Chapter 345
Chapter 345
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 346
Chapter Title: Seonwoo's Unconscious
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“So this is Seonwoo’s unconscious.”
Not far from Shinyoung High School, in a back alley.
After linking up with Yoon Ha-young, I explained the situation about this world to her, just like I had done with Choi Seo-yoon.
Naturally, she had a lot of questions, feeling skeptical about it all.
Why this world had no concept of magic, and why I was wearing the uniform of a different school.
They were the same questions I’d gotten from Choi Seo-yoon, so I gave her the same answers.
“……I see how it is. I was freaking out, thinking this was my own unconscious. I had no idea how to escape, so I kept wandering around.”
Yoon Ha-young let out a deep sigh of relief.
I asked her,
“How long have you been here?”
“Me? Hmm…… about two hours?”
“Two hours?”
What? She’s been here that long?
It felt like it had been about two hours since I’d entered the unconscious myself.
“Did you enter through the mirror and start here?”
“No, I started somewhere else at first. I was in a cave, saw some demon, attacked it right away, and ended up here.”
“……You must’ve taken it down super fast.”
“Yeah, so I thought, ‘Is the exam really this easy?’ and figured this had to be my unconscious too.”
At that moment, Yoon Ha-young seemed to remember something and clamped her mouth shut.
Then she blinked a few times and opened her mouth slightly.
Wait, so if I hadn’t been dragged here,
wouldn’t that mean I was in first place?
“……If you’d escaped your unconscious right at the start of the exam, then yeah, probably.”
Yoon Ha-young blinked again.
“What the……! Give me back my first place!”
Yoon Ha-young cried out, almost on the verge of tears.
Seeing that, Choi Seo-yoon fell into thought for a moment, her expression pensive.
“Come to think of it, I feel like I escaped my unconscious pretty quickly too. Being stuck here must’ve pushed my ranking way back.”
Hearing their conversation made me feel unnecessarily guilty.
It wasn’t my intention, but in the end, they’d gotten trapped in my unconscious and blown the exam.
“Well, nothing we can do about it. We’re connected by the blessing of fate, right? I’m glad we can help each other.”
Choi Seo-yoon, who was usually obsessed with first place, reacted surprisingly coolly.
At her words, Yoon Ha-young stared at her watery-eyed, then nodded.
“Ung, yeah, that’s true…… It’s not like first place matters that much…… Helping friends is what’s important…… Ung.”
Yoon Ha-young tried to play it cool.
But she didn’t look cool at all.
“So, that school over there that’s giving off super suspicious vibes—should we head inside?”
Choi Seo-yoon said, turning her gaze toward the school.
“We’ll hop the fence.”
The front gate was guarded by a teacher, so we couldn’t get in the normal way.
Sure, we could take them out with magic, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.
Someone might witness it and call the cops.
That’s when Yoon Ha-young stepped up.
“Earlier, I hopped the fence, but they chased me off because of my uniform.”
“Hmm. Yeah, that makes sense.”
People instinctively get wary when they see a uniform from another school.
For a safe infiltration(?), we needed Shinyoung High School uniforms.
But where do we get uniforms from?
“Couldn’t you imagine them into existence?”
Choi Seo-yoon said to me.
“Imagine?”
“Yeah, this is your unconscious, sunbae. Don’t you think a strong desire might make it happen?”
“Nah, no way that’d work.”
“You never know, try it.”
It was obviously pointless, but on the off chance, I pictured Shinyoung High School uniforms. Nothing changed.
“Doesn’t work.”
“Try it with more desperation. I don’t see any desperation on your face.”
Fine, whatever, let’s try again.
Unlike before, I pictured the uniforms with real longing. About five seconds in,
Wooong!
A strong light burst out in front of my eyes.
When the light faded, beige uniforms were there.
I stared at them blankly.
No way, it actually worked?
“Oh! It worked!”
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young lit up and took the uniforms.
“We’ll go change!”
Once we’d finished all the preparations, we hopped the fence and entered the school grounds.
Even in uniforms, the two of them were so strikingly beautiful that they drew eyes, but at least wearing the same clothes let us slip into the school safely.
