Chapter 152: Seoul Holder Academy.
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In the empty campus buildings and offices.
As if representing the vulgar autumn atmosphere, today’s academy was filled with a bleak aura everywhere.
“…….”
In that silence.
Tak Won-ho was quietly doing his paperwork in his office.
Familiar.
The academy on weekends was always quiet.
There were professors who occasionally came out for research or students who came out for personal training and circle activities, but since there were no classes that day, there were far fewer visitors than usual.
Students or professors passionate about personal growth…
Unless you were operational staff like Tak Won-ho who oversees the institution, it was stranger to come to the academy on a golden weekend.
“The underground dungeon…”
Tak Won-ho was reading a thick pile of compiled reports.
It was a special report that his exclusive disciple, now the academy’s most promising prospect, 1st year Do Jae-hyun, had worked hard to prepare.
<Final Report on Research on Academy Underground Dungeon: Focusing on the Villain’s Tactics>
The underground dungeon that was discovered by chance one day.
He thought it should be explored at some point, but never got around to actually doing it.
If Tak Won-ho explored it himself, there was a possibility that other executives of the Tak family would find out…
Then the underground dungeon would just become an object of vigilance and an ordinary source of income for his brothers.
So the second best option, he handed it to was Do Jae-hyun.
The exclusive disciple who at the time showed exceptional combat senses and growth potential.
He thought that the boy would be able to complete the exploration, and if it proved too difficult, he was willing to just leave it buried.
“But that was it…”
But Do Jae-hyun perfectly carried out the exploration Tak Won-ho had given him.
Somehow, he recruited the academy’s top prospects in 1st year to be his companions and completed the exploration of the underground dungeon, recording all information about the interior of the dungeon and its monsters in his report.
It was virtually a perfect exploration report.
But that wasn’t the end.
“He pierced perfectly into the weak point.”
What Tak Won-ho had secretly wanted.
Regarding the underground dungeon, Do Jae-hyun sharply analyzed the parts that had seemed suspicious.
And he created a report adding his own rational inferences.
That was the final report Tak Won-ho was reading now.
…
(omission)
…
Therefore, it can be confirmed that the monster ‘Sizzling Salamander’ that appeared inside the academy this first semester originated from the underground dungeon below this academy. In other words, this was not a natural phenomenon, but an artificial incident, and the possibility that the <Villain> clan was deeply involved cannot be ruled out at all.
…
…
If the <Villain> clan orchestrated the incident at that time, one more dangerous piece of information can be inferred. And that is that the <Villain> side possesses some kind of special method or item to summon dungeon monsters into reality. This has the potential to cause tremendous harm to ordinary people, and in the worst case, innocent victims could suffer the same fate as in the ‘Gwanghwamun Plaza Mass Murder Incident’ …
…
(omission)
…
The monster that suddenly appeared in the academy last semester.
The B-grade Sizzling Salamander.
Because it appeared randomly during non-lecture hours, many students were injured and killed.
Although it became an issue at the time, the incident soon died down. But Do Jae-hyun brought it up once again.
That it was clearly related to <Villain>.
That they have a special way to summon monsters into reality.
The stories supporting that claim were neatly organized in the final report.
“…It wasn’t for nothing that he became the circle leader.”
As he read the report, Tak Won-ho admired it.
When his disciple had said he would create a circle to stand against the nation’s largest criminal organization, honestly he had been worried at first, but now more than anyone he firmly acknowledged it.
Do Jae-hyun was the most suited to be president of <Anti-Villain>.
All the conclusions he arrived at made sense, and all the clues he found were credible.
Creating this previously non-existent type of circle at the academy wasn’t stemming from some misguided hero mentality.
His actions always had a basis.
“Hmm. As expected from my disciple.”
With a meaningless laugh, Tak Won-ho cleared his throat and concentrated again on the report.
Since it was a report containing the sweat his disciple had shed over one semester, he needed to read it a bit more prudently.
But then.
Tap tap-
Boom-!
“Professor Tak! Trouble!”
Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded and the office door slammed open, and one academy employee resident rushed in with an urgent expression.
Annoyed by the noisy atmosphere, Tak Won-ho frowned.
“What’s going on?”
“An attack! We’ve been attacked!”
“…Attacked?”
At the out-of-nowhere word, Tak Won-ho blinked in puzzlement.
The academy was suddenly attacked?
It was an improbable story.
But the employee quickly nodded and replied,
“Yes! About 20 people! Many employees and students have been badly injured. Judging by their ruthless methods, they seem to be Villain clan members! Immediate action seems necessary. And… and the man leading them is…”
The employee’s face darkened in despair.
“Hwang Seong-yeon. The owner of Devil Sword, it’s definitely Hwang Seong-yeon!”
“…!!”
On the peaceful weekend academy.
