NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74
Chapter 74. School (3)
Yoo Ji-han dashed through the hallway of the school’s 2nd floor, overcoming the monsters’ interference.
2nd Year Class 6, 2nd Year Class 7, 2nd Year Class 8… and arriving at the end of the hallway, 2nd Year Class 11.
“Ugh.”
He frowned at the sight of carnage.
What seemed to be a student, as indicated by the teacher, was pouring out blood from the classroom floor of Class 11.
Next to it, giant cats were happily licking up the blood.
“Meow?”
“Meow—!”
Yoo Ji-han swiftly beheaded the giant cats and hurried towards the stairs.
Kim Si-hu must have taken the others up to the 3rd floor, where the 3rd Year classrooms were located.
[3-12]
The first classroom he encountered on the 3rd floor was 3rd Year Class 12.
Surprisingly, there was a survivor there.
“Get away! Get away!!”
Vroom—
The male student in the classroom swung a mop vigorously at the tangerine monster.
Whether that would actually harm the monster was questionable, but…
The monster hesitated to move forward due to the student’s actions.
Crash!
Yoo Ji-han burst into the classroom as if he would break the door.
Leaping forward, he glared at the monster.
‘Here!’
Slash!
His sword struck precisely between the 5th joints of the tangerine monster, cutting deep.
The halved monster’s body writhed on the floor.
“Ugh…”
The relieved male student knelt and collapsed.
His left leg had been poisoned by the tangerine monster.
Yet he had still managed to swing the mop.
“Good job.”
Yoo Ji-han gave a brief compliment to the student and firmly held him to prevent him from falling.
Then he exited the classroom and dashed towards the center.
“Hyung!”
Kim Si-hu waved at Yoo Ji-han.
He was holding back the approaching monster in front of Class 3-4.
‘Looks like this is it for the 3rd floor.’
No students or teachers were visible in the remaining classrooms.
Realizing that there were no survivors left here, he joined Kim Si-hu.
“There were no people on the other side, right?”
“Nope.”
Yoo Ji-han glanced at the central stairs.
It seemed that the number of monsters had increased compared to earlier.
The same went for the stairs at both ends of the building.
Monsters from the lower floors were chasing the humans upward.
‘We can’t go through the stairs.’
It was too dangerous to push through the stairs with frightened students, teachers, and the injured.
Yoo Ji-han looked toward the inside of Class 3-4, which was monster-free.
“Let’s jump down there.”
“Okay!”
The two gathered the survivors in front of the classroom’s window.
However, when they spoke of jumping from the 3rd floor, the people were horrified.
“You’re saying we should jump from here?!”
“I, I have acrophobia!”
“Or do you want to go that way?”
Yoo Ji-han pointed at the monster that was stuck to the window towards the hallway.
“…”
“…”
The silenced group vigorously shook their heads.
“I’m going!”
“Mom!!”
They held hands and leaped out the window with all their might.
The female student with acrophobia tightly shut her eyes.
[Levitation]
Contrary to their worries, they descended slowly as if a parachute had opened in mid-air.
Below, monsters were waiting on the floor.
“Let me down first!”
“Got it!”
Kim Si-hu canceled the levitation he used on Yoo Ji-han while they were coming down.
Swish—!
Faster than anyone else, Yoo Ji-han dove down with his sword, spinning like a top.
Monsters injured or wounded by the sword staggered back, ensuring the safety of the landing spot.
Soon, he moved with the people who reached the ground towards the school’s front gate.
By now, several heroes who had already arrived at the school were battling monsters in the vicinity.
“Did you just come out from there?!”
“Yes. These people are the survivors of the school.”
“Did you happen to see other heroes?”
“Other heroes?”
“There was a female hero who entered the school with a big gray rat…”
*
Min Yu-ri, who had arrived at Seoum Middle School, immediately entered the building with a destroyed entrance.
‘Someone has gone upstairs.’
The monster lying dead on the stairs was evidence that a hero had gone up first.
Thinking it over, she decided to head down to the basement instead.
There might be people preparing meals in the school dining hall.
“Stop!”
Chilla stood in the way of monsters approaching Min Yu-ri.
In the meantime, she crafted her magic into long arrows and shot them at the enemies.
Unlike the giant cats, it was tough to take them down in one go.
However, as long as they didn’t die, she could keep firing arrows in succession.
Continuously attacking would eventually lead to a kill.
This was one of the pieces of wisdom Min Yu-ri had learned through her abundant natural magic and experience.
[B1]
When she arrived at the basement dining hall, the ceiling lights were turned off.
It would be normal for the lights to be on if someone had come in.
Min Yu-ri pushed open the sliding doors of the closed dining hall to check.
Creeeak—
The dining hall door was not locked.
No sign of life was detected.
As she entered, she remained cautious of a monster’s sudden ambush.
“…”
The dining area was very dark due to the lack of lighting.
For some reason, the interior of the dining hall was silent, devoid of any monsters.
With her arrows nocked, she frowned at the eerie silence.
It was a stark contrast to the battlefield outside.
“…Ah.”
While surveying the spacious dining area with Chilla, Min Yu-ri suddenly pointed her bow towards a sound she heard.
“Who’s there!”
“I-it’s a person!”
The voice from the dark belonged to a visibly panicked man.
Relieved at having found a person, Min Yu-ri lowered her bow.
“Are you a member of the restaurant staff?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
“Monsters have invaded the school! Quickly, come with me!”
“…”
The face of the man in the dark was invisible, but he did not respond.
“Hey?”
“What’s that cute creature beside you?”
“Ah, I’m a hero classified as a tamer, and this is my pet.”
