Chapter 57
“Today, we’re having a ‘class ranking battle’ for all the classes in the Academy.”
Ji-hyun’s bombshell falls on the classroom during morning inspection time and the students’ faces are filled with confusion.
“No, we haven’t even been in school for two weeks, and we’re having a class ranking battle?”
If we look at the cases of the previous generations, most of the class ranking matches were held before the midterm exams but now the class ranking match was held less than two weeks after entering the academy?
No wonder the kids were confused.
“The higher-ups decided to do that. Apparently, the higher-ups thought it would be a good idea for us to get ranked quickly because there are a lot of interesting people in this class.”
To be fair, it’s also because of the game’s setup.
There are a lot of stories and events that players have to go through to get into this class, so it’s no surprise that there are a lot of special kids.
“Well, it’s a semi-ranking match, but it’s just a dungeon and a monster, so you don’t have to worry too much about it~”
With that, Ji-hyun turned around to leave the classroom as if she had said everything she needed to say.
“Oh, I forgot. The dean said that the first and second place classes in this ‘class ranking battle’ will get some special benefits, so you’d better work hard, that’s what I’ve been told. I might add that……if you don’t get first place, you’re all doomed.”
Ji-hyun smiled and said that, then quickly left the room as a cold chill ran down my spine.
“If we don’t get first place, we’re screwed?”
And just like that, the classroom erupts into chants as only the students remain.
The class ranking battle was a big event that could set the tone for the semester, so it was only natural that other kids would be interested but even among them, there were three kids who were exceptionally calm.
“……I don’t want any bugs.”
“……I just don’t want bugs.”
“……I wish there were no bugs.”
For Jin-woo, Se-ah, and Young-jae, who followed me to the dungeon in the basement, dungeons were just a place for training.
“It’s not a big deal, but everyone is so worried.”
That’s a lot of useless worrying…….
Already knowing where I was going, I crashed on my desk to get some sleep before entering the dungeon.
* * *
It’s time for the first period to start but all first grade classes were out on the Academy grounds. And there was an instructor in charge of them all…….
[Assholes! Don’t move! I’m not responsible if one of your limbs flies off!]
Moments later, Ji-hyun, who hadn’t accepted her fate of taking care of the entire first grade, looked at the kids huddled together on the playground and yelled at the top of her lungs.
“……Calm down, Ms. Ji-hyun, what if you get angry and make a mistake?”
There was a male instructor standing next to Ji-hyun, calming her down. It was Park Yoon-ho, the first-year leader who had taught us Villainology a while ago.
“Wait, let me borrow your microphone.”
Park Yoon-ho semi-forcibly takes the microphone from Ji-hyun’s hand and holds it in front of his mouth.
[First-year cadets, from now on, you will be moving to the dungeons. Of course, the difficulty level of the selected dungeons has been adjusted to the level of first-year cadets, so you shouldn’t worry too much.]
Some of the cadets breathed a sigh of relief at the words of Instructor Park but some were still nervous, as this was their first dungeon experience.
[The entire first-year staff will continue to monitor the dungeons to ensure the safety of the cadets and we’ll be grading along the way. Best of luck to you all and be careful]
At Park’s words, some people swallow, others clench their fists, and others look at their teammates who will be tackling the dungeon with them.
This was a nerve-wracking event for them.
At the same time, a swarm of violet light engulfs the field we’re standing on, and a familiar sensation washes over our bodies.
It was an instantaneous shift in space as our vision, obscured by the light, was restored and we found ourselves in a strange space that looked like a cave.
“……something about this feels familiar.”
Jin-woo exclaims, hugging himself as the scene resembles the dungeon in the basement.
The other children were also nervous about the darkness of the dungeon but at this point, Young-jae, the class president, speaks up, while using magic to illuminate the dungeon.
“Everyone who can use light magic, use it!”
Hearing Young-jae’s shout, the children woke up one by one, and used light magic or drew their weapons and scanned the surroundings.
Then.
-Thud. Thud.
“Wait, everyone, be quiet!”
At the sound, Young-jae bent down to get everyone’s attention.
Everyone instantly became quiet and listened together.
-Tap, tap, tap.
The sound was steadily approaching and the direction was……obviously, facing this way.
-Tap. Tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.
The children nervously peered into the darkness as if something was walking toward them.
Gulp─!
The silence is so deep that even the sound of someone swallowing can be heard loudly.
Slowly, ever so slightly, the sound drew closer, and the owner of the footsteps finally appeared.
“Kirik?”
It was…….
“Go, a goblin?”
“A goblin?”
“A real goblin?”
The kids in the class freeze up at the appearance of a completely unexpected monster but then,
“Phew!”
“Puhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Goblins, it was a goblin dungeon!”
