Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Leech King Crisis
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The A-Class students doubted their ears.
‘Kang Jae-hyeok? Yaksha’s son?’
A mere B-Class student had been helpful in battle?
It was ridiculous nonsense.
‘Trying to boost Kang Jae-hyeok’s reputation by forcing the issue—did Kim Jin-myeong worship Yaksha too?’
Older folks often praised the feats Yaksha had accomplished in the past.
It wasn’t strange for a teacher to be favorable toward Yaksha’s son.
‘What’s so great about Yaksha anyway? He’s just the father of terrorists.’
The A-Class students inwardly sneered at Jin-myeong for obsessing over a has-been and explained.
“During training, someone woke the Leech King. Teacher took command of the students and launched a raid.”
“Leech King!”
The surroundings buzzed.
A C-rank boss monster.
Not something freshmen could handle.
“They went ahead with their own raid without waiting for backup?”
“It’s just a C-rank boss monster—did they need support? A-Class’s average level is over 20. We even have two National Treasure Candidates.”
A-Class’s pride had always pierced the heavens.
They even looked down on the first-year homeroom teachers.
By the time A-Class advanced to second year, they would naturally surpass their teachers’ skills.
It was a natural phenomenon since the professors handling advanced classes were A-rank players, while teachers were merely B-rank players.
Moreover, this year’s first-year A-Class had two National Treasure Candidates.
A-Class students saw themselves almost as an active player unit.
Kang Jae-hyeok, who had been silently watching the situation, snorted derisively.
“Anyone hearing that would think you’re the National Treasure Candidates.”
“...With that smug face, you must be Kang Jae-hyeok.”
“Yeah. Your faces look rotten. Wrapping iron plates around them to hide the decay?”
“?”
“Apologize first. How dare you hold your heads high after causing such a huge mess.”
Jae-hyeok gestured toward the B-Class and C-Class students with his eyes.
“Can’t you see those kids turned into beggars because of you?”
The students looked like beggars because they had rolled in the swamp, but anyway...
Being ambushed by dozens of leeches in an exhausted state wasn’t something to laugh off.
It could have easily turned into a major incident.
But the A-Class students didn’t grasp the severity.
“You’re even more vulgar than the rumors say. Don’t make excuses.”
“Anyone would think you’re some precious young master from a ducal house. Are you throwing a tantrum because you trust the teachers? Teachers won’t be glued to your side 24/7.”
They couldn’t understand Jae-hyeok’s criticism.
With two teachers present.
Even if a bunch of E-rank monsters swarmed, the teachers would handle it, and the students would be safe.
They didn’t like Kang Jae-hyeok nitpicking over something trivial.
As the atmosphere grew hostile.
“I’ll deduct 10 demerit points from each of you.”
Kim Jin-myeong suddenly intervened.
“...Pardon? What did we do wrong?”
“Didn’t you intimidate fellow students? Right in front of the teachers, no less. That’s a violation of school rules and a lack of respect for teachers—more than enough reason for demerits. Teacher Gu, isn’t it?”
“Ah... y-yes, that’s right.”
The C-Class homeroom teacher, feeling the sting from multiple angles, reluctantly agreed.
Crunch!
The A-Class students ground their teeth at the sudden demerits.
They didn’t know.
That Kim Jin-myeong had just saved their necks.
It was then.
KABOOOM!!
A massive explosion erupted deep in the forest.
It meant the Leech King assault had hit a snag.
“This is bad...! You lot, head back to the main building and request backup immediately! Teacher Gu, let’s go!”
No matter how much of a National Treasure Candidate one was, everyone started at level 1.
They too had a newbie phase, and freshman year was exactly that.
Kim Jin-myeong and the C-Class homeroom teacher hurriedly dashed toward the forest.
Jae-hyeok and the A-Class students followed behind.
“Huh...? Why’s that guy following them?”
“Hey! Kang Jae-hyeok! Damn, that lunatic!”
The B-Class students, about to leave the scene with C-Class, spotted Jae-hyeok and turned back.
The camaraderie that had blossomed from enduring harsh daily training was stickier than they realized.
The entire B-Class threw themselves into the forest to retrieve Kang Jae-hyeok.
