Episode 238 No. 88 The Gathering of Villains (2)
Friday night.
Go Hyun-woo and I headed to Dungeon-dong a little earlier than our scheduled time.
As I waited a little in front of it, I saw Jang Mu-geuk approaching from far away.
As expected of a walker, his strides are as even as if measured by a ruler, and the sound of his footsteps is barely audible.
Jang Moo-geuk’s eyes light up as he looks at Ko Hyun-woo.
“It’s been a while.”
“I’ve been waiting for the day we meet again.”
“They are the same.”
Just looking at the words exchanged between them, it seemed like they would draw their swords and fight at any moment, but the tone of their voices was quite gentle.
Judging by the faint smile on his lips, he seems to be happy with this situation.
Go Hyun-woo said.
“Today we are in a situation where we have to join forces, but if the opportunity arises, I would like to ask Brother Jang for a favor again.”
“There will be good days. When the time comes, I won’t avoid it.”
Jang Moo-geuk answered in a calm tone.
Next, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin showed up on time, perfectly timed to their appointment.
The two unmanned men bowed their heads deeply.
“Are you here?”
“Okay, let’s go right away.”
After receiving a brief greeting, Dang Gyu-yeong took the lead.
Then he stops in front of the door leading down to the basement, looks around at us and speaks.
“Come down with me in 5 minutes.”
“Yes, senior.”
“See you down below.”
There is no problem entering and exiting the F floor, but if five people are running around in a crowd, it is bound to attract the attention of the leadership.
Even more so if two of them are the president and vice president of the thieves’ club.
Because contacting the lower floors would only make the security tighter, they are trying to act separately at least on the F floor.
So, Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin went down first, and we waited for a while and then followed them.
The moment I took my first step on the circular staircase, I felt,
‘It’s cold.’
The atmosphere throughout the basement is noticeably more tense than usual.
The expressions on the faces of the students coming and going are also very serious.
Also, there are three captain’s armbands that catch the eye at a glance.
It’s the F floor so there shouldn’t be any major incidents or accidents, but since it’s like this, I guess there are more below that.
This is all the aftermath of a Class A villain’s mess.
I opened my mouth slightly and gave instructions to the two people.
– Let’s go naturally.
– Okay.
Neither Go Hyun-woo nor I had come down to the basement once or twice, so it wasn’t difficult to maintain a poker face.
Jang Moo-geuk’s profession was to become a living wage.
‘If only the naming sense could be perfect.’
It seems like Jang-Oh and Wang-Gon have a problem.
As I was walking with that thought in mind, a second-year student leader passed by.
He glanced this way, but when we nodded, he nodded slightly and looked away.
The same goes for the leaders you meet later.
After changing elevators a few times without arousing much suspicion, I was able to reach the bottom floor, F.
The next moment, out of nowhere, a tiny shadowy butterfly fluttered in front of us.
As we walk as the butterfly guides us, Dang Gyu-yeong and Chae Da-bin come out from a shaded place.
– It’s just beginning. Focus, everyone.
As soon as we joined, we entered the E floor.
As expected, the number of patrol officers on the F floor has increased.
Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin exchanged glances.
Originally, Dang Gyu-yeong’s guide style was to spread shadow butterflies and move forward without hesitation based on the information collected from them.
On the other hand, now if even one butterfly is seen, the entire floor will be put on alert, so the strategy must be changed.
[Shadow Anga]
The shadow that rose from underfoot took the shape of a large hemisphere and stuck to everyone like ink.
A skill that grants a stealth buff to allies within range for a certain period of time.
It’s very useful, but one thing that’s disappointing is that
‘There is a cooldown.’
Based on B rank, duration is 3 minutes and cooldown is 5 minutes.
This means that you have 2 minutes to move without stealth or use other stealth skills.
‘Of course, that’s when one person writes it.’
It’s a different story if two people take turns using it.
[Use ‘Copy-Skill’.]
[Register the target’s skill ‘Shadow Anka (B)’ to the slot.]
▷Copy – Skill [3/3]
1. Thief’s Step (B+)
2. Overheat (C)
3. Shadow An-ga (B)
If A and B use the skill once each with a duration of 3 minutes, it will last for a total of 6 minutes.
Then A’s 5 minute cooldown ends before B’s buff ends.
This means that hiding can continue indefinitely.
The reason I checked with Dang Gyu-yeong the day before about his skills and rank was to assess his strength before making a plan, but I also had the intention of meeting the copy conditions.
Dang Gyu-yeong asked with his lips.
– Okay? Are you following along?
– Okay.
Since I had built up some trust in Dang Gyu-yeong, I gave him a tip about the copy.
Of course, not all of them, but just the fact that you can follow some of the skills.
“… … .”
But that alone was fraudulent enough that Dang Gyu-yeong kept looking at him suspiciously.
As if to say, “What are you, carrying around so many traits and fraud skills?”
Meanwhile, Cha Da-bin is busy tapping away at her tablet.
The screen split into several parts, showing views of various parts of the E floor.
In an instant, they took control of the surveillance crystal balls in the area and took away their sight.
‘No matter how I look at it, that’s not the skill level of a second-year student.’
As already proven in the Black Market, Cha Da-bin’s magical engineering skills are superior to those of most graduates.
If expressed as a hexagonal graph, it is almost like an awl.
Cha Da-bin stared at the tablet screen, then raised her hand and pointed to the passageway on the left.
– Over there.
This points out the weak points of the boundary.
I hurried my steps and broke through there, and Chae Da-bin gave me directions.
And when Dang Gyu-young’s hiding buff was about to end,
[Shadows don’t go]
I took up the baton.
A shadow hemisphere identical to Dang Gyu-yeong’s covers the party and refreshes the stealth buff.
