Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity

The Fixing Pin could wait. Getting out of here came first.

With the final boss—the Dark Gabdu—brought down, the dungeon had begun its slow collapse.

Rrrrumble...

The lake, which had settled into stillness, now shuddered and whipped itself into waves in every direction. At the same moment, an exit yawned open above the tiny island, and we piloted the wooden boat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ashore.

But before stepping through the portal—

"Here, take this."

"Okay!"

We had felled the boss, but only a single drop had appeared. Of course, Song Cheon-hye and Shin Byung-cheol would each have gotten one of their own, so the haul was hardly meager.

We crossed through the portal and returned to the underground floor of the Dungeon Hall, with Song Cheon-hye and Shin Byung-cheol emerging after us.

Song Cheon-hye looked our way and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Yeah, you too. Thankfully, we made a good team."

This dungeon split its challengers into three parties, so if even one of us had failed to fulfill a role, the rest would have worn themselves ragged covering the gap. But Song Cheon-hye—and even Shin Byung-cheol—had each pulled a full share of the weight, leaving us free to focus entirely on the boss fight.

I asked, "Where to next?"

"We'll stop here for today."

Everyone was surely carrying more fatigue than they let on. We had entered no small number of dungeons, and squared off against two Oubleks besides.

On top of that, Song Cheon-hye was lightly rubbing at her own arm.

"Arm sore?"

"...No, I'm quite fine."

She was doing her best to look unbothered, but it was obvious her muscles ached from all that earnest rowing.

I turned to Han So-mi. "You. Go give her a massage."

"Okay! I'm great at massages!"

Han So-mi zipped over to Song Cheon-hye and began kneading her arm with gusto.

"!!"

Song Cheon-hye jolted as if scalded and scrambled backward, putting a wide gap between them.

Han So-mi tilted her head. "Huh? Why?"

"I-I'll handle it myself."

"But I told you, I'm good at this! Even Master says so!"

"No. Stay back."

Han So-mi tried to close in again, but Song Cheon-hye warding her off with real force.

Just how badly did she have to hate it, that electricity was crackling across her whole body?

Holding that careful distance, Song Cheon-hye placated her in as mild a tone as she could manage. "You really don't have to. The thought is plenty."

"Really truly?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Edging along warily, keeping Han So-mi at arm's length, Song Cheon-hye picked up where she had left off. "We'll process the remaining quota over the weekend."

At that, Shin Byung-cheol, who had been lurking quietly in a corner, sidled forward. "Then... how are we splitting the rewards?"

"We picked up five today, didn't we."

Two from the Mole Mine, three from Trident Lake.

Song Cheon-hye looked at him and went on. "Let's have the three of us take three, and you two take one apiece. How does that sound?"

"Fine by me."

Shin Byung-cheol nodded without hesitation. He was serving a disciplinary sentence, so being offered even this much was more grace than he deserved.

He immediately pulled out his random box. "Shall we open them, then?"

"You could stand to build a little patience."

I chided him. The man was cracking open gacha boxes before the split had even finished settling.

But Shin Byung-cheol shook his head hard. "Nope, can't wait. I'm opening mine right now."

"Keep that up and it'll be a tea set again, like every single time."

"Not today! My feeling's good today!"

A random box addiction of truly clinical severity. He was well past the point where words could reach him.

I glanced around. Song Cheon-hye stood with her arms crossed, while Han So-mi watched us with eyes brimming over with curiosity.

She was even egging him on. "Open it! Open it!"

It wasn't my box to begin with, and with the mood what it was, I saw no reason to play the killjoy, so I took a step back. "Do as you like. Though it's an F-rank at best, no?"

"That's what we're about to find out! I'm telling you, today the feeling's good. Something big's coming. Big."

"Sure, who knows. Maybe you'll strike it rich."

"Here we gooo! Something big... IT'S HERE!!"

With a single whoop, Shin Byung-cheol flung back the box lid.

Click.

The next instant, the random box in his grip swelled at an alarming rate, and an item revealed itself.

At the sight of it, not only Han So-mi and I but even Song Cheon-hye managed a comment.

"It really is big."

"It's huge!"

"So it was true."

Shin Byung-cheol cradled the table in both arms, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

"No way. No way in the world."

After withdrawing from the Dungeon Hall, I set aside some time to take stock, alone.

The moment Poison Resistance became a trait of my very own, the next message popped up.

Thousand Poisons Immunity and Poison Resistance had merged into one—I had obtained the long-awaited Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

Its effect was brief and to the point. A single line.

Poison-type attacks could no longer so much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as poison me, let alone deal me damage.

To pierce Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, one would have to pile poison debuffs on in layer after layer, or land an exceedingly rare debuff that sealed traits altogether—and either route had a success rate hovering near zero.

Then there was one more modest perk of the trait. 'No rank attached.'

Like [Distortion], it was a trait rivaling S-rank, yet carried no rank at all.

Even inside a rank-restricted zone like the Fix Zone, its effect carried over untouched, and since [Bestow] incurred no rank penalty on it either, there was no need to stack Amplification on top.

'That's the preparation done, then.'

I pulled up the Main Quest.

