As soon as we passed the entrance to the seemingly modern building, we were greeted by a dark and damp space.
It was a simulation dungeon, one of the facilities that Orge Academy boasts.
Here, dungeons of various terrains, shapes, and difficulties set in advance appear at random, and it is evaluated as the most suitable for dungeon simulation training… was known
‘But in reality, it’s really spectacular.’
I thought about it several times while playing the game, but it’s a really strange place.
As I was looking around, someone muttered a sigh of relief.
“In many places, it must be a cave.”
I thought it was Kim Yoo-hyeon, seeing the sound of breathing coming from right behind him.
Probably because a long-reach weapon like a halberd is cumbersome to handle inside a cave.
Given this, it was good to see that Kim Yu-hyeon had a lot of experience or that his power was halved unless there was a special countermeasure.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.’
“It’s a cave… Whoa.”
Han Soo-young also muttered as if sighing.
Her organ and specialty was magic based on the four elements series.
It also mainly dealt with fire-type magic.
There was no need for her to worry about that, as she would never make the same mistake as a novice by throwing flames blindly in an enclosed space.
It was only regrettable that she, too, had lost her power.
‘Once the terrain has not changed, it’s a cave.’
As expected, I didn’t have much of a reaction.
In the beginning, there would be no hidden devices or booby traps.
As long as you’re careful, nothing big will happen.
“Once again, to remind you of the purpose, it is simply breaking through the dungeon, not defeating a specific target or acquiring an item. Please keep all of this in mind.”
Saying so, Ivan raised his clenched hand forward.
Then the light gathered around his wrist and took the shape of a bow.
It was his unique ability, the magic bow.
Contrary to what I was aware of, cheers erupted from everywhere.
Ivan continued the briefing with a familiar expression on his face.
“We will score points based on the attack time and the presence or absence of stragglers or injuries among the team members after breaking through. So, break through as quickly as possible, but not overdo it.”
Saying so, Ivan looked at us all as if to reorganize.
As I pretended to be overhauling on the surface, I recalled information about the first main quest in the academy, a little later in my head.
‘As an ancient spirit suddenly appears inside the dungeon, the internal structure of the dungeon changes and the students are scattered. This was the beginning.’
Classes are abruptly halted, and instructors or agents are immediately dispatched to the rescue, but are blocked from the entrance.
In the end, the students inside are given instructions to escape as many as possible, and everyone, including the main character, tries to escape, but an ancient spirit waiting at the exit eventually leads to a battle… … This was the beginning of a common main quest.
In the original case, the condition to clear is to wait for the professors to come as reinforcements against him.
Certainly, in the current country, I could have endured as long as I could.
In fact, until I came here, I was just thinking of taking a reasonable amount of time and holding on.
However… … .
‘I’m sure this quest will arrive just before entering.’
[quest]
-symptom
[Explanation]
― You can feel the strange energy in the dungeon flowing out secretly and quietly.
And now you are the only one who felt that strange and secret energy.
And you are the only one who knows that this energy will be a harbinger of great events to come.
Please don’t forget that.
[Success Condition]
― Defeat the ancient tree spirit. (0/1)
[Reward on Success]
― Potion of Awakening
[Additional Success Conditions]
― Achieve 50% or more kill contribution.
[Reward for additional success]
― Sap of the first material
As I recalled that, a smile crept onto my lips without realizing it.
Awakening Potion.
The sap of the first substance.
Those two were worth it.
‘It’s stupid to stand still even looking at these.’
Awakening Potion is literally a potion that arbitrarily awakens growth-type skills.
In the case of my current situation, it was said that taking this could unconditionally unlock one of the abilities marked with ‘???’ on the branches of the World Tree or Henir’s shadow.
Also the sap of the first substance.
It was simple yet powerful.
It had a deceptive effect of a whopping [Permanently raises one of the stats].
It was one of the things I desperately needed for me, who had poor overall ability, and it was also an item that could only be obtained under extremely limited circumstances in the original work.
‘Because this was the biggest reason to rob Isabelle Gaudi’s dungeon.’
If only one of the two was a reward, I would have thrown away everything and rushed in.
As long as the possibility of getting both was open, I had only one choice.
‘Use all available means to catch them.’
There are the branches of the World Tree, the shadow of Henir, but at the present time, these are not enough to inflict decisive damage.
But I had the marks of hunting, and above all, Nidhogg’s fangs.
‘Ancient tree spirit, this guy must have been in the World Tree category.’
There are typically two types of attack methods that are counter-measures to people or monsters belonging to the category of the World Tree.
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One is Surt’s flame that can burn the World Tree itself.
And the other are weapons made as a by-product of Nidhogg, which ate the roots of the World Tree.
In other words, the current me was the perfect counter for him.
So, fighting him was not a problem in itself.
