Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Artificial Dungeon (2)
[Team 1: Team Suho / Team Cho Yoona]
...
[Team 2: Team Nayun / Team Sven]
...
[Team 8: Team Yeonha / Team Jaden]
...
I started looking around for my team, but I saw Kim Hajin standing still with his jaw dropped. Since the plot is written by Kim Hajin and the co-author, Hajin doesn't necessarily know the entire future because the co-author can change it, however, when the plot is changed, he receives an alert. Well, the co-author significantly changed this training event, so he's probably terrified.
Finally, I found my team and walked towards them, but it seemed like I was a bit late as the others were already starting their self-introductions. Chae Nayun started by speaking to the other team leader, Sven.
"Oh, you're on our team too? I've seen you at the hunting club. Your name is ... UH .."
"Sven. My name is Sven"
In the distance, I could see Kim Hajin staring at Sven while trembling. Sven did have a pretty big impact on this event and the changes made by the co-author probably made him more dangerous.
After the two team leaders introduced themselves, we went around saying our names and ranks. Bam and I got some stares from the other group as we were in the 900 ranks, however, we just ignored them. While waiting for our group's turn to enter, I could see Sven desperately trying to start a conversation with Nayun, and Nayun, being the dumbass she is, didn't even notice it.
'is this guy not even trying to hide it? he obviously likes her'
Sven's group was talking amongst themselves, probably criticizing us or something, while our group was just standing there awkwardly. I mean I wasn't gonna start a conversation. After a minute of this silence, Bam finally broke the ice by nudging my shoulder and saying.
"dude you jealous?"
"??? the hell are you talking about"
I was genuinely confused as to what he was saying, so I glanced around to see if he was talking about me.
'he did nudge my shoulder. right? Is he talking to me?'
"Yes dude, I'm talking to you, but clearly I was wrong"
"??? Who did you think I was jealous of? Chae Nayun? I'd rather die"
"no, that's clear with everyone. I thought it was that girl, Olivia"
"who??"
"do you seriously not know your classmates' names? the one you came with on the tr-. ah nevermind, you don't even know her"
'ah so that's her name'
I was gonna ask Bam if he was a stalker or something because he knew I came on the train today, but the instructor announced.
"Group 3, HEAD IN!"
' *sigh* we didn't even discuss a formation'
Our group and Sven's group headed into the cave and inside were 8 different smaller caves with different paths. I already knew that the higher the cave number, the higher the difficulty, but before I could intervene, Chae Nayun randomly said.
"I like the number 6, let's go"
'can't question that logic, can I.'
Since we didn't have any plan or formation, I stuck near the back of the group, can't have me getting any injuries. One fire lizard appeared in front of us and Nayun along Sven sprung into action. Sven took out his sword and charged forward, he jumped onto the back of the fire lizard and ran forward on it while plunging his sword into the monster's back. Chae Nayun shot three arrows in the span of a second. Two of them hit the lizard's eyes and the other hit one of its legs.
The arrows immobilized the lizard, so Sven was able to singlehandedly distract the lizard's blind movements. Taking advantage of this, Sven's group stepped in and helped damage the lizard's body, and Nayun performed the fatal blow with another one of her arrows.
Bam and I, who were walking toward the rear of the group, watched in awe because Chae Nayun and the other group killed everything in front of us.
'ngl this feels like a stroll. If everything could just continue like this'
*CLICK*
A lever was triggered by someone in the group.
*WHOOSH*
An arrow, whose shaft was covered in green, flew in the air and towards our group. The arrow stabbed into Sven's knee, and he fell to the ground.
" *AHHH* "
Chae Nayun, who was next to Sven, immediately stooped down to one knee.
"you good dude"
'is she stupid??'
I muttered loud enough for only Bam to hear.
"DOES HE LOOK GOOD"
We both chuckled at the pair. The arrow immobilized Sven, so someone had to move up and another had to carry him. Chae Nayun now basically became the leader of both groups, so she immediately ordered us.
"Bam, you carry him. Ren, you come up here and take his place"
'wow so she does know my name'
I walked toward the front of the group, ignoring Sven's jealous stare, and gave a quick wave to Nayun, which was unreciprocated. When monsters appeared, I didn't do anything too flashy, I would just immobilize the monster by taking off its legs or damaging its eyes, so the rest of the group could damage it. The attitude of Sven's group grew better as they saw I could be kinda useful, and Bam, just walked grumpily, with Sven on his back.
Surprisingly, everything was going fine, considering this was an actual dungeon. Yeah, some djinns entered the cube and changed the artificial dungeon to become a real one. However, I didn't let it bother me as I knew shit was gonna hit the fan once we entered the boss room which was probably only like three monsters away at this point.
