Chapter 731: Week 9–10 Midterms (10)

Before long, we headed for Kang Huichan’s location.

The orange dot indicating that bastard had been stationary for quite a while now, which meant a spot had been claimed and was being used for rest.

It also meant there was a base there.

But even after we got extremely close on the map, all we saw ahead was a dark, gloomy forest.

I thought back to the conversation I had with Go Hyeonwoo on the way here.

“How many people do they have, roughly?”

“Lady Cha’s side had no more than ten. Though in reality, there are likely more.”

Not all of them would have been keeping Go Hyeonwoo’s group in check. Like Kang Huichan, they must have sent people to starting points too.

In other words, now that everyone had been called in, their numbers should be above ten.

Then how was not a single one of them visible?

Not even Kang Huichan.

At least the system doesn’t lie.

If [Tracking] said they were over there, then they were over there.

The reason nothing was visible to the naked eye was probably because some kind of item was in effect.

And naturally, that item was—

[Campsite(1 Person)]

▷Creates a space sized for one person.

▷Duration: 6 hours

▷Campsites are not detected.

An item that had also appeared in last year’s <Craft Haven> midterms.

Back then, it had let us rest while avoiding the attention of dragon-body soldiers and all kinds of monsters, and the Great Forest would be no different.

If several were combined into a two-person, four-person, and so on, the space would expand accordingly. If it was large enough to hide all of Cha Hyeonju’s gang, it had to be at least more than ten people.

What an excellent campsite.

More than suitable for spending the night.

I felt deeply satisfied on the inside.

Then I asked Seo Ye-in a question too.

“Can you see it too?”

“......There’s something there.”

Seo Ye-in stared straight ahead and nodded her chin.

Since she possessed [Dragon Eye], a unique trait on the level of a Dragon Lord, even if she could not see through it perfectly, she could sense that something was unnatural.

In many ways, that confirmed this was Cha Hyeonju’s base.

So we began preparing for battle.

CLACK, CLACK.

The travel carriers merged on their own, revealing a two-person artillery platform.

It was in mortar mode, the same as when we killed the field-boss sloth.

Sadly, we could not use the “Finichip” combo for a while, but its basic firepower was enormous.

Not only that, Hong Yeonhwa was chanting magic at it too.

FWOOOSH.

A large magic circle appeared centered on the artillery platform.

It was a support skill called [Outburst], and its effect was to add the fire attribute to an attack and greatly increase its explosive force.

What would happen if a combo attack from Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeonhwa dropped right into the middle of the campsite?

The result was obvious.

The problem is, at this rate, there’s almost a hundred percent chance we’ll get caught.

The two-person artillery platform alone glowed blue with mana while charging, and the humming noise was quite loud too.

The flame magic circle was practically a torch in the middle of the night.

We were some distance away, but would Cha Hyeonju’s gang really fail to notice this?

They’ll spot it right away and come to stop us.

Or at the very least, they would leave the area to avoid the bombardment.

Of course, we had a card perfectly suited to this situation.

[Concealment(B)] *2

▷Hides allies within range.

▷Duration: 1 minute

▷Cannot be detected by detection below B-rank.

Just as we could not see into their campsite, they should not be able to see our concealment either.

The description only said “hides,” but it could block noise perfectly too.

Soon, I exchanged glances with the party members.

“Get ready, everyone. I’m using it.”

“Confirmed.”

The card flashed for an instant, then a translucent black energy spread over the area.

SHHHHHH......

Immediately, Seo Ye-in and mirror-image Seo Ye-in took their places at the artillery platform.

Hong Yeonhwa also accelerated her spell chant.

HMMMMMMMM—!

FWOOOOSH—

The charge gauge filled one segment at a time, and the huge magic circle glowed with clear red light.

Meanwhile, Go Hyeonwoo, Han Somi, and I gripped our weapons and stared ahead.

So we could charge in the moment the bombardment landed.

“They probably won’t all get wiped out in one shot.”

“This one thinks the same. There will likely be some who endure it.”

“So we go in and finish them off.”

And recover their items too.

Ideally, about half of them would survive.

It would be boring if there were too few.

HMMMMMMMM—!

While I was thinking that, the charge gauge steadily filled, and finally reached its maximum.

The magic circle was also glowing bright red.

The next moment, a heavy firing sound rang from the muzzle.

THOOM—!

A fireball the size of a house shot upward.

Han Somi let out a low exclamation.

“Ooooh~”

Then she followed the fireball with her eyes.

Until it rose high into the sky and dropped right into the middle of Cha Hyeonju’s campsite.

BOOOOOOM—!

With a tremendous explosion, the area ahead turned into a sea of fire.

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (7/20)

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (15/20)

Cha Hyeonju’s group was estimated to be somewhere above ten people, so more than half had been rendered unable to fight by a single bombardment.

I glanced at the map, and the orange dot had disappeared too.

Huichan got taken out.

I was going to give Kang Huichan another “ice bubble” if we met.

Looks like luck was on Kang Huichan’s side this time.

Leaving behind a bit of regret, I kicked off the ground and charged into the sea of fire with the party members.

FWOOOOSH.

From outside, [Campsite] had looked like nothing at all, but once we entered a certain range, pandemonium unfolded before our eyes.

“Healer! Where’s the healer?”

“Already taken out! Find the enemy first!”

“Group up first!”

