Chapter 70: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70: Isn’t Travel in Academy Stories Always Like This? (7)
I heard a great deal from Sun Wukong.
“…Ruyi has a function like that?”
— Indeed. Did you truly think a divine relic would only have the simple effects of becoming heavier or larger?
In the original work, it was plenty strong with just those…?
— Of course, what you possess now is merely a broken fragment of the Ruyi Jingu Bang, so you cannot use its full power perfectly. If you wish to master its strength, you must find my other relics or seek out the remaining fragments of Ruyi.
“No, it’s just…”
…I think it’s plenty good enough as it is?
There were three special abilities Sun Wukong mentioned that I could use immediately.
Excluding Transformation, which I was already using well, there were two others—and they were quite absurd.
The first was the ability to borrow the power of Sun Wukong from the legends.
Cloning Technique.
It was the ability to create a clone exactly like myself. That alone was incredible, but it went further: if the main body fell into a near-death state, I could swap places with the clone.
Originally, there was no limit to the number of clones I could create as long as my energy held out. However, because the relic was incomplete, I was limited to two. Honestly, that was already a total cheat.
The Cloning Technique alone was effective enough to put most Hero-grade artifacts to shame. As expected of something considered semi-mythical.
The last one was even more impressive.
Synchronization.
An ability where Sun Wukong’s residual thought directly took control of my body to fight in my stead.
It was simple, but that was exactly why it was so ridiculous.
Of course, if the original physical specs were too low, it might not be very effective. However, he claimed that by using this ability, he could easily handle a dungeon boss even with my pathetic body.
He did mention that performing movements beyond my physical limits would cause a severe backlash as a penalty, but I would have found it harder to believe if there weren’t a penalty like that.
Honestly, this was completely unexpected.
I had chosen Ruyi as my primary weapon simply because its utility was endless and it was the strongest weapon I could obtain in the early stages.
Plus, I figured it would make things easier for the kids if I snatched away the fortuitous encounter intended for a villain.
But if everything Sun Wukong said was true, Ruyi was a weapon that far exceeded my expectations.
At the same time, it was also true that I didn’t understand something.
…Why on earth would a villain use a weapon like this? And in an incomplete state, at that?
In the original story, after the villain’s Ruyi was confiscated for “purification,” it never appeared again until the point the novel was discontinued.
Since it wasn’t detailed in the settings, I couldn’t know for sure, but perhaps it was an arrangement intended for one of the protagonists.
As that thought crossed my mind, a sense of unease began to creep in.
Is it really okay for me to be using this…?
— You are quite a curious one.
“Pardon?”
Sun Wukong spoke to me first as I sat there in silence, lost in thought.
— Usually, you act with such confidence as if there is nothing you do not know, yet you show such agitation the moment something unfamiliar arises. To my eyes, it seems as though you view the world as if it exists within a fixed framework.
In a way, he had hit the nail right on the head.
— So, what do you intend to do? If you plan to proceed with your original goal, I shall assist you.
As I listened to Ruyi’s hidden functions, a certain picture began to form in my mind.
It seemed I could revise the story in a slightly better direction than my original plan.
I put on the mask and draped Ruyi around me like a tuxedo.
— …Hmm?
‘I can still use Cloning and Synchronization in this state, right?’
— There is no reason you cannot. We can simply substitute the weapon with that “Black Shadow” of yours. But what are you thinking?
‘What do you think?’
I’m thinking of putting on a decent little play.
Originally, I hadn’t intended to show this form until I finished recruiting my companions, but the story changes if I have a means to go unrivaled on my own, even if only for a short while.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to start showing the protagonist the Academy’s mastermind.
First, I used the Cloning Technique to create a double.
Naturally, it was a Kang So-hyun wearing his school uniform, without the mask or the replicated Ruyi.
‘Now, let’s go put on a show.’
* * *
“Oh…! Yu-na! Ga-eul!”
Lilac ran toward them with a bright smile.
He had finally reunited with the companions he’d been separated from after reaching the depths of the dungeon, so it was only natural to be happy.
“Huh?”
And it wasn’t just them.
