I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 232 : Dungeon Suppression (1)

The honorable medal ceremony, and the big headlines.

That night, the cadets had a hectic time receiving calls and congratulations from family, friends, and acquaintances.

But that was it.

Regardless of what fuss was being made about them outside, the cadets maintained their composure and a calm atmosphere in the face of the weighty name of the coming apocalypse.

And above all.

They needed to check their physical condition one last time for the dungeon suppression scheduled for the next day.

'......I wonder if Su-hyeon will be okay.'

'Lion King' Do Sang-jun, Nam Tae-hoon, and 'Battle Maniac' Jang Su-il.

Su-hyeon had fought consecutively against three opponents and had been injured once again by that 'Chukji' technique in the final battle.

Even with the superhuman durability and recovery of his Unlimited characteristic, and the help of healers.

It didn't feel good watching him fight as if there was no tomorrow, pushing his body to the extreme.

'......Looking back, perhaps he's burning his body without thinking of the consequences because he's convinced the end is coming.'

For that reason, she was glad that Su-hyeon had shared his worries with them instead of bearing them alone.

'I won't let him be lonely.'

Until now, her goal had simply been to stand beside Su-hyeon.

But not anymore.

Together, they would overcome the apocalypse.

And after that.......

Lee Yu-jin, who couldn't bring herself to think beyond that even in her heart, hugged her chest.

The night was deepening, accompanied by Song Yu-ha's not unpleasant snoring sounds.

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The next morning.

Ten cadets, including Su-hyeon, gathered in front of the gate under the guidance of Instructors Lee Ho-seung, Kim Cheol-han, and Oh Chang-seong.

"Alright, attention everyone."

Instructor Lee Ho-seung spoke after focusing the cadets' attention.

"We're just here as escorts. Know what I mean?"

"......?"

"We'll provide support from the rear, so handle things yourselves."

"What?!"

Kwon Seung-yeon was the first to protest.

"That's too much!"

"What's too much about it? Can't you handle it yourselves without us getting involved?"

"Well, we don't know! What if there's something ridiculously strong inside?"

"You'll figure something out."

"Oh, come on."

"Calm down."

Instructor Kim Cheol-han said.

"We want to see your current skills that protected White Castle in action, so don't complain too much."

"You don't need to worry."

Sring.

Su-hyeon said as he drew his Moonless Sword.

"We've prepared a good strategy."

"Excellent."

Kim Cheol-han nodded.

"Everyone put on your masks."

The cadets donned their special masks with practiced movements.

"Let's go!"

Thirteen warriors threw themselves into the shimmering gate.

"Ugh! It's freezing!"

What spread before the cadets was a vast snowfield.

While dungeons don't always appear in cave form.

But a wide snowfield type like this wasn't common either.

"Put on your protective suits!"

The cadets took out thermal protective suits with excellent insulation from their backpacks.

"Good. I was planning to give punishment drills to anyone who forgot to bring one."

Instructor Oh Chang-seong chuckled.

"It's quite extensive. Snow-covered mountains and plains. Our feet are sinking in deep."

"This is perfect."

Hwang Ji-su smiled confidently.

"This is my stage."

"That's right. Our Ji-su could take on a hundred of them by herself!"

Kwon Seung-yeon patted Hwang Ji-su's shoulder.

"I see quite a lot of flying creatures though."

An army of demonic beasts was spread out before them.

"Is this like 13 versus 1300?"

"No, more like 10 versus 1300, right?"

"True."

Su-hyeon glanced at the three instructors who had stepped back and said.

'They have quite a bit of faith in us.'

"This is better anyway. Let's go with the plan."

"Good. Air force, time to work!"

At Kwon Seung-yeon's playful call, Seo Jun-seong and Hong In-hyeon stepped forward.

"Let's secure the sky first."

"Okay."

Telekinesis and wind.

Two different powers lifted them into the air.

Whoosh!

Like fighter jets securing air superiority first.

