"I don't need your money. I run fast. We'll be at the hall in no time."
The little mage gave him a look full of doubt, eyeing Lee Kiwook's equally slender build. "That's… impossible! There's… so little time left… even a ranger couldn't run that fast!"
Without another word, Lee Kiwook scooped the little mage under his arm and started sprinting toward the ceremony hall.
The little mage was stunned. Before he could even yell at him for being too forward, the scenery on both sides began zooming past rapidly.
"What… the hell?" he gasped in disbelief.
It wasn't that the little mage lacked worldly experience. The real problem lay with the damn development team.
You see, the developers had given the mage class some pretty questionable design stereotypes—pale, fragile, and weak-looking.
Their HP was so paper-thin they'd fall over from a single poke.
Lee Kiwook's instinct to wear heavy armor had come precisely because of this, only the heavens knew how many times he died early on in the game due to being so ridiculously fragile!
Likewise, low-level mages had notoriously tragic movement speed.
Sometimes, they couldn't even outrun beginner village mobs.
Fortunately, the speed bonus from his max-level character carried over nicely.
By the time the two of them arrived at the gates of the ceremony hall, the little mage's dumbfounded expression still hadn't faded.
"I'm off. Goodbye."
Lee Kiwook had only meant to give the boy a lift; now that his goal was accomplished, he didn't hesitate to drop him right at the door.
"Wait—" The little mage snapped out of his daze and quickly called after him.
Whether it was from exhaustion or embarrassment, his face turned a bright shade of red.
He glanced away and mumbled softly, "I'm Leon from Class S. If you ever need anything, you can come to me, Hey, what are you doing? Don't think that helping me once gives you the right to be this rude!"
"Shut up. I'm from Class S too. They've already started roll call."
Without slowing down, Lee Kiwook grabbed Leon by the collar and strode into the hall.
By the time both their names were called, they had just hurried to the row of seats for their class.
Professor Pedro cast a cold glance over the rim of his glasses at the two of them.
He closed the roll book without a word of reprimand and simply gestured for them to find seats quickly.
Elarion had spotted Lee Kiwook the moment they entered the auditorium and eagerly waved him over, calling him in a low voice to sit beside him.
"You got ready really fast. I even thought up a whole excuse for you being late," Elarion said with a wide grin, flashing his small white teeth.
His bright blue eyes shimmered with unmistakable joy, and the tousled golden hair on his head made him look like a warm little sun.
Tilting his head, he curiously glanced at the boy trailing behind Lee Kiwook. "Who's that?"