The Weight of Infinite Orbit
The dungeon practice session had finally arrived. "It's normal for most people to have at least some trace of orbit forming in their body by this point, yet yours is quite fascinating."
Akasa's words left me sprawled out after training, barely able to push myself up. Even after two weeks of relentless drills with no changes appearing in my body, I could somewhat accept what he was saying.
This isn't so much a problem with Lee Seokhyun as it is with me.
If I hadn't been possessed and had been born as Lee Seokhyun from the very beginning, reaching this point naturally, then just as Akasa said, traces of orbit would have gradually formed in my body. I might have already mastered Infinite Orbit.
It seemed like an issue arising from the gap between my understanding of the game and the mindset of someone living as a native of this world. Unlike the game, where swinging a sword ten times simply raised your proficiency, here you had to genuinely internalize skills through your body.
Trying to establish the vague concept of Infinite Orbit through repeated training like this was proving incredibly difficult. In the game, I'd naturally skipped the training process and simply repeated it enough times to obtain Infinite Orbit. But now that the game had become reality, I had to understand the concept of Infinite Orbit myself, reestablish it, and make it my own.
The problem lay precisely in failing to properly embody that acquisition process.
It's completely different from when I hunt monsters.
It hadn't even been a full month since I'd started training my body on my own. While I could use my already completed physique to hunt monsters, developing it into something better was at the level of a child. It was similar to how an F1 driver excelling on the track might not be able to develop a good engine. Different fields entirely.
But having to do both at the same time naturally made the learning process slow.
"The most important thing is the will to move forward. Simply put, it's indomitable spirit. Taking one more step in truly difficult moments and turning that into willpower—that's exactly what Infinite Orbit is. It forces the body to keep moving endlessly."
Akasa wasn't just demanding physical improvement through repetitive training; he was asking for mental growth as well. Since it wasn't as easy as it sounded, I felt like I was going to go crazy with frustration.
The demonic and external paths were still at the theoretical stage or absolute basics, so I had faith that they'd improve someday. But this was like not even being able to take proper first steps, which made my head ache.
Still, I have to do it.
It had only been two weeks. There wasn't even time to feel discouraged. To avoid dying at the hands of the demons, I absolutely needed to complete Infinite Orbit.
"I'll add a bit more weight."
"Your determination is excellent! That's what I expect from my disciple!"
If what I was doing now wasn't enough, I'd make it even harsher. The only method that came to mind was pushing my body to its limits and forcing the pace.
Time flowed on like that until the day of the dungeon practice session arrived. I reached the auditorium still having failed to grasp even the basics of Infinite Orbit.
The dungeon practice session, like the entrance practical exam, took place in the auditorium. Dozens of doors appeared, and teams entered the same ones to clear the dungeons together.
Our team's balance is pretty good.
Aquaqua, a fire mage capable of nuking and dumping massive damage in one go. Tatakum, a tank who could defend from all directions using excellent shield techniques and natural physical prowess. Pepi, the specialist who'd entered S-class with nothing but healing magic. Lee Hyunsoo, a knight aspirant showing steady growth. And finally, me—the jack-of-no-trades who couldn't properly handle dealing, tanking, or healing, but carried plenty of confidence that at least scouting was something I could do.
Hmm. Honestly, wouldn't they be fine without me?
Even if I were removed, the frontline and backline balance was perfectly complete. Still, thanks to my titles as class president and team leader, the fact that I wasn't particularly useful hadn't been exposed yet.
Because everyone automatically assumed he must have something up his sleeve, my image had solidified from useless jack-of-all-trades into that of a versatile all-rounder who could shine in every field.
"Everyone, pay attention! The doors will open in one minute, and you'll enter the dungeon. Stay sharp, and if a crisis occurs, don't hesitate—tear the escape scroll immediately, just as I instructed."
