Episode 274 Briefing
“… … .”
The calligrapher stares at me, still holding my sleeve.
Then he glances at Go Hyun-woo, looks up at me again, and speaks.
“no.”
“why?”
“no.”
Go Hyun-woo was rejected twice without even making an offer.
He asked with a bitter smile.
“I’m sure there’s a reason why Brother Kim says that. Can I hear it?”
“Of course it will be.”
However, since there were still many people listening in the classroom, I took the two of them and moved to a less crowded place.
And I explained the current situation step by step.
I have decided to join the Corruption Witch Suppression Unit, and will be taking a break from this week’s battles to get in shape.
Go Hyun-woo nodded his head.
“I see, I understand. When facing such a formidable opponent, it is right to conserve as much power as possible.”
Then he continues speaking with a bitter smile.
“But on the other hand, I feel very sorry. I can’t be of any help to Brother Kim. I guess it’s because my skills are still lacking.”
“You don’t have to feel too sorry. This time, I’m the one carrying the burden.”
Compared to the third-year students and the faculty, I too am lacking in skills.
In fact, it is an invincible shuttle even in the punitive force.
I kept talking.
“Let’s not be impatient and go at our own pace. Then, in a year or two, we’ll be able to conquer it on our own.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Meanwhile, the calligrapher was also listening to the conversation from the side.
Then, when our eyes met, he came closer and gently grabbed my sleeve.
“Give me your hand.”
“hand?”
I suddenly wondered why this was happening, but when I reached out my hand, the calligrapher took off the cloud bracelet that was on my wrist and hung it on me.
“Use this.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Certainly, since the Witch of Corruption is a magical power, a cumulus cloud would be much more effective than a dark cloud.
I don’t know if he knew that fact or if Bokdeungi’s intuition was at work.
“Then you take this.”
This time, I took off the dark cloud bracelet and put it on the calligrapher’s wrist.
Since most of the bosses in this raid will probably be physical, this will be more useful for calligraphers as well.
“… … .”
A calligrapher turning the dark cloud bracelet on her wrist to see if she likes it.
Go Hyun-woo was watching us like this with a pleased fatherly smile on his face.
Like that or not, I asked again.
“Can you lend me your hoodie too? I can’t wear it anyway.”
Since you won’t have time to relax and practice mana training for a few days after entering the dungeon, you can also lend me a hermit’s hoodie.
But contrary to expectations that she would accept it right away, the calligrapher shook her head.
“later.”
“Really? What’s going on?”
“I will practice.”
With those words, he glances towards Ko Hyun-woo, and although his expression doesn’t show it, he seems to have been stimulated by the words, ‘I can’t help you because I lack the skills.’
If the sloth were to practice voluntarily, there would be no harm to me.
Since it has come to this, I decided to offer a carrot as well.
“Okay, work hard. When you get back, should we go to the downtown area this weekend or the following weekend?”
“bakery.”
“And go to the bakery.”
“Game Center.”
“I’m going to the game center too.”
“… … !”
His gray eyes were full of enthusiasm.
* * *
Before entering the expedition meeting.
Seo Cheong-yong called me aside and handed me two items.
“Okay, take this.”
“thank you.”
The first is a tiny totem the size of a finger.
It is engraved with elaborate patterns and has jewels embedded here and there like grains of rice.
It also has holes so you can thread it onto a string and wear it around your neck like a necklace.
[Totem of the Mask (A)]
It is a recognition-blocking item similar to the badge made by the Thieves’ Club or the mask worn by Cha Hyun-joo.
However, its power is incomparable to the previous two.
Seo Cheong-yong gave the order.
“Try taking a walk.”
“yes.”
As soon as he put the totem around his neck, his hair color, physique, voice, and everything else changed into that of another person.
The Someone badge is seriously flimsy and can be easily spotted if you look closely, but this one is strong and natural and doesn’t look like it’s been disguised at all.
At least no one will be able to see through it on the A-rank line.
The next item was also quite familiar to me.
‘I’m already wearing this.’
It was a shirt, jacket, and pants of almost the same design as the school uniform.
The difference is that this one is all black, except for the tie, which is a dark red.
[Battle Suit (A)]
This is a special defensive equipment given to faculty and staff defending Dungeon Island, or students challenging A-class or higher extremely difficult dungeons.
Seo Cheong-yong observed my reaction and then said.
“You knew what it was, didn’t you?”
“I picked up a lot of stuff here and there. I didn’t know you’d lend me a battle suit.”
“We need to be careful, too, so that no one gets hurt. Change your clothes and come back.”
* * *
After putting on the battle suit and totem, he moved to the conference room with Seo Cheong-yong.
A heavy and serious atmosphere hung in the conference room.
Since I’m entering an A-rank dungeon the very next day after the briefing, I can’t help but be serious.
The structure was more like a lecture room than a conference room, with the tables removed and the chairs all facing one side.
I sat down next to Seo Cheong-yong, and Lee Su-dok, who had joined me at some point, sat down next to me.
