The Elite Heroes Who Captured Kurus
As class began, Jinwoo sauntered over to me like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“How the hell are we supposed to catch a villain contracted with 33 demons? Boss, anything come to mind?”
There was a method, of course. The heroes had already taken him down in real life, after all.
The problem was...
“Why are you asking me like it's a given?”
This guy was trying to freeload off me way too hard.
“Dunno~.”
Now he wasn't even thinking before asking.
“The instructor said to discuss, not to share the answer. Try thinking for yourself first.”
“Hmm... Well, the heroes have way more people, right? So if we all gang up on him, we win?”
“No way the instructor gave us something that easy.”
“Reaally?”
Jinwoo definitely wasn't the brains type—that much was clear.
“Ah, boss.”
Youngje, our class rep, approached with someone in tow. Sea-a was over there clutching her head alone, but who was this?
I checked her face, and—
“Ah, h-hello...!”
It was a familiar face.
“Mari?”
“Ah, haha, ha...”
Whether from shyness or awkwardness, she buried her face with a weird laugh.
“Everyone's grouping up for discussions, and she was by herself. Since you were in a group with her last time, boss, I figured it was fine.”
...The class rep's job, huh. Just like his looks, unnecessarily thoughtful guy.
Not that I minded—welcome aboard.
She handled puppets, so she probably had solid tactical knowledge too.
“Oh, the girl who always huddles in the corner with her head down.”
At least better than this idiot, for sure.
“Mari's reliable. Nice to have you aboard. Take care of us, Mari.”
“Ah, y-yes...”
Her introverted nature unchanged, she nodded without meeting my eyes and naturally joined our group.
“Uwaaaah! I don't know! I don't know! Help! Help!”
Of course, dragging along Sea-a, who was still clutching her head.
She was a mage, but apparently not the smart type either...
“B-being in a group this big is, um, it's been so long, I'm super n-nervous...”
Mari fidgeted with her hands as she spoke.
Me, Jinwoo, Sea-a, and Youngje. Somehow we'd matched the size of the other groups.
Choi Kang-hyeon must've ended up with another team.
“Let's start by making a basic strategy board. Sea-a, can you map out the terrain and build the field?”
“Not sure if it'll work inside the instructor's magic, but I'll give it a shot.”
With that, Sea-a placed her hand on the ground and closed her eyes.
Moments later, a miniature model of Jinguiseong Fortress began forming in purple mana at our center.
“Looks like the instructor designed it down to the details. No issues recreating the field.”
The terrain was clearly labeled—you could tell exactly what was what at a glance.
Such clean output...
She'd been skipping club lately to mentor, and the results of Ji Suhyun's training were showing.
“Next up, Mari.”
“Y-yes?”
“Can you make models of the heroes around us, the civilians, and Kurus?”
“Um... inside here?”
“Yeah. Please.”
Hearing me, Mari flicked her fingers, instantly crafting puppets from the ground.
31 hero puppets in total. Opposite them stood a black puppet representing the villain Kurus.
“Basics are set. Who wants to go first?”
Youngje raised his hand first at my question.
“Not certain, but I've got a plan.”
He channeled mana and started moving the puppets.
From facing each other, they shifted into a formation encircling Kurus.
“I figure surrounding him's best. An omnidirectional attack would overwhelm even 33 demons. He'd struggle to respond to everything.”
The others nodded, finding it plausible.
“Not wrong.”
That's exactly how they'd swarmed and caught him, after all.
The issue was...
“Lots of casualties, though.”
“Lots of casualties?”
Playing the academy route a few times burned most events into my memory.
Including this incident's outcome.
“Surrounding one target with that many people is good—they can't escape easily. But it's just a 'surround.' Not ideal for capture or takedown.”
That many charging one person would block each other's paths, maybe even hit allies.
And considering his abilities...
It was obvious.
“...Yeah, makes sense. One enemy attack, and the formation crumbles. Not it, then.”
Sea-a raised her hand second.
“Not sure, but! Isn't there a participant list somewhere around here?”
“Participant list?”
Jinwoo blinked at the sudden mention.
“Yeah! Think about it—this is a recreation of the past, right? Every Park Yunho class has had hints. No way this one's different!”
Her confident breakdown made me grin.
“Good thinking. Let's look around, then.”
“Yes!”
The kids naturally circled the fortress and frozen heroes.
Then, a startled yelp from Mari, who was checking the heroes.
“F-found it! I think!”
We rushed over.
High on her achievement, Mari pointed shakily at a hero's chest.
“N-names! There are names!”
Sure enough, name-like text was engraved there.
“Sea-a, Jinwoo—check others' names. Mari, label the puppets.”
Youngje grasped it instantly and got to work.
Soon, every puppet had a name.
“Whoa, I recognize some heroes now.”
“Probably seniors who were there. Makes it way easier.”
Some names belonged to active heroes still.
We were almost at the answer.
Who'd get it first? I wondered—
“Can't we just send the strong ones?”
Jinwoo blurted casually, stepping to the field and shoving most puppets back.
Four heroes left: [Gwak Chunsik], [Yeong Hoham], [Park Yunho], [Lottie].
“This should do it, right?”
Sea-a and Youngje shook their heads.
“C'mon, with all those heroes, just four?”
“Too extreme. Better play safe—”
“Correct.”
Their eyes snapped to me at my declaration.
“Huh? This is right?”
“Boss. For real?”
“Yeah. Best way.”
A small elite team with perfect synergy.
That was the most efficient counter to Kurus.
“See? Told ya! Why swarm and get in the way? Send the right elites!”
Jinwoo nailed it on instinct sometimes.
Whether from Antonio Bivalt's genes or family training, I didn't know—but guys like him survived real fights.
“Details in those four's records. Honestly, Yeong Hoham and Gwak Chunsik could've handled it alone... but adding the other two boosted stability.”
Ideally, match stronger ones 1:1 and support the rest—but yeah.
This was one of my methods too.
Kurus's contract gave him immortality among other traits.
An annoying bastard who kept reviving.
“This'll get us full points. Jinwoo, wanna report?”
“Me?”
“Your idea sealed it.”
The others nodded in silent agreement.
Overwhelmed, he clamped his mouth to stifle a sob.
“Guys...!”
“Quit yapping and go.”
“Yessir.”
Sea-a's snap sent him off quick.
Soon, he trudged back stone-faced.
“Jinwoo, what'd the instructor say?”
“Asked whose idea and how we got it. Told him we built the field, checked hero names, and decided. That enough?”
He flopped down at his spot.
“Hweee... No scolding means we did okay? No chew-out, right boss?”
Still anxious, he looked to me.
I nodded.
“Absolutely not.”
Multiple playthroughs and community big data confirmed—no better answer.
And proof came.
“The opinion closest to correct came from Jinwoo Bivalt's group.”
Park Yunho's announcement stirred murmurs.
Jinwoo? What? Dream?
“Guessed other groups' answers. Surround and attack, vanguards tank while rearguard blasts. All true—they caught him that way. Cost a ton of lives and injuries.”
He spoke bitterly.
Then, lightly stomping, boom!—frozen Jinguiseong sprang to life.
‘Vanguards charge first! Rear support!’
‘Vanguards, go!’
‘Wait! Why magic here?!’
‘Aim right!’
‘Don't block! Sword's caught!’
‘Hngh—!’
The fortress turned hellish in seconds.
Theory was one thing—seeing it was visceral horror.
“Attacking one with masses usually looks like this. They hinder each other—no clean attacks or defense. Our forces should've overwhelmed, but we took heavy losses anyway.”
Time froze again.
“Now, let's try Jinwoo Bivalt's method.”