Dungeon Practice (2)

The next day after classes, we followed Kang Hyun into another dungeon.

"This one's a D-Class. Field type is…"

We listened to his briefing as we moved out.

Slash— whoosh—

A short bus ride later…

Dungeon clear.

"I'm level five now!"

"…We finished the clear pretty fast, so we've got a lot of time left. Want to hit one more gate right now?"

And like a tree that never stopped giving, Kang Hyun kept pouring experience into us without restraint.

"I'm level seven!"

"…Want to try a C-Class dungeon tomorrow?"

"Whoa! I'm level eight now!"

"…Then for tomorrow's practice, you'll be able to use Blessing and everything?"

"Leave it to me!"

Thanks to Kang Hyun, I walked into the day of the actual dungeon practice having already hit my target level.

The cadets had gathered in scattered clusters across the training ground where the exercise would take place.

And off in a corner, murmuring to each other in that shady little way of theirs, were Yeon Hajin and Baek Woohyun.

Probably dividing up roles so they could handle the incident that was about to hit.

…Not that it'll do them any good.

If things go the way they did in the original, they're going to crash and burn in spectacular fashion.

You should be grateful I'm here, Yeon Hajin.

Once this whole mess was over, he'd probably figure something out on his own anyway.

I was discreetly watching the two of them whisper when Yeon Hajin turned his head and locked eyes with me.

Then he started walking straight toward me.

"…?"

Wondering what he wanted, I looked right back at him. The moment our gazes met, he gestured for me to come closer.

I approached, and he led me to a slightly more secluded spot where fewer eyes could reach us.

After a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quick scan of our surroundings, Yeon Hajin finally spoke.

"Listen. If I told you a dangerous accident is going to happen during this dungeon practice… would you believe me?"

Would I believe him?

I already know what's going to happen better than he does.

I crushed the urge to say exactly that and played dumb instead.

"…What?"

My retort put an awkward look on his face.

"Mm…. First, can you take this?"

He pulled a pendant with a small gem from his inventory and held it out to me.

"What's this all of a sudden?"

I said it that way, but I already had a pretty good idea.

Once Kang Hyun dropped the act mid-clear and tried to wipe out our party, the first person he'd target would be me—closest at hand, and the one who could heal.

Of course, even without an item like this, as long as I stayed aware of Kang Hyun's attacks I could probably avoid an instant kill one way or another.

If I just survived the first blow, I could self-heal while Baek Woohyun locked him down.

But from Yeon Hajin's point of view—believing I knew nothing about Kang Hyun—shoving an item into my hands was a lot more reliable than trying to convince me to watch my back.

"Could you just trust me and wear this for the duration of today's practice? If the dungeon exercise ends without any trouble, you can give it back. That much is fine, right?"

I doubt I'll ever be returning this pendant to him.

Once the effect triggers, it vanishes.

"…Well, from my end there's nothing to lose, so it's not like I can't…."

I answered with a little pushback, and Yeon Hajin locked eyes with me, earnest and desperate.

"Please. Just trust me this one time."

…He's being awfully solemn about this.

From his perspective, of course he wouldn't want the healer he'd carefully been raising to drop dead without warning. I couldn't exactly blame him.

"…Alright. I'll do it."

The moment I accepted, his whole face lit up.

"Thank you!"

I don't think I've ever seen him this happy.

I was the one receiving the gift, and somehow I was the one getting thanked for it—my conscience twinged a little—but…

…Well. Good things are good things.

I'll just take responsibility and keep everyone alive, won't I?

I saw Yeon Hajin off and headed back toward my teammates.

Looking around, I could see the Class A first-years clustered together, laughing and talking among themselves.

Lives that, in the original story, wouldn't make it past today.

"……."

But…

As long as I was here, that wasn't going to happen.

"Team D, enter!"

Following the instructor's order, we stepped into the dungeon.

It was an artificial mock dungeon, so no system messages appeared… but soon enough, the moment the Church ordered indiscriminate suicide bombings, it would transform into a real dungeon and the windows would start popping up.

Lee Hayun took the lead, followed by Baek Woohyun, then Han Yeoreum, me, and Kang Hyun in that order.

We walked for a short while through heat that seared the skin, and before long we ran into a mana beast.

Whoosh—

A field mouse the size of a human head, its entire body composed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of dense flame.

The moment the Flame Field Mouse spotted us, it kicked off the ground and charged.

Bang—!

I slapped Blessing and Barrier onto Lee Hayun as she braced to take the rush.

Thud—

The Flame Field Mouse slammed into her shield and bounced off.

At the same time, two more Flame Field Mice appeared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from farther back and came racing in.

While Baek Woohyun swung his sword at the one right in front of him, Han Yeoreum used a skill to intercept the approaching pair.

Fwoosh—

Knowing ordinary flames wouldn't do any damage, Han Yeoreum conjured flame spears instead of fireballs and honed their tips to a razor edge.

