Into the Creations 1399

Chapter 1399 – 1399. Savior Of The Academy

I moved from the general training room to the simulator room.

Unlike the numerous general training rooms, the simulator rooms were limited, so reservations were essential… but money changed everything. I paid the students using the existing simulator room to rent it for two hours.

8 million won for two hours.

It would seem like an absurd price to the average person. But if you knew the value of the simulator room, 8 million won for two hours was reasonable.

‘There’s no other way to train safely against monsters without worrying about your life except in a simulator room.’

Being able to use this simulator room was a privilege for academy students.

For a hero to use the association’s simulator room for an hour, it would cost at least ten million won.

“Now, let’s face some monsters.”

“Do we have to fight monsters in the final exam?”

“It’s not certain, but… you’ll end up fighting monsters. One-on-one.”

“Wouldn’t one-on-one be easier than fighting a person?”

I gave a bitter smile.

“There’s no way the academy would be that easy.”

I manipulated the simulator and scanned the list of available monsters. From goblins to orcs, trolls, shadow stalkers, and all sorts of monsters could be simulated.

‘These small fry are all excluded. In the original work, if it’s a one-on-one monster combat test… the monsters you face are limited.’

Large monsters.

In this world, this refers to monsters that are at least 5 meters tall.

‘The typical large monsters that appear in combat tests are ogres, drakes, and frost boars.’

Ogres are slow but strong. Just plain strong. Their skin is thick, and their strength is ridiculously high. They can send a large truck flying with a single punch.

Drakes are fast and unpredictable. For students who are good at analyzing monsters, ogres would actually be easier.

Frost boars are giant boars that scatter frost. Ice-type attacks are almost useless against them. Conversely, they are vulnerable to fire-type attacks.

‘First, let’s start with the ogre.’

Thud!

An ogre with a massive body appeared in the simulator room. It was fake. But its aura was the same as a real one.

Lee Si-eun froze, overwhelmed by the ogre’s presence. Her face turned pale, and her legs trembled slightly.

“Y-Yujin. Do I have to fight an ogre alone? This is a lie, right?”

“You can do it. It’s a simulator room, so you won’t die even if you get hit. Just relax.”

“But it still hurts if you get hit…!”

Lee Si-eun looked like she was about to cry. Still, she held a dagger in one hand. Energy moved around her.

I manipulated the simulator. The ogre’s massive legs, which had been standing still, finally moved.

Zzzzzzzzz.

Lee Si-eun’s energy spread out wide. The energy soon turned into gravity and grabbed the ogre’s legs.

The ogre’s movements noticeably slowed down. Lee Si-eun’s gravity was quite powerful, but it couldn’t completely stop the force of the ogre. Lee Si-eun used an energy ball. The six energy balls hit the ogre’s head and torso.

The ogre flinched, but that was it. The energy balls couldn’t penetrate the ogre’s tough skin.

Lee Si-eun hesitated. But she didn’t give up. The ogre was gradually breaking free from the gravity and moving faster.

Crackling!

Energy converted into lightning surged towards the ogre. And of course, it didn’t work. The ogre’s thick skin had a naturally high mana resistance. A normal lightning attack would only scorch the surface of its skin.

Thud. Thud. Thud!

The ogre approached.

The typical strategy is to run away from the ogre, maintain a proper distance, and fight. But Lee Si-eun didn’t run.

‘She’s tired, but not so tired that she can’t run. She’s aiming for something.’

The ogre raised its arm and swung a fist at Lee Si-eun. Lee Si-eun, who had been preparing, dodged the attack by diving under the ogre. Then, she placed her hand on the ogre’s torso.

KWAHAAAAAANG!

With a huge explosion, the ogre’s body collapsed.

Lee Si-eun had used a reflux.

She used the mana the ogre possessed to cause an internal energy explosion.

‘Good try. But it’s not enough. Ogres are monsters that don’t directly use mana. If she had pushed her own energy into the ogre, the destructive power would have been greater.’

Lee Si-eun didn’t seem to have thought that far. It’s not that she’s stupid. She had only obtained the reflux skill ten minutes ago.

Thwack!

“Kyaaaaak!”

Lee Si-eun screamed as she was hit by the ogre’s arm, flying away and rolling on the floor. I channeled mana into the spear in my hand.

Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Thunder Steel Blade (雷罡刃).

I coated the tip of the spear with a blade of lightning and threw it. The spear pierced the ogre’s neck precisely. The ogre fell and disappeared.

“Si-eun, are you okay?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Lee Si-eun got up as if nothing had happened. But she couldn’t hide the cold sweat. She was clearly exhausted.

“Rest for now.”

“Okay. You should rest too, Yujin.”

“I can’t waste time when I’ve come all the way to the simulator room. I’m going to train a bit too.”

My hands were itching.

There were a few things I wanted to experiment with.

I manipulated the simulator room and summoned a large monster.

A frost boar.

The frost-scattering boar glared at me and snorted.

