Student Council President Jo Arin and An Yumin (3)

Ash Monk's entire body was trembling.

Just what the hell... is that guy?

She had already secured the list of Disciplinary Committee cadets. She knew the guy's name was Lee Junwoo. But the only cadets worth watching were An Yumin, who was with Jo Arin.

Against Jo Arin, she honestly had no confidence of winning one-on-one. But even a freshman representative was still just a cadet. An Yumin hadn't reached B-rank hunter yet — she could take her easily enough. Naturally, a middle-class cadet like Lee Junwoo hadn't even registered on her radar.

And Ash Monk was currently hiding behind a nearby building. There was no way some random cadet would notice her tailing them.

How did he notice? My stealth should have been perfect...

She'd been assigned patrol duty in a relatively unimportant sector anyway. She'd cast a suitable illusion on her patrol partner. No one would notice she'd slipped away. So she'd come here completely at ease.

But Lee Junwoo seemed to have noticed her following them. Even though her holy spell for concealing her presence was flawless. It made no sense.

Why won't my body move? Why?

To make matters worse — being discovered while stealthed was dangerous enough. But right now, just locking eyes with Lee Junwoo for a moment had filled her with crushing terror.

It's just like back then... It doesn't make any sense.

And this sensation wasn't entirely unfamiliar. She had once happened to attend a Crimson Teeth executive meeting. The executives were all high-tier villains far exceeding A-rank. Naturally not a place she had any business being. But Ash Monk was quite skilled at social maneuvering. She'd managed to scrape her way in as an assistant, running errands and helping set up the meeting — a perfect opportunity to build connections with the executives, of course.

But Ash Monk had immediately regretted that choice.

I never wanted to be in that room again.

Even without drinking Chaotic, the madness radiating from them... That day she'd felt the fear that mere killing intent alone might end her life. Exactly the same as Lee Junwoo right now.

It had to be a misunderstanding. It made no sense that she'd be scared of some mere cadet. So she carefully peeked her head back out past the wall to look at Lee Junwoo.

"......"

In that moment, Lee Junwoo's lips moved. The distance was too far to hear the words. But it was something simple, and she immediately grasped the meaning.

You want to live, right?

Having said that, Lee Junwoo immediately turned away. Ash Monk, realizing the meaning of those words a beat late, frantically hid her entire body back behind the wall.

"Haa... haa... haa..."

And as the tension drained, she collapsed right there. It hadn't been her imagination. Lee Junwoo was a monster.

This is bad. Why didn't I know someone like that existed?

Ash Monk hurriedly used her authority. She was a female dark priestess of the darkness attribute, so with her authority she could freely stabilize her mental power. Naturally her defense against mental attacks was excellent too. For someone like her to be this terrified... she wanted to leave this place and run right now.

But I can't do that.

She'd already reported today's mission to her superiors. Today, when Jo Arin was entering the Old Campus with special authorization, Ash Monk's mission was to spy on that Old Campus. And if the opportunity arose, after finishing the reconnaissance, even kill the cadets to create chaos.

If I run now, my superiors might kill me.

Crimson Teeth was an organization that lightly purged subordinates with no remaining value. So if she ran without accomplishing anything, she'd die at her superior's hands — not Lee Junwoo's.

Damn it!

She had to continue the tail. But she'd already been warned. She couldn't move carelessly.

Right. It could still be my imagination.

It might be a bluff. No — she desperately wanted to believe that was the case. Ash Monk decided not to step forward more than necessary. For now, she would simply carefully observe Lee Junwoo and his party.

But Ash Monk's unease became reality.

The party was just about to enter the Old Campus.

I glanced back briefly. It was already a dark night. Behind us, I couldn't sense any presence at all.

With my current ability, detecting a villain even if one is hiding would be a stretch.

But if a villain was following us like this, it would be a problem. The Theia board of directors had given Jo Arin a map of the Old Campus. But that map was probably useless.

The Old Campus has been dungeonized for a long time already.

A zone closed off after an accident long ago. So real space and dungeon had mixed together, becoming a demonic realm. In the original work, a quest was given midway through.

A mission to help Jo Arin create a new map of the Old Campus.

That mission naturally couldn't be completed by An Yumin alone. The strongest student — and a quest that required the help of Jo Arin, who possessed the Witch's Eye. So if a villain needlessly interfered with her, it would interfere with my plans too.

I watched behind us once more. Even if I couldn't find the villain's stealth with my own ability, I had a system cheat available.

Unknown's effect had activated. So even if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I couldn't see them myself, it meant a villain was hiding somewhere back there.

It can be used this way too.

Just as in the original, someone was tailing Jo Arin. A villain who'd infiltrated the Disciplinary Committee, no doubt. I'd confirmed the name, so it was certain.

