< Chapter 61: Maiden’s Labyrinth (2) >
Dungeon Creator.
The Maiden was furious in the situation room.
“…Does that bastard have some kind of night vision goggles in his eyes?”
It was none other than the 107th rank, Kang Seo-yul.
“What kind of bastard is that?”
He avoided all the traps.
He only picked and killed the monsters with low danger levels.
He was only targeting the honey outer areas where there were no competitors.
His expression was relaxed as if he had gone for a walk in a nearby park.
“…Ah, I’m pissed off.”
It was a training dungeon, so the difficulty was low, but still, wasn’t he breaking it too easily?
Especially now, he was heading to the treasure room where the ‘relic’, the core item for conquering the grand maze, was sleeping.
If Kang Seo-yul and Ha Si-yeon’s team got that, they would be practically guaranteed to be first.
“With a name like dungeon creator.”
She couldn’t let herself be defeated so easily.
In this case, even if she had to raise the difficulty a little bit…
“…Ah. But there’s Gao. It’s embarrassing to intervene in a training dungeon.”
Maiden screamed and shook his head violently.
If Yu Hwa had been nearby, she would have muttered that it was a spinster’s hysteria.
“Just leave it alone, but I’m also annoyed that the fire thing disappeared with a whimper.”
Maiden recalled Yu Hwa’s last words.
She said that the 107th rank would complete the conquest without any problem.
That was a word that not only touched Maiden’s pride but also stabbed her mercilessly.
“…Wouldn’t it be okay to raise the difficulty a little bit?”
Yeah.
The other teams were also conquering it fairly easily.
This was a good deed for better education. Right.
“Hehe.”
She was laughing evilly as she rationalized himself.
That’s when it happened.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, another team’s video caught his eye.
“Oh ho.”
It was the video of the team that included Shin Jia and Choi Ji-hoon.
“This would be fine even if I just stay still, right?”
Shin Jia’s team.
Kang Seo-yul’s team.
The two teams’ directions overlapped.
At this rate, the two teams would surely meet in front of the relic room.
“Good. Let’s just watch for now.”
She couldn’t miss this interesting spectacle.
“I hope they kill each other.”
Maiden smiled sadistically.
Then it happened.
‘…Come to think of it.’
She suddenly remembered something about the relic room.
“Will there be no problem with the output limit device?”
relic.
A special item that makes the dungeon conquest easier.
To properly implement this special item, Maiden had no choice but to install a device that she used in her original dungeon.
Thanks to that, she succeeded in implementing the relic properly.
But another problem arose.
It was that the guardian was too strong.
The special device that Maiden made was composed of a very peculiar form that bound the relic and the guardian to the dungeon.
Of course, if she used the device as it was, the guardian would inevitably appear. The strength would be no different from the original guardian of Maiden’s dungeon.
To solve this problem, Maiden installed an output limit device that lowered the output of the device.
She also put in proper safety settings to match the purpose of education and recombined the formula.
But.
“Tsk. I didn’t have enough time.”
It wasn’t perfect.
She didn’t have enough development time.
She couldn’t check all the variables depending on the situation.
That was the only flaw.
But Maiden’s worry soon melted away like snow.
“Well, how much will it matter if there are variables in the fight between cadets?”
She only missed checking the variables that would occur in special situations, but she finished checking the basic ones perfectly.
With just physical or magical shocks, she couldn’t give any damage to the output limit device.
So there was no need to worry.
A moment later.
“Oh. They’re fighting.”
As soon as the two teams started fighting on the other side of the screen,
The word worry disappeared completely from Maiden’s head.
* * *
Clang! Clang!
“Why did you end up on the same team as Jia!”
I shouted as I parried Choi Ji-hoon’s sword.
“You were 199th!”
“…Are you mocking me?”
“No! That’s not it!”
The answer to why he was on Jia’s team instead of Kim Cheol-jin’s team.
It was a very simple reason.
He lost to me.
This bastard Choi Ji-hoon got beaten up by me and his ranking dropped by about 60 steps.
That’s why there was a variable in the team formation.
In the original work, Choi Ji-hoon was the one who suggested the outer attack,
so I understood why Jia went for the outer attack now.
“…Really bullshit.”
This is ridiculous.
Clack clack clack!
Choi Ji-hoon’s long sword slid over my dagger, making a loud friction sound.
“Besides, you! When did you change your race to a leech? How long are you going to stick to me!”
“It’s obvious.”
Choi Ji-hoon’s lips curled slightly behind the helmet of his armor.
“I’ll stick to you until all the other team members are eliminated.”
“…Ugh.”
The current battlefield was divided into 1:1, 1:1, 4:4.
Choi Ji-hoon and me.
