RE: Player again

384

[Chapter 113]

[Putting an End to This Ill-Fated Relationship (2)]

The 3rd year middle school academy 1st semester final evaluation took place deep in Bukhansan.

Students who were initially waiting in the same place entered the mountain according to their midterm exam grades.

From now on, students had to undergo survival for three days.

They had to take down monsters to obtain magic stones, or steal other people's necklaces.

Don't go deep into the mountain.

It's better to hide in a position where ambush is possible and target passing people.

As every year.

Hayang who ranked first in the school on the midterm exam entered the forest first.

Although she had vast internal mana, she who had no talent for moving her body chose to hide rather than running aimlessly.

Since becoming of Twelve Seats Yoon Seongjin, she became proficient at quickly inputting surrounding terrain in her mind.

Hayang who took position in a suitable location activated camouflage magic to hide her existence.

It was magic that even Eunha sometimes couldn't find properly.

I wonder if Eunha is really okay.

Then she recalled Noh Eunha who couldn't take the final evaluation today due to a high fever.

From when she heard Eunha was sick.

She was very worried about him.

At the same time, whether he might be harboring other thoughts.

Either way, she hoped he wasn't having a hard time.

─Someone's coming.

Her thoughts were too long.

Hayang who was lying flat ambushing among the bushes discovered one student.

She who had almost memorized students' rankings inferred how many had entered the forest through the passing student who didn't know anything.

And as if affirming her prediction─

[─We will now begin the 3-1 comprehensive ability evaluation!]

Sure enough, some player's telepathy spread throughout the forest.

Hayang unraveled the spell formula she had prepared at the sound digging into her mind.

She had to establish her position on the first day when there were the most students.

Fairies' Mischief

When she opened her tightly clenched hand, mana liberated from her hand instantly flew somewhere.

When students first set foot in the forest.

She had laid mana across paths students were likely to frequently pass.

The detection net created through that captured every single student hiding in the area without exception.

And mana that left her hand bound hiding students.

Probably by now, they would be unable to move, tied up by leaves.

"...Hayang? Hello?"

"Dojun, you were here too."

"Want to make a contract with me?"

"......"

"I really don't want to die right as we start."

Hayang stealthily moved and stole necklaces from bound students.

But among them was Yoo Dojun tied up tightly.

He who looked up at her wriggled and showed a friendly smile.

"Hey, we're Noh Eunha's corps."

"......"

"Let me off just this once."

"Sigh..."

Hayang who put stolen necklaces in her bag sighed.

Then she crouched down.

"Okay. But there's a condition."

"Condition? What condition?"

A strange light swirled in Dojun's eyes.

As if he didn't expect she would set a condition.

He raised his head with difficulty.

"Yeah. Tell me too."

"Tell you what?"

"What kind of relationship do you and Eunha have?"

"......"

"I know you two are plotting something. Dojun, if you tell me what you're plotting, I'm willing to let you go."

"Hmm..."

Although she hadn't said it in words so far.

Jung Hayang was always curious.

How Eunha and Yoo Dojun could become close.

As far as she knew, Eunha didn't particularly like the political and business world.

Yoo Dojun didn't have talent as a player either.

Moreover, Yoo Dojun's position within Yeongwon Group was weak.

Although his position has become solid now, in her eyes, it wouldn't be strange if Yoo Dojun collapsed at any moment.

It didn't seem like Eunha had anything to gain.

Nevertheless, Eunha quite liked Yoo Dojun, and sometimes took care of him.

...I want to be included too.

Always whispering excluding only me...

She was a bit jealous.

She can't express how much it bothered her whenever Eunha put his arm around his shoulder and talked about something.

She wanted to listen but was somehow enduring with outstanding patience.

Because she might end up being interested in Eunha's every move if she did it wrong.

"Why don't you ask Eunha about that?"

"......"

"You can't ask Eunha huh. Well, he's not the type to tell you anyway."

Yoo Dojun clicked his tongue.

Jung Hayang's expression darkened.

Jealousy arose at Yoo Dojun's statement as if he understood Eunha.

"So? You won't tell me?"

Hayang threatened with a deliberately stern voice.

Yoo Dojun chuckled.

Then he shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, fine. You don't seem like someone who would become our enemy anyway, Hayang. You can keep a secret, right?"

"I won't tell anyone."

"Okay, good. I'll tell you. So come closer."

Hayang nodded.

She released Yoo Dojun's bindings and approached him closely.

Yoo Dojun who stood up brought his mouth to her ear.

"But you know, Hayang."

"Yeah."

"This necklace isn't mine?"

"...Huh?"

"What do you think this means?"

"...No way..."