Whoosh—!

The spears spun viciously as they launched at the two oncoming mice.

Crunch—!

They punched straight through both beasts and buried themselves in the ground.

The mice quickly flared up and repaired the wounds, but the attack hadn't been completely meaningless.

Slash—

At the very least, it bought Baek Woohyun enough time to finish the Flame Field Mouse that had charged first.

The dense flames made it hard to see with the naked eye, but the core sat in the center of the body. Baek Woohyun split that core in half with his blade, dropping the beast in a single stroke, then kicked off the ground and snapped back into position behind Lee Hayun.

From there it was the same pattern again: Lee Hayun pulled the next wave of mice, Baek Woohyun finished them off.

Han Yeoreum's share of the fighting had been cut down considerably, but in exchange I was free to openly unload Blessings, Barriers, mana healing, and the rest. The dungeon clear proceeded smoothly.

Kang Hyun, for his part, kept detecting the beasts well and steadily supporting with his bow.

It would have been nice if everything had stayed that uneventful all the way through…

But of course—inevitably—Kang Hyun dropped the act soon enough.

Right at the moment our fourth encounter with a pack of mana beasts ended and the fighting briefly settled.

The faint presence of Kang Hyun behind me vanished, and a chill of deathly energy flooded into the empty space he left behind.

Crunch—!

The pendant hanging at my throat dissolved, and a silver barrier wrapped around me. The instant I saw it, I threw myself desperately forward.

Craaack—

The barrier shattered almost immediately, making a mockery of its B-grade ranking.

Whoosh—!

Through the broken shield, a gray blade of energy skimmed just over the top of my head.

Eeeeeee—

A crushing wave of vertigo hit me at the same time.

Through a blurred, twisting field of vision ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I could make out Baek Woohyun and Kang Hyun colliding, but…

The dizziness scrambled my head so badly I could only stagger in place.

The moment I grasped the situation, I yanked a pistol from my inventory and fired Purify into myself in rapid succession.

Only then did my vision snap back to normal.

…Whether Yeon Hajin's pendant was a defective product or Kang Hyun's attack was simply stronger than I'd imagined, just grazing that strike had been enough to slap a status ailment on me.

As my sight cleared and my muffled ears started picking up sound again, a flustered voice rang out right beside me.

"Wh-what? No, this is…."

Han Yeoreum, completely rattled and at a total loss.

Lee Hayun standing next to her wasn't much better.

Clang— crunch—

The chaos of Baek Woohyun swinging his sword and Kang Hyun openly deploying necromancy tangled together.

And because of that noise, more mana beasts were charging in from farther out.

I unloaded Blessing and a full suite of buffs into Baek Woohyun with my gun, then shouted at the two still frozen in place.

"Stop the mana beasts first!"

"…!"

My words finally snapped Lee Hayun out of it. She checked the oncoming wave, then sprinted forward and planted herself in position.

Han Yeoreum summoned a flame spear as well and leveled it at the beasts.

After buffing both of them, I turned toward the rear—and there were Baek Woohyun and Kang Hyun locked in a violent clash.

"You son of a—"

Kang Hyun's face was rotting over as his plan came apart.

Baek Woohyun flowed through his sword forms with easy precision, pressing him hard without any real trouble.

I lobbed one of the Anchor potions I'd prepared ahead of time into the middle of their fight.

There'd been no description of Kang Hyun going berserk in the original, but better safe than sorry.

I'd made plenty of Anchor, so there was no reason to be stingy.

Crash—!

The bottle shattered, scattering purple particles through the air.

Kang Hyun only flicked a glance their way—he didn't seem particularly concerned.

With Baek Woohyun's sword flashing right in his face, he probably didn't have the bandwidth to worry about a few drifting purple motes.

"…You. You were hiding your strength."

"You're hardly in any position to say that, necromancer."

I watched Baek Woohyun dominate Kang Hyun from start to finish, then turned away.

That side was fine for now.

The real problem was…

Whoosh—!

…the pack of mana beasts Lee Hayun and Han Yeoreum were holding off.

The beasts were clustering together, their flames spreading and intensifying into something far more dangerous.

The color of the fire had already gone past red and orange into the blue of azure flame.

Under normal circumstances, the instructors monitoring in real time would have intervened by now—it was that kind of crisis—but…

Right now the monitoring room was only seeing the footage the Church had doctored. Support wasn't coming.

"Ugh—!"

Lee Hayun took a hit from the beasts' flames at close range and cried out in pain.

"Hah… hah…."

Behind her, Han Yeoreum gritted her teeth and wrung every scrap of mana she had left, conjuring dozens of flame spears.

Watching them, I pulled the Ice Dragon's Scale from my inventory and set it on my tongue.

Ssssss—

A cold so sharp it felt like the inside of my mouth might freeze solid.

Feeling the sensation drain from my tongue, I raised my gun and sprinted forward.

Whoosh—!

Straight into the raging pack of mana beasts.