The Final Gambit

The remaining time, in perceived terms, was now less than four minutes. There was no room for lengthy explanations, so I ignored their reactions and immediately laid out the core of the plan.

"First, Seol-ah will cast her Cold Sword Aura. It’ll take about fifteen seconds."

"...What? Fifteen seconds?!"

"Ehh?!?"

Ki-tae and Jung-woo shouted in shock. It was a natural reaction. Asking someone to stand completely defenseless and charge up energy for fifteen seconds in the middle of a rampaging three-story-tall monster was basically telling them to commit suicide.

But I continued issuing orders without a single flicker of hesitation.

"Song A-rin. From now on, squeeze out every last drop of your remaining mana and pour the strongest attack power buff you can into Seol-ah."

"Th-then what about Mr. Jung-woo...? He'll get beaten to death..."

When A-rin asked through a sob, I turned my gaze toward Jung-woo, who was gasping for breath, covered in blood.

"Yoon Jung-woo, fall back to the rear. Your durability has reached its limit. One more solid hit and you're done."

"Hey, Kang Do-woon! This is just a simulation anyway—if I tank one more time..."

"No. I'm going to set off flashbangs. The duration of your provocation skill is too short."

I cut Jung-woo's words off firmly.

"Even if you tried to chain it with provocation, you'd have to stand right in front of the thing. You'd get caught in the flashbang's blinding effect and the deafening noise along with it. The best way you can help is by pulling back."

Jung-woo bit his lip in frustration but couldn't refute my logic. I immediately reached out to Ki-tae, who was standing in a corner of the formation and snorting through his nose.

"Ki-tae. Give me the one with the highest firepower you've got."

"Kuk kuk! Looks like bombs are selling like hotcakes today!"

Ki-tae let out a sinister laugh and pulled out a handful of heavy, ultra-high-powered mana incendiary grenades from his pocket. I took the grenades and immediately stuffed them into the combat netting hanging on my chest, securing them tightly. Then I layered a faint low-grade flame spell over them to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠add a fire attribute.

The timer in the corner of my vision was blinking. One minute left in real time—three minutes in perceived time.

"Operation start!!"

At my shout, we all scattered to our assigned positions at once. Just before entering the Behemoth's vicious range, I pulled three large flashbangs from my belt in rapid succession and hurled them toward its face.

Boom—!

Flaaaaash—!!

A horrifying burst of light like the sun exploding right in front of us swallowed the plaza, accompanied by a deafening ring that tore at our eardrums.

"GRAAAAAHHH—!!"

The instant the Behemoth clutched its eyes and writhed in agony, Han Seol-ah positioned herself at the shortest possible distance directly in front of it—perfectly lined up with its heart—and gripped her longsword with both hands.

"Holy Weapon!!!!"

From behind, A-rin squeezed out her final buff, even as blood poured from her nose. It poured down onto Seol-ah's blade. The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted around her sword, and a terrifying blue cold sword aura began to condense with frightening intensity.

At the same time, I wrapped my mana around every muscle in my body, pushed my physical abilities to their absolute limit, and charged madly toward the Behemoth.

That damn skin manifests its strongest defense at the exact point of impact.

Then, to create the perfect double weakness, I had to slam these bombs directly into the skin right above its heart.

"Haaahp—!"

The moment I reached the front of its massive body, I kicked off the ground and leaped into the air. I drove the heavy bundle of grenades straight into the exact center of the Behemoth's chest like I was hammering them in.

Got it!

I was just landing after jumping backward, remote detonator in hand and savoring my success, when—

Flash—!

"...Huh?"

The monster's blood-red eyes, which should have been blinded by the flash, snapped open. Its pupils had mutated into bizarre vertical slits. It had adapted to the flashbang's effect at an abnormal speed.

The Behemoth, having shaken off the flashbang far too quickly, ignored me clinging to its chest and swung its enormous fist down at Han Seol-ah, who was radiating the strongest mana right in front of it.

Fifteen seconds of charging. Seol-ah, who had just passed the ten-second mark, was completely defenseless and unable to dodge.

We're screwed.

The moment my heart sank—

Thud—!!

Jung-woo, who should have been safely in the rear, suddenly leaped forward. Without any healing or buffs from A-rin, he threw himself in front of Seol-ah with nothing but his bare body.