The frost boar charged at me. I created lightning and threw it at the beast. I controlled the lightning strands, maintaining a net shape. The lightning net instantly surrounded the frost boar and tightened.

Thunder Heaven Style (雷天流) Ultimate Technique (極技) Exploding Shock Thunder (爆震雷).

Dozens of lightning strands exploded simultaneously. The frost boar disappeared without a trace.

“This is pretty good too.”

“Wow! Yujin, you’re amazing!”

Lee Si-eun clapped enthusiastically from behind. It made me feel good.

•••

One week until the final exam.

The atmosphere at Maruhan Academy had changed. Everyone was focused on studying. The lights in the training rooms never seemed to go out.

It wasn’t just because of the exchange match with the Japanese academy. The academy students, except for the top-ranking ones, weren’t very interested in the exchange match. After all, only a limited number of students could participate.

‘But the rankings are fair to everyone. The support provided by the academy varies depending on the ranking. And the hero clans, which are the places of employment after graduation, judge students by their rankings.’

That’s why the lower the academy students’ rankings, the more desperate they were.

I entered the classroom and sat down, noticing a man. He had a pale complexion. His name was Hae Seon-mu. He was in the same class as me, and his admission ranking was 294th.

Close to the bottom.

Even if he graduated from the academy, he would only be able to join a mediocre clan. There was still a lot of time left, but…

‘It’s very rare for admission rankings to change drastically.’

A doormat would graduate as a doormat. That was the reality of the academy.

‘Judging by the looks of it, it’s going as in the original work. In the original work, it was a side quest that didn’t matter if I left it alone, but….’

This wasn’t a game, it was reality.

I didn’t know what kind of variable it would become if I left it alone.

‘There’s something to gain, so should I make a move?’

I got up from my seat. I was quite famous, so I immediately drew attention. The men’s gazes were filled with caution and jealousy. On the other hand, the women’s gazes were warm. That was because I had been good to the women while flirting with them. And half of the women in the class had slept with me.

I approached Hae Seon-mu and grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, Hae Seon-mu.”

“Uh, Y-Yujin. Why?”

“Let’s go out and talk for a bit.”

“……”

Hae Seon-mu’s face hardened. He even started to tremble. It was because my reputation was so low among the men.

“C-Can’t we talk here?”

“I said let’s go out and talk. Are you ignoring me now?”

“N-No, it’s not that. Let’s go. Let’s go out and talk!”

I took Hae Seon-mu out into the hallway. I casually said to him, who was nervous.

“Necromancy. You learned it, right? To use it during the final exam.”

Necromancy.

Magic that forces a soul into a body.

“H-How did you know?”

What Hae Seon-mu had learned wasn’t ordinary necromancy. It was a slightly modified version of necromancy that temporarily forced a weak soul into a body. It wouldn’t be detected by the academy teachers, but its efficiency was the worst compared to normal necromancy. It was weak too. But it could make you stronger to a certain extent, like an athlete doping. The price was that it would drain your life force faster.

“Don’t you know me? You can’t hide something like that from my eyes.”

I activated my Spirit Eye. Hae Seon-mu’s eyes widened as he saw my golden eyes. His pupils shook uncontrollably.

“I-I did learn necromancy… but I wasn’t going to use it during the final exam.”

“What are you talking about? If you learned it properly, you can use it.”

“……”

Hae Seon-mu kept his mouth shut.

I grabbed his collar.

“I’m a bit interested in necromancy. Tell me in detail how you learned it.”

“T-That was by chance….”

“Damn it. If you lie, I’ll report you to the association right away. You know how persistent the association’s investigations are, right?”

“T-The association wouldn’t move that easily…!”

“Who’s my mother?”

“……”

With Sung Ha-ri’s influence, it was easy to move the Hero Association.

Hae Seon-mu seemed to give up and lowered his head. And he told me everything about necromancy.

“I went downtown and met a necromancer by chance. He said he would give me a necromancy artifact that was easy to use if I gave him 20 million won….”

“What kind of artifact is it? You have it now, right? Show me.”

The artifact he pulled out was a skull-shaped talisman.

『Necromancy Talisman

Rank: E

You can use necromancy at the cost of your life force.』

“Interesting. You bought this for 20 million won…. Didn’t that necromancer sell anything else?”

“There were better talismans… but I didn’t have much money….”

“What’s that bastard’s contact information?”

“I don’t have his contact information, but I know how to meet him. Do you want to meet him?”

“Yeah. Let’s go together tonight.”

“T-Together? I’ll tell you how to meet him. So….”

“You bastard. You’re going to guide me. Why can’t you understand? Do you want to die?”

“S-Sorry….”

“Just do as I say. If you act like a piece of shit, I’ll kill you.”

“……Okay.”

In the original work, this quest ends with capturing and dealing with the necromancer. As a reward, you get a special item.

‘It’s obvious that something suspicious is connected to it. I should dig into it. Of course, all the items are mine.’