CHAPTER 18 – DUNGEON PRACTICE (6)

June 19, 2022 — 2 Comments

“…I wasn’t hiding.”

Fuleim glared alternately at Baek Yu-seol and Hong Bi-yeon. Watching the fight from beginning to end, her doubts grew bigger and bigger. ” What’s that?”

“What?” 

“Point sticks, how… did you break the magic shield with that teaching material?”

I paused briefly to consider it. It was an element discovered by tens of thousands of players while playing around in the game, however, it does not seem to have appeared in the original version setting.

I had no choice but to look around.

“It’s very sturdy.”

“… No matter how sturdy the teaching materials are, how can you can break the magic shield with a simple swing?”

“Why don’t you recall and explain to me why ‘ordinary knights’ vanished from this world?”

That’s right. No matter how much I trained my body, I could never penetrate the shield of an ordinary magic knight.

‘I’d like to explain that this magic weapon was close to a bug item, and it worked because Hong Bi-Yeon’s magic shield was unskilled…’

Otherwise, Hong could go out and really try to kill me. Let’s not do that because it was a little scary.

Without a proper explanation, Fuleim’s suspicions grew deeper and deeper.

She kept her mouth shut for a long time, and then suddenly asked.

“You… what the hell are you?” So, this is what happens in the end. In less than a month after I decided not to be noticed, it all came down to this. ‘Should I reveal who I am?’ I pondered for a moment.

I’m also a modern person like you, and in fact, I know that this world is in a game, not a ropan (romance fantasy).

But that’s a hasty conclusion. I haven’t formed an opinion of her yet.

There appeared to be no other option. I had no choice but to remain motionless.

“…I’m not a bad person. It’s not like I’m hurting you.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“It’s just as I said. You may be wary of me, but you don’t have to be. I’d rather assist you.” 

‘You want to assist me…?’

Fuleim’s expression was tinged with confusion. It’s time. It was best to avoid when they had a lot of thoughts.

“I’d like to tell you more, but there’s not much time left. then, bye.”

I turned around and said it one last time. Everything would be fine as long as I disappear quietly.

Cuckoo!!

But I couldn’t as something hit the back of the head. A dizzying sensation brought tears to my eyes.

Whack!

Four point sticks fell to the ground belatedly.

“Huh…??”

Looking back, Hong Bi-yeon, who had thrown the point sticks, had a puzzled look on her face.

“…I thought you’d catch them. You avoid all the magic and traps coming from blind spots, but you can’t catch them?”

This was inevitable. Mana Leakage’s ‘Sixth Sense’ had its limitations.

The point stick had magical power as well, so it could have been avoided under normal circumstances, but because the duration of the sixth sense was determined by Baek Yu-seol’s mental strength, the sixth sense was currently disabled.

Right after entering the dungeon, he activated his six senses slightly, and immediately after meeting with Yuslek and the others, he continued to activate his sixth sense to the maximum, so now he had a very severe headache.

If that attack was judged to be life-threatening, the sixth sense would have been activated even if the head were to split off, but it seems that none of the senses were activated since it wasn’t.

I said as he rubbed the back of my head while whimpering.

“So, why did you throw this?”

“I lost, so take it.”

Perhaps it was due to her pride. Scores mattered, but she didn’t want to go quietly, even if she lost to commoners.

However, Hong will come in third place.

‘If I take it, my ranking would be too high.”

Baek Yu-seol had no use for the third-place prize. It was a piece of equipment that increased the magical output. Because it was provided by the school, he would be unable to sell it anywhere.

“All right. I’ll take this one, you take the other three.”

I picked up only one point stick and quickly left.

I wondered how Hong Bi-yeon and Fuleim were looking at me from behind, but looking back now won’t end well.

Because men are cool when they don’t look back.

“Is he an idiot?”

“I don’t know if it’s because he’s a commoner.”

* * * * *

Stella Dome, over the sky.

Twelve professors and instructors, including Hanwol Lee, stood around watching a hologram map floating through the air.

On the map, there were 141 red dots representing the students currently in training.

They were from Classes A-S.

Every year, at least one outstanding student entered the academy, but this year was especially noteworthy.

Because there were not only one or two students to keep an eye on.

“Well.”

Hanwol Lee nodded his head, pleased with the students’ coordinated movements. This batch’s freshmen scored higher than any other batch.

Those who joined with teammates quickly obtained point sticks based on their number, while those who did not, fought a duel to steal the point sticks.

“By the way, why is the hologram so unstable?”

“Ah, that’s… A large number of professors without lectures have gathered in the Stella Dome control room to monitor the training of classes A and S. Besides, there’s a huge crowd of people at the tower.”

