Joint Department Dungeon Expedition (2)

Lee Sihyun dies?

No no no.

That couldn't be right.

Why would Lee Sihyun die?

I was sure of it—Lee Sihyun had been placed in the same group as Kim Jinhyuk. I'd checked that myself.

If the story followed the original novel, there was no way Lee Sihyun would die.

If it follows the original…

……

If it follows the original…?

Something about those words set off a strange sense of déjà vu.

Then what if…

What if it doesn't follow the original.

What happens to Lee Sihyun then?

In that exact moment—

—Thwack!

"Ow…!"

Something massive smacked me across the back of the head.

"Seol Dam, what do you think you're doing?"

"Are you even paying attention?"

"Uh…"

I looked around. Smirking classmates filled the classroom… and standing at the front was Yoon Taesung, the instructor who'd taught first period's Basic Magic Operation class today.

"Heh heh heh! Teacher, what do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you expect from Seol Dam? The dead last in the Magic Department?"

"Right? Teacher! You should've just left him alone!"

"Quiet."

"Every last one of you ended up here for the same reason today."

"Have some shame."

Once Yoon Taesung snapped at them, the laughter around me gradually died down.

"And Seol Dam."

"That goes for you too."

Of course I got an earful as well.

Ugh…

Add up both my lives and I was probably the oldest person in this room. Fine—the students were young, I could give them that—but even the guy calling himself a teacher was coming at me like this?

Still.

"Yes, sir… I'm sorry."

I apologized properly.

Well, what choice do I have.

When they say jump, you jump.

Three hundred points. Nice.

See? This is why you have to be good at navigating social situations.

……

Anyway…

I slowly lifted my head and stared at the blackboard in front of me.

The words Yoon Taesung had written on the board.

…Why am I even supposed to be here?

One hour earlier.

Something about the Main Quest's wording had set off warning bells, so I'd planned to dig into it immediately. I'd been packing my bag to head home when—

"Where do you think you're going?"

A voice came from the seat next to mine.

…Why is she talking to me all of a sudden.

It was Kang Harin—the same Kang Harin who hadn't said a single word to me all day outside of first period.

"Dorms."

"You've got makeup class today."

…Something's off.

A bad feeling crawled up my spine, and I sped up packing.

"You must be mistaken. I don't have makeup class today."

"Hmm… if you say so."

"Then I'll get going fir—ugh…"

What… what the hell?

My body suddenly grew heavy, and my lower half locked in place.

"Not getting up? Then I'll head out first."

Kang Harin stood, took a few steps, then stopped and glanced back over her shoulder.

"Oh, and one more thing—I hate liars."

With that, she left.

Son of a bitch?

My body didn't free itself until after makeup class had already started.

……

Kang Harin… I'll deal with you later.

As if the Main Quest staring me in the face wasn't already enough to give me a headache.

"Close your eyes and feel the mana flowing through your body."

Oblivious to any of that, Yoon Taesung pressed on with the mana circulation training.

Haa…

…I'm going to lose it.

—Flump

"Hwaaah…"

After sitting through Yoon Taesung's makeup class, I collapsed the moment I got back.

The one silver lining was that the makeup sessions had been cut down to three days. Something about needing to go on a preliminary survey of the Mist Forest, apparently.

Even reduced to three days, the thought of having to do this for two more still made my head throb. Well—my mana experience had climbed a decent amount, at least…

Just then.

Beep~

An alert chimed from my Smart Watch.

Ugh… what now…

Still lying on the bed, I tapped the screen.

…Huh?

What the hell.

They'd already made a group chat.

"Dept. Joint Dungeon Exp." was clearly short for Department Joint Dungeon Expedition. From the look of things, Lee Dohyuk and that Han Jihyuk guy had cooked this up together and opened the room.

Hmm…

"Might as well introduce myself, I guess?"

The second I posted, the replies came flying.

—Click.

Time to fall asleep as fast as possible tonight.

"…Shut up."

It was a miserable night.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, six days had passed.

And the conclusion I'd reached in that time was…

Conclusion, my ass.

The quest window had given me so little to work with that there wasn't much I could do. The best I'd managed to piece together was something along the lines of "something happens during the dungeon expedition."

