It's an Academy Raid Aaaattack!!! # 5
It's an Academy Raid Aaaattack!!! # 5
"Hahaha! Would you look at that!"
Si-hoo stared at his own hand like it was some kind of miracle.
"Man, I'm dying of jealousy, seriously. Si-hoo. My stomach hurts so bad...! Ooh, oof, ow!"
It's a universal constant. Watching a friend do well always makes your stomach ache. I immediately grabbed my gut and started wailing.
"Heheheh, Geun-cheol, what d'you mean your stomach hurts. I'll spot you a congrats-bread, so hurry up and heal."
"If it's congrats-bread, I'm healed. For the record, what kind?"
"Don-gapnaegi."
"Ooh yeah!!! Si-hoo, congratulations!!!"
Only then could I offer him proper congratulations! In the cold, brutal world of friendship, no treat means no celebration.
But whatever the case, if Si-hoo gets stronger, I benefit too. From what I know, Si-hoo's the main character of this game. He's gotta speedrun getting overpowered and clean house.
"Anyway, Geun-cheol. Let's figure this out later and sweep the area some more! There might be more of the same thing!"
Maybe it was the Awakening. Si-hoo practically shouted with a face full of excitement. Even so, his priority was the situation at the school, not his own mood.
"Yeah. Let's look around more."
Personally, I doubt there's more of the same thing.
The quest is already over. There's no way there's another one. Still, Si-hoo doesn't know that, so we'll just sweep together and get more loot.
"Might be more stuff lying around."
Anyway, all we have to do now is survive. Honestly, dying seems harder at this point. Plus, I'm pretty sure the attack's almost over by now.
"C'mon, let's go, Geun-cheol! Just thinking about that thing transforming into me again, I can't take it...!"
"Yeah! But it was only copying your face, not your whole body!"
"R-right! Yeah! Only my face!"
Even if the face is whatever, honestly, the thought that that body went to waste bothers me so damn much!
"Hey, Si-hoo."
"Yeah?"
"You think we'll get to see a body like that again?"
"Wh-whaaaaaat?!"
"No, I mean. That thing with your face on it, I can tell it to screw off. But honestly, as a guy, after seeing a body like that, I can't not want to meet it again."
"Stop talking utter crap!"
What, does he not like the glamour type?
Man really does have peculiar tastes.
—Fwoosh!
Anyway, Si-hoo and I swept around behind the building and continued our search. Obviously, we didn't find much.
Just a few straggler F-rank monsters.
"Kyiiiiiiik!"
An Antazora, the type of monster we'd killed to death ad nauseam at the training grounds, came charging with a clatter, its tentacles flailing.
This thing, it looks like a sea anemone with legs... the visuals are kind of grotesque, but it isn't a particularly tough opponent for me. I've been training hard this whole time. A single F-rank monster is nothing.
"Weapon Enchantment!"
—Fwoom!
I immediately infused the blade with sword aura, stepped forward on a diagonal with my right foot to dodge the Antazora's charge,
—Shunk!
Watched the Antazora pass right by me, clenched my sword-hand, and with the left foot still raised from the step, stomped down hard with a stamping step!
"Dieeeeee!"
Like I was throwing a right hook, I drove the sword with full force straight into its hollow back!
—Bam!
"Kyiiik!"
Just stabbing it isn't the end. You twist the handle up like you're cranking a gas stove knob, then transition into an upward slash pulling it through.
—Slshht!
My blade drew a vertical crescent moon as the monster's blood sprayed up.
—Thud!
That was enough to bring the Antazora down.
Dead. I confirmed it and dismissed the sword aura.
[Coin acquired : 15]
"Phew! Easy!"
I could feel the heat of combat burning inside me. Dispatched in an instant with a violent sequence. Weapon Enchantment really is the real deal. The attack power itself is on a whole different level.
"Whoa. Geun-cheol. You're taking down F-rank monsters like it's nothing now, huh? That move just now was pretty good too."
"Right? All that practice is paying off."
