The Reason the System Warned Him

There had been a reason for the system's warning.

Yujun moved in a frantic rush, sweat streaming off him. It wasn't panic so much as the temperature around him spiking all at once. The thing he took for the final boss was the Spirit King of Fire.

So that's why it warned me.

At least he no longer had to worry about how dark the place had been. Spirit Kings varied wildly in raw strength from one to the next, but this one looked to rank among the higher ones. Its caliber sat incomparably above an earth dragon's, and worse, it carried enough firepower to melt him in a single breath.

Whoosh—!

Kwaaang! Kwaang! Kwang!

Explosions erupted without a pause. Even through all that chaos, the cave somehow held its shape — it hadn't collapsed, despite the violent tremors of the blasts. Yujun was still in one piece as well. His skin had scorched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a little, though not from any direct touch. Simply standing in this space was enough to do it.

How am I supposed to kill that thing?

Spirit Kings were notorious for shrugging off physical attacks, so sword power alone would never finish one. With magic unavailable, spirits were already a nightmare to deal with, and his opponent just had to be a Spirit King. The Spirit King of Fire showed no sign of tiring. From the moment it faced him, it had been hurling fireballs without rest. The heat pouring off its body alone made it hard to stay on his feet, and the enclosed cave was stealing the oxygen, until even breathing became agony.

I can't even probe it.

Fight, or run. He had to choose right here. And with a Transcendent achievement waiting in front of him, Yujun was not about to fold over something like this. He raised his sword and charged. He zigzagged between the fireballs, and any that came on a trajectory he absolutely could not dodge, he simply cut apart.

Shhk—!

The blade heated until it glowed. The good news was that it did not melt. Chieftain Shehil must have given him some decent gear. To think it was sturdy enough to endure even this heat.

As the distance closed, the Spirit King of Fire began spewing an even fiercer blaze. Yujun did not call on Super Concentration. He blocked or slipped every attack. It was a little overwhelming, but not enough to kill him. The real problem was his flesh heating until it flushed red.

Not being able to breathe is a much bigger problem than I thought...

Unable to draw a proper breath, his body felt half a beat slow. His Constitution had climbed quite a bit, but not enough to last indefinitely without air. He searched for a seam first. He could not imagine putting the Spirit King of Fire down easily with ordinary strikes that missed one, and the stronger the opponent, the harder a seam was to find. Right now, the Spirit King was more than he could comfortably handle.

One faint, tiny seam came into view.

Is that what I'm supposed to aim for?

A hollow laugh escaped him. This difficulty was no joke. First he had to confirm whether an attack would even land. Dropping it in a single blow by striking the seam would be ideal, but that did not look easy. He closed the distance in one surge and thrust the sword straight out. The blade sank deep into the figure of flame.

Eeeee—!

A ringing filled his ears out of nowhere. Yujun frowned, then watched the Spirit King thrash and realized the sound had been its scream.

It works?

But the Spirit King of Fire recovered its senses almost at once and began pouring on attacks even fiercer than before. Yujun, about to swing again in succession, retreated in a hurry. Even if he could damage the thing, it would all be worthless if he ended up roasted. The flames peeling off the Spirit King of Fire could drive him to the brink of death from a single touch.

So I have to bring it down without taking a single hit...

He had only one life, and he could not use potions either. Even the game had never cornered him under conditions this brutal.

Stay calm.

He did not have the Equanimity trait, but he acted as if he did. The oxygen was already so thin that he was moving while holding his breath. He rushed in at a speed like a flash ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of light, then abruptly changed direction. A massive fireball slammed into the spot where he had been standing a moment before.

Kwaaang—!

A dizzying instant. Because that huge attack had missed, an opening appeared. Reaching the Spirit King of Fire's back, Yujun fixed his eyes on the seam. He did not swing yet. He had not caught a perfect chance. The Spirit King had exposed the gap on purpose and was waiting with a trap already laid. The span had been short, but he had fought so many battles in that time that his sense for combat had sharpened to the point where he could read the intentions of a Spirit King of Fire that had neither expression nor face.

He made a motion that might have been an attack and might not, grating on its nerves.

Let's see how far your patience goes.

Sure enough. True to a fire-attribute spirit, the very symbol of a short temper, its patience hit bottom almost at once. It began releasing the energy it had been holding in reserve, all of it at once. Yujun, who had been waiting for exactly this moment, drove in toward the Spirit King instead. A wave of hellfire crashed over him. That was when he used the Super Concentration he had been saving.

The flames crept toward him in slow motion. Yujun ran as if accelerating, packed strength into his legs, and leapt. The composition was the same as when he had felled the earth dragon, but a little different. He did not cut the Spirit King with the sword. He slid, as if gliding, toward the place where the seam showed. The seam was still faint. He did not hesitate. He drew the blade straight along it.

And right after, the backlash from Super Concentration hit him.

"Mmph—!"