"Thinking you can face us in aerial combat? Dream on!"

As snow and cold air mixed with Hong In-hyeon's wind, a blade-like blizzard formed.

"Kyaaak!"

Whether demonic beasts with human faces and bird bodies, chimeras with parts from different animals, or giant monstrous birds—all had their wings torn equally and fell.

"Hup!"

The tornado created by turbulence, wind spheres filled with blades—all poured down equally on the demonic beasts that entered Hong In-hyeon's field of vision.

Whoosh!

The breath of flames spewed by a wyvern was extinguished like a candle before the blizzard.

"It seems this map isn't favorable only to Hwang Ji-su!"

The more excitedly he rampaged, the more Hong In-hyeon's previously depressed tension began to rise.

Meanwhile.

Babababak!

The ten metal spheres controlled by Seo Jun-seong, along with gravity fields and telekinetic forces seeking to capture anything that flew, quietly but surely ground the demonic beasts to bits.

"Wow."

Hong In-hyeon let out a short exclamation.

It was a scene for which no more fitting expression than "grinding them to bits" came to mind.

'That guy would have done well as a hunter. It might have been better for him to rampage to his heart's content there.'

Thus, in less than 3 minutes, the two of them successfully secured complete air superiority.

"Bombers!"

"Okay!"

Just as bombers follow after fighter jets secure the sky.

Hwang Ji-su, Kim A-yun, and Choi Min-a soared into the now uncontested sky, each using their abilities.

"Here I go!"

Crack!

Using much less mana than usual to create much larger ice spikes, lances, and ice beasts, Hwang Ji-su swept away the demonic beasts who were stupidly looking up.

Zzzzzap!

Lightning, electric chains, and electric flying squirrels consumed the opposite side.

Kaboom!

Meanwhile, Choi Min-a simply fired mana bullets like a grenade launcher, cleaning up the stragglers.

Ice dragon, electric sparrow, and levitation magic.

Looking at the three flying in different ways, Lee Yu-jin muttered.

"Everyone's flying now."

"It's tough being someone without flight ability."

Kwon Seung-yeon grumbled.

"No need to worry."

Su-hyeon created Mana Shields, making stepping stones in the air.

"The first wave has collapsed. Now it's our turn."

"I've been waiting for this!"

"Actually, we haven't been waiting that long!"

Su-hyeon, Lee Yu-jin, Kwon Seung-yeon, Kim Ho-su, and Kang Geon-woo.

The five cadets ran through the air instead of the snow where their feet would sink deep, and crashed into the demonic beasts who were in disarray from the sudden calamity.

"Kwaang!"

"We'll break through the center first!"

Su-hyeon was, of course, at the apex.

Wooong!

The Moonless Sword, which had absorbed mana, hummed lowly as it released a sharp and ominous black sword energy.

"Hup!"

Bwoong!

As Su-hyeon's sword aligned horizontally with the ground, all the demonic beasts that remained in its path were cut in half and fell onto the cold snow.

Strength, speed, technique, sharpness of sword energy.

There was no beast that could withstand Su-hyeon's single stroke in any aspect.

"Keureuerk!"

Lee Yu-jin moved through the demonic beasts like flowing water with light and fast footwork as if she were weightless, stabbing and cutting only vital points to lay large demonic beasts on the ground.

"Whew."

She didn't stop there and launched a Flying Strike with all her might, dropping the head of a giant snake that was about to spit acidic venom from a distance.

"Hyap!"

Meanwhile, Kwon Seung-yeon, who was running on the snow with her weight extremely lowered, instantly increased her weight to deliver heavy blows that sent demonic beasts flying—her momentum was also impressive.

"Hup!"

Kang Geon-woo effortlessly used martial arts to throw down demonic beasts, while Kim Ho-su, following behind, pierced vital points with his rapier to finish them off—their combo play demonstrated no less power than the others.

And finally.

"They're split!"

The formation composed of over a thousand demonic beasts was split in half.