"Yeah. Stab, then transition into an upward slash. That was a solid combo. But if it wasn't for the sword aura, it would've gotten stuck in the middle and you couldn't have split it open, you know?"
"I know. That's why I've gotta train my sword aura properly."
My mana reserves were getting real low. I could maintain it for maybe five more seconds. Taking those mana classes at school, I'd gained an almost instinctive sense for checking my remaining mana.
"Hey, Si-hoo. You don't hear the sounds of fighting anymore?"
"Huh? Oh. You're right."
The constant din of battle that had been droning on was gone.
Was it all over?
"Then let's leave the rest to the grown-ups and bolt to the shelter. If we go now, we might not get caught by Instructor Lee So-ra."
"What're you doing? Then we've gotta go fast. Hurry up and follow me, Geun-cheol."
"Heheheh, you little punk."
We immediately exited the combat zone. Going AWOL was a thing, but not getting chewed out is the best outcome. If you're back at the shelter before the instructors, you might not get caught.
So we ran all the way to the shelter, did the biometric scan, and opened the door.
That moment.
"What?! Kim Geun-cheol! And Lee Si-hoo too!"
Leona looked absolutely horrified, pointing at us with an accusatory finger and yelling.
"Yo! Our Archangel Leona! Is this heaven?"
"Do you want me to make this heaven for you! There's absolute chaos going on outside, so where the hell were you and what were you doing!"
I can feel Leona's rage!
"H-hey, hey! It wasn't like that! We just got a little lost...!"
"Lost, my ass! Cut the crap! You wanna get in trouble!"
"Wait! Leona! There's circumstances! We ran into some monsters while evacuating and came back after fighting them off!"
"Nice, Si-hoo! Exactly, Leona! We came back while fighting!"
"F-for real?!"
When Si-hoo spun it that way, a flustered Leona rushed over and started patting down my shoulder and forearm. Uh, what was this? Why was she all over me?
"Are you hurt anywhere?! No, I mean, why didn't you just run instead of fighting them!"
"We didn't really have a choice..."
But her face showed genuine worry, so I couldn't do anything except stand there. She really is the class president.
"I'll tell you the details later. Hey, is everyone else here?"
"Everyone except you two."
"You know what's going on outside?"
"Look over there."
"Ah."
I looked where Leona pointed and saw a screen. The situation at the school was being broadcast on it. Wow. This is nice, lets you monitor what's going on outside while you're taking shelter.
"Whoa."
Anyway, what was visible on the screen was a mountain of corpses, and nothing but the heroes, standing atop that mountain of corpses, looking up at the sky.
Why are they so freaking cool?
But.
"What's that?"
The center of the school.
Looking closer, there was still a gate floating in the sky over it. Smaller than the one that had first appeared, but still not gone.
Normally, gates are supposed to disappear.
"The gate's still there?"
"Yes. Even after killing that many of them, the gate's still there."
"So you're saying more are coming out?"
"No. Rather than more coming out... I think that one's a dungeon."
"A dungeon?!"
A dungeon!
I know what that is!
It's a gate that leads to another world. It won't disappear until you go inside and destroy something at the core. Dungeons appear somewhat rarely, but on a national scale, they say they appear pretty frequently.
"A large-scale assault and a dungeon gate... doesn't this all smell like some kind of incident to you?"
"It definitely does, yeah. Hey, hold on, Leona. What happens when a dungeon appears at the academy?"
Are we gonna end up doing a field exercise into the dungeon or something?
"I'm not sure? This situation is a first for me too. But I'd guess active-duty heroes will enter and conduct the reconnaissance. Since the academy is a top-priority facility, they'd have to resolve it fast."
"Gotcha."
This genuinely reeks of a major incident.
Starting with a massive gate blitz, Doppelganger Slimes trying to sneak onto campus, and now a dungeon's showing up. If I'd known this was gonna happen, I would've read more of the wiki.
"You think school's gonna be suspended?"
"Might be. Anyway! Don't go thinking about doing any more crazy stuff and just stay quiet and stay here!"
"What d'you mean, crazy stuff!"
