I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 70 : Dungeon (1)

Although Su-hyeon was the first to handle a Ma-in.

"Kerrrrk!"

Sung Do-kyung, who received support from Hwang Ji-su and knocked out a frozen Ma-in with brute strength, and.

Bwack-ack!

Kwon Seung-yeon, who broke a Ma-in's ankle with a low tackle followed by an ankle lock with support from Park Chang-jun, also finished their fights in less than 5 minutes.

"Thank you!"

Sung Do-kyung gave a thumbs up to Su-hyeon, who quickly subdued the enemy and came to support him.

"When did you even have time to grab that one?"

Kwon Seung-yeon stuck out her tongue.

"Anyway, good work everyone. Our coordination was perfect."

"I know, right? We were no joke today."

"So is our role finished now?"

Kwon Seung-yeon's words had their own reasoning.

They had cleaned up all the emerged Ma-in, and the demonic beast extermination battle being waged by the NPC hunters also seemed to be heading toward its final stages.

But Su-hyeon shook his head.

"I don't know. Will it really end this easily?"

[Phase 1 complete. Now entering Phase 2.]

At Kim Cheol-han's voice, which came at just the right moment, the cadets murmured.

"Huh?"

"What's Phase 2?"

"Wasn't this the end?!"

[Phase 2. Dungeon entry.]

"A dungeon?!"

[You should be well aware of the correlation between gates and dungeons.]

"Good heavens."

"A dungeon? But we're not even hunters!"

"Well, the Execution Force does sometimes follow hunters into dungeons."

"And that happens to be now?"

The map surrounding the cadets turned white, and an event screen was projected in front of their eyes like a screen.

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

"It seems the gate wave has been wrapped up."

A high-ranking hunter sighed at the Hunter Bureau employee's words.

"It appears so."

"Thank you for your hard work. The rewards will be calculated and distributed later."

"So, are we going in right away? What's the plan?"

"Hmm."

The two looked at the gate, which had changed color compared to earlier.

It meant the gate had reached a dormant state.

'Gate dormancy period.'

I thought as I watched the screen.

After expelling demonic beasts through waves, gates enter a dormancy period until the next wave.

A period ranging from a few months at most to just a few days at least.

'This is the timing for entry.'

Gates are not just exits through which demonic beasts spew out.

They're also entrances leading to dungeons.

[Dungeons that exist beyond gates. If we were to gather all the blood humanity had to shed to discover this, it would fill several lakes.]

Kim Cheol-han's explanation continued.

Of course, this was a setting I already knew well.

In the early days of the Gate Era, Awakened individuals would just gather whenever gates opened and desperately try to block them.

But once opened, gates would spew out demonic beasts again after a certain dormancy period.

As time passed, the number of gates grew to the point where they were difficult to respond to individually.

On the other hand, Awakened individuals died in repeated battles, gradually reducing their numbers, so if this continued, humanity would eventually be the side to collapse from exhaustion.

When people were being worn down by endless despair, a hero appeared.

A man decided to enter the fearsome abyss beyond the gate, believing that "there's no end to this otherwise."

[This pioneer and hero could only be shocked at what he saw in the world beyond the gate.]

That's right.

A small dimension unfolded beyond the gate.

An ecosystem of demonic beasts.

In other words, a dungeon.

[At the deepest part of the dungeon exists a core that maintains that dimension, called the 'crystal.' And we call the being that protects this crystal the 'dungeon lord.']

Simply put, it was a boss monster.

[If you kill the lord and destroy the crystal, the dungeon collapses. In other words, you can destroy the gate itself. This was the most brilliant achievement discovered by the first expedition team, a decisive discovery that changed the landscape of the Gate Era.]

Initially, dungeons were destroyed simply to prevent wave situations, but.

Eventually, hunters gained another option.

[As we entered the 2nd Generation and gate waves no longer threatened human survival, people wanted to confirm the question, 'What happens if we don't destroy this crystal?' This was another question that turned the world upside down.]

If you kill the lord but don't destroy the crystal, the dungeon remains intact.

And demonic beasts flock back to the dungeon, targeting the crystal abandoned by the lord.

Like moths drawn to light, the crystal, a pure lump of magical energy, gives demonic beasts an irresistible impulse.

The larger and stronger the crystal, the stronger the demonic beasts that are drawn to it, but there's only one throne.

The demonic beast that subdues all others proudly claims the throne beside the crystal and becomes the new dungeon lord.

'That's the harvesting season.'

Just as tigers that once terrorized entire nations ultimately became providers of quality pelts before hunters with guns.

For humans who had already grown stronger through numerous battles, demonic beasts also became nothing more than money-makers providing mana stone crystals and carcass byproducts.

'In the end, it's no different from controlling the population of a fishing ground to extract continuous profit.'

I thought.

[...Of course, this isn't possible for all dungeons. First, it's important whether it's a 'bidirectional dimension' where you can exit the dungeon without destroying the crystal or not.]

But, Kim Cheol-han added.

[As you might have guessed, this dungeon is a unidirectional dimension. If you don't destroy the crystal, you can't escape.]

By this point.

Even without me, one could guess that this Phase 2 would be quite challenging.

I looked at the faces of Team 3 members who were frozen with tension and nodded.

"Let's focus. This phase will be the real deal."

"Right."

Hwang Ji-su nodded.

"Dispatch the advance team!"

"Quickly clear the site and find the dungeon lord in the shortest time possible!"

Injured hunters, tired hunters, and hunters who had filled their quotas withdrew to reorganize.

