Chapter 21: Mock Dungeon (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: Mock Dungeon (5)
That morning, on the day Cheon Yeo-wool submitted her notice of absence, Choi Eun-ha, the instructor in charge of the Mock Dungeon, was lost in thought.
“Instructor Park Chang-myung, would you mind taking a look at the revised seed list?”
She handed him the list, which had been compiled based on the units’ performance, excluding Cheon Yeo-wool.
Forming teams based on grades was one thing, but reflecting the intuition of the instructor who actually taught the class could be entirely different.
She was seeking her colleague’s opinion, just in case.
Instructor Park Chang-myung scanned the list meticulously before reaching a conclusion.
“…Joo Han-kang. I believe Jung Hae-in would be a more suitable student for the seed.”
“Understood.”
She accepted his advice without much thought. In truth, she had been debating between the two students herself. Based on grades, Jung Hae-in was slightly ahead, but she had chosen Joo Han-kang simply because he had a higher rank.
“And I think it would be best to set the dungeon to Rahalla’s Maze. Starting from the entrance.”
“The entrance?”
Choi Eun-ha asked again, a hint of surprise in her voice.
This was not something she could immediately agree to. Rahalla’s Maze was a traditional internal evaluation dungeon at Gaon Academy, and its high difficulty meant it was usually assigned only to the top students.
“Jung Hae-in seems to be an Exceptional. Instructor Do Han-seong said so as well.”
“Instructor Do Han-seong…”
“He said the student manifested Sword Force.”
Exceptional.
It was slang used among Gaon’s instructors to refer to a student who, contrary to their given rank, began to show remarkable talent after admission.
And if multiple instructors were all saying the same thing, it was best to trust them.
“Very well. We’ll do that.”
In the end, Choi Eun-ha accepted the advice. All that was left was to see if Jung Hae-in would live up to their expectations.
And Jung Hae-in was meeting those expectations perfectly.
“Whoa! Damn, he dodged it again!”
“Seriously, what is he?”
The atmosphere in the practice room grew heated.
Even the students who had finished their dungeon runs weren’t resting; one by one, they all gathered in front of the screen.
Kang A-rin, who had just finished slaughtering the enemy team, felt her eyes sparkle the moment she saw the screen.
The murmurs that had filled the room died down as everyone’s attention focused on a single monitor.
Right here, right now, a new star was being born.
*
Even as he reeled from his trap being discovered, Joo Han-kang quickly formulated a new plan.
We’ll take out Jung Hae-in, fast. The two of us.
“That son of a bitch isn’t a shield, but he’s playing vanguard. If we both rush him, we can end this.”
Normally, the basic strategy would be to target the ranged attacker, Ha Sion, first.
But Ha Sion was a high-ranking archer. He judged that even with Han Iri’s help, they wouldn’t be able to take her down easily.
Han Iri felt that a two-on-one assault was dishonorable, but he went along with it anyway. They had already resorted to using traps; victory was the priority now.
“You called me out, so here I am.”
Joo Han-kang descended slowly, his expression nonchalant.
Han Iri and the rest of his team followed.
“Why the fuck are you so smug?”
Yoon Sang-hyeok shouted upon seeing him.
“If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to do anything but surrender.”
“Enough of that.”
Joo Han-kang cut him off and drew the sword from his waist.
“Let’s go.”
The moment he finished speaking, three or four mana bombs came flying.
The bombs shot sharply toward Jung Hae-in.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Boom—
The mana bombs flew in.
Jung Hae-in spun his spear, deflecting the bombs and kicking up a cloud of dust.
But the bombs had been a feint, meant only to force him onto the defensive.
Through the scattering dust, Joo Han-kang and Han Iri charged in simultaneously.
Jung Hae-in didn’t wait for them to approach, instead sidestepping away.
Two swords sliced through empty air.
Han Iri belatedly swung his sword to correct his posture, but Jung Hae-in was already far to the side, a good distance from the main force.
Joo Han-kang was growing impatient.
I thought I could catch him easily…
Jung Hae-in’s movements made it seem as if he were about to engage, yet he deflected every attack, merely maintaining his distance.
And with every bit of distance he created, the gap between them and their main force widened.
“Wait, Han-kang, we’re getting too far…”
“Are you just going to run?!”
Joo Han-kang’s impatience finally turned to irritation.
Han Iri had warned him, but his patience had already run out.
It was an infuriating way to fight.
With every missed attack, Jung Hae-in’s calm, composed demeanor was more than enough to get on his nerves.
Jung Hae-in took another step back and looked at Joo Han-kang.
His expression was still completely dry.
Faced with that cold, emotionless gaze, a chill momentarily ran down Joo Han-kang’s spine.
But he didn’t stop. His pride wouldn’t allow him to halt his assault.
Meanwhile, on the side of the main force.
As Joo Han-kang and Han Iri’s joint attack began in earnest, Yoon Sang-hyeok couldn’t hold back and tried to join them.
But his arm was stopped by Sion’s firm grip.
No matter what happens, hold your position.
That’s what Jung Hae-in had told them before they entered the center.
Yoon Sang-hyeok hesitated, then turned to Sion, who was drawing her bow beside him.
