Chapter 10

The afternoon class is a practical training session.

It involves using magic and one's main weapon to hunt monsters.

We will move to a monster habitat near Gangwon Province. Using a warp gate, there will be no time issues, and with two instructors accompanying us, it will be safe.

The problem is the 1-1 class, consisting of 50 students. That means most of the main characters, who are in the same class as the player, will be watching.

'My skills will be exposed.'

This is different from a sparring match.

Even if there is a difference in physical stats, one can narrow the gap with sword skills. But monsters? You can't penetrate their skin even if you hit them, and your magic will be resisted.

I can't use up my magic to the point of fainting just for training.

– [PHASE #2] _ Show your skills!

– Do you think you've escaped the larva stage? You're still just a larva that has hatched from the egg! You are still lingering on the periphery of the story! Show your skills to enter the 'mainstream.'

– Success Condition: Subdue the training trolls perfectly!

– Success Reward: 1 Intermediate Random Potion Box, 100 Recognition Points

– Failure: Deterioration of reputation.

An intermediate potion box.

It can contain potions up to the [Treasure] grade.

If you're really lucky, you might get an [Intermediate Stat Boost] or a [Lowest Elixir].

'At least the reward is top-notch.'

Moreover, if you fail, your reputation will decline.

If the increased recognition was good, it means you're gradually becoming more evil. For now, it might just be 'It was a bubble.' or 'He was just lucky.' But over time, it could turn into infamy.

Since I've started the stream, I can't let my reputation deteriorate.

'But, it will turn into an emergency quest.'

Han Sung has a much higher ranking than the average player. That means this world will throw out 'disaster'-level quests to adjust for 'plausibility.'

* * *

Jin Hoon is, as expected, the protagonist.

With a physical enhancement ability that no one wanted, he crushed the D-grade monster, the [Green Troll]. Using a chokehold and chalk, he beat the troll to death, which kept regenerating.

The troll looked pitiful.

"......Amazing."

Even the instructor was surprised.

Even if they are part-time, the instructors at the academy are active heroes. At the very least, they are B-grade hunters, and A-grade hunters are not uncommon.

Next, the one who caught the eye was Gil Sung-hyun.

He is called a magic genius.

He wields a steel staff in one hand. The gem at the end seemed to be the heart of a preserved basilisk, a reptilian monster without reason, but called a pseudo-dragon.

Naturally, an enormous amount of magic power was emitted, and he created dozens of magic spears, killing the troll before it could regenerate.

"Wow, as expected of Gil Sung-hyun. Third generation of a wealthy family, magic genius, and handsome too!"

"Amazing!"

Among the 50 students, Gil Sung-hyun has quite a few fans.

Though his personality is rough, when combined with other factors, he becomes a cold, urban man, making him very popular.

"Are they really looking at me?"

– Yes, they are. Their eyes are filled with suspicion.

Jin Hoon is competitive, Gil Sung-hyun is suspicious, and Han Byul is doubtful.

Seong Si-yeon is...... blank? I don't really understand.

When his eyes met with Jeon Charles, Han Sung waved his hand.

"Ah, Han Byul."

If I had to pick one protagonist, it would be Jin Hoon.

But if I had to pick the strongest ability?

That would be Han Byul.

"Trainee Han Byul. Let's begin."

An instructor used magic to summon a troll. He was a quite skilled magician, and since it's a troll habitat near the academy, there's no danger.

'But it should be.'

This can turn into an emergency quest in the tutorial.

And if the player has gained this much recognition, it will definitely happen.

"What, what is this!"

The instructor summoning the troll is flustered.

Boom. Boom.

A massive presence is approaching from a distance. It's definitely not a D-grade troll. Moreover, it's a monster that shouldn't exist in this troll habitat.

"Ogre."

Han Sung swallowed hard.

The Twin-Headed Troll, a C-grade monster that even the Twin-Headed Troll would admit defeat to, is an Ogre. Fortunately, there are two instructors. Unfortunately, there are over 10 Ogres.

'There's a setting that one of the trainees, who are usually insignificant, is a spy.'

A malicious organization under a rival academy has been meticulously preparing for a long time to bring down the Korean academy and is gradually raising its head.

