31화 1차 대규모 업데이트

Elena's level was climbing smoothly — unlike the entrance exam, which came rushing toward us all too fast.

"Doun, shouldn't we start prepping for the exam too?" Naeun said, eyes on the monitor.

"The exam... yeah. We should..."

This entrance exam mattered. A great deal. Our free time hung on the results.

Place in the top twenty percent, and we would keep the hours after lunch to ourselves. Slip outside that twenty percent even by accident, and we would be stuck in class through sixth period. Fall any further, and even more of our time would be stolen away...

I was confident I would make the cut. The exam covered the third-year middle school curriculum, and for me that was far too easy.

But Naeun and Eunhye... would they be all right?

I was a little worried. They were good students, but this was a specialized high school, after all. The baseline academic standard ran high.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"All right. Let's start prepping tomorrow."

"Okay!"

"Yeah!"

From the next day on, the Game Club room turned into a study hall. After lunch, we always gathered there to work.

"Doun, teach me this one."

"Sure. This is..."

"Doun, help me."

"If you solve it like this..."

"Doun, this is hard."

"Try approaching it from a different angle..."

I helped Eunhye and Naeun with genuine, wholehearted care. It was not enough for me alone to land in the top twenty percent. They needed good scores too. Only then could all five of us — NPCs included — hunt together. Only then could we challenge the seventh underground floor.

One day. Two days. Three days.

For three full days we did not log into Hero at all. We poured everything into studying.

Knock. Knock.

"Huh?"

"Who is it?"

I stood and opened the club room door. A familiar staff member stood in front — and behind her...

"How did you... get here?"

It was the woman I had met before. She had come to my house as a Human Games employee to deliver a ring I had obtained in the game. The meeting had been brief, but her face had been so beautiful, and her all-black fashion so distinctive, that I had never forgotten her.

She was wearing different clothes now... but that jet-black hair was exactly the same.

A white suit, jacket and trousers. White stockings. White heels. The complete opposite of the all-black look she had worn then.

And unlike the impassive expression she had carried that day, she was beaming now, a bright smile on her face.

"Doun, who is it?"

"Someone's here?"

Curious, Eunhye and Naeun came over.

"You're all here. This is the teacher who will be in charge of the Game Club going forward."

"Whoa... she's gorgeous..."

Naeun let out a breath of pure admiration.

"Hello... Teacher..."

Eunhye bowed her head in greeting.

"Hello."

I followed their lead.

"Nice to meet you~ I'm Kim Sujin, and I'll be taking over the Game Club. Just call me Teacher Sujin~"

The voice was similar. The tone was brighter than before, though.

"Teacher, I'll be heading back to the staff office now."

"Yes, thank you so much for showing me the way~"

The staff member bowed to Teacher Kim Sujin and left.

"Come on, everyone~ Let's go inside~"

"Yes."

"Yes, Teacher."

Teacher Kim Sujin looked at the books spread across every desk and spoke in a voice thick with emotion.

"Oh my~ You've all been studying so hard~ If there's anything you don't understand, just ask Teacher."

"Yes."

"Yes, Teacher."

Eunhye and Naeun actually did put questions to her, and she explained everything with patience and care.

Korean, English, math, science, social studies. They asked about every subject on the entrance exam, and Teacher Kim Sujin never once hesitated.

"Wow... Teacher, which subject do you teach?"

"I'm not a regular faculty member. I used to work at Human Games, and Forest High School asked me to take on the Game Club."

"Human Games!?"

"That's the company that made Hero, right?"

Eunhye and Naeun stared at her, stunned.

"That's right~"

After that, we talked about Human Games for quite a while. The pleasant conversation did not wrap up until nine o'clock.

"Ahem. We should head back to the dorms now."

I cut the conversation short.

"It's already nine."

"Yeah. Yeah."

We tidied up the club room and headed for the dorms.

"Teacher, aren't you going home?"

"I got assigned a dorm room too~ I'll be living with you girls~"

Just as she had said, Teacher went into the girls' dormitory building with Eunhye and Naeun.

The next day, after fourth period ended, we studied in the club room again.

"Teacher, how do you solve this?"

"This one, you see~..."

Teacher answered Naeun's question without the slightest pause. You would think she might have forgotten middle school material by now, but she knew Korean, English, math, social studies, and science perfectly.

How is that even possible?

I had gone back to being a middle schooler myself and scored a hundred in every subject on the midterms. My past studying had helped, but more than anything I had refreshed those old memories while prepping for the exam.

And yet Teacher Kim Sujin knew the third-year middle school curriculum even better than I did — and explained it even better.

Honestly, she seemed more capable than the teachers who actually taught those subjects.

A small question formed, but I pushed it out of my mind and focused on studying.

"Doun~ Don't you have any questions?"

"No, Teacher."

"I see~ If anything's difficult, just tell me anytime~"

"Yes. But Teacher... haven't we met before?"

"Us?"

Teacher Kim Sujin asked, looking surprised.

"Um... you delivered an item to the rental apartment, didn't you?"

