The New Recruits Settle In (2)
Even if the purpose of new recruit training was to help them adapt to dungeon life, the reality was that you had to be strong to survive, so free time was practically synonymous with training time. Besides, the recruits were restricted from leaving Branch 41's premises anyway. The more active races didn't particularly enjoy that arrangement, but they didn't openly rebel against it either. …Probably because they were in the position of absolute underdogs.
During the first week, all thirty-two recruits—including Kang-jun—received detailed education on what the 3rd Dungeon was all about. The training instructor especially emphasized the concept of the maze that existed in this world, bringing it up repeatedly.
"We haven't confirmed it yet, but if you were to virtually connect all the paths of every existing maze, it would look roughly like this."
The instructor drew several squiggly, chili-leaf-like paths on the whiteboard. They stretched out and eventually converged at a single point. He circled that point multiple times with his marker.
"In other words, the assumption is that all mazes converge at one point. We're speculating that there might be some clue there for how we can escape the dungeon. …It's certainly a plausible theory."
As he said that, he glanced around the room—and most of the recruits were already nodding off. Of course, there were a few sharp-eyed ones listening intently with bright, focused eyes.
"Our organization, while certainly concerned with the survival of players, has one ultimate goal: the exploration of these mazes."
As he spoke, the instructor pounded his fist against the board, startling the dozing recruits awake. Still, a few stubborn ones refused to stir. The ogre was one of them.
"Of course, the mazes managed by the Hero Association are difficult for us to access. That's why we're focusing on the mazes that spawn sporadically as our primary targets."
The mazes appeared irregularly and continuously, like ants constantly expanding the entrances to their nests.
"Even though the environment here may be harsh, you must not give up! Your mission and destiny is to overcome the trials that lie before you through relentless effort. …That concludes today's education. Assistant, turn off the mic."
Ugh. As soon as the training ended, everyone stretched out their stiff bodies. A couple of recruits whose enthusiasm hadn't yet cooled immediately rushed up to the instructor to ask more questions. Ugh, the smell of a good student. A few snarky types chuckled at them.
There was another choice to make here. Those who wanted to learn more about life in the 3rd Dungeon joined the assistant's supplementary education, which covered how to use various electronic devices. Surprisingly, the races who had lived completely disconnected from such things showed great interest. Of course, those who preferred to stick to their own way of life simply enjoyed their free time however they pleased once the mandatory training was over. The ogre was one of them.
He headed straight for the training room the moment it ended. Strangely enough, despite being born strong, he was working hard to become even stronger. In truth, ogres like that were quite rare—most lived their entire lives without ever realizing how weak they were. Having his entire worldview shattered like that must have been quite a shock for him.
Of course, that wasn't a bad thing. An ogre who was already strong and now had the drive to improve—it was like giving wings to talent.
But his approach left a lot to be desired. His strength and stamina had already hit the first-tier cap. Without awakening, he couldn't raise his stats any further. And first-tier awakening required at least three stats to reach 20. That meant if he wanted to get even a little benefit from this kind of training, he needed to focus on agility.
Of course, the ogre had no idea about any of that and threw himself blindly into strength and endurance training. In reality, even without the cap, that was an incredibly inefficient approach. What he needed now was actual combat experience, not this kind of training.
Zero flexibility. …Probably because he's just dumb.
Kang-jun quickly understood that the ogre's intelligence was low. He was a natural dullard in that regard. No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing for him to do but get beaten up.
Anyway, apparently wanting to test his own strength, he had fought all three assistants during the first week. The results were predictably disastrous. No matter how much of an ogre he was, he was no match for assistants who had completed their first-tier awakening. On top of that, his combat sense was far inferior to theirs. Probably because of his race, he had a strong tendency to push forward with brute force rather than technique. And his strength stats weren't even higher than theirs.
After that, he'd been sulking ever since. It was incredibly humiliating to get beaten by humans. At least he had the persistence to keep going, which was a relief.
Of course, the training room had plenty of other entertainment besides him. There was a troll woman of imposing stature, a lizardman male, and even someone who had been a thief boss.
Given that all kinds of races were gathered in one place, conflicts were frequent. Especially in the sweat-soaked training room, they happened even more often—at least once or twice a day.
"Hey, you piece of shit. This is my spot."
"Fuck you, there's no such thing as 'spots' here, you bastard."
"Don't you see? You worthless piece of shit?"
Especially among races sensitive to the concept of territory, fights over spots were common. Of course, the supervising assistants didn't interfere unless things got really serious. They probably intended for the recruits to learn to resolve their own problems, since they couldn't possibly mediate every single conflict.
Naturally, almost none of these disputes were resolved with words—nearly all of them escalated into fistfights. There were dogfights and there were proper fights. And through this, a rough hierarchy formed among the Class 224 recruits.
Surprisingly, the troll woman held her own well. Her racial advantages played a role. She ultimately lost to the lizardman, but even so, no insignificant punk dared to even look her in the eye.
If you were the kind of weakling who groveled and begged to be treated like a little brother or sister, you wouldn't be treated like a person here. That was the unavoidable reality of being an underdog. So everyone gritted their teeth and tried to get stronger.