"Oh, and I can't tell you the secret even if it's you Hayang. Sorry."

It felt like being doused with cold water.

She who sensed some crisis quickly stepped back.

Nothing was caught in the detection net.

But her instincts were screaming.

Comet

Right then.

An arrow rain poured down from above.

Magic that came from outside the detection net.

At the same time, something approached her at high speed.

Heart Queen's Declaration

Hayang hurriedly deployed protective magic and tried to prepare for the falling arrow rain and approaching something.

But something passed by her and shouldered Yoo Dojun.

"...Parang oppa!?"

"Kya, Yoo Dojun you're really smart. How did you think of deceiving Hayang like this."

"I'm good at deceiving."

Jin Parang who shouldered Yoo Dojun.

Soon after, several students were running towards her.

Only then did Hayang realize.

That everything was Dojun's scheme.

"No, well... It's not quite a scheme... I thought about it since the final evaluation was announced. How someone weak like me could survive."

"......"

"But I figured there's no need to necessarily act alone even if it's individual survival."

"So you joined hands with me!"

"To be precise, this hyung happened to be the person I caught."

Hayang was wary of Jin Parang while harboring vigilance towards students gradually closing the distance.

Numbers didn't matter.

The problem was Hoshimiya Kaede keeping them in check from outside the detection net.

And Jin Parang showing fighting spirit.

Those two were the problem.

"Anyway... I thought someone among Noh Eunha's corps would make a fuss from the start, so I tempted Parang hyung. This hyung said weak kids aren't fun. Kaede happened to agree with me too."

"...So I got caught?"

"Yeah. Honestly I'm surprised too? I thought Bae Subin would be the one to do this, I didn't expect it would be you."

Yoo Dojun joked.

And then, those following him revealed themselves from the other side of the forest.

Hayang swallowed.

"But what can we do? Even if a tiger is caught in a trap, we have to catch it in the end. Let's just catch it now."

Yoo Dojun giggled.

Jin Parang was excited.

Because he hadn't fought with Hayang before since he was watching Eunha's mood.

"It's really fortunate that Noh Eunha guy isn't here at a time like this. I've wanted to have a match with you for a long time!"

"...Are you really going to fight me?"

"Hayang, when have you seen oppa lie?"

"...No. That's right, oppa was an idiot."

"Ugh... It's too much to call me an i***t. Anyway! If any of you touch even a hair on Hayang, you'll see. You guys just protect this kid."

"...Ack! Ow ow ow... Am I an object... Hey, Parang hyung. But in my opinion, you can't beat Hayang alone? Please work together with Kaede?"

"Ah, I don't care! I'm going to fight Hayang so know that!"

"Hah... Kids. You guys help Parang hyung."

The battle began.

The arrow rain stopped, and students led by Parang rushed at her.

When she tried to block with a barrier, Kaede shot arrows from far away to disrupt her mental power.

...I can't... handle this alone...!

Hayang frowned.

Because Jin Parang repeatedly interfered whenever she tried to deploy spell formulas.

She couldn't come out from inside the barrier and could only drag out time.

She might lose at this rate.

She had to somehow break through the situation.

Magic Bean Stalk

She took beans out of her pocket.

Beans that fell to the ground grew rapidly and blocked incoming arrows while separating students.

But Hoshimiya Kaede cleverly struck her weak point.

Jin Parang who broke through the bean stalk taking advantage of that gap swung Blue Claw.

Hayang whose barrier broke once immediately turned her body.

Hoshimiya Kaede was approaching.

There was a limit to facing her head-on.

She had to reorganize the situation.

Thorny Country

She who barely shook them off deployed an attack magic she painfully constructed.

If they were going to attack her without mercy─

─You think I can't do it!?

She too wouldn't show mercy.

She released vast mana.

At that moment, tectonic movement occurred.

Cracks formed on the ground and tree roots revealed themselves to the world.

But there were thorns on the roots.

"...Kuhuk...!"

The roots wriggled as if alive and struck down Jin Parang rushing in.

Jin Parang coughed up blood and shot up from the ground like a rocket.

Formidable attack power.

People chasing her were at a loss for words at that sight.

"...You probably won't accept an apology even if I apologize now right?"

Meanwhile, Yoo Dojun regretted belatedly.

☆

Although it was fine in his previous life.

It was uncomfortable to sleep.

I guess I've become dull in this aspect.

2nd basement floor of the Red Dungeon.

Eunha who briefly tried to sleep not far from the entrance going up to the 1st basement floor smiled bitterly.

So he could fight anytime.

His body was stiff from sleeping lightly while hugging his sword.

Looking back, the times he slept uncomfortably since regressing could be counted on one hand.