"The escape scroll doesn't activate instantly, so keep that in mind. If you feel it's dangerous, tear it right away. That's the only way to get out as safely as possible. Hesitate, and the chance of injury increases significantly."
"The escape scroll can only transport everyone if they're within 5 meters, so please remember that!"
"Yes!"
The representative professors each added their own warnings about the escape scrolls. These safety devices had been provided because if the professors entered the dungeon with the students, the pressure might prevent the students from performing properly. Tearing the scroll would immediately return them to the auditorium, where prepared medical staff would conduct thorough examinations and treatment.
Naturally, failing to properly clear the dungeon would result in point deductions. What worried me was the possibility that someone might refuse to tear the escape scroll because of those deductions.
If greed for high scores prevented timely escape, serious injuries could occur. This was especially true if any team member or the leader became obsessed with points.
"Yu Sohyun!"
"Huh?"
That's why I approached Yu Sohyun, who had the highest chance of getting injured, and gave her a firm warning.
"Don't listen to what the team members say. If you determine you're in danger, just tear it immediately. You absolutely must not listen to the team, understand? It's fine even if your score drops a bit. Not getting hurt is what matters."
I whispered so the others wouldn't hear, then immediately returned to my spot.
"Thirty seconds left! Everyone, please stand in front of your assigned doors!"
Gainard announced the remaining time while Lee Hwaryeong connected the dungeon to the doors. Kerar had spread totems around the area just in case of unforeseen circumstances. With this level of preparation, even if demons suddenly invaded, there shouldn't be any major problems.
And seeing as there's still no particular disturbance in the air, it looks like they're planning something big.
I shook off my unease and scanned the team members once more. Thanks to the consistent position training and perfect distribution of roles, everyone had an appropriate level of tension on their faces. I believed there wouldn't be any cases of them freezing up and failing to act.
"Enter!"
We opened the door and stepped into the dungeon.
You have entered the dungeon.
Welcome to the Land of Golems.
The moment we opened the door and stepped through, the entry message appeared, revealing a vast grassland. It would be a huge mistake to assume all dungeons involved entering damp caves. While the entrances might look that way, stepping inside often revealed an entirely different world.
The Land of Golems.
Even though I'd entered once before and knew what would appear, I couldn't let my guard down for even a second. These were tricky monsters that possessed both high attack and defense power, with partial resistance to magic damage as well. Their weaknesses were extremely slow attack speed and simple patterns since they weren't intelligent lifeforms.
"Listen carefully from now on. I'm going to scout ahead, so don't take a single step from this spot."
"You're going alone?"
"Team leader, that's dangerous. I'll go with Tatakum."
The moment they heard me, Lee Hyunsoo and Tatakum reacted immediately. Since their position involved buying time for attacks from the front, it made sense they'd want to come along. But this was something I absolutely had to do alone.
"If you two come with me, Pepi and Aquaqua will be in danger."
With those final words, I immediately left the area.
The most important thing when dealing with golems was to absolutely avoid mob hunting. Even when taking down one, you had to make sure to lure it as far as possible from the golem pack. If aggro overlapped and you ended up facing two or more...
You have to run no matter what.
No matter how low their intelligence, aggro would always focus on the enemy dealing the most damage. One could somehow be handled by the tank, but two had a very high chance of slipping through. In the worst case, if a backline dealer got exposed to a golem's attack and got crushed...
The possibility of instant death before they could even tear the escape scroll was extremely high.
Found it.
How much time had passed? After crossing the grassland and entering the forest, I headed straight for the location of the golem temple. Seeing that it was exactly the same position as in the game, it seemed the dungeon's structure itself hadn't changed much.
There's only one.
There was only a single golem at the temple. Thinking that would be enough to handle, I was about to lure it when a sudden thought struck me.
But why is there only one?
A temple should normally have multiple golems. If all of them were gone except for the one guarding the temple...
The place where they would most likely be right now was...
...the grassland side.
I quickly turned my body and hurried back toward where our team was. The team members were in danger.