"Look at the state of you right now!"
"Hm?"
I looked down at my clothes, and—ah.
"Gross."
My uniform was completely filthy with monster blood and chunks of flesh and all that. I mean, I did fight pretty hard.
"Shit, what do I do about this."
This is my only uniform.
Do I have to start coming to school in a tracksuit from tomorrow?
—Swish.
"Here."
Out of nowhere, Leona held out a handkerchief.
"Nah, Leona. No matter how much Angel Power you've got, this isn't coming clean with that."
"At least pretend to clean it! You're way too filthy right now!"
"Alright, alright. Thanks."
Anyway, maybe it's because I burned a lot of energy. I started getting tired. So I sat down and was scrubbing at my uniform with the handkerchief when.
"..."
I got the distinct feeling of a very intense stare.
So I looked that way.
"Ryu Cheon-hwi?"
Ryu Cheon-hwi was glaring at me with eyes that said he found me supremely disagreeable. What's with this bastard? Why's he looking at me all murderously? I decided I should find out what his problem was.
And promptly walked over and spoke to Ryu Cheon-hwi.
"Oi! Mr. Ryu! What're you doing over there!"
"Who the hell is Mr. Ryu!"
"Who else? I'm talking about you. Mr. Ryu, huh? I was out there fighting hard and you're just here relaxing in comfort?"
"Don't give me that shit!"
"Heheheh, look at you, Mr. Ryu, just wiggled your way right out of it."
That was the instant I walked up to him, talking all friendly.
"Mr. Ryu?"
The woman beside him suddenly tilted her head with that one.
"Hm?"
She had the same sky-blue hair as Ryu Cheon-hwi. What's this? A staff member? I've never seen her before.
"Calling our Cheon-hwi 'Mr. Ryu' and being all chummy with him... who are you?"
The woman spoke to me.
"Pardon? Me?"
Ah, no way?
Let's quickly put this together. Hair color gives me a decent read. This woman seems to be someone from Ryu's family. An older sister? High chance she heard about the school getting attacked and came to protect her little brother.
"I'm a friend of Mr. Ryu's."
"Who said I'm your friend!"
"Hey, hey. Pipe down a bit, man. Jeez. I'm talking to a grown-up here."
"You little, your mouth...!"
I shut down the Ryu tantrum about to erupt, and.
"Oh my. Goodness."
—Clap.
Ryu's sister covered her mouth with her hand and smiled.
"Our Cheon-hwi made a friend? Hey, Cheon-hwi. Why didn't you tell me?"
"For the last time, I said he's not my friend! This guy is just a lunatic!"
"Cheon-hwi. Keep your voice down, would you? Calling your friend a lunatic, what is that? Honestly, that foul mouth of yours."
An older sister, confirmed. She was deftly shutting down Ryu Cheon-hwi and treating him like a little kid.
"Ah. Are you possibly Mr. Ryu's—sorry, Cheon-hwi's older sister?"
"Yep. That's right."
"Heheh, I thought so. Um. Hello? I'm Geun-cheol. But what brings you to me?"
"Oh, nothing really. It's just a little fascinating that our Cheon-hwi made a friend. Are you close with Cheon-hwi?"
"Very close. We are, quite literally, soul friends."
Honestly, a guy like Cheon-hwi really is a soul friend.
Considering he gave me a huge sponsorship of meal tickets and even cola.
"Soul friends, he spouts crap like that! I said we aren't friends! I did!"
"Hm-hm, based on that reaction, it seems right. Hey."
"Ah, yes."
"Thank you for getting along with Cheon-hwi."
Cheon-hwi's sister said that to me with a smile. Looks like this guy's personality was so rotten he genuinely had zero friends until now. For his sister to make this big a deal out of it.
"Why don't you come over to our house sometime with Cheon-hwi?"
"Please! Why should we let some guy like this into our house!"
"Cheon-hwi. You finally managed to make a friend, and you still want to act like this? Bring him over next time. That's an order from your sister."
"Son of a bitch!!!"
Looks like this guy is completely under his sister's thumb.