Apartment complex in Seoul.
In the early morning, Seo Yuna was walking down the street.
Dressed in a business suit, she was on her first day at a new job.
Seo Yuna moved forward with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.
After graduating from college, she had endured three years of rejection before finally landing a position at a prestigious bank through their public recruitment.
Both Seo Yuna and her parents were overjoyed with pride for her accomplishment.
As Seo Yuna walked, she wrinkled her nose slightly at the sight of a scruffy man approaching from the opposite direction.
“What is he doing dressed like that at this hour…”
The man was grossly overweight, with a belly the size of Mount Namsan. He wore sunglasses, a pair of shorts, and a single running shirt. In his hand, he held a smartphone selfie stick.
His appearance gave off an unmistakable sense of discomfort. With every step he took, his belly and flabby cheeks jiggled, making her stomach churn.
“Excuse me?”
Seo Yuna, who had been trying to hurry past him as if she hadn’t seen him, was startled when he called out to her in a grating voice.
“Eek. What is it?”
“I make OTube content, and I was wondering if you would mind doing a quick interview for me…”
He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen as he spoke.
Seo Yuna felt extremely uneasy listening to his voice, which fluctuated awkwardly as he talked.
“Ah, so you’re an OTube content creator.”
She felt somewhat relieved despite his bizarre introduction, as it was better to think of him as an OTube creator than to imagine him as someone else wandering around dressed like that.
“I’m kind of busy…”
Seo Yuna declined, not wanting to get involved unnecessarily. However, the man grabbed her arm.
His grip was so strong that she couldn’t move.
“Why are you doing this?!”
She looked around for someone to help, but there was no one. The man had approached her only after confirming that no one else was around.
“Come on, just one interview, and I’ll give you 100,000 won.”
The man persisted with relentless determination.
“Ah, I understand, so let go of me!”
Seo Yuna responded, trying to hide her fear. She intended to get it over with quickly and leave. If someone came by during that time, it would be even better.
“May I know your name?”
The man suddenly asked for her name, his expression one that induced disgust with flaring nostrils.
“No, why do you need my name?”
Seo Yuna suspected that his claim of being an OTube creator and wanting to conduct an interview might be a lie, perhaps an attempt to get her number.
“I will transfer the money to your account, so I need your name. I’m planning to pay you in advance right now.”
Despite her suspicions, Seo Yuna figured that it was bad luck to have encountered a man like this and decided to tell him her name. She felt obligated to receive the 100,000 won for talking to such a man.
“Ah, Seo Yuna, is that right, Seo Yuna?”
“Yeah, yeah. I need to get to work, so let’s finish this quickly.”
“You’re not lying.”
The man had a skill that allowed him to detect lies once a day.
“…”
He gave an eerie smile.
With this, all necessary conditions had been met.
Poke.
“AAAAH!”
The pen in the man’s hand was thrust into Seo Yuna’s neck.
Her unprotected skin was torn as easily as paper by the power of the Awakened One. The blood gushed out copiously.
The man with the stained pen wrote “Seo Yuna” on the piece of paper he held.
This was no ordinary piece of paper, and the act of writing the name held special meaning.
As soon as “Seo Yuna” was written, the paper began to emit light.
One by one, red glowing letters appeared until the paper was entirely filled.
『 Summon Successful
Name: Seo Yuna
Gender: Female
Rank: N/A
Details: Seo Yuna is a 25-year-old woman who grew up in an affluent household. She has recently been employed by S Bank and is excited about her new job. She feels slightly embarrassed and dissatisfied about her parents boasting to everyone about her new position at S Bank.
Special Note: Skilled drawer. 』
The man wrote an additional sentence at the bottom of the settings.
『Seo Yuna obeys Oh Chan-seok’s commands.』
Magic drained from Oh Chan-sek’s body. After a brief stagger, he smiled.
“Shit, all you had to do was give your name when asked. Why were you acting like such a brat?”
Slap.
Oh Chan-sek slapped Seo Yuna across the face. She wore a completely astonished expression.
“Why, why are you doing this!”
“Stay still. Do not speak!”
As Seo Yuna tried to scream and run away, Oh Chan-sek preemptively issued his command.
“Ump. Ump.”
Seo Yuna found herself unable to move or speak as he had commanded. Her body felt like it wasn’t her own, and her mouth was as though sealed with glue, refusing to open no matter how hard she tried.
“Working at S Bank, huh? You must have studied hard to get there. Now, there’s no more bank teller Seo Yuna. You’re just a toy for me to use and discard as I see fit.”
