Ch.175175 – Full Mobilization

<175 – Full Mobilization>

Suddenly, my colleagues and Professor Sadaco appeared in the nightmare.

I was worried this might be a gimmick to reduce my rewards, but thinking about it, the curse was unfolding based on my body anyway.

I didn’t need to worry about the reward being divided by N just because someone was helping.

‘This feels reassuring.’

My body felt much more comfortable than when I was struggling alone, taking one step at a time relying on special gloves.

Hanbingmaok.

The only means to block Rozini’s flames when she went berserk in the Red Magic Tower.

Son Ocheon and Isabelle supported my drooping arms as I carried this cruel mass of cold that could freeze even its owner.

Even though they weren’t directly holding it, just by supporting my arms and staying beside me, they were suffering from the same severe cold that froze my hands.

They silently stayed by my side, taking steps with me.

Having companions to fight alongside.

I never knew just having them would make me feel this reassured.

Aren’t they like comfort food, these companions of mine?

Above all, my mind felt incredibly at ease.

‘Professor Sadaco only has the gimmick of being expelled from the Academy, not one where she goes berserk herself.’

If that was true for Professor Sadaco, Isabelle and Son Ocheon were even more reassuring.

‘These two are extras. Students I wouldn’t even see in other playthroughs. They don’t have any concrete bad ending gimmicks related to going berserk or destruction!’

I could trust them completely without worrying about being betrayed by a double-boss gimmick where someone helping suddenly becomes an enemy.

[You have overcome the 53rd death <Rozina’s Infernal Hell>.]

[You have overcome the 54th death <The Underground Dungeon That Should Not Be Opened>.]

[You have overcome the 55th death <Knight’s Grave>.]

Rapid progress.

The strategy was gaining momentum.

With companions, both the speed of obtaining strategy items and the timing of using them were greatly accelerated.

“What kind of academy has so many crazy people?”

“Mouse. Will we be able to go wild like that when we become seniors? Damn, I’m jealous.”

“Ah. If you want to, you can do it now. Would you like me to help you?”

It’s not that difficult.

Just infuse dark mana and going berserk is simple.

If you follow the set sequence to circulate energy, you can maintain a berserk state until you lose all your mana.

Moreover, this is the dream world.

Permanent enhancement items aren’t implemented.

But temporary enhancement items are partially implemented.

Temporarily increasing mana capacity means extending berserk time!

Of course, it’s a byproduct of the nightmare.

After waking up, there would be mental penalties proportional to the number and grade of items consumed.

Still, isn’t it a great deal to be able to play boss in your first semester of freshman year when you can’t do it in reality?

“Forget it. Keep it to yourself.”

“If we go crazy too, how are we supposed to drag you out?”

“Hehe.”

“Don’t laugh. What’s there to be proud of?”

“I’m gonna hit you.”

Hmph.

What did I do wrong!

* *

We were almost there.

Just as I was feeling relieved, Professor Sadaco suddenly gestured to Isabelle.

“Come here and hold this…”

“Ugh, it’s heavy. What is this used for?”

“…For this.”

Professor Sadaco placed her hand on the back of Isabelle’s head, who couldn’t move because she was holding the object with both hands.

When black mist was released from her hand, Isabelle’s body turned to smoke and ascended into the sky.

<Mind Dive Reverse Ascension>

<Forced Return>

Professor Sadaco recalled Isabelle.

A bewildered Son Ocheon protested.

“Professor. What are you doing suddenly? Just when things were getting tough, you send Isabelle back!”

“You need to go back too.”

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”

“The intensity of the curse has changed.”

“…More than before? How much worse is it getting?”

“To the point where I can’t protect you.”

The answer came not from Sadaco in front, but from a shadow that surged from behind.

“!!”

Caught off guard.

Before he could turn around, Son Ocheon’s body also turned to smoke and shot up into the sky, disappearing.

I might have protested about why she sent my friends back.

But contrary to such concerns, Oknodie nodded with an approving face.

“Thank you, Professor!”

“Aren’t you resentful? I sent your friends away.”

“From here on, it’s beyond magic rampage or magical disaster—it’s world-ending level triggers!”

Too harsh for newbies to experience. Hehe.

The words coming out with a smiling face were incredibly absurd.

The state of natural mana so filled with killing intent it could be felt on the skin.

Negative dimensional energy of murderous density.

Even for herself, an undead, it felt like the witches’ feast <Walpurgis Night> or the inescapable death curse <Memento Mori Day> was becoming reality.

