Chapter 41

Chapter 41

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 41Every time a bullet struck the ground, dozens of insects burst apart.

Instead of the usual blue bullets flying out, [Bloodline Ability: Caglione]

the bullets dyed crimson were bursting apart the insects' bodies with destructive power that could make one believe they were large-caliber rounds.

“Crazy...”

“...

I'm speechless.”

The two of them stood behind me watching the scene with their mouths hanging wide open.

As the number of insects decreased, the energy in my body gradually diminished as well, but the bullets from [Al Capone's Tommy]

which had turned blue, also dealt damage that couldn't be ignored, so there wasn't much of a problem.

And so, as my aura gradually dwindled, the [「Bloodline Ability: Caglione」] status window before my eyes finally disappeared.

I took my finger off the trigger, then put [Al Capone's Tommy]

into the Cube.

“The smell of burning mana is similar to the smell of gunpowder...”

Se-ah spoke while waving her hand in front of her nose.

I agreed with her opinion as well.

“Then... are all the insects dealt with?”

Jin-woo asked while looking around. At that, Se-ah closed her eyes and placed a hand on the ground.

“Yes, I don't think there are any living creatures in the surrounding area besides us. Seriously... Jin-woo, how did you get hit by something like that and not die?”

“...

I'm surprised too.”

Of course, that was because I couldn't do something like this back then either...

“...

For now, let's move. Since they've all been wiped out like this, the boss of the first floor should be alone.”

“Um... about that, Eugene.”

Se-ah stopped me as I was about to walk ahead. Then she pointed toward the middle of the pile of insects.

“Isn't that the first-floor boss?”

“Hm?”

When I looked in the direction she was pointing, I saw the limp corpse of a centipede.

Its carapace, which had looked so hard, had already burst and shattered, losing its original luster.

No, it was seriously mixed in among them? The boss?

“...

This is ridiculous.”

If that was the case, it meant that practically every dangerous element on the first floor had already been eliminated.

My tension drained away, and I let out a sigh as I spoke to the two of them.

“First, let's go check the reward for the first floor. And on the way back, we'll collect any monster materials that look valuable.”

The two of them lit up at the mention of collecting materials.

We had swept away this many monsters, so it would have been a waste to simply leave the materials behind.

As for exchanging them for money, well... Couldn't we just sell them to the clubs that dealt in materials?

If necessary, I could even supply them cheaply to Lee Haru.

“Let's move.”

We continued onward, heading toward the end of the dungeon's first floor.

Then, in the distance, an iron door came into view. Seeing a door like that in a cave-like place gave me a strange sense of déjà vu.

“Boss. Isn't that it? The end of the first floor.”

“...

Looks like it.”

When we opened the iron door and stepped inside, a room that at least carried some trace of civilization revealed itself.

There was a wooden desk in the middle of the room, a single note, and even a familiar elevator.

“Huh? Why is that here? Didn't we come in really far?”

Jin-woo looked flustered at the sight of the elevator that should originally have been at the entrance, while Se-ah sighed at him.

“This is a dungeon. It isn't impossible if the spatial coordinates are twisted around. I think that elevator is both the entrance and the exit.”

I shared Se-ah's opinion.Considering the ability of the ‘Dungeon Maker,’ it wasn't strange.

What was truly strange was the note and small box on top of that desk.

Was there something like that in the game?

I approached and examined the note.[TO. Junior][If you've discovered this dungeon, then you must be the president of Room Z, right? And that means you've deciphered all the codes hidden throughout the Academy too.]

“...”

What is this.[And if you're someone capable of deciphering all the codes and breaking through the first floor, then you must surely be someone trying to uncover the truth behind our former ‘Dungeon Development Club,’ right? What an admirable attitude.]...

No. I skipped all of that.

For reference, in the game, in order to enter this dungeon, you had to clear the side quests hidden throughout the Academy, and it was one hell of a grind.

Of course, veteran players like me simply memorized every code needed to enter the dungeon.[This dungeon is practically my prototype. You could call it my graduation project. A dungeon that sustains itself using the mana of Academy students above ground! What do you think? Isn't it cool?]

In other words, this dungeon used that process to produce rewards.

Anyway, as long as the Academy continued to exist, this dungeon would endlessly produce monsters and rewards. It wasn't an exaggeration to call it a place made purely for grinding.

I should make good use of it.

For now, I ignored the useless parts of the note and checked the final section.[...

At the end of this dungeon, there will be clues about my whereabouts and an incredible reward hidden away. The older this dungeon gets, the more impressive that reward may become. Junior of the future. Will you be able to conquer this dungeon?]

Yeah, I've cleared it at least ten times~ I even know how to contact you~I wonder if the dungeon creator knew? That I already knew what lay at the end of this dungeon.

Forget the contact information or anything else, the most important thing was the reward waiting at the end of this dungeon.

The final reward of this dungeon changed every time you played the game, but perhaps because so much time had passed since the dungeon was created, the reward that always appeared was a Legendary-grade item.‘That should be more than enough.’That alone meant it wasn't an exaggeration to say this dungeon's rank approached that of an A-rank artificial dungeon.

An item of that caliber, together with the narrative of having conquered the dungeon, should be more than enough to become the core of my suit.

Next was the small box beside it.

When I opened the box, there was a small green pill inside.

“Oh, what's that? An elixir?”

“E-Elixir? Is it really an elixir?”

The two of them hurried over in front of me.

When I picked up the box, information about the pill unfolded before my eyes.[Name: Thousand Poison Pill][Grade: Unique][Type: Consumable][Description: A pill containing one thousand types of poison. Upon consumption, resistance to poison greatly increases and the consumer becomes unaffected by certain poisons. However, as it is made from condensed poison, caution is required when consuming it.]