“Not monitoring, they are just here to watch.”

“Well, the professors must have been curious too.”

A voice rang in Lee Hanwol’s ear as soon as he finished those words.

-Haha, I’m sorry I pulled the hologram server, Professor Lee Hanwol.

Twitching, Lee Han-wol’s eyebrows frowned. This voice was familiar, but it was not of a professor.

“Did the old man of Magic Senate come all the way here fishing?” <T/N: fishing as in looking for potential talent/scouting>

-Uh-huh, be careful with what you say, Professor. What did you say to Elder Telix?

This voice was of another person.

‘Chair of the Blue Tower’s Board of Directors, Aian.’

She was also a big-shot wizard.

“I can’t believe it.”

– LOL, we need to move early to identify the talent.

– Well. It’s fun to watch, though. When I was young, I was more amazing.

– Man, you’re talking nonsense. I still remember your first dungeon shit!

– This is senility! I was thirteen at the time!

Lee Hanwol laughed in vain at the voices of countless wizards ringing in his ears.

This was the freshmen’s first dungeon practise. But wasn’t there already such a large crowd just to see it?

‘Well, that’s possible.’

In many magical private institutions such as Magic Tower, guilds, and corporations, it was possible to contact students at any time if they got permission from Stella.

In the past, there have often been cases in which big-name institutions contacted and sponsored students, and it was neither a bad thing for the schools nor the students.

This year, however, the competition was fierce. The biggest event to wrap up the year’s accomplishments, the Stella Magic Survival or the Stella Dual Tournament, hadn’t even occurred; haven’t some great wizards already appeared?

They didn’t move because they wanted to. Other old people are moving. So, they were forced to come because they didn’t want them to be taken away.

“Instructor Lee Hanwol. What should I do with the monitor?”

“What should you do? Let’s focus on class S. Those old people will want it, too.”

After a while, 41 members of the S class were broadcast on the screen.

First of all, Pung Ha-rang from Class S.

He was a wizard who mainly dealt with wind magic, but he was a special case knight that mainly used melee combat.

The wizards exclaimed as they watched his subversive appearance, slamming the monster and classmates with the wind as he approached.

Shin Hwa-ryeon of Class S.

She had the attribute of ‘Thunderbolt,’ a clan magic that allowed her to work with electricity and wind at the same time, and the appearance of lime-colored lightning swirling like a storm was more beautiful than violent.

Furthermore, all of the students in class S used unusual magic or had unusual performances.

Among them, the one that stood out was, of course, Fuleim.

Humans who could deal with the natural attributes of elves, the material attributes of dwarves, and the radiance attributes of angels, were countless. You can find quite a lot of them even in Stella right now.

But, a human who could handle all three attributes.

It could be said that this was a truly unprecedented case in history.

“Ah, Hae Won-ryang and Mayu-seong have met.”

At the words of the supervisor, the screen naturally focused there.

“Well ….”

Not long after the training began, two of the best prospects have already come into contact.

“It looks like they are having a conversation.”

But, after a short time, the duel began immediately.

Tung!! On the screen, Mayu-seong exploded the mana on his toes and dashed toward Haewon-ryang.

“Power jump…”!

Not just once, but consecutively.

– Oh, I can’t believe he activated the 3rd class power jumps consecutively.

– Is that even possible at the age of seventeen?

Normally, a wizard entered the third class in his mid to late 20s or early 30s.

Mayusung, on the other hand, was freely using 3rd class magic at the age of seventeen.

When he lifted the wand slightly, the ground beneath Haewon-ryang trembled, and a pillar soared. A lightning bolt struck it, and walls of flames rushed in from all sides.

However, Haewon-ryang did not stay still either. He flew his body back using the shock wave of the wind and then stretched his palm forward.

An ice sheet spread on the floor, and dozens of sharp icicles rose up. When Mayu-seong used flames to melt the ice while avoiding it, Haewon-ryang responded with a more powerful pillar of fire.

– Both of them have three attributes…!

– I can’t believe it.

A normal wizard could only use one attribute, and with repeated training, it was possible to deal with two attributes.

But, starting with the three attributes, it is impossible without innate talent. They are born with a special talent.

Boom! Pusuk, Puong…!!

Ice and lightning collided, sparks and flames collided, and wind and earth collided.

For a duel between students as young as 17, this was an exciting aspect that could make your hands sweat.

The victory did not come easily.

Haewon-ryang had already set up his magical circles, prepared everything, and enticed Mayu-seong, but the opponent could not be easily defeated as the strongest one on one.

However, the victory began to lean more and more toward Haewon-ryang. In the first place, he had prepared thoroughly with the intention of pushing Mayu-seong even by giving up some points!

