The Dungeon Examination
“Alright, is everyone here?”
“Yes.”
The students stood in neat lines before Lee Yangcheol.
“As you all know, the test is simple. Each team must clear a dungeon. However, your ranking will depend on how quickly you finish.”
“....”
“Of course, the evaluation won’t be based solely on clear time. We’ll also apply correction factors depending on your team composition. Keep that in mind.”
Any team stuck with me, the lowest-ranked student, would probably receive a one-hour handicap. That meant the other teams had to clear their dungeons a full hour faster just to match our score. Considering the average clear time for this cave was three hours, that was a massive advantage.
“Now, look over there.”
Lee Yangcheol pointed at the multiple cave entrances in front of him.
“Team 1—Radeon, Kim Jiyun, Kim Minho, and Lee Minhyung—will enter the cave marked with a 1.”
The teacher assigned each team a different entrance based on their number.
“Team 6—Jeong Hayeon, Nam Doyun, Kim Minho, and Becaria—is one group. Head to the entrance marked with a 6.”
I glanced at Jeong Hayeon. The moment our eyes met, she quickly turned away and flashed a bright smile at the rest of her teammates.
“Well then, shall we gather up as a team?”
Jeong Hayeon raised her hand, and the others soon gathered around her.
“H… Hayeon, hi.”
Becaria, who had been staring at her in a daze, smiled shyly.
“Hey! Hi! Let’s do our best!”
He extended his hand for a handshake. Jeong Hayeon stared at the sweat glistening on his palm, her expression twisting slightly. Still, she quickly forced a smile back onto her face.
“Ah!! Yeah, let’s do our best.”
She smiled as if she hadn’t noticed his hand at all.
“Ah… yeah.”
Becaria scratched his head awkwardly when she didn’t take his hand. Then his eyes met mine.
“By the way, Hayeon, why is he on our team?”
“Huh?”
“I mean, does it make sense for the 500th-ranked guy to be on the same team as us? You’re third in the entrance exam, and even I’m in the double digits.”
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
Jeong Hayeon smiled brightly.
“Hey.”
Becaria spoke up again.
“....?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“If you get in the way, I’ll kill you. So behave yourself.”
He said it while sneaking a glance at Jeong Hayeon. It was the obvious posturing of a guy trying to look cool in front of the girl he liked. I understood the feeling. I understood it, but it still annoyed me. Well, I’d deal with it later.
“So, how should we divide the roles?”
Jeong Hayeon asked.
“Hayeon, you handle the ranged DPS. Minho and I will tank up front while you clean up.”
“Then…”
Jeong Hayeon quietly looked my way.
“It’d be better to just pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“Come on… even so.”
“Don’t worry, Hayeon. Just trust me.”
“......”
“I’ll be the supporter.”
I spoke up quietly.
The standard dungeon party composition was one tanker, one melee DPS, one ranged DPS, and one supporter. It was the safest, most textbook setup. Supporters didn’t fight directly; they helped with dungeon progression by casting buffs or healing spells. But I didn’t have anything like that. So I’d support in my own way—by using my knowledge as a veteran player.
“Supporter? Do you even have any buff spells?”
“Nope. Don’t have any.”
“What?”
“Instead, I’ll disarm all the traps in the dungeon.”
“Whatever. Do what you want.”
Becaria had been picking fights with me since the beginning. Jeong Hayeon glanced sideways at Cha Jiyun’s team. She carried a massive inferiority complex toward Cha Jiyun, so she was probably desperate to beat her in this joint team exam.
“Alright, shall we head in now?”
The moment we stepped into the cave, a swarm of goblins appeared.
Kieeeek—
The goblins spotted us and immediately charged, clutching massive spiked clubs.
Kieeeek—
There were about twenty of them.
“Becaria, Minho! Get up front, quick!”
“Got it.”
Becaria and Kim Minho rushed ahead. Becaria planted himself in front, raising his enormous shield.
Clang—! Clang—!
The goblins’ clubs slammed into his shield.
Thud—! Thud—!
From behind the shield, Kim Minho repeatedly thrust his sword into the goblins.