“Shouldn’t we still help him?”
Sion calmly raised her gaze.
She looked at Yoon Sang-hyeok, her bowstring pulled taut, and said,
“Who?”
“Us? Help Hae-in?”
Sion took a short breath, then aimed her bow and added,
“No, that’s not it.”
Twang!
An arrow shot through the air.
The alchemist and archer, having lost their vanguard, panicked as the arrow narrowly missed them and dove for cover behind the ruins.
“Hae-in is helping us.”
Her eyes glinted sharply.
“So let’s do as he said.”
Her voice held unshakable conviction, mixed with a distant, wistful regret.
She drew her bowstring again, her eyes fixed ahead.
“He always has.”
*
He acts like he’s going to fight, then doesn’t. I taunt him a little, and he comes at me like his life depends on it.
Seeing how he’s completely disregarding his main force, it’s clear you’re not cut out to be a leader.
Han Iri at least pretends to pay attention to what’s behind him…
But for some reason, he’s only participating in the attack, showing no sign of returning to protect his team.
An arrow fired by Sion zipped between the two guys rushing me like hunting dogs and struck the enemy’s main force.
Is it about time?
This distance from the main force was enough. Behind me was the wall of the ruins; there was nowhere left to retreat.
With the intention of drawing them in one last time, I took a large step back, almost touching the wall.
Seeing this, Joo Han-kang charged forward with a confident smile.
“Got you, you son of a—”
Thwack!
Before he could even finish his sentence, my foot connected squarely with his face, sending him staggering back.
Using the rebound off the wall, I spun in mid-air and kicked him precisely in the face.
As I landed, I brushed myself off as if dusting off dirt and spoke.
“What are you doing?”
Joo Han-kang groaned, rolling on the floor. I could see Han Iri, who was following behind him, readjusting his grip on his sword with a flustered look.
I provoked the hesitant Han Iri.
Han Iri gritted his teeth and charged, but his sword was heavy, his movements far too slow.
His blade swept low, aiming for my ankle.
I sidestepped lightly, dodging the attack.
The tip of his sword cut through the air with a sharp whistle.
“Too short. Against a spear, you need two more steps.”
As if spurred by my advice, Han Iri’s eyes sharpened for a moment.
Immediately, the tip of his sword shot rapidly toward my shoulder.
I smoothly angled my spear upward, deflecting his attack, and thought to myself.
Still, not bad…
He wasn’t bad. I liked his willingness to apply feedback immediately.
However, it looked like the situation with the main forces beyond him was just about settled.
It seemed best to end this here.
“Still, you’re…”
The moment he gripped his sword tighter and tried to press forward,
I smoothly angled my spear, aiming for the gap between his sword and his arm.
The tip of the spear entered the space perfectly.
Clang!
He was startled and tried to pull his sword back, but it was too late.
I gave the spear a slight twist and yanked it back.
The sword was instantly ripped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.
“…better than Seong Si-woo.”
Ting!
With a short spin of my spear, I pushed the sword at his feet far away.
Han Iri stared down at his empty hands, dazed for a moment, then gritted his teeth.
All that was left was Joo Han-kang.
Just then, Joo Han-kang, who had been groaning on the ground, rose with an enraged shout.
“You bastard!!!”
Sword Qi extended from the tip of his blade.
A blue aura cut through the air.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, observing his movements.
Unfortunately.
Even you are better than Seong Si-woo.
Of course, they were both talents in the top 10 rankings, but it was a truly sad state of affairs.
This one’s for Seong Si-woo, who’s probably watching this right now.
Sword Force was getting a little old. This time, I wanted to show them something new.
I lowered my spear to my side and slowly gathered mana at my fingertips.
Aura Reinforcement.
The mana began to condense precisely according to my will, forming a single cluster.
A small wave of mana at my fingertips made the air tremble lightly.
Fine control had always been my specialty.
However, something was wrong.
The flow of mana was different from usual.
The energy surged far more explosively than expected, beginning to lose its balance.
A vast amount of mana, incomparable to what I was used to, poured through the channels I had created.
The sphere grew excessively large and powerful, its form wavering unstably.
“What… what’s happening?”
I struggled to get the mana in my hand under control, but it was already beyond my command.
The pure mana expanded explosively along the channels, refusing to be controlled at my fingertips.
In the end, the improperly formed mass of pure mana was discharged at high speed.
KRA-KOOOOM!
The sphere of mana tore through the air and flew directly at Joo Han-kang.
With a violent impact, his body was slammed deep into the wall.
Rumble…
A large crack formed on the wall’s surface, and it slowly began to collapse.
Crumbling bricks fell upon Joo Han-kang, and the last thing I heard was his final scream, “Aargh!”
“Oh, man… my bad…”
Stunned, I lowered my head and looked at my hand.
My palm was trembling slightly.
I placed a hand on my wrist to check my wildly beating pulse.
The wild, surging mana, with nowhere to go, was still coursing through every corner of my body, pumped by my heart.
A different flow than usual.
It’s too… much.
Something that couldn’t be contained within my body was overflowing.
Something is wrong with my body.