Dungeon Training (6)

"… I wasn't hiding."

Edna glared alternately at me and Hong Bi-Yeon. Watching the fight from beginning to end, her doubts grew bigger and bigger.

"What's that?"

"What?"

"Point Stick... How… did you break the magic shield with that stick?"

I paused briefly to consider it. It was an element discovered by tens of thousands of players while fooling around in the game, however, it did not seem to have appeared in the original version setting.

I had no choice but to look around.

"It's very sturdy."

"… No matter how sturdy the teaching materials are, how can you break the magic shield with a simple swing? If it was that simple, why don't you recall and explain to me why 'ordinary knights' vanished from this world?"

That was right. No matter how much I trained my body, I could never penetrate the defence of an mage.

'I'd like to explain that this magic weapon was close to a bug item, and it worked because Hong Bi-Yeon was very inexperienced with magic shield…'

If I said that, after going out, Hong Bi-Yeon might really try to kill me. So, let's not think about that because it was a little scary.

Without a proper explanation, Edna's suspicions grew deeper and deeper.

She kept her mouth shut for a long time, and then suddenly asked.

"You… What the hell is your true identity?"

So, this was the end of it. In less than a month after I decided not to be high profile, it all came down to this.

'Should I reveal who I am?' I pondered for a moment.

'I'm also a modern person like you, and in fact, I know that this world is based on a game setting, not a romance fantasy novel.'

However, that was a hasty conclusion. I had not formed an opinion of her yet.

There appeared to be no other option. I had no choice but to remain motionless.

"… I'm not a bad person. It's not like I'm hurting you."

"What? What does that mean?"

"It's just as I said. You may be wary of me, but you don't have to be. I'd rather assist you."

'You want to assist me…?'

Edna's expression was tinged with confusion. It was time. It was best to avoid them when they were drowned in emotions.

"I'd like to tell you more, but there's not much time left. Then, ciao."

I turned around and bid my farewell. Everything would be fine as long as I disappear quietly.

Cuckoo!!

But, I couldn't as something hit the back of my head. A dizzying sensation almost brought tears to my eyes.

Whack!

Four Point Sticks fell to the ground belatedly.

"Huh…??"

Looking back, Hong Bi-Yeon, who had thrown the Point Sticks, had a puzzled look on her face.

"… I thought you'd catch them. You avoided all the offensive magic and traps coming from blind spots, but you couldn't catch them?"

This was inevitable. Mana Accumulation Retardation's 'Sixth Sense' had its limitations.

The Point Stick had magical power as well, so it could have been avoided under normal circumstances, but since the duration of the Sixth Sense was determined by my mental strength, it was currently disabled.

Right after entering the dungeon, I activated my Sixth Sense slightly, and immediately after meeting with Yuslek and the others, I continued to activate it to the max. As a result, I had a very severe headache.

If that attack was judged to be life-threatening, the Sixth Sense would have been activated in any circumstances, but it seemed that none of the senses were activated since it clearly wasn't.

I said as I rubbed the back of my head while whimpering. "So, why did you throw this?"

"I lost, so take it."

Perhaps it was due to her pride. Scores mattered, but she did not want to leave quietly, even if she lost to commoners.

However, she was destined to rank third.

"If I take them, my ranking would be too high."

I had no use for the third-place prize. It was a piece of equipment that increased the magical output. Since it was provided by the academy, I would be unable to sell it anywhere.

"All right. I'll take this one, you take the other three."

I picked up only one Point Stick and quickly left.

I wondered how Hong Bi-Yeon and Edna were looking at me from behind, but gazing back now would not end well.

Because men are cool when they don't look back.

"Is he an idiot?"

"I don't know if it's because he's a commoner."

Stella Dome, over the sky.

Twelve professors and instructors, including Lee Hanwol, stood around watching a hologram map hovering in the air.

On the map, there were 141 red dots representing the students currently in training.

They were from Classes A-S.

Every year, at least one outstanding student entered the academy, but this year was especially noteworthy.

Because, there were not only one or two students to keep an eye on.

"Well."

Lee Hanwol nodded his head, pleased with the students' coordinated movements. This batch's freshmen scored higher than any other batch.

Those who joined with teammates quickly obtained Point Sticks based on their number, while those who did not, fought a duel to steal the Point Sticks.

"By the way, why is the hologram so unstable?"

"Ah, that's… A large number of professors with free schedules have gathered in the Stella Dome control room to monitor the training of Class A and S. Besides, there's a huge crowd of people at the tower."

"Not monitoring, they are just here to watch."

"Well, the professors must have been curious too."

A voice rang in Lee Hanwol's ear as soon as he finished those words.

"Haha, I'm sorry I pulled the hologram server, Professor Lee Hanwol."

Lee Hanwol's eyebrows furrowed. This voice was familiar, but it was not of a professor.

"Did the old man from the Senate come all the way here to fish talents?"

"Uh-huh, be careful with your words, Professor. What did you say to Elder Telix?"

This voice was of another person.

'A member of Blue Mage Tower's Board of Directors, Aian.'

She was also a big-shot.

"I can't believe it."

"Hehe, we need to move early to identify talents."

"Well. It's fun to watch, though. When I was young, I was more amazing."

"Man, you're talking nonsense. I still remember your first dungeon shit!"

"This is absurd! I was thirteen at the time!"

Lee Hanwol laughed in vain at the voices of countless mages ringing in his ears.

This was the freshmen's first dungeon training. But wasn't there already such a large crowd just to see it?

'Well, that's possible.'

In many magical private institutions such as Magic Tower, guilds, and corporations, it was possible to contact students at any time if they got permission from Stella.

In the past, there had often been cases in which big-name institutions contacted and sponsored students, and it was neither a bad thing for the schools nor the students.

This year, however, the competition was fierce. The biggest event to filter the top talents; the Stella Survival test or the Stella Dual Tournament hadn't even occurred. Haven't some great mages already appeared?

They didn't move because they wanted to. Other old people were making a move. So, they were forced to come because they didn't want them to be taken away.

"Instructor Lee Hanwol. What should I do with the monitor?"

"What should you do? Let's focus on Class S. Those old people will be interested in it too."

After a while, 41 members of the Class S were broadcasted on the screen.