RE: Player again

322

[Chapter 101] [Even If You Mix Blood with Blood (8)]

There was a shortage of manpower.

The Player Academy had certainly become the talk of the town last year when Slayers kidn*pped students.

So the Academy carefully decided on the location for the comprehensive ability evaluation and hired more players than before to prepare for any potential dangers.

However, as if mocking the Academy's efforts, a large-scale distortion suddenly occurred.

Moreover, there was even an incident where a 5th tier monster and a 5th tier over-rank monster appeared.

Most of the hired players were currently engaged in battle with the creatures.

As a result, the students had to somehow escape without being able to hope for help from the players.

"...5 people coming this way from 12 o'clock direction. 4 monsters following closely behind. Seona, please relay this telepathically."

[12 o'clock direction, prepare to intercept! Hunters, keep the surviving monsters in check while dealers open a path!]

Fortunately, unlike last year, the students had become accustomed to dealing with monsters.

They had participated in the final evaluation to kill monsters in the first place.

Students who had been fleeing in all directions established a stronghold at Ucheon Elementary School, which was designated as the gathering point beforehand.

Of course, the skills of the remaining instructors and players protecting the students weren't enough to save all those fleeing with monsters on their tails.

That's when students known as promising rookies of the 031 class assisted them.

"...Next. Monsters approaching from 4 o'clock direction. Judging by their approaching speed, estimated to be quadrupedal beast type. 11 individuals, tier estimated at 8th... currently estimating."

[Caution at 4 o'clock direction! 11 quadrupedal monsters estimated to be 8th tier approaching at high speed!]

In this situation, three promising rookies stood out.

Jung Hayang of the 031 class, whom players said could debut as an active player right away, clicking their tongues.

She was currently deploying a protective magic large enough to protect students evacuating on the playground of Ucheon Elementary School.

Although two casters were assisting her magic, all the spell formulas constructing the magic were created by herself.

How on earth did she do this...

...I can't do this. I can create a barrier of this scale, but to construct magic that also serves as a counter...

Queen of Hearts' Declaration.

The magic that had been countering attacking monsters until now had become even more complete.

When monsters approached near the barrier, the barrier even sounded a warning and kept them in check.

It's thanks to Seoyoung unnie's advice. If I hadn't listened to Seoyoung unnie's advice, I would have been exhausted just deploying the protective magic.

While the two casters were gritting their teeth and supporting the spell formula, Jung Hayang recalled Shin Seoyoung who had given her advice not long ago.

Come to think of it, she was able to deploy the protective magic without using much strength thanks to Shin Seoyoung's attribute lecture.

That's why Jung Hayang was curious.

Didn't Eunha know?

Didn't Noh Eunha predict that this would happen beforehand and train her and her friends so they could survive?

The doubt was almost indistinguishable from certainty.

Because Eunha had even given one-time use artifacts to some friends in advance.

Eunha must have known.

But why?

If so, why didn't Eunha tell others when he knew?

If he had, they wouldn't have had to see students dying.

Her heart ached seeing students she knew dying before her eyes.

Surely if this hadn't been a battlefield, she wouldn't have been able to do anything out of sadness.

It was the same for others.

Students in charge of dealers and hunters were currently holding their devices while forcibly holding back flowing tears.

Players and instructors were angry, and those who had watched close friends die were receiving protection in a dazed state.

"Seona, 4 o'clock direction. One monster remains that hasn't been subjugated."

[4 o'clock direction, execute re-firing!]

We must protect them.

Hayang shook her head and relayed words to Seona, who had been acting as a telepathist for a while.

At first, players tried to attach a telepathist to Hayang, but she adamantly refused their offer.

It was because she worked well with Seona.

In fact, Seona was quickly grasping the information she passed on and spreading it to other students.

Before they knew it, people gathered on the playground were depending on the judgment of these two.

Of course, it wasn't just the two of them.

Subin, another promising rookie, was showcasing firepower to replace the casters constructing the barrier.

Spider Leg

Fireball

Protected by rangers, Subin constructed magic.

Fast casting and intuitive imagination.

The two combined, and monsters had to taste the pain of being stabbed by blades and roasted by fire.

"Aren't they too weak?"

The monsters were certainly not weak.

However, Subin snorted while shaking off her hand burned by the heat after throwing fireballs.

She was deeply immersed in the pain given by the compressed fireball every time she used Fireball.

Because it made her feel alive.

Above all, because she was thoroughly absorbed in the magic that incinerated monsters.

She felt ecstasy and pleasure.

"Move aside. I'll kill that one."

[Subin! Where are you going now!]

However, although her magic was amazing, her party play was utterly terrible.

Filled with euphoria from killing enemies, she would ignore instructions from around and move to the front line.

Then she would get injured by monsters launching ranged attacks.

