The Diamond Extra

Outburst was a magic power explosion that shook the world 50 years ago. Mysterious entities like towers, dungeons, and monsters appeared after this incident. These chaotic existences destroyed the very foundation of humanity and transformed the planet into hell. Towers and dungeons endlessly produced monsters that devoured humans.

Humanity's science and technology lost all meaning in the face of these newfound calamities. Society collapsed, and the rule of law reverted to the law of the jungle. Survivors gave in to their instincts and lost all human virtues.

Heroes emerged like shining stars amidst the disaster. They wielded transcendental powers and restored order to the chaos. The world was reconstructed just as quickly as it had collapsed. They brought about miracles with gifts bestowed by the heavens. With their help, humanity regained its virtues and developed magic science and magic engineering.

Towers, dungeons, and monsters were all eventually designated as targets to be destroyed. However, the differences among them were significant. Towers required many people and a long period of time. On the other hand, a single person could conquer a dungeon depending on its difficulty. Towers bestowed the greatest rewards—treasures that humans could never dream of.

What was the name of the tower conquered by the guild, Apostle of All, and what was its reward?

"Minor questions like these don't come up often, but you should still know about the conquests of towers and dungeons."

Morning class was Post-Outburst History. The few sentences I had written turned into a 400-page textbook. We had to memorize tower rewards, monster names, dungeons in Korea, conquerors of towers and dungeons, and countless other facts.

I couldn't process all that information. Thankfully, it didn't pose a problem with my gift, Observation and Analysis.

[On October 20, 2023, the Apostle of All conquered the Tower of Water and obtained a gemstone.]

I had nothing to worry about since I could obtain information just by looking at something.

"Huuu…"

On the other hand, the girl in front of me scratched her head and sighed. I couldn't help but laugh as I looked at her. Lila Dawn hated studying. She could've been the top-ranked female cadet, but she had to give up first place to Rachel due to the written exams. Written exams were too much for her, no matter how hard she gnashed her teeth in mortifying defeat.

Lila turned and glared at me. She must've heard me laugh—sharpshooters had keen senses, after all. I quickly pretended to be calm and lowered my head into my notes. Lila clicked her tongue and faced forward.

The lesson continued: locations with high mana, monster behavior, phantoms on the wanted list… The bell finally rang after two grueling hours.

"Make sure to review your notes today. Otherwise, you'll cry during the exam."

The blue-haired professor with round eyeglasses left the room after those words.

"Argh, so annoying. Why do I have to learn all this? Written exams are such a pain."

Lila Dawn grumbled the moment the professor left. Still, she happily looked forward to the next class:

Anti-monster combat training. As its name suggested, we would be fighting monsters. These monsters were mana puppets, but their appearance and destructive power closely resembled the real thing. While slightly weaker than their real counterparts, they still carried a high risk of injury.

I was scared.

"We're meeting at the field in 20 minutes!"

A loud voice rang through the classroom. I turned toward the voice—oval face, gentle eyes, muscular build. He was Gareth Reinhold, Saul Mayne's supporter. The instructor had made Gareth class president since Saul Mayne and Louis Hall didn't get along.

Sigh.

I just hoped it wouldn't hurt.

---

***

After a 20-minute break, everyone in Class Veritas gathered at the Novice Field. It felt quite crowded with a hundred students. The cadets shared their nervousness and excitement with their friends.

Only I stood alone. Only I was truly alone.

"Fuck…"

Instructor Park Leon appeared just as I was wallowing in that loneliness. The cadets immediately lined up into ten columns in front of him.

"I'll get straight to announcing the teams since I'm sure you all know what this lesson is about. Unless something special happens, your teams will remain the same until after midterms."

Team formation. The cadets grew restless.

A team generally consisted of five members: two warriors, one sharpshooter, one supporter, and one free player. Warriors were usually close-range combatants like spearmen or swordsmen. Sharpshooters were long-range attackers, and supporters were people like Mira Roodes and Gareth Reinhold, who could both assist and attack.

The free player was usually a magician, but that role was excluded until later in the first year. Supporters also had the additional role of protecting magicians. After all, magicians were powerful enough to turn the tides of battle.

My role was a bit... iffy. Roles were assigned based on our main weapon. I wasn't a warrior, but I also wasn't strong enough to be a proper sharpshooter. Guns had a shorter range than bows and lacked the power of melee weapons.

