Lycan's Nest
My thoughts had been half right and half wrong. Those bastards had all been expelled. Threatening fellow students with weapons was a clear-cut crime. In the midst of the investigation, their past offenses had been dug up too, and they were being properly chased out.
Once registered as criminals with the Hunter Association, it was practically impossible for them to make a living as official hunters anymore.
Jae-wook and I got off lightly since it was acknowledged that they'd struck first. Using skills outside the dungeon didn't come with any real penalty. Luckily, no one pressed us on how the two of us had managed to take on three C-rank awakeners. If those trash-tier punks started questioning why an F-rank like me had stepped up against them, I'd be the one in trouble.
Good thing I cleverly hid in the camera's blind spots whenever I used my skills.
But Jae-wook, who'd lunged first, was caught crystal clear on CCTV, so he got punished for that.
The more I think about it, the madder I get.
"Fuckin' bear cub!"
I smacked the back of his massive head as hard as I could.
Whack!
"Ow! Hey, why do you keep hittin' me? My brain's already dumb enough—what if it gets worse?"
"So? You think you did a great job? Huh? You know whose ass I'm busting right now because of you?"
"Th-that's... sorry..."
The guy who'd been yelling his head off moments ago shrank like a whipped puppy, mumbling his apology in a pathetic voice as he hung his head.
"Just know that much."
Watching him like that killed any urge I had to keep chewing him out. I let out a light sigh and shoveled more fertilizer, scattering it around.
Right now, Jae-wook and I were in the barren wasteland north of the Magic Officer Academy. The government planned to recycle it into farmland by spreading fertilizer made from monster corpses.
Land ruined by monsters turned into barren soil where plants could barely grow, thanks to the polluted mana in their blood and flesh. Years of battles had dumped countless monster bodies onto the earth, forcing them to abandon most of it.
That's where this monster-corpse fertilizer came in. Of course, they were testing it here first before rolling it out nationwide.
The problem? It stank to high hell. And since it was processed from monster remains, regular folks—non-awakeners—could get poisoned just getting near it.
Which is why I'm stuck doing this bullshit.
As I grumbled and spread the fertilizer, Jae-wook's voice reached my ear.
"Honestly, I was kinda touched."
"What?"
"You didn't have to step in, but you did it for me. Thanks. For real."
"..."
I couldn't exactly say it was because I needed his skills, so I kept shoveling in silence. Besides, no need to clear up that misunderstanding.
"I'm gonna get really strong. So one day, if you're ever in big trouble, I wanna be the guy standing next to you, helping out."
"Don't jinx me, asshole."
"Pfft, c'mon, that's not how you talk! Anyway, thanks, Min-ho."
"Creepy fucker."
"Hahaha!"
He definitely felt closer now than before the fight. Maybe that's why he kept bursting into laughter despite my jabs.
At the edge of the wasteland where we were fertilizing, a few figures appeared atop the long ridge line.
"Gotta report to big bro."
"Huh? Who? That punk?"
"Yeah."
"Heard he's just an F-rank awakener. Must've gotten lucky that day."
"And have you ever blocked my dagger, even with luck?"
"Uh, no."
"You think an F-rank could have a skill like that?"
"Nah."
"Even if he's an Irregular, something feels off about him."
"Well, if you say so, Myung-tae."
Park Myung-tae had pulled countless hyena stunts in dungeons, but his instincts had never been wrong.
The boss's orders were done anyway.
If he gets dragged into this and dies, that's on him.
Park Myung-tae's gaze fixed on the two bickering figures spreading fertilizer in the distance.
A sharp-featured man approached him cautiously. "Time to move, young master."
Park Myung-tae turned at the words of the A-rank awakener with the wide-area stealth skill.
The guy who'd burst into the infirmary and saved them the moment shit hit the fan. Without him, they wouldn't have escaped the pursuit team and made it back here.
Now that he knew where the guy came from, the unease was inevitable.
Since when was I part of that family? Damn it.
They'd never given a shit about him, even when he lived like a dog.
He spotted his comrades staring at the man with eyes full of fear.
Tch, these guys or those...
He bit his lip and looked away from the distant figure.
Personal curiosity had brought him this far. No more stubbornness.
"We're heading back."
"Yes, sir."
The spot they'd been standing shimmered like a heat haze, then steadied. No one noticed the change.
