Chapter 50: Investment 50— Instructor Neuman
Let’s take it back a bit to a few days prior to when the first years and second years entered into the dungeon. The four dungeon instructors had already prepared all the necessities that they and the students would need during their dungeon expedition.
"Neuman, I placed the tracing stones by that corner over there." A red-haired female professor pointed a hand to a space behind the wall.
"Why are you telling me, Pyria?" Neuman wasn’t the one in charge of the tracing stones; she was.
"In case I forgot." Pyria rubbed the back of her rough, spiky hair.
"Tsk... what a lost cause." Neuman rolled his eyes. They were both instructors, yet from the way it seemed to him—one was more competent than the other.
"Ahahahaha." Pyria burst into laughter; she couldn’t care less about what he said.
"Pyria, I think Neuman has had enough of your antics for today." The voice belonged to a shrewd-looking professor whose dark pupils seemed to reflect the starry night sky—even though they weren’t beneath any sky.
"I don’t care if she drops dead!"
A female instructor sat—back laid against a chair, legs crossed, with a newspaper over her pristine face. She removed the newspaper from her face so that she could be heard clearly.
"As long as that annoying laughter of hers ceases." She scowled.
"Xuyie... Do you have to bitch around all the fucking time?" Pyria rolled her eyes.
"I won’t allow myself to get tainted by such a barbarian any longer." Xuyie threw her face in the other direction—it was clear that she wouldn’t allow herself to be rage-baited by Pyria.
"Your stuck-up morals... didn’t stop you from stealing Neuman’s sandwich last week... pretty interesting if you ask me?" Pyria sneered. She had just practically exposed Xuyie’s dirty little secret, and she wasn’t going to let Pyria’s antics just slip off like that.
"You..... You... I have had it!" Xuyie scrambled to her feet.
Neuman came in between them before they started a fight that would destroy the entire auditorium.
"You both should calm down and behave like the instructors you are." He let out an exhausted sigh. This was the nth time he was stopping a fight from occurring between these two ladies.
The female instructors kept on squabbling; it was left to Neuman to calm the situation while the other male instructor, Roven, enjoyed watching them bicker. Amidst the chaos, a student whose face was quite hard to see came to pay an unexpected visit to the instructors in the dungeon auditorium.
"Hey, you. You aren’t supposed to be here, and I would suggest you head on out... now!" Roven was the first to notice the strange intrusion of the student.
Something definitely didn’t seem right about the student—for the fact that no students were allowed into the auditorium until the dungeon expedition began in a few days’ time. But for some reason, a student who chose to come in unannounced was even more bothering.
The student kept walking forward slowly in an eerie manner—paying no mind to Instructor Roven’s warnings.
"Brat! I thought he made it clear to you that you have to leave." Pyria blocked the path of the student. She was already rearing to put in a few punches.
"If you have anything to tell us, just wait a few days, or better still, consult your dungeon advisor." Neuman grabbed Pyria’s arm to restrain her before she decided to go berserk.
"Neuman, I suggest you and Pyria step away from that student, something isn’t right about them." Xuyie tried to warn them, but it was already too late. The rest became blurry in an instant.
The student cast an unexpected spell that brought all four instructors down before they could even counter the unexpected assault from the student.
"I can’t feel my limbs." Neuman struggled to get up, and when he did, he realized he was the only one still conscious.
A deafening ringing sound echoed in his ears. His eyes drifted towards the student. Just then, the student removed their hood.
"You." Though Neuman’s vision was blurry, he identified the assailant with a gaze.
A sinister grin crept across the student’s face. Before Neuman could speak again, his body gave up on him and he fell to the ground unconscious.
Now, currently on the third floor. The four cores and the student council core members managed to find and gather all the students with the help of Jin. They were all shocked to see one of their instructors unconscious.
Soon enough, the students spiraled into chaos. The presence of Instructor Neuman made it quite evident to them that no one was waiting for them at the resting point.
Before they all came, Jin had already begun healing Neuman and was currently trying to resuscitate him.
"Fellow students, you all need to calm down. We had already prepared for the possibility that our instructors might not have been waiting for us at the resting point.
"But at least we have found one, which is a big gain for us. At the very least, he could tell us what really happened that led to all of this and who is truly behind it all."
Leonard gave his unseemingly needed heroic speech to the other students, which, as expected, managed to ease their tension.
Edith aided Jin in the treatment of Instructor Neuman. As if he were having a bad dream—instructor Neuman had a stressed and tense look on his face despite being unconscious.
"Elliot, what happened here?" Seria walked up to Elliot—crystal blue eyes filled with worry.
"Nothing much. I just encountered the instruc—"
"The students are in danger!"
Instructor Neuman raised his head abruptly as he regained consciousness.
His eyes darted around to check whether his environment was safe or not. His blurry vision became clearer, and the figures of the students came into view.
"Instructor Neuman. Are you okay?" Edith placed a robe over his shoulders.
Instructor Neuman rose to his feet slowly. "I am better." His eyes drifted towards Jin. "Thanks to the both of you."
His eyes swept across the area. A heavy gust of wind was unleashed—Edith turned to her side and noticed he was gone. The next instant, Instructor Neuman held Liam by the neck—such that his feet couldn’t touch the ground.
"You!" Instructor Neuman pressed his fingers harder against Liam’s neck.
