Episode 188 Week 9 Midterm Exam (12)
The Blood Bomb not only forcibly draws out potential, but also has a terrible side effect that inevitably leads to the death of the user.
Therefore, it was always at the top of the list of prohibited items, and even in liquid form, it was impossible for the leaders to miss it.
The Golden Lotus Princess, the Golden Lotus Princess.
He strode toward me, threatening me as if he were about to brandish his golden sword at any moment.
“Where did you get the blood bomb? You’d better tell the truth.”
“You’re still so hasty. Didn’t I tell you to think carefully before you act?”
But Go Hyun-woo blocked his way.
Geumjohan stared at him and narrowed his eyes.
“You’re the guy I saw on the train.”
“I guess you remember too.”
“I remember. I was going to show you how spicy it was. I guess now is that time.”
On the train, the vanguard’s gang chased the wig thief Shin Byeong-cheol and ended up breaking into our compartment.
At that time, there was a slight friction between Ko Hyun-woo and Geum Jo-han, and they both remember and never forget that incident.
But now there was a more important matter than the fight that had been put off.
The leading group must have thought so too, as the heavy, bass voice of the wall rang out from behind.
“Geumjohan, step back.”
“Are you trying to get in my way too?”
“I told you to step down.”
Geumjo Han took a few steps back, his face twitching.
It is not common for a wall to emphasize something twice like that, and it is not a situation where one can be stubborn.
However, he maintained his pride until the end and added a word to Ko Hyun-woo.
“You’re lucky this time, but there won’t be another time.”
“We are all equal.”
Song Cheon-hye looked at them one by one, let out a small sigh, and then brought the topic back to its original state, having digressed for a moment.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to force you out. But since this is a serious matter, I would appreciate it if you could tell me as much detail as possible.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. Do you have any questions?”
Song Cheon-hye showed off the blood bomb syringe.
“This syringe, is this the one you found in the dungeon?”
The reason why Geumjo-han pressured us as soon as he saw the syringe was because he thought we had brought it in, but if you think about it carefully, it makes no sense.
Each participant can enter the midterm dungeon with two items.
Then, is it really necessary to bring in a blood bomb instead of other good equipment?
It’s a much more believable story that a syringe was found somewhere in the dungeon.
I nodded coolly.
“It was stuck to the ogre’s ankle.”
“Ogre… … on the ankle… … ?”
Song Cheon-hye’s expression became strange at the unexpected answer.
And as I finished explaining what had happened earlier, the faces of the leading group members became more and more serious.
“no way.”
Then, as if a thought crossed her mind, Song Cheon-hye took out an emergency signal flare.
This is the signal flare exclusively for the leadership, and it is the item that Dang Gyu-yeong had secretly stolen from the black market.
It was taken out to notify the outside of the dungeon that there was an emergency.
A bright beam of light shot up into the sky.
– Shoooooo—Phajijik,
But the beam of light disappeared as if it had been caught by something along the way.
“… … It’s blocked.”
The fact that all communication with the outside world has been cut off means that other devices in the artificial dungeon have also been disabled.
Safety devices, forced escapes, replays, etc. will also not function properly.
“Honestly, I was half-believing, but now I have no choice but to believe. What are you going to do from now on?”
“For now, let’s try to reduce the number of ogres.”
If you’re going to be dealing with ogres anyway, it’s better to take down at least one more while the Blood Bomb isn’t infused.
As the number of ogres decreases, the damage to students also decreases significantly.
“And finally, we have to take down Alpha.”
“Is Alpha on the midterms?”
“I told you, you were asleep in class.”
“… … You weren’t asleep?”
Song Cheon-hye immediately denied it, but judging by her stinging attitude, it was very likely that she had fallen asleep.
In fact, he was even seen nodding off during a monster ecology class.
Song Cheon-hye seemed to feel at a disadvantage and quickly continued the conversation.
“Oh, anyway, are you planning to catch Alpha with us?”
“That’s right. He’ll probably come out after being hit by a blood bomb, so it’ll probably be difficult with just the six of us.”
“Okay, let’s join forces. Do you have any idea where it is?”
The next most important thing after the appearance of the Alpha Ogre is when and where it appears.
We need to catch him before he runs around and causes more damage.
As expected of a veteran, I knew the guy’s location, but I answered vaguely to avoid suspicion.
“I have a guess as to where to go, but I need to check.”
“Then let’s act separately for now.”
The current goal is to reduce the number of ogres.
It is more efficient to split into two groups rather than rushing in.
If you can contact other leaders, you can ask them for help too.
One downside is that when Alpha actually appears, he joins late, but Song Cheon-hye seemed to have calculated that as well.
“Take it.”
Finally, she took out a pair of magic scrolls and handed one of them to me.
[Twin Portal Scroll]
‘I found this precious thing.’
When one side tears the scroll, a teleportation portal opens to the location of the other scroll.
This means that no matter how far apart you are, you can join immediately.
“If you give me the signal, I’ll go right away. The opposite is also true.”
“Okay. See you later.”
The vanguard immediately broke through the goblins and went back down the mountain the way they came.
