Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Teaming Up and the Field Trip
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"Want to be in the same group as me? There's space."
Same group?
...Oh, right. Now that I think about it, the special elective activity was done in groups.
In the same group as Lee Seo-jun.
I welcomed it. There was no downside to hanging around the main characters.
Plus, key figures always gathered around Lee Seo-jun.
"Sure."
As soon as I accepted, Lee Seo-jun smiled and nodded. At that moment, Jung Jin-tae's scream pierced my ears from up ahead.
"Aaack! It stings!"
Everyone turned to look at Jung Jin-tae in an instant.
His face was flushed red as if it had been scalded by something hot. His eyes were brimming with tears from how much it hurt.
"Damn! Guys, there's a barrier up ahead, so watch out."
"Barrier?"
Just as Jung Jin-tae said, a faintly shimmering barrier was visible ahead.
And soon, everyone looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
The dungeon exploration class was over.
It was already past 7 p.m. Today's ranking ended at 2nd place.
No change from the first week, but there were a few gains.
First, the gap in clearing times between our team and 3rd place Shin Young-jun's team had widened. And the gap with 1st place Yoo Ah-ra's team had narrowed slightly.
This was because Yoon Ha-young's performance stood out more as the number of monsters increased. Plus, I had undone the barriers faster than the others.
Maybe because expectations were so low after the first week, this result felt pretty satisfying.
If we kept growing like this, we might even have a shot at overtaking Yoo Ah-ra's team for 1st place someday far off.
"Whew."
As I lay on my dorm bed lost in thought, my smartphone buzzed with a message alert.
[I found out something shocking while investigating that demon tailing incident from before.]
It was a message from Han Se-yeon.
She must be talking about last night's events.
Shockingly shocking, huh.
What was she about to say?
[What is it?]
[The demon's name is Baek Kang.]
Oh ho. She even found out his name? As expected of the Han family. Their information network really lives up to being called the world's best.
As I marveled, another text came in.
[I dug deeper because something felt off, and I found records of him doing deals with my brother.]
"......Huh?"
What was this now?
Deals?
[Deals?]
[Yeah, they'd been trading steadily for quite a while. Thanks to that, I realized my brother was finally showing his teeth toward me.]
"......What?"
I stared at my smartphone in bewilderment.
She must be misunderstanding something.
[Thanks. It's because of you. I owe you now. Is there anything you need as repayment?]
That was when it happened.
Ding!
[Character 'Han Se-yeon' trusts you again.]
[You acquire 1,000 points as a reward.]
Early Friday morning, before heading to the gathering spot for the special elective activity.
I stared at my smartphone in the dorm.
8:59 a.m.
Just one minute until the stock market opened at 9.
I'd opened the brokerage account yesterday, so all that was left was to snap up Hanseong Pharma stocks the moment it opened.
The stock price had risen quite a bit in just one day.
No articles about Shinseong Grass had spread yet, so maybe rumors were circulating inside the company.
Articles would probably drop within the next week, so it was best to gather stocks even a day earlier.
Time ticked by, and it hit 9:00.
As soon as the market opened, I swept up all the available Hanseong Pharma shares.
It didn't take long.
[4,360 shares purchased.]
"Done."
I'd invested a whopping 2 billion won, but since it was a blue-chip stock, 4,000 shares was the limit.
Well, the moment Shinseong Grass gets commercialized, Hanseong Pharma—which already has near-monopoly—will dominate the pharma world entirely, so I'd definitely profit.
Once the articles drop and a few weeks pass, it'll at least double, probably more.
I wanted to invest the rest in other stocks with big growth potential, but sadly, the gathering time for the special elective activity was approaching.
"I'll handle the rest later."
Alright, time to head out.
Following the announcement, I went to the bus stop in front of the school, the gathering point.
Looking around, students were already assembled, waiting for the appointed time.
The special elective activity involved all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years together.
Nearly 150 students were gathered here alone.
"Kim Sun-woo!"
I heard someone calling me from somewhere. Turning, I saw Lee Seo-jun approaching happily from afar.