The seniors from the Travel Club looked safe as well, and judging by the expressions of the civilians following them, there didn’t seem to be any casualties.
“Is everyone alright?”
A moment later, the Professor and the Inspector joined them and began checking the headcount. Fortunately, it seemed no civilians had been killed or injured.
However, even after the final count, the expressions of Han-hee and the Professor did not brighten.
“…Wait a second. Where is So-hyun? Wasn’t he with you?”
Inspector Kang Na-hyun, her face deathly pale, drove the point home.
That was it. They thought everyone had reunited, but So-hyun was nowhere to be found in any of the groups.
Professor Cathy tried to calm her with a strangely composed attitude, but the trembling of her hands suggested she was also deeply shocked.
“You mean So-hyun is all alone…?”
At Han-hee’s words, Ga-eul gasped, and even Yu-na’s brow furrowed.
“Then we have to find him quickly…! Since we all came from different directions, there’s only one path left!”
Indeed.
To prevent anyone from being left behind, everyone must have searched the dungeon quite thoroughly.
The only path remaining was likely the one leading to the boss room, and there was a high probability that Kang So-hyun had been unlucky enough to start alone near that area from the beginning.
* * *
“So-hyun will be fine.”
Cathy, having managed to steady her racing heart, spoke to the cadets.
At the very least, the So-hyun she knew wouldn’t have done anything reckless.
There was no way he would have challenged the dungeon boss alone; he was likely hiding near the boss room or searching for the others.
Yes, there was no way anything bad could have happened.
She forcibly suppressed the dark thoughts rising within her and gave orders to the cadets.
“First, let’s organize our ranks and move forward while searching carefully.”
Na-hyun was already half out of her mind.
Since Cathy was the only one left who could take responsibility for the group, she couldn’t afford to lose her composure.
So-hyun, please, you have to be safe.
Everyone there prayed for his safety as they explored the dungeon.
But as they drew closer to the boss room, as they instinctively felt the end of the dungeon approaching, they were overcome by an even greater sense of dread.
No matter how far they went, they couldn’t find the boy they were looking for.
If he had been hurt by a monster, there should have been some trace.
Yet, no matter how far they advanced or how thoroughly they searched every nook and cranny, they saw no signs of a struggle.
Occasionally, they saw traces that looked like someone else had fought, but it didn’t seem like Kang So-hyun had been traveling with them.
* * *
“…”
Lilac felt the air grow heavy.
As the lack of any sign of So-hyun continued, the group began to lose their cool, and that tension spread to the civilians.
Even Professor Cathy, who had been maintaining her composure, now wore a cold expression they had never seen before, suggesting her patience had reached its limit.
Just one person.
His friend, who was always relaxed and full of confidence.
Just because he wasn’t there, everything felt so different from usual.
If he had been able to grab his hand back then, if they had started the dungeon in the same place, would things have been different?
— Hey, knock it off. People will think I’m dead if they hear you.
Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that So-hyun would have said something like that.
Right, it wasn’t as if they had concluded that something had happened yet.
If it were him, he would have survived somehow even if he’d started right in front of the dungeon boss.
And as long as he was alive, Yu-na would heal him while they took care of the boss.
So please, just be alive. I’m begging you.
Everyone would surely be relieved to see him safe.
Once they finished this godforsaken dungeon, they would all laugh about it as a memory, grill meat together, and everything would return to normal.
So-hyun would grumble while stuffing his face, but since he was the type who couldn’t lie, he’d mutter that it tasted good.
Yes, that’s how it should be.
The door to the boss room at the deepest part of the dungeon opened.
Lilac was the one who hadn’t lost hope until the very end.
Perhaps he had been clinging to hope, simply denying reality.
What they encountered there was something quite different from their expectations.
A man stood before the Rose Dragon, which had been pierced by pitch-black shadows and killed, and Kang So-hyun, who lay collapsed and covered in wounds.
Lilac shuddered at the realization that the ominous energy everyone had mistaken for the dungeon boss’s was actually the ghostly aura radiating solely from him.
[So, you’ve come?]
