32 – Backroom (1)

The morning of the first day of dungeon practice.

All first graders were temporarily summoned to the principal.

Practice content and objectives.

And it was to explain the points of caution.

It must have been about thirty minutes.

“That is all. Good luck, then.”

The briefing, which was nothing more than a formal procedure, was over before anyone knew it.

“The dungeon practice will be held in exactly two hours, so please go to the assigned place as soon as possible.”

before the practice begins in earnest.

Personal maintenance time was given under the pretext of conditioning.

The way in which this time was used varied from person to person.

The type who has excellent leadership and gathers members and discusses dungeons.

The type of person who eats a late breakfast or lacks sleep.

Or the kind that puts effort into individual training.

Han Seok-ho, the original protagonist, belonged to the last category.

Of course me too.

“uh? isn’t this your first time here? that’s interesting.”

Han Seok-ho, who was ironing in the training room, found me and looked at me curiously.

“The training efficiency is good, so I’m going to try it today.”

I’ve been training all this time, but

The use of the academy facilities was avoided as much as possible.

This is because the usage fee is all debt.

I didn’t want to suffer from debt later on, so I was going to do bare-body training all the time, but…

“Good idea. Training with artifacts is definitely more efficient than body training.”

Since he attends the academy, shouldn’t he use it at least once?

As Han Seok-ho said, efficiency is good.

‘I heard that the efficiency of aerobic exercise alone is extraordinary.’

I got on the treadmill to warm up.

The speed is fixed at 8 speeds.

I ran like that for thirty minutes.

*

While wiping the sweat with a dry towel.

“Are you coming every day? I was bored alone, but it worked out.”

Han Seok-ho, who was doing a good job nearby, spoke again.

What’s going well?

He hasn’t answered yet, but he’s drinking kimchi soup by himself.

I decided to break the vain expectation right away.

“no. I will never come again.”

“why···? come every day Are the facilities not good enough?”

what every day

All equipment in the training room is an artifact.

Because of this, the daily fee is unimaginably expensive.

I don’t recall in detail.

Maybe it was about 330,000 won?

If you use it consistently for a month, it was an amount close to 10 million won.

How much is this in a year…

There are not one or two places where debt accumulates at the academy, and I can’t make my future self shoulder the burden by accumulating debt even in these areas.

“yes. After using it today, it seems to be worse than I thought.”

“yes? It’s strange. Artifacts are not received well…?”

Han Seok-ho made a sad expression.

I don’t have the slightest intention of becoming your friend, so I hope you continue to work hard alone.

‘And what… There’s no difference.’

I heard that training using artifacts has a lot of experience, but I don’t know if I’m insensitive, but I didn’t really feel it.

Feeling fooled by hype.

I’m going to do a bare-body workout like I used to do.

“I have to go now. There isn’t much time left for practice, so you should finish it soon.”

“Oh, already? You weren’t looking at the time.”

After Han Seok-ho checked his watch.

I got up from my seat and hurriedly grabbed my clothes and put them on.

He’s kind, but his flaw is that he’s clumsy.

So, did you say that the original story is a series of sweet potatoes?

I’ve never read it, so I’m not sure.

The development of sweet potato is just a sentimental comment Kim Soo-han felt.

“Anyway, I’m first…”

The moment I said goodbye and was about to leave the training room.

‘······hit. Should I be seeing you by now?’

Suddenly, the story about Han Seok-ho in the novel came to mind.

It’s not very important, but…

I asked Han Seok-ho a personal question because I was unnecessarily curious.

“But do you have a girlfriend?”

“yes? suddenly?”

Han Seok-ho is startled.

I could see at a glance that he was trying to hide his embarrassment.

The boy scratched his head and replied with an awkward smile.

“Have you heard about it already? We haven’t been dating for a while, hahahaha.”

You already have a girlfriend.

Unknowingly, I looked at Han Seok-ho with a vague look.

“···yes? Why do you look like that?”

Han Seok-ho tilted his head, perhaps noticing the gaze.

“no. I will cheer for you to have a good love…”

“uh? yes···. thanks···?”

“Then I will go first. thanks for your effort.”

I gave a brief greeting and left the training room.

‘Poor you. Didn’t I have to tell you not to date?’

girl friend.

Due to that dirty existence, Han Seok-ho suffers despair.

Even though I was in a third person’s position, just thinking about the future made me sick.