So the best move available to me was to reduce the variables.

And how exactly do you reduce variables?

"Hahh…… hahh……"

"Aaaaagh!!! When is this ever going to work!!!"

How? What do you mean how.

You fucking run, that's how.

Afternoon basic physical training. I was on my fortieth straight minute of nonstop running around the field.

"Hahh…… hahh…… hahh……"

"Can't. Can't. Can't."

I collapsed onto the grass right there on the field.

"Goddamn… bastard."

It really climbs ridiculously slowly.

Muttering that, I pulled up my status window.

My plan for reducing variables was simple: raise my stats. Raise the floor so I'd be ready for whatever might go wrong. That was my strategy.

I was also banking on the rewards for ranking up stats—traits, skills, or items that might actually help. But this Mental Power stat? Something was clearly wrong with it.

In six whole days, the total experience I'd gained across everything was a measly fifteen. Accuracy—which had started at rock bottom—was already knocking on E-rank's door, yet this Mental Power bastard was still treading water in place.

And it wasn't just Accuracy. Every other stat besides Mental Power had racked up at least eighty experience. Still, it wasn't like I'd come away empty-handed.

I opened my skill window.

Reaction Acceleration—the skill I'd picked up when Agility ranked up to E. Just like that, I was already sitting on three skills.

If Mental Power had ranked up too, this might've been four by now…

At this rate, I should've just focused on Accuracy today.

Anyway…

"I seriously feel like I'm dying."

Maybe I'd been running too long—my vision was blurring, and my head was spinning. Then—

—Slap!

I cracked both cheeks with my palms.

"Ow… get it together."

"This is no time to be lying around."

I got up and left the field behind.

The system voice chimed as the doors opened.

—Bang!

The moment I stepped into the sword practice ground, the sharp clash of blades filled the air.

"Haaah!"

Dozens of students were swinging swords at their own stations.

It's been a while since I've been here…

Seeing facilities I'd used in my previous life stirred up a strange wave of nostalgia. Still, I had a reason for coming.

Where is he…

I narrowed my eyes and scanned the sea of students. One figure stood out among them all.

Flawless form. Unwavering movement. Not a single wasted stroke of the blade.

…Found him.

Without a second of hesitation, I walked straight over.

"Hey."

Hey? Long time no see, Jinhyuk.

Kim Jinhyuk had finished his set and was taking a break, drinking water.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Seol Dam. Nice to meet you. For reference, I'm a second-year like you."

"Huh? Okay. Nice to meet you too. I'm Kim Jinhyuk."

"So what brings you here?"

"Ah, nothing major. Here."

I pulled a strip of jerky from my pocket and pressed it into Jinhyuk's hand.

"Eat this."

"Jerky?"

"Yeah. I heard it's good after training."

For the record, this was no ordinary jerky.

I'd drained every last point I had just to get this one item.

I'm broke. Completely broke.

"Why are you suddenly giving me this?"

"Well… because I want to be friends, that's why."

"I mean, you're ranked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first in the second year, right?"

"Hmm…"

Come on, come on.

Please just eat it. Otherwise I'm out of options.

"Thanks. I'll enjoy it."

"Yeah, I'm the one who should be thanking you."

The moment Jinhyuk took a bite of the jerky—

Yes!

"Okay, now for the main point. Listen carefully."

"Huh? …Uh, okay?"

"You're going into the dungeon expedition with Lee Sihyun tomorrow, right?"

"Huh? How do you know th—"

"Shh… just answer."

"…Yeah. I'm going in with Lee Sihyun tomorrow?"

"Right. There's something I need you to do in there."

"Something I need to do?"

"Protect Lee Sihyun no matter what. Keep her at your side."

"And never let her get separated or lost."

"That's all I need from you. No objections, no questions."

"……"

Having said that much, I studied Kim Jinhyuk's reaction for a moment.

Please let this work…

"Honestly… I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But alright. I'll do it."

"You want me to protect Lee Sihyun, right?"

Okay!

I grinned and grabbed Jinhyuk's hand.

"Yeah!! I'm counting on you!!"

At that point, I had no idea what was about to unfold.