A brutal blade was suddenly baring its fangs.
***
Ippotranslation
***
Kuwoong!
[You have won the duel! Victory is recognized due to your high contribution in the duel. With the mysterious power of the Rune Hunter, you can replicate one of the opponent’s runes. Please select the rune to replicate.]
The informational window naturally reveals itself, as if congratulating me on my victory.
I felt strength draining from my body.
It was the same for the party members who had poured all their power into the hunt together.
“Wow, wow… We got it.”
“It’s over….”
Yamata no Orochi fell.
It was a hard-fought victory, piercing through his vicious and intense curses.
At the center of it was Park Jin-woo, who actively utilized [Iron Will].
Using his rune that ignores most curses, he attracted all of the boss’s aggro, allowing our party, freed from curses, to carry out systematic attacks.
‘We just need our feet freed.’
The most difficult thing when facing it was the status condition skills.
My feet kept getting tied up from the tricky curses, which was only resolved after Park Jin-woo actively stepped up to the front.
Freed from those shackles, our party launched an all-out offensive.
Kwon Oh-jun and Kang Juyeon’s ultimate skills that we had saved up.
And the [Divine Slash] inherent in my [Sword of Penitent] all poured out in an attack.
That’s how Yamata no Orochi fell.
No matter how fast his self-healing is with his evil-inclined divine rune, it was no match for two ultimate skills and a skill filled with immense divine power.
“Everyone worked so hard.”
Barely holding onto my weakening legs, I told the exhausted party members that they did a good job.
“You worked hard too.”
“You worked hard….”
Perhaps because everyone was completely drained, they barely responded.
Most of the party members were already sitting or lying on the floor, resting.
“Wow – I really thought we were goners…. This felt like facing an S-grade monster.”
Even Park Jin-woo sprawled out on the floor with a groan.
Certainly, this battle must have been quite difficult for him.
I was surprised too when he got burned by the Flame Hydra earlier and was in pain.
But as expected of the original protagonist, he soon recovered and contributed the most in the hunt against Yamata no Orochi.
No matter what anyone says, he was one of the main contributors to clearing this dungeon.
“If it really was S-grade, we’d all be dead.”
“You said it. But honestly, shouldn’t they make an A+ grade? The so-called A-grade monsters are way too strong.”
“That’s true.”
Whether Holders or monsters, there is a tremendous gap between A-grade and S-grade
A strong disconnect stemming from actual differences in ability and experience.
Therefore, even with the same A-grade, everyone’s skills varied greatly.
Thus, some argued that A+ or even SS grade should be newly established.
I’d heard that some countries actually implemented such a grading system.
“In any case, a boss room with two boss monsters… This will surely become a sensational topic worldwide once we get back….”
Akiba, sitting in a corner, mumbled to herself.
I silently nodded in agreement.
Two boss monsters.
This was certainly information that would astonish not just Korea and Japan, but the entire world.
Since such a thing had never appeared in history before.
As she said, once we return to reality…
All kinds of articles would praise this highly, and research related to it would skyrocket exponentially – or so I imagined.
“Then let’s start cleaning up and prepare to head back. The rest room over there is open too.”
The ‘Smuggler’s Cave’ was an undiscovered dungeon.
As soon as the raid was over, the rest room opened up, revealing a new room.
Of course, since the information ‘two boss monsters’ had never appeared anywhere before, I had assumed this dungeon would definitely be undiscovered.
I approached the fallen Flame Hydra to begin dismantling it.
Extracting magic stones from each boss monster and confirming rest room rewards.
Just take care of this much, then it’ll be time to head back soon.
It’s a waste to leave the boss monsters’ spoils behind, but there were no dismantling specialists anyway, and the party members desperately needed rest.
“Ugh-?! Huk…?!”
But then.
In the moment when we were about to finish resting and start cleaning up.
Kim Seong-cheol, the magician-type, let out a painful groan.
I quickly turned around in surprise, only to see…
A sharp knife stabbed into his abdomen.
“…Huh?”
For an instant, I couldn’t grasp the situation.
Kim Seong-cheol was suddenly stabbed with a knife.
…Why?
What just happened?
And soon, the reason became clear.
“Heheh – Nice to see you all. I’ve been wanting to kill some of your faces for a while now, and you just happened to gather here today?”
The man who stabbed Kim Seong-cheol with the knife, and his group.
Plus, the leader at the center of the group showed herself.
An unfamiliar voice, but a recognizable tone.
An unfamiliar face, but memorable looks.
Long hair falling to her waist and a sharp impression.
And a woman with a smile as sinister as midwinter.
The branch leader of <Villain> clan’s Academy branch.
The mastermind who had cruelly harassed me and the Academy all this time.
The ruler of gravity, Cha Soo-yeon.
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