Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Mist Forest's Demonic Hand (4)
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Forty minutes had passed since entering the dungeon.
A glance at the scoreboard showed that already more than half the students had been eliminated.
It wasn't a bad thing.
Though more students had dropped out faster than expected, that meant fewer victims for the demons.
However, there was one absurd detail amid it all.
"...No, is Amelia seriously for real? What the hell is she doing all by herself?"
Kim Do-yoon was in first place as always, and it was no surprise that Sophia and Yoon Seo-rin were trading second and third. He'd expected that.
But he never imagined Amelia would hold fourth place from start to finish.
Moreover, while Sophia and Yoon Seo-rin's scores had barely budged lately, Amelia's were skyrocketing at a terrifying rate.
Just ten more monsters, and she'd snag third?
"...She wouldn't actually come looking for me, would she?"
Shaking off the ominous thought, he looked up and scanned the surroundings.
Thankfully, aside from a few slimes hopping toward him in the distance, nothing else was visible.
"Phew... Focus for now."
He barely suppressed the anxiety swirling in his mind, drew his sword, and swiftly closed in on the slimes.
-Kyung! Kyung!!
-Kyuuuung!!
Slash-!
A light horizontal cut halved the slimes in an instant.
Of course, they began splitting just like before... but it didn't matter.
Burn them before they could divide.
He snapped his fingers, manifesting the 1-circle basic elemental spell, Fire.
At the same time, the slimes—now half their original size—burned to death on the spot.
"...Why does it smell like grilled squid?"
He'd inadvertently caught a whiff, and a savory grilled squid aroma wafted from the slimes' bodies.
Ridiculous....
Staring down at the burning slimes with a dumbfounded look for a moment, he turned and headed deeper into the forest.
At that moment, the clash between Sophia and Yoon Seo-rin had reached its peak.
"Chain Lightning, seven bursts!!"
Seven chains of lightning snaked out from Sophia's staff like serpents, hurtling toward Yoon Seo-rin.
"...."
But Yoon Seo-rin didn't panic at the overwhelming spells charging her. Instead, she seemed amused as she unslung the rifle from her back.
In an instant, she created dozens of mana bullets, engraving the same runes on each.
"Mana Bullet Engraving: Rotation. Acceleration. Scatter. Penetration. Explosion."
The five runes meticulously inscribed on the mana bullets radiated immense mana, ready to fire. Yoon Seo-rin took a deep breath and unleashed them.
Bang!! Tatada-bang—!
In midair, the newly forged S-rank trait mana bullets collided with the spell once more.
The impact unleashed a massive shockwave, sweeping up several students who'd been secretly spectating the fight. They were eliminated on the spot by the mana blast.
"......"
"......"
As the shockwave subsided and they confirmed no serious damage to each other, the two spoke simultaneously.
"You're definitely different."
"Even going all out, this is it, huh."
"...How about we call it here?"
Sophia lowered her staff first.
"Now that I think about it, is there any point in settling this between us?"
Yoon Seo-rin lowered her rifle's barrel and gave a curt reply.
"Can't argue with that. Fighting like this won't end it anyway."
"Right? Since we're on the topic, why don't we try getting along?"
"...I refuse."
Without a hint of hesitation, Yoon Seo-rin rejected Sophia's offer to befriend her and turned to leave.
And...
"...Ha? Hah, seriously. It's not like I actually wanted to be friends with you."
Never expecting such a firm rejection, Sophia flushed with embarrassment.
She yelled after the already-departed Yoon Seo-rin, then resumed tracking Kang Hyun-sol's mana signature.
Ten more minutes passed.
Something felt off.
"...What the hell?"
The map on his wrist clearly marked this as the Mist Forest's heart.
That massive dead tree ahead matched the one he remembered from countless playthroughs.
So why weren't there any demons in sight?
Fine, maybe the demons were being more cautious than usual, so none were visible right now.
At the very least, there should be signs of injured or ambushed students, or faint traces of demonic energy.
His Empathic Constitution could easily pick up on demonic energy.
"But why can't I sense even a trace of it?"
The anxiety he'd barely shaken off came rushing back.
Was this what Chae Yeon-hwa had warned him about?
Had a Soldier-rank or higher demon appeared? That would be bad.
With his current stats and traits, he couldn't guarantee victory against one.
"......"
As he trembled with anxiety, failing to stay calm while venturing deeper into the mist, it happened.
About a minute in, an unbelievable sight unfolded before him.
"...Fuck, this is insane."
On the ground lay three demon corpses, hacked into dozens of unrecognizable pieces, oozing demonic energy.