In the end, with Mayu-seong’s defeat, the game was about to end.

Suddenly, a huge monster broke through the sky.

– That’s…!

It was a kind of ‘hidden boss,’ an event prepared by professors as a joke.

No one told them about it, nor did it give any reward, but the monster screamed and flew between Mayu-seong and Haewon-ryang, collapsed, and died.

A girl appeared on the corpse of the strange bird with frozen wings with sparks all over her body.

– Eisel… Morph…

Hidden bosses were never found by chance. It must be accompanied by insight and sense, judgment, and reasoning ability. Even if she had found it, defeating it would have been difficult, but she was successful in hunting it alone.

– Oh, were you fighting? I’m sorry to disturb you!

Eisel recovered a blue feather from the monster’s body, hopped down, and disappeared.

Meanwhile, Mayseong also disappeared, and the dungeon’s topography had twisted and changed, making it impossible for Hae Won-ryang to follow him.

-Hmm, the eldest daughter of Grand Dule Morph, the traitor…

-…it doesn’t matter where the bloodline goes.

– That’s too bad. If her father hadn’t been like that, that talent would have blossomed even more.

The wizards uttered a word or two, then went silent. There was an unbearable story behind the death of Grand Duke Morph, so continuing this topic was burdensome.

And just in time, another fierce battle broke out.

Hanwol Lee was also quite interested. He wanted to monitor it.

– She is the princess of the Adolevit family.

– Who’s her opponent? I’ve never seen him before.

-Eh, it doesn’t look like much fun. Hey, Lee Hanwol, please change the channel.

“Wait a minute.”

-Tsk Tsk. 

While complaining, the old people focused on the screen

– Well…?

– That magic……Blink…?

He was able to witness a very unusual student.

“That student’s name is Baek Yu-seol , a very unique student who uses blinking as a specialty.”

On the screen, Hong Bi-yeon swung the staff and scattered her unique explosive flames everywhere.

Although there was no technique or discernible control, the output and destructive power were too overwhelming for a 17-year-old to display, catching the wizards’ attention.

However.

Not a single spark could strike Baek Yu-seol.

He continuously used blinking to avoid the constantly changing terrain.

He was unbelievably fast. Its speed, its direction, its distance.

The boy was in complete control.

When the flaming arrows were struck with the teaching material he was holding, exclamations erupted.

– No, is it even possible to look at an arrow with your eyes and strike it…?

Of course, most trained wizards would be able to easily repel that level of magic arrows.

Wizards always have mana on their skin, and the mana reacts to flying magic on its own, sometimes revealing a ‘save barrier.’

The only important factors that determined your defence were how quickly you circulated mana and how well you controlled the amount of mana.

However, no one would be able to see or strike the arrow.

Even more so if the distance was so short.

The Archmage or higher wizards who had been openly expressing their admiration during the battle between Haewon-ryang and Mayu-seong had now gone silent.

A situation was unfolding before them that they could not comprehend even with the knowledge and values they had acquired throughout their lives.

‘Blink’ has an infinite number of possibilities, but it is uncontrollable magic.

For hundreds of years, countless scholars have attempted to master this fundamental magic, but they all failed, dying or being maimed and abandoned.

And in the midst of this uncertainty, a student appeared, controlling the blink like his own limbs.

-This…..

Everyone was silent.

It was a different issue compared to those with overwhelming talents such as Mayu-seong, Haewon-ryang, and Eisel.

It was worth it. The value of magic with infinite possibilities of blinking.

-By the way… Why isn’t he using any other magic and just playing around?

-If he had used magic, the duel would have ended sooner.

– I don’t understand.

As everyone was asking the same question, suddenly, a voice crackled and a man’s voice intervened.

– No. That’s a serious fight.

“……..!” 

Lee Hanwol’s heart was pounding and almost fell. Very familiar, yet an unfamiliar voice.

The principal of Stella Academy, which is said to be the best magic school in the world.

A master mage of the 9th class, Eltman Eltwin.

– It was sincere from the beginning. Can’t you see it with your eyes?

At his words, the old wizards of the Senate, the board of directors of the Mage Tower, and the wizards of the Great Tower fell into silence.

– Interesting. I read a fairy tale a few days ago, and the way that student was fighting… It reminded me of the ‘chivalry’ that existed in the old days.

Eltman mumbled as if speaking to himself. The wizards were however dumbfounded by those words.

In this age of magic, the chivalry which disappeared along with the cold weapon?

But how could they refute that? The opponent was a great sage, one of only ten on the continent.

The wizards remained silent even after Eltwin vanished without a word. Because the word ‘chivalry,’ as mentioned by the 9th class great sage, kept running through their minds.