If you think about it, Team A led by Mo Yong-jun hasn’t exactly done anything commendable either.
They signed a non-aggression pact, sure.
Depending on how the final exam unfolds, it might fall apart later. But until then, they’re still the enemy.
Honestly, even if they hadn’t signed it, they would’ve been enemies anyway.
Either way, there’s no real reason for me to hold back.
After quickly rationalizing things to myself, I looked around and realized we’d already made it deep into Team A’s territory.
So I said to my party members,
“Let’s do it around here.”
What we were doing wasn’t any different from before.
We checked the locations of nearby sanctuaries and set traps whenever we had the chance.
Then we just had to hide somewhere suitable and wait.
Chammy circled once overhead and, following my instructions, picked out a prime spot for us.
But—
“The cover’s a bit lacking.”
The terrain was wide open, with no rocks or trees to hide behind. Even if we managed to conceal ourselves well, the moment we fired a mortar, our position would probably be exposed.
I was just about to suggest we look for another spot when Park Na-ri cautiously asked,
“Is that all you need…?”
“If that’s all, this place would be perfect. You’ve got something?”
A druid can use a mix of Beast Tamer skills and wood-and-earth elemental magic.
Of course, since it’s a hybrid class, it doesn’t go as deep as someone who specializes in just one path. There are things she can learn and things she can’t.
Still, I figured it was worth asking in case she had something useful.
Park Na-ri slowly nodded.
“Mhmm… a little…”
Soon, she placed her hand on the ground and began quietly chanting a spell.
For a moment, a faint tremor spread through the earth—
Krrrrrr—
Some areas sank while others rose up, forming uneven rugged terrain.
It became the perfect landscape to hide our bodies.
I pretended to be completely impressed and said,
“As expected of our Na-ri. There’s nothing you can’t do, huh?”
“No… It’s just that the situation worked out well…”
Park Na-ri waved her hands in denial, yet she kept vigorously rubbing Bum’s scruff. Bum shot her a look that clearly said, Have you completely lost it, human?
Anyway, time passed in a warm and friendly atmosphere, and before long, our first guests appeared.
Three students with green “A” emblems on their chests.
Laughing and chatting among themselves, they began charging their crystals.
Unfortunately for them, the pleasant mood didn’t last long. A mortar shell came crashing down from above their heads.
Booooom—!
[Side Quest: 17th and 18th Week Final Exam In Progress….]
▷Objective 1: Eliminate Competitors (22/20)
After confirming that the trio from Team A had been cleanly erased, Seo Ye-in turned her head toward me.
“Praise.”
“You were outstanding again.”
“Our Ye-in.”
“I trusted our Ye-in from the start. Thanks to you, I get to ride the bus comfortably.”
“Vroom vroom.”
Only then did Seo Ye-in tilt her chin in satisfaction.
She soon formed a cluster of light in one hand and began tossing them here and there.
She was casting Trap Toss.
“Why? You think someone’s coming?”
“…Got that feeling.”
“Can’t hurt to be prepared.”
Our lucky charm’s hunches tend to be surprisingly accurate.
Even if nothing happened, using her skills often would help with rank progression.
By the time Seo Ye-in had turned the area into a minefield of traps, the next set of guests appeared.
Another blue mortar shell shot into the air—
Boooom—!
And another party was wiped out.
Leaving behind only their crystals.
Just as Chammy finished collecting the fully charged crystals—
Swiiiiiiish—!
From somewhere, sharp piercing sounds rang out as mana arrows came flying toward us.
“Pieeek?”
Chammy barely dodged them, zigzagging frantically through the air.
Park Na-ri cried out in alarm.
“Ch-Chammy! Come back!”
“Pieeeeeng—”
Chammy dove sharply downward as if plummeting, and all of our gazes turned toward the direction the arrows had come from.
“Sounds like Cha Hyeon-joo.”
“…The one who talks bad.”
Since no further attacks followed, it was unclear whether they had realized it was us.
Maybe they had simply found something flying in the sky annoying and shot at it.
“Either way, they’ll be coming.”
They saw Chammy drop around here, so they’d want to check what it was.