She was burning with fighting spirit, but to those around her, it looked reckless and dangerous.

"─Bae Subin."

Eventually, Hayang got angry at Bae Subin who wasn't following orders properly.

She had been patient until now, but she couldn't bear it anymore.

While Bae Subin rushed to the front line, she was firing magic indiscriminately without distinguishing friend from foe.

Students could have died.

"If you're going to act like this on your own, just step back. Honestly, even if you help, it only makes the battle situation more chaotic."

"......"

Bae Subin's eyes wavered.

Eyes filled with killing intent soon glared at Hayang.

Nevertheless, Hayang didn't back down.

Rather, she was inwardly surprised.

She didn't know she herself was this bold and could speak her mind without worrying about others' reactions.

Normally, she would have persuaded Subin.

The sense of responsibility to protect the students was making her strong.

"Are you not going to answer?"

"...Ugh..."

Meanwhile, Bae Subin, whose mood had been ruined, drew up power.

A fireball created above her head was swelling in size and blazing.

But Hayang, without being intimidated, manifested her internal mana and pressed down on her shoulder.

When it came to knowledge about magic, Jung Hayang was far superior to Bae Subin.

Yet the reason she chose navigator instead of caster was because there was no one else who could command the students.

If she wanted to, it was simple to neutralize Subin's fireball.

In fact, Bae Subin was in a state of having lost control over her fireball.

"...I understand. I'm sorry."

After a contest of mana against mana.

Eventually, when Bae Subin admitted defeat, Hayang returned control over the fireball to her.

Clicking her tongue, Bae Subin threw the magic she got back to the front.

The fireball that fell to the ground exploded and burned the surrounding area.

"I must have lost my mind for a moment. I'm really sorry."

"No, it's fine. As long as you understand."

"......"

Bae Subin had changed too.

While spending time with friends, Subin learned how to apologize for her mistakes.

However, the person who had changed more than her was Hayang, who now accepted others' mistakes as they were.

Subin was at a loss for words when Hayang seriously agreed.

"...6 o'clock direction. It seems flying type monsters are approaching. Subin, can you intercept them?"

"...Alright."

In the end, Subin accepted Hayang's instructions with a sour face.

Hayang, after sending her off, sighed in relief a moment later.

That was close.

I thought I was going to die of fear.

Hayang, who hadn't expected to receive killing intent from a friend, looked out at the battlefield with a distant gaze.

Where could Eunha be?

In the distance, she could see Eunhyeok safely bringing back students chased by monsters.

However, Eunha's face couldn't be found among them.

Even if she believed in Eunha's skills, she couldn't help but worry.

Especially—

—What could Eunha be thinking?

Hayang recalled the face Eunha had shown recently.

A face that seemed to have made some decision.

A face that seemed to say not to ask.

The face showing complex emotions approached her a bit scarily.

She couldn't approach carelessly as it didn't seem like the Eunha she knew.

Because he hadn't told her anything, she had to imagine about this incident on her own.

...It can't be.

Eunha wouldn't do that.

He shouldn't.

The Noh Eunha she liked was someone who would accept all his friends' whining, saying he had no choice even while showing signs of being annoyed.

Although he sometimes acted scary.

Nevertheless, his actions never exceeded the bounds of normalcy.

Sometimes he acted extremely.

But even so, there was no way he had orchestrated this incident.

Because there was no benefit to Eunha.

So there's no way Eunha did it.

He probably guessed this would happen, but couldn't tell others because he had no clear evidence.

Hayang soon dismissed the emerging doubt as something that couldn't be.

However, once doubt sprouts, it's not easily removed.

"Hayang! People are coming from over there! The number is quite..."

"...27. The number of monsters closely chasing behind is about 40... Seona, tell the people to be careful!"

Hayang, awakened from her thoughts, deployed her detection network.

Students were running hurriedly from the direction Seona had mentioned.

When she relayed instructions to Seona, dealers led by Eunhyeok ran to the front to protect the students.

It was truly a melee.

People and monsters were mixed.

Eventually, rangers who couldn't intercept the front line had to create a path for fleeing students while intercepting monsters chasing them.

"Where did these things...!"

Bae Subin clicked her tongue.

Like this, she couldn't designate targets for bombardment.

In the end, she had to keep in check monsters that had separated from the group until the situation calmed down.

Wolf Step

Mana Crusher

In such a situation, the person who showed great performance was Choi Eunhyeok.

He was swinging his sword while distinguishing friend from foe in the melee.

He even saved students in danger while traversing the battlefield using Wolf Step.

"Geonwoong! What happened!? Were you being chased by all those monsters?"

Meanwhile, Seona spoke to Kim Geonwoong who had arrived at Ucheon Elementary School while commanding students.

He was in terrible shape.