How did he know there were three? Simple.
Three heads lay neatly severed on the ground.
But what shocked him wasn't the gruesome, vomit-inducing state of the bodies or the heads.
It was that the demon in the center—with a dark red gem embedded in its forehead, marking it as Elite-rank—was dead in such a pitiful state...
And why Wol Ha-yeon, who was supposed to have almost no involvement in the main story artificial dungeon arc, stood there gripping her twin moon blades with a chilling smile.
As if to prove he wasn't hallucinating, a system window appeared in the air.
[Main Story Chapter 3: Mist Forest's Demonic Hand content has been changed.]
Eliminate the two Soldier-rank demons rampaging through the Mist Forest and one Elite-rank demon.
🎁 Reward: 2000 SP, differential SP based on final ranking, 2 F~A-grade item draw tickets
[An error has occurred in the Main Story and Quest.]
[Soldier-rank demons: Karuk and Kirun, Elite-rank demon: Ktarren have entered an incapacitated state. Main Quest content has been changed.]
Survive Wol Ha-yeon's grasp and achieve top-tier results in the artificial dungeon evaluation.
🎁 Reward (upon survival): 3000 SP, differential SP based on final ranking, 2 D~A-grade item draw tickets
'Whoa... What the fuck is all this?'
In over ten years of playing this game, he'd never seen system messages like these.
Not that it was surprising he'd never seen them, but still, it was disorienting.
And the updated quest's content and difficulty were absurd.
'Shit, survive against a girl who can unleash Apostle-level power if her life’s on the line? Are you insane?'
In the late-game main story, no matter how much he struggled or prepared, an Apostle descent was fixed.
And Wol Ha-yeon? She'd always sacrificed herself for mutual destruction with the Apostle.
Facing someone as strong as an Apostle that even S-rank Hunters couldn't last five minutes against? Better to go all-out in a deathmatch UFC with an Elite-rank demon.
"...Gotta bolt."
After freezing like a statue in thought for a while, he decided to very carefully slip away.
How an Elite-rank demon had infiltrated this deep, why Wol Ha-yeon was in the artificial dungeon evaluation—all mysteries.
But regardless, the demons were dead. Survive Wol Ha-yeon's clutches, and he'd secure at least 5000 SP.
Having sorted his thoughts, he began moonwalking back the way he'd come, ultra-cautiously.
But...
"Why run away, Hyun-sol?"
"...."
Had Wol Ha-yeon already sensed his presence? She slowly turned, locking eyes with him as she asked.
He froze and replied calmly.
"Felt like something I shouldn't get involved in, so I was giving you space."
"Ah... This?"
Wol Ha-yeon gestured to the demon corpses strewn about.
"Yeah... Looks like demons. You might be fine, but I'd rather not get tangled up...."
"Hmm, got it."
"Exactly. So I'll be going now."
She seemed convinced. Good—he could escape unscathed.
He resumed his ultra-slow moonwalk.
But then, the Elite-rank demon he'd thought dead bulged its eyes and roared.
「Graaaaaah!! Damn it! According to intel, you shouldn't have joined the artificial dungeon evaluation! Why are you here!!!!」
"Urk!!"
The voice was ear-splittingly repulsive and chilling.
He wanted to smash that head right then.
As if granting his wish, Wol Ha-yeon smiled sweetly and replied.
"Thanks. So that professor blocking my participation was in on it? Nice, caught another mudfish muddying the academy waters."
「Th-that's no...」
In a flash, she crossed her twin moon blades, quartering the demon's head.
"Haa... These filthy bastards never end, no matter how much I clean... Right?"
Wol Ha-yeon turned to him again.
He gulped and nodded slowly.
"They're persistent... Anyway, can I really go now?"
No matter how he thought about it, Wol Ha-yeon was scarier than that Ktarren Elite demon.
Just looking at the moon aura blazing on her blades made his skin crawl.
He wanted out fast.
But Wol Ha-yeon glanced between him and the corpses, then flashed a radiant smile and shouted.
"No, wait. These were a side cleanup—I can report them to the Dean later. Today, I'll achieve my goal."
"...What goal?"
"Obviously, that serious, spine-tingling real combat I couldn't have last time—with you!"
Her blazing moonlit twin blades pointed right at him.
"I'll give you five minutes to prepare."
"...."
'Fuck... I'm so screwed. Damn Book of Restraints, Oath of Indulgence, world—why me?'
He'd planned to take down two Soldier demons, prove his growth as an extra, and happily claim 3000 SP.
Instead, at the third main story chapter, he was up against an almost-final-boss-tier character.