The Losers Find Joy Just Looking at Each Other #4
The pure white control room felt almost sterile. Holographic displays floated in the air, marking the students as tiny dots across a three-dimensional map. The positions of the Yeongsa High students who had entered the Great Labyrinth were being tracked in real time through smartwatches, drones, and various other devices.
Moon Hyeon-ah, an active-duty explorer, removed her eye patch and carefully observed the students. Among them, the group that drew her attention the most was naturally the one formed by those who hadn’t been chosen by any of the other teams—Team No Leftovers.
“Instructor, will they be alright? These kids… they’re heading toward a stream where monsters live. The monster inhabiting that place is one of the ‘Nose’ dogs. We’ve weakened it, so its aggression is low, but…”
“Still, a monster is a monster. Ordinary people can’t even withstand the toxic aura they emit and faint on the spot. So why did these kids choose that route? Don’t tell me they deliberately targeted a monster’s habitat?”
Instructor Kang Cheol-min already knew that Geum Tae-seong and the transfer student Ha Nam-jin’s group had begun their training on top of a cliff. Because of the cliff-climbing exercise, their exploration had been delayed by nearly thirty minutes compared to the other teams. In a situation like that, searching for concept-infused relics was no different from starting a short-distance sprint five seconds later than your opponents.
“And from there, these guys changed their route to hunt monsters in order to earn points. You get two million points for every monster you kill. That’s four hundred thousand points per person. I don’t know who came up with the idea, but it’s truly…”
Kk-kk-kk-huh—.
Captain Kang Cheol-min burst into laughter. Soon Moon Hyeon-ah joined him, chuckling as well.
“Pfft, it really is an incredibly reckless and stupid plan. That mutant has low aggression, but even our instructor team barely managed to capture one alive. It’s fast and cunning.”
Moon Hyeon-ah recalled the time they had tried to capture a dog possessing the ‘Nose’ concept. The creature had been blind, but its sense of smell and hearing were exceptional. It would flee at the slightest sound, making the capture extremely difficult.
“Honestly, at a third-year level, they won’t be able to kill it. The dog will run away long before they get the chance.”
It was extremely difficult for students who weren’t even adults yet to defeat a monster. After all, the monsters placed in this training Great Labyrinth weren’t meant to be defeated—they were obstacles designed to teach the students when to run away. In other words, they were absurd reminders of the students’ own limits and walls.
But if this team somehow manages to defeat a monster with only their own power, it would be on the same level as the results produced by a Supernova.
Supernova. The term referred to students who displayed talent equal to or greater than active-duty explorers. Moon Hyeon-ah had never imagined that the abandoned children would shine so brightly.
Moreover, not even the elite F-class students we gathered for their high potential, but the problem-ridden, variable-filled D-class students?
However, Instructor Kang Cheol-min’s thoughts were different.
“There’s one guy in that group I’ve been keeping an eye on. That bastard will probably become a Supernova soon. He’ll end up wearing the Knight Brooch.”
“Oh? If even you are saying that, Instructor… then I suppose I can look forward to it. I think I already know which student you’re talking about.”
Moon Hyeon-ah’s gaze shifted toward the male student captured by the drone feed. It was Geum Tae-seong, the one who had received a surprising fourth-grade potential rating during the preliminary evaluation. It wouldn’t have been strange for Geum Tae-seong to be in the elite F-class, but because of his background, he had been demoted to D-class.
As for the rest—there was nothing worth watching. At least, that was what Moon Hyeon-ah, the homeroom teacher of F-class, believed.
I shouted, small but clear.
“Look at that son of a bitch! See how its eyes are burned like it got splashed with acid? That means it can’t see! That’s why it’s not charging at us recklessly and is just circling around us!”
Just as humans awaken through special triggers and become Awakened, animals that awaken become monsters. And just as humans who acquire concepts become even more special Awakened, the same applied to monsters.
“Nose. That thing is a Nose.”
In my opinion, the monster before us seemed to possess the concept of ‘Nose,’ ‘Smell,’ or ‘Olfaction.’ Its nose was ridiculously oversized, so it was easy to figure out intuitively.
“After losing its sight from the burn, it gained a concept to compensate. Abilities come from strong desires, right? This guy must have been incredibly frustrated about being blind. Enough to awaken a new ability.”
“So what the hell does that mean!”
At Choi Chang-sik the Candy Maker’s question, I almost let out a small sigh. I’d explained this much— even an idiot should be able to understand. It seemed the fear of having a monster right in front of them was paralyzing everyone’s reason.
