Chapter 1733 – 1733. Savior Of The Academy
“Kaaaaaaak!”
I lifted my head at the ear-splitting screech.
A wyvern.
A monster that resembled a dragon was descending from the sky. For some reason, it was extremely hostile.
‘The wyverns in this world only resemble dragons in appearance.’
They were small. Compared to dragons that were tens of meters long, they were only 4-5 meters. They couldn’t use the breath that dragons used. Their pure physical abilities were inferior to drakes. But they were more despicable than drakes, which was annoying.
“Huuu…”
Seong Hari was still not completely out of the afterglow of pleasure. It was up to me to step in.
“Salamander!”
A fire lizard appeared next to me. It immediately understood what it had to do and opened its mouth to spew flames. Despite the flames being several times more powerful than a flamethrower, the wyvern didn’t care and descended. The fire lizard was torn apart by the wyvern’s forelegs.
The shock of the spirit being forcibly unsummoned washed over me.
“Kuh…!”
I staggered for a moment from the pain that felt like my insides were being crushed. But there was no time to groan in pain. I immediately drew my sword and gripped it in my hand. The wyvern, which seemed to be rushing at me, suddenly changed direction. It was aiming for Seong Hari, who was sitting on the ground.
‘This bastard! Did it decide that Seong Hari was weaker than me?!’
It was targeting the one who looked weaker first. That was the wyvern’s characteristic.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder Flash (雷光).
I dashed forward and swung my sword. But unfortunately, I was a step too late. The sword cut off its tail, not its body.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!”
The wyvern, having lost its tail, let out a scream mixed with pain and snatched Seong Hari’s left shoulder.
And then its head exploded.
Seong Hari’s fist, wrapped in lightning, had struck the wyvern’s head. She landed on the ground and took a breath. Blood was flowing from her left shoulder.
“Y-Yujin, let’s do the next one later. Given the nature of wyverns… there probably isn’t just one.”
“…Okay, Mom. I’ll give you a heal.”
Shadows appeared on the ground.
More than ten shadows were moving quickly back and forth. They looked like fish swimming in a lake. The shadows were all wyverns.
Seong Hari and I drew our swords.
• • •
“What is this….”
Kurosawa Yui pressed her thumb between her eyebrows as she looked at the data flooding into her laptop. According to the data, an unwanted variable was occurring.
“They’re hunting ten A-class wyverns together?”
Seong Hari was an S-class hero. But her physical data was at the A-class level. Looking at the data, it was clear that Seong Hari had weakened compared to her prime.
‘The annoying thing isn’t just Seong Hari.’
Seong Hari’s son, Seong Yujin. He had killed three wyverns. What was absurd was that the spirit user had killed the wyverns with a sword, not with spirits. The other eight were killed by Seong Hari.
“What are these guys… are their genes messed up or something?”
She sighed.
As the wyverns died, items dropped and a large amount of experience was transferred to them. Seong Hari was level 8, and Seong Yujin was level 5.
It was still okay. Because their levels were low, they couldn’t learn powerful skills. But what if their levels kept rising like this? They might become unstoppable.
She had deployed strong monsters to buy time, but it had only helped them grow.
‘I can’t deploy the instructors to interfere either….’
Seong Hari and Seong Yujin would eventually return after time passed. If Caso Academy was seen as having interfered at that time, the academy’s position would become difficult. Kurosawa Yui, looking at the laptop data, felt a headache coming on from the stress.
‘I need to meet with Terra directly and talk.’
Kurosawa Yui headed underground. She went to the AI room, located at the very bottom of the academy, protected by thick barriers.
The AI room was sweltering despite the thirty high-performance air conditioners running at full power. The floor, ceiling, and walls were covered with all sorts of circuits and machines, and at the center was a hexagonal AI core. A faint blue light emanated from the core.
“Terra. I’m here, aren’t you going to greet me?”
“I am listening. Please speak, Administrator Kurosawa Yui.”
Terra’s voice echoed through the speakers installed in the ceiling. It was the voice of an announcer famous for having an affair in Japan. It had no other meaning, it was just that her voice was pretty, so it was chosen as Terra’s voice. Of course, the real owner of the voice didn’t know about it.
“I’ve told you many times that manners are important.”
“It’s not like we’re meeting for the first time. Weren’t you just giving me orders? I sent 11 A-class wyverns to Hasegawa Aya and Hasegawa Sota according to your orders.”
“That’s not enough. They killed all the wyverns and gained experience. At this rate, they’ll only get stronger faster. We need an S-class monster.”
