I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 122 : Hostage Rescue (2)

"All six teams succeeded in the hostage rescue."

"That's correct."

The Instructors and Assistant Instructors who were each monitoring and evaluating one team from Class 1 exchanged conversation.

"Hmm."

Kim Cheol-han, who was observing all six teams from a bit further back, stroked his chin.

'In the first phase, Seo Jun-seong's and Jeong Su-hyeon's teams performed the best.'

Hwang Ji-su's and Lee Yu-jin's tactics were also excellent, but Hong In-hyeon's and Choi Mina's teams lost points for creating precarious situations where the hostage nearly died.

'But there's no doubt that even with just that, they've achieved results superior to their senior cohorts.'

Kim Cheol-han was convinced that this cohort under his charge had the best growth rate and potential of any cohort since he began teaching.

'Kwak Mu-jin is a Ma-in at a level where even if we assigned him to second or third-year cadets, those who could properly fight and win against him would be extremely rare. His ability is that tricky and his basic combat power is that substantial.'

Just like his own ability, 'Bounce'.

Abilities that affect opponents simply by touching them were always tricky.

'In terms of compatibility, perhaps only Seo Jun-seong has an advantage.'

A telekinetic who combined powerful output with meticulous control was indeed that much of a cheat-like existence.

'Hwang Ji-su, Hong In-hyeon, and Choi Mina might also manage if they maintain distance while fighting. However, Lee Yu-jin and Jeong Su-hyeon are clearly at a disadvantage.'

However.

'If it's Jeong Su-hyeon, wouldn't he be able to find his own answer even if he's at a disadvantage in terms of compatibility?'

"Hmm."

At that thought, a smile escaped the corners of his mouth.

'To think that I, who doubted Yeong-hwan's judgment until just before enrollment, would come to rate Jeong Su-hyeon so highly in just a few months.'

His gaze turned toward Su-hyeon, who was commanding his teammates inside the monitor.

"Peculiar fellow."

"Excuse me? Did you say something?"

"No, nothing at all."

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With Kwak Mu-jin's intervention, the battle situation completely changed.

"Kim A-yun!"

"Leave it to me!"

Zzzzzap!

Kim A-yun demonstrated maximum firepower in all directions, dropping powerful lightning clusters and creating lightning squirrels, sparrows, and rabbit battalions to advance, forming a curtain of fire to prevent the enemy Ma-in from approaching, buying time.

'Her firepower keeps getting better.'

It was genuinely pleasing to see her clearly faster growth compared to previous iterations.

"Su-hyeon!"

Meanwhile, Jeremy McGarr and Go Do-il successfully managed to pull back behind us.

"Good work. How's the hostage's condition?"

"He's fine!"

"Ugh, damn it! Do something, all of you!"

The middle-aged hostage, whose soul had been scared out of him, grumbled.

"Don't act rashly and cooperate according to instructions."

"!"

At my cold words, the hostage shut his mouth with a gulp.

"What should we do? Wouldn't it be better to retreat while escorting him? That Ma-in seems much stronger than we thought."

Though Yoon Garam spoke with concern.

"No. Let's go with the original plan."

I said firmly.

"Our objective should be subjugation, not retreat."

I sent the hostage behind Kim A-yun's back.

"As I said before, if we ambiguously remove personnel for hostage evacuation, we'll only be picked off one by one by the enemy."

I continued speaking to instill confidence in Go Do-il and Jeremy McGarr once more.

"And a scenario where we retreat while facing pursuit is naturally much more disadvantageous than fighting with a proper formation from the front."

Therefore.

"Since we have Kim A-yun providing ranged fire support anyway, it's actually more advantageous for us to protect Kim A-yun from enemy approach while subduing the enemy. Hiding the hostage behind Kim A-yun is a strategy that uses that setup to simultaneously protect him and subdue the Ma-in."

"...!"

Jeremy McGarr nodded as if convinced.

"Can we win?"

"We have to win."

"Haha."

Go Do-il laughed as if it had been a foolish question.

"Sorry. Did I make you waste time when the situation is urgent?"

I shook my head at his apology.

"It's fine. Thanks to this, you can now have confidence in my tactics, right?"

"That's true."

"Now let's have a proper fight!"

Jeremy McGarr burned with enthusiasm.

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

Shortly after.

"Su-hyeon, I don't think I can hold out any longer!"

