A Veteran Teaches Very Well

part 35

I knew she was strong, but I didn’t expect her to be this strong.

“Let’s just call it a decent finishing move.”

“Today, I lost. I don’t think I can beat that.”

Baeksulhwa gave up the duel with an ease that felt almost dismissive.

Then she asked me,

“So, what’s the gift you prepared?”

“Hmm?”

“You said earlier that you had a gift ready.”

“I just showed you. Did you like it?”

“Excuse me? Ah….”

There was no need to wait for an answer. Of course, she must have liked it.

The pinnacle of the world.

It wasn’t something just anyone could witness.

Yet, Baeksulhwa’s demeanor was a bit strange.

She had seemed off all day.

“Seolhwa, is everything okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing… just checking.”

“I’m fine.”

After the duel was over, Baeksulhwa left just like that.

What was that? Did I become so strong that I felt a wall between us?

Well, she does have a strong sense of pride.

It wouldn’t be strange for her to sulk after being thoroughly defeated.

With that conclusion in mind, I returned to the professor’s office to prepare for the exam.

* * *

The dungeon for the second exam is the Slime Tunnel.

As the name suggests, it’s a dungeon filled with slimes.

Slimes, regardless of their type, were notorious by nature.

Strength was secondary; the hassle of dealing with them was the real issue.

It wasn’t about difficulty; it was about annoyance.

They had almost no offensive capabilities, but they ignored all physical attacks and possessed magical resistance, making them hard to kill.

Perhaps, in terms of time spent on strategies, this could be the toughest exam in my class.

“We’ve arrived.”

Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

Once a vibrant place, it now lay abandoned.

Especially the lakeside park, which was always filled with people, now stood as mere remnants.

This was the source of the dungeons’ emergence.

“Wow…”

The students expressed a variety of feelings.

Some were tense due to the exam, while others were excited about the impending battle.

Those kids were gazing towards the lake where the dungeons coalesced.

Amidst this, there was an exception.

“……”

An Se-ri was looking away from the lake.

Her eyes captured the ruins of broken bridges and collapsed buildings.

A good mindset.

Most heroes understood the fear of real combat well.

During their academy days, the naive often lost themselves in the illusion of being the protagonist of a game, intoxicated by their own uniqueness.

Yet, even those would learn the weight of life as they became heroes.

It wasn’t something anyone taught them.

When one becomes a hero and enters a dungeon, the realization comes naturally.

However, that alone was not enough.

The value of a hero’s life should not end with just their own existence.

They needed to understand that if the front lines a hero protects were to crumble, society would fall alongside it.

This city of Ansan, now in ruins.

If heroes could not protect it, other cities would inevitably meet the same fate.

An Se-ri was engraving this place in her mind to remember it always.

—

I placed my hand on her head with a proud heart.

“Professor?”

“Seri, you’re going to be a great hero. When a person has something they want to protect, they become strong.”

“That’s childish. What does that even mean?”

An Seri let out a giggle.

She said the words were childish, but she looked genuinely happy.

I gathered the distracted students and explained the exam.

“Everyone, pay attention. The rules for the exam are the same as last time. Find the dungeon and conquer it. Your scores will depend on the time taken for the conquest. The time starts from when you enter the dungeon until you come out. Begin.”

* * *

At the entrance of the dungeon, Group C, who had scored the highest in the last exam, surprisingly struggled.

They took too long right from the first stage.

“Ugh, damn it!”

Nam Hye-joo struck down with her sword, filled with rage, but it had no effect on the slime.

The slime was immune to physical attacks.

“Sister, don’t be impatient; just relax.”

“Damn it! Who do you think is causing this right now!”

Nam Hye-joo exploded in anger at Abraham.

Normally, An Seri and Gam Mi-seong would mediate, but this time, they felt just as frustrated as Nam Hye-joo.

The creatures inhabiting the slime tunnels mostly had immunity to physical attacks.

Group C consisted of two warriors, one archer, one mage, and one priest.

Just by looking at their numbers, they were specialized in physical attacks.

Moreover, An Seri’s role was so significant that the physical immunity felt like a huge penalty.

An Seri devised two strategies.

“There are two methods. I’ll leave the choice to you.”

One was for Seo Da-yoon and Abraham to cast a spell that imbues their weapons with attributes.

Then, the weapons would be infused with magic, making them non-physical attacks.

The other was to position the two who specialized in magic as the main dealers for the conquest.

This was a much more conventional strategy than the first method.

