Kim Hajin watched as Lee Shin interacted with the girls, a neutral expression on his face. Walking behind the group, he discreetly observed the message that popped up in front of his eyes.
> Urgent update - Due to necessity, the system update has been brought forward to allow the user, 'Kim Hajin,' to more easily navigate the fluid changes.
> Luck applies! The incredible hostility felt towards you by Chae Nayun, Yoo Yeonha, and Rachel Elizabeth Louise has been converted to mild approval.
> Luck applies! Due to your conviction, your accuracy greatly increases! All attacks hit their mark! Your Gift's proficiency increases by 20%
> Perception increases by 0.05.
> Modified setting - In the original novel, there are too many heroines who rarely interact. To establish proper relationships, an outside element has been used as a focal point.
> Modified setting - In the original novel, the established rule for team building was not followed. It is judged that, realistically, Yoo Yeonha, Chae Nayun, and Rachel Elizabeth Louise should be on the same team given Cube's international setting.
> Note: Modified settings will be provided as messages once the target, 'Kim Hajin,' becomes aware of it.
> Luck applies! Your reputation has changed from 'crazy gun user' to 'pragmatic enlightened Cadet.' You gain 130 SP.
> Luck applies! The disdain Shin Jonghak has towards you has shifted to another target!
> Luck applies! Someone who would have become your enemy has now become a tentative ally!
'I don't know how I feel about this...'
Things were working out in his favor. It seemed that Hajin had DEFINITELY made the right choice investing points into luck.
But...
'Modified settings? And what's with that last line...?'
Was it talking about Lee Shin? No, since it mentioned characters by name, it would have mentioned him. Was it because it was still up in the air?
Either way...
'I'm in a slippery spot...'
He had definitely gotten a windfall of SP from all of this. But it was also definitely a result of a 'trade.'
Hajin didn't know why.
But for some reason, he felt like the future had suddenly gotten a lot more complicated-
'Wait.'
Hajin watched Lee interact with Rachel, Nayun, and Yeonha again. As he did... he got a bad feeling.
'...I've seen this setup.'
It was early on in the story. A friend group that was joined together by one person.
If that person vanished...
And since Lee Shin was an 'extra'...
'...I should keep an eye on him.'
Not because he was suspicious... Though he DEFINITELY was.
But mostly because...
'He feels like the competent tutorial NPC who vanishes at the end of Disc 1...'
...Hajin had the vague sense that the world was out to get that guy.
===
Hajin excused himself early, leaving to attend to some private business.
Lee didn't force him to stay and chat. Instead, he focused on Rachel, Nayun, and Yeonha... mostly because they had dragged him to lunch and to 'talk...' which was mostly an interrogation.
Cube's cafeteria, lunch time.
Since it was Nayun's idea, she had paid for everyone's lunch and then sat everyone down at a table in the corner of the cafeteria.
"So." Nayun pointed her fork at Lee after having just eating a bite of her salad. "What's the deal with you? Really."
From beside her, Yeonha nodded and said, "Yes. Lee... you clearly are more capable than your rank indicates. If that Hajin was Rank 999, I would believe it." She paused. "...Though he IS Rank 934, so I suppose it is already fairly believable at how poor he is in combat. But." She looked at Lee and said, "You fight and move like you have real experience. And you instantly assessed the situation while utilizing even that bum- I mean, lackluster Hajin."
'Ouch. RIP Hajin.'
It seemed that despite his impressive showing, Hajin's opinion among the girls was still near the bottom...
But anyway.
Lee shrugged and said, "I don't know what to tell you? Since I lack magic power, I have to compensate for it with knowledge and skill."
It was the truth... even if not the whole truth.
Lee Shin's memories had pretty much melded with Lee's at this point. And while Lee had been leveraging his own knowledgebase, the combat instincts weren't fully his own. Lee Shin had also been a disciplined and devout student of tactics and combat.
Lee distinctly had memories of that guy... or rather, 'himself' playing back countless reels of Heroes fighting against monsters and annotating potential weakpoints and attack strategies.
Seated to Lee's right, Rachel nodded and said, "That is true... Taken to the extreme, so long as you meet a minimum threshold, it is possible to win with just knowledge, tactics, and timing. But Lee..." She laughed, looking amused. "...Are you not just a bit too incredible?"
Nayun immediately smirked at Rachel and said, "Oh~? Lady Rachel seems a bit *too* invested in Lee..."
"Th-That is...!" Rachel blushed and averted her gaze, holding up a carton of milk and hiding behind it.
Yeonha shook her head. "Again, that will get you into trouble one day, Nayun... But Lee." She looked at Lee and said, "...Were you this remarkable back in the Agent Military Academy as well then? I don't remember you being so remarkable..."
"Well, I was kind of desperately trying everything to get into Cube, so..."
Although Lee wasn't the one who experienced it personally, he DID have Lee Shin's memories of scrambling to get into Cube.
That guy had made a clear assessment that his lack of magic power would be a near fatal flaw.
So to make up for it, he maximized everything else.
The proof of that could be seen in Lee's current status, which was a perfectly balanced physical stat list. All the exact same ratio, and also all at 5, minus magic power.
Following that, Lee Shin had crammed as much knowledge about warfare, tactics, monsters, Dungeons, Towers, and more into his head before taking the entrance exams and applications for Cube.
And the result of it was Lee's current status: perfect scores in general academics, perfect scores in combat theory, above average scores in live combat, and a failing score in magical applications.
Averaging it all out barely got him across the cut-off for Cube.
...Though if you looked at it another way, you could say that Lee Shin was incredible enough to get into Cube despite lacking magic power and having average physical stats.
And it seemed that Yeonha realized that since she looked at Lee with impressed eyes. "...I see. Then, am I right in thinking that if you somehow resolved your magic power dilemma... you wouldn't lose out to anyone in the top ten?"
Lee recognized that look. It was the look of a woman who had gone thrifting and realized she'd found a ten carat diamond ring sitting in a bargain bin of fake jewelry...
Nayun's eyes widened and she said, "Holy cow! That's right!" She pointed at Lee and said, "If you have magic power... or even just the right gear...!"
Rachel immediately looked panicked and instinctively grabbed Lee's sleeve.
Yeonha noticed, looking like a cat who just found a tray of cream. A smug smile and sly eyes...
Realizing that, Lee changed the subject. "Don't worry too much about me. I've got a plan to resolve all of that. On a more interesting topic... what do you think about Hajin?"
"Tch." Nayun immediately rolled her eyes. "What about him?"
Yeonha shook her head. "That HAD been impressive what he did against those baby octopi. Thirty-six shots in the blink of an eye is incredible speed... but it's just a gun."
'...Saying it's just a gun sounds completely ridiculous. But I guess in this context it's true...?'
This world was set up so that 'mystery' existed. Similar to the Nasuverse... where Lee was FAIRLY sure that Hajin stole- Or rather, was inspired by.
But anyway, weaponry with a longer history had more strength behind them. It was something along the lines of having a deeper weight of existence making a weapon stronger... at least, that was what Cube's textbooks said.
There were plenty of historic and mythical blades, spears, and bows, for example.
But there were next to none in terms of guns...
Or so most people thought. And or so Hajin himself thought.
'But he's incorrect too.'