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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Knowledge of the Future (2)
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Among the terms derived from strategy games, there's one called [Nalbil].
On broadcasts, they say it's short for 'sharp build,'
But if you actually look at the etymology, it's an abbreviation of 'free win build.'
It was modified like that because 'free win' was a bit crude to use on broadcast.
Essentially, a Nalbil primarily targets and exploits blind spots in game balance, bugs, or flaws in patterns.
It's about leveraging those extracted weaknesses to achieve maximum efficiency with minimal resources.
In other words, it means devising a strategy that makes you go, 'Wait, that actually works?'
Naturally, *Velvet School Life!* also had its share of cheese strategies.
Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounded.
In *Velvet School Life!* combat, players could control a total of three aspects:
Character movement paths.
Item usage order.
Skill activation.
Of these, 'character movement paths' and 'item usage order' had to be pre-set in the preparation screen before entering combat.
Ultimately, the only thing players could directly control during combat was each character's skill activation!
This was a limitation stemming from the fact that players couldn't simultaneously control all characters in a party.
So, what about the rest of the combat system?
You simply left it to each character's AI.
Since the AI automatically carried out combat and players merely observed, cheese strategies in *Velvet School Life!* often relied heavily on luck.
It was practically a 'prayer meta,' where you just hoped your characters would make intelligent decisions.
It was also a game notorious for numerous retries due to that luck factor.
'That's why most players would empty their wallets to pull top-tier characters, deck them out with powerful items and resources, and just brute-force their way through with sheer damage... Even the 'smart' ones only bothered with elemental counters and optimizing skill timings.'
But unlike those with heavy wallets, I, with my lighter one,
Always had to dedicate myself to perfecting cheese strategies.
*
Called forward by the instructor, I stared at the holographic window floating before me, my face blank with surprise.
Familiar control keys, a familiar skill window, familiar items, familiar path designation.
An utterly recognizable interface.
A tremor ran through my soul, deep within my chest.
'...It's *Velvet School Life!*'
Not the world I'd been transmigrated into, but *Velvet School Life* as a game.
It had manifested as reality before my very eyes.
'*Velvet School Life!* I could play it here too...?'
To think that playing this game was even a regular subject in the academy.
A world where the fantasy of 'getting into college by playing games,' something someone had idly dreamed about in school, had become a reality.
It was almost as if this situation had been prepared just for me.
If I'd known it was this kind of class, I never would have dozed off.
I even resented having accidentally fallen asleep due to the fatigue accumulated from the previous class.
'Ah, it's been a long time.'
I placed my hand on the interface and gently closed my eyes.
'This cool, weighty sensation.'
The countless days of hardship, where I'd had to struggle with my body rather than my fingers after being transmigrated into the game, flashed through my mind.
It wasn't that I disliked the time spent laughing and talking with the characters I'd cherished in the game, who had now appeared before my very eyes.
But the moments spent as a gamer were also a part of me.
How could I possibly resist when such a gift had been dropped right into my lap?
'Yes, it's time to return.'
To the *Velvet School Life!* player.
The official community member.
The renowned cheese-strategy optimizer.
I instinctively knew it was time to revert to my online persona: [Kimchi Cream Pasta].
I slowly half-opened my eyes and scanned the given information.
First, the types of monsters I had to face.
'Hmm, the enemy monsters are a Blade Angler, Spider Lord, Fire Wolf, and Water Elemental? Oh, they must have deliberately combined these specific monsters.'
Quite an intriguing enemy combination.
With this, I could pull off something quite interesting.
Next, the terrain.
'This is a basin terrain, isn't it? And only one path? Ha, well, that changes everything. With this, a full HP run might even be possible!'
Finally, the status windows of the given characters and the item list.
In terms of raw numbers, the stats were woefully insufficient against four A-grade monsters, but I actually furrowed my brow.
'Ugh, there's no need to give me *this* many items...'
Honestly, kids these days just don't know the value of consumable items.
As the information registered, several simulations ran through my mind.
The enemies' movement paths, attack patterns, and the optimal way to achieve maximum efficiency were vividly laid out before my eyes.
I moved my fingers, starting with the character placements.
'First, it's best to put the healers right at the front. Their aggro value is the lowest, after all. And place the damage dealers in the back, and the tank... not needed. Yeah, you, go spin around over there.'
Tap.
Tap.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
It was a formation that anyone else would call absurd, but I was confident it would yield the absolute best efficiency.
Next, I removed all the held items.
'Handing out items like this is for noobs.'
