Benjamin nodded as if he had expected it.

“Good point. We are secretly working with defense contractors to create machines for dungeon suppression, but many haven’t even gone through beta testing yet. Currently, we can’t predict when or where gates will open. It wouldn’t be strange if one opened right now.”

If they could know that in advance, they wouldn’t have needed to form teams at every school.

If they just knew when and where gates would open beforehand, the U.S. military could handle it themselves.

“Training will be conducted after school. Five days a week. It will all count as volunteer hours, and weekend training may be required if necessary. College admission points will be awarded based on how much you actually contribute to closing gates.”

At the mention of college admission points, both Adrian and Victor looked unimpressed.

‘Of course. You two can easily get into college with main character privileges.’

I was the only one whose motivation was ignited.

“Yeah, whatever. Where and what do we train?” Victor asked halfheartedly.

“At an underground U.S. military base. There’s a new training facility being built using dungeon byproducts, where you can use abilities without issue. It’s made of special materials that absorb all attacks, so there’s no risk of environmental pollution or damage to surroundings.”

Benjamin emphasized, “It’s extremely eco-friendly!”

“Was that made with defense contractors too?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, just like Stark Industries.”

Victor, who had been indifferent the whole time, muttered in surprise, while I gaped at Benjamin’s words.

“Any other questions?”

I raised my hand and asked.

“What’s the name of that defense contractor?”

“Why are you curious about that, Juno?”

“Well, you see…”

I want to buy some of their stocks…

But I couldn’t say that outright, so I hedged.

“I’ve been interested in that kind of thing since I was young. It’s fine if it’s inconvenient or classified.”

At my words, Victor muttered something about me being a “nerdy squirrel with glasses” while looking at me.

Benjamin glanced at me as if surprised, then smiled and said.

“I see you’re interested in such things. I’ll let you know later, Juno.”

Ah, I really like this team.

[This is the timeline separator]

And so, after-school training for dungeon suppression began.

As soon as school ended, it became routine to ride in a Jeep with Benjamin to the classified military base training facility.

The location was one of the hundreds of secret underground U.S. military bases, and the route and process of entering the base were completely blocked from view.

We start with basic physical training, then learn how to handle skills more delicately.

As Benjamin said, the special training facility was resistant to abilities and cleanly absorbed skills.

Even when Adrian froze the entire training facility, I saw the unique absorbing material of the facility absorb the ability after a while.

Even now, Adrian has completely frozen one wall of the training facility, which is no smaller than a decent-sized soccer field.

[SYSTEM: Active skill activated.] [‘State: Freezing (S)’ is executed. Cooling everything in the vicinity.] [Activation range: 210,000 square meters.]

The cooling skill that started at Adrian’s feet filled the entire wall. And the training facility wall, said to be made from dungeon byproducts, slowly absorbed Adrian’s skill.

“It’s really amazing,” Adrian muttered.

When he froze Thompson’s house, the ice didn’t disappear for days, causing trouble.

Adrian trained to freeze targets more delicately, following advice from awakened soldiers.

The soldiers also highly rate Victor’s skills.

Since Victor’s ability is suitable for the front lines, they experiment to see if he can handle not only magical attacks but also weapons used by ordinary people.

Dozens of goggled researchers from U.S. military units crowded around Victor.

“Impressive. It can block most human weapons, not to mention goblin claws. Strong against impacts and resistant to toxins too. What an incredible ability!”

“What’s so impressive? I feel like an alien test subject.”

Victor grumbles but refrains from showing his annoyance. He seems to have some consideration, even though he looks like he’d do whatever he wants.

And as for me…

“Huff, huff, huff…”

I automatically back-stepped off the treadmill and collapsed on the floor.

For me, just building basic stamina is overwhelming.

I’m about to get built instead of building my stamina.

‘No, it’s not my fault. It’s not that I have poor stamina, the threshold for basic training itself is too high. It’s not my fault, rather I’m normal…’

Just then, Victor smirked at me sitting on the floor.

“Hey, squirrel. How do you plan to enter dungeons with that stamina?”

“Shut up.”

I had a lot to say too.

I’m A-rank, but unlike intelligence, my stamina stat is only about B-rank.

And…

“Only you and Adrian are fine after running at top speed on the treadmill for 3 hours.”

I barely managed to retort while gasping for breath.

Even for awakened ones, isn’t the standard for ‘basic stamina’ too high?

Besides, I have the body of a nerd who randomly tumbles even when standing still.

Before awakening, I was a frail weakling who would collapse just from being in the sun too long, so this is already a big improvement.

“Juno, are you alright?” Benjamin, who had been watching Adrian from afar, approached with a worried face and asked.

I barely managed to nod. It seems I look abnormal because there are too many monsters around me.

But there’s no need to worry. When I fall off the treadmill and collapse, something activates like a passive skill.

[Title Effect: ‘Academic Monster’.] [SYSTEM: The effect of the title ‘Monster Born of Academic Achievement’ is activated.] [Your determination to enter a prestigious university nullifies mental damage.] [Physical fatigue is reduced due to the goal in front of you.]