That's how much he was steeped in the comfort of daily life.

I want to sleep comfortably as soon as this is over.

I wonder if the kids are doing well?

Actually, Eunha barely slept because he was wary of monsters.

It was good that he lured monsters, but he also had to be wary of monsters in turn.

Eunha who belatedly realized that moistened his throat with water.

While thinking about whether friends were spending the final evaluation well.

Although it's individual survival...

There's no law saying they can't form teams... It'll be a good experience for the kids.

In his previous life.

There was a similar incident in high school academy classes too.

At that time, some students formed teams and confronted promising rookies.

Promising rookies who had been triumphant alone so far had no choice but to be helplessly caught in an unexpected situation.

A similar situation is probably happening to friends.

They're not kids who will be easily caught so they'll do well on their own.

Eunha decided to put aside worrying about friends here.

He who tightly fastened the black cloak on his shoulder looked around the dungeon interior.

The atmosphere was unsettled because he caused a commotion with monsters overnight.

Eunha moved while closely examining students staying up all night.

There were no memorable faces.

He who passed by them moved his feet onto an open path.

"You guys need to block the way a bit."

The path leading to the 3rd basement floor.

Eunha confused those blocking the way.

The sound of them screaming spread and provoked reactions from other guys.

Monsters' rampage began again.

"Please let us sleep─!!"

"Everyone get up! s**t─!!"

From far away, a shout he could sympathize with was heard.

Eunha felt the same way.

However, the culprit who created this commotion was somewhat less tired than them.

Because he was already going down the path leading to the 3rd basement floor.

Taking responsibility for the monsters' commotion was entirely up to students left on the 2nd basement floor.

But to think they're not on the 2nd basement floor either.

Hong Jinwoo's party's pace is fast.

Meanwhile, he thought about Hong Jinwoo's party he couldn't find on the 2nd floor.

Most people belonging to the party including Hong Jinwoo were promising rookies.

Even so, it was quite surprising that they went down to the 3rd basement floor from the first day.

They must have forced a march.

Because there's a hot spring on the 3rd basement floor.

The hot spring existing in the academy dungeon.

They would be there.

Soon Eunha came down to the 3rd basement floor and found the hot spring area.

And sure enough─

─So they were here after all?

They really came to play.

Eunha silently shrugged his shoulders seeing Hong Jinwoo sleeping with female students on both arms.

He's sleeping so comfortably.

While someone slept uncomfortably in snatches.

Yeah, let's see if you can sleep even like this?

Eunha scattered magic stones he gathered from the 2nd basement floor all around.

And after a while─

"─Emergency!!! Everyone grab your weapons!"

"Everyone get up! Battle preparations!"

"Kyaaaah!"

"Huheok! D-Damn, where the hell did these things appear from!"

A night where students couldn't sleep began.

☆

"...I won't let this go."

Hayang got angry after a long time.

Hayang who was barely able to escape couldn't forget Yoo Dojun who deceived her in her mind.

Thinking about it now, his sly smiling appearance resembled Noh Eunha.

However, if there's a difference between Eunha and Yoo Dojun─

"─At least Eunha is cute."

It's that Yoo Dojun is ugly.

Jung Hayang chewed out Yoo Dojun who was popular among female students for a long time.

Also, she projected pebbles she found while walking as Yoo Dojun and kicked them away.

You form a team alone?

I can form one too!

Jin Parang, Yoo Dojun, Kaede too.

She decided to take revenge on those who tried to attack her together.

She decided to gather a team.

First I need to find Seona.

It's war from now on.

She decided to find Jin Seona first as her first team member.

While doing so, she conceived other team members in her mind.

If it's Yoo Dojun, he would probably be wary of her and try to recruit Bae Subin somehow.

Bae Subin who would surely harbor competitiveness towards her would gladly accept.

So she had to give up on her.

"...I need to find Eunhyeok and Minho too."

She needed people

If he was going to deal with Soobin and Kaede, he needed someone to deal with Jinpa-rang.

Without Eunha, the only people who could stand against him were Eunhyuk and Minho.

That's when she thought so.

Fairy pranks

Someone caught in the detection net.

Hayang, who was lost in thought, quickly cast a spell on the hiding student.

She was quite excited at the moment, having been caught off guard by Yoo Do-jun.

So she poked her head out over the bushes, tense up.

"…uh?"

"Oh, hello?"

Galaxy's mentee, Kang Si-hyung.

Ha-yang blinked.

Jeong Ha-yang, who finished calculating in an instant, released the binding magic.

"Yes, Si-hyung."

And then I reached out to him and─.

"─Won't you be my guardian?"

She said with a smile.

Now, it was the prelude to war.