait a bit?"
At Ihan's sturdy words, the team nodded. With someone clearly taking the lead within the team, things progressed quickly.
Thinking about whether the White Team was similar to us, Sihyun blinked his eyes with a relaxed mind. It felt like what Hamin said, riding on a bus.
"It's comfortable riding on it."
Perhaps Hamin had the same thought as me, as he raised his chin and spoke in a low voice. There was no indication that he was uncomfortable or restless for not receiving attention.
It was strange, so when I looked at him with a slightly unfamiliar gaze, Hamin, who received the attention, flicked his finger in front of my forehead. Surprised by the sudden touch on my forehead, I frowned as I looked at the boy who had started hitting me again recently.
"What now?"
"You looked like you were in a bad mood. What were you thinking?"
Was this kid some kind of animal?
Somehow, there was a strange sensation in the air. Whenever I thought about him, wondering if my assumptions about him being surprising or something like that were true, he would react like a ghostly presence, as if he had sensors somewhere on his body.
With a cautious curiosity, I glanced at him, and as my gaze swept over his entire body, Hamin, who had been following Sihyun's gaze, suddenly blushed lightly and asked what I was doing. Sensing something amusing in his tone, Haewoon approached stealthily. Revealing his ambition to tease Hamin, who had become teammates with him in front of the entire school, he clung to Hamin without paying attention to the seniors' conversation and played a prank on him.
The surrounding area gradually became noisy. Watching them casually as usual, Sihyun felt a shadow looming over his head. Baek Geonu was there.
"Why."
"Just because. I thought I might end up on a different team."
"....?"
"I wanted to stay with you before that."
Even though it hadn't been decided yet, the boy spoke with confidence. Absently touching Sihyun's hair, he suddenly spoke.
"Baek Geonu."
"Yeah."
"You seem to come to me quite often, don't you?"
"That's right."
"Why?"
Baek Geonu rarely initiated conversations with others. He seldom acted first or spent a lot of time in a daze. But strangely, whenever he was with me, he spoke more and showed various behaviors. Puzzled by this, I asked why, and the boy, who had been slow to respond, slowly opened his mouth. The sight of his red lips parting slowly filled the air.
"I feel comfortable when I'm with you."
"I feel a bit uncomfortable when I'm with you."
"Why?"
"You're overly handsome."
Partly joking and partly sincere, when Baek Geonu suddenly became serious, Sihyun was taken aback. With a hmm, he just sighed. It was ambiguous to ask why he felt uncomfortable. After hesitating for a while, when he spat out the question, Baek Geonu narrowed his eyes.
"...Then."
"Huh?"
"How can I make you not uncomfortable?"
There was honesty in the bluntly asked question. Surprised by his straightforwardness, Sihyun, who hesitated for a moment, patted the hand on his head as if to brush off the seriousness and then realized that they were not alone in this place. Since Hamin was being held by Haewoon and drawing attention, it seemed that he should stay quiet too.
Gonwoo, who stared at Sihyun with a penetrating gaze, withdrew his hand from his black hair.
"You just keep bothering me."
"Huh?"
"Why do you keep bothering me?"
It was meant as a joke to pass it off, but Baek Geonu responded seriously. Slightly taken aback, Sihyun just uttered a sound. It was ambiguous to ask why he was bothering him. After pondering it a few times, when he finally blurted out the question, Geonu blinked slowly and lowered his voice.
"Well, I guess... because you're excessively pretty."
"...."
A plain voice was heard. Sihyun, who was a bit late in grasping the situation, turned his head towards Iha Hyuk, who was talking about the team formation results, and opened his mouth, looking at the boy who had shifted his gaze to him.
Was that just a joke?
From Baek Geonu?
Not only did he not understand a single joke, but he also received my words as a joke. It seemed like the sun would rise from the west tomorrow. It was as amazing, unbelievable, and impressive as that.
Whether he knew my feelings or not, he casually followed the seniors' guidance and moved towards the A-table. I don't know if there was something strange, but I and Baek Geonu ended up in different groups. To be precise, I was the only one who was left out in Class 1, Group A.
"...Just unlucky."
Muttering softly, realizing that he was alone among the four members of Class 1, Group A, Sihyun confirmed the presence of Banddal in his group. Feeling disappointed at the explanation that they were assigned to different groups because Hamin and Banddal were the strongest in close combat, he remained silent. Then why was it just him who was left out when they could have sent Hamin to this group?
Of all people, Banddal, Seo Yihan, Kim Jaei, and other seniors who were somewhat concerned were all assigned to the same group. As Haewoon's eloquence began, unlike the lively atmosphere in Group A, Sihyun felt uncomfortable in the heavy yet calm atmosphere of Group B and silently listened when someone suggested choosing reconnaissance.
The time came to ask whether they were confident in a group battle, confident against irregular opponents, or confident as support.
While pondering what to answer as he listened to others' responses, Sihyun, who hadn't come to a conclusion yet, opened his mouth in response to the question that reached him.
"I think anything would be fine."
There wasn't anything particularly outstanding to boast about. My support was decent, my handling of Irregulars was decent, and my performance in group battles was decent as well. But most importantly, in support, it's crucial that you sync well with your partner, and since everyone in Group B was new to me, I wasn't confident that I could perform as well as before.
If only Shin Ijae were here, but he was chosen as one of the participants from Class B of the first year, so... I thought it was just my bad luck. Just as I was pondering this, Ban Haru, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke up.
"So, you're an All-Rounder?"
"Yeah."
"Is that good?"
"...."
Did that mean what they said?
I had just casually mentioned that I could handle everything decently, but after a few conversations with Kim Jaei, Seo Yihan, and Ban Haru, they seemed to think of me as some sort of jack-of-all-trades. Whether they were referring to my end-of-month evaluation scores or the fact that Ruth's name kept popping up intermittently, I felt a bit ambiguous and pursed my dry lips and tongue.
As they continued discussing their positions as seriously as if their lives depended on it, Sihyun, who watched them with a somewhat detached feeling, blinked when his gaze met that of a second-year senior who had been nameless until now. He nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, as the seniors who had been discussing where to place me seemed to reach a conclusion, Sihyun turned around.
Expecting that I would likely be placed in a support role, I looked at Iha Hyuk, who was smiling at me.
"Sihyun."
"Yes?"
"Let's join the reconnaissance team."
"Pardon?"
The questioning tone was a bit more assertive than usual. Sporting a foolish expression, Sihyun involuntarily furrowed his brow, showing his discomfort.
Whatever they asked me to do, I would just do it without much fuss, but if there was one thing I really didn't want to do, it was joining the reconnaissance team.
As it was the biggest variable in the match, it also carried the most weight. Sighing at the thought of the heavy burden, Sihyun glanced at the three senior classmates who were staring at him silently. Although he felt uncomfortable with Banddal's gaze on him, he still disliked reconnaissance the most.
"I don't think the reconnaissance team suits me. Wouldn't it be better if Ban Haru senior went instead?"
Glancing sideways, Sihyun waited for a response. The unexpected answer came then.
"Then I'll go too."
"Pardon?"
Ban Haru, who had risen from his seat, said.
Not 'I'll go' but 'I'll go too.'
Sihyun made a foolish expression for the second time today.
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