Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: The Teachers' Wager
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He suddenly spoke up as if something had just occurred to him.
"Ah, we're getting bored. How about a little bet?"
"A bet?"
"Yeah. Which team will get the highest score by the end of the first semester."
Jang An-cheol let out a hollow laugh.
"It looks like we can't make that bet."
"Why not?"
"Because everyone will probably pick the same team as me."
"Hmm. So, Teacher Jang, which team do you think will get the highest score?"
Lee Hee-young asked with a smile.
Jang An-cheol glanced at her smile and pointed to the screen showing Team 7.
"Obviously, Yoo Ah-ra's team."
"And why is that?"
"Because the members of Lee Seo-jun's team—one of the top candidates for first place—are unreliable. And Lee Seo-jun can't handle everything alone due to the limitations of his reinforcement magic, which is specialized for 1v1 combat. But look at Yoo Ah-ra. They've already reached the midpoint of the first floor."
Lee Hee-young laughed at his answer.
"Now the bet's on. I think Team 3 will take first."
—Screeech!
A massive rat monster was sliced in half with a single stroke of Lee Seo-jun's sword and collapsed.
Even with its thick hide, it was cleanly bisected.
Lee Seo-jun passed the monster without a second glance and kept moving forward.
"Wow, Seo-jun's really good at this."
"Yeah. Looks like they've already covered more than half."
Thanks to Lee Seo-jun's exceptional skills, the dungeon exploration proceeded without a hitch.
No matter what monster appeared, it fell to a single slash from his sword. The monsters lurking on the first floor were low-rank to begin with, so none could stop him.
At this pace, they should easily place in the top three.
"What's the first-floor boss gonna be?"
"Hmm, since it's the first floor, maybe a relatively weak beast-type monster?"
"I think so too. If it's a beast, probably a rat, dog? Bear?"
Shin Ji-hyeok and Jeong Jin-tae had been chattering nonstop from behind for a while now.
In a dungeon where anything could happen, their lack of tension didn't sit well.
"A giant wolf's coming up, so quit talking and focus."
Shin Ji-hyeok shot back at my words.
"Giant wolf? How do you know that?"
"I've got my ways."
I couldn't exactly say I'd experienced it before, so I brushed it off vaguely.
Shin Ji-hyeok sneered.
"This guy's got a case of pathological lying."
"Don't believe me then? Fine by me."
"Nope, not buying it."
Typical annoying tone from Shin Ji-hyeok.
...Pissing me off for some reason.
"Hey, wanna bet?"
"A bet? Hilarious. Sure, what kind?"
"How about we bet on dropping out?"
My confident attitude made Shin Ji-hyeok narrow his eyes.
"...What? You actually know something?"
"Shut up. You in or not?"
As I pressed him, a voice came from the side.
"Hey, you two, cut it out."
I turned to see Yoon Ha-young glaring at me and Shin Ji-hyeok.
"Gonna fight on the first day? Every Thursday from now on?"
Yoon Ha-young, hands on her hips, scolding us like a teacher.
Her short stature made it less scary and more cute.
Not wanting to ruin the team vibe, I nodded lightly.
Lee Seo-jun glanced at us irritably and said,
"All done fighting? Then let's move."
"Heh, yeah."
And so we pressed forward again.
About three minutes later,
Something entered my field of vision.
"Everyone, stop."
At my words, they all halted in place.
"Why? What now?"
"Not getting scared all of a sudden, are ya? Heh."
Ignoring Shin Ji-hyeok's mockery, I said,
"There's something on the floor."
"The floor?"
Lee Seo-jun looked down. Spotting it, he subtly stepped back.
"...Yeah. Looks like some kind of special writing. Is this a magic trap?"
Yoon Ha-young's expression darkened at his words.
"Why's there a magic trap? If we trigger it, we could get seriously hurt, right?"
"Nah, no way. They wouldn't set something that dangerous."
"Still, you never know..."
As everyone grew confused, I pushed through them and stepped forward.
"Hey, hey, Kim Sun-woo. Be careful."
"Quiet. Let me see."
I crouched down and examined the floor closely.
It was covered in intricate-looking magic formulas.
"Hmm. Doesn't seem too dangerous. Just a simple barrier."
"A barrier? How do you know that?"
Better to show than tell.
I reached out into the air. Sparks flew from my fingertips at the same time.
"See?"
"Whoa... for real? How'd you know?"
Shin Ji-hyeok approached with a look of wonder and mimicked me, extending his hand into the air.
—Crackle!
"Ow! It stings!"
Shin Ji-hyeok yanked his hand back, grimacing. I stared at him in disbelief.
What the hell is this guy doing?
"What? If it's like this, we can't pass. Should we go back?"
"Uh... was there another path?"
"There might be one, but how long to backtrack and get here again..."
Jeong Jin-tae and Yoon Ha-young chattered anxiously from behind.
Taking another path.
Sure, if the other path had no barrier, it'd be a fine solution. But if my guess was right, the other paths would have identical barriers.
The school wouldn't include such luck-based elements in a dungeon class where clearing speed mattered.
And I'd encountered the exact same situation in a past dungeon exploration class.
Which meant this was the school's first obstacle for the dungeon exploration lesson.
We had to get past it to proceed.
"Should we turn back now?"
"Guess we have to."