“The smell of boiling candy should be making our scent faint. The strong sweet smell vibrating everywhere has basically sealed its nose. Look, it’s not charging at us, is it?”
“R-really…!”
“What’s left is its hearing. That’s where Deok-soon has to step up. Deok-soon, you said you can make surrounding sounds quiet, right?”
“It’s not Deok-soon, it’s Deok-hui…”
The girl who corrected her name looked back and forth between us and the monster.
“I can erase sound… but only within a ten-meter radius around me… and it only lasts about twenty seconds.”
Ten meters and twenty seconds? That was more than enough.
A surprise attack from a completely silent, scentless direction. Even a monster would be thrown off like it had been struck by lightning on a clear day.
“Then I’m counting on you, Deok-soon. It’s two million points! We can split it four hundred thousand per person! You’re the key to this whole thing!”
“…….”
The timid girl gripped the hem of her pants tightly. Feeling everyone’s eyes on her, she kept trembling. It looked like it would take a while for her to answer.
“I-I can’t do it…”
Shivering like a duck that had all its feathers plucked in the middle of winter, Deok-soon shook violently. Her clothes were soaked with sweat, and her breathing was ragged. She really seemed to lack any courage at all.
Well, that made sense. We were the leftovers. The trash that had been thrown away because no one needed us. Of course we wouldn’t have any confidence.
“Deok-hui.”
At that moment, Geum Tae-seong gently took her hand.
Deok-soon was greatly startled.
“W-what— W-wait—”
“When I’m really nervous, holding someone’s hand like this helps me calm down. How about it? Feeling a bit better?”
“Uh… uhh…”
Was it because of Geum Tae-seong’s handsome, sharp features? Or was it the unexpectedly gentle voice that contrasted with his delinquent appearance? Oh Deok-soon trembled even harder than before, as if she was more nervous now. Still, it seemed like she had felt something.
“…I’ll do it. But twenty seconds is my limit!”
Thump-thump—.
Having made up her mind, Deok-soon immediately began to dance. It was such a bizarre, awkward dance that it reminded me of a child performing silly antics in front of their grandfather to get Lunar New Year money. Just watching her was painful.
The girl’s face, visible between her long hair, was flushed bright red, as if it might explode at any moment. Sweat poured down in streams, dripping from her chin.
The truly amazing part was that the noise around us had been completely erased, as if we were all wearing heavy headphones.
“━─.”
“━──!”
Everyone was opening their mouths and shouting in surprise, but no sound came out. They looked like goldfish opening and closing their mouths inside a fishbowl. Perfect silence.
I clapped my hands together as hard as I could, but not a single sound was produced.
This is seriously incredible. If I had an ability like this, the difficulty of stealing potatoes from the field would have dropped dramatically!
—Let’s go!
I pointed at everyone with a hand signal. But they only hesitated and didn’t move. Well, I suppose asking them to charge at a living, rabid beast was a bit much. Their feet probably wouldn’t listen. I understood, but it was still frustrating, so I took the first step myself.
One step. Two steps.
The Nose Dog didn’t seem to notice me approaching. It had its nose buried in a bowl of hot sugar water and was greedily licking up the sweet liquid.
What an idiot!
I slowly crept up behind it and kicked it as hard as I could right between the legs.
THUD—!
The dog whose massive balls had been kicked—.
GROIN STRIKE
It let out a brutally silent scream and flipped over.
Name: Blackie
Status: 《Shock》 — It has no idea what just happened to it. It is in agony as if the world has been shattered!
Perfect! I didn’t miss the opening and kicked its body again with all my strength.
BOOM—!
The dog, struck by my kick reinforced with the Leap concept, flew far away and rolled across the ground. Seeing this, everyone’s expressions brightened.
“Everyone stomp the shit out of it! Aim for the groin if you can!”
I shouted. Of course they couldn’t hear me, but they seemed to understand the intention. They surrounded the disoriented dog and began stomping and beating it with everything they had.
Thud thud thud thud thud—.
Like imperial powers plundering a colony! With faces once filled with tension now overflowing with hopeful smiles!
The monster subjugation was about to end—.
That was what I thought.
Crack. Sizzle. Crunch. Grind—.
Something strange happened. Wounds began to swell on the dog’s beaten body, and then eyeballs started appearing. They looked like the eye patterns on a peacock’s tail feathers.
Whoosh—!
The dog that had been getting beaten seemed to have spotted us with those countless new eyes. It quickly jumped back and created distance. Everyone was equally shocked by the sudden development.
