Dungeon Practice (2)
Baek A-young glanced my way, the corners of her mouth lifting in a sly little smile, then came walking over.
"Ta-da. Surprised? Consider this a surprise~."
The bright smile on her face as she said it was genuinely cute. It was a different kind of charm from the sexy, seductive allure of other women. She had the kind of appeal that made you want to protect her, to keep her safe.
"Wow, I really am surprised. Running into you here of all places, A-young... it feels kind of strange."
"Different from when we meet on the outside, right? This is what a grown-up looks like."
She looked thoroughly pleased with herself for showing her adult side to someone younger. If anything, it only made me want to protect her more.
Hunters affiliated with the Association were required to wear the formal suits the Association issued. Of course, unlike ordinary suits, these were all-purpose garments designed for ease of movement and layered with all kinds of enchantments. The fact that she still made me want to look after her even while wearing an office-girl suit... that was just talent, honestly.
"You really do look like a proper adult in that suit. Back at the orphanage you felt more like an older sister, so calling you A-young never felt weird... but now I don't even know what I should call you."
I played along with the mood, figuring she'd like being treated like an adult.
"Oh, come on. Just keep calling me the same as always. That's easier for me too."
On the left side of Baek A-young's chest was the Association's emblem — a dragon ascending toward the heavens. The wish-granting jewel clutched in the dragon's claws was yellow. The color of that jewel told you exactly where someone stood in the Association's hierarchy.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Yellow was third. Third sounded modest enough, but red belonged to the Association President, and orange to the executives immediately below. Put simply: the CEO of a major corporation wore red, and the board of directors wore orange. That told you plenty about where Baek A-young stood.
Healing-attribute mana was rare to begin with, and Baek A-young's abilities were exceptional. The lore had mentioned she could bring someone back as long as they still had a pulse. That said it all.
"Got it. I stopped by the orphanage last weekend and they said you'd already been by. Will you be going again this weekend?"
"Ah, I don't think I'll be able to visit for a while. There's a dungeon-raid helper application I absolutely have to take part in."
"Ah, I see...."
Just like her current dispatch to the Academy, Baek A-young also went out as a helper to other guilds.
"This is your first dungeon practice, isn't it, Hoyeon? They say you take the exam after three dungeon practices, so I'll get to see you three more times."
Smile, smile. She really was a woman who smiled a lot. It was hard to believe someone like her harbored such perverted fetishes.
"Yeah. I'll be counting on you for those three. I'm pretty weak, so I'll probably be seeing you a lot."
"Oh my. If you come too often, you'll end up on the blacklist."
I played along with the conversation while thinking to myself.
A-young... after the next class, the dungeon goes berserk, and I'll only get to see you one more time....
And that would be the time to win Baek A-young over.
Groups 1 through 10 entered the first dungeon. I was in Group 13, which meant we were in the second wave. I gathered with my teammates and watched the groups ahead of us. Nam Da-eun and the guy were nowhere to be seen, though, so Rumi and I ended up watching together, just the two of us.
I tipped my head back. A massive holographic screen hung in the sky, tracking every member of the first wave.
"Wow, that's amazing. They say invisible eyes like that follow right behind every single participant."
"No kidding. So those things are going to follow us around once we go in too?"
"I would think so?"
Apparently they were some kind of artifact the mages used. The exact principle was beyond me.
Rumi made it painfully obvious she was more comfortable when it was just the two of us, chatting away as she leaned in.
"Wow, Group 7 really does stand out."
"Well, Elise is in that one."
Ten groups were dropped into a single dungeon. Their landing points were all different, and there was only one exit. The positions were chosen with precise calculations, though, so finding the way out was supposedly a comparable challenge for everyone.
Group 7, with Elise at the front, was punching through at an astonishing pace. She sprinted ahead, sweeping her sword in a wide horizontal arc.
A wet, tearing shriek erupted as the goblins — little more than dungeon fodder — were carved apart like paper. Blood sprayed. Bodies split in two. Lives snuffed out in an instant.
Sizzle—
Where Elise's blade had passed, goblin flesh burned and smoked.
"Wow. This is the first time I've actually seen it properly. So that's the famous Magic Swordsman."
"...Yeah."
Magic Swordsman. God, that title was painfully cringeworthy.
In the game, Elise's build shifted depending on whether the protagonist leaned toward magic or the sword. If the protagonist invested in magic, Elise got called a Battle Mage — which, frankly, sounded a lot cooler. This was reality, though, so none of that applied. I was a mage, and Elise was still just a Magic Swordsman. Battle Mage had a better ring to it. Shame.
Still, Magic Swordsman was the right word for her. Someone who used both magic and swordsmanship was a Magic Swordsman. What else would you call it?