Ha Si-yeon and Shin Jia.
And the rest 4:4.
The situation was unfavorable for our team.
“Jia, you! Are you going to keep being cowardly like that?”
“There is no such thing as cowardice in a fight.”
Ha Si-yeon and Jia’s fight was going on with Ha Si-yeon’s precarious disadvantage.
The reason was simple.
She couldn’t close the distance.
But she couldn’t ignore Jia either.
In this group battle, if Shin Jia, the sniper, became free, it would be an irreversible situation.
…By the way, Jia, even though I told her not to care about me during the test, she was really ruthless.
“Right! Shield!”
“Ugh! We’re losing too much in compatibility!”
The 4:4 battle was also completely pushed back by the compatibility.
At this rate, we would lose soon.
“Huff!”
Kwoooong!
“Ugh!”
My fight with Choi Ji-hoon was also not a good situation.
Desperate situation.
Dragon and tiger confrontation.
He had already fought with me once, so he didn’t try to get too close.
He was focused on tying my feet like a leech.
“Ugh!”
I was in a state where I couldn’t do anything.
He used his armor, which was a solid armor, to buy time, so there was no way to break through it.
Spiral spear and elemental fire were only usable when there was an opportunity.
This was a situation where there was no opportunity at all.
I couldn’t even use the wind path.
The wind path was strictly speaking, a skill that predicted the opponent’s actions and suggested the best path.
He had no intention of attacking properly, so there was no way for the wind path to activate properly.
…Really annoying.
“It seems we have won.”
Choi Ji-hoon said as he swung his sword down.
“What do you mean by declaring victory already?”
I bit my tongue as I deflected his attack with my dagger.
“You know it too. The 4:4 battle will end soon.”
There was a loud noise between the dagger and the long sword.
“Then next will be Si-yeon.”
Kaang!
“And finally, you.”
I dug into Choi Ji-hoon’s chest.
“Hmph.”
But Choi Ji-hoon didn’t show any signs of panic, and he jumped back to get out of my range.
“Tsk.”
Really annoying.
He used his strong defense to play a defensive strategy, and it was so annoying that I couldn’t do anything about it.
I was also losing in basic specs, so I really couldn’t do anything.
“You are strong. Your dagger skills are in the realm of masters, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
Choi Ji-hoon took his stance.
“But that’s all. Your physical specs are holding you back.”
He only focused on keeping a distance and restraining me.
“Your combat is specialized in counterattacks. You must have chosen this combat method to cover your lack of physical abilities.”
I couldn’t break through or shake off Choi Ji-hoon.
“That’s your weakness. You can’t do anything without counterattacks.”
“…You’re stabbing me with facts.”
This is really harsh.
I know it well even without Choi Ji-hoon saying it.
“I have to use counterattack specialized tactics to cover my low physical abilities.”
In the end, without using ancient relics, I was too weak to even break through Choi Ji-hoon.
“But I don’t think this is a weakness.”
“…What?”
It’s true that you can’t break through if the opponent is focused on defense.
That’s right.
That’s right, but…
“That’s just because I have to make you give up your defensive strategy.”
You just have to make him attack.
“…You’re going to make me give up my defensive strategy?”
Choi Ji-hoon frowned.
What the hell is he thinking?
I smiled.
“Si-yeon!”
I called Ha Si-yeon with a smile.
“What!”
Ha Si-yeon was also on edge, and her tone was higher than usual.
“Guardian attack, mana conservation, whatever, you don’t need any of that!”
“What are you trying to do…”
I cut off Choi Ji-hoon’s words and shouted loudly.
“Sweep it all away!”
A strange silence flowed in the dungeon filled with fierce battle sounds.
“…Okay!”
Ha Si-yeon laughed.
Jjeojeojeok!
At the same time, the air began to freeze.
“I was saving this for when I fought Jia in the ranking match…”
An armor made of ice formed on Ha Si-yeon’s body.
“I can’t help it.”
Her sword was coated with ice.
“If I lose here, there’s no point in ranking matches or anything.”
Everything within a radius of 3m from Ha Si-yeon froze.
Jjeojeojeok!
Finally, a pair of boots shaped like skates appeared on her feet.
The advanced skill of the Ice Sanctuary.
Ice Empress
Ha Si-yeon took her stance.
It was a strange stance like the starting pose of figure skaters.
“Shall we go then?”
The next moment,
Kiiiing!
A loud noise rang out as the ice (skates) and the ice (frozen ground) rubbed against each other.
Ha Si-yeon swung her sword in front of Jia’s nose.
Kwaang!
Jia formed a barrier with her magic to block Ha Si-yeon’s sword.
“Kak!”
But Ha Si-yeon’s sword was too powerful to be blocked by the hastily created barrier.
