The Training Dungeon (2)

In the Vice President's office at the General Student Council Building, Lee Chung worked her way through the stack of documents awaiting her approval, one by one.

Though she held a senior position at the academy, she was still a cadet who had to attend her professors' lectures. And in the rare scraps of free time she scraped together, she threw herself into student council work, leaving her not a moment of rest.

The only time her hands ever stopped moving was when her assistant, Eliana Andersen, dropped by — and this was one of those times.

Creeeak—

When the elven assistant entered carrying a tray laden with coffee and black tea, Lee Chung brightened.

"Ah, thank you."

She picked up the coffee cup without ceremony, took a sip, and let out a sigh of contentment.

"...I swear, caffeine is the only thing keeping me alive."

Her expression and voice weren't exactly sunny. Narrowing her eyes, she stared at the mountain of documents piled on the desk.

...How many hours am I going to have to sit here to finish all of these?

Even a superhuman didn't exactly relish this kind of mindless drudgery. Eliana, quick to catch her superior's mood, mentally rifled through a few topics that might cheer her up — and settled on one.

"Come to think of it, midterm season is almost upon us, isn't it?"

"...You mean that time is already here again."

"We all know you'll sweep first place in every subject again, Madam Vice President, so there's no need for such theatrics."

"Even so, I hate exams. Always have."

With that answer, Lee Chung scrunched up her lovely face all the more and began clearing the papers off her desk.

Realizing she'd spoken out of turn, Eliana quickly composed herself and steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Ahem. By the way, did you happen to hear the news?"

"Hmm? What news?"

"The Ecology professor took the first-year cadets into a dungeon ahead of the midterms."

"Oh my, the Training Dungeon."

"And as it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠happens, today is the very day Class 3 enters it."

At that instant, Lee Chung's industriously moving hands stopped dead.

She looked up and found herself meeting Eliana's gaze. An irrepressible smile had bloomed across her face — the look of someone thoroughly intrigued.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, I heard all the cadets of Class 3 participated, with not a single absence."

"Then Gangjun went in too. Ah, if I can find the time, I should go watch."

Watching the Vice President start to fuss and fidget over an entirely different reason now, her assistant tilted her head in puzzlement.

Eliana had been the one to bring the topic up in the first place, yet she still couldn't fathom why Lee Chung had taken such an interest in that particular man.

His face was decent enough, to be fair, but surely that wasn't it.

Well, since I'm the one who brought it up, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I may as well ask.

How highly did her revered Vice President actually rate that cadet, Choi Gangjun?

Curiosity suddenly blooming, Eliana posed her question to Lee Chung, who was now looking directly at her.

"Then what do you think the results will be?"

"Hm? Results?"

"Who will reach the exit first. You and I have both done it, after all, so you know how brutal it can be."

She knew all too well how treacherous the Training Dungeon was on a first encounter. Of course, the Vice President before her had breezed through it without breaking a sweat, but things were different for ordinary cadets.

Records would vary wildly depending on each cadet's capabilities, and Eliana was asking for her prediction of Gangjun's record among them.

"Ah, who'll escape the fastest?"

Understanding the question, Lee Chung simply smiled and nodded.

Eliana pressed on.

"Class 3's roster includes not only Cadet Choi Gangjun, but also the young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and my own little sister — the pride of the elves. How many minutes do you suppose he'll take? Or rather, what place will he finish in?"

"Eliana, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you're going to compare, compare him against the right people. Honestly — a ranking?"

"Hmm? Is that not so?"

He did break through to a new realm recently, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but I suppose even that's no match for the young Cult Leader.

Just as the thought crossed Eliana's mind unbidden, Lee Chung looked at her with an expression that was almost mocking, and said:

"Well, obviously he's going to take first place."

Our Gangjun.

The Training Dungeon was divided into five stages, bristling with every manner of trap and monster.

It was a den purpose-built to torment cadets from every angle, and in some ways, the gap in skill it exposed was even harder to overcome than a conventional sparring match — all the more so if you were racing against Cheon Yuha's record.

Going by his usual behavior, he looks like an idiot — but he's still a genius who ranks among the very best.

Judging by the results of my previous life: that damned assassin, Tadano Ansatsusha, had come in third.

Elenor, the elven archer equally adept at disarming traps and combat, had come in second.

And Cheon Yuha had cleared the dungeon first by an overwhelming margin. Most traps would have been useless against her, and she would have crushed the monsters without breaking stride.

Even so, I had to concede one point to her: her instincts in combat were on another level. The dungeon would be no exception.

She would conquer this place in what she herself judged to be the most efficient way possible.

She'll definitely clear it fast.

Dungeon speedrun records were, from the start, a fight I was at a distinct disadvantage in — a fight of raw specs, where mine fell hopelessly short.

But when had it ever been otherwise?

Through my entire previous life, I had always stood in the most absurdly disadvantageous position imaginable — and I had always overcome it.