Entering the first floor, we saw students walking the hallways.
It was the break before first period, after homeroom.
“We’re in, but where to now?”
At Choi Seo-yoon’s question, I sensed the energy wafting from around us.
“Let’s head upstairs.”
I took the lead toward the stairs.
It had been a while since I’d been to school, but I’d attended for three years straight, so I remembered every path.
“Huh? Hey. Kim Seonwoo!”
As I climbed the stairs, a voice called down from above.
Looking up, a guy with his uniform shirt unbuttoned was staring at me.
The moment I saw him, my body tensed up.
“Heh heh. What’s up? You just getting to school now?”
“……Hwang Eun-hyun.”
Hwang Eun-hyun.
From middle school until just before I fell into the novel.
One of my closest friends I’d shared joys and sorrows with for so long.
I’d thought I might run into him the moment I came to school.
And here he was.
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young turned to me.
“Who’s that?”
“Well……”
“But who’re the ones next to you? Never seen them before?”
Hwang Eun-hyun cut me off and asked.
When I didn’t answer, he approached.
Then he looked back and forth between Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young with intrigued eyes.
“Who’re you two? No name tags?”
“Oh, that’s……”
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young looked confused again, glancing at me.
I let out a sigh.
“Transfer students.”
“Transfer students?”
“Yeah. They didn’t know the way, so I was showing them around. Ran into them by chance.”
“Ah, that explains why you’re late.”
Hwang Eun-hyun stroked his chin and nodded. Then his eyes narrowed mischievously.
“Hmm~ Two transfer students……”
“Whatever, I’m busy, gotta go.”
I turned to Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young.
“Let’s go.”
“Oh, sure.”
We passed Hwang Eun-hyun and kept climbing the stairs. I ignored the voice calling ‘Hey! Where you going?!’ from behind.
Yoon Ha-young glanced at me and asked,
“Who was that just now? Seemed like you know him well.”
“Old friend.”
“Old friend?”
Yoon Ha-young’s eyes filled with questions.
“Yeah, haven’t seen him in a while, and here he is.”
Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young gave me strange looks.
Eyes saying they had a ton of questions but couldn’t ask.
They seemed puzzled that an ‘old friend’ looked older, so I added a detail.
“Guess I aged in the imagination.”
After that, we ran into a few more students who recognized me.
“What? Kim Seonwoo, you just now?”
“Wow, who’re those next to you? Transfers?”
As the encounters kept causing a stir,
—Ding dong dang dong~
The bell signaling first period rang through the school.
“Oh, class time.”
“Let’s go in.”
The students scattered back to their classrooms as if on cue.
Silence fell over the hallway for a moment.
“……For a world made from imagination, it’s weirdly detailed. The bell, the people’s reactions……”
Yoon Ha-young muttered to herself.
“……Yeah.”
Choi Seo-yoon nodded in agreement.
I didn’t react.
Nothing to say.
Now free to move, we headed out again.
Toward the spot emanating suspicious energy.
As we reached the fifth floor, the energy grew stronger.
“Feels like it’s close.”
The fifth floor of Shinyoung High School’s main building had special-purpose rooms instead of classrooms.
Club rooms, science labs, computer rooms…… and so on.
Walking down the hall, we arrived at a door.
A foul stench wafted from beyond it.
“Ugh, what’s that smell? It’s rotten.”
Yoon Ha-young pinched her nose.
I nodded and looked at the nameplate by the door.
[Multipurpose Room]
It was a nostalgic space I’d frequented like a hangout spot in high school.
I might’ve gotten lost in memories seeing it after so long, but the ominous energy from beyond the door left no room for that.
Slide.
The door opened, revealing some grotesque thing squirming inside the building.
—Grrrk…….
“……What the hell is that.”
There was a monster inside.
It was the ‘Black Demonic Beast,’ a familiar of the plague demonic beast I’d subjugated in Nepal.
Then, from the hallways on either side, monsters dripping black liquid appeared.
I didn’t know where they’d come from, but we were suddenly surrounded.
“Get ready!”
—Grrraaah!
The monsters charged at us.
We each drew on our magic power and manifested spells.
