The special class operates in pairs on days when individual activities are not scheduled.
In the original story, on this day, Lee Seo-jun was paired with Choi Seo-yoon, Yoo Ara with Lee Hyun-joo, and Shin Young-joon with Jang Ye.
This drawing is more important than it seems.
It was a crucial moment where Choi Seo-yoon would become more attached to Lee Seo-jun, eventually becoming one of his strongest allies in the distant future.
‘But can Choi Seo-yoon really pick Lee Seo-jun?’
I’ve already caused significant changes to the story with my interference, and the probability of Choi Seo-yoon drawing Lee Seo-jun in this 1-in-60 chance is…
This is already messed up.
“Alright, one at a time, come forward.”
Choi Seo-yoon, seated in the front row, stepped forward.
As she moved, several male students glanced at her with hopeful eyes, anticipating that she might pick them.
“Wow, why is this so nerve-wracking?”
“Yeah, I wonder who she’ll be paired with.”
Will she manage to pick Lee Seo-jun?
Then, Choi Seo-yoon drew a slip.
She stared at it with a dazed expression.
She looked slightly flustered.
One thing was certain—her expression did not show joy.
In the original story, it was described that her face lit up instantly upon drawing the slip.
That meant she hadn’t picked Lee Seo-jun.
Then, Choi Seo-yoon’s gaze turned toward me.
Time passed, and all the pairs were formed. The group composition was entirely different from the original story.
Especially, Lee Seo-jun’s partner was a particularly troublesome match.
He had drawn none other than Jang Ye—the daughter of Jang Han.
I’ve already been having a hard time figuring out what Jang Ye has been thinking lately, and now I’m worried that she might cause trouble for Lee Seo-jun.
“Senior, why do you keep looking at someone like that?”
Apparently, my attention on Lee Seo-jun was obvious.
Sitting beside me, Choi Seo-yoon followed my gaze toward him.
“Ah…”
Choi Seo-yoon seemed to realize something and nodded.
“You wanted to be paired with Park Minye, didn’t you? Sorry for picking you instead…”
“What are you talking about?”
At my response, Choi Seo-yoon chuckled playfully.
Park Jungwan scanned the students and spoke.
“Since it’s the first day, we’ll end the special class here. Now, I’ll explain the next schedule. The next special class will be held outdoors on Tuesday. Gather in front of the main gate bus stop by 7 PM. That is all.”
After the first special class meeting ended,
I was in the mana training room, intensely practicing mana cultivation.
After about four hours, I finally opened my eyes.
[Your mana has increased by 0.01.]
[With the effect of Nature’s Blessing, you gain an additional 0.015 mana.]
[Your proficiency in Nature’s Blessing has increased by 3%.]
“Hmm… It’s not going well.”
I’ve been investing a lot of time in magic training and mana cultivation, yet I still haven’t acquired the additional trait from The Secret of Evolution and Adaptation.
For physical strength, pushing my body to the extreme allowed me to gain traits easily, but mana was different—it wasn’t as simple.
But there’s no shortcut to acquiring the evolution and adaptation traits.
I just have to work harder.
I stood up.
The time was already 10 PM.
It was time to return to the dormitory.
As I opened the mana training room’s door, I spotted Yoo Ara training alone.
Every time I come here, she’s always practicing.
In terms of effort alone, she’s undoubtedly the most hardworking student at the academy.
‘Come to think of it, today was supposed to feature Yoo Ara’s episode.’
The Seoul Station Terror Incident.
It was an important event that revealed Yoo Ara’s backstory and strengthened her relationship with Lee Seo-jun.
But since I had taken care of Jo Seong-hoon’s gang last week, that event never happened.
“Is it okay for the story to change like this?”
Yoo Ara and Choi Seo-yoon—both had exceptional talents and were essential allies for Lee Seo-jun.
And this wasn’t just about the plot.
The number of allies Lee Seo-jun had was directly linked to his survival rate, so I had to be concerned.