Honestly, it wasn't my account, and there was nothing to lose by just using them, but still.
'The Blade Angler is at the very front. First, let them pass... And the ones following behind are the Spider Lord and Fire Wolf. So, hit them with just enough damage from the side, and dodge. If I do this...'
Tap, tap.
My fingers moved quickly, predicting the enemies' attack ranges and designating the healers' movement paths.
I didn't adjust the damage dealers. They'd be blocked by the healers anyway.
'So, like this... Medic Hill Choke Point complete!!!'
I nodded with satisfaction at the perfectly orchestrated plan.
In truth, while I called it a 'Medic Hill Choke Point,' it was actually a method of instigating a fight among the monsters themselves.
Of course, it was a strategy where if the movement path was off by even a single step, the healers could instantly become mincemeat.
Well, if I couldn't even pull this off, I'd have to give up my title as 'Cheese Strategy Master' and my handle, [Kimchi Cream Pasta].
The enemies' inherent compatibility was perfectly structured to inflict damage on each other, making the strategy incredibly easy to devise.
'The instructor must have envisioned this exact scenario from the start. As expected, a Velvet Hunter Academy instructor is on another level.'
The instructor of this class. I quite liked him.
'Even if giving too many items was a bit of a noob move. This much is excellent.'
A fellow cheese-strategy optimizer. And even a man.
I felt my favorability towards him rapidly blossoming, as if I'd met a kindred spirit who truly understood.
I turned my head and flashed a wide grin at the instructor, whose expression remained stern.
* * *
'...This actually works?'
Park Jin-soo, the instructor in charge of the 'Understanding Position Formations and Organization' class.
As he watched the holographic window before him, his usually stern face hardened even further.
What he had originally intended to teach in this class was the correlation between monsters: strategies utilizing terrain and items.
Tanks would lead the charge, and healers would focus their heals on the tanks.
Then, using their respective skills, they would herd the monsters into a single spot.
Next, everyone would use the 'acidic liquid' item they were equipped with.
While all the monsters were in disarray, they would pull the tanks and healers back.
He had programmed it so that by utilizing the terrain advantage and having only the damage dealers face the enemies, they could barely eke out a victory.
A problem that was quite difficult, but solvable if one thought deeply.
In other words, this problem had a predetermined answer.
'He induced infighting among the monsters...'
Yes, it was true that he had placed monsters that influenced each other.
But that was meant to sustain the confusion once it arose,
Not to make the enemies self-destruct in this manner.
However, it was actually unfolding before his eyes.
The healers drew the aggro of each monster, treading a perilous path where a single misstep meant certain danger, then returned to the top of the hill.
The result.
The monsters began fighting each other.
To prevent any single monster from overwhelmingly winning, the healers managed the enemies' health from atop the hill.
The damage dealers, hidden behind, used their skills with flawless precision the moment the enemies attacked each other, chipping away at the monsters' health without drawing aggro.
It was as if the two healers had become tanks, while the damage dealers launched a one-sided assault from the rear!
What's more, since the healers were meticulously adjusting the monsters' health to be equal, they would likely all fall simultaneously in the end.
Zero damage taken.
The tank, who should have been mitigating their damage, was simply spinning around by himself far in the distance.
'...What in the world.'
A chilling shiver ran down his spine.
Park Jin-soo looked at the student standing beside him with eyes that saw an unfathomable being.
Then the male student turned his head and slowly curved his lips into a wide, unsettling grin.
A chill—
'...!'
Only then did Park Jin-soo realize that the male student he had called forward had a somewhat unusual appearance.
Hadn't it been said that there was a male student that monstrous woman had her eyes on?
A very handsome male student, at that, with black hair and black eyes.
Then the instructor's gaze fell to the back of his hand.
'Subspace Tattoo...!'
That male quota student who was said to have cleared out the demons right after admission!
'The Butcher Dog...!'
Instantly, cold sweat beaded on Park Jin-soo's forehead.
*
—Groooowl...
—Grrr...
—Graaaah...
—Kerrr...
Finally, the four A-grade monsters, their health depleted by both their own infighting and the damage dealers' attacks, simultaneously collapsed before his eyes.
Jin Yu-ha had created a scenario where only the monsters self-destructed, without even a single sliver of health being depleted from his party.
At the sight, the students murmured amongst themselves, wondering if this was how the class was originally meant to be solved.
Shin Se-hee rubbed her arm, a chilling shiver running through her.
'...This is it, the knowledge of the future!'