An enormously overpowered trait had landed in my lap, but even so, I remained hopelessly outclassed by an A-rank boss.

Trading blows with the Witch of Decay directly would be work for faculty-grade fighters of roughly comparable caliber.

Hence the Main Quest's objective was not to slay the Witch of Decay, but to contribute.

The reward would scale with how much use I proved to be.

'Maximum reward. Non-negotiable.'

Main Quests were especially lavish with their payouts—letting one slip was not an option.

Just as clearing the first Main Quest at peak achievement had earned me [Bestow], clearing this second one at maximum contribution would grant me something powerful in turn.

So how did one raise contribution? 'Join the subjugation force, obviously.'

Even if someone else finished off the Witch of Decay, participating in the subjugation force at all was the minimum guarantee of a contribution score.

The one sticking point was whether they would actually wedge a first-year into such a hair-raising operation.

On that count, I wasn't worried in the slightest. 'They'll come looking on their own.'

With mere Thousand Poisons Immunity it might have been a coin toss, but now that I had reached Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, they were certain to come knocking.

From the academy itself, no less.

The Old School Building.

Lee Sudok and Seo Cheong-yong moved along without a word, the clap of their footsteps ringing through the deserted corridor.

A short way on, someone stood waiting—a woman in a perfectly pressed business suit, her expression starched every bit as rigid as her outfit. One look and you would guess a needle couldn't draw a single drop of blood from her.

They knew the face, of course, and Seo Cheong-yong offered his greeting along with a genial smile. "Vice Principal."

"Teacher Seo, Teacher Lee. This way, please."

The Vice Principal returned a brief bow, then turned on her heel and led the way. The footsteps echoing down the corridor grew from two to three.

They walked on in silence for some time before, of all things, the Vice Principal broke the quiet. "The first semester is nearly at its end. I'm glad to see you both settling in so well."

"Haha, teaching suits me better than I expected. Had I known, I'd have started years ago."

Seo Cheong-yong replied with a wry grin. Lee Sudok, by contrast, offered one dry line and nothing more. "It was a commission."

The Principal himself had sought the man out, hammered out the terms face-to-face, and recruited him as an instructor. And Lee Sudok had built his reputation on executing every commission down to the last detail—however merciless his methods along the way.

The faculty knew this well enough, but in the early days the appointment had stirred up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no end of noise.

— Was it truly right to select teachers on strength alone?

— Could the Human Butcher actually be trusted to teach children?

— What happens when a student rubs him the wrong way—does he grind the boy's limbs into paste?

Yet all that worry had come to nothing; Lee Sudok discharged every duty assigned to him without the slightest incident.

The Vice Principal dipped her head slightly. "I look forward to working with you both going forward."

"I'll keep giving it my best."

"Yes."

Once again Seo Cheong-yong answered graciously, while Lee Sudok merely bobbed his chin in a perfunctory nod. His heart, in any case, had left Dragon Slayer Academy long ago.

'Only a month left in the first semester.'

The commission he had accepted from the Principal was a single year of service as a Dragon Slayer Academy instructor. Three years had been the original offer; he had refused so unyieldingly that it got pared down to one. And looking at it now, even that one year felt long.

'Time certainly does crawl.'

For the first time in ages, Lee Sudok knew regret. He should have refused the commission outright, from the very start.

The one silver lining was that a chance to exercise his true specialty would arrive before long.

Namely: hunting down wicked men and putting them down.

That, too, was why the three of them were making their way into the depths of the Old School Building.

Before long, they halted before a door bearing a large sign.

The Vice Principal drew a ring of keys from her pocket, selected one, and unlocked the door.

Beyond it lay a vast, empty chamber. Its sole furnishing was a massive slab of wall, looking for all the world as if it had been torn bodily from the heart of some ancient temple.

Across its surface, characters in every unknowable script surfaced and faded in endless cycles, shedding a soft glow each time.

And before it sat a man, slouched with total indifference. A beard shaved only halfway, a rumpled tracksuit, a pair of slippers.

But for all he looked like some layabout from the neighborhood, this man was the Hero of the previous generation—and the Principal of Dragon Slayer Academy.

"..."

A cigarette smoldered in one hand; his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eyes bored into the wall. As though he were trying to read something out of it.

The Vice Principal approached and spoke in her sternest register. "How many times must I tell you? Smoking indoors is prohibited."

"I know, I know. My mind's just been heavy lately."

"You call that an excuse?"

With a small sigh, the Vice Principal thrust something out toward him. It was none other than an ashtray. The Principal ground his cigarette into it with practiced ease—clearly, this little ritual was a daily occurrence.

Rising from his seat, the Principal scratched briskly at his lower back and greeted his guests. "There you are, Mr. Lee, Mr. Seo."

"Good day, sir."

"You brought them?"

"Yes."

Lee Sudok answered shortly and produced what looked like a small document case. Inside, packed tight, stood row upon row of test tubes filled with black liquid.

Dark Oublek samples—gathered by students who had torn through dungeon after dungeon to collect them.

"Will these be enough?"

"More than enough. Do pass along my thanks for all their trouble."

The Principal accepted the samples and advanced on the wall, one step, then another. As though answering his approach, its light began to pour forth, growing fiercer by the moment.