No matter how much I interfered with the story and defeated villains, if Lee Seo-jun died, it would all be over.
It would be better if these two got closer to him.
“Sigh.”
Just as I let out a deep sigh, my smart student notebook chimed with a notification.
[Senior, just reminding you, don’t be late next week!!]
It was Choi Seo-yoon.
She said she wouldn’t message me anymore, yet here she was again.
If I ignored it this time, she might really get upset, so I replied.
[Got it.]
It might seem a bit curt, but it was better than ignoring her.
Just as I was about to put the smart student notebook away, another notification popped up.
[Guys, you know we have dungeon exploration class tomorrow, right?]
[Yeah, lol, it’s been a while.]
[Let’s do our best! 😊]
“…Oh, right.”
Now that I thought about it, we had dungeon exploration class tomorrow.
Since we skipped it last week due to exams, it was our turn to explore the fourth floor.
“Hm.”
Hearing “Artificial Dungeon, Fourth Floor” reminded me of an important event from the original story.
A hidden mechanism on the fourth floor.
And because of that mechanism, Lee Seo-jun would get caught up in an incident.
Of course, if he wanted to, he could avoid it.
But I had no intention of avoiding this event.
In fact, I planned to use it to my advantage.
‘Then I should prepare in advance.’
I headed out—not to the dormitory but to the school convenience store.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
Thursday morning.
As scheduled, dungeon exploration class began.
The moment we entered the fourth floor, a bitterly cold wind struck us.
How a wind like this existed in an underground cave was beyond me, but dungeons always had extreme environments on lower floors.
Either scorching hot, freezing cold, pitch dark, or blindingly bright.
“I should’ve worn something warmer.”
“Yeah, same.”
Shin Jihyuk and Jung Jintae hunched over from the cold. Beside me, Yoon Hayoung sniffled, her face red from the chill.
“Guys, let’s keep moving to generate body heat.”
Even the genius Lee Seo-jun, being human, wasn’t immune to the cold.
“Hey, aren’t you cold at all?”
Jung Jintae eyed me suspiciously.
“I can manage.”
[Your body is adapting to the cold!]
My Secret of Evolution and Adaptation trait was blocking the chill.
“…Man, that’s weird. I feel like I’m gonna freeze to death.”
Braving the cold, we ventured deeper into the dungeon.
The wind grew stronger, and soon, even the ground was frozen, making it slippery.
Just when I was about to start feeling the cold—
A notification appeared before my eyes.
[Your body has fully adapted to the cold!]
[New adaptive trait acquired: ‘Cold Resistance (F).’]
“Oh.”
A new trait had been added.
Its name: Cold Resistance.
Just as the name implied, the cold in my body vanished again. I could probably withstand this even if I took off my outerwear.
As I quietly marveled at it, Yoon Hayoung looked at me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh? No, I just thought I saw something for a second.”
“What? You’re weird sometimes.”
Yoon Hayoung sniffled and chuckled. I laughed awkwardly and checked my newly acquired trait.
━━
[Cold Resistance (F)]
Category: Trait
Description: Strengthens your body’s resistance to cold.
[Passive Effect]
▶ Frozen Human
Magic power +1
Cold resistance +50%
Ice attribute magic resistance +10%
━━
Unlike the “Extreme Endurance Spirit” trait I obtained before, the effect of this one was relatively weak—it simply prevented the cold from affecting me.
However, considering I acquired it for free without spending any points, I was more than satisfied.
“I even got a free point in magic power.”
Gathering minor traits like this one by one would eventually bring significant changes to my stats.
—Krrrhh…
At that moment, the cry of a monster echoed from somewhere nearby. The students immediately took combat stances.
Soon, from within the darkness, a gorilla covered in pure white fur appeared.
A C-rank monster—the Giant Yeti.
—Kraaah!
As it roared, Lee Seo-jun unsheathed the sword at his waist.
He swiftly closed the distance to the Giant Yeti and sliced its body cleanly in two.
