Chapter 1749 – 1749. Savior Of The Academy
“Hmm. Looks like things have gotten quite interesting.”
The sudden voice made Sung Ha-ri and me snap our heads up. An old man in a suit, Hasegawa Isshin, was floating in the air. He looked down at us with a relaxed expression.
His unexpected appearance caught me off guard. Why was Hasegawa Isshin here? Was he trapped in the Tera Simulator like us?
Just as my mind was about to get complicated, Sung Ha-ri beside me raised her spear and aimed it at Hasegawa Isshin.
“Did you orchestrate this whole situation?”
“No, it wasn’t me. This situation is because a spy from the Magic Court summoned a demon… Oh, explaining it would take too long. And time is precious. Let me be clear. I am not the one who orchestrated this.”
“Then why did you appear before us? You don’t exactly seem to have good intentions.”
“First, I’d like to politely ask. Would you give up the Susanoo’s Magatama? The Susanoo’s Magatama is essential for the Tera Simulator. Please cooperate for the future of humanity.”
“You’ve come to the wrong people. The one you should be asking is Tenrai Nagisa.”
“I will persuade my junior. You two should stop. Haven’t you been here too long? You need to return to reality.”
My brow furrowed. Hasegawa Isshin’s tone was gentle, but the meaning behind it was a threat. If we wanted to go back to reality, we had to listen to him. In other words, he was saying that if we didn’t obey him, we wouldn’t be able to return to reality.
‘What’s he so confident about? The AI? No, it’s just bluffing!’
He probably couldn’t control the rampaging AI, Tera. If he could, he wouldn’t have needed to show up in person. He would have just trapped us in the virtual reality and attacked our real bodies in the real world.
“I know my senior’s personality well, and she’s not soft enough to be persuaded by you. She’d probably get angry that things didn’t go her way.”
Sung Ha-ri said. She clearly had no intention of joining hands with Hasegawa Isshin. Of course, I felt the same way. Tenrai Nagisa was too pretty for me to listen to an old man like Hasegawa Isshin. And I hadn’t even gotten to sleep with Tenrai Nagisa yet, so I couldn’t afford to be on bad terms with her.
“Hmm. You know my junior well. Then, I’ll make another offer. I’ll give you money, so give up the Susanoo’s Magatama.”
“You know that the Magic Court is after the Susanoo’s Magatama, right? Can you handle the Magic Court?”
“My junior doesn’t know much. Where else is safer than virtual reality? Even if the entire Magic Court attacks, they won’t be able to take the Susanoo’s Magatama.”
“Isn’t the AI going crazy because of the Magic Court? You just said that.”
“That was because the summoned demon… sigh. Never mind. You’ve already made up your minds. No matter what I say, it’ll be like talking to a brick wall. I’ll have to stop you by force.”
Mana formed into lines around Hasegawa Isshin, spreading in all directions. It was a type of power I had never seen before, so I muttered without realizing it.
“Magic?”
Sung Ha-ri corrected me.
“No, it’s barrier magic. Barriers are usually for defense, but they can also be used for offense, depending on how you use them. In that case, it’s best to find the weakest point in the barrier and attack it intensively. A more certain method is to defeat the barrier mage.”
I took out a dagger from my inventory and threw it at Hasegawa Isshin. The dagger shot out like lightning. It was actually imbued with lightning energy.
Clang!
The dagger was blocked by a transparent wall surrounding Hasegawa Isshin and bounced off. That was also a barrier.
“You’ve already surpassed the level of a student. You could go into active duty.”
“Shut your mouth. And if you think that killing us will give you the Susanoo’s Magatama, you’re sorely mistaken. We’re players, we’ll revive again and again.”
“Haha. You’re mistaken about something. Kill you? No. My goal is to stop you.”
“What?”
“Arinna’s quest. Did you really think that you were the only ones who could receive the quest?”
「Salvation
Overcome the end and save this world.
Reward: Susanoo’s Magatama」
This was the quest I received from Arinna. If we ended the end, we would receive the Susanoo’s Magatama as a reward. But we weren’t the only ones who received this quest?
To end the end, we had to eliminate the source of the end. And the source of the end was Young Ha-ri.
“No way.”
“The source of the end. I don’t know how it happened, but Sung Ha-ri. It’s your doppelganger.”
“…You’re going to stop us and kill Ha-ri? Do you think you can do that alone?!”
“Don’t you see that the source of the end isn’t coming this way? I’m not alone.”
I had been focusing on Hasegawa Isshin, but I quickly turned my head to look for Young Ha-ri.
Far away. At a distance that was barely visible without enhancing my vision with mana, she was fighting a group of men and women wearing black school uniforms.
‘Kaso Academy students!’
I used my Spirit Eye. My vision sharpened, and I could see what was happening. At least dozens of students were fighting Young Ha-ri. Surprisingly, they were fighting on equal terms with Young Ha-ri.
“How did they get so strong? That’s impossible!”
