Chapter 87.

Evening, after the end of classes .

Tomer was fitting in naturally among cadets . It was the result of the effort she put in for the past two weeks, going so far as to kill her temper .

Now that she had a plan for the direction of her mission, she tried her best to get close to other cadets . As a result, both magicians and cadets saw Tomer favorably .

Now, she was at a point where she could invite cadets to a café on her own initiative .

“Wow, Kim Hajin likes Rachel? Really?”

After ordering coffee and honey bread that suited their tastes, female cadets began to gossip earnestly .

The topic of their conversation was Kim Hajin and Rachel . Tomer had stealthily brought up the subject .

“They’ve been pretty close lately… but isn’t it because they’re on the same team?”

There were many male cadets who secretly admired Rachel . Not just many, but a lot .

But no one had ever been bold enough to directly go after her . It was because of Rachel’s identity and her future path that was the result of her identity .

Once Rachel graduated from Cube, she would most likely enter the Royal Court guild, becoming the youngest guild executive .

“I guess Kim Hajin is perfect for the Royal Court guild . He rose to rank 334 this time . ”

The English Royal Court was the world’s 60th ranked guild .

Cube cadets in the 400~500 rank range would have fantasies of joining this guild and becoming the head of a snake .

However, no powerful cadet was blinded by love to enter the Royal Court guild to chase after Rachel, and Rachel wouldn’t be satisfied with cadets who were only at the 400~500 rank positions .

“No, no, I’m in the same team . Trust me, you would say the same thing if you saw his eyes . How do I say this… his eyes turned heart-shaped!”

However, Tomer tenaciously instigated them, even making ridiculous claims .

“Really? …Oh yeah, isn’t Kim Hajin singing in the upcoming Class Competitions?”

Suddenly, one of the cadets widened her eyes and raised her voice .

“He’s not going to confess, is he!?”

“Kyaaak! Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps . I’m going to stab him to death if he does…!”

“…Eh? Stab him to death?”

Just how were these cadets who spoke such ferocious things different from Djinns?

Tomer thought seriously .

**

“Singing… . ”

I sighed and murmured as soon as I returned to my room .

Back on Earth, I often went karaokeing after school, so I knew how to sing .

But of course, that didn’t mean I was a good singer .

I was average, not so bad and not so good .

“Argh, why do I have to sing?”

Of course, I had the horn-flute to improve my voice, so I was confident that I would be better than the average person . But cadets from other classes would have volunteered to sing, so they were undoubtedly great singers .

Furthermore, I had no experience singing in front of a crowd . Rather than being nervous in front of hundreds of eyes, I preferred being in a position where I wouldn’t have to be nervous .

“Will I need to eat a serenity pill like I did for the presentation…?”

“Singing~? I can sing the Pororo song!”

Evandel, who was in the middle of making a nightingale, shouted with a blooming smile . I replied with a grin .

“Really? Let me hear it later . ”

“Un! But why singing~?”

“Ah, well… I got done in by a villain, so I have to sing now . ”

“A villain!?”

Evandel’s eyes suddenly shot open, and she strongly twisted the nightingale’s neck . I’ve been letting her watch superhero cartoons lately, so her reaction was big .

“Villain! Villaiiin!”

“Ah, no, I misspoke . Let go of that nightingale . It’s going to die . ”

“Un? …Ahh!”

Startled, she looked down at the nightingale . Unfortunately, it had already lost form and was beginning to melt .

“Ii, iiinng… . ”

Seeing the nightingale she worked hard on going limp, Evandel began to tear up . I silently called Evandel into my arms .

“Don’t worry . You have to make a mistake, so you know not to make the same mistake next time . ”

I consoled the sobbing Evandel and turned on the laptop .

“Let’s see… . ”

It’s been a while, but I planned to use my laptop’s hacking functionality .

The target was Tomer’s personal smartwatch .

Last night, I met Tomer at a convenience store, and she approached me to say hello .

But at the time, she was wearing a personal smartwatch rather than the cadet smartwatch provided by Cube . Its design was a clear imitation of the cadet smartwatch, so it might have tricked instructors and other cadets, but it couldn’t trick my laptop .

[80 SP will be used . Would you like to continue?]

“Really?”

It seemed to be a highly secure smartwatch as it took quite a bit of SP . I was spending too much SP lately…

I held back my tears and clicked Yes .

