Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Song Seokhwan (3)

The lord of the Slime Burrow—Mine Crung.

Everyone was shocked when they first encountered Mine Crung.

Mine Crung was the boss of the Slime Burrow, yet its species wasn't slime. And despite carrying the name "Mine," it wasn't a demonic creature either.

—GROOOAR!

Mine Crung was a giant with a boar's face and four arms.

"Boar" wasn't just a figure of speech.

It literally had a boar's head.

C-team recoiled in disgust.

Nam Hyeju taunted it in her coarsest voice.

"Whoa! Fuck, look at that mug. Did someone grind your face on asphalt?"

—GROAR!

Mine Crung reacted as if it understood.

Then it charged.

"Here it comes!"

Target: the red-haired female.

Mine Crung decided to obliterate the face of the female who'd insulted it.

Its four arms each gripped a greatsword with a serrated, saw-like edge.

It gathered all four blades to a single point and lanced forward in a piercing thrust.

—KYAAANG!

"Shield!"

Seo Dayun chanted in a clear voice.

Just before the female's face was pulverized, a translucent barrier intercepted the blades.

Mine Crung pounded the barrier in a rage.

CRACK—

Cracks spider-webbed across the Shield.

Good, good. It's breaking.

"The second Shield shatters, we hit it with everything at once!"

"On it."

SHATTER!

Finally smashed through.

Now, that goddamn female—

—......!

The instant the Shield broke, four attacks arrived simultaneously.

Sword, spear, arrow, magic—a gift basket of death.

Fortunately, Mine Crung also had four arms.

If it had been some inferior species with only two, it couldn't have blocked them all.

—GROAAAH!

Two arms deflected the sword and spear. A third arm split the spell.

When it moved the last arm to swat away the arrow—

SQUELCH—!

—GROAAAAAAH!

Its own body was carved open instead.

Crung began to think—for the first time in a while.

That arrow-shooting female was dangerous.

It wanted to kill the red female, but it had to kill the archer first.

Otherwise, it would be the one in danger.

LEAP!

Mine Crung sprang high into the air.

It sailed clean over C-team's front line, heading straight for An Seri.

Its only thought: she's an archer, so closing the distance means game over.

An Seri mocked that complacent thinking.

"Drop the prejudice that archers are weak up close."

Just before four blades came crashing down, An Seri gripped her bow with both hands.

And swung with everything she had.

WHAM!

A satisfying impact, and Mine Crung's massive body was sent hurtling back the way it came.

Mine Crung screamed in agony.

—GROAR! WHINE!

"Wow, classic team leader."

"What kind of archer is that strong......"

"Stay focused! This is just the start."

Mine Crung began swinging its swords in wild abandon.

"Looks like it doesn't have any real swordsmanship, huh?"

"Tch. Why does something that doesn't know the first thing about swordsmanship even carry greatswords? It should use a simpler weapon that suits it. Like a spear."

Nam Hyeju's remark set Gam Miseong off.

"Ha! You're calling spears simple? Never thought I'd hear that from a mere swordswoman."

"Am I wrong? All a spear can do is thrust. Swordsmanship has thousands of times more derivative techniques."

"Completely wrong. Spear arts are a million times more profound than the sword."

"Both of you, stop. Save the fighting for later."

The bickering only ended when An Seri stepped in.

The two set aside their rivalry for now and aimed their weapons at Mine Crung.

—GROAAAH!

Mine Crung's frenzied slashing was a crude waste of energy.

At that rate, it'd exhaust itself and keel over before landing a single blow on C-team.

But what mattered was the exam score.

The target was at least an A. There was no time to wait for it to tire out.

"When we strip its guard, Dayun lands a big one. Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Lord! Deliver your lambs from peril!"

Abraham applied buffs, then Nam Hyeju and Gam Miseong went all-out against Mine Crung.

The sturdy giant possessed skin that could deflect weapons forged from special metals.

SHING!

But against Aura-imbued sword strikes and spear thrusts, even that resilient body was torn apart.

Nam Hyeju's savage swordsmanship and Gam Miseong's refined spear arts—each flash of their weapons before Mine Crung's eyes added another wound.

—GH, GROAAAAAAH!

Mine Crung roared.

It wanted to tear them apart, but the intermittent arrows were maddening.

Not just powerful—devastatingly cunning.

The half-beat-delayed arrows landed precisely at the instant Crung transitioned from defense to offense, throwing it off every time.

Textbook covering fire.

Mine Crung came to a realization.

This wasn't working.

—GRRRRR......

Mine Crung started running.

Away from C-team—in the opposite direction!

"Where's that boar-headed bastard going?"

"Fuck, shouldn't we chase it?"

"No. It'll be back. Get ready!"

An Seri's judgment was spot on.

After creating enough distance, Mine Crung turned around and charged back toward C-team.

Mine Crung ran.

Faster, and faster still.

Its powerful body plus momentum made it look like a runaway freight train.

"That crazy bastard!"

"Dodge!"

Everyone dove in different directions.

Dodging Mine Crung's charge was good, but scattering broke their formation.

Gam Miseong worried about the exposed rear line.

"We need to protect Dayun and the holy roller......"

"It's fine."

The collapsed formation theoretically gave Mine Crung an opening to target the mage and priest—the protected back-line classes.

But Mine Crung wasn't a highly intelligent monster.

Its Aggro locked onto the most threatening enemy.

—KYAAAAH!

So it barreled straight at An Seri.

The momentum-charged giant became a runaway freight train once again.

If it so much as grazed an ordinary person, it would shatter their body to pieces.

"I figured as much."

