NOVEL NEXT Chapter 109
<109 - Senior's Secret Breeding Ground>
After my solo gourmet experience during the lecture, the principal’s reputation took yet another step towards the pit of despair today.
– “Next lecture time is practical! We’ll be cooking using today’s recipe, so everyone should practice hard!”
“Principal!! Isn’t it too dangerous for us to catch Red Fanged Mushrooms?!”
– “Who told you to cook the Giant King Crab already? There’s nothing more pointless than teaching what you already know, so I’m speeding things up to match your level!”
Well, that’s true; thanks to that, the Upper Class students had to cook the much more dangerous Red Fanged Mushrooms, though they weren’t quite as strong as the Giant King Crab.
But that was another hardship for the other students, mine lay elsewhere.
ziiii
“Ugh, don’t look at me like that!”
The Mother-class Red Fanged Mushroom was sending glares filled with silent condemnation, while my conscience jabbed at me!
“I mean, I was trying! I wanted to become a friendly ambassador and seek a way to coexist without harming the Red Fanged Mushrooms, but what can I do when the principal does this?”
It seemed clear the Mother-class Red Fanged Mushroom wasn’t going to forgive us humans—especially me—for using its kind as ingredients.
[You failed to uphold your promise to become an ambassador and establish peace between your species after consuming the Mana Spore Sac of the Mother-class Red Fanged Mushroom.]
[Speech Experience Points +5]
[Trick Experience Points +3]
[Bad Child Experience Points +1]
But am I really the bad one?
Aren’t they also eating people outside the Academy? That’s basically tit-for-tat, right?
As I pondered this slightly naughty thought, Jiang came over and poked my waist, asking.
“What does it taste like?”
“A meat dish with an unbelievably even cut and deep flavor, well-mixed with sauce.”
“Oooh?”
“Imagining that while eating makes it bearable!”
“Blood. What’s that about?”
“It’s okay! Sort of edible!”
“Got it. I’ll have to go catch one.”
“By yourself? You think that’s alright?”
“Are you forgetting? I’m a proper assassin too.”
Jiang flashed a chilling smile. The innocent look in her eyes masked the undeniable aura of a killer.
“Underestimating me will hurt your pride.”
“Um… sorry!”
“Just be aware.”
With a huff, Jiang briskly walked away into the shadows.
“Oknodie. We don’t have any lectures left today, do we?”
“You’re already asking for dinner? I’m full.”
“True, but it’s because of the cooking, I need some help.”
“What kind of help?”
“Catching the Red Fanged Mushrooms without getting hurt.”
Had it been someone else’s request, I might have brushed it off, but I couldn’t ignore Isabel’s plea, as she often helped with many meals.
I nodded willingly.
“Where can I help?”
“I can cook somehow. Giselle has tools to prevent spore spread.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about permits. I have plenty of points saved up from that flag fiasco.”
How many points do you need to even get permits for that?
Well, it’s not surprising when first-year students are spending points on lighting stands.
“Is the problem catching them, or finding them?”
“Is there a difference?”
“Catching the Red Fanged Mushrooms is both a problem and a search issue.”
“Can’t you help with both?”
“I can’t do it all on my own or you three won’t grow.”
Son Ohchun spoke confidently.
“Finding it shouldn’t be hard. They said it’s the second most abundant monster on campus. I request information on how to catch it, rat.”
That sounded easier said than done.
An hour later with unease creeping in.
Son Ohchun, drenched in rain, finally spoke, exhausted.
“Did these darn mushrooms eat everything? How come I can’t find a single one?”
“Hehe. You don’t seem to have the talent for hunting!”
“Shut it. There’s never been this heavy rain back in my hometown.”
Isabel and Giselle surrendered, hands up.
“I can’t find it at all.”
“It’s a matter of finding first. Can you help us?”
“Of course. Follow me.”
Taking the lead confidently, the three of them looked on in disbelief.
“What’s going on? Did you know from the start?”
“Of course.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“To level up your tracking skill experience!”
Now that I said it, my heart did a little thump.
Look at me, caring about the growth of newbies.
So sweet!
“This rat, was he always this annoying?”
Son Ohchun’s fist trembled with frustration.
“Honestly, finding them isn’t that hard if you know the tricks. Didn’t the principal say? The second-years were illegally breeding for the Mana Spores.”
“Well, that’s right. The little lady has pointed out a very sharp detail. The second-years need to find a secret location to breed.”
Giselle belatedly realized and sighed.
“So we’re going on a reconnaissance mission?”
“Nope. I already have a rough idea of where it is.”
“Was that given by your family?”
Isabel looked worriedly through her casual act.
Everyone seems to have this strange habit of feeling sorry for others.
Why do they keep doing that?
To me, these people seem much sadder, unable to survive at the Academy.
“It’s just how it happened.”
Saying that, I arrived at the empty art gallery prepared for art-related lectures.
Wandering through the dimly lit art museum filled with draped paintings, memories of sneaking in as a kid resurfaced.
Yeah, bloodstains.
I often hid behind those bloodstained columns.
creak
creak
Turning the decorative features of the column with smooth movements—270 degrees clockwise, 180 degrees counterclockwise, and back to 270 degrees clockwise.