***
‘It exploded!’
The strategy for the Leech King was simple.
Inflict a certain amount of damage or more at every explosion timing to prevent it from blowing up.
The massive monster, a whopping 10 meters in size, began accumulating poison in its body the moment combat started.
It gradually swelled up, and when it reached its limit, it burst, splattering its own flesh and acidic liquid everywhere.
Just like now.
“Gaaahhh!!”
The A-Class homeroom teacher let out a horrific scream.
He had failed to escape the Leech King’s explosion radius in time while shielding students, getting drenched in acidic liquid himself.
His skin rapidly melted away.
The gruesome sight turned the students’ faces pale.
Even the students whose lives he saved couldn’t support him and just retched.
“Teacher!!”
In the chaotic situation, only Chae Da-hee moved nimbly.
She thrust her triple sword to fend off the Leech King and rescued the homeroom teacher.
But the Leech King was persistent. It didn’t let prey go easily.
[The Leech King’s flesh generates [Poison-Boiling Swamp Zone].]
[The Leech King infects ‘prey’ with the adhered acidic liquid.]
[The Leech King prepares for its second explosion!]
Splat!
The ground Da-hee stood on instantly turned into a swamp.
Unlike a normal swamp, it induced poisoning effects.
Moreover, the acidic liquid coating the homeroom teacher wriggled like a living creature and transferred to Da-hee’s skin.
Sizzle!
Da-hee’s wrist melted, releasing a foul smell and smoke.
Yet without so much as a groan, she sliced off the chunk of flesh where the acid had stuck.
It was a decisiveness utterly unlike her usual personality.
“Potions! To the teacher!”
Da-hee tossed the homeroom teacher to the horrified students and leaped out of the swamp.
The Leech King, noticeably smaller after its first explosion, viewed the humans on-site as insignificant prey.
Because of the squelching ground preventing high jumps, it even obligingly shoved its head forward to close the distance with Da-hee.
Stab!
Mid-air, Da-hee twisted her body to deflect the headbutt, then repeatedly stabbed the Leech King’s philtrum with her triple sword.
Without a millimeter’s error, she overlapped strikes on the exact same spot, inducing [Weak Point Exposure].
Kyaahhh!!
The Leech King wailed in agony for the first time.
[Struck the exact same spot 5 or more times.]
[The Leech King’s weak point is exposed. Attacks on the weak point will always be critical hits.]
The triple sword was a weapon focused on precision.
A sword developed to target armor joints.
Its lightweight, rapid thrusting form made it easy to induce weak point exposure depending on the user’s proficiency.
“What are you doing? Support Da-hee now!”
Amid students admiring freshman Chae-seok’s swordsmanship, Bae Eujin burst forward.
Having arrived late after dealing with the rapidly multiplying leech swarm that had been left unchecked, she instantly grasped the severity.
Shin La-kyeong and Loren.
The two who should have been at the forefront battling the Leech King were nowhere in sight.
‘The homeroom teacher must have pushed the raid trusting those two.’
Why aren’t they here?
‘No way.’
Eujin recalled Shin La-kyeong and Loren’s usual attitudes.
They had zero interest in classes.
Could it be that even this dire situation was just another class to them?
Not worth their attention?
Just then, the somewhat recovered homeroom teacher painfully opened his mouth.
“La-kyeong and Loren... still...?”
“It’s been a while since the kids went looking for them...”
One boy hesitantly answered.
Only then did the homeroom teacher and students reach the same conclusion as Eujin.
“Damn it!”
Wasting time cursing Shin La-kyeong and Loren, Eujin hurled her hammer.
Immense power.
The leech swarm the Leech King summoned to shake off Da-hee was swept into the spinning hammer and burst apart.
The other students joined the support.
“Wind’s Blessing!”
“Shield!”
Some buffed Da-hee, others stuck right by her side deploying defensive skills.
Thanks to them, Da-hee dodged the Leech King’s attacks, broke through, and landed dozens of strikes.
While the Leech King faltered, Eujin recovered her hammer, and the students unleashed attack skills.
Most of the surrounding terrain had turned to swamp, but A-Class students were adapted to swamps from prior training.
