Chapter 100

EP.100 Preparation for the New Semester (2)

"Rich!"

This time, it wasn't me who said it.

It was Kim Chae-eun, who had come to our house to settle the accounts.

After the strategy for the pile of stained rocks was completed.

The most shocking event was undoubtedly Yoo Eun-sul's appointment as an academy instructor, but we still had an important task left.

The dungeon reward.

We had to settle various items, mana stones, and monster byproducts.

As always, counting money was not tiring.

"Hehe. They're pretty."

Kim Chae-eun neatly arranged the items on the table in the living room.

With expensive equipment laid out, the table looked like a store display.

This table is unnecessarily long.

When did we get something like this in our house?

I asked Kim Chae-eun, who was smiling brightly.

"Chae-eun, really, Holder Yoo Eun-sul didn't take any reward?"

Yoo Eun-sul, the key to the strategy for the pile of stained rocks, said she wouldn't take any reward, including the dungeon ownership, and gave us all the mana stones and byproducts from the monsters we hunted.

Why bother?

I thought, but...

"Yes! She said she achieved her goal. The reward is just a gift."

"Ah..."

Hearing that, everything made sense.

Yoo Eun-sul followed us because of me.

The double dungeon of "The River Breathed by the Dragon," and the 'special condition' to enter it, was met by me.

Yoo Eun-sul suggested we tackle the dungeon together, which can be entered with a two-person party, and I answered that I would if my skills were sufficient.

She seems to have given up all the rewards without any hesitation.

After all, such a reward would have no impact on her as an S-rank holder.

Thanks to this, we were able to monopolize the rewards without much effort.

"...It does prick my conscience a bit."

"Hehe. But it's good to make a lot of money, right?"

"That's true."

I immediately agreed with Kim Chae-eun's rationalization.

Money is what matters in the end.

I smiled and checked the rewards with her.

"Did you settle all the mana stones and byproducts?"

"Yes. I split them between your and my accounts. 7:3 ratio."

"Huh? Why did you do that? It should be split evenly."

"Hehe... I didn't do anything in the dungeon."

"Hey, if you put it that way, I didn't do much either..."

Except for killing six wolves in the boss room, I didn't do much...

We both got the same bus, but I felt guilty for getting more money.

But since Kim Chae-eun had already made this decision, there was no going back.

Her stubbornness in such matters is even more unyielding than Professor Kim Myung-hyun.

I checked the other rewards on the display.

"There are a lot."

The rewards for the pile of stained rocks are substantial.

Although it felt too easy because Yoo Eun-sul participated, it is still a high-level dungeon where all the monsters are B-rank or higher.

At the minimum, it's comparable to the academy's underground dungeon.

At the maximum, it's on par with the forest covered in snakes.

Thanks to this, the rewards, including the mana stones and monster byproducts, were quite good.

But I was looking for something specific.

"Journal, journal... Ah! Here it is."

While rummaging through the rewards Kim Chae-eun had displayed, I found what I was looking for.

A quite old-looking bundle of journals.

It was stained with thick blood and fur, and had deep signs of damage and tearing.

[Item Information]

◎Name: Journal of the Howling Lunatic

◎Type: Special

◎Rank: Epic (Epic)

◎Maker: -

◎Special Effect:

If you hold the journal on a night when the moon is out and you are not in combat, your mana will recover quickly.

◎Detailed Information:

The journal of a man who goes mad and howls every night under the moon. Most of the journal is torn and damaged, making it difficult to determine its contents.

'Okay. Found it.'

As expected, it was the item I was looking for.

[Journal of the Howling Lunatic].

It's an Epic-grade special item with a good effect, but its true value lies elsewhere.

'The City of Outcast Wolves.'

The top-tier dungeon where Park Jin-woo will step into in the late stages.

A special dungeon dominated by werewolves, also known as lycanthropes.

Unlike regular dungeons, simply injecting mana into a medium is not enough to enter.

Like the 'double dungeon entry condition' Yoo Eun-sul suggested, a special item must be used as a medium to enter.

[Journal of the Howling Lunatic] is the special medium item required for entry.

I was worried that the plot was diverging too much from the original, but fortunately, this reward followed the original flow.

'It might be difficult right now, but...'

Although we have the key to the dungeon, it's not easy to tackle it immediately.

The City of Outcast Wolves is a top-tier dungeon teeming with A-rank monsters, and it's also overrun with unknown S-rank monsters.

Moreover, it's a special dungeon that can be entered through an item obtained from the rewards of the high-level dungeon, the pile of stained rocks, so it's not easy to clear.

'But it's important that we have it.'

The City of Outcast Wolves is a very important dungeon.

It's not just a high-level dungeon with a special entry condition.

The dungeon is literally a 'city.'

A dungeon in the form of a city where werewolves form groups and create a civilization.

It's a clear city with basic elements, albeit crude and low-level.

And this means...

