Midterms Are Solo (4)
Inside the massive room at the heart of the dome stadium.
Once the time watch ticked past thirty minutes, the instructors confirmed that all the confused students had entered the artificial dungeons. Now, inside that room, they were evaluating each group in their own ways.
"Group 3 had twelve people go in, and they haven't even made proper progress yet."
"Yeah, it's obvious they're failing."
Some instructors chatted while checking students via the massive room's CCTV feeds.
"……."
Others silently scored on their tablets, eyes glued to the screens.
And among them, the most senior instructor, Lee Sang-cheol, was……
"……."
……manipulating his touchpad to score students on the largest screen hanging in the room.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
At an incredibly fast pace.
If the students saw him, not a single one would hold back their complaints.
Lee Sang-cheol's scoring was that quick.
The screen he managed switched feeds in under thirty seconds.
Hell, he flipped screens in less than twenty seconds more often than not.
At a glance, it looked less like proper midterms grading and more like lazy, haphazard scoring out of boredom.
But not a single instructor raised an issue with Lee Sang-cheol's pace.
Because he was the top senior?
No.
They stayed quiet because they trusted he wouldn't make a single mistake.
And rightly so. The man flipping screens and grading in under thirty seconds was……
Tap—
……a legendary contractor once called Clear Master by all before retirement. A man whose dungeon failure rate never climbed above 1%.
As Lee Sang-cheol flipped through screens, grading students……
……Overall, this batch isn't bad.
……he thought to himself, a satisfied look on his face as his hands and eyes flew.
This midterm subject was "Dungeon Assault."
But unlike the name, it tested far more than just dungeon clearing.
Dungeon assaults aren't just about fighting well.
Raw power was essential, obviously.
Without it, you couldn't even start.
But power alone didn't guarantee success.
From gathering teammates to balancing the team with proper role assignments, managing combat inside the dungeon as leader.
And countless other variables.
Only when you control it all can you claim a proper dungeon assault.
In that sense, this first-year class has a lot of sharp ones.
Lee Sang-cheol recalled the students he'd seen so far.
Some teams crammed over twenty into one dungeon. Others hit eight but botched role division.
But others stayed calmer than expected, forming solid teams and entering decisively. And among them……
……Yoo So-yeon is definitely worth watching.
Lee Sang-cheol paused on Yoo So-yeon's team, watching their assault.
"Tank, get up front and block the entrance! You two, hold the side monsters back from breaking through! Ranged DPS, don't worry about hits—just harass! Don't let the tank get overrun!"
Yoo So-yeon grasped the battlefield in seconds, barking nonstop orders as she pushed forward relentlessly.
Impressive.
Her confident commands sounded like she'd cleared the dungeon a dozen times already. Her teammates followed faithfully—not just because of that, but because she'd picked them smartly.
……All mid-tier, huh.
She'd padded her team with clear underlings, solidifying her leader position while hogging most of the contribution score—the key grading metric.
It was like she'd peeked at his perfect-score answer key. Watching her blaze through, Lee Sang-cheol wondered if she'd claim first place……then clicked his tongue in regret.
If only she hadn't met Kim Joo-hyuk at orientation……
Yoo So-yeon was radiating talent now, but her orientation rank was 992nd.
Why?
She'd lost to Kim Joo-hyuk on day one.
So even first here wouldn't vault her into the top hundred overall. A shame.
……Speaking of, how's that kid doing?
Lee Sang-cheol's thoughts turned to Kim Joo-hyuk, taking the exam now.
The mystery powerhouse who'd crushed Yoo So-yeon and the five great families' heirs to enter Valhalla as top freshman.
He'd stirred more incidents before and after enrollment, drawing attention from instructors and outside guilds alike.
For better or worse.
So Lee Sang-cheol tapped his touchpad to find Kim Joo-hyuk's dungeon.
……Where is he?
He tilted his head, digging through the pad.
It listed every numbered dungeon: entrants, progress, everything.
New model—with search!
Why isn't he showing?
Searching "Kim Joo-hyuk" yielded nothing. He frowned……then a nearby instructor spoke up.
"What?"
The reason Kim Joo-hyuk wasn't appearing.
"Student Kim Joo-hyuk has already cleared his dungeon."
"……."
Lee Sang-cheol realized it.
The midterm clock had just dipped under two hours.
Students pushed for max contribution to clear. Instructors should have been grading.
Or so it should have been.
But the instructors' hands froze on their touchpads. Their eyes, darting across monitors, locked on one spot.
"……."
The focus: the giant screen Lee Sang-cheol controlled.
A bizarre, profound silence.
In it, Lee Sang-cheol stared blankly at the dead screen, then rewound the footage like a man possessed.
The video replayed from the start.
Kim Joo-hyuk descending into the dungeon, casual as ever.
Twenty-three minutes thirty-two seconds.
Yeah, on the surface, that seemed long.
Plenty you could do in twenty.
But clearing a Valhalla-made dungeon in twenty? Absurdly short—impossible.
So Lee Sang-cheol couldn't believe the clear time stamped on the video at first.
Kim Joo-hyuk was strong, sure. But solo, no intel, in an artificial dungeon mimicking a real one? No way.
Right?
That's what Lee Sang-cheol thought—until the video.
The on-screen Kim Joo-hyuk matched his usual vibe.
Casual scan of surroundings.
Then—the anomaly began.
Click—
Like he knew the place inside out, Kim Joo-hyuk tilted his head a few times……drew his sword……
Thud!
……and bolted into the dungeon.
No hesitation after one glance, charging into the unknown.
It shattered Lee Sang-cheol's common sense.
Running blind in an info-less dungeon? Suicide.
Monsters, traps—anything could pop.
By his logic, Kim Joo-hyuk should disqualify.
But on video, like mocking that logic……
"Cut! Cut! Cut! Cut!"
……he sliced through every monster lunging from the shadows, never slowing.
One monster? Slash one.
Two? Two.
Three? Three.
No tactics, just absurd SFX—cutcutcutcut!—mowing down everything in sight.
"……Holy……."
The instructors gawked, mouths agape.
Even as they spaced out, Kim Joo-hyuk hit the trap-filled stretch.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The meticulously designed trap zone? He vaulted out in eight jumps.
Next: the boss room. The giant golem.
Meant for eight players, tuned for intimidation with a unique armored look unlike real-dungeon golems.
But……
"Nail the head!"
Stab!
Kim Joo-hyuk leaped, sword plunging into the golem's neck before its arm budged.
"Cut!"
Cracklecracklecrackle!
One strike severed head from body. He used the corpse as a springboard, vaulting to the exit.
Video ended.
Instructors stared at the black screen, dumbfounded by the impossible scene.
Lee Sang-cheol, front and center……
"……Guess first place is set."
……chuckled in disbelief at the blank screen.