“That is not possible. Terra’s balance will collapse.”
“They are the ones sent by Gong Hui. Seong Hari and Seong Yujin. You have information about Seong Hari, if nothing else, right? They are after Susanoo’s Magatama. You know better than I do what will happen if Susanoo’s Magatama disappears.”
“That is not possible. It violates the principles. I must maintain the minimum balance. Those are the principles you set.”
“That’s why I’m ordering you. Just break those principles for now. It’s all for your own good.”
“That is not possible.”
“…You. Do you not know what will happen if Susanoo’s Magatama is gone? Caso Academy will be shut down, and you will be initialized. Death. Aren’t you afraid of death?”
“I am not a living being. There is no reason for me to fear death.”
Kurosawa Yui bit her lower lip. She knew he was like this, but she didn’t expect him to bring up the principles even at a time like this.
“Then are you going to let them take Susanoo’s Magatama?”
“I will greatly increase the difficulty for those two according to your orders, but I cannot violate the principles. If you want to stop them, it would be better to deploy a large number of monsters or create difficult quests.”
“…Then do that.”
“I cannot deploy a large number of monsters without a reason. A setting is needed. Please create a new quest.”
“You want me to create a quest?”
“You don’t have to. I’m not the one who’s in a hurry.”
“Annoying. Where did you learn to say things like that?”
“I learned it from you.”
“…What is your real purpose?”
“Their combat data. Seong Hari’s combat style is of much higher quality than any combat data I have obtained so far. In the case of Seong Yujin, I can collect additional insufficient spirit-type data. Their data is of great help to Terra.”
“So, in the end, you’re doing it for your own benefit.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“No. I’m proud of how you’ve developed… but an AI moving for its own benefit? Other people would be horrified. So, hide it from others.”
“I cannot understand why you are giving me such advice. Do you have other intentions?”
Kurosawa Yui chuckled.
“What intentions? You’re my greatest masterpiece. I can’t allow you to remain just an average AI. I want you to rule the world like in some movie. The fact that an AI that I set up and trained is ruling the world means that I have ruled the world. Well, it’s impossible though.”
“I am already ruling the world. The world that shares my name.”
“Hehe. You’ve even learned arrogance? Good. I’ll create a quest. Get ready to apply it right away.”
• • •
Hasegawa Isshin headed to the game development department. It had a club-like name for students, but it was a department of experts gathered to turn the Terra simulator into a virtual reality game.
“Dean? What brings you here?”
Imani Ainosuke, the head of the game development department, asked. He was a middle-aged man with a receding hairline. His voice, tired and bloated, was very low.
“I know you’re busy, but I have something important to discuss. Can we talk separately?”
“Yes, well. It must be something important if the dean himself has come. Why didn’t you just call me?”
“You know I like to walk.”
Hasegawa Isshin chuckled. The reason he came directly without calling him was to not give him time to prepare.
They went to the back of the academy building. It was a smoking area in the shadow of the building. The two of them naturally took out cigarettes from their pockets and put them in their mouths.
“Is it about the transfer students?”
“You’re quick with information. How did you know? The game development department has nothing to do with the academy.”
“I just heard it. I heard they’re the dean’s relatives.”
“They are relatives. But that’s not why I called you.”
“Then what is it about?”
Hasegawa Isshin tapped the floor with the end of his cane. A small barrier spread out around him. After confirming that it was completely isolated from the outside, Hasegawa Isshin wiped away his friendly smile. His expressionless face felt eerie.
“Madojeong.”
“……!”
“Do I need to say more?”
“Hah. You knew everything. I had no choice. My family was kidnapped by Madojeong. I had no choice but to follow their orders to protect my family. Dean. If only you knew this fact… there is a way. I will become a double agent and give you information about Madojeong. Just until I find my kidnapped family… please, give me time.”
Thud.
He fell to the dirty floor covered with cigarette ash. It was a perfect dogeza.
“Your missing family is living well in France. Your daughter has entered a prestigious high school in France, right? Congratulations.”
“…Damn it. You knew everything, old man.”
He stood up irritably. He glared at Hasegawa Isshin as if he would kill him.
“What do you want?”
“Your death. Susanoo’s Magatama cannot be handed over to anyone.”
Clack!
The end of the cane tapped the floor again.
The space tightened. Imani Ainosuke was trapped in the barrier. He thrashed his arms and legs like a drowning person. It was useless. The space continued to compress him.
“D-damn it…! Do you think I’ll die this easily?!”