After catching my breath for a moment, all my cold sweat dried up and my breathing became steady.

Victor, who had been hovering nearby as if concerned about my panting, raised his eyebrows in surprise at my change.

“Really, I can’t tell if you have poor stamina or not.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I got up, dusting myself off, and went over to Benjamin, looking perfectly fine.

Now that basic stamina training was roughly finished, it was time for skill training.

I took out the ‘Mana Bullet Revolver’ I got as a reward from my inventory.

Oh right, I got a new active skill as a reward for unlocking Adrian’s skill a few days ago.

That means I now have skills I can use besides passives.

“Today’s skill training is shooting moving targets. The speed will be similar to a flying hawk. But Juno, you’ll be able to do it.”

Benjamin smiled and praised my skills.

He must be saying this after seeing my active skill during the past few days of training.

I just smiled and nodded.

On one side of the training facility, there was machinery set up for shooting practice.

My training isn’t much different from regular shooting practice, but there are a few unique points.

First, I don’t need earplugs.

The ‘Mana Bullet Revolver’ I got as a reward shoots mana bullets, as the name suggests. It’s not completely silent, but the noise is minimal, like using a silencer.

Second, I train with moving targets instead of stationary ones.

Some monsters are so fast that they’re hard to track with human eyes, so I train with flying targets to match that.

Third, a really important fact.

No matter how fast the opponent is, I don’t need a scope. As long as I can see the target, there’s no problem.

With the signal, a disc-shaped moving target made of dungeon byproducts flew up. Indeed, its speed was as fast as a flying hawk.

Along with a chilling sensation spreading throughout my body, my skill activated.

[System: Active skill activated.] [‘Mental Focus (A)’ is executed. Increases aiming accuracy by concentrating mentally.] [Average aiming accuracy, 99.99%.]

Bang, bang, bang!

A reddish light flickered in my eyes, and the targets hit by mana bullets shattered and fell to the ground.

All three shots were direct hits.

The reward I got for unlocking Adrian’s skill was an A-rank active skill.

It’s called ‘Mental Focus (A)’.

It was a quite useful skill.

The results were the same for the 3rd time and the 30th time.

No matter how fast the moving targets ejected by the machine were, my hands and eyes didn’t miss them.

About two weeks have passed since we started after-school training like this.

I’m still not used to the basic stamina training, but my skill performance is pretty good.

Honestly, saying it’s “pretty good” is too modest. With 99.99% shooting accuracy, is there even a need to try harder?

‘The only problem might be whether I can perform as well in actual combat.’

The skills of the student awakeners, including myself, were top-notch in the training facility.

The awakened U.S. soldiers training with us even kept pestering us to formally join the military, praising our skills.

I could only smile awkwardly and brush it off.

‘No, I don’t like military stuff. I’m just going to collect some extra points and go to Harvard. My life genre is high school, you know.’

I’m going to be an Ivy League college girl that I couldn’t be in my previous life. I’ll upload emotional VLOGs of an Ivy League college girl on YouTube and use Outstagram too. I don’t have any particular patriotism either. Of course, it’s a fictional America!

‘By the way, not knowing when gates will open is inconvenient in its own way. They could open today, or maybe in Connecticut a few years from now?’

The former is fine, but the latter would definitely be troublesome. Since it’s performance-based, I need to close dungeons frequently to accumulate more points…

‘It’s annoying if they open too often, but they should open regularly. It would be nice if we could know in advance when they’ll open.’

My thoughts were complicated, but going to school was more important for now.

It was a typical morning heading to school.

I put on my usual checkered shirt, packed my bag, and went downstairs.

My parents were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. I sat down and thickly spread peanut butter on pre-toasted bread.

Then Dad asked.

“Juno, are you coming home late today too? It would be nice to go out for dinner with Mom.”

“I told you. I’ll be late because of training. I’ll be coming home late on weekdays.”

At my words, my father, or rather Juno’s father, openly showed a disappointed expression.

‘But it can’t be helped. Everyone else gathers at the training facility after school and trains until night, so I can’t be the only one to skip out.’

For some reason, Juno’s parents raise their daughter as if they’re neglecting her.

They just accept it when she goes to late-night house parties, when she suddenly becomes obsessed with Harvard and keeps singing about it.

Even when she asked them to sign a parental consent form to close gates with the military because she awakened, they just went along with it.

‘It’s not like they’ve abandoned their child.’

Well, American parents in movies don’t usually interfere with their children’s lives unless it’s really important. I liked their educational policy of free-range parenting that wasn’t indifferent.

I smiled and readily said.

“Let’s eat out on the weekend instead. At that restaurant we always go to.”

“Alright, let’s do that!”

As I shoved the peanut butter toast into my mouth and reached for the milk, Mom asked from behind me.

“Oh right, Juno. Have you been in touch with Timothy lately?”