Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: There Exists Such a Thing as Majority Rule
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There exists such a thing as majority rule in this world.
"...Why."
The guy who had started off yelling with such bravado went as meek as a whipped dog the moment our eyes met, mumbling as he averted his gaze.
Standing there like that, he almost looked like a well-trained pup. Nice.
"Team up with me. No, you will. And let's be real—you don't have any friends anyway. Teaming up with me is basically a freebie, right?"
If things had gone as they should have, he'd have tons of friends and be all lovey-dovey with Kim Tae-hyun by now. But I got in the way, didn't I? So this is me going out of my way to help. He ought to be grateful to me.
Isia pouted and glared, but I ignored her. Ignored.
"What a trash mindset."
Shut up. Ignoring Raphael's mutterings, I took stock of the situation.
A hero's main duties boil down to two things.
One is the ongoing clearance of dungeons that keep popping up and wreaking havoc on humanity.
The other is suppressing terrorism or crimes involving magic power.
Today's training fell into the first category, and in those cases, teams usually operated in groups of four.
The standard formation divides into vanguard, midguard, and rearguard, with one vanguard, one midguard, and two rearguards being the norm.
In other words, we needed to form teams matching that formation. Isia was a mage, so rearguard. Raphael probably was too.
"You rearguard?"
"Should I go vanguard and take hits instead? Ever since descending to the mortal realm, I've lost all my wings, so the magic I can use is pretty limited."
Wow, what a brag. So that makes two rearguards locked in. And me? Midguard, obviously.
Midguard is usually the most crucial position. You back up the vanguard and protect the rearguard, plus you get a full view of the battlefield to issue orders—it's the busiest and most important role on the team. But—
So what? I'm taking it.
Midguard was made for me. Safe from frontal assaults, safe from rear ambushes. Full battlefield view means you can bolt first if things go south.
Not an exaggeration to say it was invented for guys like me.
Don't sigh. You're hurting my feelings.
For the record, Lachesis was perched on my shoulder using one of her skills. Not invisibility—more like perception lowering. Easier to think of it that way.
If you're wondering why she didn't use it to ditch me, it's because the skill doesn't work once someone's already aware of her. That's why I had to hunt her down.
Anyway, what our team needed right now was a vanguard. A meat—er, sturdy shield to draw all the aggro and damage up front.
"So go grab one."
"Pardon?"
Isia's sulky expression shifted to one of bewilderment. She was hiding her hands behind her back when I glanced over, so yeah, exactly what I thought. But let's let her think about what she has to do next.
"What do you mean 'pardon'? Look, I'm midguard, Raphael's rearguard. You're rearguard too, so fetch us a vanguard. We gotta make a team."
She pulled that why-me face, then realized from my expression I wasn't joking and switched to a pouty grimace.
"...I'll be back."
Yeah. Good luck.
Bad guy. Trash. Dog. I could hear the mutters, but I pretended not to.
"Pfft!"
The guy next to me apparently had no such intentions.
If I had to sum up my mood right now in one word: fucked.
How did it come to this? Ever since arriving here, not a single thing has gone my way.
"I got one!"
Isia beamed brightly. I had no clue what she was so pleased about.
At first, Raphael and I had watched with grins as Isia fidgeted and awkwardly chatted people up. We'd burst out laughing each time she got shot down once, twice, while she shot us death glares on repeat.
Then at some point, she approached him. This guy.
"Nice to meet you! Name's Joo Seung-jun!"
Ignoring me to flash a princely smile at Raphael beside me and greet her.
Squinty eyes, green hair. Handsome at a glance, ugly up close. A man of a thousand faces.
One word to describe him: wimp. And why did his arrival make everything so fucked?
"Oh, you too? The 1028th rank teaming with 12th place. World's gone soft. You don't actually think you beat Isia on skill, do you?"
This. This right here.
Joo Seung-jun.
The disposable early-game punk who trash-talks Kim Tae-hyun, gets schooled, existing solely for that cathartic moment.
This guy's so infuriating because he embodies every asshole trope I knew of. Who put them all there? Me.
I shot Isia a glare without a word. She, who had been covering her mouth and smirking at his words—clearly pleased—now stared back with a what-the-hell-did-I-drag-him-here-for look.
We'll settle up later.
"Man, this team's great. Two beauties! Especially Raphael!"
"Pardon?"
Raphael blinked in confusion at the mention of her name.
"Don't hang with losers like him. Wanna roll with me starting tomorrow? You're wasted here. Academy's 1028th is basically dead last, but I'm ranked 450th?"
Raphael scratched her head with an aw-shucks, what-a-compliment, I-know-I'm-a-catch vibe. You and me later, too.
I sidled up to Isia and whispered to her, low enough that Joo Seung-jun, busy hitting on Raphael, wouldn't hear.
"Again."
"What? How'd I even snag him? Teams are almost all set. No way. I can't get another. You want him gone, you do it."
