Chapter 927 – 927. Savior Of The Academy
The interclass competition had begun.
All the students of Class 1-1, including myself, entered the artificial dungeon that served as the backdrop for the competition.
Blue skies. The sun. Forests. Mountains. Lakes. Meadows.
The artificial dungeon, where everything that could be was implemented, made all the students exclaim in admiration. Of course, I was just as amazed. After all, this was a creation. What was impossible here?
“Don’t act like country bumpkins and get a grip,” I said. The eyes of the students in Class 1-1 turned to me. Their faces also turned serious. This was a battlefield.
I looked around once. No one ignored my words. My biggest worry was Choi Dayeon’s rebellion. After playing the original game a few times, Choi Dayeon often acted impulsively. Fortunately, she was focused on me now. It didn’t seem like she would act out.
“Moka.”
I summoned the spirit, Moka the Thunder Owl.
“Kkueook!”
Moka appeared in the air. Flapping its white wings, Moka soared high into the sky at my will. At the same time, I used Spirit Eye (S). My pupils turned golden, and my vision was shared with Moka.
‘If I activate Heavenly Eye here, it can be linked with Spirit Eye.’
I had already confirmed it before entering the artificial dungeon. Moka’s vision became clearer, and I could see far away and even see through things.
“I found Class 4. They’re at the end of the lake.”
Exclamations of admiration came from all around.
“Wow… as expected of the class president.”
“I knew it, but his scouting ability is amazing.”
“If you think about it, it’s like launching a satellite into the sky. Our class will win this interclass competition.”
Satellite. That wasn’t wrong. If I made Moka fly higher, it could really perform the work of a satellite. Considering the Heavenly Eye that could see through things, it could do more than a satellite.
“I’ve located the monsters. They’re mostly distributed in the mountains, but go towards the forest. We can’t miss the forest right next to us. And Class 4 is heading towards the mountains.”
It was my job to interfere with Class 4. It was better for the other students to focus on hunting without clashing.
“Choi Dayeon, you lead the class. You can do it, right?”
“What do you take me for? That’s nothing. I’d rather interfere with Class 4 with you. That would be more fun.”
“Hunting is your specialty. I’m asking you.”
“…Well, fine. Hunting is my specialty, as you say.”
Choi Dayeon picked up her bow and checked her traditional arrows. The wide space and monster hunting. It was the perfect environment for her to shine.
I winked at Kim Chunwoo. Kim Chunwoo approached me. It was just me and Kim Chunwoo who would interfere with Class 4. Originally, I was going to do it alone, but I couldn’t help it due to the opposition from the female students in the same class.
“Just do as I told you. Then we’ll win.”
The operation began.
I looked up at the sky.
The teacher in charge would be watching from outside, and the academy staff would be inside the artificial dungeon, hidden in case of an emergency. I didn’t know exactly how many there were. But what was certain was that there was an assassin among them.
“Yujin, can we really interfere with Class 4 with just the two of us? Class 4 isn’t that easy to deal with.”
“They look easy to me, so we can do it.”
“……”
Kim Chunwoo looked at me as if he was dumbfounded, but his legs kept moving.
I found Class 4. I confirmed it with my own eyes, not through Moka’s shared vision. Class 4 was heading towards the mountains. Ryu Hana acted as we had discussed beforehand.
“There they are. Let’s start with a simple greeting of interference.”
“Wait, Yujin!”
It was too late.
I had already dropped lightning from the sky.
Krrrrrr-KWA-KWANG!
With a fiery thunder sound, blue lightning fell to the ground. It was a collaboration between me and Moka. Three bolts of lightning fell in succession, and luckily, four members of Class 4 were eliminated. They were lying on the ground, unable to move.
I looked down at the black clothes I was wearing.
Barrier Clothes.
These were clothes with a barrier that only worked in the artificial dungeon. If you wore these clothes, you wouldn’t suffer fatal injuries. However, if you neutralized the barrier on the clothes or took them off, things would be different.
“…Yujin. This isn’t good. Four people have fallen, but they’ve noticed our presence. They even used magic defense, so lightning won’t work anymore. Class 4 will unite and fight against us.”
