Week 11 Conquest (1)
When I told her the usage period on the Kim Ho Pillow had run out, Seo Ye-in headed back to her dorm looking thoroughly disgruntled.
I spent the rest of PvP week and the weekend making small adjustments to the skills in my arsenal.
Monday.
Lee Su-dok and Seo Cheong-yong strolled back into class as though nothing had happened. Neither bore any notable injuries, from the look of it, so the all-out battle I had been expecting apparently never came to pass. That it had taken them quite a while to return, however, most likely meant they had chased the bastards down and ultimately lost their trail.
Perhaps because of that, Lee Su-dok made no effort whatsoever to hide how sour his mood had turned, and the students were forced to sit through class at a pitch of extreme tension. Seo Cheong-yong, by contrast, showed not the slightest change. Even now, just as ever, he carried the lesson forward with his kindly smile firmly in place.
"This week, I have a very important announcement."
Seo Cheong-yong lifted a hand slightly as he went on.
"Now then, shall we try a show of hands? Who currently holds five thousand points or more in conquest?"
...
The students glanced at one another and slowly raised their hands. More than half the classroom. Anyone in the middle ranks or better of the conquest standings would have already cleared five thousand, and even those below would be sitting at around four thousand.
I had blown past that mark long ago.
My accumulated conquest points from before the midterms alone came to 5,040. Add the 2,250 earned in the midterm exams, and the total swelled to a staggering 7,290. In conquest points alone, that put me near the very top of the first-year class.
Seo Cheong-yong let his gaze drift lightly over the room before speaking.
"Students who have passed five thousand points will, starting today, be permitted to enter the underground floors during every conquest week."
...!
At those words, the faces of everyone who had raised a hand lit up, and they traded looks brimming with excitement. Those still short of points stared at them with naked envy. Small wonder — until now, the Dungeon Hall's underground floors had been strictly off-limits to first-years, and anyone caught setting foot down there, even by accident, took a hit to their penalty points. But from this day forward, they could descend openly, qualifications in hand.
Seo Cheong-yong good-naturedly waited for the commotion to settle. Before long, one pair of eyes after another returned to him, and with a faint smile he resumed his explanation.
"I understand the excitement — it's your first time going down to the underground floors. But that's precisely why you can't afford to let your guard slip. Agreed?"
Dungeon conquest was no school picnic. Seo Cheong-yong's manner, ordinarily nothing but gentle, had turned distinctly grave. It was a rare enough sight that the students listened to his every word in earnest.
"First, the single most important point: the dungeons of the underground floors have no safety measures."
Every surface-floor dungeon we had entered for conquest weeks so far was an artificial construction, layered with safety devices of every description — most notably a practice mode that allowed repeated attempts, mechanisms that dulled damage and pain, and a forced-extraction system that teleported participants outside the moment their lives hung in the balance. The underground dungeons, on the other hand, had all formed naturally. Not a single safety measure had been installed in any of them. A conquest that went wrong could cost you a serious injury — or your life.
"So if you want to conquer the underground floors, do your research and prepare thoroughly, and check at least one replay of how the seniors cleared it before you set foot inside. Of course, the danger and the toil come with rewards to match."
Unlike the surface dungeons, the underground ones paid out rewards upon clearing. Go Hyeon-woo, for one, was still getting excellent mileage out of the shamanic sword he had obtained in the Feathered Serpent Altar. As for me, I had picked up the priest's dagger in the Feathered Serpent Temple and mounted it on Root, and in the Escort Convoy dungeon I had secured the Demon Sealing Box, which had let me raise the rank of Hyneum Jade Demon Finger in short order.
The random boxes had paid handsomely, too.
Underground dungeons, in other words, repaid their added risk with ample return. So long as you could keep clearing them on a steady basis, it was as good as mining an inexhaustible vein of gold.
"Next point of caution: first-years are still only permitted as far as the F floor. You must not descend any deeper for now."
As things stood, we had merely earned the qualification to challenge F-rank; everything above it remained restricted. Anyone caught on the D or E floors would be punished exactly as before. Not that I had any intention of skipping my usual covert descents, of course.
"Moving on — to earn conquest points, you must clear one of the dungeons designated for that week. And you must record a replay and submit it."
The whole point of the conquest weeks was to make students experience and overcome a wide variety of environments. If they were free to pick only whichever dungeon suited them, that purpose would be undermined. And so the academy rotated its designated dungeons each conquest week, and practical evaluation points could be earned only in those. What was more, unlike the fully monitored surface dungeons, there was no way whatsoever to find out what a student did once inside an underground dungeon. Someone could borrow the hands of second- or third-years to clear one, then pass it off as solo work. Hence the rule that a replay had to be submitted before any practical points would be granted.
"Now then, what sort of conquest shall we attempt this week? The sharp-eyed among you have probably already guessed."
When a girl in the front row raised her hand, Seo Cheong-yong called on her.
"A hostile environment?"
"That's right! Correct."
Just the week before, Madam Jo Oksoon had said this:
Which meant that whatever else the rules might be, the environment was bound to be something that worked against the participants. Much like the Volcanic Zone, where the volcano had erupted without pause and lava had come streaming across the field.
Seo Cheong-yong brought the rules and environment up on the blackboard.
MAP: [Glacier Zone]
RULE: [Defense]
"You all ran Defense before, so it should be familiar. But attempt it in a different environment, and the whole feel changes, doesn't it?"
Song Cheon-hye stole a glance in my direction. Apparently the memory of pairing up with me to defend the Old Shrine had come back to her. Something occurred to me as well, and I spread out three fingers. Then, shaping the words with my lips alone:
Wish. Tickets. Three.
...!