And then? Ta-da!
Stepping towards the stairs leading down to the basement with a clatter, I felt a burning gaze on my back.
“No distinguished explorer here, huh?”
Isabel chuckled, and Giselle and Son Ohchun nodded in agreement.
“I swear, I won’t meet an assassin’s gaze once I leave the Academy.”
Even merchant Giselle was subtly expressing her horror.
This level isn’t really something to worry about.
Everyone’s just being dramatic!
—
Descending into the basement, I could hear the faint cries of the Red Fanged Mushrooms packed tightly in a one-pyeong breeding room.
“Keyee…”
“Keying keying…”
Isabel frowned at the unexpectedly dreadful sight.
“Wow, I’ve never seen a monster looking this pitiful before.”
“I agree. They’ve created a highly efficient yet anti-human breeding ground, living off meals while producing Mana Spores.”
“Aren’t they monsters anyway? Don’t feel too sorry. Let them loose and they’d do the same thing to humans.”
Having lived in the wild for some time, the Monkey Humanoid Son Ohchun didn’t sympathize much with the monsters’ plight.
“What in the world is this?”
“It’s an illegal breeding ground for Red Fanged Mushrooms created by second-year seniors without permission from the Student Council!”
How do you know that?
Isabel felt a chill but kept her mouth shut, knowing she’d get no satisfactory answer.
“Think about it. The seniors want the Mana Spores from the Red Fanged Mushrooms. They’d naturally need to provide a lot of nutrients until the Mana Spores are produced, right?”
The three nodded begrudgingly in agreement.
“If angry Red Fanged Mushrooms can’t attack, they must have defenses in place for if they do, and no other second-years can raid it either!”
“That makes sense…?”
“The site that meets all those conditions is right here. The Red Fanged Mushrooms in this breeding ground will get stabbed in the head by a knife when the lever is pulled on the partition!”
“Ugh.”
“The spores can be neatly purified by pressing the button next to it, and the corpse can be extracted wrapped in vinyl. It might look shabby, but the seniors have great corpse-handling skills!”
Isabel was becoming more frightened not just by Oknodie’s description but by the space itself.
“Is this really a second-year’s breeding ground? It doesn’t seem like a potential serial killer’s workshop, does it?”
“Um… Well… I can see why it’d be considered a rare place, even in the underworld.”
“Rat, do you really want to mess with a mushroom in a facility like this? You might wake up in that partition by morning if you’re not careful.”
Oknodie tilted her head.
“Look closely; it’s all made with the techniques taught at the Academy. The partitions were built during the ‘Basics of Carpentry’ lecture, and the corpse-handling tools are from the required course ‘Hunter’s Traps’ in the Adventure Department’s second semester.”
“So, does that mean any second-year can do this?”
“Well, not really. The fact that they found a secret location and made a unique locking mechanism suggests they probably developed their skills in the ‘Dark Cult’ club using the ‘Secret Altar’ spell to create an Empty Space and made the locking mechanism with the ‘Dial Keeping’ spell.”
“Dark Cult??”
“Seniors in the cult officially register the minimum number—only five—but they could have various members hiding without being listed as ‘trainees’!”
“Hiding their identities???”
Things were starting to feel more and more dangerous.
Isabel thought this was getting ridiculous.
“Let’s get out. It’d be more relaxing to catch them elsewhere.”
“I think this place is definitely not right.”
“Rat, did you have to bring us to a place like this?”
The three of them were quite unhappy, and even Oknodie puffed up her cheeks with displeasure.
“Oh come on. If you don’t like such a convenient place, where would you catch them? Just lower the pulley, press the button, and you can pull out the vacuum-sealed corpse without a hassle.”
“But the aftermath is scary.”
“Other places likely have ‘guard monsters’ or ‘traps’ to protect the Mana Spores [like the Monster Warehouse I discovered]. You really think that’s okay?”
Why on earth were second-year seniors preparing for such things at the Academy?!
Isabel was starting to fear not just the senior who created this place but the entire second-year class.
Seniors like Big Stone, Lizna, and Moss, whom I saw in the Developing Insight class, had annoying traits where they only cared about their own scores but seemed like genuinely good people.
“Well, hearing that, it might be better to just do it here. Let’s finish quickly and get out.”
Isabel boldly lowered the pulley and pressed the button.
The poor Red Fanged Mushroom croaked as it died and was shot out, sealed in vinyl.
Giselle and Son Ohchun looked at each other, questioning whether this was right, and carried their share of Red Fanged Mushrooms.
“Son Ohchun. What are you doing in front? Hurry up and get out.”
“What do you mean, Isabel? I’m behind you!”
“……?”
Isabel lifted her head, burdened by the corpse.
It was a figure so large it could be mistaken for Son Ohchun but draped in a suspicious black robe he would never wear.
With thin hands resembling cracked earth of a drought-ridden rice field and a cold, pale face like a serpent, that figure had an emotionless, chilling gaze.
“Oh no.”
Giselle sighed as she spotted it beyond Isabel.
“The neck adornment. That’s the mark of a third-year student.”
Just when they disturbed the secret breeding ground of the third-year, they were caught right before their escape.