“You underestimate our academy students too much. Well, they wouldn’t be a match in reality, but this is virtual reality. They’re receiving Tera’s support. Above all, our students are familiar with the Tera Simulator.”
An academy student is hit by Young Ha-ri’s attack and dies. And they revive not far from where they died. The revival point had changed. The Tera AI was also our enemy. At this rate, even Young Ha-ri would soon reach her limit.
“You bastard…!”
Young Ha-ri dies. Young Ha-ri was a bit different from us. She was a player, but not a player. Moreover, she was designated as the source of the end. There was no guarantee that she would revive like a player.
I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t let Young Ha-ri die. I had to get her out of here somehow. I could think about the rest later.
“Mom!”
I poured all the buffs I could use on Sung Ha-ri. The strengthened Sung Ha-ri leaped towards Hasegawa Isshin, who was floating in the sky.
“Although it’s like this… to fight against the Thunder of the Heavens. It’s an honor.”
Hasegawa Isshin leisurely swung his staff. Lines of light made of barriers flew towards Sung Ha-ri. Sung Ha-ri used the force field as a foothold and dodged in mid-air. The lines of light that passed by her exploded, creating a shockwave.
Sung Ha-ri fell. She didn’t just fall. Even in that situation, she threw her spear in retaliation.
Clang!
The spear bounced off. Sung Ha-ri clicked her tongue. She bounced off her body and leaped again, continuing the fight. Hasegawa Isshin responded calmly.
“Twenty barriers have already been created. How easily these barriers are formed… Tera’s support is amazing.”
Sung Ha-ri spurred herself on and continued the fight.
Hasegawa Isshin seemed relaxed on the outside, but he was focusing all his attention on Sung Ha-ri. Relatively, I was free. He was looking down on me.
‘Let’s remember what Sung Ha-ri said. Find the weak points and break the barriers.’
My Spirit Eye was a great help in this situation.
When I used my Spirit Eye, I could see the flow of mana. Whether it was magic or barrier magic, its source was mana, so if I used my Spirit Eye, I could see the hidden barriers with my own eyes.
‘This is crazy. I can’t understand even when I see it.’
The barriers were made of lines and shapes. At first glance, they were beautiful. Except for the fact that they were dominating the space and trapping me and Sung Ha-ri.
‘The pressure of the barriers is getting stronger. I have to do something.’
I reached out to the barrier. I felt a strong repulsion and immediately pulled my hand back. If I had tried to go deeper, my arm would have been crushed.
‘I can’t approach it recklessly.’
I looked around and examined the barrier. I found a strange spot.
The area where the barriers met. It was somehow awkward compared to other places. Was it a seam?
I reached out my hand. I felt the same repulsion.
‘The repulsion is much weaker than before. I can break it.’
Of course, I couldn’t break it with pure brute force alone.
Crackling.
I covered my hand with lightning energy and grabbed the seam of the barrier.
Crack!
Two barriers crumbled at the same time. The space shook, the barrier disappeared, and the pressure decreased.
Hasegawa Isshin turned his head sharply and looked at me.
“How did you break the barrier…!”
He was incredibly shocked, his eyes wide with astonishment. I was annoyed by his reaction. How much had he underestimated me?
I moved to the next weak point.
“That unique eye… I see. You can visualize the barriers! I should have taken you down first.”
“Do you think I’ll just stand by?”
Sung Ha-ri intervened and blocked Hasegawa Isshin’s path. I ran and broke the barriers one by one. The barriers were being created again, but not faster than I was breaking them.
“Stop him!!”
The barriers moved. The barriers that had been focusing on Sung Ha-ri began to pour down on me like a waterfall. The pressure of the barriers crushed my body. Some of the barriers turned into sharp needles and tried to pierce my body.
Crackling, crack!
Lightning Heaven Style Electromagnetic Barrier.
I covered my body with a barrier to block the barriers.
‘This isn’t good.’
It was difficult to move because of the barriers that were checking me.
‘A way….’
I had to disperse the power of the barriers directed at me. Sung Ha-ri’s help? She was already doing a great job. The fact that I could move at all was thanks to Sung Ha-ri successfully drawing Hasegawa Isshin’s attention.
I glanced at Sung Ha-ri. She was fighting Hasegawa Isshin some distance away. The important thing was that the distance was wide.
‘I can use that skill I’ve been sealing. I’ll use all the remaining skill points.’
「Spirit Summoning
Level: 20
Summons a spirit.」
「Spirit Enhancement
Level: 20
Enhances the spirit’s power by 20%.」
“Anything is fine! Come out!”
I used Spirit Summoning. The mana inside me drained out.
Whoosh.
The wind blew. The wind gathered in one place and took the shape of a human. It was a translucent, muscular man. The spirit, with a body over 3 meters tall, looked down at me from the air and said.
“Contractor, I am Yupheris. Is there anything you wish to ask of me?”
An overwhelming presence that made my whole body tremble.
This guy was definitely a top-tier wind spirit.