Chapter 1130

〈 Chapter 1130: The Academy’s Savior 〉

Woooollllshh, woooollllshh…

The space churned violently, inducing nausea.

“When the environment changes, there won’t be any monster attacks. So don’t focus on your senses. You’ll just feel more dizzy. Cutting off your senses entirely for a moment can actually be a good strategy.”

Gender Ha gave a tip—albeit a little too late. Her voice only made the motion sickness worse.

‘Cutting off my senses…? That’s not gonna happen as easily as she thinks.’

Still, I didn’t voice my complaints. Knowing me, she’d probably respond with something like “You can do it.”

Eun Isi closed her eyes, blocking out one of her senses—vision. It was an effective method; she stood relatively steady.

On the other hand, Choi Da Yeon kept her wide-open eyes fixed on the churning space. Her pride was obvious. She has this tendency to prioritize her dignity in weird situations like this.

Choi Da Yeon stumbled. I reached out my hand, intending to grab her shoulder—but since I was also feeling unsteady, my hand ended up grabbing her waist instead. Her gaze turned toward me. As she tried to pull away, her leg slipped, and her body leaned into mine.

“……!!”

Choi Da Yeon gasped. I recalled our previous hug and began caressing her waist—not that it wasn’t pleasant.

The churning space finally stabilized. We were now in a rocky area. A stream trickled between the rocks.

Thump thump.

I could hear a heartbeat—it was coming from Choi Da Yeon’s body. Since I was still holding her waist, I felt it even more clearly. Our gazes locked for a long time. Choi Da Yeon’s face turned red, but she didn’t look away despite tightly pressing her lips together.

“Hey!! What are you two doing in this situation?!”

That was Gender Ha’s voice. Though playful, there was an oddly sharp edge to it.

Choi Da Yeon quickly pulled herself out of my embrace and put on an expression as if nothing had happened. Eun Isi then rushed over to her side.

“Ah, Miss, are you alright?”

“Shut up, idiot.”

“…Yes? Yes, I’ll shut up.”

The group continued moving forward.

The deeper we went, the more rabbit monsters started popping up. It became too much for just the frontliners to handle, so Eun Isi and I joined the fight.

A distorted-faced rabbit charged at us.

I swung my sword, slicing through the rabbit. It split in half—but then regenerated, splitting into two. And when I cut those two apart, they multiplied again from their corpses.

Fighting them wasn’t difficult. The rabbits simply charged recklessly.

‘…This is tiresome.’

I mechanically killed the endlessly multiplying rabbits.

Glancing around, no one else seemed to share my boredom. Everyone was fully focused on the battle, growing increasingly overwhelmed by the multiplying bunnies. Spirit Na’s usually stoic face exhaled heated breaths, and the others weren’t faring much better either.

While Gender Ha appeared fine, she wasn’t relaxing. The exhausted students were starting to make mistakes, and handling those errors fell to Gender Ha.

“Ikangho, fall back! Choi Da Yeon! Your accuracy is dropping. Take a break! Sung Yoojin! Are you going to stay unfocused?! Coordinate with the others!”

To me…


The scolding came pouring down.

“Join hands, huh…?”

Including me, the other kids’ personalities were excessively strong. I even felt it’d be easier to fight alone. Surprisingly, I sync well with Kim Cheon-woo.

“Yoo Jin! Ryou Ha-na’s in danger!”

At Kim Cheon-woo’s words, I turned my head toward Ryou Ha-na. She was surrounded by the proliferating rabbits. Six of them in total. Given her exhausted state, it’d be tough for her to break free.

A glance. Seong Ha-ri understands Ryou Ha-na’s situation but doesn’t step forward. It means she still has room to spare.

“I’ll go. Kim Cheon-woo, take my place.”

“Hurry back. I can’t hold on long. You’re the center of this formation.”

While slashing through a rabbit, I shouted as I headed toward Ryou Ha-na.

“Ryou Ha-na! Hold on and move back!”

She looked at me. A large bead of sweat slid down her cheek and fell. Unlike when she opposed Kim Cheon-woo, she nodded obediently at my command, giving me a slight sense of satisfaction.

Crack! Zzzzzip.

Yeongcheonryu (Shadow Heaven Style) Thunder Flash.

The sword energy wrapped in lightning flew and cleaved through the rabbits. Three rabbits split instantly. Among them, only one rabbit could proliferate further. Even rabbits have their limits.

I swung my sword again.

Clang!

My sword and Ryou Ha-na’s blade crossed while cutting through a rabbit. Completely unexpected. The shock hit me unprepared. My hand buzzed painfully, and Ryou Ha-na even stepped back.

A new group of rabbits lunged at Ryou Ha-na.

“Shit, not again!”

Before I could save her, Seong Ha-ri’s spear shot out first. The aftereffect of the spear tore the rabbits apart.

“You guys! What a mess? Just because there’s no Operator doesn’t mean you should lack synergy so much!”

Looking around, the battle situation had already ended. Seong Ha-ri stood in the center, her hand on her waist, sighing.

“You’re first-years, yet you should’ve learned the basics of dungeon raids… Forget that. Your problem isn’t strategy; it’s teamwork. Let’s practice cooperation.”

It was impossible to defy Seong Ha-ri. She pointed out each of us individually, and I couldn’t escape her critique either.

“…This space is fluctuating again.”

Narrowing my eyes, I focused on the undulating space. It changed. Now we were in some ancient temple hidden in a forest.

I clicked my tongue quietly.

“Another fail.”

The white rabbits hiding in the temple revealed themselves slightly. How tiresome.