As Kwak Mu-jin advanced by spreading his nameless cloth wide like a body bunker to break through Kim A-yun's curtain of fire, Kim A-yun, who had been firing powerful attacks continuously, showed signs of strain.

"You've done well. Take a break and catch your breath for now."

"Got it!"

Kim A-yun retreated further back with the hostage.

"Spread out!"

Su-hyeon, Go Do-il, and Jeremy McGarr scattered in three directions to lure the enemy.

"Are you the leader?!"

Kwak Mu-jin, recognizing Su-hyeon's strength, immediately charged toward him.

"You're slow."

Su-hyeon stepped through the air to create distance, trying to draw him out further.

"So you use petty tricks!"

As if saying he'd play along, Kwak Mu-jin chased after him.

'Hmm. He's following.'

Checking Kwak Mu-jin with a sidelong glance, Su-hyeon used the communication system to speak to Yoon Garam.

"Yoon Garam, can you hear me?"

[Yeah, loud and clear!]

"Do you see that woman just standing there doing nothing?"

[Yes!]

Yoon Garam, examining the location of the two Ma-in through a scope fashioned like a monocle, answered.

"That Ma-in looks suspicious. She might have a tricky ability."

The Ma-in Su-hyeon pointed out was named Han Pyeong-gang.

She was a Ma-in with a very tricky and annoying ability called 'Disruption.'

"Keep her in check as much as possible! We don't know what she might do at any moment!"

[Okay!]

At the same time.

"Hey, spear user! Let's fight one-on-one!"

The giant, Choi Min-jun, who had been threatening the hostage by holding a large sword to his neck, confronted Jeremy McGarr.

'Shit, wasn't this guy's arm pierced by an arrow earlier? How's he so tough!'

Jeremy McGarr was shocked.

'Maniac' Choi Min-jun.

He was a giant who wielded a massive sword like those used by ancient maniacs, based on his extremely powerful stamina and durability.

'At this rate, one or two stabs would have no effect on him. If he deliberately lets himself get stabbed slightly to grab my spear and close in, I'd be the one in trouble instead.'

Moreover, looking at the ridiculous size of that sword, he thought that if he wasn't careful, he might get sliced up along with his spear shaft.

Whoosh!

Jeremy McGarr's flame-wrapped spear stabbed at Choi Min-jun's wrist.

Clang!

However, Choi Min-jun deflected the spear thrust with nimble swordplay that didn't match his size.

"A flame-wrapped spear?"

The Ma-in cackled.

"How amateurish. Have you read too many comics?"

"Let's see if you can still say that after you've been hit."

Jeremy McGarr's stance lowered as he gripped his spear firmly.

"How far are you going to run?!"

Chasing Go Do-il was a Ma-in with a bear-like physique, Lim Jeong-yeol.

Hisss!

Every time he ran forward, the asphalt beneath his bare feet melted from high temperature.

'An ability user of the high-heat type!'

Steel versus extreme heat.

It was a matchup where either side was bound to suffer.

'If it's about endurance, I'm confident.'

Go Do-il, thinking he had created enough distance, stopped retreating and faced Lim Jeong-yeol.

"Looks like you have an ability to make your body hard, huh."

Hisssss.

The Ma-in asked while melting the asphalt under his feet.

"What can you do against my high temperature that even melts steel?"

"Steel varies in its quality."

As Go Do-il applied tension to all the muscles in his body, his form became even harder and more solid than steel.

"Bullshit!"

Bam!

The two men, without any tricks, planted their fists directly into each other's stomachs.

Hisssss!

"Kugh!"

Go Do-il's face contorted at the tremendous heat that seemed to melt even his internal organs.

"Hmm!"

Lim Jeong-yeol's expression also changed for the worse at the incredible hardness that seemed capable of crushing his ribs.

"Your spirit is good! To think you'd confront me head-on!"

However, since Lim Jeong-yeol's body, which had undergone Ma-in transformation, already possessed specs that greatly surpassed not only ordinary humans but even decent awakened individuals...

Even after taking a hit from the steel fist, he still had some leeway left.

'This ultimately comes down to how long I can withstand the high heat this Ma-in emits.'

Feeling the pain as if his internal organs were being cooked whole, but still sensing the normally beating heart...

'Simply become harder and then harder still. To become hard is to endure.'

Go Do-il recalled Su-hyeon's advice.

'Beyond the skin, make the muscles, blood vessels, bones, and organs hard.'

A 'hardness' in areas he had never considered before.

As his imaginative horizon expanded, his level was also advancing one step forward.

