The Summoner of Rest (44)

I set out to check on a patient and somehow ended up becoming one myself. It wasn't even the classic "digging up a mummy only to turn into one" scenario—I still had no idea what the hell this was supposed to be.

I caught a brief glimpse of Ban Taewung being carried off on a stretcher, with Riri and Luicia trailing after him, then let out a sigh at the warm sensation blooming against the back of my head.

"Sunbae-nim. I'm fine now, so you can stop."

At my words, the woman clinging to my back like a cicada—still pouring recovery magic into me—swept her chestnut-brown hair behind one ear and stretched her body forward. Soft curves pressed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unmistakably against my back and the nape of my neck through the fabric of her clothes.

I tensed up from my earlier loose posture and tried to put as much distance between us as possible, but that only made her press closer. No—she tightened her grip and locked me in place.

"Don't run off just because it's a bother. Hubae-nim is completely numb to his own injuries, so overdoing it is fine. If you don't heal this properly, it'll turn into something much worse later."

Her tone was a little forceful, but anyone listening could tell pure worry sat underneath it.

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Kang So-seon.

An S-Class student of Class 2-S, concurrent Student Council Vice President, and a girl with a well-earned reputation for kindness. She was also the one who had developed a strangely persistent interest in me.

We had gotten tangled up in the dungeon I challenged to obtain the base for my dragon. I had assumed the connection would snap the moment I stopped paying attention, yet it had proven far more tenacious than expected.

Most of that tenacity came from her side, of course.

No matter how I think about it, I still can't figure out why she keeps fretting over me…

Volunteering to handle healing that the medical staff could have managed just fine—she really was a mystery of a woman.

"It's not that it's a bother. I genuinely am fine."

"Mmm… still, just in case. One more minute, okay? Exactly one. Concussions can hit out of nowhere."

"…Haa."

I sighed and let the tension drain from my body, signaling I had no intention of running. Kang So-seon smiled brightly, scooted a little farther away, and poured even stronger recovery magic into the area around my head.

Once her worry for me eased, her gaze landed on Binboji Kazu, who was sitting on the floor just like me and receiving treatment from a medical officer.

"So, Cadet Binboji Kazu—how exactly did this happen?"

"Uh… I didn't mean for it to go this far. Sorry, O— I mean, Vice President."

He started to say something else, then hastily corrected himself under Kang So-seon's sharp look. He couldn't even meet her eyes, looking for all the world like a scolded puppy cowering before an angry owner. The way he rubbed the side of his neck and averted his gaze felt practiced—this clearly wasn't the first time.

Do they know each other?

One looked like a problem child; the other held the vice president's seat. Acquaintanceship wasn't strange. But from where I sat, it felt like more than that.

The brief, pointed glances they exchanged carried the weight of old rivals—or a long, bitter entanglement—more than simple friendship. The reason I compared them to older adults was simple: the hierarchy between them was crystal clear. Kang So-seon stood firmly on top.

"Why on earth would you do that? I heard you even tore up the equipment the Academy prepared. You do realize this is grounds for disciplinary action, right?"

"W-well… yeah, that part's on me. But it was by mutual agreement, and—no, more importantly, that bastard over there? I swear I didn't do that!"

"That bastard? Is that any way to talk about a person? Multiple witnesses already said you were the one responsible. Do you really think that pathetic denial is going to fly?"

"I'm telling you it wasn't me! Please believe me, young lady!"

"Mouth! Shut your mouth!"

I let their bickering wash past one ear and decided it was time to leave before their attention fully shifted my way.

"Where do you think you're going, Hubae-nim?"

The moment I moved, Kang So-seon latched on again. Without that, I would have made a clean escape.

"I already told you—you need healing."

"And I've been receiving it this whole time, including just now—"

"Quiet. A patient should sit still and accept kindness like a proper patient."

She silenced me by pressing her chest against the back of my head again, then pretended to check carefully between the strands of my hair ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for any lingering scars while casually running her fingers through it.

I let out a deep internal sigh.

This isn't even my fault. So stop staring already.

More than anything, I had been trying to leave quickly.

I met the gaze that had been locked exclusively on me—my non-excuse of an excuse—and the intensity only grew. My brow furrowed; the owner of that stare poured even denser pressure into it.

You don't have to glare like that. I'm not going to do anything. Fuck…

The prickling sensation on my back that had been present for a while now made me want nothing to do with women for the foreseeable future. Just being this close was enough to spark a faint dizziness—a visceral rejection strong enough to bring on a headache. That alone told me this wasn't normal.

Maybe I had picked up some kind of PTSD-level trauma. Or maybe that woman had pulled some kind of stunt. Either way, my already tangled mess of a head felt like someone had twisted the wires into an even worse knot.

I clutched my throbbing skull. The moment the magic ended, I shifted sideways, putting clear distance between myself and Kang So-seon. That should be enough, right?

Apparently it was the correct move—the oppressive weight of that stare lightened a fraction. Fuck. Why the hell did I have to walk on eggshells around that woman and worry about crap like this? Irritation rose unbidden.

"Ah…"

Kang So-seon let out a small sound of regret. The people who had been discreetly watching us now stared openly. Among them, Binboji Kazu's gaze turned uncomfortably serious. If I didn't leave soon, the trouble I had successfully dumped on Ban Taewung might come right back to me. I stood.

"Leaving already, Hubae-nim?"

"Yes. I'll properly repay the favor later."

"No! I didn't do it expecting anything in return! More importantly…"

She trailed off, then spoke in a tiny voice.

"…We're only a year apart, so you can just speak casually if you want."

It was the kind of mutter an Awakened would hear perfectly clearly. I pretended not to notice and ignored it completely. Reacting would only give her an opening.

