Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
48. First practice (4)
A few hours before otherworlds’ outbreak.
The people looked down at the Olympic Park, deserted after resident evacuation order fell.
Thanks to the evacuation order for the residential buildings in the vicinity being issued before the time of predicted otherworld outbreak, they were able to observe the park from the apartment rooftop without being noticed by anyone’s eyes.
“Did the target leave the school?”
“He is moving towards the practice location with the dormitory students.”
On the necktie pins of the people in set uniforms a team mark of Pledge of Three Knights was engraved.
They were the elite of Pledge of Three Knights, who came to Korean Peninsula after receiving a command[1] to assassinate Mok Uram.
The assassins were the highest ranking knights, who received the orders from team masters and made a plan to complete those orders.
But they couldn’t get rid of a feeling of skepticism at the words ‘school’ and ‘dormitory student’.
“Let’s be frank. The elite of one of the world’s top 10 Pro Player teams and the senior knights are assassinating a highschool student?”
“…”
“How about we negotiate with him again? Didn’t he refuse because the conditions at that time weren’t good? I also refused at first when I received a scouting offer.”
“The highest knight already used their hand.”
“Used their hand?”
The man, with the eyes hidden by sunglasses with a telescope function, opened his mouth.
“… That means those weapons were used, eh?”
At the word ‘weapons’, the one, who asked, spat out a short curse.
“That’s how it is, eh? So, you mean even though those weapons were mobilized, they couldn’t catch him, and they expect us to catch him?”
“Because unlike China there are no Hyeonmu and turtles on Korean Peninsula. The weapons were annihilated at the hands of Hyeonmu and turtles following Hyeonmu.”
“Hyeonmu? You’re talking about one of the Asian’s Four Spirits? Did the target receive Hyeonmu’s blessing?”
“It doesn’t seem so. If that was the case, the target would continue to stay in China or Hyeonmu would also come to Korean Peninsula, right? It seems that Hyeonmu didn’t like them messing around in his territory, eh?”
The silence continued for a while.
The two men’s faces were greatly twisted.
As if they extremely disliked talking about ‘weapons’, they very awkwardly changed the topic.
“But observing from such a distance seems very insufficient. Wouldn’t it be better to just borrow Demons’ eyes?”
“We can’t to do that. Because the vice homeroom teacher of the target is the Space Dragon.”
“Ah, you said you have fought with the Game category Yong, right? I guess that dragon has such an ability, eh?”
While waiting for the target, they talked about the countermeasures in case they faced Yong Jegeon.
Soon after, the target Mok Uram appeared with the class children and disappeared in the Maze type otherworld’s crack.
“The conquest started. We will start the operation after five minutes. You summon tamed Enemy and lure out the Great Blue Sky Archer, while we also enter the otherworld’s crack. Don’t put more than three feet of distance from him. Make sure he has to fight in close combat.”
“Got it. If the operation goes awry, and we enter a battle with Great Blue Sky Archer, I’ll take care of him.”
They put on silicon masks and changed their looks into ordinary Asian Players.
Even the necktie pin decorations, engraved with the intertwined first team masters’ families seals team mark, were covered with the otherworld ore at some point.
The particular awkward pronunciation of foreigners was erased with a special training and their communicative Korean was perfect.
They held an item card and when they were about to jump down from the rooftop.
“Wait!”
The man, who was about to summon a tamed Enemy, pointed at the entrance of Olympic Park.
The air van engraved with the Eternal Lake’s team mark passed through the entrance.
“… It’s the air van the Eternal Lake uses, eh?”
The man in sunglasses clicked his tongue.
He didn’t know about the case when there was just a Player weak in close combat, Great Blue Sky Archer, but it would be impossible to avoid eyes or overpower them if there were so many people.
In addition, there were even the team master Kwon Jane and team sub master Jared Lee among them.
“… The one in the driving seat is Jared! I guess he still plays Blue Violinist’s driver[2].”
“They said that Kwon Jane is an honorary teacher, right? Did she come to cheer for the students?”