Sure enough, I could sense presences approaching quickly. I pointed in the opposite direction and gave instructions.
“Let’s pretend to fall back and draw them in.”
Thanks to our lucky charm’s hunch, the entire area was already a field of traps.
But if we revealed ourselves too early, Cha Hyeon-joo’s group would stay wary of traps.
In the worst-case scenario, they might retreat and just fire arrows from a distance. Whether we won or lost, that would ruin our plan to harass Team A.
To minimize variables, the best option was to lure them into the very center of the trap field.
So we slowly withdrew and hid behind a nearby rock. Soon, Cha Hyeon-joo, Kang Hee-chan, and Baek Jun-seok appeared.
They didn’t step on any traps on their way in.
Looks like luck was on their side.
Though whether it was truly luck and whether it would continue remained to be seen.
Looking around, Baek Jun-seok asked,
“You sure it’s here?”
“Yeah. It definitely fell around here.”
“Looks like there’s nothing.”
“Look properly before you talk.”
Cha Hyeon-joo snapped sharply.
She gestured here and there with her chin as she explained.
“The terrain’s artificial. Someone altered it with magic. There are footprints here too. At least three people…and one beast. The tracks lead that way—”
Cha Hyeon-joo cut herself off mid-sentence.
Because we stepped out from behind the rock.
I gave a slow clap and let out an impressed remark.
Clap, clap, clap.
“Your observation skills are excellent. Looks like we’ve been found out.”
“Doesn’t look like you were even trying to hide.”
“Let’s be honest. If we fight head-on, we win.”
We had three promising students. Cha Hyeon-joo’s party had one promising student and two around the 600-point range.
There was no way this would be much of a fight.
Even so, Cha Hyeon-joo curled one corner of her mouth upward and let out a scoff.
“Are you slow? Why would we fight you like this?”
She slowly raised her bow and aimed at the sky, as if about to fire a signal flare.
If she did, Team A would come rushing in from all directions.
That wasn’t exactly ideal for me, so I raised a hand to stop her.
“Wait.”
“What, scared?”
“I was just thinking we could play a little game.”
“…….”
Even as she frowned, Cha Hyeon-joo slowly lowered her bow.
It was clear she intended to at least hear what kind of nonsense I was about to spout.
I flashed a bright smile and gestured toward Seo Ye-in with a sideways glance.
“As you know, she has trap skills. And she’s set up a ton of them here.”
“……!”
“……!”
Kang Hee-chan and Baek Jun-seok hurriedly glanced down at their feet.
Meanwhile, Cha Hyeon-joo kept her eyes fixed on me and asked,
“So?”
“Even if you call your friends, you won’t be walking out of here in one piece.”
“And if we don’t call them, we can?”
“If luck’s on your side.”
Only then did Cha Hyeon-joo seem to grasp what I was proposing.
“If we make it out without triggering any traps, you’ll let us go?”
“And we won’t interfere.”
“In exchange, we don’t use the signal flare.”
“That’s only fair, isn’t it?”
The three of them cast sidelong glances over their shoulders.
It was obvious what they were thinking, so I added one more condition.
“For the record, you can’t just go back the way you came. That’d be too easy.”
Boom!
Thick walls of ice sealed off their retreat.
Cha Hyeon-joo frowned and pressed on.
“And after we get out?”
“Do whatever you want.”
Whether that meant collecting more crystals or regrouping with their teammates to chase us down.
Without even consulting her party members, Cha Hyeon-joo tilted her chin.
“We’ll play along.”
“Excellent. You may begin.”
For a while, a heavy silence hung in the air.
Everyone was completely focused on scanning the ground.
“……”
The first to make a move was Baek Jun-seok.
He moved with extreme caution, taking slow, deliberate steps.
But he hadn’t gone far when—
Crack—!
Ice surged fiercely up his legs, racing over his body and freezing him solid in an instant.
Still encased in ice, he was expelled from the artificial dungeon.
“……Idiot.”
After that brief remark, Kang Hee-chan stepped directly into Baek Jun-seok’s exact footprints.
