I Became a Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss - Chapter 100



Chapter 100

After having lunch, we set off for the Spring Light Lake to enjoy the view.

Then, we moved to the Brilliant Cafe to plan our schedule.

The cafe had ivy climbing up its outer walls, giving it a classy appearance.

Yonghaerang and the triplets had already arrived and taken a seat before us.

“Hey! Do Gyenwoo! You’re here! Come here!”

“Do Gyenwoo! Why are you so late!?”

“Are you taking too long to eat?”

“Where were you and what were you doing before coming now?”

“Yeah, sorry for being 5 minutes late.”

Yonghaerang surprisingly didn’t get lost and reached out her hand.

As expected, the triplets put on a show.

I accepted it nonchalantly.

‘The little troublemakers found a good spot.’

It was an open space on the second floor, separate from the study room-like area.

The round table was large enough to seat at least 10 people comfortably.

“Hey, Haneul, take a seat.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Yeonhaneul pulled out a chair for her to sit easily.

I placed our belongings on one side with her and sat down next to her.

But soon, I had to get up.

“I should go and order drinks. Since I said I’d treat earlier, I’ll buy. If Haerang and you guys want to order something, let me know.”

“I was feeling a bit hungry anyway, so it’s good you’re treating! I’ll have a croffle!”

“Is it Gyenwoo who’s treating!? Then I can forgive you!”

“Geumdong, Hyung, do you want to order anything? We’ve already ordered drinks.”

“No, just order one more drink then! Gyenwoo, I’ll have lemonade!”

“Haneul, what about you?”

“Um… I’ll go down and choose.”

“Gyenwoo! Eunbi! Eunbi!”

“…Eunbi, you’re not cute at all.”

“Wow, isn’t it too nauseating? Ugh! Let’s have you try it!”

“Huh? Oh? Umm….”

“Come on, Haneul! Haneul! Haneul!”

“Gyeonwoo, H-Haneul….”

“Why? What do you feel like eating?”

“Wow…. The temperature difference was too much.”

“Let’s just go together and I’ll pick.”

“Oh, suddenly craving something sweet. Gyeonwoo, can I order one more? Earl Grey tea and affogato.”

“I don’t mind buying, but we had lunch earlier, can you eat more?”

“Rice and ice cream go into different stomachs.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Oh, should I have affogato too….”

“Can you just have that? You need something to drink too.”

“The temperature difference is real.”

“Arin, what would you like to drink?”

“In that case, I’ll have a café latte.”

With many people present, there were many orders.

The triplets, eager to empty my wallet, and the greedy Goeunbi even went as far as ordering additional desserts.

After memorizing the orders, I went down to the counter.

Yeonhae and Minarin followed.

“You should’ve waited upstairs, why come down with me?”

“It’s uncomfortable being with people I’m meeting for the first time.”

“Oh, I see.”

Minarin grumbled with her arms crossed.

Perhaps that meant she felt comfortable being with me.

I decided to keep my curiosity to myself, fearing she might snap back annoyingly.

“So, Haneul, what would you like to drink?”

“Um…. I’ll have an iced Americano.”

“…If you were going to order iced Americano, you didn’t need to come down too, right?”

“No, I just felt like having it now.”

“Is that so? You’ll have affogato too, right?”

“Yes!”

Yeonhae decided on her order without properly looking at the menu.

It seemed like she had already made up her mind.

Ignoring my confusion, I completed the payment at the counter.

As we chatted leisurely, our drinks arrived shortly.

“I’ll get one.”

“Thanks. I’m lucky to have you around.”

“Am I?”

Yeonhae, holding the tray, had a proud expression on her face as she swayed confidently.

The rabbit’s ear twitched.

I followed her up the stairs, wagging my pale, round tail, chuckling softly.

Returning to the room with drinks in hand, Goeunbi, Yonghae, and the triplets were each busy with their schedules.

“Hey, guys, here are your drinks.”

“Thank you, Haneul! We’ll enjoy them!”

“I bought them.”

“Thanks, Gyounwoo!”

Starting with what Goeunbi brought, Yonghae and the triplets also reached out for the tray.

Yeonnaneul and I took the remaining drinks after they had taken theirs.

Minarin had been sipping on a café latte since she came up the stairs.

“So, were you all scheduling well? Goeun, how did you plan yours?”

“Huh? Me? I’m still working on it, but want to take a look? Let’s upload it to the group chat and share it together. I’ll invite Arin to the room now.”

The table was cluttered with drinks, desserts, printouts, stationery, and laptops.

As I made a space for the laptop I took out of my bag, I asked Goeunbi.

Instead of making her schedule on the laptop, she readily agreed to have a bite of affogato.

