Ch.116Weekend is Far and Treacherous – 2

“What the hell is wrong with that guy all of a sudden!”

Code Red, monster appearance at the Academy’s internal gate.

As soon as that warning broadcast sounded, Hyunwoo Lee dashed out in an instant.

“Wasn’t he always such a weird character? Not at all!

They say he’s obsessed with training and evaluations, but that’s it.

He’s definitely not the type to shout ‘Woohoo!’ when monsters or villains appear in front of him.

Maybe if it were battle-crazed Rina Lee, it would be different.

The Hyunwoo I know has his head screwed on straight.

When it comes to combat, he prioritizes thorough efficiency rather than recklessness.

That’s why he’s acting like this in my evaluation, thinking he’ll get something out of it.

There’s no reason for that Hyunwoo to jump in like that…

“Heeyah! Let’s finish this quickly! I need to get to my evaluation, you monster bastards!”

…

“I was supposed to take the evaluation and then train right away! Everything’s messed up! Damn it!”

You bastard. Was that seriously the reason?

Just because you couldn’t take the evaluation when you were supposed to. Because it made you miss your training time.

You’re angry about that? If others heard this, they’d ask why you even care.

‘I take back what I just said.’

Yes, I take it back. His head isn’t screwed on straight at all.

That guy was crazy too. Why is there not a single normal person around me?

Shaking my head, I ran toward where Hyunwoo was rampaging.

Students and professors were already engaged in battle there.

And among them, I spotted a familiar face, Hana Kang.

“Student Kang!”

“Yes, Professor!”

“We professors will handle this, so focus on evacuating students rather than fighting…”

BOOM!

Just as another loud noise was heard, a heavy vibration could be felt.

No way, it can’t be. I turned around hoping I was wrong, but damn it.

Another gate was opening, completely ignoring the suppressor.

Not just one or two, but multiple gate appearances? Even with suppressors in place?

‘Holy shit! Isn’t this the beginning of the disaster that only happens in the second semester?’

We should have leveled up the protagonist more, reinforced our new forces.

We even held onto those who were leaving and made them strong allies.

I was feeling a little relieved because of all that.

But as always, things never go as planned in this world.

…Enough complaining for now. Let’s focus on the situation at hand.

“Professor! Please take care of the rear battlefront.”

“What? But Arbiter, right now in front of us…”

“The most important thing now is to prevent anyone from becoming isolated. I’ll handle this side with the students, so please take care of any students who might be left behind.”

The gate appearances aren’t over yet, and we don’t know when more might come.

In contrast, the Academy is vast with many students, making it easy to lose someone.

To prevent that, a small group with good mobility needs to move quickly.

The professors are perfect for such a task.

“…Understood. Then, Arbiter, I’ll trust you and be back.”

It seems my status as a named character has some effect here too.

Look at how quickly these elite Academy professors agreed.

At this rate, maybe I should bow down and thank Hyuk Kwak for what he did to me?

More importantly, why did it have to be undead monsters? They’re the most unsettling opponents.

They’re not particularly strong or tough, but their appearance is so disgusting that I just want to avoid them.

Slash!

I swung with the intention of cutting it down, but the ghoul was completely crushed.

…I hope there won’t be any problems if that stuff touches my skin?

There’s no such setting, but seeing this naturally brings one thought to mind:

That their byproducts cause inflammation or contamination when they touch the body.

And the stench is so realistic that my head is throbbing.

Just looking at the other students, I can see they’re trying to endure the disgust.

They’re managing somewhat because fire magic is burning the monsters.

If not for that, they would all be down, not from injuries but for other reasons.

Among them, I was most worried about Soohyun.

Though her talent and base abilities are overwhelming, her still-delicate personality concerns me.

But as if to tell me my worries were unfounded, she was cutting down the undead monsters.

‘…Soohyun is doing better than I expected.’

She doesn’t seem to mind the rising stench and disgusting byproducts flying around.

It was quite a contrast to some female students who were horrified.

Her eyes even seem to be gleaming… but that must be my imagination?

“Arbiter!”

I turned my head slightly to see Hyunwoo Lee grinning at me.

Why is he smiling like that again? It’s kind of creepy when he does that.

“Having to aim precisely for the head, this is actually good training! What a practical exercise for improving accuracy. Undead monsters aren’t all bad after all!”

“Ah… yes.”

Should I congratulate him or something?

Are you happy about this, you fool? The other students don’t seem to think so!

“Junior! Stop causing a commotion up front and close the distance! The monsters aren’t the end of it!”

Busy casting magic, encouraging students, and assessing the battle situation,

Hana Kang was scolding Hyunwoo.

The surprising thing was that Hyunwoo responded with a “Yes!” and actually listened.