“D-does it have multiple concepts?”
Was it because Deok-soon had stopped dancing? The surrounding sounds returned to normal. Breathing heavily, Deok-soon shouted.
“The monster awakened a second ability! It looks like the concept of ‘Eye’!”
Nose. Eye. If there was any connection, that was it. But who would have thought the monster would awaken its second concept at this exact moment! What terrible luck!
“…I-is it because of me?!”
Baek Yeoul made a tearful face. Was this the result of Baek Yeoul’s ‘Bad Luck’?
—Grrrrrrrr—.
The Nose Dog glared at us, drooling furiously as if it was pissed off. If it bit us, we’d be heading straight for rabies. While everyone was too stunned to even speak, the damn dog made the first move.
—Krrraaang!
“What the—?! Hiek!”
The one it was targeting was Baek Yeoul. Out of all these people, she was the first one it went after. Truly the icon of misfortune. If we did nothing, Baek Yeoul would suffer a serious injury.
I guess it was time for me to step up. Time to bring out my secret weapon.
“Everyone, when I give the signal, charge again!”
Whoosh—.
With a powerful shout, I quickly pulled down my pants.
“You crazy pervert! You’re finally showing your true colors!”
“Kyaaaak!”
Along with the girls’ screams, my secret weapon was revealed to the world. The flashy tiger-print panties I hadn’t been able to show during the debate. Ten thousand won at regular price. The moment the dog’s eyes, which had been rushing toward Baek Yeoul, landed on those stimulating patterns, they locked onto me instead.
Name: Blackie
Status: 《Attention》 — It is now focused entirely on you!
Now! It’s right now!
I kicked off the ground with all my strength and charged at the dog.
—Krrraaang…?!
The dog, which had been distracted by my panties, tried to back away belatedly, but my Leap was fast enough to cover a hundred meters in three seconds.
“Yaaaaaah!”
In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance, grabbed the dog, wrapped my arms around its neck and my legs around its torso, and completed a perfect sleeper hold.
—Grrrrr—!
But this damn dog’s resistance was no joke. It was clawing and biting at me. Fuck! It hurts like hell, but I have to do what I have to do!
“Everyone hit it hard! Beat the shit out of it! Now! I can’t hold it for long! Now!”
“Nam-jin-ah!”
Geum Tae-seong shouted loudly. He immediately ran over and started punching and kicking the dog. At the same time, I got hit too.
“Aaaagh!”
As expected of a former delinquent! Fuck, his fists hurt like crazy!
“S-sorry!”
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it! Just beat this bastard! Pound it! Two million points! I’m not letting go no matter what! Never! Two million! Graaaaaah!”
Thudthudthudthudthudthud—.
The struggling dog. Me holding onto it. A one-sided beating and violence unfolding around us.
“You son of a bitch! Die! Die!”
Baek Yeoul shouted with a fierce expression and leaped into the air. Whoosh—THUD! Her kick came down like a beast’s strike, sharply slamming into the monster’s groin. The problem was that my groin got a clean hit at the exact same time.
—Grrrrrreeeeeeck!!!!!
“Grrrrrreeeeeeck!!!!!”
The monster dog vomited sugar water from its mouth along with filth. And since I was lying right underneath it, I got covered in the whole mess.
“Ugh, it stinks!”
To have my crotch in pain and then get covered in filth on top of it—my luck was truly terrible. But I could feel the tension that had been tightly wound around the monster dog’s body finally disappear. At the same time, the strength drained from my own body.
“W-we did it! We really did it! We defeated a monster! We accomplished something that only the elite F-class students could do! We did it! By working together!”
Choi Chang-sik rejoiced loudly as he looked at the monster, which had gone limp in death. Baek Yeoul reached out a hand to me, who was covered in all kinds of filth.
“H-hey, are you okay? I didn’t mean to kick you on purpose!”
To be honest, I felt like I was going to die. But acquiring two million points was a huge stroke of luck, wasn’t it? With this, I had taken one more step closer to my goddess, Seo Gaeul.
Even so, there was something more important right now. Since we had killed the monster, we should enjoy the ‘reward,’ shouldn’t we?
“There’s no time to celebrate! We have to collect it from the monster’s corpse!”
“It?”
“What do you mean by ‘it’?”
What else? The treasure, of course. It was common sense in the ruined world, but it seemed research on ‘monsters’ in this era wasn’t fully developed yet. Since they didn’t seem to know, it meant I could just take it all for myself, right?