“It does seem to be an elixir... but it doesn't seem like one that raises physical abilities or anything like that.”

“Huh? Eugene. You have an appraisal skill too?”

I nodded at Se-ah's question.

Strictly speaking, rather than an appraisal skill, it was an ability I had as a possessor... But since it wasn't really any different from appraisal, acting this way seemed more convenient.

“Boss. Then what does this thing do?”

“Increases poison resistance. I don't see any other abilities besides that.”

“Poison resistance? Wow... Is that why all those insects came pouring out?”

Then came a brief silence.

Jin-woo was the first to speak.

“This one's yours, Boss. In the second half, you ended up doing everything anyway.”

And Se-ah nodded as if agreeing with him.

“I also think Eugene should take this. Even if we hadn't been here, I think you could have cleared the first floor without much trouble.”

It was a fairly valuable item, so they had every reason to want it, yet the two of them naturally acknowledged me as the owner of the elixir.

If they were willing to say that much, I could only be grateful.‘Besides, it was exactly the ability I needed.’The Thousand Poison Immunity, which nullified every poison of B-rank or lower, was truly a godsend of an elixir for someone like me, a mafia member who never knew when or where someone might try to poison him.

It had come in handy at a Japanese yakuza dinner when I played as Saber Cloud, too.

“Thanks for saying that. Then I'll take this one.”

Physical attacks were one thing, but I had been thinking I needed to prepare separately against poison, so I never imagined the Thousand Poison Pill would appear at such a convenient time.

Since its description specifically warned that caution was required when consuming it, the safest option would be to take it at the mansion in front of Parnello.

After putting the elixir into the Cube, I pressed the elevator button and looked at the two of them.

“Let's stop here for today. Rest tomorrow... and on Monday, we'll train in the form of sparring matches.”

We had only come out today to experience the dungeon. I decided to be satisfied with this much.

______________

The total amount we earned from today's dungeon was three million credits.

Three million credits for a day's work. No wonder everyone wanted to become Awakened and enter dungeons.

Of that, I split two million credits between Jin-woo and Se-ah, giving each of them one million.‘O-One million credits...! I think I'll be able to go home with gifts for my younger siblings!’‘O-One million! I'm gonna pull gacha!’In Jin-woo's case, it seemed like he'd blow through it in no time... but well, as long as he was satisfied, it didn't matter.

The remaining one million credits went to Young-je as a kind of operating fund, since he had continued sending me information about the ‘Ranger Club.’

Me? I could just get an allowance, so why would I need to split it with myself?

And Young-je seemed to be carrying out the task I had given him quite smoothly.

I hadn't known he had talent as a spy too...

The information Young-je had sent me so far covered their personnel, abilities, characteristics, and areas of activity, all of which were useful.

According to him, they were treating him extremely well in order to keep him around.

I replied to Young-je, telling him to milk them for an appropriate amount and come back once there was nothing left to dig up, then returned to the mansion.

I had promised to play with Ji-yoon this evening, so I needed to hurry and take the elixir.

“Is Parnello at the mansion?”

When I asked one of the organization members guarding the mansion, he nodded and answered.

“Yes. Mr. Parnello is currently helping Miss Ji-yoon with her lessons in the garden.”

“Really? Could you tell him I'd like to see him? I'll be in my room.”

“Understood.”

It seemed he had been keeping Ji-yoon company in my place until I returned.

I went back to my room and waited with the elixir placed in front of me, when a knock sounded from outside.[I heard you were looking for me, Young Master.]

“Yeah, come in.”

Hearing my answer, Parnello came inside and bowed his head in greeting, then his eyes widened when he noticed the elixir placed before me.

“...

It's an elixir?”

“That's right. I happened to enter a dungeon this time and got it there. Do you know much about poison?”

Parnello gave a faint smile at my words.

“Poison is an excellent tool for a hitman. Does that elixir happen to contain poison?”

I nodded at his question.

“They say it's an elixir that can grant Thousand Poison Immunity. By the way, did you bring what I asked for?”

“Yes. A potion that increases natural recovery... Fortunately, there was still some left from what you used as cold medicine when you were young.”

“That's good.”

“Don't tell me, you intend to take this together with that?”

“For now, yes. I read something interesting in the Academy library. ‘If an elixir with poisonous properties is consumed together with a potion that amplifies natural healing ability, its effects increase.’”

To be precise, it was something I'd experienced several times in the game.

Building poison resistance required the elixir to repeatedly break down the body and allow it to recover, and if one's ‘natural healing’ was high, that process could repeat more times.

“Interesting. Then, may I remain beside you and watch over you, Young Master?”

Perhaps worried about me swallowing the elixir, Parnello asked.

“I don't mind. If anything, I'd be grateful if you did.”

I said that as I took the potion from Parnello, then immediately swallowed both the ‘Thousand Poison Pill’ and the potion together.

Hmm... what is this?

Nothing much is happening compared to what I expected───at that moment, blood suddenly gushes from my mouth.

“Guh.”

At the same time, pitch-black blood soaked the floor.

Even though I knew what was happening, I couldn't help but panic when blood started pouring out of my mouth like this.

Then Parnello's calm voice reached me.

“It's dead blood. Your body is expelling dead blood in order to absorb the elixir more thoroughly.”

My stomach churned as something continued rising up my throat.

“Do not hold it in. Spit it out as it comes. I am here beside you, Young Master.”

Just hearing Parnello's voice was reassuring.

As he said, I didn't hold back and continued coughing up blood.

Uh... isn't this a bit much, though?

I glanced at Parnello.

He was still standing there, silently watching me...

I'm not actually going to die, am I?