I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 292 : Star of Hope (2)

Several days had passed since Su-hyeon returned, beheaded Great Overlord Andromalius, and rose to the position of Special Operations Captain.

"Grab that side!"

"Let's move quickly!"

At the outskirts of the fortress, which was in the midst of reconstruction.

Su-hyeon and the young Captains and Deputy Captains gathered in an open field where only demons' corpses had been rotting after being destroyed in continuous battles.

"...This is perfect as a sparring location."

Su-hyeon said.

"It's incredibly spacious. Plus, since no one lives here anymore, we can go wild without worrying about others watching."

Their battles now required a stage of this magnitude.

"By the way, since you killed them all with just two sword strikes, it's hard to tell, but."

Su-hyeon said.

"How strong would you say the Great Overlords' executives are?"

"...I've fought Andromalius's executives many times."

Seo Jun-seong said.

"The highest executives who directly assisted him were S+ rank, and the other executives seemed to be at least S- rank."

"As expected of a demonic army, it's brutal."

"That's rich coming from you."

Hwang Ji-su said with an incredulous face.

"...Even with all our combined strength, we couldn't handle all the Great Overlord's executives. But the bigger problem was that the Great Overlord's own power was too overwhelming."

"According to Su-hyeon, they were quasi-transcendent level."

Lee Yu-jin agreed.

"Their rank was different."

Su-hyeon nodded.

"A being who has thrown off rank cannot be defeated no matter what you do."

"...Hmm."

Since it was Su-hyeon, a transcendent himself, who said this, no one could refute his words.

"But isn't there something we can do?"

Lee Yu-jin asked.

"We might not be able to win in a direct confrontation of power no matter how much we combine our strength, but at least we can buy time and make things difficult for them."

"That's right. That's exactly what I'm hoping for from you."

Su-hyeon looked around at his friends and continued.

"No matter how strong the enemy is, not being intimidated by their rank and somehow taking tactical actions. If you can just do that, it's enough to fulfill your duties as the Special Operations unit."

"I agree."

Min Hae-na said.

"Su-hyeon always takes on the Great Overlords while we handle the rest? That kind of resolve alone isn't enough. If fights were always as convenient as matching leader against leader, we wouldn't have had to struggle so much."

"That's correct."

4th Unit Captain Min Hae-na.

Indeed, a senior was a senior even if just by a year.

"Including Hae-na-sunbae, I'd like you all to join my Special Operations unit that I'll create. Because you're the most trustworthy and synchronized friends."

"Of course."

Lee Yu-jin clenched her fist.

"After all we've endured and grown stronger for. Leaving us behind is unthinkable."

"From the start, it would be stupid to refuse when Captains like us volunteer."

Hwang Ji-su snorted.

"That makes the Deputy Captains feel left out."

"Guess you'll just have to hurry and get promoted to Captain."

Nam Tae-hoon and Hong In-hyeon grumbled.

"What are you saying? You guys are included too."

Kwon Seung-yeon frowned.

"Just wait. Captain Jin Seong-geun said he'd make me a Deputy Captain if I could last more than 100 exchanges in a sparring match with him."

"How many exchanges did you last?"

Su-hyeon asked.

"63 last week."

"Hmm."

"That's borderline."

"I can win against Instructor Oh Chang-seong about three times out of ten fights though."

Kwon Seung-yeon went "hmph" with a smile.

"But it's still difficult with Captain Jin Seong-geun."

"If you become the 10th Unit Deputy Captain, where will Deputy Captain Oh Chang-seong go?"

Hwang Ji-su asked.

"I heard 1st Unit Captain Jo Sujin has been trying to lure him over anyway."

"But Deputy Captain Kim Taesung is already there."

"When the three of them used to work together, Deputy Captain Oh Chang-seong was ranked second."

Su-hyeon said.

"Oh, really?"

"Anyway, maybe because they're relatively young too, they've become incredibly strong in the past year."

As Hong In-hyeon said.

Even among the existing Captain-level fighters, there were those who had grown stronger by fighting and surviving against numerous powerful enemies.

"Captain Seol Ji-yun is like that too."

"She's only in her 30s but has already reached the entry level of S+ rank."

Originally a powerhouse as the 3rd Unit Captain, ranking just after Gong I-an and Son Ji-gwang, she was now the second strongest Captain after Commander Gong I-an and the only S+ rank Awakened.

"Captain Jin Seong-geun has also awakened to the way of the fist or something. He was S- rank but now has surpassed S rank."

"That's what I'm saying. I'm sure when I first made the bet six months ago, he wasn't this strong. He keeps getting stronger."

Kwon Seung-yeon grumbled.

"Maybe he's just going easy on you?"

"What are you saying? I even gave him a nosebleed last time."

Kwon Seung-yeon bristled at Hwang Ji-su's words and glanced at Su-hyeon.

"Still, having a few sparring matches with Su-hyeon might open my eyes, right?"

"Hmm. That might be true."

Su-hyeon folded his arms.

"But let's start with something else first."

In one step, Su-hyeon was suddenly standing behind everyone.

"!"

"Tch!"

Hong In-hyeon, startled, tried to leap backward but was hit by the wind pressure created by Su-hyeon's light jab and sent flying back.

"Let's start right now."

Su-hyeon said.

"How to fight a transcendent being? If I still have to spoon-feed you that, to be frank, I can't take you into future battles."

"...!"

"I'll show some restraint, but all of you come at me prepared to die."

"You don't have to tell us, that's our plan!"

Crack!

Kim A-yun prepared an intense railgun.

Whoosh!