I closely examined the schedule she uploaded to the group chat.

“Fortunately, player permissions apply to others’ schedules as well.”

In the game, players could view an information window that showed what each class brought to their character.

This still applied to me, reborn in this world.

This morning, through Hong Ye-na’s class, I realized the essence of permissions and could see the messages appearing before me.

By focusing on the class schedules or listings.

[Beginner Target Training]

◆ Class Classification/Credit

―Archery (Archery)/2

◆ Lecturer/Time/Location

―Go Jumyeong/Wed 67/Suyang Hall B101

◆ Completion Reward

―Acquire Skill ‘Sharpshooter’s Eye’ → Enhance Skill ‘Sharpshooter’s Eye’ Level

Apart from this.

I checked the other classes scheduled in Goeunbi’s timetable.

“You’ve scheduled well, focusing on the basics.”

What Goeunbi needed now was to strengthen her foundational skills as a ranger.

Tricks or advanced classes wouldn’t be helpful.

She seemed to be aware of it too.

Her schedule was evenly structured without any gaps.

It felt like she was revisiting the training course recommended by the Academy for Rangers.

It seemed like there was no need for my intervention.

Yet, if there was one thing.

“Beginner target practice training….”

Archery lineage lectures, beginner target practice.

It was a class that was a must to attend in order to acquire the skill of improving accuracy as an archer.

The issue was that Goeunbi already possessed the skill of the archer’s eye.

“Skill possession.”

Gazing into Goeunbi’s eyes as if calling up the status window.

I called up the skill possession category, one of the player’s privileges.

[Skill Possession ― Goeunbi]

―Limited Mana Lv 9

―Keen Perception Lv 8

―Social Network Lv 7

―:

―Natural Barrier Lv 6

―:

―Archer’s Eye Lv 2

“Her level has risen to 2 in the meantime. She said she just played around until enrollment, but seems like she didn’t just play.”

From Noble mtl dot com

It was something I found out a month ago, after the entrance exam had ended.

At the after-party hosted by Goeunbi, I learned that she possessed the Archer’s Eye skill.

In the game, it was a skill acquired through enrolling in the Academy and taking classes.

For some reason, she had obtained the skill during the entrance exam.

If asked whether the beginner target practice training would be helpful to her.

“It might help to some extent, but the effect won’t be significant.”

Acquiring the Archer’s Eye skill is not difficult, and raising the skill level after obtaining it is not that hard.

You can easily level it up on your own.

Or else, I will shape the story that unfolds from now on.

If Goeunbi had not acquired the skill, the class would have surely been helpful, but not anymore.

The outcome is not worth the time invested.

It seemed better to recommend a different class.

There was a class that caught my eye.

“Eunbi, the beginner target training is good, but wouldn’t this class be okay too?”

“What? …Intro to Hunting?”

Below the timetable were the classes she had been considering as alternatives.

I pointed to one of them.

Intro to Hunting.

As the name suggests, it was a class to learn the basics of hunting.

This was also a class that had appeared in the game.

[Intro to Hunting 1]

◆ Class Classification/ Credits

―Lineage (Archery)/ 2

◆ Lecturer/ Time/ Location

―Ho Dong-san/ Tuesday 6-7 PM/ Dimension Hall 204

◆ Completion Reward

―Acquire the skill ‘Hunter’s Instinct’

The moment Go Eunbi joins as a party member in the game is during the club experience period after the course registration ends.

Therefore, the time to arrange her timetable starts from the second semester of her freshman year.

At that time, the player must choose one of two classes with the same time slot.

Between Beginner Target Training and Intro to Hunting.

In other words, they had to choose between ‘Sharpshooter’s Eye’ and ‘Hunter’s Instinct’ skills.

‘Once you choose one, you have to learn the other in the next semester.’

Sharpshooter’s Eye increases accuracy, while Hunter’s Instinct raises critical hit rate.

Both skills were necessary for Go Eunbi who primarily wielded a bow.

Thus, the player had to ponder which skill to learn first.

Most of the time, they chose Sharpshooter’s Eye.

Because hitting the target before a critical hit was more important.

However, when choosing Sharpshooter’s Eye, one couldn’t expect high attack power.

It would take at least a year to obtain Hunter’s Instinct for Go Eunbi, whose initial performance was not great.

‘Conversely, choosing Hunter’s Instinct would perform well against monsters below Rank 2, but it wasn’t easy to land effective hits on boss monsters or villains…’

Just think of the word ‘MISS’ appearing frequently when attacking.

In the end, both options seemed vague.

Naturally, during her freshman year, Go Eunbi’s probability of death was inevitably high.