Eventually, trouble started creeping toward Kang-jun as well. Apparently, someone found his quiet demeanor irritating. The youngest punk was the one who kicked things off. He probably wanted someone beneath him to boss around.
"Hey, you bastard. I told you not to look at me like that, you fucker."
The guy started a fight over nothing, then tried to get physical. Kang-jun, who didn't even consider such trash worth looking at, knocked him out in one clean hit. A bit of a rivalry seemed to develop from there.
Like that, roughly one person a day would provoke Kang-jun. He crushed every single challenger without exception, slowly climbing an upward curve. It wasn't exactly what Kang-jun had intended, but regardless, quite a bit of attention had gathered around him.
Of course, that attention didn't distinguish between men and women. And it manifested in various ways—jealousy and envy, hatred and affection.
Kang-jun's first sexual encounter at Branch 41 happened exactly one week after arriving. His partner was a female recruit who had revealed herself to be a goblin. Whether she was in heat or not, she suddenly showed up at his dorm room out of nowhere, asking to mate. The ogre was lying on the opposite bed, but she didn't care. There were already a couple of people watching, so what difference did one more make?
"Come in."
Kang-jun grinned and gave a slight nod. …And a night of frenzied sex followed. Thanks to that, he scraped up 20 coupons from the horny stingy gods.
Word must have spread, because women came every night after that. He was strong, handsome, and had excellent night skills—there was no way he wouldn't be popular. So when he bragged about being popular in the chat window, the gods got so annoyed they spammed "shut up, coupon whore." Kang-jun watched it with satisfaction and turned it off. You have to feed them a little snack every now and then to keep them happy.
Anyway, the ogre didn't seem to mind Kang-jun's nightly activities at all. From his perspective, it probably wasn't a big deal. Or maybe he just wasn't in heat and was indifferent.
But wait, if he's turned into a human, does he still have a heat cycle?
Humans are animals that can be in heat at any time, right? Does the ogre's nature still apply there? Looking at the goblin woman, it didn't seem like it. Of course, Kang-jun knew almost nothing about that. But since not knowing wouldn't cause any problems, he thought about it for a moment or two and then lost interest.
After spending several similar days like that, finally the heavy butt moved. It was the lizardman, who was currently running the course as the top dog in the training room. He approached the ogre, whom he'd been eyeing for a while.
"Hey, you say you're strong, huh, you punk?"
It was the first challenge directed at the ogre since he'd been keeping quiet after his fights with the assistants. Given his size and intimidating appearance, everyone had been quietly avoiding him. And he was also an obstacle the lizardman had to pass through at least once. The lizardman had a lot of talkers behind him spreading rumors.
Who will win between the two of them?
The predictions were almost evenly split. Even though the ogre had been crushed by the assistants, people had sensed the aura of a strong fighter in his fighting spirit.
As the top dog, the lizardman naturally couldn't stand that kind of talk. That was a characteristic of a-humans. If their position was questioned, they had to prove their qualifications.
Of course, the ogre wasn't the type to back down from a challenge either. That would be no different from admitting defeat. And a strong fighter admitting defeat to a weakling was unthinkable. At least in the ogre's eyes, his opponent was far weaker than him.
No need for further words. The fight broke out. This time, even the assistants monitoring the training room perked up their senses. The ogre was one of the recruits they were keeping a close eye on.
The fight was quite brutal. The lizardman wasn't weak among a-humans either, so his natural stats were quite high. However, the ogre was one of the top three among a-humans.
The ogre, whose strength and stamina had hit the cap, pushed the lizardman around roughly. At first, the lizardman countered with his swift speed, but the ogre clearly had the advantage in stamina. Of course, that could have been covered with magic power, but the lizardman, who was still unskilled at handling magic, inevitably grew tired quickly. That said, the ogre wasn't completely lacking in speed either.
Like that, the lizardman kept dodging the fists flying at him, but eventually let one slip through.
And that single hit decided the outcome.
!
His flesh literally burst open. The power of strength 25, including bonus stats. The lizardman couldn't withstand it.
Torn flesh, blood, and entrails spilled onto the floor. The lizardman writhed on the ground, convulsing. An assistant quickly called for help from outside. Organization members soon entered and carried the critically injured lizardman out. He barely survived.
Since it was an incident where someone nearly killed a comrade, there was naturally an investigation. Kang-jun, who didn't have the authority to listen, only heard rumors that had spread. During the investigation, the ogre reportedly said:
"He came to challenge me, so I accepted. I didn't know he was that weak."
And the ogre became the overwhelmingly dominant top dog in the training room. Of course, he received a one-day suspension as punishment, but that was practically nothing. The organization needed to put on a show, after all.
With the appearance of the new top dog, the training room fell quiet for several days. And then Kang-jun saw the ogre bring a woman to his dorm room for the first time. He wondered who would be the woman to handle such a giant, and it turned out to be a similarly large troll woman. …They probably had similar tastes.
Determined not to be outdone, Kang-jun brought a woman over and joined in the fun. It turned into something of a competition, and the two of them really shook their hips until dawn.
Kang-jun nearly experienced mana exhaustion.