The character changes each time, so Han Sung can't know exactly.

'If I use Information Retrieval? It might be possible with good luck.'

First, I need to stop those Ogres.

The instructors are B-grade hunters, and as intermediate heroes, they can handle up to 5 Ogres. If they push it, 7. Still, the trainees need to handle 3.

Boom!

The instructor's shield is struck by the Ogre.

– Emergency Quest Activated!

– 10 unexpected Ogres have appeared. Apart from the 7 that the instructors can handle, stop the remaining 3 with the main characters.

– Success Condition: Hold off the Ogres until the rescue team arrives.

– Time Limit: 10 minutes.

– Success Reward: 1 Intermediate Random Potion Box.

– Failure: Death of one main character.

Here it comes.

The difficulty is higher than expected.

That means Han Sung's ranking is much higher.

"Everyone, get back! We need to get out of here immediately!"

The two instructors are holding a large shield.

The main character instinctively knows that if all the trainees retreat, the two instructors will die.

Jin Hoon moves forward.

And Jin Hoon, who is extremely good, can't just stand by. Neither can his friend, Han Byul. And Gil Sung-hyun, who feels his pride hurt by watching this.

'This was going well until now.'

Gil Sung-hyun could have gone the good route.

But the malicious admin kept pushing him towards the evil path.

Han Sung also stepped between Hoon and Gil Sung-hyun.

"I can help."

"You can do it."

Jin Hoon has a very good opinion of Han Sung.

He knows the general tendencies, but this level of misunderstanding is new.

In the original scenario, this is where it ends.

Including the player, there are only 4 people in total.

"Damn! I'm an assassin!"

Seong Si-yeon, looking somewhat embarrassed, sticks to Han Sung's side.

'......He usually doesn't do that.'

As in any game, the situation changes depending on the play.

"Helen, are you filming well?"

"What, what is this?"

Han Sung launches three drone cameras, and Seong Si-yeon asks in confusion.

"Ah, I started streaming. I can't miss this."

"......In this situation?"

Han Byul looks at Han Sung strangely.

Among them, he is the most normal and rational.

"If my face is shown, I'll die."

Gil Sung-hyun is a rude guy anyway.

"Should I go first?"

Jin Hoon is a madman for fighting.

"Then, should I appear too?"

Seong Si-yeon, who originally didn't have this personality, has been patched, I guess? It's so strange that it makes my skin crawl.

Though she is the illegitimate daughter of a black company, in the story, Seong Si-yeon works as a hero, not an assassin, so it shouldn't be a problem if her face is shown.

"If you want a mosaic, just say so."

Before Han Sung's words were even finished, one of the shields broke, and Jin Hoon charged at the Ogre.

Boom! Thud!

'What a brute.'

It's the first time I've seen someone punch an Ogre's fist with their own. The sound of bone and flesh cracking is heard, and the surrounding air is shattered.

Han Byul watched and chuckled, clapping his hands.

Whoosh! Crunch!

Steam-like mist appeared on both sides of the Ogre, and its shoulders seemed to be compressed by something.

'Telekinesis.'

A broken ability that eventually evolves into 'Imperial Command,' a 'Command'-level ability.

Whoosh.

Magic power burned, and three magic circles appeared simultaneously.

Gil Sung-hyun seems to have used double casting and memorize. One created a magic arrow, one imbued it with cold, and one became the bowstring.

Swoosh! Ping!

A 2-meter-long freezing arrow, causing a sonic boom, aimed for the Ogre's abdomen. No, due to Jin Hoon, the Ogre's body was lifted, and it hit......

"Ogre."

It was a part of the monster that you can't look at with both eyes open.

Seong Si-yeon also sneaked into the Ogre's shadow and started to attack its groin.

If this continues, the Ogre will die in a few minutes. No matter how strong a C-grade monster is, with four top trainees attacking, it won't last.

The problem is the other Ogres.

The instructors are handling 7, and 2 are breaking away and approaching. This is an [Emergency Quest] where one of the protagonist-level characters might die.

"......Helen, let's start."

