Ch.34Chapter 34. Aiming for First Place (4)

“What the hell!”

“Oh, come on, really.”

“The broadcast cut off!!”

The first-year lecture hall at Crescen Academy was in an uproar due to the suddenly interrupted video feed.

Students who had been watching the inter-grade competition from their respective classrooms were now pouring out into the hallways, buzzing with conversation after the broadcast cut off.

Normally, the professors in charge of each class would have controlled the students, but there were no professors to be seen anywhere.

“So noisy.”

“Does this mean our kids got first place?!”

“I think so, right?? They made it to the finish line!”

Cain didn’t like what Agnes and Marie were saying.

‘They must have used some trick. Otherwise, there’s no way they could have defeated that monster so easily when even Bernstein’s flames couldn’t harm it.’

Cain was still trying to rationalize and downplay Ryuyeong’s achievements.

The first-year representatives, including Ryuyeong, had far exceeded Cain’s expectations and were showing impressive performance.

In the second test, Elaine Sinclair had proven why she was a Sinclair.

Until then, Cain hadn’t been so upset, since he had always known that the Sinclairs were exceptionally skilled.

But something felt off from the moment the dungeon exploration began and Ryuyeong started slaughtering hordes of zombies.

While Elaine Sinclair was surrounded and didn’t know what to do, Ryuyeong began swinging his sword.

Not only did he break through the encirclement alone, but he completely annihilated the monsters.

That’s when cheers started erupting from the first-year lecture hall.

It was true that Ryuyeong was a commoner, and there had been complaints about his top admission.

But regardless, Ryuyeong was representing the first-years in the competition.

It was only natural for students to cheer when a classmate representing them was showing outstanding performance.

It was like internal conflicts were naturally being resolved by an external challenge.

And the first-years’ cheers reached their peak when Ryuyeong blasted away the giant skeleton knight.

The cheers were so clear that they seemed to be coming from just outside, even though they were inside the S-class lecture room.

Agnes and Marie were just as excited.

“Hmph. I guess the professors finally noticed some cheating and cut off the broadcast.”

“…”

Though Cain spoke coldly, neither Agnes nor Marie agreed with him.

Anyone who had been watching the competition would know.

Even apart from the skeleton knight incident at the beginning, Ryuyeong had shown an overwhelming presence throughout the dungeon exploration.

Whenever something appeared, he was always at the front dealing with it, and he easily overcame traps.

He was also good at finding his way.

The third-years had given up on progressing and were retreating, while the second-years couldn’t even enter the dungeon.

Thanks to this, the first-year lecture hall was filled with excitement, so it was natural for students to be fired up when the broadcast suddenly cut off.

They were being denied the chance to witness a historic moment—the first-years taking first place in the competition—in real time.

“Come on, that’s not…”

“Ryuyeong has already proven his skill enough…”

“…”

*Slide—SLAM*

Ignoring Agnes and Marie’s words, Cain left the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

Outside the classroom, the hallway was packed with students who had poured out of their rooms after the broadcast was cut off.

“Damn it.”

Cain was displeased with everything.

**

“It will be fine. Professor Kassis is there anyway.”

“That’s… true.”

“Now then. Since the broadcast was suddenly cut off, professors in charge of students should return to their respective buildings and inform everyone of the situation. I imagine other students must be confused.”

“…”

Amillion couldn’t understand the vice principal’s response at all.

It would make sense for all professors to rush to the dungeon to investigate what happened, yet he remained so calm.

‘Even if they did deal with the undead…’

The massive Death Knight that appeared before the two third-years.

Honestly, Amillion thought it wouldn’t be strange if there were casualties.

A Death Knight that even Gareth and Verthe, the aces of the third-year, couldn’t handle had appeared before the first-years.

But the situation unfolded completely differently than expected.

Far too differently.

After dealing with the ghouls, Ryuyeong defeated the Death Knight as well.

To be precise, he stomped on it.

He simply stepped on and disposed of the robust body that even Bernstein’s blue flames couldn’t harm.

When that scene was broadcast live, only silence filled the conference room where the professors had gathered.

At that moment, everyone could only stare blankly at Ryuyeong.

After Ryuyeong dealt with even the Death Knight, the tense atmosphere in the conference room eased considerably.