“How does it look, Arbiter?”

“You’re doing well. Very good, Student Kang.”

“What? Uh, th-thank you! But that’s not what I meant!”

What? I thought she wanted praise, but that wasn’t it.

Sorry. My standards seem to have been adjusted to Soohyun lately.

It’s what I call the “Even The Crimson Witch dances when praised!” strategy.

“How does the situation look to you? That’s what I meant.”

Hana seemed to be asking about the current situation.

After thinking briefly about her question, I answered honestly.

“It’s not bad so far. So far.”

Hearing my answer, Hana nodded as if she had expected it.

“I knew it, you’re also feeling uneasy about something, right?”

“There’s no guarantee that what happened last time won’t happen again.”

Gates appeared, ignoring the suppressors, and not just one or two, but several.

And then the event where monsters appear in an evolved state.

There’s no guarantee that the ‘Great Transformation’ symptoms won’t appear.

‘No, it’s not just that there’s no guarantee. The probability is high. Very high…’

“Ugh!”

Just as I was thinking this, a student who had been fighting well was thrown backward.

I turned to look and saw a disgustingly filthy ghoul, or well…

No, I can’t really call that a ghoul.

How should I describe it? Right. What if the Hulk became a ghoul?

Or maybe a ghoul that went to the gym obsessively and bulked up.

“C-crazy! What is that thing!”

“Run away! Aaaahhhh!!”

CRASH!

A creature at least four times larger than a normal ghoul charged at the students.

Yes, that’s another difference from regular ghouls – it can run.

Wasn’t slowness a trademark of undead monsters?

But that bulked-up ghoul seemed to have thrown that concept away, showing remarkably fast movements.

CRASH!

This one trying to turn me into human jerky is the same.

‘It’s not overwhelmingly fast. But…’

Ah, this is just my assessment based on my standards.

For ordinary students, this would feel like a completely new monster.

Size, toughness, speed, and even the disgust factor have all been enhanced.

If there’s one fortunate thing—

SLASH! BOOM!

Despite all that bulking up, the head is still the weak point.

Thanks to that, it wasn’t difficult to deal with them if you aimed properly for the head.

“Don’t panic! Just aim for the head and you’ll finish them, everyone!”

As soon as I took down the bulked-up ghoul, Hana shouted with all her might.

Then she immediately began chanting a spell to support the students.

“Frozen Field!”

They’ve grown bigger. That means their center of gravity has become more unstable.

These creatures don’t have the balance of even normal monsters, let alone humans.

They say if you fall, you just get back up, but who would wait for that in battle?

“Flame Shot!”

As the bulked-up ghoul fell, other magic-class students chanted fire magic.

The power wasn’t great, but it was enough to deal meaningful damage.

The melee combat students rushed toward the ghoul that had fallen and become a good target for magic.

Fortunately, contrary to my initial concerns, they were doing well.

Even the students who had been panicking and floundering now seemed to have adapted.

Even those who were about to retreat were returning to the front lines.

That’s right. People are like that. They watch others and read the room.

If everyone runs away together? That’s fine. But running away alone? That’s not acceptable.

Humans are social animals. Therefore, they instinctively hate social ostracism.

“Yaaah!”

“Don’t overdo it, just one attack at a time!”

“Head! Head! Head!!”

When everyone is fighting with gritted teeth, running away means more than just failing as an ability user.

Beyond that, it means being treated as a nobody by people you know.

“Phew! Ha! Arbiter! It seems we’re done here, should we check out other areas?!”

Hyunwoo Lee, who had been enthusiastically cutting down undead monsters, approached me.

Right after him, Soohyun also stood beside me, with just a slightly disgusted expression.

“I agree with Junior, Arbiter. We should finish up here and go elsewhere…”

“No, Student Kang.”

“Pardon?”

“Stay here. This can’t be the end.”

At my words, both Hana Kang and Hyunwoo tilted their heads in confusion.

Clearly all the monsters around were being subdued.

Even the threatening bulked-up ghouls were now few in number.

Anyone else would have reacted the same way to such a statement.

“Something big is coming. Something proper.”

I can feel it. A faint but definite resonance of something.

The gates seem to have ended, and most monsters seem to have been defeated.

But some sense is telling me. This is what they call a ‘cliché’.

– The Third Eye is activating.

◎ Sole Arbiter

: Characteristic is activating.

: This is an opponent who has not received promotion from Seojin Baek.

: Recognizing as evaluation target.

Rumble!

‘Yes, just like now.’

There was a reason why the Gatekeeper characteristic, which had been quiet, manifested belatedly.

“Hana Kang!”

“Yes? Eek!?”

CRASH!