High-level experts can deploy ‘Areas,’ field bosses can spread them across a single field, and world bosses across an entire world.

This world erosion could be described as a world-level area deployed by a world boss.

It’s on a different level.

A different dimension.

It’s frightening to even imagine what’s approaching.

She had removed the students from such a calamity.

She didn’t regret that fact.

She was just afraid.

What did this child really know?

What was the Foundation thinking to allow such knowledge?

“Professor. You can help me a little more, right?”

“…As far as possible.”

The desperate struggle of Professor Sadaco and Oknodie against the nightmare was just beginning in earnest.

* *

Isabelle and Son Ocheon, ejected back to reality.

They couldn’t contain their frustration.

They were expelled due to lack of strength.

It could only be humiliating.

It felt like just yesterday they had overcome the entrance exam together as comrades.

They thought that even as the top student, she was still a freshman like them.

But that wasn’t the case.

They knew Oknodie was strong.

There was just a gap beyond what they had imagined.

“You’ve returned. How is the situation?”

“We’ve entered the latter part of the curse.”

“But the difficulty has become unreasonable. I wonder if high-level curses are always this harsh.”

“I’ll explain from here.”

“You’re… strong. Are you a professor?”

A man with long, disheveled hair, wearing a cape and pauldrons, giving the impression of a mercenary at first glance.

Those with a keen eye could tell he was a thief by the small tools attached to his belt, the daggers on his thigh belt, and the Hand Guard gloves suitable for handling concealed weapons.

However, his developed physique—with bulging thighs and forearms under his clothing, and a solid body—made one wonder if he might be a warrior.

And he was also a professor at the Academy.

The former hero, Destroyer, answered Son Ocheon’s question.

“That’s right. I couldn’t stand by and watch a student who accepted me as her teacher die a miserable death.”

“I apologize. Please save our Mouse!”

“No need to bow your head like that, I intend to. This child’s curse is a high-level death experience curse. But according to another student who heard Professor Sadaco’s opinion, the curse compatibility was bad.”

“What do you mean by bad curse compatibility…?”

“Actually, I once placed a <Nightmare of Struggle> on Oknodie student to more closely examine her abilities. That too was a proper high-level curse.”

“Placing such a dangerous curse on a freshman…!”

“Because she’s a freshman, it’s low-level. Because she’s in the advanced class, upgrade it one level to intermediate. Because she’s the top student, upgrade it another level to high-level. A reasonable judgment.”

Is that how it usually works? Destroyer Professor’s confident declaration, stated so matter-of-factly, somehow seemed convincing!

“Please explain first what the bad compatibility between the Nightmare of Struggle and this high-level nightmare has to do with anything.”

Giselle spoke, trying to calm Son Ocheon who was seething and looked ready to charge.

“It’s simple. Oknodie’s experience has already surpassed the advanced class level outside the Academy. She grew up receiving education from the highest level masters arranged by the Foundation.”

In most cases, excellent education only guarantees excellent growth.

However, occasionally, outstanding teaching can become poison.

“That added reality to Oknodie’s ‘imagination.’ The curse on that child now has perfect coherence based on the highest level of teaching and education.”

“Then… are you saying the curse has been strengthened?”

“That’s right. A supreme-level curse that has already surpassed the high level must be activating. In a nightmare reconstructed based on the maximum reality she understands.”

Moreover, though he couldn’t bring himself to tell the students, he privately believed it had worsened by another level.

The fact that Oknodie possessed dark mana, revealed during the low-level class mana verification test.

Combined with this, it was easy to imagine how desolate Oknodie’s mental state must be daily, possessing an excessive amount of dark mana.

‘It wasn’t a coincidence that she borrowed the form of her master to slaughter monsters in the Nightmare of Struggle. That child learned how to fight nightmares to survive.’

Whether it was a method taught by the Foundation to save her from suffering from dark mana every time she slept, or a method she found herself to survive.

If she had to learn techniques to fight nightmares even during normal times due to suffering from nightmares, it’s understandable that the nightmare would intensify when she experienced a curse.

‘But this is as far as it goes.’

When Professor Destroyer whistled, another professor appeared as if he had been waiting.

“The students’ fatigue is prolonging. Could you stand guard in my place?”

“Of course. This humble monk will do his best.”

Even Monk Myungho, who had been monitoring Oknodie’s condition.

With him keeping watch, Destroyer could follow Professor Sadaco into the mind dive without hesitation.

The rescue operation for Oknodie, which mobilized three Academy professors, was thus reaching its final stage.