Joint Training (1)
Joint Training (1)
Snap.
-Ah.......
A familiar voice mingled with an unfamiliar sound.
My consciousness, which had been resting briefly, stirred awake.
My eyelids lifted.
The bedroom ceiling came into view.
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw Claire, her ears and cheeks flushed crimson despite her deadpan expression.
I asked the woman hiding both hands behind her back.
"What time is it."
"... It is 7 o'clock."
Her voice quivered slightly, but I paid it no mind.
Whatever she did, Claire wouldn't do anything that could harm me.
Besides, in the eight years since we first met, I've never once sensed any malice from Claire.
-Peeep....
"......."
At the faint sound from below, not beside me, I lifted my head.
-Peeep....
The little troublemaker who was supposed to be in the basket beside me was curled up asleep on top of my stomach.
Even though I could see it with my own eyes, the creature was so light I felt no weight at all.
"Khm. It seems you have rather peculiar sleeping habits."
"Sleeping habits."
How do you even sleep to end up crawling out of a basket and onto my stomach.
Or perhaps, do children all possess some unconscious desire to climb onto an adult's stomach?
Baek Ha-na always used to climb onto my stomach when she slept beside me, and now this little one also takes the liberty of crawling onto someone else's stomach to sleep.
I checked just in case it had drooled, but unlike Baek Ha-na who needed to be pacified with a pacifier, the creature was just quietly sleeping.
"Claire."
"Yes."
"......Move it."
"You can sleep for another hour."
"...Move it."
"Khm, yes."
Claire coughed lightly, then put the smartphone she was holding into her pocket and carefully scooped up the Fairy with both hands.
I got up, and the Fairy returned to its nest.
"Breakfast?"
"I ate something simple before coming."
"Is that so."
"Yes."
We exchanged simple words as we left the bedroom and moved to the study.
I pulled out a chair and sat down. Claire, standing in front of the desk, asked me.
"Are you not hungry?"
"...Coffee."
I'm not sure why.
All of a sudden, I thought of the coffee Baek Ha-na used to make for me every morning.
"A cup of coffee, please. The instant stick kind."
"Understood."
Claire turned and left the study.
'An unpredictable body, indeed.'
Something I normally never cared for suddenly sounded appealing today.
I couldn't pinpoint the cause, but it was likely because my bodily functions had declined due to yesterday's events.
Other than that, there were no other changes.
I leaned back against the chair momentarily to assess my condition. Soon, Claire returned carrying a teacup with steam gently rising from it.
"Thank you."
"Not at all."
I picked up the cup she placed before me and took a sip.
The unremarkable taste of instant coffee spread across my mouth.
"So."
I put the cup down and asked her.
"I would like to hear your answer to the proposal we put on hold yesterday."
I had asked her to stay at the house until the little troublemaker currently sleeping in the basket learned not to tear open coffee sticks and smash honey jars to get at the contents inside. She had replied that she needed a day to think it over.
"If it does not inconvenience you, Professor, I will be imposing upon your hospitality for a few days."
Unlike yesterday when she had trailed off, her answer now felt firm. I nodded and said.
"Use my bedroom as it is. I have no need for sleep."
I do need proper rest to recover, but I'm past the constant aching stage, so a few days without sleep won't cause much trouble.
"Th-... I shall do that."
"If you need any belongings, move them today. And if there are any foods you find difficult to consume or cause a reaction, tell me freely."
"There are none."
After that, Claire and I exchanged brief small talk.
Clink. Claire picked up the empty teacup, and I also rose from my seat.
We left the study and walked down the hall.
I kept walking toward the front door, while Claire briefly ducked into the kitchen to put down the teacup.
I was taking off my slippers and putting on my coat when Claire arrived at the entrance.
"There's no need to see me off."
"Not at all. Also, I have taken care of everything you requested yesterday. And I have sent Priestess Lee Ye-sol as the person in charge, so please handle her as you see fit."
"I'm always grateful."
"Don't mention it."
