Joint Department Dungeon Expedition (1)

"That will be all for today's morning assembly."

Han Seorin closed the attendance book as she spoke.

"Class starts soon, so stay in your seats and wait."

With that, she left the classroom.

The moment she was gone, the students erupted into chatter as if they'd been holding it in the whole time.

"What's the first class gonna be?"

"We're Magic Department, right? Probably a magic formula review."

"I'd rather jump straight into practicals."

The first day of the new semester. Time slipped by in an atmosphere thick with nerves and anticipation.

A little later—

—Creeeak.

A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties walked in.

"Pleasure to meet you."

He took his place at the podium.

"I'm Yoon Taesung. This semester I'll be handling your Magic Department basic theory and magic power operation."

Every gaze in the room settled on him without needing to be told.

"Since this is the Magic Department's first class," he said, "we'll start with the most fundamental material."

And just like that, the first lesson began.

The Magic Department's first class of the term:

"What is the foundation of magic?"

Yoon Taesung wrote two words on the board.

Mana.

Magic power.

Every student's eyes drifted forward.

"This is the single biggest misconception among students just starting out," he said, pointing to the first word. "Mana is the energy that exists inside your body. Put simply, think of it as the fuel you need to cast magic."

Then he pointed to the second.

"Magic power is the force that determines how efficiently you handle that mana. Even with the same amount of mana, the result changes completely depending on how you operate your magic power."

A tiny flame blossomed at his fingertips.

"Some people can only make a small spark with a hundred units of mana."

The flame swelled.

"Others can produce far more powerful magic with that same hundred. That difference is magic power operation."

He immediately sketched a large magic circle on the board.

"In the end, the foundation of magic is just one thing: how efficiently you draw out your mana, and how precisely you operate it as magic power."

Yoon Taesung grinned and went on.

"All right. Let's have you feel it for yourselves."

—Ting.

He flicked his fingers, and a small blue sphere rose above every student's desk.

"This is the most basic form of magic power operation. Drawing out your own mana, converting it into magic power, and holding a fixed shape. It looks simple, but it's the foundation of every spell. Maintain it for ten minutes."

He paused.

"Ah—and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for reference. Anyone who can't last the full ten minutes gets after-school makeup training for a week. Two hours of magic circulation drills."

Groans broke out across the classroom.

"What? On the first day?"

"Isn't that a little harsh for day one?"

Yoon Taesung only shrugged, unimpressed.

"A mage dies the moment their concentration breaks. If you can't even last ten minutes, don't even think about going into real combat."

Unable to argue, the students shut their mouths one by one. Before long, small blue lights began to rise throughout the room.

…

I stared at the tiny blue sphere floating in front of me.

In my previous life, I had no talent for magic. My mana sensitivity had been low, and my understanding of magic formulas had been abysmal.

…And that still applied to me now.

I'm screwed.

If anyone asked what the hell this guy had been doing instead of studying magic in his past life, I actually had an answer. Some so-called author had stripped every last point out of my magic stats. What was I supposed to do?

I knew how to control it. I just didn't have the magic power to keep up.

I know that, which is why I drag myself to the Magic Department practice grounds every day, but…

It was still nowhere near enough.

Ha… what now?

That was when it happened.

A single point of light rose within the blue sphere in front of me.

Unique Trait?

It's triggering now?

The Unique Trait that had refused to activate no matter what absurd stunts I'd pulled until now had finally woken up.

I hesitated for a second, then touched the white light with my fingertip.

—Tok.

In that instant, the sphere began to change—like a hologram projected into midair. Like a guidebook someone had prepared in advance.

I could see the flow of magic power that had been invisible to the naked eye. Where it was leaking. Which parts were on the verge of collapsing.

…This is—

I moved my hands on instinct, forcing the scattered sections back into place.

—Shuuung.

This actually works?

A grin tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Yeah. A Unique Trait should at least be able to do this much.

About eight minutes had passed when—

"Pathetic."

……?

I glanced toward the voice from the seat next to mine.

Kang Harin.

She was floating her magic sphere with casual ease, watching the other students struggle through the exercise.

What's she picking a fight for all of a sudden?

I ignored her and focused on my sphere again.

Then—

"But," she said. "That's a method I've never seen before."

"What…?"

The words slipped out on their own at the unexpected comment.

"Normally, when magic power is that unstable, it collapses right away," Kang Harin said, looking at my sphere. "The way you're forcing it to hold together…"

"…So what."

