The First Major Update

The monitor showed a news broadcast.

"Doun… did you know this was going to happen when you went into the Apse Mountain Range?"

Na-eun had finished reading the article. She stared at me with wide, startled eyes.

"No… I just saw the paladins slaughtering the people of the territory and ran."

Na-eun and Eunhye both gave me suspicious looks, but I couldn't tell them the truth. The moment I admitted I knew, they'd demand to know how.

"Whew… anyway, we're lucky. We're far from any village."

"Yeah… it's all thanks to Doun."

While we were talking, Human Games released an official statement.

"Whoa…"

"Whoa…"

Seolhwa and Na-eun let out the same breath of wonder at the same time.

"They said it's not just a simple game…"

"A new world… equal to reality?"

The two high school girls seemed captivated by Human Games' statement, reading it over several more times.

"Pretty cool, right? Human Games."

"Yes, teacher."

"It's amazing…"

True to her roots as a former Human Games employee, Ms. Kim Sujin looked as pleased as if the praise had been meant for her.

"Eunhye, Na-eun. Let's get into the game. Inhyungsulsa will be waiting."

"Okay!"

"Let's go!"

The moment we logged in, Inhyungsulsa was waiting for us, same as always.

Fersin and Sarah, who had been standing watch, came inside the building and offered their greetings as well.

I changed the subject on purpose. Talking with Inhyungsulsa always made me feel like the secret I was carrying might slip out.

We'd discovered the hobgoblin village while scouting the area around the house. Roughly two hundred of them had been living there, and from that day on we'd been picking off every hobgoblin that wandered outside. After steadily thinning their numbers, we estimated about eighty remained in the village now.

"We'll fight the same as always."

I went over everyone's roles one more time.

I took the lead and ran toward the hobgoblin village.

A pack of hobgoblins poured out to meet us, a Hobgoblin Warrior among them.

Inhyungsulsa summoned only skeleton warriors, throwing them into the tanking line. We already had more than enough damage dealers — Seolhwa most of all, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ice Dragon's Sword in hand.

A heavy blow slammed into my shield as I caught the Hobgoblin Warrior's strike.

My job was simple: hold the Hobgoblin Warrior in place until the rest of the party finished off the others.

Blades hissed through the air. The hobgoblins went down like scarecrows at the tip of Seolhwa's sword, shrieking as they fell. Then the party's fire concentrated on the Warrior, and it didn't last long.

There were almost no warriors left inside. We'd already cut down most of the ones that had come out to fight us in the open.

What followed was closer to a massacre than a battle. Ordinary hobgoblins — recommended hunting level 70 — were no match for us anymore.

They screamed as they died. They kept screaming.

"Watch out!"

A colossal ball of fire came howling from the center of the village. I raised my shield and took the blast head-on. Elena's healing light hit me the instant the flames washed off the metal.

"I've got this!"

Seolhwa plunged through the fire and charged the Hobgoblin Shaman.

She twisted to dodge, but she couldn't slip it completely. The Wind Cutter carved across her ribs, and the wound bloomed red.

Seolhwa never broke stride. She drove forward and swept the Ice Dragon's Sword — glowing faintly with a Holy Weapon buff — through the Hobgoblin Shaman's neck.

The body crumpled. The head hit the dirt and rolled, tumbling for a long moment before it finally came to rest.

Inhyungsulsa clapped as he said it. He was right. Seolhwa was magnificent.

An ordinary character, taking a hit that heavy, would have been locked in a status ailment. If it had been anyone else, a Wind Cutter that deep into the side would have meant a stagger or a slow. Seolhwa was different. Her DNA — Snow Flower — nullified minor status ailments outright and slashed the duration of major ones. Of course, something like Status Ailment: Near-Death, the way it had been when she fought the female swordsman in the beginner dungeon, was still beyond her resistance…

"Cain, how'd I do?"

Seolhwa came over and asked.

"You did great. That was really something…"

The praise came from the heart. She really was that good.

"Mm. Thanks."

Killing the Hobgoblin Shaman brought the fighting to a close, and we collected the valuables stored in the village.

There was a lot of it — gold, silver, precious metals of every kind. Sold in town, it would bring in a considerable sum.

Steady hobgoblin hunting had pushed our levels up. A little more and we'd hit 100 — Novice Knight territory. From that point on, warrior-class characters could channel Aura into their blades to reinforce them. It wouldn't be the visible blue glow that intermediate knights and above could shape around a sword, but it was a start.

Level 100 would also make Sarah a 3rd Circle mage, unlocking additional spells — Fireball, for instance, the same magic the Hobgoblin Shaman had just used. Elena would be able to learn more holy magic as well.