"UAAAAAH!!"

Jung-woo scraped together every last scrap of mana left in his core and wrapped a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠defensive spell around his shattered shield. He drove his legs into the ground like stakes and held the shield up with both arms, as if determined to keep even a single shockwave from reaching Seol-ah behind him.

KWAAAAAAAAANG—!!!

The sound of destruction was like a dump truck slamming head-on. "KRAAAAAGH!!" With a deathly scream, Jung-woo's tower shield shattered completely in half and scattered. His body, having taken the horrific impact with his entire being, was helplessly launched into the air.

But that one second of opening created by Jung-woo's desperate sacrifice was enough.

"Explode!!"

I slammed the detonator in my hand without mercy.

BOOOOOOOOM—!!!!

The ultra-high-powered mana incendiary grenades stuck to its chest erupted in a chain explosion, creating a vortex of terrible flames.

"GRAAAAAAGH!!"

The Behemoth's chest hide reacted instantly to defend against the ultra-high-temperature blast. Its skin turned viscous, then melted hideously into a sticky, sloshing semi-fluid state of water-attribute that could suppress the heat of the flames.

It had perfect immunity to explosions and heat, but in this softened state, it would be sliced apart like tofu by a blade. The exact moment the explosion shook the plaza, Seol-ah's eyes, having endured the full fifteen seconds, snapped open.

"Taaaaah—!!"

The condensed blue cold sword aura at the tip of her longsword erupted in a single strike.

KAANG—!!

CRAAAAACK!!

The moment the extreme cold sword aura that seemed capable of freezing the world itself touched the Behemoth's chest—its boiling, semi-fluid skin—the drastic temperature difference caused its outer hide, muscles, and blood vessels to contract all at once and shatter like glass.

The flesh that had lost its hardness and turned sticky split open defenselessly. The extreme cold pierced diagonally through its chest in a perfect line and burst out the other side.

"Ku... uuu..."

The roar that had been tearing at the sky stopped as if it had been a lie. When the massive cloud of dust cleared, the asphalt around the plaza was frozen solid with blue frost. And at its center—

The Behemoth stood frozen stiff like a giant block of frozen meat, a massive and gruesome slash wound carved from its chest all the way through to its back.

Soon the silence was broken as a blue system hologram window appeared in my vision.

Five people.

After confirming the number of survivors, a deep sigh of relief finally escaped my lips. The fact that we hadn't received the death penalty from the virtual reality simulation meant that Jung-woo had barely survived with one point of health left, just before the system registered him as 'dead.'

I tossed the weapons in my hands carelessly to the ground and rushed toward the pile of debris in the corner of the plaza where Jung-woo had been slammed.

"Hey! Yoon Jung-woo! You alive?!"

When I hurriedly cleared away the broken pieces of his tower shield, I saw Jung-woo sprawled out on his back, covered head to toe in asphalt dust.

"...Cough, you crazy bastard..."

He coughed, barely managing to turn his bloodied (virtual data, but still) head.

"Wow, fuck... I really thought I was gonna die."

"..."

"This is virtual reality—did the pain settings glitch or something? I seriously thought my bones were shattering, you insane assholes..."

Even while gasping for breath, the way he casually spat out curses made it clear he was very much alive. I let out a dumbfounded chuckle and sank to the ground.

"Who was the one who jumped in to play meat shield? Still, I gotta give it to you—you're ridiculously tough."

"Ow, my bones! Hurry up and call a healer, you idiot!"

At our pointless bickering, A-rin, who had run over late, took one look at Jung-woo's condition and finally collapsed on the spot, bursting into loud sobs.

"Hwaaaang—! Mr. Jung-woo—!! It's because I didn't have enough mana—!"

"Ah, my ears! Hey, Song A-rin. I'm not dead! I'm not dead!"

While Jung-woo waved his hands in panic, Han Seol-ah had approached at some point and was looking down at us with an expression as cold as ice. But I didn't miss the way her left hand—the one not holding her sword—was trembling slightly.

Seol-ah moved her lips faintly toward Jung-woo, who was lying on the ground.

"...Thanks. For earlier."

"Oh? The Ice Witch actually knows how to say thank you? Guess risking my life was worth it!"

When Jung-woo cackled, Seol-ah's brow furrowed again, but she didn't bother replying.