Then, tensing his legs,
“Hup!”
He leapt a considerable distance.
His plan was to minimize the ground he touched and get out of the area in as few steps as possible.
It was a fairly effective judgment, but unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side.
Whoooosh—!
A pillar of fire erupted from the spot where he landed.
“Aaaargh—!”
As Kang Hee-chan was expelled as well, Cha Hyeon-joo tossed out the same comment.
“……Idiot.”
Even after her party members were taken out one by one, leaving her alone, she showed no real sign of panic.
It seemed she had something to rely on.
Soon, Cha Hyeon-joo picked a direction and began moving forward.
Thanks to the mobility skill unique to archers, her strides were fairly wide.
But the traps had been laid far too densely, and she eventually triggered one.
Just as electricity crackled and began to surge upward, her bow scattered a brilliant light.
Flash!
In the next instant, the trap lost its function.
Seo Ye-in tilted her head.
“……?”
“So you added an upgrade.”
High-quality equipment usually comes with upgrade slots, and it wouldn’t be strange if she had added an option for dealing with traps to one of them.
It wasn’t the most versatile enhancement, but you could interpret it as her wanting that badly to win against Seo Ye-in.
Flash!
Once again, her bow flared with light, neutralizing another trap.
Unlike how relatively smoothly things had been going, Cha Hyeon-joo’s expression had stiffened slightly.
So I casually threw out a question.
“Looks like it’s limited to two uses?”
“……Shut up.”
Judging by how sharp her response was, that pretty much confirmed it.
It seemed to be the kind of ability that goes on cooldown after being used twice.
Which meant from here on out, she’d have to rely on luck, and tension gradually crept across her face.
Just like her party members had, she proceeded with caution.
A few steps passed without incident—
Click.
A mechanical sound rang out beneath her foot; she must have stepped on another trap.
“……!”
Cha Hyeon-joo activated every defensive skill she had.
And in the next moment—
Boing~
A doll’s head attached to a spring popped out and dangled in the air.
It was called the Fickle Trap, after all. No matter how lucky you were, sometimes you’d end up triggering something like this.
Of course, with no way of knowing that, Cha Hyeon-joo had just wasted all her skills for nothing.
Watching from the side, Seo Ye-in tossed out a short comment.
“……Idiot.”
“……!”
Cha Hyeon-joo’s face flushed bright red with humiliation and anger.
With bloodshot eyes, she glared this way as if she might start firing arrows at any moment.
Meanwhile, I asked in an even tone,
“Giving up?”
Grrrk—
Grinding her teeth fiercely, Cha Hyeon-joo forced out a reply.
“Nghot… ghiving up… (I’m not… giving up…)”
“Not much left to go, you can do it!”
“Sghut up… (Shut up…)”
Whether her anger suppressed her sense of danger or not, she strode forward in long steps.
Though that didn’t mean her luck would improve.
Just before she escaped the field of traps, an enormous gust of wind burst up from below.
Whoooosh—!
Like a snake, it coiled around Cha Hyeon-joo’s body, lifting her about a foot off the ground.
Weathering.
A debuff that deals continuous damage and increases vulnerability to wind-element attacks.
It was also one of the Mutual Destruction debuffs.
“……!”
Cha Hyeon-joo struggled desperately, but it didn’t seem enough to break free from the prison of wind.
I approached at a leisurely pace and said,
“Looks like we win.”
“How is this kind of dirty trick even fair!”
“If you think it’s unfair, you shouldn’t have accepted it. You even upgraded your weapon.”
If luck had been on her side, she probably would’ve made it out with those two uses alone.
“You lost, so let’s move on to the penalty.”
Whoooosh—
Wind gradually gathered and compressed above my palm.
As if she could imagine exactly what was about to happen, Cha Hyeon-joo’s face turned pale.
“Wait. Hey, don’t. Don’t do that.”
“Shall we take the Kim Ho train for the first time in a while?”
“I said don’t!”
“All aboard, choo-choo~”
Boom—!
“Gaaaaaah—! You bastard—!”
Like a mortar shell, Cha Hyeon-joo shot high up into the sky.
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