Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Orbis Assault (4)
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Shrrruk-.
The fog that had blanketed the entire Orbis Academy began to dissipate.
"…."
Sa Mu-yeong's face twisted in frustration.
"They're responding far too quickly."
Incredibly fast, to an unnatural degree.
Did the clown betray him...?
'No chance of that.'
That left only two possibilities.
Either his plan had leaked midway...
Or someone with judgment sharper than even an active 'Hero' was swiftly resolving the situation.
Yoo I-seol watched Lee Han-su moving swiftly ahead and thought to herself.
'His pathing is flawless.'
It had been the same during the Gate incident and the field training.
Optimal movement lines.
Something she could never pull off.
Sa Mu-yeong had used relics to station powerful monsters in specific zones.
To buy time for his 'evolution'.
Normally, one would have to break through one of those points to reach him, but even the most perfect plan has variables.
Meaning there was a path straight to the boss after bypassing all the mid-bosses.
I sprinted like that for a while before stopping at one spot.
The students following behind me halted in unison.
"Ooooh! So many people!"
Ahead stood a single man wearing a ridiculous clown mask.
"Ooooh! So many people!"
The clown waved both hands as he spoke.
"By the way, it's important, so I said it twice."
"Clown...!"
Before I could speak, someone else shouted first.
"Ooh! You know me...?"
"Clown!!!!!"
"Hoo, I didn't know I was this famous..."
"The crazy criminal who wiped out Guild 'Hoyeon'!!!"
"That's righ..."
"And he did it all alone!!!"
"That's..."
"You criminal bastard...!"
Someone yelled in disbelief.
The shouting student was pushing up his glasses.
"Tha..."
"So you're the one who caused all this...!!!"
"No, that's not..."
"Typical of a heinous criminal! But you think we'll go down easy?!!"
"No, it's not..."
"This is Orbis, where the world's top Heroes are trained!!! Let me teach you what a Hero is!!!"
"Fuck."
As the glasses-wearing student showed no sign of stopping, the clown's face soured completely.
A chilling wave of killing intent swept through the air in that instant, and the glasses student, sensing it, fell silent immediately.
"I want to step aside for those present here."
The clown continued.
"Don't ask anything, don't have any doubts. Just pass through quickly before another clown arrives."
With that, the clown simply stepped aside.
"Don't ask anything, don't have any doubts. Just pass through quickly before another clown arrives."
As the students glanced at the clown, he repeated it.
"Important, so twice."
We passed through, but I didn't head straight to Sa Mu-yeong.
Obviously, we had to rescue the kidnapped students first.
And there was another reason.
The monsters guarding other areas needed to be taken down by the protagonist.
They gave a ton of EXP, fitting for mid-bosses.
The faster the protagonist powered up, the better.
He is the protagonist, after all.
So the annoying stuff falls to me.
Rescue the students quickly, link up with Seo Ji-ho, and take down Sa Mu-yeong.
That was my plan.
I glanced back casually.
"…."
About six students, including me.
They'd seen the 'Clown' but seemed remarkably calm.
Good? Bad? Hard to say.
-Squeak!!!
That's when a monster appeared ahead.
Seong Ji-seong, the hammer-wielding student, swung his hammer like he'd been waiting, smashing the monster flat.
"Horned rabbit."
He turned his head and said.
"Stay sharp. Lots of presences around."
-Squeak!
-Keruk!
No sooner had he spoken than five monsters burst out.
But top 8th-grade level at best.
The other students handled them without issue, resolving the situation quickly.
After pushing on like that, Sa Mu-yeong's lab came into view.
Yoo I-seol's gaze snapped toward it.
"Mana's coming from in there."
......
Drrrk-!
Opening the lab door revealed students bound in something like mud.
All unconscious.
"…."
'No Han Ain.'
The kidnapped students were random.
But one was guaranteed: Han Ain.
In the game, from the protagonist—no, player's perspective, it gave a reason to rescue specific students.
'Too late...?'
For a moment, I wondered if I'd been too slow, but no.
'...'
Kidnapped again?
Unpleasant.
This event wasn't supposed to exist.
"Hoo..."
I took a deep breath in and out.
Felt a bit calmer.
If a variable cropped up, just resolve it.
Simple.
......
What was the most valuable thing I possessed in this world?
Talent? Traits?
No.
Knowledge of the future.
Or 'original story' info, as it were.
Having played the game hundreds of times, I could confidently say I knew quite a bit about this world.
"…."
Of course, only from when I started controlling 'Seo Ji-ho'.
Too many unknowns and variables.
Events I'd only monitored passively were unfolding in real time.
Features not implemented in the game, characters reduced to short lines.
Now it was different.
I needed a broader view.
Only one person who'd take Han Ain somewhere: Sa Mu-yeong.
One reason for this mess was 'Special Grade Hero Han Min-jun'.
I led the students quickly along the standard route, not the shortcut.
Clang!!!!
Kwaaaang!!!!
In the distance, sounds of Seo Ji-ho battling a monster.
'...'
Shing-.
I used 'Save' on the monster fighting Seo Ji-ho.
A sharp slash cut through the air, cleaving the monster.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!
"Huh?"
The monster bisected in an instant.
Seo Ji-ho's gaze turned my way.
"Rescued the students."
"Huh? For real?"
Seo Ji-ho sheathed his sword and said.
"All but one."
He glanced around at that.
And instantly grasped who.
"...Got it."
I looked at Seo Ji-ho.
The 'original' protagonist.
Sorry.
That monster I just took out gave good EXP too.
Might slow his growth.
But unavoidable.
Something I'd pondered endlessly.
From now on, I'd intervene in the episodes.
Not superficially.
Deeply. Deeper.
Maybe more than the protagonist.
Impossible to dam a derailed river and force it back.
This wasn't a game.
Characters once viewed on a screen were living, breathing people.
"…."
I surveyed my surroundings.
Squeezed my eyes shut.
Opened them, and the world looked different.
A common tale, perhaps.
I loved a game, ended up possessing a character in it.
My original goal: return to my world.
But...
A new goal emerged.
To save the people living in this world of villains and trials.
Still early days, but it'd get harder.
From the cult plotting to burn the world, to 'Special Grades' who no longer saw people as human.
Volatile mana that made killing easy.
Relics with power too immense for humans.
'Chosen One.'
And 'Fate of the Stars.'
Characters weathering storms that'd crush any one alone.
I wanted to save them.
Not let it end in bad endings.
Even if not the real me.
Right now, I'm an aspiring Hero student.
This is reality.
Not a world viewed through a monitor.
The disconnect made me delude myself unwittingly.
Seeing real-world variables impossible in-game woke me.
Ah, this isn't a game.
......
We headed to 'Zone 6 - Forest'.
Sa Mu-yeong was there.
[1st Grade Relic Ark of Mud] was top-tier among 1st Grade relics.
Also something Sa Mu-yeong couldn't fully handle.
Uncontrollable relics twist the body like a 'Demon's', eventually killing the user.
But one issue.
Ark of Mud recreates all things.
Including the user.
As his body twisted from the Ark, he recreated himself.
Sa Mu-yeong's primary goal.
......
Arriving at the forest zone, I couldn't help but be shocked.
Sa Mu-yeong, half his body already warped, grimacing in pain, and Han Ain groaning on the ground.
Surprisingly, Sa Mu-yeong hadn't used the Ark of Mud on himself yet.