Emergency Farming Run

The midterm exams were almost upon us.

Maybe that was why.

The mood among the students had shifted completely.

Hong Yuhwa was studying beside me, while Erciel and Kim Seohyun scribbled away at something in front with fierce concentration.

Everyone's grinding away at their notes.

…………And yet, though I said that with perfect composure, the person in the most urgent hurry was me.

In my previous life, I'd attended a fairly prestigious university. But the coursework here was on another level entirely. It was the difference between a well-known top school in Korea and the finest academy on the planet.

Even the subjects themselves were different.

I don't even know what half of this stuff is.

And yet I wasn't particularly worried.

I had, briefly, considered using the Heukcheon Demonic Sword to cheat. But………………

There was something far better than that.

Talent Insight.

It turned out to be an even better gift than I'd expected.

"This problem is a bit difficult, but it's a solution method you'll need to master if you want to become heroes. Here, let's have………………Lee Seoha come up and solve it."

Yes, sir.

I rose from my seat and walked to the front.

I faced the blackboard, looked at the problem, and activated my talent.

Insight.

At once, the solution method and the answer began to surface in my mind.

All I had to do was transcribe them exactly as they appeared.

Using the electronic chalk the professor had handed me, I wrote on the board, and the words appeared one-to-one on the hologram floating in the air.

Excellent. Truly a perfect answer.

The professor looked at me with a proud expression—the way one might gaze upon an exceptionally promising future slave.

"Tell me, do you happen to have any concerns about your future career path?"

"No, sir. I've wanted to be a hero since the day I was born."

"A shame."

I answered the professor's unsettling question without a moment's hesitation, and he sent me back to my seat with a look of disappointment.

That was seriously impressive. I couldn't follow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that at all.

It was nothing, really.

Erciel asked, her eyes sparkling. The stars within them seemed to shift and swirl with her emotions.

"Could you teach me sometime?"

Sure.

The moment I answered her, I felt another gaze on me.

Hong Yuhwa was glaring at me, apparently with nothing better to do.

Ding.

A message arrived.

After replying, I pretended to study while doodling instead.

Attend class, train, train, and train some more.

With my schedule overflowing, time flew by.

Each day drags on, yet the weeks race past. Go figure.

Saturday.

The written exams had finally arrived, right at my doorstep.

At Korea Hero Academy, the midterm period meant a full week of written exams, followed by practical exams the week after.

To prepare for the practicals, I was in the alchemy club's basement lab, brewing potions.

Bringing potions, weapons, or artifacts in from outside was forbidden—but if students crafted something within the school itself, using it was perfectly fine.

An excellent system, honestly.

And I was quite fond of the status windows filling my vision, too.

That's another 12,000 points in the bank.

I stowed all the potions in my subspace.

The Potion of Magic Power was useless to me, but I'd made one anyway, in case someone else ever needed a quick boost in a pinch.

There was just one problem.

I've burned through nearly all of the school-issued materials.

It was about time I brewed a few potions for the school's supply quota. I did have the ingredients I'd ordered from outside, but those were all reserved for my own use.

Nothing for it, then.

I'd have to run an emergency farming trip.

I got ready to head out.

On my way out of the tidied-up lab, I spotted Seo Gayeon.

She felt different from usual. This was nothing like the small, slight girl who so often seemed to fade into the background.

Right now, she radiated an air of mystery.

Her black hair was taking on a sheen of starlight.

Her eyes had begun to shimmer with pale violet.

It was proof that Seo Gayeon was beginning to bloom into the Mana of Starlight.

Mana rippled around her in waves.

From within the dim gloom of the basement corridor, starlight welled up from her body and began driving the darkness back—

like a light made of pure hope.

Seo Gayeon was going to develop.

Unlike ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything before, she would climb the rankings at a terrifying pace.

As long as she steered herself in the right direction, she would one day become a guiding beacon for humanity.

"Oh—Seoha?"

The starlight guttered out.

The starlit strands of her hair darkened back to black, and the violet tint drained from her eyes into their usual dark hue.