Rather, I was looking forward to the rewards that I could get and the thought of being able to experiment with the mark of hunting for the first time.
‘If possible, it would be good if people’s eyes were not gathered.’
The only thing left to worry about was thinking about how to calm the aftermath of the aftermath of defeating him.
* * *
A man with a troubled expression as if he was caught up in something.
Han Soo-young was looking at such a man carefully.
“… … .”
Taking the role of a scout and a guide, he was walking at the forefront of the group, contemplating something.
She had no time to know what he was thinking, but one thing was certain: at least what he was thinking about right now was not about this mock dungeon class.
Yoo Ji-hyuk.
A boy of the same age I met for the first time at the research center who arrived at the request of Master.
Choi Hyun-woo seemed to really like him, but he had an indescribable feeling from him.
But, at least, I could firmly say that I had never seen anyone as suspicious as Yoo Ji-hyuk.
Esmeralda Listenerger is a world-wide wanted criminal.
Because she mainly committed crimes such as espionage, crafting, and theft, the direct risk was low, but it was only when compared to other criminals.
Can’t she be weak, who has not been caught for years, even after turning enemies around the world’s heroes and government agencies?
However, Yoo Ji-hyuk fought against her and created a fatal gap.
A man with such strength received an E grade, which was slightly better than the average person in the academy’s measurement records.
‘Wonderful… … .’
At first, I thought that maybe he was approaching with bad intentions, but after carefully observing while staying close on purpose, it didn’t seem like that was the case.
Most of all, it was even more so when I saw Choi Hyun-woo, who is sensitive enough to be almost like an animal in that kind of sense, living peacefully.
‘Umm… … .’
But the absence of bad intentions doesn’t mean it isn’t suspicious.
Not a bad guy, but something suspicious.
That was Han Soo-young’s impression of Yoo Ji-hyuk.
It was even more so when she smiled strangely, wondering if she didn’t know what she was looking at, and then immediately took care of her expression.
And because of such actions, the scar on Yoo Ji-hyuk’s face became more prominent.
Seeing this, Han Soo-young could feel uncomfortable as if something was on the inside.
After all, that wound was because of you.
As soon as he remembered that fact, Han Soo-young could feel the guilt once more.
I later found out that there was a curse that said the wounds from the dagger would never go away, did he really know that? no. Even if you didn’t know that, for the people you met that day for the first time, you took the risk of being in trouble and didn’t have enough to defend yourself, so you could be suspicious of a guy who shoots himself right in front of a weapon.
The truth is, I’m not really a suspicious person… … .
“It’s strange.”
“Wow, what?”
Su-yeong Han, who was so engrossed in thought, answered Yoo Ji-hyuk’s sudden murmur without realizing it.
For a moment, I felt a sense of shame, but Han Soo-young, who noticed that everyone except herself was in a strange mood, also put strength in her eyes.
Yoo Ji-hyeok, the first to warn of danger, suddenly lowered his posture and began to be alert to the surroundings in a way that he could draw a dagger at any time.
Naturally, the other five also took out their weapons and took a vigilant posture.
So little time passed.
“I was going to quit because I thought the timing was a bit strange and unlucky to say now.”
Ivan, who had his hand on his hand so that he could pull the magic bow at any time, opened his mouth in a quiet voice.
“One of my specialties is sensing. But, I can’t feel anything… Any other people?”
At that, Lee Hyun-seong, who was looking around with a lot of tension, answered.
“I didn’t feel anything.”
“me too.”
Kim Yoo-hyeon answered while holding the halberd.
Next to him, Jin Ye-seul, who was crouching with a shield in front of him, was muttering something in a low voice.
Han Soo-young did not feel anything.
No matter how Yoo Ji-hyeok was, he was thinking that maybe he was just putting his legs on the wrong foot this time.
“… come.”
With Yoo Ji-hyuk’s muttering like that, Han Soo-young could feel the magic like an explosion.
Rather, it was such an explosive amount that I wondered why I had not felt it until now.
“what?! It’s absurd, the spirits are like this… !”
Right next door, Ivan was making the first startled voice.
And all of them came to realize that the ceiling, floor, and walls of the dungeon were shrinking as if they were exploding at some point, putting pressure on them.
“Crazy, what the hell is this!”
“Ahhh!”
Amidst the screams and commotion that fell into a moment of panic, Han Soo-young could clearly hear an urgent yet resolute cry.
“Don’t be energized! It’s okay, so don’t do anything strange, just leave it to yourself!”
Han Soo-young, who was collecting mana to use magic immediately, pondered for a moment, for a moment.
However, she let out the mana that was shaking as if it was about to explode at any moment according to his words… … .
“… ah.”
Immediately, her vision darkened.
And in her fading consciousness she thought.
‘I guess it was just a lie.’