"You're a weird one."

That was when a blue window appeared in front of me.

Huh…?

My concentration shattered.

And then—

—Tok.

—Clatter-roll…

…

It took a few seconds for me to understand what had happened. By the time I finally caught up—

You son of a—!!

The sphere had already hit the floor.

Morning classes ended like that, and lunch and the afternoon sessions flew by in a blur. Before ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I knew it, it was time for the end-of-day assembly.

Han Seorin closed the attendance book and looked out over the students.

"All right. One last announcement before we finish."

Every gaze in the room swung forward at once.

"Starting next week, the second-years' first joint department dungeon expedition begins."

—Murmur murmur.

The classroom stirred.

"Already?"

"Pretty early for a first expedition."

"Where is it this time?"

"Please tell me it's not another goblin dungeon."

Han Seorin waited for the noise to settle before she continued.

"As you know, from second year onward, practical evaluation carries a much heavier weight. Roughly eighty percent practicals, twenty percent theory. And the core of those practicals is dungeon exploration."

As she launched into something that clearly mattered, the students' expressions grew more serious.

"Dungeon expeditions don't only evaluate raw combat ability. Judgment. Cooperation. Crisis response. And each individual's potential for growth. Every category is reflected comprehensively in your evaluation."

"This expedition is a joint operation designed to assess cooperation between departments. Teams will therefore be formed with one student each from the Sword, Magic, Archery, and Alchemy Departments. You'll clear the dungeon in parties of four."

"That is all. Any questions?"

"……"

Confirming there were none, Han Seorin nodded.

"Then I hope each of you will do your best."

With that, she left the classroom.

…

The joint department dungeon expedition.

This had been a fairly significant event in the original novel as well. The location this time was the Mist Forest—a low-risk dungeon managed by Frontier, but so thickly blanketed in fog that getting lost was easy. That made it famous as a place better suited for evaluating judgment and cooperation than pure combat power.

Beep~

An alert chimed from my Smart Watch. I looked down at the screen without thinking.

Oh… already out.

I glanced around. Notification chimes were going off one after another from the other students' ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Smart Watches as well.

—Murmur murmur.

"This Sword Department kid—never heard the name before?"

"Hey, who did you get teamed with?"

"Huh? I'm in a group with that one?"

The classroom dissolved into chaos in an instant.

For the record, dungeon expedition team assignments were completely random. Lucky students got grouped with aces. Unlucky ones got the opposite.

Well… they probably didn't leave it entirely up to luck. Even if it's random on paper, the teachers almost certainly did a little adjusting.

That said, my own team assignment wasn't what mattered.

I looked, almost without meaning to, at the seat in front of me. Lee Sihyun was staring down at her Smart Watch.

This part, at least, has to go the way it did in the original.

I watched her reaction. After a moment of looking at the screen, her eyes widened slightly.

—Swoosh.

She stood up at once. Her destination was, of course, Yoon Chaerin's desk.

"Chaerin…"

"Hm? What is it?"

Lee Sihyun held out her Smart Watch, her voice a little more excited than usual.

"I… got put on the same team as Jinhyuk!!"

"For real?"

Yoon Chaerin's eyes went wide too.

"Wow, that's huge."

"Right?"

A faint smile touched Lee Sihyun's lips. Seeing that, I quietly looked away.

……Good.

If even this had gone off the rails from the original, I'd really have been out of options.

The Mist Forest. This was also where the two of them first became connected. Lee Sihyun, lost in the fog. Kim Jinhyuk, pulling her back from the brink of death. That incident was the moment she became sure of her feelings for him—and personally, it was a part of the story I'd always liked.

……

Of course, in my previous life, that event had completely driven a wedge between Lee Sihyun and me…

But I had no intention of fretting over that now. I wasn't even into her anymore. In the end, my final goal was simply to keep Lee Sihyun alive.

Thankfully, it looked like this stretch of the story would still follow the original, so I could breathe a little easier.

For this dungeon expedition, I just need to focus on my own job.

I was about to stand when—

Beep~

A familiar blue window rose before my eyes.

Familiar? No—not really. I'd never seen a quest window itself before. But I didn't have the luxury of dwelling on that.

Only one sentence had locked my eyes.

Ensure Lee Sihyun returns safely.

……Why?

If things went the way they did in the original, Lee Sihyun didn't die on this expedition.

No—she couldn't die.