Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Ruins Exploration Training
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Just as he let out a sigh.
“Kim Sunwoo! 20 seconds 93!”
A familiar name was called out nearby.
He glanced over to see the second-years from the sub-specialty Reinforcement class training right next to them.
Kim Sunwoo was wiping sweat from his forehead, panting heavily.
“You’re growing steadily. You shaved off a full 4 seconds in just three months. That’s incredibly fast progress.”
“Thank you.”
“At this level, you’d be in the top ranks even among main specialty Reinforcement students. It’s such a waste to keep it as a sub-specialty.”
Kim Sunwoo gave a faint smile at the words.
Even though it was praise bordering on outright acclaim, he didn’t seem overly thrilled.
Choi Seoyun stared blankly at the sight.
20 seconds 93—that’s for 400 meters, right?
20 seconds is an insanely fast pace.
My own 400m is around 28 seconds, so an 8-second gap—that’s a massive difference.
And it was even faster than Jeon Mingi, whose main specialty is Reinforcement.
Last time, his Manifestation ability seemed pretty impressive too, and now Reinforcement on top of that?
What’s his deal?
With skills like that, why is his ranking so low?
Is he really hiding his true strength?
Or did some latent talent suddenly bloom late?
Kim Sunwoo trudged off alone and sat under the shade of a massive tree.
No friends around—nobody sat next to him.
He just stared vacantly into space with hollow eyes.
Watching him, Choi Seoyun thought to herself—what’s he thinking right now?
No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t figure out what type of person this Kim Sunwoo was.
After the Park Minye incident, he seemed a bit down, then suddenly he’s filming documentaries, getting caught promoting himself online.
Those bizarre actions were so abrupt and inexplicable that she even wondered if he was forcing cheerfulness to forget his sadness.
But seeing him now, she started to think her hunch might actually be right.
Of course, she might be interpreting it that way because she didn’t want to be disappointed in him.
For reasons she couldn’t pinpoint, she definitely had a tendency to view him positively without realizing it.
“Hmm.”
As she sat lost in thought, Song Seunga approached and plopped down beside her.
“Ah, I’m beat.”
Song Seunga let out a breath and glanced at Choi Seoyun, then followed her gaze to Kim Sunwoo.
“What’s up?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. Just chilling.”
“......Really?”
“Why?”
“Hehe. Nothing.”
As they talked, Song Seunga suddenly remembered something she’d heard that morning.
“You know about that?”
“About what?”
“The thing with Senior Kim Sunwoo’s comments. Turns out it wasn’t him.”
“Really? The ID was obvious, though.”
“Nope. He checked the smart account himself today.”
“Then who posted those comments?”
Choi Seoyun muttered with a puzzled look.
Song Seunga grinned and replied.
“Rumor has it, it was some stalker of Senior Kim Sunwoo from this school.”
“What?”
Choi Seoyun couldn’t believe her ears for a second.
Song Seunga chuckled quietly at her stunned expression, but soon Choi Seoyun’s eyes narrowed and she burst out laughing.
“Pfft! Hey! A stalker? That’s ridiculous. Wow...... That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year.”
Choi Seoyun laughed heartily, not fake laughter but genuine mirth bubbling up from within.
Song Seunga tilted her head watching her.
Seoul Wizards Association Anti-Terror Special Task Force.
The door to the quiet office burst open as Jeong Hyunsu entered.
At Jeong Hyunsu’s arrival, Kim Deokhyeon turned to him.
“Senior, the forensics on Park Minye are back.”
“And?”
“Light attribute magic was detected. From the residue, it’s a Manifestation orb form.”
“Light attribute orb?”
Kim Deokhyeon muttered in surprise.
Light attribute magic wasn’t common to begin with, and wizards who cast it in orb form were rare too.
“Any students using light attribute orbs in the exam?”
“No, I checked. None.”
“Huh. That’s odd.”
Jeong Hyunsu nodded and continued reading the documents in his hand.
“And the magic’s power level: one spell above A-Rank. Plus traces of B-Grade magic all over her body.”
“So, the work of a B-Grade or higher wizard. The A-Rank spell was probably gathered mana and fired.”
“Yeah, that’s what I think too.”
Kim Deokhyeon leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
“A surprise attack. And a planned one.”
Drone jamming, prolonged compressed magic assault.
Situations like that wouldn’t arise without deliberate planning.
“There are way too many weird things.”
It seemed like they knew Park Minye was a demon in advance.
And despite the huge merit of taking out a hidden demon in the school, they didn’t reveal themselves at all......
Why?
For what reason?
“......There aren’t even six B-Grade or higher students in the school.”
“Yeah, three second-years and three third-years—that’s all. And only Lee Seojun uses light attribute among them.”
“The wound form is a Manifestation orb, so not Lee Seojun.”
Jeong Hyunsu nodded.
“Yeah, not him. And the other top students’ scores suggest they hunted group monsters, so alibis are solid.”
“Then, an outsider?”
“That’s likely? Though there’s zero record of any outsiders entering.”
“Really?”
An outsider.
Is there even a way to sneak onto that island without entry logs?
Doubts swirled in Kim Deokhyeon’s mind.