Group C’s main strength leaned more towards physical than magical.

It would undoubtedly be a significant burden.

—

But Seoda-yoon and Abraham chose the second option.

“Trust us! We can do it!”

“That’s right. Faith will surely be rewarded.”

“Really? Got it.”

An Se-ri felt a slight worry for Seoda-yoon.

Lately, her confidence had grown significantly, but Seoda-yoon still had a fragile mentality.

Even if she said she could do it now, on the day itself, the pressure might prevent her from showing her true abilities.

Still, An Se-ri believed in her friend.

That faith was beautifully rewarded.

“Wind Cutter!”

Swish-!

As Seoda-yoon chanted, the blade of wind sliced through the slime’s form.

Seoda-yoon had grown faster than anyone among the academy students.

Mastering basic magic with ease, she had now become a proper battle mage.

The problem lay elsewhere.

“Lord, your servant desires. Grant me the strength to defeat my enemies.”

As Abraham prayed, a bright light radiated from his entire body.

It sparkled and shone.

Only the light sparkled.

Nam Hye-joo shouted.

“You idiot! You were blasting beams like crazy during our practice, so what’s the problem now?”

Abraham scratched his head and replied.

“I’m sorry, sister. I guess I’m just too nervous to perform well.”

It was clearly not the demeanor of someone who was nervous.

His calm tone and the smile on his face were no different from usual.

It was hard to imagine Abraham ever being flustered, no matter what crisis he faced.

Even if the world were to end, wouldn’t he just carry on at his own pace?

“Damn it! Then at least put an enchantment on my sword!”

“Please wait about 20 minutes.”

“Damn it! Who are you messing with? In 20 minutes, the exam will be over!”

“Could that really be? I am always serious.”

In the end, Abraham was no help at all.

Reluctantly, Seo Da-yoon opened the path alone.

She had done better than expected, but still, she couldn’t perfectly fulfill the roles of two people by herself.

With a frustrated heart, An Se-ri sighed.

Seo Da-yoon apologized.

“I’m sorry… if I had been a bit stronger…”

“No, it’s my fault. I should have considered the possibility of the plan going awry and prepared for variables.”

Abraham spoke with a saintly expression.

“Yes. If the sisters acknowledge their mistakes and reconcile, the Lord will forgive their sins. The Lord is a compassionate one.”

“Shut up.”

“Yes.”

As An Se-ri’s expression turned cold, Abraham fell silent.

“Ugh, if we keep going like this, there will be no answer.”

An Se-ri pondered.

If she continued to squeeze Seo Da-yoon like this, it would take at least five more minutes than the time they had aimed for.

But if the physical dealers had already used their auras, the boss stage would become extremely difficult.

“It can’t be helped. We’ll have to brute force it.”

The second stage of the Slime Tunnel.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this dungeon was named after this stage.

The floor was riddled with countless holes.

─Pee-yoo-yut!

The sound of a slime’s cry echoed.

At the same moment, a slime emerged from one of the holes.

Boing!

“It’s a slime!”

The lavender-colored slime floated in the air before quickly diving into another hole.

To pass through this stage, they had to catch all of those.

─Pee-yoo-yoo-yoo-yoo-yoo-yut!

Boing boing boing boing─

“Ugh, damn it.”

As the slimes bounced up and down like a machine gun from the holes, Nam Hye-joo clicked her tongue.

It was a sight that was beyond grotesque, almost like something out of a horror story.

Nam Hye-joo asked Seo Da-yoon.

“We have to hit those one by one with magic? Hey, can you do it?”

“I-I’ll try my best…”

Gam Mi-sung interjected into their conversation.

“Don’t put too much pressure on Seo Da-yoon.”

“What? Come on. Why is this pressure? And I can put some pressure on her.”

Abraham said.

“Alright, siblings, don’t fight. You’ll end up in hell.”

“You, damn it! Just drop into hell!”

An Se-ri smiled as she spoke.

“Isn’t it okay to put some pressure on a teammate? It’s because I trust you all, right?”

“Right? The leader knows what’s up!”

“Yeah, yeah. You know I trust you all, right?”

“…You all?”

An Se-ri grabbed the shoulders of Nam Hye-joo and Gam Mi-sung.

“The fastest and easiest way is to unleash area magic inside the hole. But the inner space is quite large, so in our class, only Song Seok-hwan can do it.”

“That’s true.”

“So, to sweep them all away, we just need to gather them in one place, right? Here’s a question. How do we gather the slimes?”