That was the goal.
To make the enemy fear and unite. That way, it would be relatively safer from the assassin. This was Ryu Hana’s plan.
“We’ve made Class 4 shrink back, so that’s enough. They’ll be too worried about another attack to move properly.”
“…Ah! I see. You weren’t planning to fight the entire Class 4 from the beginning! Well, just because it’s interference doesn’t mean we have to fight head-on.”
Kim Chunwoo said in admiration. I was about to open my mouth to take credit for it, but something flew from Class 4’s direction.
I stepped back and hid behind a large tree. Kim Chunwoo, who was a step late, swung his sword at the incoming water cannon. The water exploded, creating a shockwave. Kim Chunwoo rolled on the dirt floor. Several nearby trees were shattered.
“Ugh… I underestimated it because it was just water.”
“Here it comes again.”
I said calmly. Startled, Kim Chunwoo jumped up and dodged the water cannon.
PWOONG! PUNG! PUNG! PUNG!
The water cannons exploded. Trees were broken and fell to the ground, and the ground shook from the impact.
Even in the chaos, I was calmly observing the situation. Moka was still floating in the sky.
“Kim Chunwoo! Class 4 is coming! It seems they’ve decided to eliminate us first before hunting.”
“Is the entire Class 4 coming?”
“Yeah.”
“……What do we do?”
Kim Chunwoo asked, looking troubled. Kim Chunwoo must have felt that things had gone wrong. If you think about it, it was because I attacked without consulting him, but he didn’t blame me. As expected, Kim Chunwoo was a moron and a pushover.
“Let’s scatter. You go left. I’ll go right. It’s not good to join up… let’s just interfere with Class 4 on our own.”
“Okay. That seems more likely to work.”
Kim Chunwoo ran to the left. Everything was going according to plan so far.
Class 4’s movements also changed. Ryu Hana broke away and chased after me, while the rest targeted Kim Chunwoo.
I ran for a while and then stopped. Ryu Hana, who was chasing me with a fierce aura, did the same.
“This is as far as you go.”
Ryu Hana held up her twin swords.
It was an act.
Because they were watching us from the outside. If the fact that we had joined hands was exposed, we would be labeled as traitors in the class, and our academy life would become troublesome.
‘And to make the assassin move, it’s better to be exhausted.’
I picked up a throwing spear instead of a sword.
“What do you mean, ‘this is as far as you go’?”
I threw it at Ryu Hana. Ryu Hana calmly deflected the throwing spear with her twin swords and approached me. Ryu Hana was serious now. She was genuinely trying to beat me at this moment.
I created some distance and ran away.
“…Running away? Why?”
Originally, I was going to fight her here.
However, unlike my expectations, the assassin was quite far away. If we fought now, Ryu Hana’s strength would be depleted too quickly.
I could easily deal with the assassin with my skills alone without Ryu Hana’s strength, but… I had a plan.
‘Since there’s power lurking everywhere in the academy, it’s better to hide our full strength from the enemies.’
I attacked Ryu Hana while running away.
I dropped lightning or threw spears. Ryu Hana dodged and parried, chasing after me.
“Stop right there…!”
Ryu Hana’s voice was laced with annoyance. It was the first time I had seen her like this, but it wasn’t surprising. Even if she didn’t show her emotions well, it didn’t mean she didn’t have any.
SWISH!
One of her twin swords flew towards me. It was aimed at my back. It wasn’t difficult to dodge. But I didn’t dodge. I twisted my body just enough to let the sword hit my shoulder. I was wearing barrier clothes, so the sword didn’t pierce my shoulder, but I still felt the impact.
“Ugh!”
“……!”
Ryu Hana was startled when I groaned. Her momentum faltered. I threw one of the throwing spears I was carrying on my back at her to snap her out of it.
Ryu Hana dodged the throwing spear. Her eyes were complicated. She didn’t rush at me with the same fierce momentum as before.
The chase continued until we stopped at an open space in front of the lake. Having used up all my throwing spears, I drew my sword.
“Tired?”
“…I’m just a little tired.”