"Hey."
"Uh, hey."
Glancing behind Lee Seo-jun, I spotted a few familiar faces.
Shin Young-jun, Lee Hyun-joo, Choi Seo-yoon, Song Seung-ah.
"These are our group members. You know their faces, right? Oh, maybe not Song Seung-ah here?"
"I know her. We said hi last time."
Choi Seo-yoon's best friend, who had almost no role in the original story.
I didn't remember much, but since she'd woken me on the school bus on the first day, I'd memorized her face.
"Hello, sunbae! Nice to see you again."
Song Seung-ah smiled brightly and greeted me.
"Yeah. Hey."
Glancing beside Song Seung-ah, Choi Seo-yoon was looking at me with a strange expression.
"......Hello."
"Yeah."
Normally, she'd smile brightly and greet me, but maybe because I'd read her message and ghosted it, she seemed a bit sulky.
There'd been that beer issue recently too.
......Not my problem, though.
"Six per group, so six of us here. Memorize the faces."
From what I remembered, they split into groups to prevent students from wandering off one by one. If even one went missing, the whole group got a warning, so you had to keep an eye on your members to make sure they didn't slip away.
Looking at the members, they all seemed diligent, so no surprise outbursts expected.
As gathering time ended, a teacher approached from afar.
"Hello. I'm teacher Kim Yoon-jin, in charge of guiding the demon safety education. As you probably saw in the announcement, in about five minutes, all students will board buses to the 'Anti-Demon Terror Center.' Once there, you'll hear a lecture from an instructor working in the Wizards' Association Special Task Force."
It was the teacher who'd recommended auxiliary barrier magic to me last time, Kim Yoon-jin, explaining to the students.
The students listened intently to her words.
"Groups are minimum four to maximum seven members. If you haven't formed a group yet, stay back and do so."
While Kim Yoon-jin explained, eight buses arrived at the school.
"Alright, group leaders, submit your member lists, and board in the order submitted."
Things proceeded quickly. All students formed groups, boarded buses, and departed.
We arrived at the 'Anti-Demon Terror Center' in central Seoul. Under the staff's guidance, nearly 150 students packed into the lecture hall.
"Wow, this is so cool."
Shin Young-jun muttered blankly, staring at the podium.
Above the podium was an eagle model with wings spread wide, symbolizing the Wizards' Association Special Task Force.
The Anti-Demon Terror Center was a subsidiary of the counter-terrorism Special Task Force.
It monitored demon rampages and prevented their terrorism.
"I heard today's instructor is an active Special Task Force wizard."
"Wow, so at least A-Rank, right? Awesome."
"The Special Task Force overseas deployment videos were so cool."
The Special Task Force held significant weight in this world.
Most of the strong good guys who could stand against the powerful villains hiding in this world were part of it.
Plus, the protagonist Lee Seo-jun would graduate from the wizard academy far in the future and join the counter-terrorism Special Task Force, so its importance grew over time.
As we waited bored for the lecture to start, the door to the waiting room at the podium opened, and a middle-aged man stepped up.
Murmurs rose among the students as he appeared.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Deok-hyun from the Wizards' Association Counter-Terrorism Special Task Force."
Applause erupted from the students after his greeting.
"Wooo!"
"Whoa, awesome. It's Kim Deok-hyun."
"His presence is no joke. First time seeing an S-Rank wizard in person."
An hour passed since the lecture began.
The initial enthusiasm was gone; most students listening had fallen into deep sleep.
Kim Deok-hyun continued his lecture calmly, unperturbed.
"That's the end of the lecture. Thank you all. This has been Kim Deok-hyun of the Special Task Force."
The long, long lecture finally ended.
Even after it finished, there was no enthusiastic applause like before. Everyone was in deep sleep, unaware it was over.
"Yawn."
Yawning widely, I looked around. To my left and right, Choi Seo-yoon and Shin Young-jun were sleeping soundly in this world of dreams. Besides them, everyone except Lee Seo-jun was wiped out.
It felt like a magic law class scene. Actually, thinking about it, Shin Young-jun hadn't slept in magic law class.