As Yoon Ha-young and Jeong Jin-tae discussed, Lee Seo-jun infused his sword with mana and stepped forward.
"Move. I'll slash it with my sword."
Lee Seo-jun swung his sword at the barrier with storm-like speed.
—Zzzt!
His sword, laden with powerful mana, clashed with the barrier. A harsh friction sound rang out as white light exploded.
As expected of Lee Seo-jun.
A brute-force method, but with his overwhelming mana, it was viable. Sure enough, the barrier tore, revealing a gap.
But soon, it regenerated at rapid speed, returning to its original form.
"Aw, so close."
"Yeah. Thought it worked for a sec."
"...Hmm. Might work if I try again."
Lee Seo-jun gripped his sword and assumed position once more. He'd nearly succeeded, so he was going for another attempt.
But barriers are tricky—fail once by force, and the odds of failure skyrocket afterward.
To truly break this barrier, someone had to decipher the magic formula and dispel it.
"My turn?"
Shin Ji-hyeok stepped forward confidently.
Barriers and traps fall under support magic.
And Shin Ji-hyeok was the team's sole support mage.
"Let me see..."
He crouched and inspected the floor's magic formulas.
"Complicated... Gonna take some time."
"How long?"
Jeong Jin-tae asked.
"...40 minutes?"
"What?"
"I'm good at inputting the formulas myself, but deciphering's a weak point."
"Still, 40 minutes is too long, isn't it? Why not just take another path?"
Jeong Jin-tae turned to Lee Seo-jun as he spoke.
He was asking the team leader's opinion.
But Lee Seo-jun shook his head.
"Probably the same barrier on other paths too."
"What? So we wait 40 minutes here?"
"No choice if there's no other way."
Shin Ji-hyeok gave an awkward smile at Lee Seo-jun's words.
"I'm not great at deciphering formulas, but I'll try to do it as fast as possible."
As Shin Ji-hyeok crouched to attempt dispelling, I grabbed his shoulder.
"I'll do it."
All eyes turned to me as I stepped up.
Shin Ji-hyeok looked up at me like, *What the hell?*
"You'll do it?"
"Yeah, why not give it a shot."
Shin Ji-hyeok stared blankly before snickering.
"Hey, forget it. Even with my weak deciphering, I'm faster than you."
"Move."
The complex magic formula sustaining the barrier.
Normally, it'd take ages to crack, but I had the "Outsider's Boon."
That would drastically cut the deciphering time.
"Kim Sun-woo, hey. What're you doing?"
"Quiet."
[Unique trait 'Outsider's Boon' activates.]
[Deciphering magic formula.]
I carefully examined the formulas filling the floor.
Simultaneously, the barrier's complex formula unraveled in my mind.
I slowly placed my hand on the floor. Then I released mana from my body toward it.
"What? He actually knows what he's doing?"
Ignoring Shin Ji-hyeok's mutter from behind, I focused on the mana.
Light poured from my hand, absorbed by the floor. As time passed, the formulas began to glow.
"He seems to know what he's doing."
"...Yeah?"
I disabled the formulas one by one by infusing mana.
About a minute later,
The glowing formulas started fading.
At the same time, the barrier ahead rippled and began losing form.
"Huh? It's actually working?"
"You can dispel it by peeling it away like this?"
I kept concentrating.
No room for carelessness till the end. One mistake could reset everything.
—Shoooo...
"Done."
I'd successfully dispelled the barrier.
Reaching out forward produced no sparks. Proof it was fully gone.
"Guys. We did it."
Glancing back, everyone stared at me in shock.
Shin Ji-hyeok wore an expression of utter disbelief, and even Lee Seo-jun gaped, clearly stunned.
Well, anyone could dispel a barrier, but doing it this fast? Not common.
Their reactions were natural.
"...Insane."
"Wow, this fast..."
Then a small window popped up before my eyes.
[Character 'Lee Seo-jun' feels surprise toward you.]
[Interest level from Character 'Lee Seo-jun' increases.]
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’s interest in you Lv: 1]
[Reward: Acquire 5,000 points.]
[Character ‘Jang An-cheol’ feels surprise toward you.]
[Reward: Acquire 1,000 points.]
[Character ‘Lee Hee-young’ feels surprise toward you.]
[Reward: Acquire 1,000 points.]
What's this? Interest levels?
The morning dungeon exploration class ended, and we headed out for lunch.
Few people were around outside—most students still hadn't emerged from the dungeon.
Shin Ji-hyeok, who'd been picking on me nonstop inside, had turned into a mute chick after the barrier. Quite satisfying.
As we waited outside, a muscular man—Jang An-cheol—approached from afar.
"Team 3. Currently in second place. Good start."
At his words, Jeong Jin-tae and Yoon Ha-young beamed happily.
Second place.
A solid rank, but with Lee Seo-jun on the team, I wasn't thrilled.
As expected, first is Yoo Ah-ra's team?
"Especially you, Kim Sun-woo. That barrier dispelling was impressive. If you'd been slower, you'd be third now. Curious, though—what method let you crack it so fast?"
"It's a field I'm interested in, so I practiced on my own."
Couldn't be honest, so I made something up.
"A field of interest, huh. That level from mere interest? Incredible talent. With that, why not go support magic? You'd excel."
"Still, manifestation suits me better."
Jang An-cheol nodded at my words.