"I've never done that. Maybe... I just look like someone else."

Someone who looks like her?

Could there really be two people this beautiful?

The question lingered, but she had said it was not her, so I let it go. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I could hardly interrogate a teacher.

"Teacher. Please teach me this."

"This one, you see..."

Eunhye and Naeun studied under an outstanding teacher, and we all scored well on the entrance exam.

When the results were posted, Teacher Kim Sujin pinned the report cards to the club room wall with a look of pure delight.

"You all did so well~"

Teacher Kim Sujin looked even happier than we did. Declaring that we had to throw a party, she went out and came back with an armful of snacks and drinks for the club room.

"I was a little worried when I heard it was a gaming club~ But you all study so hard~ That puts my mind at ease~"

Eunhye and Naeun laughed and talked with her. I sat apart from the three of them and thought through what came next.

All three of us had made the top twenty percent we had been aiming for. For the entire first semester, we would only need to attend class through fourth period. With that much free time secured, I planned to level Elena quickly and challenge the seventh underground floor.

"Doun~ Don't you want to get closer to Teacher~?"

I had been so absorbed in jotting down plans in my notebook that I had not even noticed her coming up behind me.

"Yes!? Teacher?"

She was riding a high, as if she had been drinking. I tried to pull away in surprise, but I could not. Her strength was greater than mine.

"Teacher, please... a little..."

Only after a long, undignified struggle did I finally wriggle free of her arms. Rather than any flutter of excitement at being held by a beautiful teacher, I was stunned by her tremendous strength.

The little incident settled quickly, and the celebration wound down. We cleaned up the mess and the three of us sat down in front of the computers.

"You're going to play the game now~? If you need anything, just tell Teacher~"

"Yes, Teacher."

"Yes."

Even while studying for the exam, we had hunted in bits and pieces at night and gotten Elena to level 48.

Aside from Elena, the rest of the party had gained a little as well.

As always, we hunted regular skeletons on the sixth underground floor. It was a run that now wrapped up in an hour and a half. Even after farming the materials and taking a proper rest, we still had time left.

We hunted through two waves and got Elena to level 50.

"How do you kids handle meals?"

Evening had crept up on us before we knew it.

"We eat boxed lunches."

"Boxed lunches? Teacher will go get them. You stay here."

"What?"

"Teacher, I can go get them."

Naeun started to rise from her seat. Elena could rest just fine during a sixth-floor hunt. We had been clearing it without her for a long time. Even so, Teacher Kim Sujin insisted it was no trouble and went to fetch the lunches herself.

"Is it okay to let Teacher do this?"

"I know..."

Students playing a game while their teacher fetched lunchboxes. By any common sense, it was something that should never happen. If I had to rationalize it, the club's purpose had been gaming from the start. Framed as Teacher helping with club activities, it was not entirely incomprehensible, but...

We finished dinner in the leftover time after killing regular skeletons. And we still had time to spare.

"I'm level 50."

"Finally..."

"Congrats, Naeun."

The five of us stood at the entrance to the seventh underground floor.

The attack boost was welcome, but I locked onto the holy effect even harder. The enemies waiting on the seventh underground floor were skeleton warriors, skeleton archers, and skeleton mages. If we hit them with weapons carrying a holy effect...

Our damage efficiency would jump. I was sure of it.

The weapons given Holy Weapon took on a soft, gentle glow.

I took the lead, with Seolhwa and Fersin falling in on either side. Sarah and Elena followed from the rear.

The seventh underground floor. Unlike the sixth, a heavy, oppressive pressure settled over us. The skeleton warriors' attacks were sharp, and the archers and mages hammered us with powerful strikes from range.

And yet.

Weapons carrying the holy effect tore into the skeletons. Hunting the seventh floor with Holy Weapon was faster than hunting the sixth floor without it.

I could see Naeun getting shy. And underneath that, she looked quietly happy to be recognized.

The experience that had stagnated through those long hunts on the sixth floor began climbing fast. In an hour and twenty minutes, we had wiped every monster on the seventh underground floor.

Holy Weapon alone had been that effective. Of course, it helped that we were fighting skeletons.

It was past nine in the evening.

"Let's go a little longer."

"Yeah!"

The exam was over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠today, and I intended to push. More than anything... I intended to take the eighth floor — the last floor — as well.

We even cleared the second respawn.

Seolhwa and Elena hesitated, then followed.

The last floor — the eighth underground floor — spawned a minotaur. As befit a final floor, the minotaur was far stronger than any skeleton. There was only one of them, though. Which meant the hunt would actually be easier than the seventh floor.

BOOM!!!

I raised my shield and blocked — and still took a serious hit.

A large share of the energy I had lost came flooding back.

Sarah's magic opened the assault, and Fersin and Seolhwa piled on.

We brought the minotaur down in ten minutes.

In fact, even the beginner's guide I had seen before had listed the eighth-floor minotaur as easier than the seventh floor.

I went to the minotaur's corpse and gathered the materials myself. I needed the minotaur hide.