They displayed enough agility to evade the Leech King’s attacks.
However, the swamp zone summoned by the Leech King was toxic.
The longer they stayed in it, the more the students were poisoned and weakened.
Their opponent was a C-rank boss monster.
Even A-Class couldn’t handle it.
They had attempted the raid purely because they trusted Shin La-kyeong and Loren’s power.
At this rate, it was certain defeat...
Students began despairing one by one as instinct told them so.
Focus waned, and more fell victim to the Leech King’s attacks.
“Those out of mana, chop some trees! Make platforms so we don’t have to step in the swamp! Got it?”
Eujin, taking over commanding the students in place of Da-hee who was holding the Leech King’s aggro, was startled.
“Our Da-hee, why aren’t you using potions?”
Da-hee’s wrist was horrific. Chunks of flesh had fallen away, exposing bone at a glance.
Self-inflicted wounds to remove the stuck acidic liquid.
“I lent it... to Jae-hyeok... no, Senior Do-jin.”
“That doesn’t make sense? Why lend your only supplies to someone else?”
It was exasperating.
Kang Jae-hyeok.
Though their meeting was brief, she had a rough read on his personality.
The type to shake people with words.
Even spouting obvious lies like he hadn’t awakened.
He was the sort to deceive innocent Da-hee and take her liver and gall.
“Here, use this.”
Eujin tossed her own potion to Da-hee.
Overcoming this crisis hinged on Da-hee’s role.
Hadn’t this girl succeeded in overlapping attacks and weak point strikes while enduring such pain?
With no National Treasure Candidates, she and the homeroom teacher were all they had.
“Everyone, withdraw from the swamp. Link up around Da-hee and open an escape route.”
The homeroom teacher’s decision was swift.
He judged there’d be no cooperation from Shin La-kyeong and Loren.
“I’ll draw the Leech King’s attention.”
He was prepared to sacrifice himself.
A teacher protecting students was a given duty.
Moreover, this situation stemmed from his misjudgment.
He had to take responsibility.
But Chae Da-hee was the variable.
“I’m fighting to the end with you!”
Back during the infamous Paju Gate Break incident.
Da-hee had survived thanks to Duke Kang Dae-guk.
She had witnessed firsthand a single great player saving an entire city.
The image of wailing citizens joyfully reuniting with family and friends was still vivid.
I’ll become like that too.
That single resolve had made Chae Da-hee a player.
Ignoring someone in danger?
That wasn’t the player she aspired to be.
To save someone, sacrifice another?
Then she’d sacrifice herself.
A girl purely bound by justice.
Chae Da-hee was frustratingly stubborn, and
“That’s why I like you.”
She dominated those around her.
Students like Eujin, who were close to Da-hee, unleashed fierce attacks on the Leech King.
Of course, not all students were like that.
Over half turned and fled without looking back.
With more buying time, escaping was easy.
From the homeroom teacher’s perspective, it was the worst development.
He’d aimed to save all students by sacrificing himself alone, but now nearly 10 had lost their chance forever.
“I’m so ashamed...”
He should have just told them to hold out together until backup arrived.
But regrets were too late.
The homeroom teacher and remaining students focused on battle, but...
‘This won’t work.’
‘No chance of winning.’
Courage alone couldn’t overcome the crisis.
The remaining students quickly grew tearful.
The Leech King, true to boss monster form, refused to fall, while their wounds only mounted.
Potions had run out long ago.
The gravest issue was mana depletion. They couldn’t use skills anymore.
And.
“Ah.”
The Leech King’s body swelled once more.
Harbinger of the second explosion.
Acidic liquid would pour again.
It’s over.
The moment students envisioned death, their minds went blank.
“Should I awaken?”
An unfamiliar boy dropped right before their eyes.
Muttering something incomprehensible, he leaned his upper body forward dramatically,
Shing-!
The sight of him drawing his blade was beautifully clean, wondrously swift.
Splat!
Dozens of lead weights dropping from the boy’s body sank into the swamp unnoticed by anyone.
Mesmerized by the dark sword flash that precisely pierced and sliced the tiny weak point Da-hee had created.