[Sharpshooter (long range) — Rank 4 Lila Dawn, Rank 9 Im Yeon… Rank 930 Paul Wayne, Rank 945 James Jiyun]

It looked like I had been assigned as a sharpshooter.

"Team members will be selected fairly. Lower-ranked cadets will be paired with higher-ranked cadets."

Park Leon announced this to the class.

Cube's training classes were managed by an artificial intelligence, so there was no room for favoritism or foul play. The results spoke for themselves.

[Team 1] [Saul Mayne / Noah Lang] [Sung Seung / Jaine]

[Team 2] [Demian / Rose] [Chun Mee / Lila Dawn]

…

…

[Team 5] [Jake Hose / Izuki] [Paul Wayne / Mira Roodes]

"…."

I was speechless when I saw my assigned team.

Mira Roodes. She was on my team. One of the academy's most admired cadets. When our eyes briefly met, hers flickered with contempt. That expression disappeared by the time I blinked.

Surprisingly, she walked toward us with a smile. Her long hair fluttered with each step, and her lips moved with grace.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Ah, um, I…"

"Hose."

She wasn't talking to me. That smile and greeting were for the boy behind me.

"Ah, hello."

"Weren't we on the same team before?"

Mira Roodes spoke with an unusually polite tone for a 17-year-old. Perhaps that was her way of keeping people at a distance.

"Yes? Ah, right, haha…"

Jake Hose broke into a cold sweat after exchanging just two sentences with her. Mira was difficult to talk to—not just because of her background or personality. Many believed she and Louis Hall were a perfect couple. But that was only her one-sided crush.

"Ah, Izuki is here too."

"Hello…"

Izuki, a cadet from Soria, walked over with teary eyes. Mira Roodes glanced at her with slight annoyance before speaking again.

"Who's the other person?"

"It's me."

I stepped forward confidently. Izuki and Jake Hose turned to look at me.

"Uh…"

Izuki cocked her head, as though she didn't recognize me.

"Ah, the guy who chose a gun."

When Jake Hose said that, I glanced toward Mira. Surprisingly, she didn't show any emotion—but somehow, that felt even scarier. Just then, Park Leon raised his voice.

"There's no time for chitchat. You should've received the coordinates and monster information on your smartwatches. Get going!"

Our class had 25 teams, and the other classes would bring the total above 100. Our mission: kill the monster at the given coordinates. We would be ranked based on how fast and safely we completed the objective.

Wiing — Mira Roodes activated her smartwatch, casting a projection just above her shoulder.

[Ridgeback Cuttlefish – 38° 12' 19" N]

The name and location appeared. Mira spoke succinctly.

"Let's go. We can talk while we're moving."

---

I ran through the field.

The ridgeback cuttlefish should be just beyond this ocean of golden reeds. Still, I was exhausted thanks to my pathetic stats. The sneakers I had made last night weren't helping. Their one-hour buff hadn't expired, but my stamina had.

Eventually, I collapsed, forcing the team to stop.

"It's fine. What matters is whether or not we can kill the monster."

Jake Hose handed me a water bottle as I gasped on the ground.

"He's right. Apparently, this happens a lot when you're teamed with magicians."

Izuki tried to console me with her broken Belestian. I appreciated the gesture… but I was most worried about Mira Roodes.

Contrary to my fears, she didn't seem annoyed. She calmly sat on the ground, reading the monster information on her watch. I did the same in my head.

---

[Ridgeback Cuttlefish]

— Low-grade rank monster

— Special Features: Its main body is fragile, but dozens of baby cuttlefish pop out from the ridge on its head when threatened. These babies can suck human blood and drain life in seconds.

— Strategy: Eliminate all the baby cuttlefish or destroy the ridge back where the main body's magic is concentrated.

— Weakness: Ridge back

— Strength: Suction cups and swarm tactics

---

I received the monster info the moment I got the quest.

Ding!! [Quest: Defeat the Ridgeback Cuttlefish]

Reward: SP

Failure: None

"Looks like this is today's quest."

---

"I'll deal with the babies while you two take care of the main body."

Mira Roodes gave orders to Izuki and Jake Hose.

Then it hit me.

She wasn't ignoring me out of kindness. I was just invisible to her. I didn't register as anything—not a teammate, not a burden. Just background noise.

"… Let's go now."

I forced myself to stand after her harsh dismissal. I had a quest to complete, and thanks to the Slykers, my stamina had recovered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll go first. Hup!"

I took off running.

I was faster than usual, but after 15 seconds, I was far behind again.