Episode 177 Week 9 Midterm Exam (1)
On Sunday, most of the graduating mentors, including An Jeong-mi and Bbanjil, boarded the train leaving Dungeon Island.
After seeing them off, I immediately went to the training center.
‘Something’s bound to happen during the midterms.’
Their plans were somewhat disrupted by eliminating one of the Blood Cult elders, but they are not the type of people to give up.
I’d rather force it through with one screw loose than ruin the plan now.
It is a foregone conclusion that something is going on.
And now, with midterms just a few days away, what can I do?
‘Skill work.’
It’s about becoming a little stronger.
[Use ‘Skill Book – Air Burst’.]
[Acquire ‘Air Burst (F+)’.]
The top priority is to complete [Spiral Explosion].
To do this, you need to raise the three prerequisite skills, Twister, One-Point Explosion, and Air Burst, to C Rank.
The first two are finished, so all that’s left is Airburst.
-Whew—
As I manipulated the terminal attached to the wall of the training room, a wooden doll appeared and clattered in front of me.
A ball of wind gathers and clumps together on my hand.
He blew it straight into the wooden doll.
The flying speed is similar to that of a soccer ball thrown, so no matter how well you hit it, it’s not fast.
And when the windball hits,
– Boom!
The wooden doll was shattered and pieces of wood flew around.
It’s not that it’s hard to hit, but the power itself when it hits isn’t bad.
And ‘matching a lot’ is the way to raise the rank of Airburst.
A doll that is replaced with a new one when you operate the terminal.
This time, we’ve increased the tree’s durability a little bit,
– Clunk, clunk,
It made me walk hard from side to side.
After observing the movements of the wooden doll, I predicted where it would go and fired an air burst at it.
– Boom! Boom!
The training is accelerating more and more.
The material has been changed from wood to iron, the number of dolls has been increased, their movement speed has been increased, and the artificial intelligence has also been improved to automatically dodge flying objects.
– Boom! Boom!
I was trying to destroy all the dolls that were running wild by hitting them with air bursts,
[‘Air Burst’ rank increases. (F+->E+)]
My rank went up a level in no time.
Since it is not as high level as other skills, it is easy to raise the rank.
I immediately used the Rank Up (E) I got from the game center.
[Use ‘Rank Up (E)’.]
[‘Airburst’ grade increases. (E+->D+)]
‘Keep running like this.’
pop!
* * *
There was one more skill that could be used to rank up.
I sat down in the Mana Performance Room and took out the [Seal Box] from my inventory.
I left the [purification part] attached and left it alone, but now the once pure white purification part has completely burned away, leaving only a black rectangular mark.
If you touch it lightly, black ash will scatter.
The purification unit is gradually consumed as it purifies or neutralizes magic.
The fact that it has been reduced to ashes means that it has done its job.
We will have to wait and see what the inside of the Sealed Horse is like, but I would guess that it has been neutralized to a considerable extent, if not completely purified.
I untied the gold string that was tightly wrapped around the seal and took off each and every amulet that was attached to it.
And when I opened the cover halfway,
– Ss …
A black aura flowing out slowly.
It’s been heavily neutralized, but it’s still magic.
I can’t help but feel it’s poisonous.
I cast the Hyeon-eum-ok-ma-ji with my index finger straight.
– Damn it,
My fingers instantly froze and turned into pimples.
The cold air seemed not to be satisfied with just swallowing my fingers, so it tried to invade my hand, but was pushed back by the elemental resistance, and tried to invade again, repeating the same process.
In that state, I put my hand into the half-opened seal.
The magic that had been flowing out slowly clung to my index finger as if it was happy to see me.
I maintained the Hyeonumokmaji for a long time like that,
‘I think this is enough.’
After some time had passed, I took my hand out and found that it had been eroded by the magic and had turned completely black.
If you pour a few drops of the popular elixir there, it will quickly return to normal.
How to link magic with attributes.
This is to utilize the magic of the Seal of the Demon Lord.
It is much faster than the normal method as it uses condensed magic.
If it hadn’t been neutralized by the purification department, it would have been even faster than this, but
‘The side effects would have been even greater.’
Therefore, it was necessary to reduce the side effects to a level that could be resolved with a popular elixir.
And this pace is enough for now.
‘I’ll finish it before the midterms.’
The goal is B rank.
I cast the Hyeonumokmaji spell again and put my hand into the seal box.
* * *
Monday class.
The students were all concentrating their minds on every word of Lee Soo-dok.
Rather than being scared by the tense atmosphere, it seems like a mixture of tension and anticipation.
Finally, Lee Soo-dok brought up the topic they had been waiting for.
“As announced two weeks ago, this week is the midterm week. After the exam content is released today, there will be a short preparation period on Monday and Tuesday, and the midterms will be held for three days starting on Wednesday.”
This means that you must spend Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday inside the dungeon.
First, Lee Soo-dok revealed the environment.
MAP:[Uninhabited Island]
The various screens on the blackboard show scenes from all over the uninhabited island.
Rainforests, caves, ruined buildings, and roaming monsters.