Most Magic Swordsmen ended up as neither-here-nor-there hunters — mediocre at both. They might look impressive early on, but eventually they failed to reach a true peak in either discipline and plateaued into irrelevance.
Elise was different. She had destructive talent in both the sword and magic. Either one of those gifts alone would have been enough to call her a genius of the century. She'd been born with both — a greedy set of genes that had hogged everything.
For now, she loaded magic into her blade and slammed it home with raw physical force. Inefficient, in a way — but when it landed, the destructive power multiplied. Later, once she grew further, she would slash and simultaneously pour out silent-cast magic in a torrent. A complete balance-breaker.
"That was so cool...."
"What was?"
"Huh? Nothing. Never mind."
Group 7, with Elise in it, was overwhelming. They were moving so fast it looked like they might escape without ever crossing paths with another team.
Lucy's Group 8 wasn't doing badly either. From the rear, Lucy laid down a constant stream of fire arrows, dealing damage and suppressing at the same time. Group 7 was in a league of its own, and Group 8 was pulling ahead of everyone else.
"Still, Lucy's in second."
"Her teammates always seem to have a good atmosphere. Ever since we were little, any space Lucy was in was always warm and lively. Not that I was part of that. Hehe."
"People just don't see what you've got. I actually find your type a lot more comfortable. I like it better."
She'd started spiraling into self-deprecation mid-conversation, so I turned it into something kinder.
"Y-yes? Ah — me too! I really like you too, Hoyeon."
"Hm?"
"Ah, n-no. Nothing. It's nothing...."
Rumi blurted out something that was almost a confession, then started fidgeting with the red ribbon tying her hair back, suddenly very interested in anything that wasn't me.
I didn't know quite how to put it, but Rumi had a charm that made you want to hold her close — a different kind from Baek A-young's.
Ever since we'd drunk together, her Affection and Libido had shot up dramatically. Of all people, I hadn't expected the first heroine I'd end up winning over to be Rumi instead of Mun Su-rin.
Then again, an Affection of 66 meant she liked me enough to say yes if I confessed — and yet there was no sign of anything actually moving forward. Last time we'd had drinks, I'd woken up in a motel, so I couldn't exactly be the one to suggest drinking again. And the idea of socially awkward Rumi confessing first? Unimaginable.
"Oh! Group 7 already finished their run."
I looked up at the screen at Rumi's words. Elise's group had cleared the dungeon. Elise was getting her rumpled clothes in order with a blank expression while she underwent her medical check, and the rest of her teammates wore faces that said, Nice to get carried, but I wonder if our scores will even be okay....
Lucy's Group 8 finished shortly after, and the remaining groups began clearing one after another. Lee Byung-hoon drifted back over to our spot as well.
"I wonder where Nam Da-eun went. We should start getting ready soon."
"I'll go look for her."
"Hmm. I was walking around earlier and didn't see her. Maybe she's resting in some corner?"
Taking Lee Byung-hoon's advice, I left the student waiting area and wandered through the quieter spots where fewer people were likely to be. Then, from just around a corner, I heard Nam Da-eun's voice.
"Don't worry. Have you ever seen your big sister lose? I'll take first today too. I have to head out soon, so let's talk again later."
"That's right! I love you, sis!"
"...Yeah. I really love you too."
A tenderness I had never heard from the usual Nam Da-eun. The warmth of someone speaking to a person they truly cherished.
I eased half my face past the corner. Nam Da-eun was staring at a hologram, her eyes glistening. The face of a little girl floated in the air in front of her — a video call. Every time the child spoke, Nam Da-eun smiled. It was an expression overflowing with feeling, nothing like her usual blank mask.
Even her stoic face had a sculpted kind of beauty, but Nam Da-eun's looks truly came alive when she smiled.
"...."
That little girl was Nam Da-eun's younger sister.
Her abnormally high Fatigue seemed to be screaming just how dire her situation really was. I quietly retraced my steps, careful not to get caught peeking. Just thinking about how I was supposed to win Nam Da-eun over made my head hurt.
I returned to our spot. Rumi and Lee Byung-hoon asked where Nam Da-eun was, and I told them I hadn't found her. She arrived shortly after. Nobody else seemed to notice, but I caught the faint trace of moisture still clinging to the corners of her eyes.
The first wave had fully completed their runs, and we were given a rest period before the second wave went in. Right in front of me, the cadets from the first wave were filtering back from their dungeon practice. The injured ones headed straight for Baek A-young. Four to a group, ten groups — she could handle the wounded on her own.
"It's all right. Slowly now — close your eyes and take a deep breath. It'll be over before you know it."
"Nngh... hah, hah, hah...."
Some of them had taken serious wounds. This was dungeon combat training in the truest sense. The eyes watching from behind each student did their best to keep things from reaching a worst-case scenario, but unexpected accidents still happened.