“As expected of Lee Seo-jun. That was insanely fast.”
“…No, my body feels stiff from the cold. The floor is slippery too.”
Despite taking down the monster in an impressive manner, Lee Seo-jun didn’t seem satisfied with his attack.
Then, another roar echoed.
This time, it wasn’t just one.
From the darkness, five Giant Yetis emerged.
“What the heck? That’s way too many.”
“Support from the rear.”
Lee Seo-jun tightened his grip on his sword.
“Move aside. I’ll handle them.”
I stepped in front of him and fired a spell.
Bang!
—Kraaah!
A Giant Yeti collapsed as its head was pierced through.
I immediately conjured another spell.
One shot. Then another.
Continuing to fire, I took down all five Giant Yetis.
“…Oh.”
When I glanced back, I saw Lee Seo-jun watching in admiration.
“That was amazing. So clean and precise.”
Following his praise, the others chimed in.
“I thought this during the midterm exam, but how did your skills improve this much? It’s crazy.”
“Sunwoo usually doesn’t show his true skills.”
Yoon Hayoung smiled as she spoke.
“…Let’s go.”
The dungeon exploration proceeded swiftly without any major obstacles.
This was thanks not only to Lee Seo-jun but also to my own performance and Yoon Hayoung’s contributions.
After about an hour of slaying monsters, we arrived at a dead-end passage.
“What the? The path is blocked?”
“Where are we?”
“Is this some kind of barrier? There’s gotta be a hidden door somewhere.”
We had finally arrived.
This was the starting point of today’s ‘small incident’ in the dungeon exploration.
I carefully examined the wall.
Thanks to the Outsider’s Blessing, I spotted a faintly glowing pattern.
Looking closely, I noticed a small magic circle drawn on the wall.
In the original story, another extra in Lee Seo-jun’s group had discovered this magic circle. But since I had altered the lineup, no one else would find it now.
That meant I had to pretend to discover it myself.
“There’s something here.”
As I muttered, everyone’s attention turned to me.
“Oh? You’re right. It looks like a symbol of some sort.”
“Could this be the passage to the next area?”
Shin Jihyuk stepped closer to examine the pattern.
“It looks like a magic circle.”
Jung Jintae reached out to touch the magic circle, making me panic and shout at him.
“Stop!”
“Huh? Why?”
“You don’t touch magic circles carelessly. It could be a trap that kills you instantly.”
“R-Really?”
Frightened by my exaggerated warning, Jung Jintae stepped back.
Phew. That was close.
If he had touched it, my entire plan would have been ruined.
“I’ll take a look at it.”
I examined the magic circle.
Outsider’s Privilege activated, feeding information about the magic circle’s structure into my mind.
It was exactly as I remembered from the original.
This magic circle was a special portal leading to the dungeon’s ‘hidden stage.’
This artificial training dungeon had been remodelled from a previously conquered real dungeon. However, not all of its areas had been explored.
The premise of this episode was that there was still an undiscovered hidden stage that even the person who remodelled the dungeon didn’t know about.
Today, just like in the original, I planned to take Lee Seo-jun into this hidden location.
Of course, things would play out a little differently than in the original.
In the original story, the group had mistaken this portal for a regular passage and all held hands before activating it, transporting everyone together.
But I had no intention of bringing unnecessary people along.
For the hidden stage, just me and Lee Seo-jun would be enough.
I wasn’t about to share the dungeon’s rewards with anyone else.
The problem was that I needed to be holding onto Lee Seo-jun when I pressed the magic circle.
Now, how was I going to make that happen?
…Ah, whatever.
“Lee Seo-jun, come here for a second.”
“Hm?”
At my words, Lee Seo-jun approached me.
I casually grabbed his arm.
“Let’s just press it and see.”
“Wait, what—?”
Ignoring his protests, I pressed the magic circle with my finger.
Immediately, a brilliant light flooded the dungeon.
That light engulfed both Lee Seo-jun and me.
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