Joint Department Dungeon Expedition (3)

"Urgh…."

I opened my eyes and stretched both arms out as far as they would go.

—Crack!

A satisfying series of pops ran through my joints.

"Ahh, that hits the spot."

—Chirp chirp chirp

Sparrows chattered beyond the window.

"Yeah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yeah. Good morning to you too."

It was six o'clock sharp.

Monday.

Which meant today was the day the joint department dungeon expedition began.

I'd finished the groundwork yesterday. My stats were raised to a workable level, and in the conversation with Kim Jinhyuk—the most important piece—I'd said everything I needed to say.

All that was left was to wait.

"……."

"…Still anxious, though, aren't I?"

—Shake shake.

I shook my head from side to side.

"No more overthinking."

"I've done everything I can, right?"

"……."

"Haa… Might as well go train."

When things got like this, moving my body was the only real answer.

I showed up at the magic practice ground first thing in the morning. Even with a dungeon expedition on the schedule, the work still had to get done. Raising my pathetic mana reserves required this as a non-negotiable step.

Counting today, that made ten days straight.

Five hundred points. Not bad.

Thanks to dumping a fortune of seven thousand points on Kim Jinhyuk yesterday, my point balance was currently starving to death.

Time to start stacking them back up, bit by bit.

"Hoo… All right. Let's get started."

I drew a slow breath and walked toward the center of the practice ground.

That was when I saw a familiar silhouette.

…Lee Sihyun?

What was she doing here?

For reference, the practice grounds were ranked by difficulty in descending order: third, second, first—basic, intermediate, advanced. Which meant…

There's no reason for her to be here.

Then Lee Sihyun lifted her palm. Pure white ice bloomed across her hand—and shot forward.

—Crack!

It struck the target dead-on.

"……."

I stared.

…Wait a second.

Did she already know ice magic at this point?

Ice magic. An upper-tier branch of water magic. It worked by dropping the temperature of water and suppressing molecular motion until the liquid solidified—a fairly high-difficulty spell by any measure.

…No. That can't be right.

In the original timeline, Lee Sihyun didn't master ice magic until after the first-semester midterms at the earliest. She was ranked fifth in the second year—high enough to land in the top tier.

And at midterms, she was crushed by an overwhelming gap and overtaken by Kang Harin. Spurred by that result, she pushed her understanding of water magic to the next level and completed this very ice magic.

That was the original novel as I knew it.

What is this… Did ending up in the same class as Kang Harin pull the timeline forward?

Thankfully, the spell didn't look especially refined yet… Or maybe she'd already been researching ice magic in the original, and the novel simply never mentioned it. At this point in my previous life, Sihyun and I had already grown apart, so there was no way I could have known.

…….

Dammit… What did knowing any of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this even get me? Sihyun getting stronger only helped me. Why was I standing here overthinking it?

I needed to focus on my own training.

I headed to the opposite side of the ground from where she had set up and went back to work.

"All right, gather up starting with Group One!!"

The instructor tapped the microphone in his hand. Students moved according to his directions. We were currently standing in front of the Mist Forest entrance.

"Mm, looks like nearly everyone's here, so I'll begin the briefing for the expedition."

The explanation for the dungeon expedition started there.

"The dungeon you'll be clearing this time is the Mist Forest."

"As the name suggests, the entire forest is blanketed in fog, and the farther you go in, the more sharply your visibility drops. That's its defining trait."

"Because of that limited visibility, teamwork becomes even more critical here."

That didn't make it a dangerous dungeon, of course. It was operated under Frontier's management, so it was closer to an educational dungeon than anything else.

In my previous life, it went off without a hitch, too.

I kept listening to the instructor.

"This dungeon expedition will group you into twenty teams. Each of the twenty groups will start from a different entrance, and the main objective is to reach the destination."

"Your grade will be measured by the time it takes you to arrive at the final destination."

"Additional points will be awarded based on the number of monsters you defeat along the way, but the most important evaluation criterion is how quickly you reach the goal."

"That concludes the briefing on the dungeon expedition. If you have any questions, please raise your hand."

At that, a student in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠front raised a hand.

"What percentage of our grade does this dungeon expedition account for?"

"This expedition accounts for thirty-five percent of your grade."

The moment the instructor said it, the entire student body stirred.

"Thirty-five percent? That's pretty high, isn't it? I don't think it was this much last year."

"They said second year would be more practice-focused, so that must be it."

"Thirty-five percent… higher than I expected."

"Maybe this is my chance to flip my ranking…."

—Screeech!

An ugly shriek of feedback tore out of the microphone.

"All right, everyone, quiet down please. Any further questions?"

"……."

Confirming there were none, the instructor nodded.

"Then we'll begin with Team One. Groups One through Twenty, gather up."

For reference, Sihyun's group was Group Four. Meaning she would be entering the dungeon at the same time as me in Group Seventeen.

Then—

"Hey. Seol Dam, was it? You just stand in the back and don't do a damn thing."

A sudden voice called my name. I turned around.

"…Who are you?"

Behind me stood a blond male student I didn't recognize.

"Lee Dohyuk. You don't know me? I introduced myself in the group chat last time."

…Lee Dohyuk?