Lifting his hands slightly to the sides, he uses magic to make his hair fly. Turning his body, he uses his friends fighting the Ogre as a background.

Yes, this is it!

"The title is 'Style Explodes.'"

Click!

-Screenshot taken.

"Okay, let's start."

Han Sung releases magic from his feet and charges.

Just because Han Sung participates doesn't mean he can defeat all 3 Ogres. The wisest course is to kill one Ogre that the 4 are attacking first.

Whoosh.

The magic power in front of him gathers in Han Sung's hand.

It tingles from his fingertips to his spine.

Even with [Magic Mastery], it's hard to handle this much magic power with his current stats.

Hum.

The highly concentrated magic power begins to draw a magic circle.

Gil Sung-hyun is called a magic genius, but combining double casting and memorize is 'still' the best.

What about Han Sung?

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

No memorize, so quad casting.

A long magic arrow, fire attribute, rotation, and bowstring.

Swoosh!

The red magic arrow, rapidly spinning, starts to burn the surrounding magic power. Han Sung has gathered the magic power in the air to its limit.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Even this can't penetrate the Ogre's skull.

But the throat is different.

Ping!

The long red line.

Poke.

Turned into a small hole.

Gurgle!

Thud.

The Ogre, making a sound like air escaping from its throat, fell over.

"Phew, dude."

Han Sung, dizzy from the strain, bent over and took deep breaths. It was possible because the top 4 trainees were holding it, but Han Sung also pushed himself.

His stats are still too lacking.

Quad casting is not simply casting 4 spells simultaneously.

To put it simply, it's the process of turning a plastic sword into a steel sword.

Step 1: Sharpen the blade.

Step 2: Change the properties.

Step 3: Increase strength and durability.

Step 4: Strike forcefully.

If the maximum destructive power that can be produced with the current magic power and intelligence is 1, quad casting consumes over 10 times the calculation process and magic power but increases the destructive power to 5.

'In other words, it's about forcibly increasing the destructive power by pouring in mental and magic power.'

Jin Hoon clicked his tongue in disappointment, and Han Byul and Gil Sung-hyun looked at Han Sung in shock.

Their reactions are understandable.

Even double casting by Gil Sung-hyun is not easy.

Not only does it require excellent magic control, but more importantly, 'separation of thought.'

To put it simply, it's like drawing a circle with one hand and a square with the other. However, the formula for each magic is as difficult as predicting the trajectory of a bullet.

Naturally, even geniuses need a long time of practice to achieve this.

Currently, Han Sung's brain can handle quad casting and above, but his magic power, mental strength, and intelligence are not sufficient.

'But this is a game for me.'

Currently, double casting is the limit. But among the lower abilities of [Magic Mastery], there is a crazy passive ability called 'Multiple Casting * 2.'

If he regains the peak skills of his previous play, something incredible will happen.

"Hey, two more are coming."

Jin Hoon, giving Han Sung a thumbs up, charged at the Ogre, and Han Byul and Gil Sung-hyun followed suit.

Ignoring Seong Si-yeon's strange gaze,

"Ugh, I need to find an ability soon."

The difference between having a mainstream ability and not having one is significant.

Han Sung checked the emergency quest.

The time to hold out is about 5 minutes. Half of it is left, but with one dead, 5 minutes is not a problem. But it would be boring to be satisfied with this.

Boom.

Jin Hoon, who rushed forward, started wrestling with one Ogre. Han Byul, Seong Si-yeon, and Gil Sung-hyun seemed to have decided to grab the other Ogre's ankle.

"Jin Hoon can hold out."

The more difficult the battle, the stronger Jin Hoon becomes, and the more dangerous the situation, the more he grows. It's almost like the 'Saiyan' from Dragon Ball.

Han Sung decided to buy a random box with 200 points from 201 points.

Rattle.

Pop!

A translucent gem popped out of the box.

It's a [Cube] containing an ability.

Han Sung lightly held the cube, brought it to his forehead, and gently bent his wrist. In that state, he turned his head slightly and smiled. One eye half-open for the fans.

He brought the camera right in front of him.

"First ability awakening."

Click.

As expected, the thumbnail is 'aggro.'

The End

ⓒ [Dongju]

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