With blood and dirt smeared all over his face, he was breathing heavily.

Eventually, after catching his breath, he looked for the commander with an urgent face.

Then he seemed flustered when he realized the person commanding the students was Hayang.

However, it wasn't time to be flustered.

"About 10 more people are left in the forest. They got separated when attacked by monsters while fleeing this way. Please save those kids..."

"...Ah..."

About 10 students remain in the darkness of the forest that can't be seen into.

Hayang and Seona lowered their heads, troubled by his request to save his friends.

Although they fully sympathized, it was unfortunately a request they couldn't grant.

It wasn't a situation where they could spare forces separately.

Even now, they were establishing the battle situation by squeezing out their lacking forces.

Above all, the students left behind were surely—

—Dead.

They brought that many monsters with them.

The students left behind could be said to be surrounded by even more monsters than this.

Could they possibly survive from those creatures?

"...I'm sorry."

Hayang decided not to be optimistic.

She decided to judge realistically.

In a situation where students were relying on her, she couldn't drive them into danger.

"I see... Is that so."

Kim Geonwoong, the direct descendant of KK Group, probably knew that better than anyone.

Nodding with a complicated expression, Kim Geonwoong said to give him work too and turned around.

—Huh?

Then Hayang discovered a green thread swaying on his shoulder.

A thread emitting a faint light under this night that she hadn't seen until just now.

She reflexively reached out her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Geonwoong, for now go to the instructor and report your situation."

"Alright."

Hayang hurriedly hid the thread caught on her finger behind her back.

And only after he disappeared did she look at the thread emitting green light.

A thread she had never seen before.

"This is..."

However, she had heard about threads emitting green light in class.

Long ago, players used ghost spider webs for ambushes.

No, it can't be.

It can't be...

She couldn't know if this was really a ghost spider web.

However, she who had been smiling bitterly in denial looked for those with threads attached among those who had returned with Kim Geonwoong.

For a moment, she was at a loss for words.

Could there be ghost spiders in this forest?

That can't be.

Ghost spiders don't appear in jungle areas like this, as far as I know.

Then someone deliberately—

"—It can't be."

Doubt raising its head.

Hayang somehow suppressed it and manifested her internal mana to remove the threads attached to the students.

By the time the threads gathered in her hand, the green light had disappeared.

Eunha, where are you?

Looking at the spider web losing light and disappearing, she searched for Eunha.

It felt like she could only feel at ease if she saw him.

☆

He couldn't just kill those with spider webs attached in the darkness.

The moment he killed them, he had to kill the students around them too.

It wasn't a difficult task, but there was a limit.

If he killed too many, there could be witnesses.

So Eunha used monsters to attack students fleeing in groups.

The result was half successful.

"...Couldn't kill Kim Geonwoong."

Eunha passed between monsters greedily devouring the corpses of about 10 students.

The creatures focused on their prey currently showed no interest in him.

Only those still with remnants of hunting fever attacked and perished.

Eunha checked each corpse with spider web attached and came out of the forest.

He climbed a tree and looked at Ucheon Elementary School where students were gathering.

He saw Eunhyeok dealing with the creatures he had lured.

Eunhyeok has improved quite a bit.

Still clumsy, but.

Choi Eunhyeok still couldn't handle his Gift properly.

Nevertheless, Eunhyeok was absorbing the magic he taught like a sponge and growing.

By the way, it's a shame I couldn't kill Kim Geonwoong.

Eunha licked his lips while looking around inside the barrier Hayang had deployed.

It was so regrettable that he couldn't kill Kim Geonwoong.

If he could kill the direct descendant of KK Group, he could have brought chaos to the country.

KK Group's power has grown a bit compared to before the regression.

In the previous life, KK Clan didn't produce one of the Twelve Seats.

But in this life, KK Clan produced one of the Twelve Seats.

With Kwak Woohyuk not being chosen as one of the Twelve Seats, Hwang Sangun became one of

Since Kwak Woo-hyeok was not chosen as one of the twelve, Hwang San-gun ended up becoming one of the twelve.

Hwangsan-gun is not bad.

Because he's more capable than that bastard Kwak Woo-hyuk.

The problem is that the KK Group has expanded its influence unlike its previous life.

In the previous life, KK Group was competing with Donghae Group at the bottom.

Because they were keeping each other in check, the KK Group was unable to properly exert its influence.

That's why Eunha wanted to reduce the influence of the KK Group in this life in preparation for the possible future.

To continue competing with the Donghae Group.

In that sense, I thought that removing Kim Geon-woong, the chairman of KK Group, might help achieve balance.

Kim Geon-woong had no flaws in his character, but his management skills were so outstanding that he became a threat.

Tsk... , I can't help it.

This isn't your only chance.

Eunha looked very regretful and then jumped into the darkness again.