"Hahaha! Are you all just going to talk among yourselves and leave out the grand finale of this great artist?!"

When even Ki-tae joined in, dramatically adjusting his glasses, the realization that the horrific battle was finally over washed over me like a wave. The tension drained from my entire body, and I flopped down flat on the asphalt as well.

Above the fake sky, a dry mechanical voice began to announce the end of the simulation.

Ssssssh—.

Along with the announcement, the ruined cityscape surrounding us broke apart pixel by pixel, and my vision faded to white.

****

Gaon Academy Primary Simulation Control Room.

Only a suffocating silence hung heavily inside the vast control room. The massive four-way monitor that covered the entire front wall had, in its upper-right quadrant, a screen displaying Han Seol-ah's party. In the center of that screen, three lines of blue system messages that shattered everyone's common sense were blinking clearly.

The faculty members gathered in the control room all stood with their mouths agape, unable to tear their eyes away from those unreal words. The shock of the insane battle they had just witnessed hadn't faded yet. No one could bring themselves to speak first; they simply glanced around at each other nervously.

The one who broke the silence was Professor Ma, standing with his arms crossed in a corner of the control room. He was notorious for giving the harshest and most stingy evaluations to cadets. Slowly, he raised both hands.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Professor Ma's rough, deliberate applause acted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like a signal. The professors who had been staring blankly at the screen all nodded as if in a trance and began clapping in unanimous approval.

"Waaaaah—!"

Amid the thunderous applause filling the control room, Baek Cheol-min, head of the Swordsmanship Department, spoke in a voice thick with emotion.

"As expected of Cadet Han Seol-ah. High-powered and precise sword energy, plus the leadership to guide her party members to victory in a moment of crisis! Truly flawless."

"I agree. This isn't first-year level at all."

"That final sword strike that exploited the gimmick's weakness was truly awe-inspiring."

As the professors continued their enthusiastic praise, Vice Professor Kang Soo-young from the Shield Guardians Department adjusted her glasses with a deeply moved expression.

"Cadet Han Seol-ah was excellent, but what impressed me most was Cadet Yoon Jung-woo's complete self-sacrifice. To throw himself in front of a dump-truck-like fist with no healer backup or buffs, in a near-death state, just to protect his comrade! Finding that kind of spirit of sacrifice in today's cadets is like finding stars in the daylight, isn't it?"

"Well said. That is the true model of a shield!"

"Exactly, exactly."

The control room grew heated with praise for Han Seol-ah's prowess, Yoon Jung-woo's sacrifice, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠party members who had held on until the end. However...

Strangely, not a single word of praise for 'Kang Do-woon' came from anyone's mouth.

The professors cleared their throats or pretended to look at other monitor screens, sneaking glances at each other. Who wouldn't know? That the real mastermind behind this insane counter to the creature's rock-paper-scissors attributes was Cadet Kang Do-woon.

If not for the motley collection of weapons he had brought—the magic-engineering automatic rifle, combat netting, throwing spears, and combat hammer—they would have been wiped out long before clearing it. Excluding the kunai and chain sickle he had essentially used as bait, he had utilized every weapon he brought in exactly the right place at the right time. He was undoubtedly the MVP of this simulation.

Beyond weapon usage, his bold decision-making and leadership that drew out his party members' abilities to their absolute limits left even the instructors speechless. He was the MVP of this simulation training, having utilized those weapons—not perfectly, but more than sufficiently—in all the right places.

Even while the subjugation was in progress, the professors had been poring over Kang Do-woon's first-semester report card with gleaming eyes. Yet none of them brought up his name out loud. They were all swallowing nervously, engaged in a fierce battle of glances.

The one who cut through that tense atmosphere was, once again, Professor Ma.

"...That student named Kang Do-woon."

At Professor Ma's casual remark, the shoulders of the professors—who had been acting innocent while doling out praise—jerked as if they'd been stabbed.

They flinched. All eyes instantly focused on Professor Ma's lips. Still staring at Do-woon's figure lying on the monitor, Professor Ma wore a deep, greedy smile that he would never normally show.

"I think I'll have to take him under my wing for a while."

The moment that blatant declaration echoed through the control room—

"Haa... seriously..."

"Ugh..."

Deep sighs erupted from every corner. The professors all shook their heads, wearing bitter expressions as they let out the exact same sigh inwardly.