Ruins, Basement Level 3.
A flash of pure white light burst forth, and another treasure chest appeared.
I opened the chest and tucked the mana stone into my coat.
That brought my total count to thirteen.
“Too easy.”
Since I’d swept away all the artifacts in this ruin, the other students were probably struggling right now.
Especially Lee Seo-jun.
Of all people, he had to enter the same ruin as me. He was probably dumbfounded, unable to collect much.
The guy was always ranked first, but his competitive spirit was no joke.
“Heh.”
I chuckled in satisfaction and kept moving.
At this rate, my first-place ranking for this class was secured…
“Now, it’s time to look for that.”
The hidden secret of this ruin.
The fact that the basement level 8 of this ruin was connected to other ruins.
And somewhere on that floor, there was a real ruin hidden away.
This artificial ruin was actually a modified version of a real ruin.
Just like with the artificial dungeon, this place had a hidden secret area.
Of course, this wasn’t a fully fleshed-out part of the original story.
All that was mentioned was that late at night, traces of looting were discovered in the ruins training field of the Mage Academy.
And that a few students had encountered individuals suspected of being tomb raiders.
Those looters would later reappear in the story.
Not just as simple grave robbers—but as villains.
By now, they were probably somewhere underground, searching for the ruin.
Since the plundered ruin was located on basement level 8, the first step was to find the staircase down.
“Now, where are the stairs?”
I scanned my surroundings.
“There they are.”
With long steps, I headed toward them.
“What the hell? This place is looted too!”
Lee Seo-jun stared at yet another empty treasure chest in disbelief.
That made it the fifth one.
He had spent over an hour wandering the ruins, yet he’d only managed to obtain two artifacts.
At this rate, he wouldn’t even place in the top twenty, let alone the top ten.
“…No way. Did Kim Sunwoo take them all?”
It was a serious suspicion.
The first treasure chest he had found in the ruins had already been looted by Kim Sunwoo.
And considering Kim Sunwoo’s ability to quickly disable barriers and his unpredictable utility skills, it was entirely possible that this was all his doing.
“Tsk. Should I look for a new ruin instead?”
He seriously considered it but then shook his head.
“How long would that take?”
Besides, even if he did find a new ruin, chances were high that it had already been ransacked by other students.
After all, quite some time had passed since the lesson had begun.
“Ugh.”
No choice.
He’d have to search harder in this area.
As he walked through the maze, he heard voices coming from the direction of the stairs leading further underground.
“Hey, is this the place?”
“Yeah, the device is reacting.”
Who were they?
The voices were unfamiliar.
And they sounded a bit too mature to be students.
“Keep your voice down. Someone might hear us.”
“Got it.”
From their conversation, it was clear they weren’t students.
Then, were they outsiders?
Who could they be?
Curious, Lee Seo-jun cautiously descended the stairs.
After about ten seconds, the voices fell silent.
“…What the hell?”
Driven by curiosity, he continued down.
Then, up ahead, he spotted a familiar figure.
“Kim Sunwoo?”
“Oh? Hey, we meet again.”
Kim Sunwoo looked slightly startled.
“What are you doing here?”
“…Looking for ruins.”
“Ruins?”
“I mean, artifacts. I misspoke.”
His hesitant response seemed suspicious, but Lee Seo-jun let it slide.
“Right, how many artifacts have you found?”
“Me? Thirteen.”
“…What? How many?”
For a moment, Lee Seo-jun thought he had misheard.
“Thirteen.”
“…So you really did take everything in this ruin.”
“Not everything. Just about half?”
“….”
Lee Seo-jun stared at him in disbelief.
Kim Sunwoo anxiously glanced around before speaking.
“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”
Then, with hurried steps, he disappeared somewhere.
Lee Seo-jun watched his retreating figure in a daze.
Thirteen artifacts.
That practically guaranteed first place.
What could possibly be keeping him so busy?
“…Wait. Thirteen means this place is completely cleaned out.”
Damn. I’m screwed.