As the man, who had been facing away, turned around, a pure white demon mask was revealed.
A tuxedo and a pure white demon mask.
As he brushed off his hands, the head of the Rose Dragon, which had been impaled by shadows, fell off, and the massive monster disintegrated into dust.
[You’re a bit late.]
The voice was indistinguishable—it could have been a man, a woman, an old person, or a youth.
As he lifted the collapsed So-hyun, the boy’s body hung limp in his grasp.
[You should have come a little sooner. If you had, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.]
His words forced them to assume the worst.
“Who are you?”
[Is there any reason I should answer that?]
“What did you do to So-hyun?”
[Who knows? I’m not sure there’s a reason to answer that either. Ah, he did manage to run away from the Rose Dragon quite well in his own way.]
“…So-hyun fought that monster?”
Lilac was the one asking on behalf of the group, but the others had already nearly lost their reason.
[Fought? Didn’t I say he ran away? He ran with everything he had until the very end, desperately buying time. As if he were expecting someone to come save him. Ah, I suppose that would be you all?]
Lilac flinched, his body trembling.
“…I’ll ask one last thing. You’re the one who killed that monster, right?”
[I am.]
“And it looks like you finished it in a single blow.”
Lilac suppressed his rage. This was not a time for righteous fury.
“…If you were watching the whole time, couldn’t you have saved So-hyun before he ended up like that?”
[You’ve been saying strange things for a while now.]
It felt as if he could see the expression behind the man’s demon mask.
[Why should I have?]
The bastard was clearly mocking them.
“…You son of a…!”
The first ones to charge out were Han-hee and Inspector Na-hyun.
“Die.”
Facing a swordsman wielding a freezing blade and flames in the shape of a tiger, the masked man simply reached out his hand leisurely.
[Not bad.]
As he thrust his fist forward, the flames scattered, and Han-hee’s sword was caught.
[But don’t you think your anger is directed at the wrong person? The ones who failed to save him were you. The one who failed to escape was that boy. And the one who killed him was the Rose Dragon. Why take your frustration out on me?]
He brushed off his clothes as if bored and put some distance between himself and Han-hee.
[Do not blame others for what you lost through your own incompetence. It’s disgusting.]
He said this as he took a stance.
A natural posture.
It was a state of perfection disguised as being full of openings.
[Well, if you still feel rage toward me, then come. I shall entertain you.]
As if they could no longer hold back, the rest of the group lunged at him.
* * *
The Rose Dragon.
It was a chimera created by the genius known as the Alchemist of the Rose through repeated experiments to achieve his goals.
Because it was made using dragon bones and roses, it wasn’t as powerful as a true dragon, but it was a high-tier species, far stronger than the Ent boss in the Human-Faced Tree dungeon I’d visited with Cheon Yu-hak.
And I—or more accurately, Sun Wukong using my body—had dealt with such a monster far too easily.
— Hmm, easier than I thought. No matter how great the power one possesses, it is useless without the intellect to wield it. Because it used a plant as a medium, it failed to perfectly mimic the dragon’s aura.
No, but it’s still damn strong, though?
A high-tier species is a monster that strictly belongs to the disaster class.
Excluding special monsters that are virtually never seen, like high-rank species or the strongest species, it meant it was the most powerful monster one could realistically encounter.
— Tsk. Anyway, what now? Why did you hit the clone you worked so hard to make so much?
‘Ah, they’ll be here soon.’
— Your friends?
‘Yes. They’ll probably get really worked up if it looks like I’ve been beaten, right?’
— …And then what?
‘I have to provoke them so it looks like I’m dead. And then, when they charge at me in a rage, I’ll deal with them for a bit, and then I’ll wake up coughing. I think it’ll be a perfect ending if I drop a cool closing line then.’
— I do not quite understand. Why on earth must you put on such a show?
‘That’s because…’
While I was conversing with Sun Wukong, I began to sense people approaching.
‘It’s like a signal announcing the debut of the Academy’s delightful mastermind, you know?’
[So, you’ve come?]
Lilac and the others froze as they looked this way.
But… they seem a bit more worked up than I expected?