“This is a large artificial dungeon directly manufactured by Yongsal Academy. All first-year students will enter this uninhabited island and take tests. And there must be rules for an uninhabited island.”
The screens that had briefly appeared on the blackboard disappeared and were replaced by rules.
RULE:[Survival][2 people][Crystal]
“I’ll explain the most important [survival] rule. First, your inventory is sealed for three days after you enter the dungeon.”
“… … !”
The students’ faces were filled with shock.
If your inventory is sealed, you’ll be practically a caveman during the midterms.
The shock will be even greater for those who have stocked up on items from the downtown market.
Regardless, Lee Soo-dok continued his explanation without paying any attention.
“You can only carry two items on your person, and your uniform. The trick of putting items in a subspace backpack won’t work, so don’t think of anything ridiculous.”
“… … !”
“Everything else will have to be self-sufficient within the dungeon. Occasionally, supplies will arrive.”
It can’t be given for free, said Lee Soo-dok, adding meaningful words.
[2 people] is a rule that has already appeared frequently, so there is no need to explain it separately.
It means that two people in a group score points.
So, Lee Soo-dok went straight to the [Crystal] rules.
Place red, blue, yellow, and green crystals on the podium.
“As you can see, there are four types of crystals. The grading criteria will be based on how many ‘charged’ crystals you have at the end of the midterm exam.”
Example 1 that comes to mind on the board.
All four crystals are charged and glowing brightly.
“Each type of crystal you charge is worth 500 points, for a total of 2,000 points. Additionally, the point multiplier is 4.”
“… … !”
This means that if you charge all four crystals, you will pay 8,000 points in one go.
The students were even more shocked than when they were explained the survival rules.
Some are already excited and thrilled.
Next, example 2 comes to mind on the board.
Only the red and blue crystals are brightly lit, while the yellow one is only held and the light is off.
“Uncharged crystals are excluded from scoring. In the example, only red and blue are added together to give 1,000 points.”
That is, there is no point in just holding the crystal without charging it.
But just like in Example 2, just two of them are worth 1,000 points, which is a whopping 4,000 points.
At this point, there will be quite a few students who think that they should just go with the middle ground, neither more nor less.
‘But is it as easy as it sounds?’
Example 3 appeared on the board.
Only 4 red crystals are charged.
“One red crystal is worth 500 points, and each subsequent red crystal is worth 250 points. In this example, the total is 1,250 points.”
“… … !”
“You are free to collect any crystals in any way you want to score points.”
For example, you can exchange with other students to collect crystals of different colors,
‘They might steal it.’
If you have a lot, you definitely gain points.
So, it is not enough to just charge the crystal, but it is also important to keep it safe and not let it be stolen for three days.
Even holding two won’t be easy.
Then, one of the students carefully raised his hand.
“I, teacher.”
When Lee Soo-dok nodded his chin as if to tell the student to speak, the student put the question into his mouth.
“But… … how do I get the crystals?”
“Good question. Crystals can be obtained in a variety of ways on a deserted island. For example,
Various monsters such as goblins, trolls, and ogres appear on the screen.
“If you beat these guys, there is a ‘certain probability’ that they will drop.”
And although Lee Soo-dok didn’t mention it in detail, the stronger the monster you catch, the higher the drop rate.
It is said that the expectation of killing one ogre is higher than that of killing hundreds of goblins.
“Of course, as I said before, there is more than one way to obtain crystals. You will have to utilize everything you have learned since entering this Yongsal Academy.”
Even though it wasn’t included as a rule, it meant that elements of the PvP and strategy battles we’ve experienced would be incorporated throughout the dungeon.
Lee Soo-dok concluded the class by telling the students to think carefully and prepare.
And after staring at me for a while, he turned around and left the classroom.
‘You look scary.’
Burdening people.
I used to send glances at him from time to time during class, but after hearing his story the day before yesterday, it felt even worse.
It doesn’t seem like he was caught writing on Hyun-eum-ok-ma-ji or on the street, but he must have smelled something.
It’s not a problem that I can deal with right away, so I decided to focus on the task at hand.
First, I called up the sub-quest that had just arrived.
[Sub Quest: Week 9 Midterm Exam]
▷Goal: Charge the crystal
Red (0/1), Blue (0/1),
Yellow (0/1), Green (0/1),
▷Compensation: Differential payment based on performance
Sub-quest rewards are customized and designed to provide the necessary items/skills/traits, etc., taking into account the player’s growth level.
And since the midterms and finals are more difficult than other sub-quests, the rewards are also much more generous.
The reward given when you charge all four types of crystals and clear the sub-quest with the highest achievement level is:
‘Fixed pin.’
This is a rare fraudulent item that makes one copied skill or trait completely ‘mine’.
No matter what happens, you must get it.
‘Then now we have to prepare them one by one.’
The first thing to decide is, of course, who to pair up with.
As soon as class ended, two strong candidates approached me.
On the right is Ko Hyun-woo with sparkling eyes.
“Brother Kim, do you want to take the midterm exam together with me?”
On the left is a calligrapher gently tugging at my sleeve.
“Let’s do it together.”
Two people spoke at the same time.
And then their gazes met in midair.
