Episode 52 Mock Dungeon Practice (2)
Geeeee…….
Early morning the next day. The day of the mock dungeon.
Jaehyun woke up early and was sitting cross-legged, concentrating his mana on the Danjeon.
What I am doing right now is warming up before entering the dungeon.
Jaehyun was well aware that this work would increase the magician’s survivability.
‘No matter how great a magician is, if he suddenly overuses high-level magic, he will experience a mana rebound. I need to train enough to deal with mana on a regular basis.’
Mana rebound is a disease in which mana regurgitates when using magic and damages the user’s body.
Not to mention, Jaehyun currently possesses two high-rank skills, 《Chain of Lightning》 and 《Sacrifice》.
In order to deal with mana to the limit in extreme situations, it was a situation that could not help but pay attention to mana rebound.
‘In addition, if you concentrate your mana in advance like this, you can immediately use it to strengthen your body or magic whenever you need it. This is unexpectedly quite convenient.’
Jaehyun closed his eyes, trying not to break his breath, and exhaled as deeply as possible. Along with the clearing spirit, pure mana accumulates deep in the Danjeon.
calmly and clearly.
Jaehyun felt the flow of mana and started organizing his thoughts.
‘You don’t know how dangerous the situation will be in today’s mock dungeon practice. If I do something wrong, I may die or my comrades around me may die.’
Tsutsut……!
Mana is born and flows through the body, stopping in one place.
Jaehyun took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
‘The reason I was able to survive before the return was purely because I trampled on other people’s lives. Others were injured and died in my place. …… I don’t live like that in this life.’
A mock dungeon practice right in front of you.
The battle that will take place here will be very dangerous.
In the monster’s den, where the environment is almost similar to that of an underground dungeon. A long journey where you have to wield your sword against real monsters, unleash magic, and finally reach the end.
Of course, as this is only the second event, the level of the monsters that appear in this mock dungeon practice is not very high.
A level that can be easily cleared by a cadet with enough talent to enter Milles Academy.
‘But that’s not the real problem.’
The real problem was that Gu Jain once again stretched out his magic in this practice.
Before returning, Gu Ja-in hinted at releasing a D-class boss monster to attack the cadets during the mock dungeon practice.
As a result, many cadets were traumatized, wounded, and eventually died.
Of course, Gu Jain didn’t just do this to save money on cadets.
‘Sometimes, there are Raiders who break through their own walls and grow while crossing the dead line. It must have been a game with nothing to lose from Gujain’s point of view.’
Very occasionally, Raiders break through the walls that surround them and jump to a higher level while crossing the line of fire.
These are the process of breaking down walls.
In other words, after going through reawakening, you get a different level of power than before.
Either die or break through the limits and survive.
That was exactly what Gu Jain was aiming for.
Of course, the reason Koo Ja-in is able to run the academy as he pleases is because the police and major power figures in Korea turn a blind eye to his behavior.
In fact, it took five years for Gu Ja-in to be arrested even after dozens of crimes were revealed before returning.
‘I even ran away at the end. I couldn’t find where it popped. There was a lot of talk about being dead or alive, but…’
Gu Ja-in, who was before returning, would not have died.
Because there has never been a single person who wielded such strong power and wielded the Republic of Korea.
Perhaps, if not as much as before, he was still wielding power behind the scenes, driving innocent people to the limb of death.
‘Currently, there is no place in Korea that Koo Ja-in cannot reach. But I can’t be afraid of that.’
It achieves the desired goal while avoiding increasing innocent victims as much as possible.
That was the purpose of reproduction.
‘Still, the current situation is not bad.’
Jaehyun is currently holding the hilt.
Coincidentally, over the past few years, Goo Ja-in has failed to produce an S-class radar, and has fallen out of favor with the government.
But what if a magical cadet with overwhelming talent suddenly appeared here?
The mass media will pay attention to Jae-hyun at once and pour out articles covered in all sorts of rhetoric, and Gu Ja-in will turn on the light in his eyes and run to catch Jae-hyun.
‘If you do that, the government will trust Gu Jain again and deliver a huge amount of subsidies.’
And that was the gap Jaehyun was aiming for.
A hole so small that even the cunning Gujain wouldn’t notice.
Attacking the space in between will determine the success or failure of the second event, the simulated dungeon.
‘You have to do it somehow. Now I have the knowledge and power of the future. There is no reason not to.’
Jaehyun made up his mind and recalled the voice he had heard before returning.
Refreshing and light unique tone unique to the Nornir system.
―Regress beyond time to the time when the user desires the most.
when you most desire it.
The system clearly said so.
Just when Jaehyun was thinking.
The Nornir System spoke as if it had read his thoughts.
―The main quest 《The First Junction》 has been accepted.
[Main Quest]
The first turning point
You have succeeded in returning to a time in the past that you so longed for.
From now on, you will have to decide whether to make the same choice or a different choice, going through several turning points that made you regret before.
And that choice can kill or save others.
Which choice you make is up to you.
difficulty: ???
Compensation
A route: the same choice as in the past – ???
Route B: A different choice from the past – ???
Time Remaining: 11:59
Penalty for failure: –
“Here’s another weird one.”
What does the Nornir system mean by choice?