I was changing into my neatly arranged dress shoes and about to step out when.
"Um, Professor."
"Go ahead."
I turned slightly. Her eyes, which had been perfectly calm moments ago, now held a hint of worry.
"As I thought, perhaps I should accompany you......."
It's true that my body is more sluggish than usual because of what happened yesterday, but that's no reason for her to be worried about me.
The body is merely a vessel to hold the soul, a tool to assist with activity, nothing more.
Above all, even if a part of my body were severed, I can still manipulate mana. And as long as I can manipulate mana, no human can be a match for me, at the very least.
But I swallowed all those thoughts and answered Claire, who was looking at me with concern.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but today, my desire to find the house clean when I return is slightly stronger."
"Khm, if that is your wish......."
Claire raised her fist to her mouth and coughed shyly.
Of course, it's true that if she came along, my workload would decrease and things would be easier.
But today, I needed to act alone.
I still didn't know who would cause trouble in the Rift, but whoever it was, the moment Claire accompanied me, the chance of them changing their plans was high. And that was not the outcome I desired.
My goal isn't to prevent the incident, but simply to find out who the culprit is and who is behind them, to satisfy my own curiosity.
"Well then, I'll be off."
"See you later."
I left the house, with Claire seeing me off.
**
"Tsk. No matter how great he is, a professor should arrive early and look after his students."
Yoon Do-sik clicked his tongue briefly, looking at the clock nearing 9 o'clock.
He then shifted his gaze to the three clergy members clad in pure white vestments and armor.
'Still, he kept his promise.'
Hiring clergy from the God of Amusement, the most powerful faction. He had inwardly been worried they might bring some random nobodies, but now he felt much more at ease.
But that was that.
Yoon Do-sik frowned at the students, who looked to be well over 60 in number.
'The adequate number is 30. I don't know what he's thinking.'
Including his own students, the total seemed like it would be around a hundred.
If you split the time and went in on rotation, it wasn't impossible to get everyone inside. But Yoon Do-sik had absolutely no intention of rotating his own students that way.
There was barely enough time to stick close, investigate the Rift's ecosystem, and observe the material quality and Monsters, let alone carve that time up and distribute it.
'If that truly is his plan, I'll never have dealings with him again.'
As Yoon Do-sik furrowed his brow and thought this, the students who had been murmuring among themselves fell silent as if on cue.
Noticing the change in the students, Yoon Do-sik looked up.
"Whoa!"
He spotted Baek Woo-jin, who had suddenly appeared beside him without a single trace of presence, and stumbled a few steps to the side.
Baek Woo-jin didn't so much as glance at Yoon Do-sik. Lee Ye-sol, who had been waiting at a distance, approached Baek Woo-jin with two Holy Knights.
"You have arrived."
"This was sudden. I apologize."
"Not at all. There is a need to breathe the air inside a Rift occasionally. Besides, it is still early in the semester, so everyone was free."
The students watched this scene with wide eyes.
Originally, clergy were only permitted to bow their heads before their superiors or statues of the ones they served.
Yet Lee Ye-sol had just bowed her head to Baek Woo-jin.
Ignoring the students' stares, Baek Woo-jin took a piece of paper from inside his jacket and handed it to Lee Ye-sol.
"Divide them according to this list and get them on the buses."
"I shall do so."
Lee Ye-sol respectfully took the paper with both hands and headed with the Holy Knights toward where the students were gathered.
Only then did Yoon Do-sik, who had backed off to the side, approach and ask.
"Look here."
"What is it."
At the indifferent yet exceedingly pleasant voice, Yoon Do-sik coughed shortly and continued.
"If you went for a preliminary investigation, you'd know well that the environment inside the Rift is too narrow for this many people to all enter."
"No need to worry. It will be more than sufficient for everyone to enter."
"......?"
Yoon Do-sik blinked at Baek Woo-jin's answer.
Then he asked again.
"Did the Rift change without my knowing? Because if so, that would be quite problematic."
