Chapter 90

Chapter 90

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 90Afterward, Jin-woo and I wandered around various parts of the dungeon's first floor, but for some reason, we didn't encounter any other living creatures aside from insects.

“Ugh... Boss, was this place always this big? When we came here by ourselves, I don't think it was this large.”

Perhaps he was tired from the continued search. Jin-woo muttered while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Just as Jin-woo said, this place was far too large to be the dungeon we knew.

“The dungeons probably changed when they merged. It seems we'd better look around the surroundings some more.”

“Right now? Boss, do you know the way around here?”

“It isn't difficult if it's only to grasp the surrounding terrain.”

Walking around like this didn't seem like it would get us anywhere, so I decided to use 「Skill: Aura Sonar」 once again.[Activating 「Skill: Aura Sonar」.]

Insect. Insect. Pillar. Insect. Insect.

“...

Looks like there's nothing on the first floor.”

“I thought it was strange how you knew those guys were coming right away earlier, but I guess you had some kind of skill? Boss Radar... amazing...”

I ignored Jin-woo, who seemed to have grown a little but returned to spouting nonsense the moment the battle ended, and tried to spread my aura farther.

“...

Huh?”

Something that shouldn't have been there was detected by my senses.

“Why is that there?”

____________

“...

What the hell is going on?”

The place where Young-je opened his eyes was a maze filled with worked bricks.

Nausea and dizziness surged over him the moment he opened his eyes.

However, without knowing what had happened, quickly regaining his senses and assessing the surroundings was extremely important.

“...

distinto(Clearly).”

By casting a spell on himself to strengthen his mental faculties, Young-je overcame the rising nausea and headache and first examined his surroundings.

Thanks to the torches hanging on the walls, he could at least see.

While looking around, Young-je noticed someone collapsed beside him and carefully examined the person's face.

“...

Se-ah?”

The one lying beside him was Kim Se-ah, a member of Familia and his classmate.

She lay there without any expression, as though she had simply fallen asleep.

“At least the worst was avoided...”

After confirming Se-ah's condition, Young-je sighed in relief and decided to wake her.

Since they had fallen into an unfamiliar place they didn't recognize, exploring the surroundings was extremely important, and that was a problem that could be easily solved if they had a spatial mage.

“Se-ah. Kim Se-ah?”

Even when he slowly shook her, Se-ah showed no sign of waking.

There were no visible injuries on her body.

Judging that she was simply still unconscious, just as he had been, Young-je eventually sighed and gathered mana at the tip of his index finger.

“lamentoso(Sadly).”

At the same time, transparent droplets of water began flowing from the tip of his index finger.

Soon, the droplets began falling onto Se-ah's face, and as the flow of water gradually grew stronger, Se-ah's expression, which had remained completely still until now, began to change.

“Pfft! Pffft! Si-ah! The ceiling's leaking again... huh? Where is this?”

Startled by the continued shower of water, Se-ah abruptly sat up.

“You're awake?”

“Young-je? How did this...”

Se-ah wiped the water running down her face with her sleeve and looked around.

Then, realizing she was somewhere other than Class A, she rubbed her eyes.

“This isn't a dream... what the hell...?”

“Are you okay? Do you feel nauseous or anything?”

The first thing Young-je asked was whether there was anything wrong with her physical condition.

Since he himself had felt tremendous nausea and a headache when he woke up, he judged that she might have similar symptoms.

“Huh? Uh... other than my head throbbing a little, I'm fine... Where exactly are we?”

Was it because Se-ah used spatial magic?

She only complained of a slight headache.

Young-je shook his head and spoke.

“I just woke up too, so I don't know. But it doesn't look like an ordinary place. Can you detect the surroundings?”

“What? I-I'll try first.”

Following Young-je's suggestion, Se-ah put her unique armament on her right hand and snapped her fingers.

Then, as though sound waves were spreading, faint purple mana bloomed outward from around her and scattered into the surroundings, while the nearby terrain appeared on the floor.

“For now, it's shaped like this... but there's something strange.”

The terrain that appeared before them resembled a maze.

That alone wasn't enough for Young-je to predict what Se-ah meant, so he listened carefully.

“I calculated the coordinates here... and I think we've been here before...?”

“What?”

Young-je was startled by the completely unexpected statement.

“You've been here before? You?”

“Yes. You've probably been here several times too, Young-je. Because the coordinates here are the same as the dungeon beneath Familia's club room.”

At Se-ah's words, Young-je's pupils began trembling.

They'd gotten caught up in a dungeon in the middle of the Academy?

And it was that dungeon beneath the club room?

“...

Are you sure?”

“I can't say I'm completely sure... It's a little different. Should I say the coordinate values are distorted... or inverted...? But one thing is certain. This place is related to the dungeon in our club room.”

Young-je grew even more confused after hearing Se-ah's explanation and began pulling up memories from the past one by one to understand the situation.