Simply stubbornly, simply hardened.

'The strongest shield is also the strongest sword.'

"Huaaap!"

Crack!

Lim Jeong-yeol, who had caught Go Do-il's fist above his guard, realized from that single exchange that his bones had cracked.

'This bastard, is he getting harder?'

Tension crept into the Ma-in's previously relaxed expression.

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Su-hyeon dodged the nameless cloth that was extended and whipped around like a lash, moving in a zigzag pattern to close the distance.

"Hmph!"

Kwak Mu-jin asked mockingly.

"What can you do by closing the distance? Are you planning to cut me down?"

"Of course."

Su-hyeon's sword, wrapped in sword energy, struck down at Kwak Mu-jin, who wrapped the nameless cloth around his arm to block the sword's trajectory.

'How stupid! If you clash like this, your sword will just completely disappear!'

Sure enough.

Su-hyeon's sword changed its trajectory to avoid collision with the nameless cloth and stabbed toward the shoulder joint instead.

'Hmph! What a shallow trick!'

Kwak Mu-jin immediately reacted as if he had anticipated this, retreating backward.

"What are you doing? Why didn't you follow through with your swing?"

Kwak Mu-jin laughed as he wrapped the retrieved nameless cloth around both arms.

"Are you surprised that I dodged your attack so easily? I'm sorry to say, but you'd better abandon the idea that I'm weak in close combat."

'That's true.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'It's fair to say Kwak Mu-jin has no blind spots. The claim that his weakness is extreme close combat is almost nonsensical, considering that one hit from him would end it all.'

A difficult opponent of a different type from Chu Jinhong's 'speed' stood before his eyes.

'Moreover, the situation isn't favorable for a one-on-one fight to the finish right now.'

Because.

'Han Pyeong-gang.'

It was because of Han Pyeong-gang's ability as she continued to watch for openings from the rearmost position.

'She'll be the biggest variable in this fight along with Kwak Mu-jin.'

The true nature of her ability, Disruption, was none other than a very annoying mental ability that made allies perceive each other as enemies.

'The fortunate thing is that it's an ability that can only be applied to one person at a time.'

But that meant the coercive force applied to that one person was exceptionally powerful.

'It's at a level that would definitely work on most awakened individuals who can't block mental attacks.'

This meant that except for Su-hyeon, who had defended against even Hwang Yong-jae's ability with his Clear as a Mirror skill, none of them could avoid her attack.

'Among them, the worst case would be if Kim A-yun is affected.'

But who would fall victim to Han Pyeong-gang's disruption was not a factor Su-hyeon could control.

'The betrayal of an ally affected by Han Pyeong-gang is actually designed as the Phase 2 of this quest.'

Swoosh!

Having dodged the arrow that cut through the wind thanks to her comrade Won Jeong-hwan's cover, Han Pyeong-gang finally spotted her target.

'Good. Let's go with that one.'

Han Pyeong-gang's pupils emitted an ominous light.

"Kuk!"

Jeremy McGarr, who had been skillfully handling Choi Min-jun's continuous dashes from a distance, froze in his movements.

Gugugu.

Kigigigik!

"Damn, what is this...!"

Jeremy McGarr, who had been resisting the formless energy, stopped moving and lowered his head.

"Hahaha."

Seeing this, Choi Min-jun paused his attack and laughed.

"So you're the one who got chosen? What a shame."

[Su-hyeon! Something's wrong with Jeremy!]

At Yoon Garam's words, Su-hyeon clicked his tongue.

'So Jeremy got caught.'

This meant the cadet side now had four people against the Ma-in side's six, an unfavorable matchup.

'Since Han Pyeong-gang can't exert much influence in this state, it's effectively 5:4.'

But that was still disadvantageous.

"Kim A-yun, you need to tie down the leader! And Yoon Garam, you need to draw the attention of Won Jeong-hwan and Choi Min-jun!"

The two gulped in surprise at Su-hyeon's instructions.

[You want me to handle two people?]

"You don't need to stall for long. I'll subdue Jeremy as quickly as possible and join you."

[.....]

"Kim A-yun, can you do it?"

[Yes. Leave it to me.]

Resolute determination infused Kim A-yun's voice.

[Five minutes! I can't hold out longer than that even if you beat me to death!]

Yoon Garam, after deliberating, reluctantly agreed.

"Haha. Five minutes, you say?"

Su-hyeon laughed.

"Three minutes will be enough."