‘···I don’t know. Let’s not care.’

Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do on this side.

I’m not a fixer either.

Because I can’t ask you to break up with your girlfriend right away.

Know how to overcome it.

*

*

*

Before moving to the assigned dungeon.

I had plenty of time, so I was sitting on a bench and talking on the phone.

[Is there really no such thing as a crazy bitch? A bitch who is uglier than an orangutan has a dirty personality, so I don’t have a boyfriend until she gets older.]

Twin sister Lee Hyun-ji.

At first, the relationship was close to catastrophe, but

As I called every day and talked about trivial things, the wall in my heart was quickly torn down.

[ha. Even if you say it like this, you won’t understand. You have to live with that bitch. If it were you, I would have stabbed you right away?]

“Don’t you think I’m a murderer…?”

The relationship has progressed so far

In a way, it was possible because we had a good relationship until we were 15 years old.

After I was 15 years old, I had hate hair, but it wasn’t as deep as I expected.

so will it be,

It was because Lee Hyun-ji and I didn’t even talk to each other.

There must be some point of contact to grow hateful feelings.

My father also said that he always said only good things about me to Lee Hyun-ji.

It seemed that he was silent about the trashy behavior of asking for money to pay for alcohol.

[Oh, and I’m on vacation next month, so can I stop by there before going home?]

“yes. Just contact us in advance. And I have to go now, so I’ll hang up.”

After the call, I put my phone in my pocket.

And for a while, I summarized my thoughts on Lee Hyun-seong before being possessed.

‘They said that monster trainers change their personality as soon as they acquire them.’

Trainers and summoners are distinctly different professions, but they have one thing in common: dealing with monsters.

Maybe monster summoners also had a trait that made their personalities distorted?

The time when the personality changed was also the same.

‘There is no possibility. Becoming a different person in an instant was a bit foreign to me.’

If you think that the shock of losing your mother and the characteristics of your job worked, it makes sense to some extent.

‘If this hypothesis is true, isn’t it a cursed job? What’s the penalty like?’

Could there be any other penalty?

The time when I was lost in thought for a long time.

“Who did you talk to?”

A familiar voice pierced my left ear.

When I turned my head, Baek So-ah was sitting on the bench next to me, staring at me.

where did he come from?

I almost swung my fist reflexively.

Baek So-ah asked the question again as she was sweeping her surprised chest.

“yes? Who did you talk to?”

“···ah. I talked to my brother for a while. why?”

“Someone just did it. If it’s a younger brother, is it a younger sister in the army?”

I nodded my head in affirmation and suddenly sensed something strange.

“Did I tell you that I have a sister?”

“Yes? You should have told me last time…?”

I don’t remember, but it is.

“But, baby, why are you here?”

At my question, Baek So-ah stood up with a fake smile.

“What a coincidence. I was on my way to the place where I was assigned to practice, and I stopped by because I saw you.”

“The opposite direction from where you were assigned…”

“ah! late! Then I’ll go first!”

Baek So-ah, who was running as if running away, stumbled upon a stone and fell.

“…”

Then he got up, dusted himself off, and ran again.

‘Isn’t it sick?’

It feels like the character is becoming more and more strange.

‘I was told to be careful during practice because I didn’t know, but he left without a chance to say anything.’

…it doesn’t matter

According to the novel, nothing happens this time.

There are weak attempts, though.

‘Was it an operation to remove Kim Soo-han?’

It suddenly came to my mind last night.

The development of the novel that I completely forgot because it was mentioned in only a few lines.

After infiltrating the academy in Liberation.

It was the content that he was just looking for an opportunity to get rid of Kim Soo-han and then gave up.

‘The person on the liberation side must be Rajeyoung.’

Even if it wasn’t written in the novel.

If you think about it in depth, you can easily infer it.

Because only members of the same team can target Kim Soo-han in the dungeon.

Among the first year students, there is no other spy other than Ra Je-young.

‘Rajeyoung’s child. I didn’t know you were already working as a minion.’

If I had clearly remembered the events that would happen today…

It’s not that Rajeyoung became a minion in the middle,

You should have known that you belonged to Liberation from the beginning.

‘···We’ll have to figure out how to deal with Rajeyoung in the future. If I catch him quickly, my heart will be much lighter.’

After thinking about it, I moved to the practice area.

***

“Good luck today!”

Pink hair unique to the healing profession.