Tuesday afternoon, in the school’s back yard, second-year Class A gathered in front of the training portal gate for ruins exploration training.
“Alright! Today’s training is ruins exploration experience.”
Ruins—along with dungeons and towers, one of the three major acquisition spots for special rewards.
With luck, you could even snag relic-grade items, making the reward potential incomparable to dungeons or towers.
Of course, ruins are hidden behind special magic barriers and seals, so they’re not easy to find.
“Each ruins has 20 fake relics hidden. Scores based on the number you acquire.”
The ruins field we’re training in today is an artificial one created by the school.
Obviously, being artificial means no real relic reward items.
But exceptions exist everywhere.
Thanks to the original story and past experience, I knew there was a secret space hidden in these ruins.
That’s what I’m aiming for today.
“Looks like everyone’s ready?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Let’s begin. Everyone, enter the gate!”
At Jang Ancheon’s shout, all the students, including me, stepped into the portal gate.
Strong mana enveloped my body, and we arrived in a dense forest thick with trees.
This was the back mountain not far from school—probably other students around this area too.
“So, which way?”
I pulled out a 30cm iron rod.
This rod’s name: ‘Relic Detector’.
An item for scanning hidden ruins, one issued to every student.
Injecting mana, it started pulling like a magnet in a certain direction. I loosened my grip slightly and walked slowly that way.
How long had I walked?
Outsider’s Privilege activated, revealing a hidden illusion barrier on the ground.
“Found it.”
Less than 5 minutes in.
Probably no one found ruins faster than me.
I walked toward the glowing spot, placed my hand on the ground, and injected mana.
Kuuuung....
Light burst from the entire ground. The earth shook, and a moss-covered square entrance rose up.
“Phew.”
I descended the entrance stairs underground. It wasn’t as dark as expected.
Down the stairs, a complex maze appeared.
20 fake relics hidden somewhere in this ruins.
No idea where, but clues would show up eventually.
Walked about 10 minutes. Dealt with small monsters popping out calmly.
“......Tough to find.”
I kept going. Then, a pattern caught my eye on the wall.
“This?”
Suspicious at first glance.
I approached the wall, activated Outsider’s Privilege, and examined closely.
Hidden mana flows appeared.
Especially one brick condensed with a lot of mana stood out.
Seeing it, a smile crept on my lips.
“Found it.”
Pressed the mana-condensed brick with my hand. Click. The wall began to open.
“Ooh.”
A small treasure chest hidden inside the wall.
Opened it—inside, a red-glowing stone.
Just like in the original. The score for this class: fake relic, a mana stone.
“Nice. Great.”
One point secured. I tossed the mana stone up and caught it, then pocketed it satisfied.
Then, distant footsteps and a familiar male voice.
“Where is it?”
Around the corner, I ran into Lee Seojun.
“Kim Sunwoo?”
“Yeah.”
“Man, you got in fast too?”
“Got lucky and found the entrance quick.”
Lee Seojun nodded at my answer.
Ruins are vast with multiple entrances—probably around 15 for this one.
Then his gaze dropped to the empty treasure chest at my feet.
“What? You already got one?”
“Yeah. Luck.”
“......One step too late.”
Lee Seojun muttered disappointedly.
I smirked and said.
“I’m off. Busy today.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Go ahead.”
I waved and headed down another path.
Ruins basement level 3.
White light flashed, another treasure chest appeared.
Opened it, pocketed the mana stone.
Total mana stones I’ve got: 13 now.
“Easy peasy.”
Since I swept all the relics in this ruins, the other students are probably stressing hard.
Especially Lee Seojun.
He entered the same ruins as me by chance—barely any left, so he’s gotta be panicking.
Always first place, so his desire for victory is no joke.
“Heh.”
I chuckled happily and moved on.
This is enough for first place in class for sure......
“Now, time to find that.”
The secret of this ruins.
Basement level 8 connects to other ruins, and somewhere on 8 there’s a real ruins hidden.
This artificial ruins was remodeled from a real one.
Like the artificial dungeon, it has a hidden secret spot.
Of course, this wasn’t covered properly in the original.
Just a brief mention that night: grave robbers spotted in the wizard school’s ruins training field, and some students encountered suspected robbers.
These robbers reappear later in an episode.
Not as simple thieves, but as villains.
They’re probably searching underground somewhere right now.
The robbed ruins spot was basement 8, so gotta find the stairs first.
“Where were the stairs?”
I looked around.
“There.”
I strode toward the stairs.
“What? This one’s looted too!”
Lee Seojun stared incredulously at the empty treasure chest.
This was the fifth empty one he’d found.
Over an hour wandering the ruins, and he’d only snagged two relics.
At this rate, not even top 20—top 10 was out of reach.
“......No way, is this all Kim Sunwoo?”
Lee Seojun seriously suspected. The first chest he found was already opened—by Kim Sunwoo.
Considering the quick barrier-breaking ability and unpredictable utility, it was totally plausible this was all his doing.
“Tch. Should I find another ruins now?”
He pondered seriously, then shook his head.
“When would I find a new one?”
Even if he did, it’d likely be looted by other students already.
Class had been going on a while.
“Damn.”
No choice.
Gotta search harder here.
As he walked the maze, a voice came from the downward stairs.