“It’s strange to cheer for students in the middle of practice. Their number is too big. In addition, they’re fully armed! They might have read this side’s operation.”
“Today’s operation is canceled.”
“Agreed! I want to live a long life!”
As if promised, they put the item cards in their pockets and prepared to retreat.
While checking the recording devices’ blind spots, one of them took of the telescopic sunglasses and jumped onto the rooftop’s railing.
As if he was about to activate a skill, the superpower wave gathered in his eyes.
“What is it? There is some distance, but put out the superpower wave. What will you do if someone notices?”
“There is something.”
“… Uh? Ah, did the otherworlds’ structure change perhaps? The Korea Association’s Satellite’s warning was launched again a moment ago. Well, isn’t it a common thing for the otheworld’s difficulty or structure to change within that range?”
“Look at the five otherworlds at the same time.”
At those words, the man, who was standing close to the rooftop door, walked up to the railing.
A flock of birds passed under the bright sky, and underneath it he saw the otherworld’s cracks which occurred around.
The man, who observed all the otherworlds in his vision, that occurred around the Olympic Park right now, made a face as if he couldn’t believe it.
“No way… did he interfere?”
“Let’s return to the base. Report to the highest knights and decide on a course of action.”
The elite knights of the Pledge of Three Knights left the place with nervous expressions.
* * *
Cheon Dongha’s Gwangrim was useful in gathering information, but it also had its weaknesses.
First weakness was the amount of information was too much.
A genius at Cheon Dongha’s level may be able to use and analyze that amount of information, but if an ordinary person obtained such a Gwangrim, they would go crazy the moment they activated it.
Second weakness were ‘Eyes’ from the Gwangrim’s very name ‘Eyes embracing Heaven and Earth’.
The only collectible information was visual information.
So currently I saw our class children, but I didn’t hear their voices.
‘I can read their expressions and lips, but it’s inconvenient.’
As I broke through the maze with Cheon Dongha’s Gwangrim activated, my head spun.
The efficiency would be much better if I canceled the usage ‘Eyes embracing Heaven and Earth’ and moved.
Even so, I couldn’t stop using the Gwangrim.
‘If my concentration drops that much, it’s difficult to figure out mana operation formulas. And it’s difficult to sense the mana’s flow change. I can’t use magic in this state.’
That said, I couldn’t use ‘Unknown Fate’.
‘To deal with accidents, it’s probably better to restrain myself from using ‘Unknown Fate’ and activating two Gwangrims.’
To deal with the moves of unforeseen opponents, I had to save secret moves.
Through elimination, I decided to use the remaining move.
One of the moves that wasn’t magic or a Gwangrim, I took out a weapon, which could help me break through the maze the fastest.
⟨Skill ‘Use of Everything’ activated.⟩
The Nine Iron Teeth Rake in my hands emitted faint light.
The Nine Iron Teeth Rake didn’t speak directly, but it seemed worried about its new owner’s drop in concentration.
My concentration dropped because all visual information from the current floor was running through my head, but it wasn’t as difficult as dealing with Baek Ho-gun and Yeong-ho in the Silver Training (Eunryeon) Building at the same time.
⟨Warning, Enemy is approaching.⟩
Crunch, crunch…!
I heard the sound of feet dragging on the floor.
The silhouette of the Enemy, which appeared, was close to that of a human, but its physique wasn’t.
The Enemy’s body was close to 2m tall when it was walking upright and was completely covered with scales, but because there was no water, they appeared rather friable than glossy.
The only moisture remained in the eyeball.
‘A fishman[3], who couldn’t return to water, because it was caught in a maze, Maze category Fishman species Enemy, eh? Their weakness is flames, but… Considering the Nine Iron Teeth Rake’s rarity or my skill level, I can get rid of it even with physical attacks.’
The Maze category Fishman species Enemy pushed against the maze’s wall with one hand, and pulled out a spear with another.
‘Armed Enemy. At least SR- rank.’
I would be fine, but could Kwon Lena and Sawol Seeum get rid of such an Enemy?