“The key is cooperation! Pay attention to your teammates’ positions while fighting! Especially you, Ryou Ha-na! Stop trying to do everything alone!”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

Wiping the sweat off with the back of her hand, Ryou Ha-na glanced at me.

“What? Adjusting to me?”

It wasn’t too difficult, so I fought in sync with Ryou Ha-na.

“Ma Jin-bae! Don’t get so far ahead! Kim Cheon-woo! You need to step forward more and secure the space!”

Seong Ha-ri’s voice boomed from behind.

After a few more battles, the group was completely exhausted. We collapsed onto the ground.

“This won’t do. Let’s call it a day for today’s raid. There’ll be another chance tomorrow, so don’t be too disappointed. We definitely need more practice in syncing up…”

“…”

No one could refute Seong Ha-ri. It was true that our teamwork was a disaster, and we were truly exhausted from the fights.

“In places like this contaminated zone, purification skills make leaving easier. Like this… Purification.”

She waved her glowing hand. Part of the contaminated area was purified, revealing the outside.

“Just go out like this. Purification skills are essential for tackling contaminated zones. If you don’t have the skill, bring something with purification abilities. Though, twisted contamination zones like this one are rare.”

We followed behind Seong Ha-ri.

Naturally, countless rabbits attacked us. However, with just a few swings of her spear, Seong Ha-ri sent the rabbits flying.

“It’s not just brute strength. Her spear carries a high-level technique far beyond my current abilities to even perceive.”

With Seong Ha-ri’s help, we safely…


We arrived at the inn.

“We’ve got four hours till evening. Let’s start with some practice to sync our movements in a decently spacious area.”

•••

Evening came.

After washing off the sweat with a shower, we gathered in the yard. Though everyone looked exhausted, satisfied smiles lingered on their faces. We’d learned a lot from Seong Ha-ri, as tough as it was.

On one side of the yard, pork belly was sizzling on a pot lid.

“Hmm. A soda after finishing work is just exceptional, isn’t it? Right?”

“The meat suits my taste.”

“Why am I even with you guys…?”

Kim Cheon-woo, Ma Jin-bae, Lee Kang-ho, and I were sitting on a bench.

“Yu-jin. How about a drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

My gaze drifted toward the women’s side. They were busy preparing food. Seong Ha-ri and Lee Si-eun were leading the effort, while Ryu Hana and Choi Da-yeon assisted. All of them were beauties, so it was quite a feast for the eyes.

“Yu-jin! Can you go to the mart and grab some soy sauce or salt?”

Seong Ha-ri called out to me.

“It’s bothersome.”

“Ajumma! I’ll go! I’ll go!”

Kim Cheon-woo abruptly stood up.

“Cheon-woo? Alright then. Thanks. Get the money from Yu-jin.”

“No, I’ve got enough money for this much. Is there anything else needed?”

“Anything else? Hmm, we might be short on drinks.”

“I’ll get plenty!”

Kim Cheon-woo left to run the errand. With him gone, the moodmaker of the group, things suddenly felt awkward.

I turned away from the awkward men and observed the women instead.

Seong Ha-ri was being helped by Ryu Hana. Surprisingly, Ryu Hana wore a faint smile and seemed to get along well with Seong Ha-ri.

Lee Si-eun, who was grilling the meat, was bickering with Choi Da-yeon. It seemed they were arguing over how to cook the meat. Choi Da-yeon accidentally burned the meat that was meant for me, and Lee Si-eun scolded her for it. Choi Da-yeon, being who she is, wouldn’t let it slide.

‘I want to intervene in the women’s squabble… but if I do, I’ll probably get labeled as someone who can’t read the atmosphere.’

Seong Ha-ri seemed to enjoy dealing with the women.

•••

In the dead of night, I stepped out of the room. The rooms were divided by gender, but sleeping in the same room as those guys wasn’t easy.

‘Lee Kang-ho stinks of foot odor, and Ma Jin-bae snores like crazy. Maybe I should just sleep outside.’

Lying down on the bench, I gazed at the women’s room. I wanted to enter. Surely, it would smell nice in there. But I hesitated due to Ryu Hana and Choi Da-yeon’s watchful eyes. Closing my eyes on the bench, the cool night breeze was refreshing.

Creak.

The door to the women’s room opened. I slightly opened my eyes to see who had come out.

‘It’s Choi Da-yeon. She must’ve come out to use the restroom. This place’s bathroom is detached, making it inconvenient. This landlord probably used a chamber pot back in the day…’

By the time I snapped out of my thoughts, I’d missed my chance to move. I decided to pretend to be asleep.

Choi Da-yeon walked past the bench but suddenly stopped. Then, quietly, she lay down next to me. I could faintly feel her breath near my cheek.

‘…She’s lying next to me? What’s going on?’

A suggestive sound followed. Should I slightly open my eyes? If Choi Da-yeon were staring at my face, I’d be caught the moment I did.

‘I’ll use Heavenly Eye instead.’

[I activate Heavenly Eye.]

Heavenly Eye has a透视 effect. I can see through my eyelids without opening my eyes.

I could see Choi Da-yeon. She was looking at me, her face flushed, biting her lower lip tightly. Her body trembled slightly.

‘…Can’t be.’

I used another ability of Heavenly Eye: seeing in third-person perspective. For example, viewing myself from above or behind my head.

From above, I saw Choi Da-yeon lying next to me. Quietly, she slipped her right hand into her loose pajama pants. Her fingers fidgeted between her thighs.

‘She’s pleasuring herself… Is she alright?’