“Do you think creatures can coexist with humans?”
“Yes?”
Min Yu-ri tilted her head at the somewhat unexpected question.
She knew that the term “creature” referred to monsters.
“Is that question really important right now?”
“Yes.”
“If you mean monsters, then to some extent, I believe it’s possible.”
Min Yu-ri, who worked as a hero with Chilla, classified as a monster, was not entirely opposed to coexisting with them.
Of course, she would never forgive those that harm humans.
“One more thing. Are you also a member who receives milk?”
“Milk? Member? What do you mean?”
“…You walk around with a creature without milk?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. More importantly, let’s get out of here!”
“That’s impossible.”
Wham—
At that moment, all the lights in the dining hall turned on.
As the surroundings suddenly brightened, Min Yu-ri frowned.
However…
“…!”
She was shocked to see the man she had just been speaking with.
Despite his young-looking face, his hair was completely white.
He didn’t look like he exercised much, but the thick veins protruding on his hands and neck suggested otherwise.
His appearance was certainly Korean, but overall, he seemed like anything but an ordinary person.
“No way… No way… No way.”
The man looked at Chilla, repeating incomprehensible words.
An unknown tension hung between them, and Min Yu-ri gripped her bow tightly.
“I’m telling you, let’s get out of here!”
“No way—!!”
Suddenly, he screamed unexpectedly.
At that, Min Yu-ri raised her bow.
She was aiming not at the screaming man but at the inner part of the dining hall.
“Shiii—”
“Shiii—!”
A large silver pot and various cooking utensils were in the kitchen.
Suddenly, the monster began pouring out from there.
“…!”
The white-haired man jumped up.
Min Yu-ri couldn’t help but be surprised again.
His jumping ability far surpassed that of a normal human.
Moreover, the place he moved to was the kitchen where the monsters were invading.
She didn’t know the details, but Min Yu-ri anticipated the horrific scene that would unfold behind this.
“…?”
However, he wasn’t attacked by the monsters.
Instead, the monsters seemed to follow him.
Just as Chilla followed Min Yu-ri.
Clang!
From the opposite side of the kitchen, a glass door at the entrance of the dining hall shattered, and monsters surged in.
The monsters from the upper floors had descended the stairs.
“Chilla!”
Chilla and Min Yu-ri stood alert at the center of the dining hall against the approaching monsters.
Although there were many of them, each one was manageable to hunt.
“Stop!”
Chilla threw a jab at the giant cat approaching the entrance.
The giant cat was knocked outside, hit by the powerful punch of the chinchilla.
And just when she was about to head toward the entrance…
“Where do you think you’re running off to!!”
The man with the monsters pointed his index finger at Min Yu-ri.
Remarkably, the monsters next to him dashed toward her.
Min Yu-ri could only defend against the attackers coming from behind.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The magic arrows she shot struck the joints of the monster.
With each focused shot, the monster met an instant death, but another creature was crawling toward her.
The speed at which new monsters appeared was much faster than the speed at which she could hunt.
“Burn them for me.”
“Stop!”
Min Yu-ri was carried on Chilla’s back.
The soft, fluffy fur made her skin feel good.
But there was no time to enjoy that feeling, as enemies were aggressively charging at them.
Chilla dashed around the dining hall, dodging the monsters.
“Why are there monsters in a place like this…!”
The most abundant monsters were indeed the goene.
They were on the floor and even clinging to the walls and ceilings with their many legs.
The dining area, which demanded hygiene, was becoming a repulsive territory for the goene.
‘This is dangerous.’
Min Yu-ri was well aware of the poison of the goene.
Especially the paralysis poison of the tangerine goene!
Even Chilla, no matter how tough its skin was, would struggle against it.
[Eagle Eye]
[Multi Shot]
[Multi Shot]
…
…
Min Yu-ri unleashed all her magic and even used skills she rarely employed, crafting several arrows of magic.
With every draw of the bowstring, at least three arrows flew out to hit the monsters.
“Stop—!”
“Chilla!”
At that moment, a goene fell from the ceiling and clawed at Chilla’s side.
Quickly capturing the goene, Min Yu-ri examined Chilla’s wound in haste.
‘It’s not poisoned.’
Fortunately, there were no signs of paralysis.
But it was undeniable that things were getting difficult enough to incur wounds.
“That bastard!”
Furious, Min Yu-ri aimed her bow at the suspicious man, presumed to be the cause of this chaos.
It had been years since she aimed a bow at a person, yet she felt no qualms about it.
From the circumstances, the appearance of the goene stemmed directly from him.
Thwang!
Letting the bowstring slip, an arrow shot toward the man.
If he were an ordinary human, that shot would have inflicted serious injuries.
Swoosh—
Suddenly, a goene that had been on the ground leaped up to block the arrow with its body.
‘Just as I thought, it’s because of that guy!’
The monster jumped to shield the man.
Min Yu-ri continued to shoot arrows at the man instead of the monsters.
With every shot, the surrounding goene coiled around the man’s body.
And just as other monsters were closing in on Chilla…
Boom—!
A sudden noise of the building collapsing came from the entrance.
Everyone’s gaze inside the dining hall turned towards the ruined entrance.
“…Ji-han?”
The first to appear from the collapsed entrance was none other than Yoo Ji-han.
Brushing off dust from his hair, he glared at Min Yu-ri with sharp eyes.
At that, she instinctively pointed at the white-haired man as though in a trance.
“…”
Surrounded by monsters, but protected rather than attacked, the human.
In an instant, Yoo Ji-han grasped the situation.
“Come here, you bastard.”