Besides, this time I had the realm of my past life, and experience I'd already banked. I knew this dungeon inside and out.

If I — standing in a position that was, in some respects, advantageous — cleared it slower than Cheon Yuha on her very first visit, then yes, it was certainly possible.

But God, that would be unbearably humiliating.

I resolved, at the very least, to post a record I wouldn't be ashamed of.

Steeled once more, I finally set my feet in motion.

The moment I stepped across the starting line etched into the floor, an ominous clatter rang out through the corridor.

Stage one: the Arrow Hell.

Crossbows hidden in the walls popped out and loosed arrows coated in paralytic venom.

Thrrk—thrrk—

They were even fully automatic.

Dodging them one at a time would have been the safe approach — but it wasn't nearly enough.

I break through by pushing it to the absolute limit.

I didn't dodge. I advanced.

I kept a sharp eye on the arrows streaking toward my arms and legs, arrows that would skewer them moments from now — and reached out my hand.

Crack—!

My fist closed around a fistful of incoming arrows.

Even as I held them, my feet kept moving. Every time I advanced past a certain point, more crossbows sprang from the walls and ceiling, but I never stopped.

Crunch—!

I smashed arrows head-on, and when both my hands began to blur with exhaustion, I hurled the arrows I was carrying at the ones still flying and shot them out of the air.

Smash, throw — and the arrows I could do nothing about, I didn't spare a single glance. I just ran.

While my hands were busy, my feet never once stopped either.

By the time I'd dealt with a hundred or so arrows—

The drab, seemingly endless corridor came to an end, replaced by another passage covered wall to wall in warning markings.

Stage two: the Trap Hell.

For anyone unfamiliar with this place — a gauntlet packed with every kind of trap — progress would crawl at a maddening pace. For me, it was almost easy.

I simply ran.

The pit traps hidden under illusion magic, their floors hollowed to nothing — I vaulted off the walls to clear them.

The magic circles that fired off elemental spells the instant you laid eyes on them — I registered their locations and didn't grant them so much as a glance.

The slimes raining down from the ceiling — I sent them right back up with the Geongondaenayi, the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth.

And beyond them, trap after trap, all of it designed to make cadets suffer.

I went through all of this in my past life already.

Not just the Training Dungeon — I'd endured every dungeon I'd ever set foot in over my last life.

There wasn't a chance in hell I was falling for any of it now.

Beyond that lay the so-called Goblin Hell — a sprawling cavern littered with obstacles, and behind them, thirty-odd goblins armed with nothing but poison spines.

In my past life, I'd heard that a fair number of cadets hadn't merely wasted time here — they'd washed out entirely.

I had a rough time of it too, back then.

Not anymore.

"—Kraaaagh!"

Before the little bastards could even loose their spines, I buried the paralytic-venom arrows I'd been collecting since stage one into their throats.

I'd gotten fairly skilled at throwing weapons over the years, so it wasn't particularly difficult. After that, I closed the distance in a flash and finished the rest off one by one.

The next gate was the troll.

A one-eyed troll, no less, with one arm and one leg bolted firmly into the wall. Perhaps because of that handicap, it was the only stage whose name didn't include the word "hell."

Not that it does anything for the troll's conscience.

I picked up the torch hanging at the gate's entrance.

I closed in fast, slipped past the troll's flailing arm, and climbed up onto its shoulder.

—Kruh?

I jammed the torch straight into the troll's bewildered eye.

—KRRAAAAAAGH!

The troll shrieked, and I beat it down with the subtle workings of the Nae Gajung Subeop — striking its skull with precisely layered force, driving the damage deep into its core.

Before long, the creature met its end.

And then, the final gate.

I had arrived at the final stage — the one that, back in my past life, had very nearly sent me to my grave.

Five guardians, each blessed with resistance against both mana and ki. I'd heard the stage was named as a kind of review — a refresher course on everything that had come before.

"Bullshit has its limits too."

Even as I cursed this damned school, my feet trudged stubbornly onward. Paralytic arrows came flying at me from every direction as I engaged the guardians.

I charged forward.

KWAANG!

Having shattered the last guardian, Cheon Yuha let out a long breath of relief.

Finally — it's over.

She had no idea what those guardians were even made of, but their resistance to ki had cost her precious time.

"Still, a little over ten minutes."

That had to be a remarkably fast record, surely. Satisfied, Cheon Yuha nodded to herself and moved on, stepping through the final gate and into a vast open plaza — where a new system message appeared before her.

"...What?"

The moment the word left her mouth, Cheon Yuha became aware that someone was already there. Dazed, she turned her head.

"Yo. Took you long enough."

There stood Choi Gangjun.

The man who had faced her without so much as a drop of sweat. And beside him stood a giant scoreboard, recording every cadet's results.

At present, there were only two names on it. And at the very top, the very first line, it read:

"...Ah."

For the first time in her life, she felt a wall.