It seems that they have given up on charging the crystals, because if they delay now, people’s lives could be at stake.
For us, the crystal charging was only secondary, our main goal was to meet the leader and deliver the syringe.
So I thought it would be best to end it here.
At that moment, Shin Byeong-cheol came running out holding a bunch of sparkling crystals.
“It’s over, brothers!”
If it’s already over, there’s nothing we can do.
While Shin Byeong-cheol distributed the crystals to each team, I slowly waved my hand at the top of the tower.
And then he accepted the calligrapher who jumped down.
“Let’s go down too.”
“huh.”
* * *
– Gulp,
The thunder rang out low.
It is not the sound of Song Cheon-hye, but the sound of dark clouds covering the sky.
‘It’s going to rain.’
I took my gaze from the sky, looked at my companions, and opened my mouth.
“Let’s do one last check.”
Except for the survival items that are no longer needed,
What we got from today’s distribution, what we exchanged with the leadership, and what Team Koh Hyun-woo and Team Hong Yeon-hwa got is as follows.
▷Survival Items
– Twin GPS
– Twin Portal Scroll
– Paralysis Scroll
– Recovery Scroll
By using [Twin GPS] and [Portal Scroll], you can know the approximate location of the leader and each other, and join them at any time.
[Paralysis Scroll] has the effect of stopping enemy movements for a certain period of time.
The stronger the enemy, the shorter the duration, but even if it’s only 1-2 seconds, it’s worth it.
[Recovery Scroll] is literally a scroll with recovery magic.
‘I hope I never have to use this.’
I would rather have no one get hurt than have people get hurt and recover.
– Knock, knock,
The sky grew darker and darker, sending down raindrops one by one.
We walked through the pouring rain.
The final destination is the location where the Alpha Ogre appears.
I plan to deal with any ogres I see along the way.
“… … .”
“… … .”
Because of the serious atmosphere, no one opened their mouths.
Even more so because the chatty Shin Byeong-cheol was sent forward for reconnaissance.
Next, Go Hyun-woo, who was very sociable, was also deep in thought.
How long had we been walking in silence like that? Shin Byeong-cheol came running toward us from the other side of the forest, out of breath.
“Hey, there it is. There it is.”
– Thud, thud,
Judging by the heavy footsteps, it was obvious what was there without even looking.
As we slowly approached it, the ogre appeared.
“Kuuuuu… … .”
In one hand he holds a club, and, of course, a syringe of blood bomb is placed on his ankle.
As soon as the bastard caught sight of us, he began to show his hostility and took one step, then two steps forward.
I said briefly.
“Let’s just do what we’ve decided to do.”
Everyone nodded slightly at those words.
Discussions about the position have already been completed.
Go Hyun-woo and Baek Jun-seok are in the front, me and Shin Byeong-cheol are in the all-rounders, and Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeon-hwa are in the back.
“Kuuuu—!”
Thud, thud, the ogre took a few steps and then suddenly picked up speed and charged at me.
The first to step forward was Go Hyun-woo.
A soft gust of wind wraps around the golden sorcerer’s sword, and it swings it towards the oncoming club.
[Purple flow]
-Whew—
A club that slides sideways.
Because of that, the guy’s posture collapsed, but he still tried to push Go Hyun-woo away by swinging his hand, which was the size of a pot lid.
In the meantime, Baek Jun-seok intervened and swung his shield against them.
– Thud!
The ogre’s arm was also blown away.
Meanwhile, the wind gathered in his chest and compressed it,
– Boom!
It just exploded.
The defense-ignoring effect of the spiral blast tears through its thick hide, revealing its flesh.
And in that vulnerable part,
– Papapapat!
The calligrapher’s sniper shot, the chopsticks thrown by Shin Byeong-cheol, and the fire arrow thrown by Hong Yeon-hwa all hit the target.
“Kuuuuu… … .”
An ogre who can’t come to his senses due to the connections that continue like flowing water.
“Keep pushing.”
The two vanguards tied up the struggling man in one place while the rest attacked him without stopping.
After a while, the guy fell to the floor and stopped moving.
“I caught one.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s just keep it this way.”
Go Hyun-woo and I each said a few words.
I killed one ogre much easier than I expected.
In the Crystal Battle, there were two ogres per enemy, but now there are six, so it was bound to be easy.
It was also effective in quickly neutralizing the bastard’s defenses with a spiral explosion.
Thanks to that, everyone’s expressions brightened a little, but that didn’t last long.
– Thud, thud,
Because the sound of heavy footsteps was coming closer again.
Another ogre wandering nearby heard the noise and came looking for it.
“Grrrrr… … .”
But even at first glance, the bastard’s appearance was different from the one he had faced before.
His skin was red, his muscles were swollen like balloons, and his veins were bulging like earthworms.
I checked my ankle and the syringe was empty.
“The blood bomb squad has joined.”
“… … !”
“… … !”
“Grrrrr… … .”
The ogre glared at us, baring his teeth.
Everyone was tense, but they didn’t take their eyes off the guy and moved to their respective positions.
At the same time, a notification message was being displayed in the corner of my vision.
[Main Quest 1]