Werewolves cannot be treated as mere monsters.

In the later parts of the original, 'communicating with other races' appears.

One of them is the werewolves.

"What is that, Jae-hyun?"

As I held the journal for a long time, Kim Chae-eun, who was displaying the items, asked.

"It seems to be a special item... Chae-eun, can I take this?"

I wasn't particularly interested in the other equipment.

There were no swords or daggers, my main weapons, among the rewards, and there were few pieces of armor or accessories that I could use.

Instead, there were many mana-related items that would suit Kim Chae-eun.

The only thing I needed from this reward was [Journal of the Howling Lunatic].

And Kim Chae-eun nodded brightly in response to my question.

"Yes!"

"Huh?"

"What? Why?"

"Can you really give it to me so easily?"

"Yes. That item doesn't seem to suit me. And since Jae-hyun found and cleared the dungeon, the reward distribution is up to Jae-hyun!"

"But... I also got the bus..."

Pull yourself together, please.

* * *

The start of the second semester was just around the corner.

Whether I was a student or now...

If I had to pick the most important thing in preparing for the start of the semester,

it would be course registration.

The academy, which educates rune holders, has a system similar to a university.

Naturally, if you want to take a lecture, you have to register online and secure a seat.

"Ugh... I'm so sleepy..."

It was 8:00 AM in the early morning.

Like any other student, I came to the PC room to prepare for course registration.

And next to me was a man with messy hair.

Park Jin-woo sat there with a tired expression.

"You're here for course registration too."

"Oooh... I'm so sleepy. I usually sleep at this time..."

"What about morning training?"

"Usually, it's at 9:00... Yawn-"

This course registration was delayed by about a week compared to usual.

The reason, of course, was Yoo Eun-sul.

Due to the late recruitment of this top-tier instructor, it took a little time to set up the lectures.

Thanks to this, course registration only started now, two weeks before the start of the semester.

"Ah, I'm nervous."

"What are you nervous about?"

"About not getting a seat. The competition for Yoo Eun-sul's lecture will be intense."

This semester, I plan to take six courses.

Common subjects like "Application of Mana Control" and "Harvesting Byproducts."

Specialized subjects for the warrior track like "Using One-Handed Swords and Shields," "Understanding Two-Handed Swords," and "How to Take Hits Enjoyably."

Finally, a specialized subject for the assassin track and...

Yoo Eun-sul's only lecture this semester, "Using and Mastering Short Swords."

I chose all six subjects because they were necessary for me, but Yoo Eun-sul's lecture was especially important.

It was an opportunity to improve my dagger skills, which were on the verge of regression, and to learn from an S-rank holder.

I had to succeed in this, even if I failed in everything else.

But Park Jin-woo, who was listening to me, tilted his head.

"Why are you taking Yoo Eun-sul's lecture? You're a warrior track."

"What the hell. I entered as an assassin track."

"That's not the assassin I know...!!"

Ignoring Park Jin-woo, who suddenly fell into despair,

I focused on the course registration page on the screen.

I had already reserved all the lectures.

When the time came, I just needed to press the activation button six times.

"Hmm..."

I don't know why course registration always makes me so nervous.

I calmed my excited heart and looked at the screen.

The time was already approaching 9:00 AM.

8:57, 8:58, 8:59...

As the minutes ended and the seconds began,

[09:00]

The alarm for the exact time rang, and the hellish course registration began.

And...

[Using and Mastering Short Swords (Yoo Eun-sul): (0/0/0)]

"Damn it. Is this for real?"

I failed spectacularly.

Thanks to refreshing the page exactly at 9:00 AM, I managed to escape the hellish waiting queue...

But when I pressed the registration button, the seats were filled in less than a second.

Damn.

Do they all have supercomputers?

How can they be so fast?

Fortunately, I managed to register for the other lectures without panicking, but missing the most important one left me feeling deflated.

"Ah..."

"Give up. It's easier that way."

Park Jin-woo, who offered such words of comfort, was now wide awake and looking for the lectures he wanted to register for.

"What are you doing?"

"What? Looking for lectures."

"Didn't you reserve them?"

"When?"

Wow.

To come here without even reserving the lectures.

What a terrible guy.

If I hadn't told him yesterday, he probably wouldn't have known that today was the day for course registration.

"Ah... Should I look for other lectures?"

There's also the option of waiting for someone to drop a lecture.

If someone leaves their seat, a spot will open up.

But there's no way such luck would happen for Yoo Eun-sul's lecture.

Who would cancel a lecture from an S-rank holder, possibly the last one?

The probability is zero.

"Che."

Just as I was about to give up and look for other lectures,

Buzz-

A text message came from an unknown number.

[010- ... ] It's Yoo Eun-sul. If you tried to register for my lecture and failed, call me. I'll hold a spot for you if the time works.

That's when I remembered something I had forgotten.

Right.

This person came to the academy because of me.