"We take the right!"

"Leave the left to me and Seo Jun-seong!"

Kim A-yun, Hwang Ji-su, and Hong In-hyeon joined the right side, pouring area attacks to support their comrades.

"Grrruk!"

"Kyaaaak!"

The demonic beasts on the right side, completely overwhelmed, screamed.

Rumble!

After raising an even more solid ice wall to separate the sides, Hwang Ji-su turned to Seo Jun-seong and said.

"See that mountain?"

"Of course."

"What do you think would happen if we caused an avalanche there?"

"......"

Seo Jun-seong narrowed his eyes, examining the distance and angle between the mountain and the demonic beasts, then nodded.

"......I think we could bury more than half of them."

"Call?"

"Let's do it."

Guguugugu.

Seo Jun-seong's hair rose eerily.

All the mana in his body was converted into telekinetic force.

"Hup!"

When his hands clenched into fists, a massive vibration occurred in the middle of the snow-covered mountain.

'......Shaking a mountain. He really is a monster.'

Hwang Ji-su snorted, finding it absurd even though she was the one who suggested it.

How much time had passed?

Rumble!

The snow-covered mountain vibrated as an avalanche began.

"It's huge!"

A snow tsunami-like wave poured down toward the demonic beasts.

"Kyaaaa!"

"Kyuruk...!"

The demonic beasts were buried under the massive disaster.

"Okay."

Hwang Ji-su raised her hand as she watched more than half of the demonic beasts getting buried.

Crack!

The cold air and snow that filled the entire snowfield obeyed her mana, creating one massive glacier.

"That was easy."

"......Indeed."

The sight of cleaning up hundreds of demonic beasts with just two people's power.

It was a scene difficult for even decent Squad Leaders to create, let alone cadets.

Meanwhile, around the same time.

Su-hyeon, having broken through the center, had arrived before the strongest entity leading the horde—the Ice Troll Lord.

"Look at the size. That thing must be 4-5 meters tall, right?"

Kwon Seung-yeon whistled.

"Su-hyeon, do we need to help?"

"No, just clean up the stragglers!"

"Okie!"

"Kuoooo!"

As if displeased by the humans belittling him, the Ice Troll raised a massive club made from oak that had withstood the harshness of the snowfield.

Bwoong!

The club swung down toward Su-hyeon with enough force to crush him.

'I can see it.'

Su-hyeon, reading the grain of the club, gently swung the Moonless Sword with its sword energy released.

Slash!

And the club, which was as thick as a large tree and harder than steel, was cut off as if it were a soft reed.

"Kuruk?!"

Looking at the Ice Troll who was bewildered, as if unable to believe what happened, Su-hyeon nodded.

'Having Eye Power certainly makes things much easier.'

The technique of reading and cutting through the grain of objects was, of course, in the realm of intuition and intelligence.

But the all-around buff that Eye Power provided to the act of seeing couldn't be ignored either.

"That's unfortunate."

Su-hyeon said.

"Your blood would have made a good potion."

"......Can I handle the cleanup?"

Sure enough, Choi Min-a had her eyes on it.

"Then go ahead."

Su-hyeon nodded and jumped to the Ice Troll's eye level, stepping on Mana Shields.

"Kuwoooo!"

The troll swung its fist at him, but.

Clang!

In the next moment, the Ice Troll's arm and neck flew through the air simultaneously.

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"Well, well."

The three instructors—Lee Ho-seung, Kim Cheol-han, and Oh Chang-seong—who were watching from a distance with their hands in their pockets, looked at each other and shrugged.

"It didn't even take 10 minutes."

The combat power demonstrated by the cadets was truly terrifying.

'We could just graduate them now and send them straight to active duty, couldn't we?'

They had already reached, no, far surpassed a level that ordinary cadets couldn't achieve even by graduation.

Especially.

'I don't think I could handle a fight with that Jeong Su-hyeon anymore.'