Already blooming, huh?

"Yeah. Seoha helped me with it."

she said brightly, smiling.

But I was feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

Come to think of it, now I get why Seoha recommended magic to me.

Seo Gayeon held both hands out in front of her.

Whoosh.

A sphere of stars floated up from her palms.

Star mana burns demons—the existence called ma—to ash.

But it didn't stop at merely incinerating demons.

It conjured mana from sheer imagination and manifested magic from nothing at all.

So, are you heading to training again? I didn't see you at the training grounds.

"Huh? Oh, no—I was just in the alchemy lab making some potions."

"Potions? What kind?"

As I chatted with Seo Gayeon, I finally put my finger on what the déjà vu was.

She wasn't stuttering anymore.

Well, good for her, I suppose.

"I made a few potions to use in the practical exam. Oh—and I made an extra Potion of Magic Power. Want it?"

"Yes."

I handed her one of the potions.

"Th-then I should give you something in return."

"It's fine."

"No, really. I have some dignity, you know. I've done nothing but take from you, Seoha. You haven't eaten dinner yet, have you? Want to grab food with me? My treat—something good."

Seo Gayeon said it with a smile.

I turned her down.

Right now, I had to sprint out for supplies.

"Sorry, I have plans tonight. How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Sure."

Seo Gayeon nodded with a smile.

Feeling a strange tug in my chest, I said my goodbyes and stepped outside.

It's fine. Seo Gayeon's a good kid.

The Heukcheon Demonic Sword spoke with an oddly wistful tone.

Once outside the academy, I headed for Seoul.

The warp gate would have gotten me there in an instant, and as a Korea Hero Academy student it was free and convenient—but it also meant being pinned to a location.

An emergency farming run had to stay off the radar as much as possible.

"The next station is Seoul Station. Seoul Station."

I reached my destination in no time. Rush hour meant the place was packed shoulder to shoulder.

Using nyeom to mask my presence, I slipped into a nearby restroom and changed clothes.

…………

humiliations from my own sword notwithstanding, I changed outfits three times and pulled my cap down low.

Black hoodie, black jeans, black cap.

Black mask to top it off.

The Heukcheon Demonic Sword gave me a look of utter disgust, but this couldn't be helped.

White was far too conspicuous.

Then I draped Yeokcheon over myself.

This world was one of magitech, where science and magic had fused.

Which meant that wherever science existed, magic followed.

In other words………………with Yeokcheon, I could preemptively slip past things like CCTV cameras.

Chances were I wouldn't show up on a single screen.

Choosing Reverse Heaven's Body was truly a stroke of genius.

So thinking, I climbed the tallest building in sight.

I avoided people as much as I could—didn't want to be mistaken for a suspicious character.

I ignored the sword's commentary and made for the rooftop.

The view from up there was actually pretty good.

Neon signs blanketed the streets below, and I could spot people either deep in their drinks or already dead drunk, sprawled in back alleys.

A perfect night for an emergency farming run.

The farming run was simple.

It was the method the hardened veterans of Epic World—the ones optimized for combat—used when they needed materials in a hurry.

But Epic World reflected reality with cruel fidelity.

Korea had pushed all the way to annexing North Korea, earning itself the name of Unified Korea.

On top of that, Korea was where the world's spiritual dragon veins converged, so it produced heroes of truly exceptional caliber.

Because of them, the monster population was already on the verge of extinction.

These days you had to travel all the way to some foreign land just to find a monster worth hunting.

So what, then, was an emergency farming run?

A question posted by some newbie came to mind.

That was right.

In Epic World, demi-humans were beings even lower than monsters.

No—comparing them to monsters was an insult to monsters. They were vermin, plain and simple.

Like the orcs dwelling in the Five Nations, they were a race that deserved extermination a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hundred times over, cheap as dirt.

I pulled out a mask I'd purchased from the Multidimensional Shop.

I put on the mask, pressed my hands together, and prayed.

"Grant that I may be a righteous thief this night."

Tonight, I was going to rob the demi-humans blind.