Entrants to the Magic Officer Academy ranged from veteran hunters who'd awakened and lived that life before enrolling, to total newbies who'd awakened and jumped straight in.
To accommodate everyone, students could pick classes suited to their level.
I'd chosen "Dungeon Practice"—real combat and exploration against monsters inside an actual dungeon.
Students were grouped by awakener rank: nine per group, twelve groups total this time. That meant it was pretty popular.
"Alright, everyone! Today, we'll head into the S-rank dungeon Lycan's Nest, located underground in the academy plaza. Of course, it's no longer sitting at S-rank. Made you flinch for a sec, huh?"
"Hahaha!"
The students burst into laughter at the eloquent professor's witty remark.
"Sure, when it first appeared, it was an S-rank terror that humanity saw as an apocalypse. But thanks to countless heroes, it was cleared, and its power has been steadily declining ever since. Now it fluctuates between D and E-rank. That said, don't get cocky. You could still run into surviving high-rank monsters. So no showing off just because you think you're hot shit—follow the guidance of the alumni who made time to come out today. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
As he explained, lines of academy alumni hunters stood ready to lead us, grinning like we were adorable kindergarteners.
"Yo, these rookies all look like middle-aged dudes on the surface."
"Heh, late bloomers, probably."
"Still, some cute faces in the mix."
A guy peeking around and waving. Despite his lighthearted vibe, he was a solid hunter from the mid-tier Kirin Guild, topping their charts for five years straight. C-rank awakener. All the chuckling guys next to him were at least C-rank vets with tons of experience.
They claimed it was for mentoring juniors, but really, it was government pressure they couldn't ignore. No top guilds had shown up.
That's Kirin Guild mark, Tiger Guild over there. Snake Guild. All mid-tier.
Some marks I didn't recognize, but the vibe screamed C-rank.
That's exactly my old level—I know it well.
After the professor's long-winded spiel, they stepped forward to their assigned groups.
"Name's Park Chan-gyu. Tank for Kirin Guild. Stick close and don't fuck up, and you'll be fine. Trust your big bro here. I'll even let a few of you stand right by me, depending on how you do."
His groupies' eyes sparkled. A veteran C-rank tank from a mid-tier guild—standing by him meant sharing his field of view. That kind of experience wasn't cheap.
Coincidence? Our eyes met as he scanned the group.
Park Chan-gyu was impressed inside. The kid didn't flinch or fawn with envy.
Hoo~
That's the F-rank who laid out those hyenas, huh?
No matter how hushed, word spread fast through the eyes and ears he'd planted around school.
Only one way an F-rank beats higher ranks: Irregular.
His gaze shifted to the big, innocent-eyed hunk.
That one's got potential too.
He memorized them briefly, then looked away like nothing happened.
The group followed Park Chan-gyu toward the dungeon entrance.
Vrrr.
A black ripple shuddered violently in empty air. The vortex sucked at everything, playing tricks on the eyes.
That's Lycan's Nest?
First time seeing it for real. The infamous dungeon that claimed the second-highest casualties in history, right before my eyes.
Life really is unpredictable.
They said it hovered between D and E now, but it was S-rank once. Staring at that unnatural shimmer gave me the creeps.
Just my imagination?
I tilted my head, confirmed the guy ahead enter, then stepped in.
Squelch.
Once the last person was inside, the dungeon's ripple began staining red in spots.
Park Cheol-gyu, the professor, noticed first.
Hm?
A split-second pulse, but it raised every hair on his body with its potent mana surge.
He was on a small hill overlooking the school. After hopping down from his nap spot in a tree, he eyed the plaza.
That's definitely...
Before he'd awakened, it was the dungeon that spat out humanity-threatening behemoths.
Lycan's Nest. Once called "Hell of Despair" among awakeners.
He vanished from the hill in an instant.
Am I being too sensitive?
The dungeon interior was way more peaceful than I'd expected. The professor had tried to scare us, but it was practically cleared—monsters mostly exterminated.
After the boss Lycan died, its minions scattered. Persistent hunter raids picked them off one by one.
Some cunning ones hid deep, but that only mattered if you went far in.
"Alright! Follow your group leader inward. Exactly three hours from now, return here. Dismissed!"
Groups scattered at the professor's word. We gritted our teeth to keep up with our sprinting leader.
No different for us.
Starting with some discipline, huh?