"The environment where blue moss grows remains the same, so there won't be any problems. More importantly, split up your own people a bit as well."
"What?"
"You had 20 people, was it? If we split them into pairs, that makes 10 teams."
Baek Woo-jin took out yet another piece of paper from inside his jacket and held it out to Yoon Do-sik.
"...Why did you make something like this?"
Yoon Do-sik frowned as he received the paper listing the paired-up names of the students attending his lecture.
"No harm will come to your side, so divide the personnel according to that list and get them on the buses."
"......."
"Glaring won't change anything, so get moving."
"You bastard."
Muttering things like 'How is that face over forty?' and 'The world is unfair...', Yoon Do-sik moved.
Shortly after, Lee Ye-sol returned.
"All students are seated."
Baek Woo-jin nodded and boarded the bus with Lee Ye-sol.
Since Kim Seong-won had already processed all the procedures, the four buses carrying the students were able to reach their destination quickly.
After going through the formalities at the checkpoint to enter the Restricted Zone, they moved toward the Rift they had been assigned.
The students had all visited a few times while attending their Specialized Schools, so they remained calm even after entering the Restricted Zone.
Baek Woo-jin stopped in front of the Rift guarded by the civil servant he had seen the day before and turned around to face the students.
"The monster inhabiting this Rift is the Moss Turtle. It's a non-aggressive type, so there shouldn't be any combat as long as you don't provoke it too much."
Unlike the Alchemy Department students who already knew the Rift's environment, Baek Woo-jin's students, who had received no such information, finally relaxed.
A Moss Turtle, even if they did end up fighting one, could easily be handled with the equipment they'd been issued.
"Entry into the Rift will be one team per minute, and each team will be paired with 2 Alchemy Department students. What you have to do is simple. Protect the Alchemy Department students until today's class is over. When the time ends, we will have a session to verify the content of the last lecture."
Baek Woo-jin turned back around, stepping closer toward the Rift.
"However, since it is a rare practical exercise, let me make a proposal that might spark some motivation."
He turned his head and continued.
"If you reach the Rift Core under your own power before the class ends, I will give you a perfect score on the assignment from Tuesday. However, this will only be recognized if you obtain the agreement of the students who have properly formed a team with you, so compromise with each other appropriately."
The moment he finished speaking, Baek Woo-jin disappeared into the Rift.
Then Lee Ye-sol, who had been waiting beside him, stepped forward with a smiling face and spoke to the students.
"Alright, Team 1, please step forward."
Eight students from Basic Rift Studies and two from Alchemy stepped forward.
"Please hold hands tightly as you enter."
The students looked slightly puzzled, but without asking questions, they held each other's hands and entered the Rift.
One by one, the students entered, and midway through, the two Holy Knights slipped in among the students.
Once all the students were inside, Lee Ye-sol spoke to Yoon Do-sik.
"You may enter now."
"...Are you not going in, Priestess?"
"Please, go on in."
Lee Ye-sol only smiled without answering, repeating the same words. At that, Yoon Do-sik coughed awkwardly and moved his feet.
'No matter how I look at it, it's a Level 1 Rift, yet he's cramming in 100 people.......'
Yoon Do-sik clicked his tongue silently, looking at the relatively small Rift.
He had a rough idea of what the situation inside would be like, so he hurriedly stepped into the Rift, planning to look after the students.
A bright blue light enveloped his body, and along with the sensation of floating that he could never get used to no matter how many times he experienced it, the scenery flipped.
A cavern filled with a bluish light, somewhat gloomy and damp.
Yoon Do-sik frowned at the unpleasantly humid space, then blinked several times in confusion.
A moderately wide passage stretched straight ahead.
'The students are....'
The passageway, which should have been packed with students, was refreshingly empty.
Only then did Yoon Do-sik sense something strange and turn around to go back outside and ask about the situation.
"......?"
A blue wall.
Where the exit leading back outside should have been, a dead-end wall had taken its place.