Jjanggrang!
The barrier shattered and Jia flew into the air from the impact.
But Jia quickly regained her balance.
She landed lightly like a cat and immediately shot an arrow.
Hwik, hwik!
At the same time, she concentrated her magic on her lower body to create some distance.
Jjeojeok!
Ha Si-yeon perfectly deflected the arrow and approached Jia again.
She ignored the mediocre arrows and trusted her ice armor.
This reduced the restrictions on her movements and made her faster.
“Where are you going again!”
“Kut!”
This time, Jia seemed to have anticipated it and quickly released her magic to deflect Ha Si-yeon’s attack.
The battle was a repetition of this flow.
Jia dodged and Ha Si-yeon approached.
It was indeed a fierce battle between the first and second place.
“That look is…”
“Si-yeon’s ultimate skill. Ice Empress.”
Physical ability increase.
Spatial awareness increase.
Ice output increase.
She moved smoothly on the frozen ground with skates, achieving an incredible speed.
Chwaaak!
“…She flew?”
She had ice wings that mimicked Heavenly Wings, allowing her to move freely in the air.
She formed an ice path in the air and slid on it, so her speed didn’t decrease in the air.
She showed overwhelming mobility regardless of the air or the ground and repeated sharp attacks like an angry bull or a hungry hawk.
“That’s too hard for Jia to handle, no matter how good she is.”
As evidence, Jia’s expression hardened. She looked like she was wondering what was going on.
“She’s at a disadvantage in the terrain as well, since it’s a cave.”
If the field was a wide plain or a forest, Jia would have had a chance.
But unfortunately, this place was a narrow cave passage. It was a place that was overwhelmingly unfavorable for a sniper in a fight against a swordsman.
“How about it?”
Until now, she had been holding on with the difference in abilities, but
now that Ha Si-yeon had used Ice Empress, that was also impossible.
“Are you going to keep up with the defensive strategy?”
“…Kuk.”
Choi Ji-hoon had been able to stick to the defensive strategy because the other team members had the upper hand.
He just had to hold on until reinforcements came.
But the situation changed 180 degrees with Ha Si-yeon’s change.
Jia’s defeat was a matter of time.
She couldn’t guarantee victory by just holding on.
“If you’re going to keep holding on, then try it.”
I twisted my lips.
“If you hold on, Si-yeon will come to help me, right?”
I repeated what Choi Ji-hoon had said while holding on.
“What are you going to do?”
Choi Ji-hoon’s expression hardened.
He took a small breath in that state.
And then he gripped his sword and glared at me with a sharp eye.
“I have no choice.”
Unlike before, his eyes showed a clear determination to take me down.
…It’s getting interesting now.
Hwureureuk-
I applied fire attribute energy to my dagger. And at the same time, I ran into Choi Ji-hoon’s chest.
“Hmph!”
Choi Ji-hoon also became desperate by the fact that Jia was pushed back, and he became more aggressive in his counterattack.
…Good.
At that moment, the wind path opened.
Hwoong-
The counterattack path that had been blurry until now drew a clear trajectory with Choi Ji-hoon’s attack.
Ching! Kang! Kkagak!
I used that path as a landmark and kept moving.
Tuk-
How many times did I swing my sword?
Choi Ji-hoon was cornered against the wall.
This is my chance.
“Kuk!”
I succeeded in breaking into Choi Ji-hoon’s close range.
“!”
A perfect opportunity.
I had no intention of missing this opportunity.
Hwureureuk-
The fire attribute energy was infused with ‘Elemental Fire’ and turned into a faint white color.
With this, I could burn his magic and his armor.
Pying-
I used ‘Predator’s Killing Intent’ for the last time to seal Choi Ji-hoon’s movement.
A sure-win pattern.
I was certain of my victory.
“Hueup!”
But something unexpected happened.
Peeoong!
The side of Choi Ji-hoon’s armor suddenly exploded.
A weak explosion that didn’t even reach me.
A flow of magic that the wind path couldn’t read.
…On purpose?
He must have blown it up on purpose.
To get the thrust to avoid my attack.
Sure enough, Choi Ji-hoon’s body was already out of my attack range.
Naturally, my dagger cut through the air.
Kkakak-
It stuck to the wall of the cave.
“Ugh.”
I wasted the elemental fire like this.
It was already the worst in terms of cost-effectiveness.
I was sighing inwardly when it happened.
Kugugugu- Ping!
Something broke with a sound as the ground shook.
-Run! You bastards!
A woman’s voice rang out.
“What?”
“Broadcast? Is it the instructor?”
And then the next moment.
Kkiiik-
The huge door of the relic room slowly opened with a sound.
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