Kim Young-ji, who ranked 15th, greeted lively with a bright smile.

15th place may seem high,

In fact, it is safe to say that the 11th to 15th places are outside the rankings.

Those ranks are all healers.

These are kids who don’t play a separate ranking match because they aren’t in a combat position.

As Kim Young-ji looked around the members in a sociable manner, Kim Min-guk also greeted them out of courtesy.

“I’m counting on you.”

Ranked 31st.

Kim Min-guk.

He has a legendary job called Explosive.

Source: Academy website.

‘But the atmosphere seems to have changed a bit.’

how to say

Do you feel like people have changed?

not friendly,

I knew that he wasn’t such a blunt image, but that he was a nice guy.

To the extent that it is characterized by always smiling effortlessly.

‘Are you nervous…?’

or bad condition.

I thought there might be a personal situation, so I didn’t think it was a big deal, and I greeted him.

“yes. I wish you well too. Let’s do our best together.”

and the last one left.

main heroine.

Cha Yu-ra

The only daughter of the head of a large guild with light blue hair.

All eyes were on her.

“What.”

·······.

As for the novel, I wasn’t very impressed.

Now that I think about it, the heroine’s personality is all damn right.

If I had to choose the most docile heroine, would it be a reason?

Of course, the relationship with me is the worst.

Kim Young-ji carefully expressed his dissatisfaction, as if he was dissatisfied with Cha Yoo-ra’s behavior.

“No… it would be nice if the members of the group said hello to each other. Do you really have to react like that?”

“what.”

Cha Yoo-ra ignored Kim Young-ji.

I untied my arms and walked towards the portal.

It’s not really cheap.

It’s already clouding the atmosphere.

I clicked my tongue inside and silently followed behind Cha Yu-ra, who had gone ahead.

In front of the portal, assistants and security guards were placed.

“You are Lee Hyun-seong, right?”

“you’re right.”

“The number of summons that can be operated… Mmm. It says it depends on the situation. Do you have more than ten of them?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t think I’ll be able to summon that much. I’m planning on summoning only higher-ranked summons.”

“okay? Would five be enough?”

“Yeah. I guess that should be enough.”

The security guard rummaged through the boxes on the floor.

And five rings to pull out.

This is no ordinary ring.

It was called a surveillance artifact, and it was an item with a recording function.

“Here I am.”

“thank you.”

Originally, each person was paid one, but

Summoners like me pay several as an exception.

There is no reason.

The number of summons also needs to be filmed separately.

That’s how all the crew members, including me, gathered in front of the portal wearing surveillance artifacts.

The dungeon assigned to our group is level 3.

However, it is a little different from the normal 3rd grade.

It’s because it’s a grade based only on the monsters that appear in areas where exploration has been completed.

‘This is my first time doing a special dungeon.’

special dungeon.

The light of the portal is the same black as the special dungeon.

There is a feature that the dungeon break does not occur, and most of them do not proceed to the end of the search.

It was a dungeon that only utilized areas close to the portal.

“I’ll say it again, but you should never enter unless it’s a marked road.”

The teaching assistant emphasized the point of caution.

mark.

A guide left by explorers who explored the dungeon the other day.

If you follow that, you can see that it is a much safer place than other 3rd class dungeons.

Conversely, if you try to carve out your own way…

She ends up falling into a lost child who wanders the dungeon for the rest of her life.

The type of dungeon we will enter is a ‘maze’.

From the beginning, the mapping artifacts do not work, and if you go deep into unmarked places, the surveillance artifacts will also become inoperable, so thorough attention was needed.

“I really wished it wasn’t this dungeon… Whoa…”

Kim Young-ji let out a deep sigh.

Such reactions are understandable.

A dungeon that has not yet been confirmed to have a boss.

Because that will evoke fear of the unknown.

“Don’t waste your time and follow me quickly.”

Cha Yoo-ra glanced at Kim Young-ji, who hesitated, and then went through the portal without hesitation.

Like that, Kim Min-guk and I followed her like bridesmaids,

“Go, go together! Kim Min-guk, today you are real…”

Kim Young-ji came after him in a hurry.

As we entered the dungeon, we were greeted by a narrow space exuding a strange atmosphere.

‘…This must have scared Kim Young-ji.’

A room plastered with wallpaper in a solid yellow tone.

A labyrinth in which identical rooms are endlessly connected.

This is the special dungeon we will explore.

It was called ‘back room’.