Inside Hero, the mood was good.

Unlike reality…

"Hah…"

I swept the thumbtack off my chair and sat down. Someone had put it there on purpose — a petty, malicious little trap. I gathered evidence the same way I had with Kim Juho, the one who'd tormented me before. I went to the school administration office, reviewed the CCTV footage one camera at a time, and found the culprit.

A student in my own class. He was the one who'd left the thumbtack on the seat.

I confronted him. I threatened to report it as school violence.

"I didn't do it. Lee Hanmin from Class 1 told me to…"

"Lee Hanmin?"

"Yeah…"

He answered and bolted. Lee Hanmin. I remembered him — the kid from the class next door who'd been hovering around Na-eun since the start of the semester, playing at being friendly with her while shooting me looks down his nose.

"Hah… and here I thought high school would be easy."

I switched off the recorder in my pocket. Evidence was everything. I had no intention of repeating what had happened in the past, when a lack of proof had been turned around and used against me.

From that day, I started looking into Lee Hanmin.

And then I found out his parents were members of the National Assembly.

"Damn it…"

A National Assemblyman. Not someone I could beat. People cursed politicians on the internet all they wanted, but reality was a different country. These were the most powerful people in South Korea — the kind of untouchable a high school student had no business going up against.

"Hah… maybe I should just take it."

A thumbtack on a chair. If I was careful, I could live with that. Swallowing it was better than picking a fight with a National Assemblyman's son. So I collected the evidence and didn't make a scene. The only thing that changed was a new habit: I checked my chair before I sat down.

I kept my head down and went on with my life. Then it happened.

"Argh!"

I was in the bathroom stall when someone dumped water on me. My clothes were soaked through.

"Hey! What the hell is your problem?!"

Kim Sumin's voice — my roommate — came from outside. I got myself together as fast as I could and stepped out. Sumin had a student by the collar.

"Doun, was that you in there? This guy dumped water in the bathroom and tried ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to run."

"I— I'm sorry."

The one who'd thrown the water rolled his eyes, looking for a way out. He wasn't getting out of Sumin's grip. Sumin liked sports and had the build to match.

I walked up to the kid Sumin was holding.

"Do you… know who I am?"

"N-no…"

"Then why'd you dump water on me?"

"That's…"

"You know this is school violence, right? I'm reporting you to a teacher. I will make sure your student record says you were a perpetrator of school violence, one way or another."

"That's— please…"

The kid who'd thrown the water started crying, as if he were the victim.

"Forget about getting into a decent college."

"Please…"

"Then tell me why you did it."

"Lee Hanmin from Class 1 told me to! He said if I didn't, he'd freeze me out!"

"Lee Hanmin."

"Lee Hanmin?"

Sumin and I said it at the same time.

"Sumin, let him go."

"Yeah…"

The kid scrambled away. Maybe because I hadn't pushed back, Lee Hanmin's harassment only got more blatant after that.

"Doun. Let's report him to a teacher."

"That's… just wait a bit."

"Okay…"

Lee Hanmin's parents sat in the National Assembly. Honestly, I didn't want the fight. I had no confidence I could win it. With that kind of power, he could do whatever he wanted.

"Doun!"

"Doun!"

Eunhye and Na-eun came running, faces stricken at the sight of my soaked uniform.

"Why are you wet?"

"What happened?"

"It's nothing…"

The two of them turned to Sumin, who'd walked into the classroom with me.

"Well…"

Sumin told them everything that had happened in the bathroom.

"How could someone…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

I sat through fourth period in wet underwear.

"I'm going to change. You two go on ahead to the club room."

"Okay…"

"Got it."

I sent Eunhye and Na-eun ahead and changed at the dorm. By the time I reached the club room, they had already told Ms. Kim Sujin everything.

"Doun~~~"

Ms. Kim Sujin pulled me into a hug and stroked my hair.

"Teacher…"

"You must have been so scared. I'll take care of all of it. Don't you worry~~"

I put everything I had into extracting myself from her arms.

"Teacher, I'm fine."

"Fine? Don't be ridiculous. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll handle this!"

"Yeah!"

"I'll help too."

Eunhye and Na-eun stood on either side of Ms. Kim Sujin, nodding as if to say I should trust them.

I was worried. This wasn't an ordinary incident. It wasn't simple school bullying. His parents were members of the National Assembly.

"Teacher… it's dangerous."

Could a high school teacher — a contract teacher, at that — punish a National Assemblyman's son? She would lose her job. That much was certain.

This was a fight we couldn't win.