With a groan, Lee Seo-jun rushed back up the stairs.
Upon reaching basement level 8, I walked straight ahead.
That unexpected run-in with Lee Seo-jun had wasted some time.
I needed to find the artifact before the looters did, but it seemed like they had already made it to basement level 8.
Of course, if I were strong enough to take them on, I wouldn’t need to worry about finding the artifact first—I could just fight them for it.
But there were two of them.
And judging by their presence alone, they were likely at least B-rank mages.
Fighting both of them alone would be a tough battle.
“Which way should I go?”
The ruin was structured like a maze.
There were multiple paths.
And multiple entrances to hidden areas.
Hearing the looters’ voices coming from the right, I figured taking the left path was the right choice.
I quietly proceeded along the left corridor, keeping my “Outsider’s Privilege” active in case anything changed around me.
“Huh?”
In the distance, a crude painting, slashed and covered in random streaks of paint, came into view.
“Could this be it?”
Even at a glance, it screamed suspicious.
But no magic circle was visible.
In cases like this, it was possible that a spell formation was concealed beneath another layer.
I ran my hand over the painting, wiping it away.
As the paint disappeared, a hidden magic circle was revealed.
“Found it.”
I thoroughly wiped the wall, erasing every last trace of the crude painting.
A fully intact magic formation emerged.
After making sure no one was watching, I disabled it.
Woooom…
The wall trembled as a hidden passage appeared.
“Nice.”
I stepped inside.
The dark ruin was lined with moss-covered stones.
It looked just like something out of an ancient ruin in a movie or game.
[‘Secret Ruin Discovered’ achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 3,000 points.]
[‘Noble Explorer’ achievement unlocked.]
[Reward: 2,000 points.]
Luckily, there were no signs of anyone else having entered yet.
It seemed I had arrived before the tomb raiders.
“But where’s the altar?”
I looked around.
The altar, where the ruins’ reward should be, was nowhere in sight.
At that moment, my eyes landed on a massive tree standing at the center of the ruins.
As if drawn to it, I approached the tree.
When I got closer and looked up at its branches, I saw a single golden peach hanging there.
━━
[Golden Immortal Peach (S)]
Category: Elixir
Description: Upon consumption, permanently increases stamina, strength, and agility by up to 15.
━━
“Holy sh—”
A curse slipped out the moment I saw it.
An S-grade elixir.
And not just any elixir—it could boost stamina, strength, and agility by 15.
“That’s insane. Insane. Insane.”
I kept muttering in disbelief as I stared at the Golden Immortal Peach.
But I didn’t pick it just yet.
The moment a reward was taken, the ruins’ ‘Guardian’ would awaken.
Guardians varied in strength depending on the ruins, but it was well known that they were generally stronger than most dungeon bosses.
Of course, I had prepared for this.
Then, it happened.
RUMBLE!
The ground shook violently.
“Whoa. This is it. We finally found it.”
“Damn, look at this place. So grand. I gotta take a picture.”
I quickly hid behind the tree.
The tomb raiders had found the ruins sooner than expected.
“Hmm. I don’t see an altar.”
“Yeah, where could it be?”
I discreetly used Insight to check their information.
━━
Name: Lee Chul-hee
Age: 32
Race: Human
Status: Amused
Magic Rank: B+
Interest Level: 0
━━
━━
Name: Kim Jang-won
Age: 31
Race: Human
Status: Nervous
Magic Rank: B+
Interest Level: 0
━━
Lee Chul-hee and Kim Jang-won.
Both were mages belonging to ‘Goldwin,’ a criminal guild.
Goldwin was one of many hidden magical crime syndicates in this world, secretly founded by Baek Eun-seong, a member of Jaun, for his own personal pleasures.
“We can handle the Guardian, right?”
“We can, but it’ll be a pain in the ass.”
I calmly waited for the right moment—the moment they moved away from the entrance.
‘Now!’
I plucked the Golden Immortal Peach from the tree.
Immediately, a powerful tremor surged through the ruins.
“Huh? What’s happening?”
