Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Grinning Dungeon Practicum (1)

The third week of the semester.

In other words, my third lecture.

I headed toward the now-familiar lecture hall.

Opening the door, all twenty-two students' eyes locked onto me as always.

I stepped up to the podium and greeted them.

"Good to see you all."

The students greeted me back in kind.

The atmosphere was better than last week.

"Let's begin class."

The lecture started just like before.

The site of the first practicum evaluation: Pale Monkey Forest.

From now on, I'd be passing on clearing strategies in earnest.

Pale Monkey Forest had no particularly strong individual monsters.

Each one was on the weaker side, so even freshmen could handle them without much trouble.

However, the monsters were cunning, the dungeon's layout was complex, and there were plenty of traps─far from a pushover.

But if you knew the strategy, the difficulty dropped exponentially.

"Imagine you're surrounded by a large number of enemies in a dungeon."

The monkey hordes inhabiting Pale Monkey Forest.

Individually weak, but they traveled in packs, making them difficult to deal with.

"So, what would you do?"

As I scanned the students, someone raised their hand.

A green-haired boy from the Combat Magic Department.

"Blow them away with AoE magic."

"Correct."

A very mage-like answer.

The green-haired boy wore a slightly smug expression. He kept glancing at An Seri in particular.

Archers and mages were both ranged DPS, so their roles overlapped considerably.

Which meant they didn't get along.

The classic childish argument over which class was superior.

In other words, a petty provocation meaning "you guys can't do this, can you?"

An Seri herself didn't seem to care, but students from other departments shot disapproving looks.

"Then what if there's no mage in the party?"

The lecture hall went quiet at my follow-up.

Someone muttered under their breath, "You'd have to mock the party leader for coming to a dungeon without a mage," prompting the Combat Magic students to snicker.

Another added, "Especially if that party had an archer instead," and they all chimed in.

Squeeze─

Apparently not pleased, An Seri tightened her grip on the pen in her hand.

So she hadn't been ignoring it─she'd been forcing herself to.

I was sorry, but I couldn't take sides here.

"Good answer. Not creating a situation without a mage─that is the best course of action."

When I spoke, the students looked at the Combat Magic group with surprise.

The group in question looked bewildered themselves.

Only Song Seokhwan scoffed and provoked further.

"Obviously. Mages are the most superior class, after all."

Not just An Seri─everyone was riled by that statement.

Class superiority.

This was a debate enjoyed by every student, civilian, and even Heroes.

Before it could devolve into a fight, I preempted it.

"It's true that among all classes, mages have the most versatility."

That was why I'd started with magic too.

Magic was useful in any situation.

Song Seokhwan nodded as if to say told you so.

"But that's all it is. Without a front line, mages are half as effective, and against magic-resistant opponents, they're powerless. No class can stand alone. Debating superiority is meaningless."

I gave the best answer I could as an educator.

Everything is good.

The classic both-sides argument.

Personally, I did think a performance-based hierarchy existed between classes, but it wasn't relevant to the course topic, so I wrapped it up.

"Let's get back on topic. But what if nobody has an AoE skill? Things don't always go perfectly. So you should know the fallback. Anyone?"

A stocky boy in the back answered.

"Can't you just pick them off one by one?"

"That's the worst option. Too tedious."

A few more ideas came up, but none were practical.

Just as I was about to reveal the answer, An Seri raised her hand.

"Take out the leader."

"Correct."

The students let out murmurs of admiration.

I fleshed out her answer with some explanation.

"Taking out the leader first gives two advantages. First, it collapses their chain of command. Second, it massively tanks enemy morale. Once they lose their anchor, the rest naturally devolve into a disorganized mob."

I looked around with a "got it?" expression, and most faces looked at ease.

That was how dungeon strategies worked.

Finding the method was the hard part─once you found it, memorizing was simple.

Whether you could actually execute it in the field was another matter entirely.

I taught various other bits of knowledge as well.

Some students listened intently, but most took notes while sneaking peeks at their phones, and a few were outright asleep.

A thoroughly gen-ed class scene.

It was the same back in my college days. Even Florian Academy─the equivalent of an S-tier university─was still a place where people lived.

Regardless, my lecture continued.

***

They often say being a genius doesn't mean you can teach well.

No matter how much knowledge you possessed, if you couldn't convey it properly, you were unfit as a lecturer.

In that sense, a staggering number of professors had terrible reputations.

But Cha Eunwoo was different.

His classes had a magnetic pull.

Voice, intonation, eye contact, lecture quality─everything was top-tier.

Students found themselves drawn into the lecture without realizing it.

Though those determined not to listen still didn't.

"That's all for now. Any questions?"

The last slide flipped, and the typical closing line came out.

Naturally, no one spoke up.

But everyone had one question in common.

There was still plenty of time before the lecture was supposed to end.

They'd have been happy if class ended early, but that was unlikely. Most guessed there was probably a second set of slides.

But Cha Eunwoo had no slides prepared.

Instead, something else was ready.