"You've helped me both last time and this time, so I'd like to return the favor. Please keep up the good work with the student council, Sunbae-nim."

"Ah—yes! You take care too, Hubae-nim!!"

I rose quickly and left. Kang So-seon scrambled up a beat late to return the farewell. Once she realized I wasn't paying her any further attention, she openly wore an expression of deep disappointment.

Hive and Haze had already fed me every detail, but I didn't bother reacting. I had neither the energy nor the desire to get tangled in something that looked exhausting at a glance.

A matching pair of headaches, the both of them.

"…Huu."

Thanks to all that, I suddenly had free time. Heading back to the classroom would only drag me into more noise, so I wanted somewhere empty of people.

After some thought, I reached the obvious conclusion: a dungeon. Skipping class to run a dungeon mid-lesson? For anyone else that would be grounds for discipline.

But I was fine. My research into Magic Armor had recently been approved without issue. I was even planning to hand the Academy a slightly larger share of the profits. If I moved as I pleased and later claimed it was necessary for research, no one would complain. The Academy stood to gain, so they wouldn't give me grief.

I opened my status window and displayed only the summons section in abbreviated form.

Shiz, who had cleanly devoured both the boss and the yin energy sealed in the structures of the previous dungeon, had climbed all the way to level 9. Comet, who had focused more on collection than combat, had only reached level 4.

Everyone else had gained a level as well. The second major threshold was clearly close.

The first evolution came at level 10. In a system this slavishly game-like, the next evolution or class change would almost certainly hit at 30.

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Levels reset to 1 after each evolution, but everything earned before that remained stacked. In practical terms, Hive was closer to 28, Growl to 26, and Kallion to 25.

Leveling had slowed after repeated evolutions, but that was only because I had been challenging places below my level. Last time I tackled a B-rank, the Hives had leveled at a satisfying clip.

Shiz and Comet had grown enough. This time I would keep them in supporting roles and push the highest-level summon—Hive—straight to 30.

A dungeon where Hive could shine the most, without completely sidelining the others.

After careful consideration, I selected one from the Academy app.

A-rank dungeon: Night Banquet of Madness.

A city locked in perpetual night. The entire town threw an endless party—drinking, feasting, dancing, everyone lost in revelry.

The truth was far uglier: a livestock farm run by night-loving lunatics.

"Blood tastes best when the prey is happy," or some such nonsense. Conversations with the boss had yielded almost no solid information—just urban-legend garbage like that.

Even outside research turned up little. The dungeon itself was wrapped in a mental-corruption barrier, so few people challenged it and even fewer left useful intel.

But the core of those rumors was accurate.

Every boss and named monster in the Night Banquet of Madness was a vampire.

They were famous enough in legend that their weaknesses were well-known, yet they still slipped among the crowds of humans, enjoyed themselves to the fullest, and then fed.

That was why, despite the thick perfume of every kind of food, the sticky scent of blood soaked the entire city. From the top of the clock tower overlooking the nightscape, I covered my nose with one hand.

"I think I'm gonna puke."

That was the first feeling that hit me the moment I stepped inside.

Even amid the chaotic festival of mixed aromas, the smell of blood refused to fade. That much residual iron meant far more people had bled here than the overflowing tables of food could ever account for.

This was the first dungeon that felt similar to the Goblin's Lair. Some might scoff that an A-rank could resemble a mere E-rank, but the mission conditions needed careful reading.

The quest demanded the elimination of every vampire in the dungeon—and then labeled it performance-based. The answer was simple.

Either other beings were also killing vampires, or the vampires could flee beyond the area I was allowed to operate in.

Not outside the dungeon itself, of course.

A dungeon limited the space an outsider like me could move through. In this case, that space was the entire city. Dungeons were fragments of another world's past or future, which made such restrictions possible.

I couldn't leave the designated zone, but the monsters native to the dungeon could. To them, this place was the whole world.

"Haze."

After confirming the mission, I had Haze seal the space around me and wrapped my entire body in mana, cloaking myself in shadow as a countermeasure against the mental corruption.

That felt a lot better.

Part of me wanted to simply have Kallion erase the entire city, but the dungeon boss wasn't an idiot. Whether it would sit still for that was anyone's guess.

From B-rank onward, dungeon monsters started packing high-grade intelligence. If they decided the odds were bad, they bolted or cooked up some scheme to turn the hunters into the hunted.

Racial traits, skills, and mana control all had to be factored in. Fighting them was often harder than facing ordinary Awakened.

I needed the experience from killing monsters. If the vampires decided a city-wide wipe meant zero chance of victory and simply fled beyond the city limits, even a "clear" would leave me without the levels I came for. The whole trip would be pointless.

So I would lure them. Move in secret. Let them gradually realize an enemy existed. Force them to notice me and react.

Just like the quest text said, I would become the man sent by "Radiance" to this place.

I would become a true hunter and pick them off one by one. Turn their livestock farm into my personal hunting ground. This was both the choice and the preparation for that.

"Hive."

"Caw!"

A massive raven burst from the shadow I had extended. Through the Link, Hive perfectly grasped my intent and immediately began absorbing mana to mass-produce shadow ravens.

This time there was no noisy spectacle.

True to the Guild Raven race, they slipped silently into the darkness and rapidly claimed the city. As the number of crows grew, restless murmurs rose from parts of the streets.

I carefully memorized every person who suddenly changed behavior or started scanning their surroundings, then used Haze's skill Mark so that even if their appearance shifted, I wouldn't lose them.

Perched on the railing, I quietly watched the streets, then fixed my gaze on the largest castle-like building in the city and sank into thought.

All right. Time to think.

How could I deliver the most horrific, absolute nightmare possible to every last one of them?

Mana-glossed crimson eyes slowly swept across the city.