THUNK—

—GR... AAH?

Mine Crung's world flipped upside down.

Its skyward-soaring momentum was redirected straight into the ground. Mine Crung began tumbling pathetically.

It bounced off the ground eight times before finally coming to a stop.

What had stopped the runaway freight train was a small trap.

An Seri had predicted Mine Crung would come for her, and while dodging, she'd laid a simple snare.

Everything was ready.

Seo Dayun called the finish.

"I'll wrap this up!"

Seo Dayun prepared the most powerful spell in her arsenal.

Vast mana surged and began shifting into a specific attribute.

Elemental magic was commonly represented by the Big Four: water, earth, wind, and fire.

The Big Four were the baseline for any mage. If you couldn't handle even those, touching other attributes was out of the question.

Once a mage built sufficient understanding of the Big Four, other elemental magics became accessible.

The pinnacle of elemental magic.

Lightning attribute.

"Thunderbolt!"

CRACK—!

A flash of light struck down.

Mine Crung didn't even manage a scream before being burned to a crisp.

"Whoa! Insane!"

"What did I just witness?!"

"Hallelujah!"

Lightning was incomparably more difficult to wield than fire.

Not only did it demand exceptional mana control, but innate talent was essential.

Even among high-ranking Heroes, mages who couldn't handle lightning were common enough to make the attribute a rare sight.

With that, the exam was over.

Without a word, they all rushed out of the dungeon.

"How long did we take?"

"21 minutes, 47 seconds."

"Damn! A+ is out of reach. Should've pushed a little harder."

Nam Hyeju grumbled, but her expression was bright.

She was secretly pleased about earning an A in a dungeon that didn't favor their composition—but too proud to admit it, she said the opposite.

"Sister, lying leads to hell."

"Shut up. If you'd just done your job, we'd have gotten A+, wouldn't we?"

"Blaming your neighbor also leads to hell."

"At least if you couldn't talk, you wouldn't be so annoying."

"Hating your neighbor also leads to hell."

"I'll go to hell myself! You desert-god-worshipping pest."

Seo Dayun, the last to exit the Gate, stumbled the moment she stepped out.

She drew ragged breaths.

"Haah, hah."

It was the recoil from casting a powerful spell.

She'd burned through too much mana at once, triggering mana exhaustion.

An Seri asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll feel better in a minute."

"Hold still."

An Seri knelt beside Seo Dayun and began massaging her arms and legs.

It wasn't an ordinary massage.

An Seri focused on stimulating the points that could be called the meridians of Seo Dayun's mana flow.

As the mana began circulating smoothly, Seo Dayun's condition improved.

"Better now?"

"Yeah! Thanks."

"Liar. You're still struggling."

Mana exhaustion affected mana-sensitive individuals more severely.

For someone born with talent as exceptional as Seo Dayun's, it went without saying.

An Seri bent her knees and offered her back.

"Climb on."

"Hm? I'm fine. I can walk on my own."

"Don't be stubborn. You're still hurting."

"R-really, I'm okay......"

Seo Dayun wavered.

She felt bad turning down a repeated offer, and it was true that her body was struggling.

"Then I'll impose on you just a little."

She ended up riding on An Seri's back for the trip home.

***

"Here they come."

I spotted a familiar face approaching from the distance.

D-team's leader, Oh Jaehak.

"Professor, we're back!"

"Good. Well done."

D-team's score had improved from the last exam.

Having a name definitely helped.

When I'd been a nobody professor, students had just been coasting through for credits. Now that I was a star professor, everyone was desperate.

C-team had unfortunately scored lower this time.

They absolutely hadn't slacked off. They were kids who'd been giving their all from the start—there was nowhere higher to go.

But this dungeon's composition hadn't played to C-team's strengths, and their score dropped.

Next, B-team.

They'd missed A+ by a hair, but they'd claimed first place in this exam.

The amusing part was Baek Seolhwa bragging that she'd gone down into the burrow during the second stage and caught the slimes herself.

Picturing that ridiculous scene made me laugh involuntarily.

I told you to use what you learned in class to clear it.

Why would you go down there and subject yourself to that?

Lastly, A-team.

Out of all four teams, these were the only ones with too many problems.

My teaching assistant, Lee Yeeun, beside me, leaned over and whispered.

"Professor, don't you think something's off? A-team still hasn't come out."

It was definitely strange.

Why hadn't A-team arrived yet?

This dungeon's composition didn't favor the other teams, but A-team was different.

The key to clearing a slime dungeon was the mage.

For A-team, led by Song Seokhwan, to still be missing made no sense.

If I'd been the one controlling Song Seokhwan, forget twenty minutes—I'd have crushed it in ten.

There was only one possibility to consider.

This wasn't a training ground, nor was it inside a Barrier built for a lecture.

This was a real dungeon that active Heroes frequented.

I couldn't rule out an unforeseen accident.

"Lee, keep an eye on the kids for me."

"What about you, Professor?"

"I need to go find A-team. The Gate readings show they haven't even cleared yet. Something might have happened."

"Don't worry about things here. Just go."

Lee Yeeun answered with a grave expression.

If it was Lee Yeeun, I could leave things in her hands. She delivered when it counted.

I departed for the Gate that A-team had entered.

Forty-five minutes since the exam started.

Coming out now meant a D. Giving up meant an F.

It was unlikely, but I also had to consider the possibility that they were still in the middle of the exam.

Until I confirmed that A-team was in a situation they couldn't clear, I decided not to touch any monsters inside.

"What's going on in there, Song Seokhwan?"

I stepped through the Gate.