"Groups 11 through 20, get ready, now!"
"We should start getting ready."
"Yes!"
"Okay."
"...."
The students in Groups 11 through 20 went to find the professors assigned to their teams. Ours was Kim Jin-hyeok, the A-Class homeroom professor. He led us down into the building's basement.
"No talking while you follow me. We'll be there soon, so don't get nervous either."
Before long he opened a door in the underground space, and beyond it stood a portal inscribed with a magic circle. From here on, I knew the setting. Step through the transport portal the Academy had prepared, and you were sent to a dungeon maintained specifically for the exam.
"This portal will take you to the coordinates assigned to your group. Just walk through."
Honestly, I was scared enough that I kept glancing around for cues. A look to the side told me Rumi was in the same boat.
"You'll figure it out once you're inside, but where you are and how you should move is for you to decide. You will be given no information in advance."
What kind of dungeon it was, what monsters lived there, how to escape — they offered not a single hint. The ability to figure those things out, and the judgment that went with it, were all part of the evaluation.
Kim Jin-hyeok finished his last briefing and stepped aside from the portal. Nam Da-eun walked through without a moment's hesitation. Lee Byung-hoon followed right after her.
"Let's go too, Rumi."
"Y-yes. I'm a little nervous."
Rumi and I carefully set our feet into the portal. A wash of brilliant light wrapped around my body, my head spun for a brief moment, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking at a space that had nothing in common with the room we'd just left.
The air was thick with mana. The earthen floor was damp. Water dripped steadily from the ceiling. A cave-type dungeon. Nam Da-eun and Lee Byung-hoon had arrived first and were already scanning the surroundings.
If a cave-type dungeon showed up in a practice run, the pathfinding itself was on the easier side. Keep walking forward and you'd eventually hit the exit. Of course, clearing it that way would trash your score.
For the moment, I was the closest thing our group had to a leader. Nobody else was stepping up, which meant I had to take command.
"Guys, let's head forward for now. If we want to find the exit...."
BANG—!
Before I could even finish, the air cracked like something had burst, and Nam Da-eun sprinted ahead.
"...."
"Hey! Let's hurry and catch up!"
Lee Byung-hoon took off after her.
"Hoyeon, hurry!"
"Ah — yeah. Let's go."
Strange. Wasn't I supposed to be the leader?
"Damn it, she's stupidly fast. Seriously."
The three of us were hard-pressed just to keep Nam Da-eun's back in sight. Even when monsters appeared, her pace didn't drop at all.
SKREEEEE—!
Chrome Bats — the kind that typically nested in cave-type dungeons. They lived in packs of ten or more, using their massive wings to intimidate before closing in at high speed to batter their prey with wings as hard as steel. A flock of about fifteen would normally pin down four cadets for a good five minutes. Not a powerful enemy, but fast enough to be a genuine nuisance.
We, however, had Nam Da-eun in front of us. She stopped for a beat and drew her sword.
A single flash — then a rapid-fire cascade of cuts. The Nam Da-eun holding the blade vanished from my vision for an instant, then stood in her original spot as if nothing had happened, sword already lowered.
Then the Chrome Bats' corpses, shredded without a shred of mercy, rained down onto the floor.
"Wow... so that's Nam Da-eun's Acceleration...."
Rumi murmured it like her soul had left her body. I couldn't see a damn thing. Was that even fair?
Nam Da-eun flicked the blood from her blade with no expression at all, slid the sword back to her hip, and started running again. The whole thing was so lopsided it was almost absurd, but there was no time to complain. We scrambled after her.
We'd been running for about five minutes when the doubts started creeping in.
"Yeah, getting carried is nice and all, but...."
Nam Da-eun was carving through every monster that popped up, and the path itself was a simple straight line. This wasn't just any free ride. This was the Nam Da-eun Express. Getting carried by Nam Da-eun was great. The problem was...
"Yes, that's true, but...."
"Hey. If this keeps up, the rest of us aren't going to score a single point!"
Lee Byung-hoon was right. At this rate, we wouldn't earn anything. I'd been offering my condolences to Elise's teammates earlier, and now I was about to become them.
Nam Da-eun had to know she'd get the lowest possible cooperation score for blowing through the dungeon like this. She was clearly operating on the logic that she'd just take perfect marks in everything else and call it even.
"Haa. Let's just catch up first."
"Yes. Got it!"
Fortunately, Nam Da-eun had stopped in a clearing. We hurried in after her and found ten passages branching off in every direction. She seemed to be weighing which one would let her finish the fastest.
Mana surged through her body again. She had no idea which way to go, so she was about to pick one at random and just run.
I opened my mouth before she could take off.
"I think I know which way we should go."
Nam Da-eun glanced back at me. At last, it was time for a passenger to step up.