A phenomenon he'd definitely heard about somewhere.

There was definitely a phenomenon similar to this... he remembered!

“Overlapping dungeon.”

“What?”

“A phenomenon that occurs when a new dungeon forms extremely close to another dungeon! We learned about it in Dungeon Studies!”

Young-je shouted with an extremely refreshed expression, while Se-ah stared at him as though she couldn't understand why he looked so pleased.

“For an overlapping dungeon to form, a new dungeon has to appear extremely close to another dungeon. In other words, a new dungeon must have formed beneath the dungeon under Familia. Then why, specifically underground... Ah!!”

The conclusion came more easily than expected.

Someone had intentionally caused a dungeon to form underground.

Someone.

Why.

For what reason.

At this timing?

And the culprit was quickly narrowed down.

The song that had come through the speakers before the overlapping dungeon phenomenon occurred.

The chaotic period before the freshman welcome party.

And even the justification of terrorism against an important facility.

“...

The Villain Alliance.”

Young-je couldn't think of anyone besides them who could pull off something on this scale.

And what they had to do right now was also clear.

“We need to join up with the others.”

“What?”

“This situation. There's a high chance it's a terrorist attack by the Villain Alliance.”

“T-terrorism? You're saying we're being attacked by terrorists right now?”

Se-ah's eyes widened in shock, as though the thought of terrorism had never even crossed her mind.

“Nothing else explains the current situation. First, before any other villains find us, we need to increase our numbers. That'll be much safer. So hurry, can you check if anyone else is nearby?”

“Uh... w-wait a second. I'll check right now!”

Se-ah moved her fingers busily as though playing an invisible keyboard.

“Two o'clock from me! There are three people!”

“Three?”

Since they couldn't be certain whether they were villains or Academy students, Young-je couldn't recklessly approach them.

He pulled the fountain pen from his breast pocket and cast a spell on himself and Se-ah.

“fioco(Weakly).”

A gentle breeze brushed across both of their bodies.

“Uh... what's this?”

“A spell that lowers our presence. If we approach carefully like this, they won't notice us.”

“So it's stealth...!”

“We don't know whether they're villains or other students.”

With their preparations complete, the two slowly moved according to what had appeared in the detection magic.

A dark space resembling the interior of an old castle.

The only lights around them were torches sparsely hung along the walls, so the two had no choice but to advance even more cautiously.

Then.───! ──! ───!

The irregular sound of metal clashing began to reach them.

Raising their guard another level, the two carefully approached the source of the sound.

Soon, Se-ah, who had been walking while checking the location, suddenly froze in surprise.‘Y-Young-je, wait...!’‘Why all of a sudden?’‘The three people dropped to two...!’‘What? What do you mean?’‘I mean... normally there are two possibilities in a case like this, right? Either someone lost consciousness... or died...’“What?!!”

Young-je accidentally shouted and hurriedly covered his own mouth.‘Then what's that sound we're hearing right now?!’‘How would I know! If someone fell and they're still fighting, doesn't that mean an Academy student is fighting?’“Then this isn't the time for this! Run!”

An Academy student was still alive and fighting villains?

From that point onward, what mattered wasn't moving slowly to avoid detection, but quickly helping before the others were taken down too.

“Allegro(Fast)!”

Young-je activated a speed buff and ran first toward the source of the sound.

Se-ah, startled that he'd left her behind and gone ahead, ran desperately after him.

“W-wait for meee! At least cast the buff on me toooo!”

Leaving Se-ah's voice growing more distant behind him, Young-je rounded the corner and saw two people fighting before him.

Both were holding swords and exchanging blows fiercely.

However, there was something strange about the scene...

“Die! Die! Just die, you fucking bitch!”

“That won't kill me. From there, it would've been better to loosen your wrist and redirect the blow.”

“Shut up! I said shut up!”

“...

But your skill is too pathetic.”

“Aaaaaaaaaagh!!”

One was a man drenched in blood flowing from countless small wounds across his body.

The other was a girl calmly blocking his sword without a single drop of blood on her.

“You would've been better off pulling upward from here...”

“Shut up! Please just shut up!”

“In the end, it seems you're no good as nourishment either.”

“You fucking biiii──? Ghk!”

“Honestly, it wasn't enjoyable... Mm. Goodbye.”

In front of the man who could no longer make a sound after his lung was pierced and died.

The girl silently watched him with an expressionless face, then seemed to sense someone's presence and glanced upward.

That was how the two recognized each other.

“...

An Academy uniform? Looks like you're not a villain?”

“...

You are.”

Young-je felt both surprise and joy at the unexpected person's appearance.

The reason was that she was one of the Academy's greatest swordsmen.

One of the names that always came up when discussing the strongest first-year.

“Choi Yeon?”

Choi Yeon.

She smiled slightly at Young-je, who was wearing the same uniform as her.

“Hello.”