Will you make the same choice as before or will you make a different choice from before?
The system was clearly trying to grow reproduction. The goal was always clear.
to achieve your own goals.
However, it was difficult to accurately grasp the intention of this quest.
With multiple endings to choose from?
I couldn’t tell for sure, but I had no choice but to bump into it.
Mock dungeon test.
A tragedy was coming.
* * *
The dark branches made a sound, breaking my body with each step.
This mock dungeon, one of the underground facilities of Miles Academy, is rumored to be the most dangerous among the academy facilities.
As I walked to the deepest part of the second basement floor, I saw a wide hall lined with several shady and endless caves.
Instructor Kim Ji-yeon, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and looked back.
Along with supervising the mock dungeon practice this time, she was in charge of directing all the cadets.
After looking around at the cadets who were walking in line, Kim Ji-yeon pointed to the entrance of the dungeon and said,
“As you know, this mock dungeon practice is very difficult and has all kinds of risks. So here, we will form a team of four and act together, just like in the real world.”
At Instructor Jiyeon Kim’s words, one of the students standing in front raised her hand.
“How are teams formed? Are there two members each from the magic world and the martial arts world?”
“no. Martial-type Magical-type members each contain at least one member. Party members are determined through a lottery. After a brief explanation, we will start the lottery in earnest.”
At Instructor Kim Ji-yeon’s words, music burst out from everywhere.
As in the physical fitness test, it was judged that it did not fit the fairness.
If you’re lucky enough to draw, you can easily clear the dungeon by riding the bus.
But on the other hand, if you’re not lucky, the lower ranking cadets have to get together and attack the dungeon.
Jaehyun looked around for a while.
It seems that the cadets who previously ranked high in the freshman hunt did not want to be with the cadets with lower ranks. Furthermore, the lower rank cadets were also avoiding each other.
‘but. Because real monsters appear in this practice.’
Jaehyun nodded in agreement.
Novice cadets who had never attacked a dungeon, no matter how weak the monster was.
It was only natural to seek a little bit of safety in a real battle like this.
In that sense, it was an obvious fact that forming a party with a stronger cadet would be much more stable.
“You must be lucky with the lottery. Ha…… I’m such a shithead…….”
“Please let me win the lottery a little better…….”
Desperate voices coming from everywhere.
However, as Instructor Kim Ji-yeon continued to explain, the voice quickly died down.
She gave a brief explanation of the mock dungeon practice.
First of all, the mock dungeon practice is part of the official test that goes into grades.
As it is the first strategy, it is not a test with high scores, but if you get good grades here, you will receive a lot of points, just like in the physical fitness test.
The points awarded are 300,000 points for the first place team and 100,000 points for the second place team. Also, in this dungeon test, there are monsters that even weak cadets can deal with.
For example, E-class monsters like goblins or kobolds.
‘Of course, that’s just Gu Jain’s trap.’
However, Jaehyun is well aware of how Milles Academy oppresses the students.
He swallowed and looked at the multi-pronged entrance.
‘Only the cadets know what will happen inside.’
Of course, as Instructor Kim Ji-yeon said, most of the monsters that appear in dungeons are lower class.
However, according to Gujain’s plan, boss-level monsters will appear mixed in it.
The monster that will appear here is the Kobold Lord. It was a D-class boss monster.
Of course, it’s not a difficult opponent for Jaehyun, but it won’t be so for the other cadets.
In the first place, it makes no sense for a party of four cadets to attack the boss.
However, Instructor Kim Ji-yeon did not care at all.
There’s probably a good chance that he doesn’t know Gu Jain’s plan.
The only confidant of Gu Ja-in that Jae-hyun knows for sure is Instructor Kim Seok-gi.
Other instructors were more likely not to know exactly what was going on at Milles Academy.
‘I need to find out if Instructor Kim Ji-yeon is Gu Ja-in’s henchman.’
Jaehyun looked at her and nodded his head.
Instructor Kim Ji-yeon checked the watch for a while and then spoke to the students in a calm voice.
“Then, let’s start the lottery in earnest. The cadet whose name is being called, please come forward and cast lots one by one.”
Jaehyun, whose name was called early, was organized into group 3.
When I walked to the place where the three groups were meeting, a familiar face came first.
Seo Ina.
Jaehyun was sincerely relieved that he had at least one person he was comfortable talking to.
Even more so if you are a cadet with good enough skills to entrust your back to them.
“thank god. There is one familiar face on the same team.”
“……I know.”
While the two were having a conversation, an unforgettable, familiar voice from behind suddenly pierced Jaehyun’s ears.
“hi. I am Kim Jin-ah, a martial artist.”
“I am also a martial artist Park Seong-woo. 3 of you? I’m counting on you.”
Jaehyun’s pupils began to tremble when he saw the two of them.
His face, which had been maintaining a poker face all along, hardened for the first time.
‘……Kim Jin-ah and Park Seong-woo.’
Jaehyun already knew the faces and names of the two.
‘Why…….’
Kim Jin-ah and Park Seong-woo.
They were cadets who participated in the mock dungeon practice with Jaehyun before returning.
and.
They were also those who lost their lives in place of Jaehyun in the dungeon.