Oh Chang-seong, known by the alias "Fist Energy" and considered one of the top martial artists among the academy instructors, had a daunted expression.

It was of course surprising that Su-hyeon had coordinated operations with Senior Squad Leader Jo Sujin, who Oh Chang-seong himself couldn't surpass.

But could he withstand that spear energy that took down Lim Se-jin, the "Spear Devil," who had even driven her into a corner, with a single strike?

Moreover.

'I can tell from watching him fight. That guy gets stronger with every real battle. In terms of sword mastery and fist techniques, he still has room to develop, but.'

"In the realm of combat itself, he's already a monster."

Oh Chang-seong muttered.

Would it be strange if that prickly and difficult marksman, who was his senior, would die for Su-hyeon?

Of course, to be precise, it was Su-hyeon's know-how and skills accumulated over hundreds of gameplay cycles that were sprouting through academy training and practice.

And it was the actual combat with powerful Ma-in that was awakening Su-hyeon's combat cells.

But for people who didn't know these circumstances, Su-hyeon just appeared to be a natural combat genius.

"Is there anything for us to do at all?"

"We're just slacking off. Staying behind would just mean more work with cleanup."

Instructor Lee Ho-seung chuckled.

"Isn't this the reward for raising students well? Let the kids do the hard work while we relax."

"Honestly, it's felt like they've been growing on their own for a while now."

"That's true."

"Want a cigarette?"

Kim Cheol-han, who had been quiet, took out cigarettes from his pocket.

"When did you bring those?"

"Well, I had a feeling this would happen."

Hiss!

Smoke rose from the cigarettes in the three instructors' mouths.

"Well, a cigarette smoked on a snowy mountain has its own special flavor."

Lee Ho-seung appreciated.

"Smoking in a dungeon is quite delicious too, isn't it?"

Oh Chang-seong agreed.

"Above all, the taste of smoking while hiding during working hours is the best."

Whooo-.

The cigarette smoke exhaled simultaneously suddenly froze in mid-air.

"Oh, it froze."

Lee Ho-seung blinked.

"Is it that cold here?"

"No, normally... no matter how cold it is, smoke doesn't freeze, does it?"

Oh Chang-seong said as if it couldn't be.

"It's Hwang Ji-su."

Kim Cheol-han pointed to the distance.

"What are you doing? We're working hard killing demonic beasts!"

In the distance, Hwang Ji-su was glaring at them.

"Oh my, my, my."

"Even cold water has its hierarchy."

Lee Ho-seung and Oh Chang-seong clicked their tongues like old-fashioned people.

"But looking at how she can freeze just the smoke with such pinpoint accuracy from so far away, her control must have reached a masterful level, right?"

Kim Cheol-han said, tapping the frozen cigarette smoke.

"Su-hyeon takes all the spotlight, but Seo Jun-seong, Hwang Ji-su, and Lee Yu-jin are all talents who could be top of their class in any generation."

"That's true."

Oh Chang-seong nodded.

"If not for Min Hae-na, that is."

"Did you see how Yu-jin was using her sword just now? It's different from our master or Lee Cheong-myeong, but so flexible, solid, and free-flowing, wow."

Lee Ho-seung said, finishing his cigarette.

"Seeing Seo Jun-seong grind those demonic beasts was pretty brutal too."

"I find Kim A-yun the most amazing. A girl who used to cower at everything as if she couldn't even kill a bug, and now look at her."

Lee Ho-seung smiled wryly.

"The future is bright indeed."

"Is it really bright? With all this talk about the apocalypse."

Oh Chang-seong stubbed out his finished cigarette in the snow.

"Now that we know about it and have time to prepare, it's different than if we hadn't known."

Lee Ho-seung flicked his cigarette butt with his finger and said.

"If we keep doing something, things will work out somehow, won't they?"

"You're always too laid-back, Instructor Lee."

"Living too tightly wound up doesn't help. A person should live putting in about 70% effort."

"......Don't say that to the students."