Although Rachel was right in that not many people were staring at them, a few people WERE.
Hajin was included in that number. He kept trying to be discreet in looking between Rachel and Lee, as if trying to figure out a puzzle he couldn't solve.
Nayun was staring too, though it seemed more out of exasperation than anything. Sort of the vibes of 'can you believe this guy?' Probably since she thought Lee was still injured from the gravitation room.
As for the last person... it was Yeonha. The black-haired beauty was staring with a calculating look in her eyes, as if assessing whether it would be worth getting to know Lee properly.
If Lee had to guess, it was because he was definitely the 'gatekeeper' to Rachel right now.
Though he wasn't sure, Lee somehow got the sense that he was literally the only one Rachel talked to or even bothered acknowledging at the academy outside of staff.
To be fair, it helped a lot that Lee spoke fluent and native English.
When Rachel was with him, she didn't have to strain her brain trying to comprehend the already complicated subject material and social landscape of Cube on top of parsing Korean back into English.
After all, if Lee was in her shoes... Ah, actually, he HAD been in her shoes. Back on his Earth, he had gone to Japan a few times. While he was fluent...ish in Japanese, he still had to translate it in his head.
As a result, getting to know people was tough. He had to not only parse the culture, but the language AND the person he was talking to on top of that.
But then he met an ex-pat from America and he just vibed with him the entire trip.
So...
In short, relateable.
After all, despite the fancy magitech and stuff, this world didn't have automatic translators, sadly.
Which made Lee respect Rachel a lot more, actually, since she was learning all the material in Korean.
...Ah, which was probably why she asked Lee for notes since he had definitely written them in English out of habit.
Huh.
'Note to self: anti-cheating method confirmed.'
But anyway...
After a bit of a walk, Lee arrived at the Novice Field with Rachel.
Although it was called a 'Field' it actually wasn't a full field. That was instead the name for an artificial dungeon.
What was laid out in front of Lee's eyes was actually a vast open area on Cube's island, stretching from grasslands to some forested areas and a beach in the distance.
As Lee moved towards the meeting area, he looked at Rachel and said in English, "Looks like we might have to run around a bit, huh?"
Rachel nodded. "It appears so." Resting her hand on her rapier, she said, "Though we will be facing mana puppets, this is meant to simulate real combat." She glanced back at Lee and said, "...Are you certain you are fit for class?"
Lee pulled out his spear and unfolded it to its full length, leaning against it. "I'm fine. If anything, I'm feeling a bit stiff. The exercise will help."
Rachel sighed. "...Just do not overdo it. I need someone with proper notetaking ability in class."
"Oh wow, is that all I am to you, huh?"
Rachel giggled. Then she froze and covered her lips, blushing.
Lee laughed and then leaned against his spear, looking around.
Hajin... Hm, the guy was standing by his lonesome in the distance.
Nayun was with Yeonha, chatting to that Jonghak guy.
Suho and that muscular Yi Yeonghan guy were chatting too, along with some other cadets. Probably friends Suho made since he was so friendly...
'It really is just like college again.'
It was nostalgic. Lee could see cliques forming, friend groups naturally accumulating, and the usual teenaged shenanigans.
Although...
'Wait. Am I the foreign exchange student's token friend?'
...Now that he thought about it, Lee had naturally fallen into the role of helping out the transfer student who was new to the country.
'Huh. Funny how things work out.'
He kind of felt like he was in a shoujo manga or something-
Wait.
He paused, mentally reviewed how he had acted towards Rachel since they met...
And then he realized that he WAS the male lead of a shoujo manga. At least, practically so.
'That means that Rachel's the protagonist... which makes sense since she's a princess and everything. Oh my god, that makes me the daring commoner who shows up like a storm and sweeps her off her feet.'
Lee wanted to laugh.
He had found himself inside a novel and was unwittingly acting out tropes left and right.
But...
'Well, it doesn't matter.'
...Even if he WAS acting out the tropes, that was just who he was in reality anyway. So as they said...
'C'est la vie.'
Such was life. If it happened, it happened.
While Lee was lost in thought, Instructor Soohyuk showed up and rallied everyone together. Shortly after that, team assignments were given out.
As a brief summary: teams generally consisted of five members. Those five included two warriors, one sharpshooter, one supporter, and one utility.
The teams selected today, barring circumstances like someone dying, would be the same until midterms, which was when Cadet rankings would shift.
That meant that whoever you were put with, you were stuck with them for a while.
But to compensate that, and to avoid unfair ranking padding since team grades contributed to cadet rankings, the teams were balanced by lower ranked cadets pairing with higher ranks.
All of that to say... Lee's team composition was expected. But even so...
===
[Team 2]
Warriors: Rachel Elizabeth Louise, Lee Shin
Sharpshooter: Chae Nayun
Support: Yoo Yeonha
Utility: Kim Hajin
===
Lee stared at the team roster projected on his smartwatch. '...Isn't this a mess?'
Being on the same team as Rachel was a given from the rules. Lee was basically in last, and she was Rank 1.
But everyone else...
Lee watched as Nayun walked over to him and Rachel with Yeonha trailing behind her. Seeing that, Lee waved and spoke up in Korean. "Guess we're stuck together for a while, huh?"
Nayun clicked her tongue and said, "I'm watching you! You'd better not overwork yourself and collapse on us!"
Yeonha walked over, an amused look in her eyes. "I don't believe that will be a problem, Nayun. Even if he does, I'm sure Lady Rachel will do something about it, yes?"
Rachel bristled and said, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, no offense, Lady Rachel." Yeonha let out a sly smile, shifting her gaze to Lee. "I just noticed how close you were with our peer here..."
Before the conversation could spiral, Lee let out an easy laugh and said, "It's fine, Yeonha. If I suddenly collapse, won't our scores be higher if you rush ahead to finish the mission and retrieve me? It would change to a more real-life scenario in any case. I'm sure the instructor would give bonus points then, right?"
Yeonha paused. Shifting her gaze onto Lee, she said, "...I will give you a pass for excluding my last name since you are American. And only because you make a valid point."
Rachel let out a sigh, relaxing a bit. "...Although not much, I can use a bit of magic. In the worst case, I can lighten Lee so we can carry him."
Nayun waved her hand. "No need for that. If he collapses, *I'll* carry him. I'm stronger than I look... also, I call dibs on ribbing him the entire way back if he does."
Lee laughed. "Fair, fair... Where's Hajin though?"
Yeonha tilted her head. "Who?"
'Ouch.'
Wow, that guy REALLY didn't have any presence, huh?
"Our last teammate. You know, the guy with the gun?"
Considering his one defining feature, Lee decided to call him out with that.
Nayun blinked and said, "Oh right. That guy." She shook her head and said, "Still crazy to me. Why would you switch from a sword to a gun of all things? Like, I get YOUR switch- Wait!" She pointed at Lee and said, "Why are you using a spear suddenly?!"
"Huh? Weren't you paying attention?" Lee chuckled. "I use a spear. I just decided to pick up the halberd for training purposes since we had a free weapon. I missed the memo and already bought a training weapon to use at Cube before we arrived. See?" To demonstrate, he held out his spear.
Yeonha's eyes glittered and said, "A retractable spear? Considering the delicate mechanisms... that must be fairly expensive. Did you spend your student loan to purchase it?"