At least from what they could see in the video, there were no casualties and no more undead appearing.

Amillion thought everything would be resolved once Professor Kassis, who had gone directly to the dungeon, met them and brought them out.

But the first-years, including Ryuyeong, continued toward the finish line.

Incredibly, Vice Principal Landgar suggested they continue watching the first-years’ actions.

It made no sense to Amillion, but no one objected to the vice principal’s words.

So the first-years kept moving forward, and Amillion watched with a nervous heart.

Fortunately, no further incidents occurred after that.

Eventually, the first-years reached the finish line, and just when Amillion thought it was all over, the broadcast suddenly went dark.

Despite this, the vice principal acted as if it was no big deal and told them to check on the other students first.

Amillion bit her lip, thinking that if the principal had been here, the response would have been different.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

“Ah, and Professor Karen, could you stay and talk with me for a moment?”

The vice principal was speaking as if the situation had been completely resolved.

Perhaps because the highest-ranking person present was calmly wrapping things up.

After hearing the vice principal’s words, the professors began leaving the conference room one by one.

As if the undead that had appeared earlier was just a simple mishap to be overlooked.

‘What is this…’

Professor Karen, who was in charge of creating this dungeon, was busy explaining something to the vice principal.

“Hmm.”

Amillion felt something was off about the current situation, but there wasn’t much she could do alone.

In any case, she could only desperately hope that Professor Kassis, who was in the dungeon, would resolve everything well and bring the children back.

**

Kassis Sinclair, the subject of someone’s desperate hope, was examining the Death Knight half-buried in the ground with a serious expression.

‘This is real.’

After escorting Gareth and Verthe, whom he had met at the entrance, back outside, Kassis was heading inside to find the first-years.

Fortunately, the Death Knight had already been defeated.

And not by Gareth or Verthe, but by the first-years.

Looking at the Death Knight buried in the ground, Kassis was regretting if he had overreacted.

When he saw it on the video, he had felt a chilling sense of danger.

‘To think it was a monster that students could handle on their own.’

According to Gareth, the first-year valedictorian Ryuyeong had dealt with it alone.

Kassis thought it was a joke at first, but seeing Gareth’s serious expression, he had no choice but to believe it.

“Hmm.”

After pulling the Death Knight’s body out of the ground, Kassis picked up its sword that had fallen nearby.

It was heavier than it looked.

‘And this thing was swinging it effortlessly with one hand.’

Kassis found it hard to believe that a first-year student had killed such a creature alone.

He thought that despite what Gareth said, he must have helped a lot.

‘There’s no way undead could naturally appear here. There must have been outside interference.’

*Thunk*

Kassis stuck the Death Knight’s sword into the ground and looked around.

Around him were not only the Death Knight but also many corpses of ghouls with their heads cut off.

The surrounding scene was hardly something you’d expect from an academy event.

It was closer to what he’d seen in the northern part of the continent.

No matter how he looked at it, these were real undead.

Not artificially created for a test, but the real thing.

There was no way undead could naturally appear in a dungeon created by the academy for an event.

After all, the undead race originated from “Black Magic.”

With black mages gone from the continent, it made no sense for them to appear naturally.

No, it made no sense for them to appear by any means.

“I wonder how far they’ve gone.”

Though investigating was important, there was something more urgent to do first.

He needed to find the first-years and bring them out.

According to Gareth and Verthe, the first-years had headed toward the finish line.

When he asked how that made sense with undead appearing, they said they thought it was part of the test.

Kassis was speechless with disbelief, but he had no choice.

He had to go find them.

‘Elaine…’

Thinking about meeting his sister Elaine, Kassis felt slightly embarrassed.

Of course, he hadn’t rushed into the dungeon solely because of Elaine, but it wasn’t completely unrelated either.

Despite their not-so-good relationship, Elaine was still his sister and shared his blood.

“Ahem.”

Just as Kassis cleared his throat unnecessarily and was about to move again.

*Zing*

Something eerie registered in Kassis’s senses.

A strange, tingling sensation coming from deep inside the dungeon.

*Tap*

Kassis frowned and immediately started running toward the interior.

For some reason, he felt uneasy.

‘I hope the students are unharmed.’

*Tap*

Kassis pressed against the ground and moved forward almost as if flying.