Hong In-hyeon, who had flown far away and changed trajectory with Seo Jun-seong's help, created a gust of wind.

Zzzzap!

Hwang Ji-su's cold gust evolved into a frigid typhoon.

Clang! Clang!

Dozens of steel balls spun under Seo Jun-seong's will, threatening to grind anything to dust.

"Let's go."

"Yes!"

As Lee Yu-jin and Min Hae-na gripped their weapons, the aura of martial artists aimed like a blade toward Su-hyeon.

Following that, Choi Min-a's magic started up, Nam Tae-hoon concealed himself among the shadows, and Kwon Seung-yeon and Kim Ho-su also prepared their moves.

"You should be nervous too, you know?"

Su-hyeon smiled, leisurely watching his friends' full power as they geared up to land a hit on him.

"Still not enough."

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

"I don't know how long it's been since such vitality returned to this fortress."

Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom, who was inspecting the fortress in the midst of reconstruction, said with a voice full of emotion.

"Indeed."

Thanks to the returned Su-hyeon's achievements.

People now had confidence that the fortress would no longer crumble under the demons' attacks.

Therefore, the construction Awakened, who had only been deployed for repair work, were excitedly working to rebuild walls and fix facilities, filled with enthusiasm for once.

"It feels like something is returning to normal."

Kim Cheol-han spoke with immeasurable emotion, and Heo Sung-gyeom nodded.

"I agree. But we've still only taken the first step on a thousand-mile journey."

Even though Great Overlord Andromalius had died.

"No place under the sky is yet human territory."

"Yes. But some has returned to humanity."

Belphegor was an absolute evil closer to a phenomenon than a being, causing disasters to the world just by existing.

Was it thanks to the death of the Great Overlord who had received a share of Belphegor's power?

People who hadn't been able to see the sun for a long time trembled with emotion at the sunlight occasionally shining through the black clouds.

"When the clouds of magical energy covering the sky disappear and the blue sky returns. That will truly be when the era of humans returns."

"I never fully realized how precious sunlight was to us humans before."

"Isn't peace the same? Peace given from birth without any effort doesn't evoke any emotion, but in times like these, no word makes humans' hearts beat faster than 'peace.'"

"If we're being precise, both you and I have dedicated our lives to that peace."

Heo Sung-gyeom shrugged.

"Chief of Staff, have you seen the father and daughter Su-hyeon brought back?"

"I saw them from a distance."

"If it weren't for Su-hyeon, that child would have spent her childhood devoted only to survival and instinct, without enjoying any of the abundance that our generation or Su-hyeon's generation experienced."

"...That's true."

The two were somewhat aware of the inhumane practices taking place in shelters outside this [Human Fortress].

"Just because she was born later. It's not her fault at all, but because of our failure, she had to endure such harshness."

"Originally, we would have died helplessly while feeling that reality deeply. The final offensive of Great Overlord Andromalius was clearly something we couldn't have stopped."

The two, sensing their end, had been preparing for the final battle with their wills in their hearts.

"But not anymore. Although I don't particularly like the expression 'superhuman on a white horse,' Su-hyeon actually appeared. The only being who can kill a Great Overlord and stand against Belphegor."

"Thanks to him, we can design hope and future again."

Hope, future.

Words they had forgotten.

Heo Sung-gyeom, who closed his eyes and savored the resonance of those words, soon said.

"If we win this battle, the time will come to dedicate our remaining lives to restoration and reconstruction, recovering what was lost."

"I sincerely hope for that too."

"It won't be easy. Facilities, systems, infrastructure, human resources. Everything has been destroyed."

The government had collapsed and corporations had perished.

Heavy industry, chemical industry, even light industry.

All the industries that had managed the existing world were destroyed.

Even with mines, there was no equipment to excavate; even with factories remaining, there was no electricity to run them.

Even agriculture and forestry were difficult, so most survivors were merely prolonging their tenacious lives through hunting and gathering alone.

Now all that remained were a few communities holding out around the fortress, and one ark to lead them.

"We've become the crew of Noah's Ark."

"Even in the myth, didn't humanity eventually rebuild from that one ark? We may not be able to control time, but we can leave designs and preparations for future generations."

"You're right. Even if physical resources have disappeared, the knowledge and brains that managed the existing world still remain here."

But now was not the time to think about that distant path.

"It's time to talk about survival and victory rather than reconstruction."

"That's right."

"But to claim to be the brain leading an organization, one must be able to see beyond victory."

"That's why this conversation has meaning."

"That's right. But one thing is clear: this place is already a world that has been destroyed once. ...We cannot return to how it was before."

"After the great extinction, the era of mammals came after the era of dinosaurs, and that era was never the same as before."

Kim Cheol-han said.

"After a very long time, the era of humans came, and civilization burned like a birthday cake candle for the short time of a few thousand years, then went out."

However.

"I'm convinced that the spark created by that candle has moved elsewhere and is preparing to burn again."

"And the main characters will of course be Special Operations Captain Jeong Su-hyeon and the young Captains."

"That's right."

"...And our role is to assist them."

With a somewhat relieved face, Heo Sung-gyeom looked back.

"All this talking has made me thirsty. Shall we go get some water?"

"Sounds good."

It was right then.

Crash!

With an explosion, a chunk of ice flying from far away fell toward them.

"Oops."

Kim Cheol-han deflected it with 'Bounce'.

"I told them to take it easy, but it seems they're going at it hard again."

"Well, isn't that what we expected?"

Heo Sung-gyeom burst into cheerful laughter.

"They'll get frustrated since they're no match for him no matter how hard they try."