Hero Academy (3-40)

"…."

The moment I slipped free of Yoon Jia's dream, I checked her condition.

I'd released both Dream Intrusion and the sleep itself, yet she was still dead to the world, lost in deep slumber.

I spoke quietly to Armonia over the comms.

Armonia, pull up Go Chungshin's traits for me.

She sounded puzzled by the request the second I woke, but she still brought up Go Chungshin's traits without delay.

I combed through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠endless list one by one until I found exactly what I wanted.

…Worst possible compatibility.

Two traits that absolutely should never exist when sex was involved sat right there on Go Chungshin like a pair of curses.

And that was enough for certainty.

So what she said in the dream was actually true.

I didn't dig up anything earth-shattering, but….

Among everything Yoon Jia knew, there was exactly one scrap of useful information.

The two of them still hadn't done it in real life….

In a certain sense, that was genuinely critical intel.

Seemed like they only do it in VR.

It's because of that Perfectionist trait, I bet.

Premature ejaculator plus perfectionist.

Traits that should never, ever meet.

Those two were the kind of condition-like traits that cropped up in men from time to time. If it had only been premature ejaculation, they could probably have worked through it somehow. With Yoon Jia's personality, she would have kept trying together even if he couldn't manage it.

The problem was that Go Chungshin was absolutely not the type to endure that process. Looking at his game style alone told you everything—he was the kind of guy who would stop at nothing if it meant winning. The superiority complex from slaughtering newbies, and the competitive drive that would even throw his own girlfriend under the bus just to come out on top.

It's the most pathetic behavior imaginable, but if I were a premature ejaculator myself, who knows what I'd do.

Just imagining needing comfort during sex made every hair on my body want to fall out.

A man is destined to send a woman to heaven, after all.

I couldn't tell how far in the past the dream events were, and nothing was exact, so the Yoon Jia virgin theory was still just a theory. But seeing those two traits sitting on Go Chungshin let me be fairly confident about it.

Well, if they did it in VR, she's not a mind-skill-body virgin….

Mind-skill-body virgin!!!

Mind! To be a virgin, she must not hold more than one other man in her heart.

Skill! She must not pollute her spirit with useless sexual ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠techniques.

Body! She must never have accepted a man and still possess a pure hymen.

That is the mind-skill-body virgin!

Don't mention it….

I got the distinct feeling she wasn't thankful at all, but it didn't matter.

Well… honestly I'm not a virgin fetishist, so I don't place special importance on mind-skill-body virgins.

Just eat the virgin and eat the non-virgin. That's all there is to it.

Why bother fussing over this and that when you could just have both…. Though if she was a virgin, the rarity shot way up. In NTL games, virgins and non-virgins were usually mixed about half and half, so it never felt that off-putting either….

I'll need to dig deeper, but Yoon Jia has no real-world experience, and even in VR she doesn't seem to get properly aroused.

Yeah, and Go Chungshin seems to be under the delusion that it's better that way.

Even if you were a premature ejaculator, once the five senses dulled, the pleasure dulled proportionally. But even with reduced pleasure, Go Chungshin seemed to be practicing in VR because of his desire to experience it in a perfect state. Or maybe it was pure fear of failure….

I couldn't see exactly what they were doing in VR, so I'll need to look into that more.

That part wasn't urgent right now. As long as no special problems arose, I planned to stay stuck to Yoon Jia like this, so I could take my time learning.

I looked at the security guards and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wow… bringing the security guards was a stroke of genius.

They were called security, but the three who'd come with us were endlessly handling all the grunt work. From running errands for the Church heroes to looking after the cadets' well-being…. The entire time we were entering the dungeon, they kept doing random chores that had nothing to do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with actual security duty.

Still, you never know….

The thought that I might have ended up doing that work myself if they weren't here sent chills rooting through my whole body. I even seriously considered asking the assistant instructors with more seniority about it later. On top of that, they were hauling packs full of daily necessities just in case of emergencies.

…Wow, are those three really glaring at me like they want to kill me?

Even without being Go Chungshin, doing this kind of work wasn't exactly a pleasant situation. And there was a separate reason they were truly struggling.

Whoa… and just from hearing about it, the miasma is stronger than I expected?

Dungeon miasma.

Before entering the dungeon, the two heroes had emphasized it to the cadets as the single most important part of the briefing. For me and the cadets, it was something we'd only ever heard about in class.

Every dungeon had its own miasma, and those miasmas were said to clump together to birth monsters. Whether the miasma clumped to create monsters, or twisted space to drag monsters into the modern world, still hadn't been proven. But one thing was certain: miasma was fatal to humans. One of the reasons ordinary people absolutely must never enter a dungeon.

Damn… the kids can't keep it together either.

Not just the security guards—the cadets were also breaking out in cold sweat and floundering less than an hour after entering the dungeon. The only ones keeping their heads straight here were the two heroes, Yoon Jia, and me.

The female hero among them opened her mouth with a bright smile.

"How is it? Holding up?"

"Yes… still manageable."

Song Ara, who looked the most okay among the cadets, spoke up to show confidence. But separate from the confidence, she couldn't hide how worn out she looked.

"It's hard because it's your first time. But once you get used to it, you'll build some immunity and it becomes doable. Keep working at getting used to it."

"That's right. People don't elevate you to heroes just for graduating from the Hero Academy."