We rushed at each other. The sound of swords clashing echoed. We exchanged blows formally while sending telepathic messages.
-The assassin is approaching.
Ryu Hana’s eyes widened slightly and then returned to normal.
-If you knew who the assassin was… it’s time to ask for help.
It was Ryu Hana’s telepathic message. Her breath was mixed in. Unlike me, who was fine, she was really exhausted. Her opinion was reasonable. She desired honor but didn’t covet it. That was so like Ryu Hana.
-The problem is that we don’t have any decisive evidence yet. And… why would the assassin choose the artificial dungeon as the assassination site? Maybe they won’t be able to interfere from the outside for a while.
-An assassin capable of that…
Ryu Hana’s expression became serious.
I silently swung my sword. A sword rising from below. Ryu Hana, who knew my strength, tried to block my sword by crossing her twin swords. But this was a feint. The sword was easily blocked, and I kicked her in the side, which was the real attack. Ryu Hana, who was hit in the arm, flew backward and plunged into the lake.
Immediately after, a spear flew from the forest. The throwing spear I had used was aimed precisely at Ryu Hana, who was getting up.
‘Not going to happen.’
I blocked the spear, standing in front of Ryu Hana. My hand tingled. As Ryu Hana had predicted, the opponent was no ordinary assassin.
“Who are you!”
I shouted towards the front. The assassin, wearing the academy staff uniform, was slowly approaching. He had made himself invisible through stealth, but he was clearly visible to me, who was using Spirit Eye and Heavenly Eye.
The assassin pressed a switch he took out of his pocket.
Zzzzt, zzzzt!
The barrier clothes were neutralized.
“W-Why is this happening all of a sudden…?!”
I pretended to be flustered. I frantically checked the barrier clothes with one hand. The assassin approached. The assassin’s gaze was fixed on Ryu Hana, who was coming out of the water. Ryu Hana knew of the assassin’s presence but didn’t realize where he was yet.
Ryu Hana’s special ability, Sword Maiden (SS), shone. She sensed the approaching assassin. Ryu Hana’s aura changed drastically. The impatient assassin took out a dagger and ran.
“Not so fast.”
I stepped in front of the assassin and swung my sword, which was imbued with sword energy. A gray sword energy also rose from the assassin’s dagger.
KWANG!
The assassin stepped back. His physical abilities were slightly better than Ryu Hana’s.
“You guys, did you know from the beginning?”
The assassin opened his mouth. His low voice made it hard to read his emotions.
“Why do you think that?”
“Your calmness and your position. The optimal position to protect Ryu Hana. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but… it’s not a coincidence anymore.”
“You’re quite sharp.”
Ryu Hana, who was soaking wet, took a fighting stance next to me.
“How did you know?”
The assassin got to the point. He was very curious about the source of the information, so he didn’t even launch a surprise attack.
“It’s obvious when someone’s chasing you.”
The assassin, who had been staring at my golden eyes, clicked his tongue.
“…It’s true that Spirit Eye is an excellent eye, but my stealth isn’t so clumsy that it would be detected by an academy student.”
“I don’t know what you’re so confident about, but you’re a nobody. You’re a nobody that I can kill in 10 seconds if I want to.”
“……I see. If you’re not going to talk… then die.”
The assassin’s body blurred and split into two. One was a clone, and the other was the real body. It goes without saying, but the real body was stronger.
‘But you can’t fool my eyes. The one on the right is the real body.’
I ran towards the real body on the right. Naturally, Ryu Hana would face the clone on the left.
‘I’ll just stall for time and then kill him.’
The assassin’s dagger aimed for my neck. There was no need to use a split second. I tilted my head to the side and swung my sword. The assassin’s thigh was cut. Blood splattered. It wasn’t a deep wound.
“……Tsk.”
The assassin, who clicked his tongue, became more cautious. He lowered his stance and seemed to come straight at me, but suddenly changed direction to the right.
“Sung Yujin!!”
Ryu Hana shouted.
I deflected the dagger that flew from behind, or rather, the dagger thrown by the assassin’s clone, with my sword. The assassin, who had approached me, smiled faintly and thrust his dagger at my heart.