[Tomer, you will have to pick up an item during this week’s Wednesday class . It will help you in your mission . I’ll tell you about the details tomorrow . ]

An unknown person had sent this message to Tomer today .

I began to read other messages stored on her smartwatch and came to ascertain that her target was Rachel .

…Ah, another message just arrived .

[Wednesday’s class will be Mock Artifact Scramble . There is an administrative center in the B-3 zone on the lowest floor . The item will be left there . The administrative center will be empty from 11:00 to noon, so take it during that time . ]

Tomer ended up becoming a spy without even knowing it .

Lowest floor . B-3 zone .

While I was repeating those words to myself, I received a message on my smartwatch .

A picture of a problem along with a few lines of text .

When I saw the message, I thought it was Rachel .

[Can you please teach me how to solve this problem?]

But the sender was Chae Nayun .

**

Inside a tranquil library, the only sounds present were the sound of pencils scratching on paper and the sound of pages turning .

“… . ”

In this dead-silent atmosphere, Chae Nayun was staring fixedly at a reference book . She tried to study, but unable to achieve her goal, she could only mess with her hair idly .

[It is important to calculate the density of magic power in a Dungeon . This is one of the most important skills for a Hero to have . This is because a Dungeon’s magic power density can suddenly change depending on what happens inside the Dungeon .

Take a look at the following formula…

…

…

Example 1) Suppose that a magic power explosion happens in a tiny-scale Dungeon with six cobalt kobold goblins…]

“Why do I have to learn this?”

Chae Nayun murmured silently and leaned back .

She couldn’t even solve the first example . She was okay with memorization courses, but she could do nothing about the damned Phenomenon Realm Analysis II, which was full of calculations .

“… . ”

She glanced to the side in despair . Rachel was sitting there with an empty seat between them .

In truth, Chae Nayun sat here on purpose . She wanted to peek at Rachel .

From the side, Rachel looked a bit sullen . With her chin resting on her palm, she seemed to be in deep thought, worrying about something .

‘I guess she has her own troubles . ’

It seemed she couldn’t come to a conclusion, as she suddenly turned on her smartwatch . Then, she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head and turning it off .

“…What’s up with her?”

Char Nayun muttered softly and turned back to her reference book .

[Example 1) Suppose that a magic power explosion happens in . . . ]

She stared at the words, but nothing entered her mind . Without a choice, she held up her smartwatch . Then, she took a picture of the page with the watch’s built-in camera .

Next, she looked through her contact list . Someone who could help her… was Kim Hajin .

[Help me with this]

She typed this message, then erased it . It felt too impudent .

[Can you help me with this? I’ll buy you food]

“No, this one doesn’t feel right either . ”

[You’re a genius if you can solve this! ㅋㅋㅋ]

“This seems a bit stupid…”

After much thought, she made her message as courteous as it could be .

[Can you please teach me how to solve this problem?]

Then, she put down her smartwatch .

1 minute, three minutes, five minutes… Time flew by .

‘Is he not going to reply?’ When Chae Nayun was about to put her reference book away with a sullen face, her smartwatch rang .

“Ooh!”

Chae Nayun hurriedly checked the content .

Kim Hajin had sent a very kind and detailed solution .

“Heehee . ”

Chae Nayun smiled brightly and took her reference book back out . At the same time, she received another message .

This time, it was a message from Yi Yeonghan for everyone in Veritas class .

[On Wednesday this week, we will have a Mock Artifact Scramble . Be prepared everyone~]

**

“Today’s combat training is Mock Artifact Scramble!”

Today was Wednesday . Just like I read in Tomer’s smartwatch and Yi Yeonghan’s announcement, Wednesday was set aside for a single combat training from 9 A . M . to 2 P . M .

Mock Artifact Scramble . Just like its name suggested, it was a competition to obtain artifacts .

125 cadets of the Veritas class gathered on the first floor of Underground Plaza, where the scramble would take place .

“Artifact Scrambles are something Heroes will experience at least once every year . ”

Real artifact scrambles happened in places outside of government control . This was because artifacts found inside a country belonged to the government by law .

In this world, numerous countries collapsed during Outcall, and many of their territories remain ownerless to this day .

Most of Africa was overrun by monsters, and Central Asia was dominated by the Djinns’ rule . In these regions, artifacts belonged to whoever found them .