His head throbbed as if it might split, but he clenched his teeth and endured. Having drawn the line along the seam, he immediately put distance between himself and the Spirit King. He had done it out of worry that the thing might explode, but fortunately nothing of the sort happened.

Crack—!

The Spirit King of Fire vanished.

"I had to kill the Spirit King of Fire to get the key? Does that even make sense? That's way too hard."

It was a trial no other player would even have dared to attempt. Yujun was still reeling at the absurdity of it when a vast energy suddenly formed in the empty air and drove into his body as if piercing straight through him.

"Ghk—!"

The pain was so immense that his mind went white. If he had possessed Equanimity, he might have endured it... Fortunately, the horrific agony did not last. After about a minute, only a faint, tingling ache remained.

"Ugh... this is no joke."

He had gained a new power: Barbarism. Did it serve the same role as Chaos? Seeing that it had settled in as a stat, the odds were high. And because he had absorbed every bit of the Barbarism, it seemed the substance called jorang had never formed...

"All the better, then."

Yujun's eyes went wide.

I can help them?

He did not know the exact situation, but pretending he had never seen them and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walking out was out of the question. The party had been dissolved the moment they entered the event dungeon, and he had never expected the system to read even their previous records and show him a message like this. Naturally, he willed his answer: he would go help.

In that instant light burst outward, and his body warped. He must have grown used to it. He did not even feel sick anymore.

Yujun slowly took in his surroundings. As luck would have it, he spotted Manuela and Yenil in pale, somewhat familiar clothes. They were supposed to have entered their dungeons separately. How were the two of them together? Either they had met by chance, or this was a place where meeting was inevitable. Of the two, the latter seemed far more likely.

Yujun was startled, but Manuela and Yenil were staring back at him with eyes just as wide. They stood there gaping at one another for a long moment before he noticed something strange.

Why are they in school uniforms?

Manuela and Yenil, with their distinctly Western features, looked deeply out of place in clothes much like a Korean school uniform. And the two of them were not the only ones here.

"Oh my..."

"Who is that, and why is he half-naked?"

"A pervert?"

"He gives off a rough sort of vibe."

The students' eyes were strange. Manuela's were no different. Her gaze traveled from his head down to his feet, and then, out of nowhere, her face went red.

"What?"

"Your clothes..."

"Ah."

He was wearing equipment, yes, but everything the chieftain of the Golden Lion Tribe had given him was cloth, and all of it left far too much skin bare. To anyone who was not a barbarian, it was an embarrassing outfit.

Inventory still won't open.

Yujun asked Manuela and Yenil to show him to a room, if they had one. The students staring holes through his body were too much to bear. A little embarrassed glancing he could have tolerated. Being gawked at openly, the way one stares at some exotic animal, he could not.

The two of them led him to their own lodging and gave him a rough account of what had happened.

"Students? You've become students?"

"Yes. This is a magic academy that raises true sorcerers and sorceresses. They say it is the largest in this world, and that gifted children of every kind gather here."

At Yenil's words, Yujun looked between the two of them and smiled in a way that said far too much. Manuela answered with a sullen face.

"What are you looking at us like that for?"

"Nothing... It's just, that means the two of you became students too."

"So what?"

"Honestly, if the kids here found out how old you two are, imagine the shock."

"...Seriously. You really went there? I was anxious enough already."

"Anxious about what?"

"I was even watching every word I said, worried they'd take me for some ancient crone playing at being young."

Yujun burst out in a stifled laugh. A witch who had lived for thousands of years, fretting over something so trivial. It was a little cute.

"How long have you two been here?"

"A month."

"What? A month? For real?"

"Yeah. You?"

"About two days. Why is the time difference this huge?"

"Right? And looking at those clothes, you weren't stuck in a magic academy like we were."

"Nope. I came from rolling around in the dirt with barbarians."

"Barbarians?"

Manuela let out a puff of laughter.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because it really doesn't suit you."

"...That's harsh."

"I'm not looking down on you. I just thought a place that trains knights, or a battlefield, would have suited you better."

"Oh, that's what you meant? So I'm not that barbaric after all, huh?"

"Of course not. I hate it when someone's too macho. You know that."

"Know that? I don't even know your tastes."

"Then learn them now."

Why should I?

Yujun stared at her as if he could not believe what he was hearing, and Manuela lifted her chin and met his eyes straight on. For some reason the look left him embarrassed, and he was the one who glanced away first.

"A-anyway, isn't there some set goal? You'd need one of those to get the key, right?"

"I still don't know. I just figured maybe getting good grades on the exams would do it, so I've been studying hard."

"Don't you already know all of it anyway?"

At Yujun's words, the two of them shook their heads.

"The magical concepts we know are just a little different. The broad strokes are similar... Honestly, should I say the level here is a bit lower?"

"Figures. It's another world, so that could happen. But you said sorcerers and sorceresses, right? Then are the people here the same race as you, Yenil?"

"Yes."