“Uh, I don’t know?”

Feeling anxious, Nam Hye-joo and Gam Mi-sung took a step back.

Then An Se-ri tightened her grip on their shoulders.

“The answer is to use your body. Go down and herd them.”

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

“N-No way!”

The two vehemently shook their heads.

No one would want to get mixed up in an unidentified purple liquid.

Moreover, while the slimes didn’t have direct attack capabilities, they were highly acidic, and touching them would hurt.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die. It’ll just sting a little.”

“Shut up! I won’t do it! I can’t do it!”

“Save me! Please, don’t do this to me, just put in Nam Hye-joo!”

“What? Damn it! Just put in that b*stard Geum Taeyang! And while you’re at it, throw in that Jesus freak too! I don’t want to!”

The two tried to resist, but they couldn’t overcome An Se-ri’s strength.

An Se-ri’s smile was as beautiful as an angel’s, but her actions were no different from a devil’s.

An Se-ri threw with all her might.

“Don’t leave any behind, bring them all!”

“Ahhh!”

The two screamed as they fell through the hole.

Their screams echoed from within.

It was a painful scream that made anyone listening feel the same agony.

Seo Da-yoon, worried, asked, “What if they come back hurt?”

“Sister, don’t worry. Your master will not abandon her servant.”

“But those kids don’t believe in religion.”

“Then they should die.”

An Se-ri said as she slammed Abraham’s head.

“Don’t say such unsettling things. The slimes here have almost no lethality; even an ordinary person can’t die from them.”

Three minutes later, Nam Hye-joo and Gam Mi-seong crawled up.

Their bodies were covered in slime.

“Ugh, ugh….”

They had screamed so much that their throats were hoarse, making it hard to speak properly.

Unaware of their feelings, An Se-ri said, “Good job. That wasn’t such a tough experience, was it?”

That girl clearly knew what she was doing. What a bad girl.

Nam Hye-joo clenched her fists tightly.

“Hey, Seo Da-yoon!”

“I got it.”

Seo Da-yoon incinerated all the slimes with a fireball.

“Whoa!”

Nam Hye-joo and Gam Mi-seong exclaimed in awe.

The fire attribute was the most volatile of the four elements, making it incredibly difficult to handle.

The precision with which Seo Da-yoon controlled her magic to burn only the slime was remarkable.

Freed from the slime, Nam Hye-joo and Gam Mi-seong turned their anger towards An Se-ri.

“How could you throw us like that!”

“Damn it! I thought we were going to die!”

A crisp apple returned.

“Sorry! But if I hadn’t done that, we would never have gotten an A, right?”

“Ugh…”

The two were also greedy for grades, so they didn’t press the issue further.

When they were in the tunnel, they couldn’t have felt more resentful, but now that the ordeal was over, a sense of relief washed over them.

An Se-ri seized the moment and threw out a carrot.

“I’ll help you out since I did something bad too. Hye-joo, you just need to spar with me once, okay?”

Nam Hye-joo replied with an unusually coy attitude.

“…Not once, but twice.”

“What about you, Mi-seong?”

“Well, since she’s sparring, I want to spar too. I want to see how strong she really is.”

“Got it.”

Abraham spoke up.

“Sisters, I would like to study the Bible together.”

“Okay… wait, who are you?”

“The Lord said that good things are meant to be shared.”

As Abraham maintained his shameless demeanor, Nam Hye-joo exploded in frustration.

“Who do you think made us go through all this suffering! Do you even have a conscience? Do you?!”

“Don’t say bad things. You’ll end up in hell for that.”

“Shut up! If I were God, I’d send you to hell first!”

An Se-ri sighed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll do that too, so let’s move on to the next stage.”

As I turned my body toward the boss room, I felt the sensation of my collar being tugged.

Seo Da-yoon was there.

“You’ll listen to my request too, right?”

“Huh? Yeah. What’s the favor?”

Seo Da-yoon placed her index finger on her lips.

“I’ll tell you when I ask.”

“What kind of favor are you planning to ask?”

“A secret for future enjoyment.”

“Alright then.”

“Hehe.”

An Se-ri thought that if it was Seo Da-yoon, she probably wouldn’t make an unreasonable request, so she casually agreed.

Seo Da-yoon giggled.

“Let’s go catch the boss.”

It took 13 minutes to get here.

Team C headed toward the boss stage of the Slime Tunnel.

The ruler of the Slime Tunnel, Mine Krong.