When the otherworld rarity rises, the size and structure will change to match that rarity.
I looked at the glowing moss covering the walls and ceiling and made a guess, but it seemed that this otherworld evolved into a higher difficulty than predicted.
‘I have to join them fast!’
Clang!
Grrr… Keuuuu…!
The blades of the Fishman Enemy’s spear and Nine Iron Teeth Rake clashed and soon the battle against an opponent started.
While I dealt damage to the Enemy, battles started everywhere.
— Hey, show off the skills you piled up in the meantime. I’m looking forward to it.
Yong Jegeon tapped the rims of his eyes with a smile as if he was in a good mood, while he spoke.
Yong Jegeon, who touched his eyes, made different gestures than usual.
As a Space Dragon, sensitive to presence and gazes, it seemed that he saw through my usage of Gwangrim.
The ‘skills you piled up in the meantime’ wasn’t a sound just for Maeng Hyodon, Han Yi and Min Geurin, who were currently at his side.
‘You mean that you will leave the other children to me, huh…!’
The group composed only from powerful people responded calmly to Yong Jegeon’s idleness.
Looking only at this group, it seemed that the Player special highschool’s practice class would be carried out as usual, without problems.
— It seems that the vice homeroom teacher will only watch. Well, the practice has to be like that, right?
— I’ll attack first!
— Coming from behind…!
The three faced two Enemies at the same time, but it seemed they had energy to spare.
— Where did Lena-nim go? Why is the device not connecting? Shouldn’t it connect to the party members one entered the same otherworld with? Ah, are perhaps other People still outside the otherworld? I’ll come out fast.
— I entered behind Geurin, so what is that sound?! And it’s a common case that communication isn’t smooth inside of an otherworld because of the superpower waves of boss Enemy or otherworld itself, interfering.
Hwang Jiho, Song Daeseok and Mok Uram’s group was a mess.
Hwang Jiho had no thoughts of stopping the two, and the remaining two were in panic.
If it was as usual, Hwang Jiho would laugh while watching the two, but it was strange that he was subtly quiet.
— Calm down, the other children will be safe.
Around the time when I took down two Enemies, Hwang Jiho, who neglected Mok Uram and Song Daeseok for a while, opened his mouth for the first time.
— … This hogu joined during vacation, so this bastard would be that. Then how can you behave so calmly?
As Hwang Jiho wasn’t smiling, he didn’t exactly look calm.
I guess it didn’t look this way in the eyes of Song Daeseok, who fell into panic.
— ‘That’? What are you talking about?
Hwang Jiho replied a bit sharply.
— That ‘my benefactor’ you spoke about during the Youth Training Camp. Aren’t they in our class? There is a chance they were left alone in this otherworld.
What kind of sound was Hwang Jiho spouting to my Playable Character?!
My benefactor?
Was Hwang Jiho walking around spouting such a sound behind my back?
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed that ‘benefactor’ was me.
— Why do you think that my benefactor is affiliated with class 0? I didn’t give you other clues.
— That…
Before hearing those words, I felt a superpower wave that felt like a needle prick on my skin.
The stairs continuing to the maze’s next floor.
The location of Sawol Seeum and Kwon Lena.
The crossroad leading to one of those places.
In front of it something like a road sign was fluttering.
‘This…!’
It was a symbol of the Crow Demon King of Silence and Bystanders, Sillentium.
*~*~*
[1] command — I just want to make a note that the evacuation order and the ‘orders’ following this sentence were ‘명령 (myeong-ryeong)’, while the word here was a synonym of it, ‘지령 (ji-ryeong)’.
[2] driver — a wordplay. Driver could also mean a knight.
[3] fishman — ‘어인 (eoin)’ also means ‘a person serving a king’, ‘king’s seal’, ‘to oppress others and take away their freedom’, ‘a person riding a horse’, ‘a person talented in digging out ginseng’.
Translator’s note: Hm, yes, thank you, Jo Uisin, for secretly admitting you’re a genius.
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