One of the reasons for the increase in game difficulty.

Of course, her dying doesn’t immediately trigger a bad ending.

The world doesn’t come to an end either.

She continues to appear in the story, but systemically, she is marked as deceased, limiting the number of endings that can be reached.

There are no happy endings.

No true endings.

If even one party member dies, not just her, then only normal and bad endings can be reached.

So, I had to somehow prevent their deaths.

“It’s a good thing that Eunbi got the attention of the sniper at this time. It relieved me of some burden.”

In this world, which is not a game but a real one, the freedom is extremely high.

It’s a world where Go Eunbi can obtain the attention of the sniper and the instincts of a hunter, and spend her first year.

With a somewhat excited heart, I persuaded her.

“If you look at the course overview, this class is ultimately about training to hit a stationary target from a distance.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right.”

“But to say this, with your skills, you can easily do it alone, right? In my opinion, this seems like a class for someone not familiar with shooting arrows.”

“Um… Thank you for the compliment, but I don’t think my skills are up to that level…”

“No, what does it matter about your skills? I think you’re fine.”

“….”

It’s not flattery, it’s sincerity.

I’ve faced off against Go Eunbi several times in the entrance exams.

I know well what her skills are like.

And her growth potential.

At this point, even if she may lag behind the people of the Tan Gung Ham or the Archery Guild, she will soon catch up.

It’s also possible to overtake.

Depending on her will and effort.

“And monsters are not stationary targets. I think it’s hard to achieve meaningful results in that class when facing monsters.”

“That… might be true.”

“Initially, what’s required of a ranger isn’t just how well you hit the targets. That’s something for gunners or snipers to do. The ranger I envision is someone who scouts the forefront landmarks, relaying information to the party at the rear.”

“…Yeah, that makes sense. A ranger shouldn’t just be good at shooting.”

“That’s why I think the Hunting Theory will be much more helpful for you.”

Contrary to appearances, Go Eunbi tended to underestimate herself.

It’s a fact after becoming friends with her.

I encouraged her confidence and waited for her decision.

And finally.

“Yeah, if you hold me in such high regard, should I try believing in you once?”

If my grades drop, you’re responsible!

She shouted playfully, laughing.

Since then, I have directly, and sometimes indirectly, advised others on their schedules.

I was a hardcore gamer in my past life.

If a class appeared in the game, I had it memorized in no time.

As a result, my words carried a convincing power.

Of course, it wasn’t always easy to manipulate them as they had their own egos.

Especially Minarin, she had a strong sense of self.

“Why do I have to do that?”

It seemed that Minarin thought following my advice would hurt her pride, so she didn’t immediately accept it.

Moreover, she struggled to adjust the balance of her schedule, which was heavily focused on magic-related subjects.

Luckily, Yeonhaneul was there to help.

“Really? Hey, what do you think, Sky? I think it’s necessary.”

“Yeah, I think so too. That’s why I’ve been doing it since I was young.”

“Ugh… Who said I wouldn’t listen!? I’ll listen too, you know!?”

With Minarin harboring a competitive spirit towards Yeonhaneul, she eventually had to change her mind.

Meanwhile, unlike others, Yeonhaneul followed my words without military language.

Indeed, childhood friends were the best.

Anyway, the results of my intervention were as follows:

[Eunbi]

– Hunting Theory 1: Acquired Skill ‘Hunter’s Intuition’

– Martial Arts (Crab Maga) 1: +2 for durability below 50, Acquired Skill ‘Crab Maga’

[Minarin]

– Basic Stamina Training 1: +1 for stamina below 50

– High-Intensity Cardio Exercise 1: +2 for stamina below 50

– CrossFit 1: +2 for strength below 50, +1 for agility below 50

–

[Yeonhaneul]

– General Stamina Training 1: +1 for stamina below 60

– Dice Game: Luck +1

– The Mysteries of the Human Body: Luck +1

– Survival in Disaster Situations: Endurance +1 for durability below 60

– Basic Blunt Weaponry 1: Skill ‘Blunt Weapon Mastery’ level up

-:

[Dragonwave]

– Understanding of Dragon Poison Techniques: Increased resistance to abnormal status (poison, paralysis)

– Energy-Infused Meal 1: Magic +1 for magic power below 50

-:

[Ougum-dong, Ooun-dong, Udong-dong]

– Survival in Crisis Situations: Endurance +1 for durability below 50

– Dice Game: Luck +1

– Beginner Swordsmanship Appreciation 1,000 Times: Skill ‘Swordsmanship Mastery’ level up

– Party Play 1: Acquire skill ‘Triangle’

-:

Well then…

Now, it was my turn.