“The size of the artifact excavation site is ‘massive’, and the concept is ‘brawl’ . You will not know the enemy command structure, nor will you have a way to contact your allies and nor will you have the locations of the artifacts!”

Mock Artifact Scrambles often used the brawl-format because of a Djinn with a Gift called ‘Brawl’ .

In real life, artifact scrambles happened between guilds, or between guilds and Djinn groups . The former only happened 20~30 years ago when laws regarding artifact scrambles weren’t in place . Nowadays, artifact scrambles were mostly fights against Djinns .

“We separated you into Team White or Team Black . Team White will be defenders, and Team Black will be attackers . Remember that the concept is ‘brawl’! In addition, you can shout ‘surrender’, and you will be considered eliminated . ”

Until the 90’s, humans were in an advantage due to their efficient command structure and sturdy organizations . However, the situation was reversed because of one Djinn .

Bermut .

His Gift randomly distributed humans and Djinns in an area . This effectively destroyed humans’ formations, and since Djinns were able to use Devil Transformation, they were stronger than humans in one-on-one battles .

“Now, we will take away your vision . ”

With that, my vision turned dark . A few surprised cadets let out short shrieks .

“It’s an instructor’s magic . Stay calm . You don’t need to try to disable it . ”

It seemed a high-intermediate rank Hero could easily blind 125 people .

Of course, that didn’t apply to me .

When I opened my eyes, I could clearly see what was in front of me .

“We will now guide you to your designated locations . ”

Artifact excavation sites were usually huge, having multiple floors and even a residential area . Most artifacts were buried deep underground, so excavating them took at least 2 to 3 weeks .

Although excavation sites were underground, it didn’t mean that they looked like caverns or tunnels .

Because of technicians with extraordinary Gifts, excavation sites looked more like futuristic underground bunkers .

“Hey, hey, don’t step on my foot . ”

“Ah! Somebody hit me . ”

Cadets were led underground together .

15 were placed on the first floor, and 25 were placed on the slightly bigger second floor .

Chae Nayun was placed in the middle of the third underground floor . Rachel was also nearby, placed on a balcony that was connected to the third floor’s residential area .

Their fight was inevitable .

As for me, I was placed in a small room on the fourth floor . Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see where Shin Jonghak and Kim Suho would be placed .

“…Eh?”

But a problem arose .

Yoo Yeonha was in the room right next to me .

Considering the layout of the floor, I needed to cross her to get out to the hall .

In addition, I was in Team Black, and Yoo Yeonha was in Team White . We were enemies .

At that moment, a loud voice rang out from the speaker above me .

—Artifacts are being kept or moved by NPCs . Team White must protect the artifacts, and Team Black must steal them . Now, we will start the countdown .

The opened doors all closed, and the countdown began .

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 .

Once the countdown ended, the blinding magic disappeared .

I checked the magazine of my cadet training issue handgun . Then, I checked the coordinate I needed to get to .

The lowest floor’s B-3 zone .

—I heard a sound next door…

At that moment, Yoo Yeonha’s voice rang out . I quickly turned to face the closed door .

Tak, tak .

Yoo Yeonha walked forward, intentionally making loud footsteps . Then, she knocked on the door of the room I was in .

—I know you’re there . Are you in Team Black or Team White? For the record, I’m in Team White .

I stayed silent .

Yoo Yeonha then hummed joyfully and grabbed the doorknob .

—No answer? I assume that means you’re in Team Black . How unfortunate, you must have been looking forward to today’s class . Consider yourself unlucky…

Ssss—

The door opened, and Yoo Yeonha appeared with a bright face .

Then, her eyes met mine .

“…!”

In an instant, Yoo Yeonha’s expression froze . Her smiling lips trembled, and the wide eyes turned stiff .

We were on the opposite team .

In other words, we had to fight .

But for some reason… it looked like Yoo Yeonha was scared of fighting me .

Gulp .

Yoo Yeonha swallowed hard . Her hands were shaking faintly, and I could clearly see sweat forming on her forehead .

After a brief confrontation, my neck felt itchy, so I moved my hand up to scratch it .

However, Yoo Yeonha reacted oddly even to this simple movement .

“Stay, stay away!”

“…What?”

I tilted my head . You were the one who came to me!

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