novelzi Chapter 13
Chapter 13
The setting of “Velvet School Life!” is modern-day Korea.
So, where exactly is the “Velvet Hunter Academy” located in this world?
This profound question once sparked fiery debates among Velvets players.
The game developers went to great lengths to hide any clues that could reveal the Academy’s location, probably because they didn’t want to deal with the potential headaches of having a specific region identified. They changed buildings, claiming that they were from the Gate era, altered landscapes and landmarks, and even removed station and area names from the script to prevent players from guessing the location.
Despite their efforts, a single comment from a user ended the debate once and for all, much to the developers’ surprise.
[ ᄋᄋ(122.XXX): Hey, that blue dot. Isn’t that it? I sampled it with the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, and it’s an exact match for the safety color.]
While Velvet Sla changed many things to fit the Gate era, there were a few things they couldn’t bring themselves to erase, as they wanted to maintain the setting of modern-day Korea.
One of those things was
The iconic landmark of Seoul, perched atop Namsan Mountain.
In the original world, the Namsan Tower was essentially a smog detector and a popular spot for couples to hang their love locks. However, in the world of Velvets, its purpose had shifted to observing and broadcasting Gate anomalies.
Yet, they couldn’t resist keeping the tower’s unique identity, so they changed its colors to indicate the safety level in Seoul: blue for safe, yellow for caution, orange for warning, and red for severe.
It served as a beacon, informing the city of the current situation, much like a signal fire in ancient times.
And that blue dot appeared as a faint spot on the mountain in the background of the courage test episode.
After that, some players measured the size and distance, calculated the latitude and longitude, and eventually pinpointed the exact location of the Academy.
So, where is it?
“Ah, we’re almost at Shinrim Station. Jin Yuha, let’s get off here. We have to walk from here.”
Lee Yoo-ri said as she parked the car.
Yes,
The prestigious university where the best and brightest of Korea gather, with Gwanak Mountain as its backdrop.
Seoul National University
The Velvets developers had committed a heinous act by bulldozing the vast campus and rebranding it as the “Velvet Hunter Academy.”
.
.
.
Along the main street, modern-style shops lined up, and trees lined the road.
On the street, students who appeared to be around twenty years old, presumably prospective students, walked with their weapons at their sides.
“Hey, look over there.”
“What? Wow, that’s crazy.”
“How can someone look like that? I really want to file a marriage report.”
A group of girls whispered and glanced at us. Even with Perception turned off, it seemed like they had no intention of hiding their interest.
“Could that guy be one of the new students?”
“No way. Why would someone like that need to be here? Look next to him. Maybe he came to see his girlfriend off for basic training.”
“I’m so jealous. What did that girl do in her past life? Did she block the blow of a demon king or something?”
“Hey, that’s a male student uniform!”
“What? Really!?”
As the girls exclaimed, intense gazes shot at us from all directions.
“I wonder what his position is.”
“Well, he’s obviously a healer or supporter.”
“Haa... I wish he could heal me too. I wouldn’t mind losing an arm if he was my healer.”
With a sword at my waist, no one suspected me of being a dealer. In this world, even civilians carried weapons for self-defense, so it was common for healers and supporters to have a weapon for protection.
‘This is more tiring than I thought.’
In my previous life, I had never received such intense attention. Even before the entrance ceremony, I was already attracting too much interest. Of course, with my current status window, it wasn’t as burdensome as it could have been, but it was still exhausting because I wasn’t used to it.
“Ugh, it’s so loud.”
“I know, right.”
As I nodded to Yoo-ri, who was covering her ears with her hands,
“Squeak─ Whoosh─!”
A sharp sound came from the speakers installed in the auditorium.
On the stage stood a stern-faced woman, presumably an instructor.
“Hello, prospective students. Welcome to Velvet Hunter Academy. We will now begin the ability verification test. Please line up in front of the instructors according to your positions.”
Five signs were placed in front of the instructor: [Dealer], [Healer], [Tank], [Supporter], and [Special]. Next to each sign stood a female instructor.
‘So, I should line up in front of the Dealer sign, right?’
As the prospective students began to move towards their respective positions, the instructor added something she had forgotten to mention earlier.
“Oh, and those who are here through special admission or the male quota system, please come to me.”
Ah, shit.
This was a bit too much.
The instructor’s words had a significant impact, as the students began to murmur among themselves.
“Special admission? Male quota? What are those?”
“Special admission is for those who have already proven their skills before entering the Academy, so they don’t need to take the test. You know, like Cheonhwa and those famous people.”
“Oh, right. It would be strange for them to take the test. What about the male quota system?”
“It’s because of that incident last year. Remember when that guy was kidnapped by a Gate and the female hunter who rescued him was sued by him for sexual harassment, but it turned out to be a false accusation?”
“Yeah, that piece of trash! How is that related to the male quota system?”
“Apparently, Velvet Academy was pressured politically. They were told that they should send male rescuers to rescue male captives.”
“What? So those who enter through the male quota system don’t have to take the test either?”
“That’s what I heard.”
“That’s crazy.”
‘Ah, this sucks.’
Hearing the conversation in front of me, my head started to ache.
“Jin Yuha, is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yoo-ri, concerned about my pale face, asked.
“......No, I think I’m about to be called up soon.”
“Called up? The Dealer line is right over there.”
I pointed shakily at the woman with short black hair standing in front of the stage.
“Jin Yuha!”
Yoo-ri was startled by the instructor’s call.
“You!”
I hadn’t planned on revealing this yet, but I had no choice.
“Yes, it’s me.”
I nodded slowly, apologetically, to Yoo-ri.
“I’m sorry for keeping it a secret.”
I wondered how Yoo-ri would react to my revelation.
“I’m actually...”
“You’re a special admission student!?”
Soup?
“I knew there was something extraordinary about you!”
I’m sorry,
“You have to be this good to be a special admission student!?”
Me,
I’m a male quota system student.