The calm man hardened his expression and pressed the cadets with a quiet tone. The man and woman, who seemed to have opposite personalities, calmly took down monsters while continuing to progress through the dungeon.

Man… if the miasma in a low-level dungeon like this is this bad, bigger ones must be no joke.

Yeah, once I have a bit of leeway, I'll pick them up later.

The only reason the cadets and security guards had made it this far was thanks to Yoon Jia. She kept casting status ailment removal on the guards and cadets, which was the only thing letting them hold on.

No wonder the Church reigns as the top guild.

My respect for the Church was something I felt through experiencing this situation right now. Most of the Church's personnel were recovery mages and healers—a group that scooped up every recovery department graduate from the Hero Academy into their ranks. I was starting to understand why they were so obsessed with the recovery department… and why they made astronomical donations to the Academy….

You could endure dungeon miasma once you got used to it, but you never became completely immune. Even the heroes currently strolling along at the front humming would occasionally desperately need a recovery mage's help when entering large dungeons thick with miasma.

While I was advancing largely unaffected by the miasma thanks to Enel's help, Yoon Jia beside me asked with a worried look.

"Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Please look after the others."

"…."

Yoon Jia stared at me with curious eyes. And two more similar gazes locked onto me. The two heroes at the front were also looking at me with puzzled expressions.

Cases of assistant instructors like me entering dungeons weren't that common. Anyone ranked past ten thousand or so wasn't treated as a hero, and those people usually never went to dungeons. Yet here I was looking completely at ease, so their expressions seemed baffled. They probably thought someone like me should normally be gasping under the miasma the moment they entered. Like those security guards over there….

…I should make sure they get plenty of rest later. Or ask the principal to give them more breaks….

The security guards' faces were a mess. And the worst among them was Go Chungshin.

Heh… now that's a sight for sore eyes.

The other two guards couldn't wipe the expressions off their faces, but they had experience so they worked hard. Go Chungshin, though, looked like the miasma was injecting irritation right along with it.

We continued the practical training with Yoon Jia's support when—

The woman who'd been keeping her bright ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression suddenly furrowed her brow and carefully scanned the dungeon interior. Staring into a dark tunnel beyond her vision, she muttered quietly.

"Everyone… stay sharp. Looks like a lot more are coming this time."

"Yes!"

With the cadets' robust reply, beasts began pouring out of the darkness in a chaotic rush. Even though they were beasts we'd faced a few times in the mountains, the ones that had absorbed dungeon miasma showed stronger forms than usual. But no matter how many there were, by hero standards this was still only the lowest-grade dungeon.

They quickly finished off the swarming beasts and said with leisurely smiles,

"Alright, lunchtime, right? Shall we eat here?"

"Ugh… on top of the beast corpses?"

At the cadets' horrified looks, the woman laughed heartily.

"Eat often enough and you won't even react."

"Ah… my stomach's too weak for that. Count me out."

"Hey… then what does that make me."

The man took the woman's grumbling in stride while looking around.

"There's no need to force yourselves into this kind of experience. But as Hero Park Huiyeon says, the day will come when you have no choice but to eat on top of corpses."

Oh Jin-ho gave a serious lecture with an earnest expression, then started walking deeper into the dungeon as he spoke.

"Let's progress a bit further and look for a decent spot. And soon… hm?"

Rumble….

What? An earthquake?

I wasn't the only one feeling it. The cadets and security guards also looked around with startled faces. Meanwhile Oh Jin-ho and Park Huiyeon began responding calmly. Just as Park Huiyeon was looking around trying to calm the cadets—

"Stay calm. From the looks of it, inside the dungeon…."

Whoosh!

"Huh!?"

Oh Jin-ho and Park Huiyeon suddenly vanished.

At the disappearance of the two, not only the cadets but Yoon Jia as well panicked and stared hard at the spot where they'd been. And in that moment—

Rustle! Rustle-rustle!

…The cadets and security guards suddenly vanished.

"What is this…."

"S-Sung Suho Instructor, this!"

And at the same time as Yoon Jia's words, I felt my vision being swallowed by darkness. After the sudden sensation of forced spatial transfer, I arrived somewhere and landed hard on my ass.

Thud!

"Ow! That hurts…."

"Kyaaah!"

"Gyaaah!"

My ass already hurt from slamming into the floor, and to make matters worse, someone slammed their ass down right on top of my crotch.

My dick!!!

If I'd been erect, I would've been done for. The problem was that I couldn't see who was currently grinding their hips against my pelvis. It was so dark I couldn't see an inch in front of my face.

The presence sitting on my pelvis groaned with soft moans.

"Ugh… where is this…?"

"Um… s-sorry, but could you get off?"

"Kyaaah! I-I'm so sorry! Kyaah!"

Thud!

The person I assumed was a woman flailed to her feet and seemed to fall again.

Pretty sure it's Yoon Jia…. I need to be able to see something….

No joke—it was dark enough that I couldn't distinguish a single thing around me. Beyond just turning off the lights in a normal room; it felt like the surrounding light had been sucked into a black hole.

"Instructor Yoon Jia… is that you?"

"Huh!? I-Instructor Sung Suho?"

"Yes, that's me. Let me turn on a light for now."

I quickly activated my smartwatch and used the flashlight to illuminate the surroundings as much as possible. Limited by the small smartwatch, it only put out enough light to barely make out the surrounding structures.

And I could confirm one thing.

…It's just Yoon Jia and me?

Before the cadets' safety, my NTL radar activated first.