Cha Hyeonju’s gang was floundering while trying to recover, but we had no intention of giving them more time.

Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi charged at the enemies.

SLASH! SLASH!

They cut down everyone they encountered and sent sword energy flying.

Some tried to resist even while panicked, but perhaps because the bombardment had inflicted heavy damage, they collapsed after only a few exchanges.

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (16/20)

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (17/20)

RATATATATA!

Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeonhwa arrived after them and provided covering fire.

Meanwhile, I walked through the middle of the campsite and shouted.

“Hyeonju—! Are you alive—? If you’re alive, come on out—!”

KIRIRIRIK—!

A mana arrow flew at me instead of an answer.

Then Cha Hyeonju appeared, enraged to the tips of her hair, and hurled all kinds of curses.

“You dog$#% rotten*@# calf*^$ bone-broth—#cat@ %@%# butterfly-stew(&** boiling ##$ bastard—!”

“The original famous restaurant really is different. The reactions have life to them.”

I laughed loudly, then continued.

“I heard you took such good care of my kids while I was gone. I couldn’t just let that slide. As a decent person, I had to repay you.”

“Repay, my ass! You would’ve come even if we hadn’t!”

“If we’d run into each other, probably? But I don’t think I would’ve gone out of my way to look for you.”

I had plenty of other things to do. Why would I do something that inefficient?

Even if I did, it would have been in the later stages.

I shrugged and added.

“If you think about it, this is all your own karma. Huichan came at us twice and got caught by [Tracking].”

“That moronic bastard......!”

Cha Hyeonju ground her teeth.

It looked like the moment she got back to the waiting room, she planned to grab Kang Huichan first.

At that moment, Hong Yeonhwa rushed in from behind and swung a pot.

CLANG—!

Looks like she had borrowed it from Seo Ye-in.

For a moment, she savored the lingering sensation in her hand, then glared coldly at Cha Hyeonju.

“Why are you acting wronged? Did you forget everything you’ve done until now?”

She must have built up a lot while being persistently checked all this time.

At that, Cha Hyeonju’s face twitched before she snorted.

“I’m not wronged. I’m angry.”

“Because you couldn’t catch us until the end, but we landed one clean hit on you?”

“Yeah. I’m angry at you, angry at these morons, and angry at myself.”

Cha Hyeonju answered with a growl, then glared straight at me.

“You think I’ll give up like this?”

“Of course you won’t, will you? You’re always so consistent.”

“Yeah, I’m coming again. I’ll keep coming until it works.”

“We’re grateful. If you’re volunteering to donate.”

“We’ll see who wins in the end—”

CLANG—!

But before she could finish speaking, a pot slammed into the back of Cha Hyeonju’s head.

This time, Han Somi had swung it.

She looked down at the pot with fresh wonder.

“The hit feel is amazing!”

Even if she had always radiated positive energy alongside Go Hyeonwoo, it seemed she had built up plenty too.

In the end, Cha Hyeonju’s eyes rolled back white, and she collapsed on the spot before being ejected outside the dungeon.

▷Objective 2: Defeat competitors (19/20)

I wanted to do the ice bubble.

But since Cha Hyeonju was the party leader, she must have been holding most of the crystals and items.

If I threw her too far away, we risked losing those too.

There would be another chance next time.

Soon, we recovered the bundles of cards Cha Hyeonju’s gang had dropped.

Then, after cleaning up the campsite whose owners had left, we began taking our overdue rest.

Hong Yeonhwa quietly approached and claimed the seat beside me.

After glancing around a few times, she leaned her head on my shoulder as naturally as she could and asked,

“In Hyeseong...... how was it?”

“We went to the ruins for the outside request first.”

On the way, we had been attacked by evil cultists and the Blood Cult, but we joined forces with Hyeseong Group and the Discipline Committee seniors to drive them off.

After that, we met Meteor Dragon and heard about Seo Ye-in’s identity.

In most cases, it was right to keep it hidden, but [Bond] members and prospective [Bond] members were exceptions.

“She’s a quarter dragon.”

“......!”

Hong Yeonhwa’s eyes flew wide.

The rest of the party also looked surprised.

But they did not seem that shocked, so they must have had some sense of it already.

Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi each said a word.

“I have long known Lady Seo is far from ordinary. Though being of dragon lineage was unexpected.”

“Then, then! Can you transform too? Like, rawr!”

Seo Ye-in answered firmly.

“No rawr.”

Since she was a quarter dragon, she was inevitably much closer to the human side.

I glanced at Han Somi, who looked extremely disappointed, then continued the story.

“After that, we also met the Blood Cult Leader.”

After receiving a “token of sincerity,” I sent him into the inner world with [Invitation], then, unintentionally, sent him in again with [Déjà Vu(S)].

At that, Go Hyeonwoo nodded as if he understood.

“Indeed. If it was those people, they would surely have been able to suppress the Cult Leader. Still, what a pity. This one also wished to stand there with you.”

“You’ll see him someday. As long as you’re holding [Wind God].”

“That is true. I must devote myself even further.”

For the next few days, we spent peaceful time while waiting for [Starmascus]’s [Consecration].

Han Somi looked back and forth between Seo Ye-in and me and asked,

“What did you two do for fun? Dates?”

Seo Ye-in [N O V E L I G H T] seemed to think for a moment, then dropped a word like a bolt from the blue.

“Kissing.”

“......Huh?”

The air froze in an instant.