“Why’s it shaking?”
The tomb raiders frantically looked around.
Then, from the dark corners of the ruins, a massive statue with glowing blue eyes emerged.
“T-The Guardian?”
“What the hell? We didn’t even take the reward item. Why is it moving already?”
“Screw it! Get ready for battle!”
The tomb raiders quickly drew their weapons.
Their attention was fully diverted.
Now was my only chance to escape.
Once the Guardian started moving, the ruins’ entrance would seal in ten seconds.
I used Air Walk and dashed toward the exit.
“Huh? Who’s that?!”
Hearing their voices behind me, I didn’t bother looking back.
They tried to chase after me, but the Guardian blocked their path.
‘Well, good luck with that.’
With that, I easily slipped out of the ruins.
Then—THUD!
The entrance slammed shut behind me.
“Phew.”
Peace returned once more.
Ahead of me was the same long labyrinth as before.
I glanced down at the Golden Immortal Peach in my hand, a satisfied smile formed in my lips.
“Heh.”
I never imagined I’d get my hands on an S-grade elixir.
Elixirs of this caliber never even appeared on the market.
And even if they did, they couldn’t be bought with money—only exchanged for with other rare items.
That’s the kind of treasure ruins offered.
I quietly chuckled and stored the peach in my subspace.
I wanted to consume it immediately, but a top-tier elixir like this wasn’t something to take lightly.
If I recklessly ingested it now, the surging energy could overwhelm me, making me pass out.
‘Better save it for later.’
“For now, I need to get back quickly.”
Stretching briefly, I checked my smart student planner.
It was 4:22 PM.
That meant… I had about eight minutes left.
“Wait.”
One of the most important conditions of this ruin training was returning on time.
Failing to make it back in time meant an automatic score of zero, regardless of how many artifacts were collected.
“Crap. I’m screwed.”
I sprinted through the labyrinth corridors.
After running nonstop, I barely made it back in time.
With only a minute to spare.
That was dangerously close.
If I had been even a little slower, my training score would have been zero.
As I arrived, the instructor glanced at me and said,
“Kim Sunwoo, that was cutting it close.”
“…Phew.”
I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
The sharp glares from the other students made it clear they weren’t pleased with my last-minute arrival.
“Now, Kim Sunwoo, submit the mana stones you collected.”
I reached into my coat and pulled out 13 mana stones, handing them over to Jang Ancheol.
The students gasped in shock.
“Whoa. How many is that? Looks like more than ten.”
“He cleared an entire ruin by himself.”
“Damn! Someone raided the ruin I went to. Was it him?!”
Even Jang Ancheol was visibly surprised.
“…Thirteen. That’s overwhelming. You’ve surprised me again.”
Muttering to himself, he soon spoke up again.
“Well done. You placed first. By a landslide.”
I had somewhat expected this result, so I wasn’t particularly excited or shocked.
“I’ll look forward to your performance in the next training. Now, return to your seat.”
“Yes.”
I walked back to where the students were gathered.
As soon as I did, Yoon Ha-young approached me eagerly.
“Whoa, Sunwoo! How did you find thirteen? I only got three.”
“What? Only three?”
“Yeah. I’m really bad at finding stuff. But how do you find them so fast?”
“Well… It’s all about observation.”
That’s what I said, but in truth, it wasn’t observation—it was the perks of being an outsider.
Without those perks, I probably would’ve found only six at best.
As I continued chatting with Yoon Hayoung, I suddenly felt someone staring at me.
Turning slightly, I saw Lee Seo-jun looking at me with a strange expression.
“What?”
“…I placed 13th this time. Thanks to you taking all the artifacts.”
Lee Seo-jun spoke with a defeated look.
His usually sharp expression was noticeably dazed—he must have taken quite the shock.
Well, it made sense.
For someone like him, who had likely never placed below 5th, this must have been a first.
“…Is that so?”
But I had no intention of comforting him.
A 1st-place student whining about their rank wouldn’t sit well with the 60th-place students.
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