What? Dismissing her nonsense, I scanned around. But.
Hardly anyone left. Almost every student had formed teams. A few stragglers remained, but the moment I saw their faces, I gave up.
Three of them. Three outliers.
One was Kim Tae-hyun, one a future sidekick of his, and the other a mid-game boss.
Yeah. Better the kid. Looking closer, you're a fairy, Seung-jun.
"Right? See?"
Isia huffed, crossing her arms smugly. What was she so thrilled about?
"Fine. We'll do it. But I'm team leader."
"You? No way—even I—"
"Midguard's the leader spot. Why fight it? I've got a cool name too: Lee Seong-hoon. Call me that. Or Sir Seong-hoon if you want. I permit it. Hate that? Master works—"
"...I'd die first. Do it or don't."
Isia turned away. Beating her once really paid off—she was nice and pliant now. All that was left was getting Joo Seung-jun to agree.
"Why? Better Isia leads than the 1028th. If not her, me—why you?"
There we go—that's Joo Seung-jun. But here's the thing. There's majority rule in this world.
No one's on your side here. Come on, Raphael, speak.
"I'm all for Seong-hoon as leader~ Like a figurehead vibe? I'm the only sane one here, Seong-hoon's the clueless puppet, but I'm the real puppet master. Actual ruler. Love it!"
Does she even know what 'sane' means? Ignoring Raphael's nonsense, I eyed Joo Seung-jun.
With a how-about-it look.
Be real. 3-1, you yield, right? That's how the world works. It doesn't bend to your whims.
I ignored the grinding-teeth sound.
A chill ran down my spine for some reason. Goosebumps prickled my skin, my back grew ice-cold, and my body shivered uncontrollably.
Like a ghost watching me. Rubbing my shoulders with both hands, I pressed forward.
The reason was simple. It was our team's turn, so we'd entered the dungeon. Looking around revealed a cave dimly lit by faint lighting.
A cave I'd never described before—in short, brand new.
Completely different from the dungeons Kim Tae-hyun faced in the novel. A shining example of Justitia's damnable tech.
"Whose brilliant idea was it to make a different dungeon every time?!"
I yelled, but yeah, it came from my own head. Die, past me.
"If it was always the same dungeon, the first team would leak info to the next. Not fair competition. What if Seong-hoon didn't know that?"
Quiet. I know. I know best.
Meeting Isia's shut-up glare, I hurried along. Joo Seung-jun up front apparently didn't like it, slowing down and bumping into me repeatedly.
You wanna go?
This instant dungeon scored on clear time. From memory, floor 1 had traps and mazes, floors 2+ had real monsters—total of 3 floors.
Even if the layout changed, the mechanics wouldn't. That'd be unfair.
Hell, the top 3 teams even got to experience a fully cleared dungeon. I had to be there.
That's why I tamed Lachesis. Why she's key for dungeon crawling?
"Stop."
At Joo Seung-jun's curt order, we all halted. Three paths ahead. A fork.
Dungeons and mazes—can't have one without the other. How fast you navigate the labyrinthine first floor? That's the key here.
And I had a cat that could see fate.
I poked the sleeping black cat on my shoulder. She yawned sleepily and woke.
"Left."
Joo Seung-jun and Isia stared at me like I was nuts. What basis?
What basis? Our cute cat told us.
"Why left? Feels like center to me. Not convinced, so center it is?"
This is why I hate the guy. Just go where I say—team leader's orders are absolute, got it?
Time for that method again? Majority rule exists in—
"Left doesn't feel right to me either. Convince us, team leader."
Isia crossed her arms. The moment she rebels, with him here? You brought him for this?
Even I couldn't budge her. No choice—I stood at the fork. A blue window popped up, vision shaking.
Mana flows appeared everywhere. Clustered, swirling ones too—magic traps. Yep. Dungeons mean traps.
Traps and mazes. Inseparable from dungeons.
I picked up a nearby pebble. Ignoring the what-the-hell stares, I tossed it.
Even with my puny strength, it cut through the air nimbly. Spent, it dropped near the visible magic.
And the result?
Acrid gunpowder stung our noses, an ear-splitting blast roared, a scorching blast threatened to hurl us away.
Skin tingling, minds scrambled from the heatwave, ears ringing so bad no other sound registered for ages.
In the midst of it, I calmly turned to the two in shock.
"See?"
"Wha? Huh? Why?"
Leaving Joo Seung-jun and Isia gaping, I bolted left. Fast, before they could stop me.
Quiet. Best I could do. Be grateful your legs didn't give out. Thank your stars you didn't piss yourself.
Didn't expect traps this huge. Thought it'd be spears or something. Students use this, right? No deaths? Practice dungeon, yeah?
"Pfft!!"
Glancing back now would show that damn blonde smirking, so full speed ahead.
That was it!