'......Maybe I should just sleep too.'
That's when Lee Seo-jun stood up first. He shook Shin Young-jun's arm next to me to wake him.
"Hey, it's over. Get up."
"Uh, uh, mm. Yeah? Lunchtime?"
Shin Young-jun mumbled while wiping drool from his mouth.
......How deep did he sleep to spout nonsense like that.
"What lunchtime? Snap out of it. Lecture's over."
"......Oh, right. We have the field trip today."
"Kim Sun-woo. Wake Seo-yoon up over there too."
"Yeah, sure."
I turned and spoke to Choi Seo-yoon.
"Choi Seo-yoon, wake up."
No response. Even nudging her shoulder, she showed no sign of waking.
She was out cold. Didn't sleep last night?
I yelled loudly right by her ear.
"Wake up!"
"Eek!"
With a weird yelp, Choi Seo-yoon bolted awake.
I flinched in surprise too.
Choi Seo-yoon stared up at me blankly. Hair stuck to her mouth, making her look ghostly.
"Uh...... Hello, sunbae."
She bowed her head out of nowhere in greeting.
I looked at her in bewilderment.
"Get up. Lecture's over."
"Oh, yeah. ......Right."
Choi Seo-yoon smiled embarrassedly and fixed her hair. As everyone woke one by one, Lee Seo-jun said,
"What about the remaining time? We have an hour free."
"Hmm, other groups are touring the center. How about we do that too?"
Lee Seo-jun nodded at Song Seung-ah's suggestion.
"Yeah, no objections, right?"
The special elective activity proceeded peacefully, just like in the original story.
No dangers, and the students bonded while enjoyably touring the center.
It was an everyday-like episode with nothing special, but it wasn't entirely without purpose.
"Lee Seo-jun."
"Oh, hello."
The point of this episode was introducing characters who'd team up with him after school graduation.
And as per the original flow, two men approached us first.
Kim Deok-hyun from the Special Task Force who'd lectured on demon safety earlier, and Jeong Hyun-soo from the chapter boss subjugation last time.
Kim Deok-hyun saw Lee Seo-jun and spoke familiarly.
"Long time no see. Since you're here, why not drop by and see the chairman?"
"No, I'm short on time, so next time."
"Hmm, alright. If that's what you think."
I watched Kim Deok-hyun's face as he talked with Lee Seo-jun.
Seeing him reminded me of the news about Lee Seo-jun's death right before my regression.
His bittersweet expression during the interview at Lee Seo-jun's memorial.
That was how close Kim Deok-hyun became to Lee Seo-jun in the distant future.
From the mid-original story, he was Lee Seo-jun's other teacher and mental pillar.
Of course, their relationship wasn't that close yet, but after graduation when Lee Seo-jun joined the Special Task Force, it would develop greatly.
"Huh? Huh? Wait."
Then, Jeong Hyun-soo beside Kim Deok-hyun looked at me with wide eyes.
"You look familiar."
Jeong Hyun-soo stroked his chin, staring intently.
Lee Hyun-joo and Shin Young-jun snickered at his words.
"Same reaction as us back then."
"What is it? Where have I seen him?"
"He's talking about Kim Jin-woo, the wizard who solved the Han River demon incident, right? See, I told you our class weirdo was obvious?"
At Shin Young-jun's words, Jeong Hyun-soo clapped as if remembering.
"Oh? Oh yeah! Right! He looks just like that guy!"
Jeong Hyun-soo made a huge fuss like he'd made a great discovery.
Even though I'd disguised myself with beard, glasses, and hairstyle changes every time as Kim Jin-woo, somehow everyone recognized me easily.
Maybe I need to put more effort into my style.
"Seeing this student's face, I get your reactions now. Hey kid, got any brothers?"
"......No, I don't."
"Any half-brothers?"
"Nope."
"Know a guy named Kim Jin-woo?"
"Nope."
It felt like having the exact same conversation as last week.
"Really? Wow, uncanny. He really looks like him."
"Jeong Hyun-soo, what are you doing right now?"