One by one, the children who realized the identity of the goblin burst into laughter.
“Ha ha! What’s the matter, we’re getting a little carried away, aren’t we?”
“A goblin dungeon was the best they could do?”
I shook my head lightly at the sight.
“That’s why I said it was no big deal.”
Being sent to the Goblin’s Dungeon for the class ranking match was rather natural, if not too natural.
Even if they were the chosen Awakened, most of them just entered the Academy so there was no way they’d be sent to such a harsh place from the start.
The community’s analysis was that this was done to give them the experience of actually killing monsters in their first dungeon and I think that’s true.
Of course, that doesn’t mean their reaction was normal.
No matter how low-level the monster, the opponent is a monster that can kill an adult male and tension should be kept to a minimum.
It’s a balance that the Academy has chosen.
However, the reason why they can still smile like this is because they still have the experience of being sent to the deserted island by Ji-hyun on their first day at the Academy.
At the time, it was a difficult day for them and then they were told that they needed magic stones to return home.
They had already experienced killing monsters for the first time, and when they were told that magic stones could be exchanged for money, they ended up eliminating all the goblins on the island.
And now, in front of them, a goblin once again appeared.
“Kirik?”
“……Kill him. Kill that goblin bastard!!!”
“First place in the Academy goes to our class!”
“Kill the goblin and take the magic stone!!!”
The kids in the class who had identified their opponents began to run forward in excitement.
From the stories I’ve heard in the club, the kids in the class had wiped out all the goblins on the island and had practically become goblin slayers.
If so, the dungeon should have been no problem.
The kids from the ‘Familia’ club were excited to see that this was a Goblin Dungeon too. Perhaps they realized that there was no threat here, so they were all excited.
They were so excited that they stopped paying attention to……me. So I was left alone at the entrance.
Yeah, it’s probably better this way.
Satisfied that no one was around, I looked around and found an odd protrusion of stone, and pressed my hand against it.
* * *
The students in Class A, who had already encountered a goblin dungeon on the island, were like fish out of water.
“Hey! That goblin is throwing rocks!”
“Wizard, block the rocks and arrows!”
The experience of the day seemed to shine through as they killed over a hundred goblins to get off the island quickly. And among them, there were some children who showed the most outstanding skills…….
“Even if I only get 10 magic stones, I can eat meat with my siblings today!”
Se-ah, who immediately intercepted the goblins by locating their positions.
“They said if we win this, we’ll get a dessert bar for our class. I can’t lose!”
Jin-woo scales the walls of the cave and picks off the goblins.
“Let’s have Group A explore the right side, and Group B explore the left. Don’t worry, I’ll come running if anything happens.”
Young-jae fulfilled his responsibilities as a class president.
“I can go home with a smile on my face today.”
For Choi Kang-hyun, who was second in class behind Eugene, but didn’t have a chance to show off his strength until now, this ‘class ranking battle’ was a big opportunity.
Placing first in this ranking match would not only earn him support from the Academy, but also higher-ranked requests from the guild in the future, so he poured out all the seawater in the water bottle he had brought with him, filling the goblins’ lungs with seawater.
“Glasses, at this rate, won’t our class be ranked first?”
Jin-woo looked up from dismantling the goblin’s chest and asked Young-jae.
“Not necessarily. The top student is in the other class, and there’s also the guy who got in as the third best.”
“Ah, that jerk……who’s the son of the police chief, ah, no matter what, we have boss, and he’s not going to lose……huh?”
As if suddenly realizing something, Jin-woo jumps up and looks around.
“Boss, where did he go?”
“Huh?”
Only after hearing Jin-woo’s words Young-jae looked around to see where Eugene was. But there’s no sign of Eugene anywhere.
“……Where did he really go? Se-ah, can you locate him?”
Young-jae asked Se-ah, who was being escorted in the center of the group and was locating more goblins.
“What? Wait!”
Since Se-ah had already grasped Eugene’s mana, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out his location in a dungeon of this size. However, when she realized that the location was unexpected, her eyes widened.
“Uh……. He’s down there?”
“Down……?”
“Yeah, all the way down. I think he’s going somewhere by himself.”
“Really? Then it’s not a problem.”
After hearing Se-ah’s words, Young-jae shrugged as if it was no big deal, and Jin-woo nodded in agreement before pulling out another goblin magic stone.
“I’m sure the boss has a plan and he’s been crushing goblin heads in his fists since day one, so what’s the big deal?”
The other children near him nodded at Jin-woo’s words since the memories of that day are firmly embedded in their minds.
“Well, then, let’s get back to our work, we can’t afford to be left behind, right?”
Hearing Young-jae’s words again, the children start to move and attack the dungeon while Eugene moved alone, thinking that something might happen.