"Seems like there aren't any. Then today's lecture ends here... and we'll move on to a practicum."

Flash─!

When Cha Eunwoo raised both arms, a circular magic circle rose from the lecture hall floor.

It looked complex at a glance. Even someone who knew nothing about magic could tell this was high-level sorcery.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

Bright light spread and obscured their vision. When they opened their eyes, a dark cave stretched before them.

"Where are we?"

"It's so dark......"

"Is this spatial teleportation magic?"

Cha Eunwoo addressed the confused students.

"Nothing that grand. It's simply a Barrier created with magic."

"A Barrier?"

"Yes. If I stop feeding it mana or someone breaks the spell, this place vanishes instantly."

Once the students calmed down, they noticed the unnaturalness of this place.

The floors and stones had lines that were far too clean. In nature, they would've been much rougher.

The mana flow was also unnatural.

There shouldn't be any rules governing mana in nature, yet the mana here was flowing toward a single point.

That point was the Barrier Stone, which existed to maintain the spell.

"Whoa, that's insane."

"You can do this with magic?"

Most couldn't hide their amazement at seeing high-level magic for the first time.

They'd only ever seen magic in videos─few had witnessed it firsthand.

"Attention. The practicum begins now."

When Cha Eunwoo spoke, every eye focused.

Even those who'd been dozing during the lecture were now wide-eyed.

"First─my course grades are 100% based on the dungeon clear exam. Whether you do well in today's exercise has no bearing on your grade. However, if you can't even keep up with this, I have doubts about whether you'll successfully complete the exam."

The tone was flat, but there was something chilling underneath.

Everyone instinctively understood.

That wasn't an exaggeration meant to motivate.

Fall behind here, and it's over.

"Split into your groups. See the corridors ahead, behind, left, and right? At the end of each is a Barrier Stone. Touch it and you'll be transported outside the Barrier. Of course, reaching it won't be easy."

Someone let out a short shriek.

It was clearly audible, but in the tense atmosphere it was quickly swallowed up.

The sudden practicum caught everyone off guard, but amid the chaos, some maintained their composure.

"If the first group to clear gets to leave, right?"

The voice belonged to Song Seokhwan.

His relaxed tone made it sound like this was nothing at all.

"Of course."

"Well, well. Don't scold me for leaving too early."

"Yeah! Let's crush it and bail."

"Class ending early? Total win."

Song Seokhwan's bravado helped his group members find their footing.

The presence of a reliable team leader.

It was like a great tree the team could lean against.

"When lecture time runs out, the Barrier will collapse on its own, so if you're not confident, don't get hurt for nothing─just wait quietly. This place isn't cruel enough to chase down cowards who give up. Let's begin."

The moment Cha Eunwoo finished, each group assembled.

Song Seokhwan addressed his team first.

"Anyone who falls behind dies by my hand. We're breaking through in record time."

Brutal words, but his team nodded.

An Seri took a gentler approach to ease her team's nerves.

"This isn't an exam, so there's no rush. Think of it as learning step by step...... wait, what are you doing?"

An Seri said in disbelief.

Song Seokhwan's group had shoved past An Seri's team at the front and entered the corridor first.

Song Seokhwan wore a sly grin.

A childish provocation before they'd even started.

"We were already eyeing this corridor first, and you guys stole it. Got complaints? You should've been faster."

"What kind of bullshit...... No, forget it."

An Seri clicked her tongue and led her team to a different corridor.

The attempt to shake a rival team's morale under the guise of competition was juvenile, but it worked to some degree.

The other two groups muttered their displeasure.

"So it's only a competition between those two?"

"They don't even see our group, is that it? Let's show them."

"Those bastards are getting schooled today."

After some grumbling, the other teams entered their corridors as well.

Once every group was inside, Cha Eunwoo exited the Barrier.

The empty lecture hall held only Lee Yeeun, who'd just arrived.

Now it was time to watch.

"TA Lee, turn on the cameras."

"Yes!"

A display appeared on the lecture hall's massive screen.

Dozens of cameras installed throughout the four corridors filled the screen with footage.

Lee Yeeun worked the remote, and the split view reduced to four feeds, each tracking one group.

Cha Eunwoo nodded approvingly and gestured.

Lee Yeeun handed over the pre-prepared popcorn.

Crunch, crunch.

Even eating popcorn, he looked like a photoshoot.

Lee Yeeun momentarily lost herself staring before barely grabbing hold of her senses.

Then she asked with a worried face.

"Professor, do you think any group will actually clear this? The difficulty seems way too high......"

"It'd be no fun if it were easy. I made it hard on purpose."

Lee Yeeun gave him an incredulous look, but Cha Eunwoo said breezily:

"Do you know when people try their absolute hardest? When they hit a massive wall. No matter how strong someone's will is, they can't give their best without a stimulus."

"But Professor, what if the kids give up?"

"Then that's the end of it."

That was right.

What Cha Eunwoo needed wasn't a mediocre majority.

If he could salvage the phoenix, the chickens didn't matter.

"I just hope they don't get too hurt."