Kieeeek—
The goblins screamed, but their numbers weren’t decreasing. They were only bleeding green blood from their arms and legs, yet they kept charging. Kim Minho’s attacks weren’t landing fatal blows.
Clang—! Clang—!
The goblins kept coming. More and more of them began hammering on Becaria’s shield, and he was slowly being pushed back.
“Nngh…”
At that moment—
Thwack—!
Kieeeek—
An arrow pierced a goblin’s forehead, and it collapsed backward.
“As expected of Hayeon. One-shot, one-kill.”
Becaria gave her a thumbs-up over his shoulder. Jeong Hayeon began firing arrows in rapid succession, nailing goblins between the eyes like a machine gun. Every single one dropped to the ground without exception. Once she joined the fight, the goblins were wiped out in an instant.
“Whoa, Hayeon, you’re amazing!”
Becaria grinned.
“Shall we move on to the next area?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Wait a second.”
I spoke up.
“Why?”
I pointed at the portal ahead.
“There are traps all over the place past that portal. I’ll go ahead and disarm them, so follow slowly.”
There were two ways to deal with traps: destroy them before they activated, or break them after. The former was far more time-efficient. I’d cleared this dungeon so many times I knew it by heart. Right beyond that portal were countless traps, all triggered by mana. But that didn’t apply to me. The mana detection technology in this world couldn’t pick up the foreign mana inside my body.
Becaria snorted.
“I get that you want to do something, but there’s no need. You staying out of the way is the most helpful thing you can do.”
“Anyway, just wait five minutes. I’ll disarm everything, so come in after.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“If you really can’t trust me, then go in first yourself.”
“What?”
Jeong Hayeon shook her head with a sigh.
“Stop it. Both of you, that’s enough.”
“Fine. Five minutes is too much—I’ll give you one minute. Hurry up and get it done.”
Becaria’s voice was irritated.
“One minute isn’t nearly enough to disarm all the traps.”
“We need to move fast. Why would I give you five whole minutes? I’m already being extremely generous, so just go.”
This was getting really annoying. I decided to teach him a lesson.
“Alright. Come in after one minute.”
Disarming the dungeon traps in one minute was impossible anyway. I stepped through the portal.
Countless stalactites stretched out before me. I looked at the cave wall. Geometric patterns were carved into it. I placed my hand on them.
Rumble—
The patterns split apart like automatic doors, revealing a poisoned crossbow inside. Getting hit by that poison wouldn’t kill me, but it would definitely leave me unable to move for the rest of the exam. I was about to destroy the crossbow when I had a better idea. The situation was irritating enough already. I adjusted the crossbow’s aim so it would fire just above a person’s head.
Rumble—
The wall closed again. A moment later, the portal activated and Cha Jiyun—no, Becaria, Kim Minho, and Jeong Hayeon came through.
“You haven’t finished disarming the traps yet?”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course not. Not that I even saw any traps.”
Becaria looked around. Seeing no signs of any disarmed traps, he smirked. He clearly thought I’d been lying.
“Tch. What a waste of a minute. If you’re useless, just stay out of the way. Why do you keep trying to act like you’re doing something?”
Kieeeek—
From the distance, goblins in full plate armor wielding swords came charging toward us.
“Prepare for battle!”
Jeong Hayeon shouted urgently. Becaria raised his shield and charged forward.
“Hey!”
I called out to him.
“One more step and you’ll trigger a trap.”
The exact spot one step ahead of him was where the trap would activate. But he ignored me and kept running.
“I warned you.”
At that moment—
Thwack—!
A poisoned arrow shot straight at him. It was too fast to react to or dodge. Just before it could hit Becaria, the arrow suddenly veered off course and embedded itself in the wall right above his head.
Thud—!
The arrow stuck into the wall with a chilling sound. Becaria’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.
“From now on, do as I say. Any objections?”
I looked at Becaria as I spoke.
“.....”
He was speechless, unable to say a single word. Jeong Hayeon stared at him sitting there in shock. His face turned bright red in an instant.
“I’ll disarm the traps, so follow slowly from behind.”