Ah. That classless bastard who'd pinned the video in the group chat? Because of him, I'd blocked the chat after that day and never once gone back in.

Then another male student appeared from behind, casually slinging an arm over Lee Dohyuk's shoulder.

"Come on, no need to come at him that hard. Let's just go."

"What? The guy spouts weird loner crap in the group chat and then goes radio silent. Of course I'm pissed."

"Ayy~ cut it out already."

The other student looked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me and held out a hand.

"I said it in the group chat, but I'll introduce myself again. Hey. I'm Han Jihyuk. Nice to meet you."

"Uh… yeah. Nice to meet you too."

"I'll calm Dohyuk down and catch up. Wait for us at the starting point."

"Uh, yeah. Got it."

Unlike Lee Dohyuk, this Han Jihyuk guy seems decent enough.

Following Jihyuk's words, I was walking toward the dungeon entrance when—

"Um… h-hello…."

This time, a light blue-haired girl spoke up.

"……."

And who is this now….

"Sorry, and you are…?"

"Ah!… Um… my name is Seo Yuna…."

Ah. The one from the group chat too.

"Ah, I'm Seol Dam. Nice to meet you."

"Yes… nice to meet you…."

"Lee Dohyuk and Han Jihyuk said they'll be a bit, so they told us to head in first."

"Ah… then, shall we go in ahead…."

And that was how Group Seventeen's dungeon expedition began.

Protect Lee Sihyun….

Protect Lee Sihyun….

Kim Jinhyuk turned those words over and over in his mind as he stepped into the Mist Forest.

Why had Seol Dam said something like that all of a sudden…?

Weird guy. After training ended yesterday, he'd appeared out of nowhere and shoved a piece of jerky into Jinhyuk's hand. Told him to eat it—and the moment Jinhyuk took a bite, Seol Dam had started spouting strange things.

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

Don't ever let her get lost.

The strange part was that all of it had felt strangely credible. A little digging turned up that the two of them were childhood friends. Just a worried childhood friend looking out for her, then?

Either way, I'll keep the things Seol Dam said. Still… weird guy.

He glanced sideways to check that the rest of the group was keeping up.

Yu Hanna from the Archer Department, Han Minseok from the Alchemist Department.

And…

Lee Sihyun from the Magic Department.

Judging by the distance, Sihyun was trailing a little far back, so he added a word.

"Sihyun, it might be better if you stick a little closer to me."

Seol Dam asked me to, after all. And staying close makes it easier to react if something jumps us out of nowhere.

"Huh? Y-yeah… okay."

Lee Sihyun ducked her head and drew up alongside Kim Jinhyuk.

Seeing that, Han Minseok smirked and called out.

"Ooooh~ what's this, Kim Jinhyuk? Flirting?"

"…Haha. It's not like that. She was just walking off on her own, so I said something."

"Hmm~? Doesn't look that way to me~?"

"Cut it out. You're going to make Sihyun uncomfortable."

At that, Lee Sihyun quietly opened her mouth.

"…I-I don't really mind…."

Trading banter like that, the group pressed deeper into the Mist Forest.

Then—

……!

"…Hold on."

Kim Jinhyuk slowly rested a hand on his sword.

"I can feel something up ahead."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a low growl rolled out of the fog.

"Grrrrrk…."

As the source of that growl gradually took shape through the mist, Kim Jinhyuk's pupils widened.

That red wolf—don't tell me….

Wild Fang Wolf.

A wolf-type monster with crimson fur and razor fangs. Among B-class monsters, it packed especially high attack power.

Something's off….

As if agreeing with his thoughts, the teammates behind him began speaking one after another.

"…Why is a Wild Fang Wolf out here?"

"Weren't C-class and above not supposed to appear?"

"Yeah, we should probably pull out and report this to the instructor first, right?"

"…Before that."

—Shing.

"I think we should worry about ourselves first."

There's no way the others can take this thing. I need to handle it myself.

The Wild Fang Wolf let out a low snarl and kicked off the ground, charging.

In the next instant, the wolf's form vanished from sight.

Where did it go…

Kim Jinhyuk closed his eyes and sharpened every sense.

…….

To the right…?

"—GRAAAARGH!"

Damn, I let my guard—

"Jinhyuk!!"

—Crack-crack-crack!

Suddenly the beast's movement stopped. Looking down, Jinhyuk saw ice surging up from the ground, locking around the Wild Fang Wolf's legs.

"Hah… hah…."

"…You okay?"

He glanced sideways. Lee Sihyun was catching her breath.

"Yeah. Thanks to you. I appreciate it."

Ice magic….

One look at Sihyun's condition made it obvious she'd pushed herself hard.

"Sihyun, go sit over there and rest for a bit. We'll handle the rest."

She thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay."

In that same instant—

—Crunch.

The Wild Fang Wolf smashed through the ice and started moving again.

"…This time, I won't miss."

The wolf vanished once more. Matching it, Kim Jinhyuk shut his eyes and honed his senses far sharper than before.

'……'

'……'

……?

I can't feel its presence…?

……!

"…No—!"

Kim Jinhyuk whipped around. His gaze flew to the spot where he'd told Sihyun to rest only moments ago.

But by the time his eyes reached it—

Lee Sihyun's presence was already gone without a trace.