The Lamp Fairy's pupils wavered left and right, and she hastily whipped her head back around to the front. She was no doubt hoping I would simply forget. But I had never once forgotten a debt I was owed.
Meanwhile, Seo Cheong-yong had moved on to the underground dungeons.
"If you'd like to try an underground dungeon this week, you must choose a hostile environment — though not the Glacier Zone. As for the rules, they must include [Defense]."
Then he snapped his fingers, and the blackboard was plastered over with a long column of numbers — the identifiers of the F-rank dungeons designated for this week's conquest.
"Shall we take questions, then? Anyone curious about anything?"
...
Not a single hand went up. We had all been through hostile environments and the Defense rule alike, and for the underground dungeons, you simply picked one off the list and went in — there was nothing difficult about it.
Seo Cheong-yong settled back into his pleasant smile.
"Then that's all for today's class. Best of luck to you all!"
The moment he stepped out of the classroom, a riot of chatter swept the room.
"Hey, hey — you wanna go down and try one?"
"Wouldn't the surface floors be the safe bet?"
"No way — you get items when you go down."
"Yeah, but it's only F-rank. Big deal."
"You never know. Might just hit the jackpot."
Some were buzzing at the prospect of their first underground dungeon, while others couldn't have cared less — F-rank was F-rank, after all.
Go Hyeon-woo, who had been catching snippets of the chatter, turned to me.
"What think you, Brother Kim?"
"Me? I'm going down, obviously. Best to take it step by step, starting from F-rank."
"Then we are of one mind. One cannot grow by pursuing the safety of one's own skin alone, I dare say."
"Since it's come up — let's head down tonight."
Go Hyeon-woo's eyes deepened.
"If you're choosing the night deliberately... you mean to go deeper still."
"Exactly."
My promise to the Swordsmanship Club called for completing Jangbo Island within the week. Letting it stretch lazily to the weekend would have been no great sin, but with these things, sooner was always better. That way, the club would have that much more time to bid on the next dungeon and make their preparations.
Go Hyeon-woo nodded and asked,
"And this week's conquest — what are your plans there?"
"Going to knock it out the moment we get there — with this one here."
I gestured at the 'this one here' slumped over the desk beside mine. Seo Ye-in seemed to be half awake already; her head drifted up and a sliver of eye peeked out at me. But before I could get a single word out, she slid back down.
Still in a sulk, I see.
Go Hyeon-woo, too, seemed to sense that something was amiss, and asked the two of us,
"You two... did something pass between you?"
"I was deceived..."
Seo Ye-in answered without lifting her face from the desk. His bewilderment only deepened.
"Deceived? You mean deceived by Brother Kim?"
"The pillow... it was term-limited..."
?
Go Hyeon-woo's face went blank. In fairness, with no knowledge of the circumstances, there was no way he could parse what a 'term-limited pillow' was supposed to mean. He soon began glancing back and forth between us, a thoughtful hum in his throat.
"Hmm. I wish for nothing more than that you two reconcile amicably. But this, I judge, is no affair of mine."
"Go on ahead, then. I'll have a word with her separately."
"Very well. Until dinner, then."
Go Hyeon-woo left the classroom first. I moved to the seat directly in front of Seo Ye-in and tried calling to her from close range.
"Excuse me~"
...
"Excuse me~ time to wake up."
...
"What you want is an extension on the term, isn't it?"
"An extension...!"
Seo Ye-in lifted her head, visibly intrigued. But I answered in a firm tone.
"That, however, I cannot grant."
"Why not..."
"Because I don't sleep."
For the sake of world peace, one had to build strength even at the expense of sleep. Accordingly, I kept my rest to the bare minimum as a matter of course — I spent longer hours in the mana training room than in my own dorm room. Someone like that could hardly be expected to stay glued to her side, pacing myself to Seo Ye-in's marathon napping sessions. To some extent, a line simply had to be drawn.
A crestfallen Seo Ye-in sank slowly back down, but I added one more thing, as though in passing.
"So let's compromise on 'sometimes.'"
"...Sometimes?"
"Yep. Sometimes."
If she was going to nap, it would be within limits that burdened neither of us. She could sleep whenever I had other business — when I was reviewing replays, say, as I had been a few days prior.
...
Seo Ye-in studied me for a long moment. She seemed a touch wistful that the Kim Ho Pillow would see less use, yet at the same time she appeared to accept that she couldn't be monopolizing too much of my time. Before long, she gave a small nod.
Negotiation concluded.
I rose from my seat with a smile.
"Shall we be off, then? We have a conquest to run."
"Crush it."
The underground floors of the Dungeon Hall.
Countless students were streaming up and down the spiral staircase. Yet scarcely a first-year was to be seen among them; nearly all were second- and third-year seniors. The floors had been opened to first-years as well, but charging straight down the moment class let out was bound to give anyone pause. Seo Cheong-yong had frightened them thoroughly with his warnings, and they would not so much as touch the place until they had gathered at least some information and made their preparations.
We, of course, did not number among them. From one to ten, every method of conquering the Dungeon Hall was already filed away in my head.
...!
Perhaps the underground floors looked novel to her; Seo Ye-in kept peering down the spiral staircase and poking her nose into the passages that opened here and there. Nothing was urgent, so I strolled along at an easy pace while she took in the sights. Had we been bound for C- or D-rank, we would have had to trudge down for a good long while, but F-rank demanded only a short stretch of the staircase — a few floors at most, if you thought of it as a building. And so, hardly any time after setting foot underground, we arrived before our destination.
The dungeon entrance gaped wide open. Written across its face were these words:
[No. 979] — Thunderbolt Gorge
"Let's crush this one quickly and get some rest."
"Crush it."
[204] The Support Ate it All