I quietly parted my lips and murmured.

"You want to live, right?"

Having said that, I turned back around as if nothing had happened. The fear debuff was applied. The hierarchy was already clear. That alone would keep the villain from carelessly interfering with me or my party.

It'd be a problem if she got too scared and ran off. This should be enough.

Ash Monk was a B-rank villain. If she set her mind to sabotaging us, she'd be a real nuisance. And the real problem was that Ash Monk was merely a smokescreen. Ash Monk was just a scout and bait. Ash Monk herself had no idea — but another villain would appear behind her back.

An A-rank villain.

Which made this a considerably difficult quest. We needed to quickly secure a map of the Old Campus and use the terrain to survive the A-rank villain. But for now, having applied the debuff to Ash Monk... depending on the situation, I might even be able to use her as my subordinate.

"From here on, everyone needs to stay alert. Even with a map, this is a heavily contaminated area. Absolutely do not move carelessly."

Jo Arin warned us like that. At the same time, she cast a spell on everyone in the party.

Fwoooooosh—

Heat radiated from her.

"It's a fire-attribute buff spell. It should help everyone."

Just as she said, a flame shield formed around my body as well. I also possessed a fire-attribute authority, so I could immediately tell how high-level that buff spell was.

As expected, she's incredible.

Just watching that spell activate for a moment raised my experience.

A fire-attribute authority, and a mage-class authority. So just being in the same party as Jo Arin, the top talent of the same lineage, was a huge benefit for me.

Especially considering my future growth direction.

Until now, I'd mainly used the Holy Knight authority as my main class to clear quests. But there was no need to stick stubbornly to that class. I'd obtained Demonic Power, a special ability with extremely high utility.

An ability that can create synergy with Demonic Power would be good.

Among them, there was one magic that was the most intuitive and effective. Evil Flame — a spell that compresses high-speed fire magic and detonates it infused with Demonic Power. For a black mage, it was a spell that required at least an awakening level of 100, like Jo Arin, to use.

My awakening level is only around 50.

So considering the elevated difficulty of reality, it was right to focus on researching and developing fire-lineage skills for now. Skills develop the more you use them — that was the original game's system.

And just as expected. The moment we entered the Old Campus, Jo Arin was startled.

"Wait. The terrain is strange. It's completely different from the map I received from the board of directors... Watch out!!"

A massive swarm of monsters surrounded the party. Over ten ogres. And their color was anything but ordinary. Pitch-black like the darkness attribute — but the surroundings warped as if light itself was being sucked into them. They were definitely Chaos Attribute monsters, not a normal attribute.

"Tch. Everyone be careful! I'll handle this!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Jo Arin stepped in front of me and An Yumin.

KRAKAKAKAKAKABOOM!

Immediately her magic staff was engulfed in flames. A vortex of fire formed in an instant. The swarm of ogres charging the party was reduced to ash in a single breath. Strength that was hard to believe belonged to a mere cadet. But even after using such an overwhelming fire spell, Jo Arin didn't look surprised.

"Damn it. We can't even leave now!"

And she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠vented her frustration. Even as Student Council President, she couldn't have predicted a situation like this — especially having led two underclassmen she was supposed to protect into a danger zone.

Looking at her flustered state, I spoke calmly.

"Let's move for now. This Old Campus... it seems to have been dungeonized."

"I-I was going to do that anyway! N-no, Lee Junwoo is right!"

Fortunately, Jo Arin quickly regained her composure at my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠words.

An Yumin was quietly following the two of them.

The Old Campus had unexpectedly become a dungeon. And a dangerous dungeon where Chaos Attribute monsters appeared, no less.

At least B-rank or higher... no, B+ rank or above.

Even President Jo Arin had shown a moment of panic. But fortunately the party quickly recovered from the shock — all thanks to Lee Junwoo's calm response. Jo Arin's overwhelming firepower, and Lee Junwoo's calm situational judgment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even in unfamiliar terrain — their coordination was excellent. An Yumin silently followed those instructions.

That way the three of them were able to partially map out the terrain of the dungeonized Old Campus.

"I'll go take a quick look around the surrounding terrain. You two rest and recover your stamina for a bit."

Saying that, Jo Arin mounted her broom and flew up. But An Yumin wasn't particularly tired. Just like always in Aegis — Lee Junwoo's instructions were so stable, optimized as if he knew everything about An Yumin.

And so only the two of them were left.

A brief silence fell. She glanced at Lee Junwoo. He didn't seem particularly displeased with her presence. But he didn't seem particularly conscious of her either.

And in that moment, An Yumin snapped fully alert.

An opportunity to be alone with Lee Junwoo like this... almost never comes.

So she had to say something to him. Even if he hated her.

In that moment, their eyes met.