And a scene of just 10 high-ranking hunters, carefully selected, entering the dungeon was showing on the screen.

[You follow behind them.]

Team 3 members follow behind them.

"It feels like a game quest recreation."

Nam Tae-hoon said.

'A game quest within a game quest?'

I thought.

Anyway, we had nothing to do for the time being except follow the scheduled event.

"They fight well."

"Professionals are really different."

The hunters advanced through the dungeon relentlessly, unleashing area-of-effect skills specialized for mass destruction.

But.

"Wait! Stop! Something's wrong!"

"What is this? Kraaaagh!"

Just before reaching the place where the dungeon lord was.

A "magical energy explosion phenomenon," said to occur very rarely in dungeons, engulfed the hunters.

'They're taking it easy.'

As I was thinking that.

"Grrrrr."

Exactly half of the 10 people awakened as Ma-in and immediately began attacking their companions, injuring them.

Exactly 5 hunters were injured this way.

A formation of 10 vs 5 had been created.

[Now, here's your new mission.]

Kim Cheol-han's voice was heard.

[This is a dungeon you cannot escape until you kill the dungeon lord and destroy the crystal. From now on, subdue the Ma-in, protect the injured hunters, and kill the dungeon lord.]

Three conditions, no less.

None of them were easy.

[For your information, you're the team that reached this stage the fastest. I wish you good luck.]

Everyone's morale rose at those words.

"Oh!"

"I knew it! We were pretty awesome today, right?"

"Let's go!"

Toward the guys getting excited, I said.

"You've been checking their abilities, right?"

"Of course!"

"First, let's isolate the injured hunters and then defeat them one by one."

"Okay!"

Swoosh!

The arrows shot by Yoon Ga-ram, Nam Tae-hoon's checks sprouting from between the Ma-in's shadows, and Park Chang-jun's energy bullet rapid-fire.

While the three's attacks tied down the Ma-in's feet, the ice wall created by Hwang Ji-su primarily protected the injured hunters.

"Let's go!"

It was my job, along with Kwon Seung-yeon and Hwang Kyung-soo, to bring them over.

"Hmph!"

In particular, two hunters wearing metal armor were drawn by Hwang Kyung-soo's magnetism, and Kwon Seung-yeon, who had extremely reduced her body weight, carried the hunter who was furthest away.

I carried the remaining two, one under each arm, and retreated.

"Transport complete!"

At my shout, Hwang Ji-su nodded.

"Good! Now we enter combat!"

"Don't let your guard down! They're all strong ones!"

The five Ma-in each had different types of combat styles.

The lightning ability user who emitted electric whips from his fingertips was annoying, but.

'That one is the biggest variable.'

The one to be most wary of was the Ma-in who stood next to him, with one hand in his pocket and the other hanging loosely, smiling.

He possessed a tricky characteristic that could freeze targeted opponents for 3 seconds every time he flicked his finger.

'It's not extremely powerful, but the annoying part is that it activates without fail, regardless of the opponent.'

Meanwhile, the lycanthrope with an enormous build was even more unusual.

He was a rare species, a were-rhinoceros.

'His durability and charging power exceed those of the predator-type lycanthropes.'

Finally, a young woman wielding dual swords and a middle-aged giant with wrestler-like cauliflower ears also showed tremendous skill as they broke through the dungeon.

It was clear that this phase, where 10 people had to face five intermediate Ma-in, none of which were pushovers, would be a difficulty of a different dimension compared to earlier.

But.

'If we deploy according to compatibility, it's not that difficult.'

"Park Chang-jun, you take on that electricity one!"

At my words, Park Chang-jun's eyebrows twitched.

"Alone?"

"The annoying thing about that guy is his long range. But that won't work on you."

To the guy who was hemming and hawing with an unconfident face, I added a word.

"It would be fine if Kim Sang-jung joined you, right?"

"Damn it, alright."

"Keep him tied down where he is and fight him, don't send him this way!"

Fortunately, this dungeon was a map based on a wide rocky terrain.

It had the advantage of being able to fight while keeping the battlefield wide.

"That annoying finger-flicking guy should be handled by Yoon Ga-ram and Nam Tae-hoon, the two of you."

"Okay!"

Nam Tae-hoon readily agreed.

"Be careful not to enter his field of vision."

"That's my specialty."

I spoke to Hwang Ji-su, who was watching with her arms crossed beside me.

"That rhinoceros, I think you alone would be enough, Hwang Ji-su."

"Alone?"

"...With Jang So-hyun?"

"Okay."

Hwang Ji-su, who nodded, tapped Kwon Seung-yeon's shoulder.

"You and Sung Do-kyung should be able to handle that wrestler tights-wearing old man, right?"

"Possible."

"Good. Then Jeong Su-hyeon and Hwang Kyung-soo will take on the dual-sword-wielding Ma-in."

I smiled at Hwang Ji-su's pride as she naturally took over the baton, as if she couldn't stand seeing me give all the orders.

"Let's do that."

The deployment was also appropriate, so there was nothing to complain about.

'But Hwang Kyung-soo probably won't need to intervene.'

A duel with a dual-sword user that I rarely encounter.

It seemed like it could be quite entertaining.

'At least it could serve as practice training for "that guy."'

Sring.

The hwando, which hadn't lost a single tooth despite the long battle today, revealed its white blade.

"You follow slowly from behind."

"Got it. I'll help when I can!"

"That would be appreciated."

But there probably wouldn't be such a need.