Cha Da-bin’s eyes lit up when she saw that, and as expected of a deputy manager who always did the same thing, she immediately noticed the discomfort.
– Sir, did you raise the rank?
-Rank?
– I think the cooldown has been reduced.
– … … similar.
Dang Gyu-yeong glanced at me with her mouth twitching, but eventually gave a vague answer.
Cha Da-bin continued to take the lead, and we took turns casting Shadow An-ga as we went down.
Unfortunately, we had to give up on the elevator and teleportation magic circle.
There are so many eyes watching you that you’ll get caught the moment you use it.
Dang Gyu-young and Chae Da-bin each said a few words.
– It’s been a while since I’ve been out and about. It brings back old memories.
– This is probably how Byeong-cheol feels.
We reached the D floor while maintaining the stealth mode.
Here, the leading members are positioned even more tightly.
Because most of the cases where Oobleck was sighted were in C and D grades.
Cha Da-bin still controlled all the crystal balls in the area, but he stopped and thought for a long time.
The route is bound to become more complicated as more leaders have to be avoided.
– Just a moment.
– … … ?
– Get back up. Quickly.
Sometimes I had to go back up the same stairs I came down from.
Still, thanks to Cha Da-bin’s hard work, the group was able to move forward little by little.
Then, Dang Gyu-yeong suddenly stopped and hurriedly took us to a shaded area.
And then it pulls up a lot of shadows and covers them.
– Kukukukuku… … .
A wooden door that suddenly pops up.
The door opens and Kwak Seung-jae and the second and third year leadership team members walk out.
‘Did you get caught?’
Everyone stared at them with bated breath.
However, Kwak Seung-jae and his group did not even glance at us and approached the other members who were patrolling.
“Let’s switch places.”
“Okay, thanks for your hard work.”
It seems that the shift change time and place coincided.
Kwak Seung-jae’s gaze turned this way for a moment, but he seemed not to sense anything.
As the leaders dispersed to their respective positions, we also walked cautiously out of the shade.
I looked at Dang Gyu-yeong with renewed eyes.
– … … .
-Why are you looking at me like that?
– That’s 1 win.
I always saw him being caught and chased by Kwak Seung-jae, but this time his hiding was perfect.
However, Dang Gyu-yeong seemed dissatisfied with the evaluation.
– No? Isn’t this my original skill?
– Let’s say it like that.
– No, I told you it’s my original skill level. If I play tag with Kwak Seung-jae, it’s 8 to 2. Da-bin, right?
When Dang Gyu-yeong requested support fire, Chae Da-bin reluctantly agreed.
– … … Yes, that’s right.
– Why is your voice so weak? Is that true?
We continued to descend, muttering and bickering.
The last floor to break through is the C floor.
As soon as he entered, Dang Gyu-yeong let out a hollow laugh.
– It’s becoming more and more spectacular.
Because the border here was even tighter.
The leading groups are densely placed at D-grade and above, and even faculty members are visible here and there.
It is placed like this because Oobleck is most likely to appear and its damage will be greater than D-class.
Cha Da-bin worked hard on the tablet and checked the view from various places.
Then his expression darkened a little.
– I think it would be difficult for me here too.
No matter how perfect your field of vision is, it is meaningless if you can’t plan your route.
At those words, Dang Gyu-yeong and I exchanged glances.
– Please write it here.
– I guess so.
There was one more method that I had discussed with Dang Gyu-yeong the day before, and it was time to bring it out.
[Use ‘amplify’.]
[The rank of ‘Shadow Leap’ increases. (C→A)]
[Duration 00:04:57]
[Reuse Wait Time 00:29:57]
Shadow Leap, a high-level movement skill learned by Dang Gyu-yeong.
This is a skill that teleports you to the next location where the shadow exists.
As with [Blink] and [Teleport], which are mastered by wizards who have reached the realm of skill, the spatial skills and characteristics can be said to be terminal level.
Naturally, the difficulty level of growth is extremely high, and even Dang Gyu-young, who is a third-year department head, is still only a C rank.
Of course, that alone is enough to demonstrate my performance, but of course, it becomes even more powerful when it reaches A rank.
‘The target is increasing.’
C-rank can accommodate up to two people including the caster, and A-rank can accommodate up to five people.
It seems that everyone can be moved.
Dang Gyu-yeong sent a shadow butterfly flying across the street.
The butterfly, fluttering in the wind, spread out and cast a large shadow as it reached its destination.
[Shadow Leap]
– Slurp –
I felt like I was being sucked under my feet, and then my vision suddenly changed.
The next moment we were standing where we had sent the shadow butterfly flying.
Cha Da-bin asked the same question she had asked before with a slightly surprised look on her face.
– Did you rank up that too?
– … … Similar. Anyway, how about this?
– I think it’s worth a try.
Cha Da-bin’s face brightened again.
As I stare intently at my tablet and rack my brain, I think I hear a voice saying, ‘Recalculating route.’
Cha Da-bin’s navigation pointing in one direction.
– Over there.
Dang Gyu-yeong sent a shadow butterfly there again, and teleported everyone with a shadow leap.
Again, Cha Da-bin’s navi repeatedly points out and teleports.
As I was going down the C floor, I almost reached the deep part.
Dang Gyu-yeong came closer and whispered in my ear.
– … … Kim Hoya,
– Yes, sister.
– Amplification… … . finished?
When the duration of the amplification is over, [Shadow Leap] returns to C.
The duration of C-rank amplification is only 5 minutes, with a cooldown of 30 minutes.
So I saved it until the end and used it, but I guess it wasn’t enough to skip the C floor entirely.
– Over there.
Cha Da-bin’s navigator continued to give directions without even knowing it.