He was silently sending me a sharp gaze, so I pretended to avoid his gaze and looked around the room carefully.
There are more than a few people like me who are wearing battle suits, and they are the armed group that defends Yongsal Academy and, by extension, Dungeon Island.
‘To put it simply, they are ‘security guards.’
Of course, since there are men and women mixed together and the ages are all different, it is somewhat awkward to call them uncle.
Still, since most of them are graduates, one thing is certain: their skills.
There were several third-year department heads and assistant department heads sitting there, and I noticed that there were some familiar faces here and there.
Jegal Soso, Kim Gapdu, Jeong Chongmyeong, and even Dang Gyuyeong.
‘The discipline will probably be over by the weekend.’
Still, there are plenty of reasons for clubs to lend their support to the punitive effort.
This is because it has a positive impact on future budget and distribution of interests as it helps the bachelor’s degree.
“?”
But then suddenly Dang Gyu-yeong tilted his head and stared straight at me.
Because my appearance had completely changed with the totem of the costume, I couldn’t recognize it, but I would occasionally glance in this direction with a suspicious look.
‘That feels good.’
In fact, Dang Gyu-young already knows enough to reveal it, so it doesn’t matter.
But right now, I had to hide my identity as much as possible, so I just stared straight ahead without saying anything.
After a little more time, everyone was gathered and the conference room door was closed tightly.
Then Seo Cheong-yong and Lee Su-dok walked forward and opened their mouths.
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll skip the introduction and get started right away. Please check the strategy guide that was distributed to everyone.”
I quickly flipped through the stack of documents lying on my desk.
And he gave a sober assessment.
‘It’s a bit disappointing.’
Since the Transfer Labyrinth is an A-rank dungeon, there probably won’t be many cases of successful clearing it.
There won’t be many saved replays either.
As a result, the strategy book produced by analyzing them was bound to be incomplete.
‘But where is it?’
There was a world of difference between heading into bare ground and having even a half-assed strategy guide.
‘It won’t be difficult to reinforce it either.’
Of course, I had managed to hide my identity with a totem, so there was no reason to draw attention to it.
It’s best to handle this kind of thing quietly.
Even as I was thinking like that, Seo Cheong-yong continued his explanation about the Jeonimajigung.
The screen next to it had hundreds of large and small rectangles scattered about in a jumbled manner. This was the dungeon map.
“—As you can see, the interior is divided into numerous rooms.”
Additionally, each room is isolated without even a single passageway.
There is only one way to move between those numerous rooms: by using the teleportation magic circles installed in each room.
If there is one problem here,
“There is more than one magic circle installed. The activation conditions are also different for each, so you need to be even more careful.”
There are magic circles that activate just by stepping on them like a trap, while others are revealed only when objects are destroyed, or are activated automatically after a certain amount of time has passed.
And each magic circle will move the target to a different place.
‘That’s why it’s a ‘labyrinth’.’
Of course, from the perspective of the attacker, it wasn’t like there was no solution at all.
Seo Cheong-yong brought up various types of magic circles on the screen and spoke while pointing at them.
“You can predict the next location by looking at the spells and patterns engraved on the magic circle. The above examples are also included in the strategy guide, so please familiarize yourself with them.”
A method of moving to the next room, and then the next, by riding the appropriate teleportation magic circle.
In some ways, it is similar to a password search game.
Soon the screen returned to the dungeon map, zooming in on one particularly large rectangle among the many.
“The Witch of Corruption is likely to be located right here in the boss room. An all-out war will break out the moment you enter, so please prepare yourself sufficiently beforehand.”
The objectives of the punitive force can be summarized as follows:
Find the appropriate teleportation magic circle for each room, use it, and navigate the labyrinth.
And send as many people as possible into the boss room to defeat the Witch of Corruption.
Of course, the process won’t be as simple as it sounds.
Of course, some people will get lost along the way, and some will die or get injured.
“Still, I believe we can do it.”
Seo Cheong-yong’s tone was filled with strong confidence.
* * *
After the briefing.
As I left the conference room and walked alone, I heard a sound coming from behind me, quickly approaching.
“hey.”
Hearing those words, I slowed my steps and looked back, and there stood Dang Gyu-yeong.
He comes closer and suddenly says this.
“Just let me check something.”
“… … .”
Then he started to look into me in various ways.
He looked at me with a strange look in the conference room and seemed to have caught wind of something.
Indeed, Dang Gyu-yeong’s eyes became narrower and narrower.
“What are you doing here?”
The speech immediately becomes short.
A tone of voice that shows 100% certainty that it is me.
There was no reason to pretend it wasn’t true, and since I was going to reveal it anyway, I took off the necklace.
Dang Gyu-young bursts into laughter.
“Did you get it right?”
“How did you know?”
Even after thinking about it carefully, there was nothing particularly noticeable.
The smile on Dang Gyu-young’s lips deepened.
“I just had a feeling. That’s over 200 graduations!”
“Why is Dang Gyu-yeong’s touch so good?”
The supporters ate it all