Then we thrust out our palms and unleashed them.
Pang!
The magic shot out and embedded in a Black Demonic Beast’s head. Black blood sprayed, staining the multipurpose room.
—Kieeeek!
Yoon Ha-young and Choi Seo-yoon each took down one too.
“……That was close.”
I stepped into the multipurpose room.
The Black Demonic Beast’s stench assaulted my nose. Holding my breath as much as possible, I scanned the surroundings.
Choi Seo-yoon pinched her nose with her fingers and said nasally,
“Sunbae, see anything?”
“Nope.”
That’s when something on a desk caught my eye.
“This is……”
A smartphone.
The one I’d used before.
But not the one from my high school days.
Meaning…… this was the smartphone I’d used right before falling into the novel.
……Is this the core of my unconscious?
The moment I reached for the smartphone.
Wooong!
Strong magic power erupted from it toward the sky.
The whole school shook like an earthquake, followed by a fierce gust.
“Ugh! What’s going on?!”
—Grrraaah!
At the same time, Black Demonic Beasts began emerging from the screen.
A legion of them surging like waves……
I backed away at the sight.
—Kiiiiieeeek!
This time, a roar came from outside the window.
A roar I’d heard before.
……Calamity-grade demonic beast.
The dragon’s cry.
“……No, what is this.”
—Kraaaah!
Looking at the endlessly appearing demonic beasts, I turned and shouted to Yoon Ha-young and Choi Seo-yoon.
“Fall back for now!”
The mansion of the Yoo family, one of the five great magical noble houses, was ablaze.
In his unconscious, reliving happy times with his family at age five, Yoo A-ra was struck by Jaun’s raid, watching his family perish, and felt overwhelming rage.
At the same time, he transformed into 19-year-old Yoo A-ra.
Kwaaaang!
“Argh!”
The Jaun members who raided the Yoo family were engulfed by fireballs from Yoo A-ra’s hands, screaming in agony.
Yoo A-ra didn’t stop attacking.
Even if it was the unconscious, he couldn’t forgive Jaun for taking everything from him.
Paat!
In that instant, Jin appeared behind Yoo A-ra, manifesting ice spikes.
In her enraged state, she didn’t notice the ambush.
A moment of life or death.
Then a flash of pure white light slashed through Jin’s body.
“Argh!”
“Yoo A-ra!”
“……Lee Seo-jun?”
The one who saved him was none other than Lee Seo-jun.
Shin Young-jun and Lee Hyun-joo joined right after, battling the other Jaun members.
“……How are you here?”
“It’s an overlapping of unconscious worlds.”
“Oh.”
Yoo A-ra nodded.
Lee Seo-jun gripped his sword and glared at the Jaun members.
“Guess that’s the core of your unconscious.”
And the battle resumed.
Flames exploded, light sword qi slashed through the air.
A fierce fight unfolded.
In reality, these mere 19-year-olds would be no match for Jaun, but this was the ‘world of the unconscious.’
Their strength wasn’t fully manifested.
“Urgh! Who the hell are you!”
“Brats!”
As time passed, the tide turned toward Yoo A-ra’s side.
Flames exploded once more, and the Jaun members’ screams rang out loudly.
“Arghhh!”
“Urgh……”
Bert, the sole survivor, coughed up blood and collapsed.
Step step.
Yoo A-ra slowly approached her.
As he drew near, terror filled Bert’s eyes.
Yoo A-ra gritted his teeth and unleashed magic at Bert.
Kwaaaang—
And so, the last Jaun survivor, Bert, was eliminated.
With all fighting over, the world began to change.
Like a long night ending and dawn breaking, light pierced through the dark clouds.
The space started warping.
“……What’s this?”
Yoo A-ra muttered, staring into the air.
Shin Young-jun looked at the shifting space, feeling dismayed.
“……No way, again?”
Soon, the world completely transformed.
They arrived at an outdoor scene that looked like a city in Korea.
Bewildered by the sudden change, Lee Seo-jun’s group felt puzzled for a moment.
But only briefly.
—Kiiiiieeeek!
A sound from the sky made everyone clap their hands over their ears.
“……What now.”
A dragon was flying around.