We disposed of two monsters and headed towards the last one when suddenly the cave shook.
*RUMBLE*
The temperature around us instantly increased and a fire lizard respawned when the two from before died. In artificial dungeons, monsters can't respawn, so no one was paying attention to our behind.
'what are the odds a monster respawns here and also in Hajin's group'
The monster, seeing that we were unaware, immediately unleashed a fireball from its mouth toward us. The only people able to react fast enough were the sharpshooters, Chae Nayun, and some extra from Sven's group. Luckily, the extra was able to produce some water magic fast enough. Well he didn't produce it, it seemed he knew we were going to a fire-type dungeon, so he brought a water charm which activated against the fireball. The charm wasn't that strong, but it did enough to prevent the fireball from killing us. The water charm also reflected the fireball right back at the salamander, and it died from the impact. Seemed like the salamander used all it's power on that one attack.
'does it want us dead that bad? damn what did we do to you'
Chae Nayun, the dumbass, still didn't know what was going on, so she asked.
"jeez... was that fireball meant to kill us. Is this really a fake dungeon"
To be fair, I doubt any of my teammates realized it as well because no one would dare doubt the best magic academy in the world. That being said, I definitely have to pay more attention in the future, without the water charm and Aether, I could have died or been seriously injured.
Looking around the group, I could see everyone was on edge, and the clothes of every one were tattered along with torn. Everyone... except me. I looked down and while my pants were as torn down as everyone else's, my sweater along with my shirt was completely fine.
'ah aether really is too good'
After getting over the initial shock, the rest of both groups glanced around and eventually, everyone's gaze landed on me as the upper half of my body was completely unharmed.
'fuck, I can't say it's an equipment item, because those are unallowed in class'
After finding an excuse, I awkwardly said.
"uhhh, it's part of my gift"
I don't think anyone believed me, but they had bigger things to worry about as we could now see another fire lizard in the distance. Chae Nayun taking back control of the group ordered.
"All alright Ren, since you're in the best shape, immobilize it and the rest of us will attack"
I pulled out my katana and ran towards the monster. I could have easily immobilized it within 5 seconds, however, I had to keep in mind the plot. If I were to end it too fast, then we would reach the boss's room too early so Kim Hajin wouldn't be there in time to save Nayun, so I decided to stall for 2-3 minutes, the time it takes for a normal person to immobilize it. After running around the monster for three minutes, I finally got all of its legs and Chae Nayun shot three arrows, dealing the finishing blows. Everyone was exhausted, including me, so we decided to walk to the boss room, and then relax.
The path opened up to a wide room that resembled a coliseum from the Roman Era, however, there were rivers of lava sporadically placed around the arena. The middle platform of the coliseum was blocked off by pillars that went all the way up to the roof, and in the very center of the room, there was a Magma Megalith, a tier 5 intermediate-rank monster. We gathered at the end of the path and looked down at the monster. Breaking the silence, Bam fearfully asked.
"HA... can we take that thing?"
Chae Nayun responded, actually not sounding stupid this time.
"It'll be hard with just our team alone. The next team should be here soon, so let's join forces with them. We'll just have to stay quiet until then"
Hearing this we all sat down, and Bam placed Sven down on the floor. One of Sven's teammates examined him on the floor and asked.
"Doesn't he need medical attention though?"
Chae Nayun stupidly asked.
"Seriously, where did that freaking arrow come from. Isn't the difficulty level of this training strangely high?"
'where else could it come from besides a trap this isn't training anymore'
Sven, who was previously silent, clenched his chest. He was probably thinking about how much of a loser he was for being a burden during training, especially with his crush watching.
'I mean I would probably be mad as hell too'
Now, since he was in the weakest mental health state, a demon would probably try to contact him and give him power without revealing that his body would be there essentially. I mean most people would probably accept the offer, you're essentially getting free power for nothing, however, there's indeed nothing like a free lunch.
'I mean shouldn't the demons tell them that their body would be gone before? Isn't this kinda illegal'
" *AHHHH* " Sven started screaming in pain.
The demon probably began taking over his body. Then, the boss monster hearing Sven's scream threw some part of the arena at us.
*CRASH*
One of Sven's teammates asked.
"Wh-what's wrong with him"
'dude forget about him, we have a fucking boss monster targeting us'
Chae Nayun, also being stupid, ignored the boss monster and continued trying to help Sven. However, the boss monster wouldn't let it happen as it jumped up and looked us dead in the eye.
'yea we're fucked'
"RUNNN"
*WHOOSH*
The boss monster let out a fireball aimed directly at us, Bam grabbed Sven and with the rest of us, he also dropped down to the arena.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone