Midterm Exam (4)
Team Leader?
I nodded slowly as the extra-looking girl pointed at me.
“Yeah. Since we have to conquer the dungeon as one team, we’ll need someone to quickly figure out the situation and issue orders.”
Right before entering the dungeon, we’d been chosen as a team, so it was a mess trying to coordinate. The academy treated it as part of the evaluation—how well we worked together in a short time, even though we didn’t know each other’s abilities yet.
So if I led the kids well, I’d easily rack up extra points.
Yeah, that’s what I’m aiming for—extra points. Team scores and individual scores are separate.
“If that’s the case, then…”
Seo Nari glanced at my face with a sideways glance.
I didn’t like taking direct orders from anyone except Yu Seolhyeon, but I’d teamed up with her during the practice evaluation, and thanks to my plans and command skills back then, we’d done well. It was only natural for her to pick me now.
After all, Seo Nari wasn’t the type who liked to think things through.
“Well, isn’t she better? She’s surprisingly smart and reliable.”
“Hmm…”
Eventually a male student spoke up in a slightly blunt voice, sounding doubtful.
Ah, of course it’s him.
I knew it. There was no way Lee Siwoo would stay quiet.
You’re not the type who likes taking orders from someone, like Seo Nari.
“This Jinhyuk guy? We heard our class’s top student is basically at the bottom of the admission rankings. Why should we listen to someone like him?”
“Hey. Who cares if he got in at the bottom or not? What the operator needs is knowledge and situational judgment.”
It was Lee Jung-hoon from Class 6.
Probably ranked twenty-ninth in the new-student rankings.
Son of a prominent clan, full of pride.
So he was unhappy.
He was forced to listen to an order he’d never heard before.
And this guy harbors some rivalry toward Seo Nari in the settings…She might not like me being praised by him.
In short, he was the kind of person who couldn’t be talked around in a short time.
Even if I spun some story about actually clearing the Yeongdeung Mountain dungeon in real life, it would just make him more stubborn.
Well, that was fine.
I hadn’t planned on convincing him with words anyway.
Showing him with actions would be better.
“Why don’t you let me give the orders instead? Then you all can just—”
Lee Jung-hoon’s words cut off suddenly.
Because we spotted a dark, shadowy figure writhing on the wall deep inside the cave.
Of course it would appear here.
“T-that’s… what is that?”
“It’s… moving?”
“I think I saw something like that in class.”
“Damn, everyone get ready for battle!”
The kids took up combat stances while still looking flustered.
“Kiiiii, kiiiii.”
The monster’s name was Shadow Watcher.
It looked like a devil.
It was a pretty annoying artificial monster.
Still, the kids seemed to have no idea what it was called.
I’d given a short explanation about monster biology in class.
“Ah, ouch! This doesn’t work at all?”
The first one to throw a punch was the hot-blooded Seo Nari, but the Shadow Watcher barely flinched. It just swayed unsteadily, like someone pounding wet clay with a fist.
Because its physical and magical resistance were both high, ordinary attacks did almost nothing.
It was the perfect sandbag.
“I heard that monster is called Shadow Watcher. It has high physical resistance.”
“P-physical resistance…? Then, then how?”
A timid-looking girl made a sad face.
The kids kept moving around and testing attacks on the Shadow Watcher, but it did nothing. They just bit their lower lips hard.
“No choice. Kids, fall back for now…”
Right as Lee Jung-hoon was about to call a retreat, I stepped forward with an arrow already nocked.
“Wait.”
“What?”
Did they realize why I had quietly led them all the way here without any convincing words? To show the kids.
Directly.
These kinds of people only get convinced by results, not words.
“Hey, that kind of attack won’t—”
No.
I ignored him and fired the bow.
At the left lower abdomen of the Shadow Watcher.
Then…
“Kii, kiiyik? Kiiiiiiiii?!”
The Shadow Watcher, which had withstood Seo Nari and Lee Jung-hoon’s attacks, let out a cry.
Good, it hit.
“H-huh?”
Lee Jung-hoon looked a little surprised.
I aimed an arrow infused with mana straight into the mouth of the screaming Shadow Watcher.
Thanks to the relic’s power, I could concentrate a huge amount of mana in one shot.
The arrow shot into its mouth with a shuk!
Then it exploded with a bang! and spewed out murky liquid before collapsing with a thud.
“……”
Two attacks and the monster was down.
The one Seo Nari and Lee Jung-hoon couldn’t damage.
“……W-what? How?”
“It’s the Shadow Watcher.”
I pointed at the fallen monster and continued.
“I know, but—”
“It has high physical and magical resistance, but there’s a core inside the skin on the left lower abdomen. When concentrated there, any attack causes massive pain.”
“Eh…?”
“Of course that alone isn’t enough, but the Shadow Watcher is tough against external attacks. Its internal ones are very weak. Plus, the mouth has a vital point.”
“You shot an arrow into its mouth while it was screaming in pain?”
“Yeah. With a mana-infused arrow, it should’ve been enough to bring it down.”
According to the settings, it was a fake monster created to test the kids, so it was designed to fall easily if its weak point was hit perfectly.
“……You knew that all along?”
“Of course. I memorized almost every monster-related book and textbook. I even looked up and read some papers.”
“W-what… really?”
Yeah, of course I was lying.
When would I have time to read papers?
But saying it made me seem cooler, right?
“Besides, this isn’t a real battle—it’s a test. The monsters’ weak points are probably obvious. We can clear it.”
Yes, it was a test.
This dungeon conquest was a test.
Not just using brute force, but testing whether we studied theory hard by forcing monsters with clear weak points to appear.
And I knew every monster’s weak point here.
Where to hit, how to hit, and exactly how much.
“Ah, you really… are him…? I was a little unsure at first.”
“Huh?”
“I heard there’s an academy student who actually cleared a real dungeon with the Gaonnuri Clan members….”
The timid girl continued, looking thoughtful.
“Knowing almost all the monsters’ weak points is amazing… Sister Seowoo praised you a lot….”
Wait, was this guy friends with Han Seowoo?
“Wait, hero rescue? Dungeon conquest? …Who is that?”
“Ah. You didn’t know? This guy actually cleared a real dungeon. Apparently he did really well.”
“……”
Lee Jung-hoon swallowed hard at Seo Nari’s words.
He realized belatedly that I was participating in a dungeon conquest that even professional heroes had failed, which made me look even more impressive.
It didn’t work if you bragged yourself. It only gained real weight when told through a third party.
Good. The momentum was on my side.
Time to use this opportunity.
“Kids, how about letting me take the leader role?”
I looked over the faces of the group and said.
Seo Nari and Lee Jung-hoon were the only ones I knew; the other two were extras, but it didn’t matter. Those two alone were enough to handle.
“If you follow my orders, I’ll promise you one thing.”
Don’t hesitate or sound uncertain at a time like this.
Speak with the confidence and certainty only someone can.
“We’ll clear the dungeon faster than you think.”
I immediately looked at Lee Jung-hoon and said.
“I’ve actually cleared a real dungeon before. Will you trust me once?”
“……”
Lee Jung-hoon stared at me silently for a moment, then exhaled with a ha.
It was silent agreement.
Yes, he had real experience, and he’d just seen me bring down the Shadow Watcher. No matter what, he had nothing left to say.
The other kids looked at me with fresh trust after that display.
……A little time passed, but it doesn’t matter.
I was too far ahead for the first test to lose to anyone else, even if I wanted to.
Really.
***
Jin Soyeon finished the dungeon conquest.
She had safely completed the first midterm exam of the two-week trial.
But…
“Haa… so I still didn’t make it into the top ranks, huh.”
She stared at the 3D screen in the lecture hall where the students waited and muttered to herself.
The screen showed the real-time ranking of students who cleared the dungeon fastest—1st through 10th.
I’d worked hard, but I still hadn’t made it into the top.
The academy had balanced the teams, so I’d expected more.
“1st place is Siwoo, as expected. Impressive.”
1. Dungeon clear time 37 minutes 9 seconds. Lee Siwoo, Park Sung-woon, Lee Han-gyeong, Choi Ju-won, Kim Oh-ho.
2. Dungeon clear time 37 minutes 43 seconds. Kang Daehan, Lee Jeong-jeol, Daehan-ul, Oh Su-yeon, Lee Han-bom.
3. ……
37 minutes?
Of course it was Siwoo.
My team with Jinhyuk had taken almost an hour…
“Seolhyeon’s in 5th.”
I felt a little irritated for no reason.
Of course I couldn’t match her individual score, but this was a team event.
I could’ve done much better.
“Whoa, it’s Siwoo! 37 minutes? How did they clear so fast?”
“Siwoo’s team got a bus. A bus. Siwoo rides the bus, he’s so cool.”
“I wish I could’ve been on his team. I would’ve cleared it in no time.”
Many girls around Siwoo were fawning.
“Ah, Daehan, too bad. Your teammates kept tripping you up and you couldn’t get 1st.”
“Doesn’t matter. Team ranking is just for fun. We’ll show them in the ranking event anyway.”
“Yeah, right? No matter how cool Siwoo is, he can’t beat us Daehan in 1v1!”
Kang Daehan was chatting loudly with the surrounding people too.
……Both of them are amazing. 30s?
I could tell the difference in level between me and them.
“Oh? Soyeon, looks like you didn’t make it into the top?”
“……What? Are you trying to say something?”
“No, just showing off.”
“……”
Yu Seolhyeon smiled sweetly, and I bit my lower lip a little. Unlucky, Yu Seolhyeon.
Yeah, she was 5th, right?
Of course the rank was just for dungeon clear time; actual individual scores depended on how you performed in the dungeon, but a high rank was never bad.
“Hng. Is Jinhyuk’s team still going? What rank do you think they’ll be?”
“It sounds like you’re sure Jinhyuk will make it into the top.”
“Who knows? Hehe. I’m looking forward to it too.”
Yu Seolhyeon gave an ambiguous smile.
That smile was secretly irritating.
Acting like she knew everything.
Maybe Jinhyuk will score way higher than expected…
At that moment.
“Eh? Eh? Hey, look! The ranks changed? Eh? Eh? What the hell?”
“Wait, is that for real?”
“Eh? Siwoo overtook?”
“No? Who?”
The kids suddenly started murmuring.
They couldn’t hide their shock at the unexpected fact.
Curious, Jin Soyeon and Yu Seolhyeon turned their heads.
The 3D screen had changed.
All the ranks in the top 10 had dropped.
That meant
A new 1st place had been born.
- ding ding!
1. Dungeon clear time 25 minutes 15 seconds. Seo Nari, Lee Jung-hoon, Park Su-yoon, Chae Yeon-soo, Lee Jinhyuk.
2. Dungeon clear time 37 minutes 9 seconds. Lee Siwoo, Park Sung-woon, Lee Han-gyeong, Choi Ju-won, Kim Oh-ho.
3. Dungeon clear time 37 minutes 43 seconds. Kang Daehan, Lee Jeong-jeol, Daehan-ul, Oh Su-yeon, Lee Han-bom.
“……2nd, 25 minutes?”
Jin Soyeon’s eyes widened in shock.
No way. Really?
The team that had proudly taken 1st with a huge gap was Jinhyuk’s team.
“Jinhyuk. You’re not hiding it anymore?”
Yu Seolhyeon chuckled, amused.