Oh Chan-sek possessed a skill that allowed him to confirm and modify to some extent the basic settings of a person if he wrote their name down in their blood. The use of this skill required a special piece of paper with high magic conduction, but it could easily be purchased by direct order from an American factory.
Thus, Seo Yuna became part of his collection. There were already more than a truckload of victims like her in Oh Chan-sek’s home.
*
In front of the Academy’s gate.
Inside the tent blocking the entrance were students busily signing consent forms.
I had also brought three copies of the consent form.
“Here you go, everyone.”
“Thank you.”
“Meow.”
As Park Hayeon and Isiah took the forms I handed over, they expressed their gratitude.
The content of the consent form roughly emphasized that any events occurring inside the gate were the result of the student’s own choice, and the Academy bore no responsibility for them.
“It’s a little creepy.”
“Meow…”
The threatening wording was enough to scare ordinary students into not entering.
This didn’t apply to the brave Park Hayeon, and Isiah trusted me enough to even pretend to die if I told her to, so there was no problem.
“I’ve finished.”
Park Hayeon quietly completed the consent form.
<Why is this even necessary!? ㅠㅠ I didn't have to do this in my first year.>
Isiah unnecessarily pulled out her tablet, wrote her complaint, and showed it to us.
We took the papers to the teacher in charge.
It was a familiar face.
“It’s been a while.”
“Shinnoda, right? It’s been a while.”
The teacher appeared beneath heavy dark circles, lacking any sense of motivation.
He was teacher Song Si-yeol, in charge of gate access.
‘Is this a complete demotion or something?’
Teacher Song Si-yeol owed me a debt of sorts.
Though I couldn’t recall his name, he informed me that the guy who had caused trouble with me at the start of the semester, ended up fleeing to Japan after switching places with Hitomi, was slandering me.
“Your consent forms look good. You may proceed.”
“Yes, thank you.”
He didn’t acknowledge me in any specific way.
He could’ve made some show, but it was impossible to understand what Teacher Song Si-yeol was thinking about.
We passed through the gate and entered the dungeon.
———–<Dungeon Entry>———–
[‘Gigantic Forest’ entry confirmed.]
————————————-
A translucent message appeared before our eyes.
Beyond it was the Base Camp we had seen at the start of the semester, appearing exactly as it did before.
First, the primary goal within this dungeon was to promote Park Hayeon to A-rank and Isiah to B-rank.
“Sia, please transform ahead of time. You’ll take the role of a tank at the front line.”
“Meow meow.”
Since Isiah couldn’t use the ‘Gareas’ suit, transforming into a cat would make her usable.
In fact, before entering the dungeon, Isiah had whispered to me that she wanted to transform into ‘Gareas’, but I immediately and firmly refused.
While she transformed, I too went to the changing room to use ‘Polymorph.’
After transforming into the form of a paladin, I came out to find a giant cat looking down at me.
“Meow.”
“Wow━ Sister Sia, you’re so big!”
Park Hayeon said this and hugged the fluffy fur of Isiah, rubbing her face against it.
Isiah swayed her tail back and forth.
She lowered her head and licked Park Hayeon.
Park Hayeon’s entire body was soaked with her tongue, which felt like boneless flesh.
“Meow meow.”
“Ah.”
Park Hayeon was drenched from the cat’s saliva, looking exactly like a drowned rat.
“Sister Sia, please focus on drawing aggression and defending. Hyun, you stay behind Sister Sia and can gradually take on the role of a damage dealer.”
“And you?”
“For being honest, my stats make it beneficial for me to move freely and support.”
I considered it a loss to be tied to any formation.
If I wanted to, I could honestly sweep everyone away like the legendary Lü Bu from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
“Still, aren’t the monsters here, at best, D-rank? It feels excessive to form such a large group for this.”
Park Hayeon quietly voiced her doubts.
Given the information she had, it was an accurate statement.
‘I’ve underestimated things here.’
I got so caught up thinking about our secondary goal that I failed to consider the information gap between Park Hayeon and me.
The secondary goal was to clear the hidden stages of the ‘Gigantic Forest’ dungeon.
“Well, we might see something like the Luna Bear from last time; this is why we’re planning like this.”
I gave a vague reply.
It wasn’t exactly wrong.
“Hmm. I see. That makes sense.”
Though we currently lack the numbers to clear the hidden floor, my plan was just to confirm whether the conditions I knew were correct.
