The final room on the first floor of the dungeon.
The boss monster, a massive wolf, collapsed to the floor with a single slash of Lee Seo-jun’s sword.
Jung Jintae, who had been watching the battle from behind, stared in awe, his mouth agape.
“Wow. He just takes down a boss monster like it’s a regular one.”
At his murmured remark, I nodded in agreement. It was indeed impressive.
The massive wolf wasn’t classified as a particularly high-ranking monster, but it was still the boss of the first floor. Yet Lee Seo-jun defeated it in a single stroke.
If I hadn’t already known him, I wouldn’t have believed he was an 18-year-old student.
[Team 3 clears the first floor of the dungeon!]
[Week 1 Final Ranking — 2nd Place]
“Huh? We’re in second place.”
“Awesome! We’re second!”
Yoon Hayoung and Jung Jintae, who were used to much lower rankings, were ecstatic to see their team place second.
In contrast, Lee Seo-jun’s expression remained complex, and Shin Jihyuk seemed indifferent, absentmindedly staring at the massive wolf’s corpse.
“It really was a massive wolf.”
Muttering to himself, Shin Jihyuk glanced at me hesitantly. His earlier confidence was nowhere to be seen, leaving him looking somewhat discouraged.
Well, after being thoroughly outperformed by the lowest-ranked student in his specialty—barrier disarmament—it was no surprise his pride had taken a hit.
[Dungeon Exploration Concludes]
[All students, please gather at the designated assembly point.]
As the dungeon exploration class ended, all the students gathered near the dungeon’s entrance.
Looking around, it was evident that exhaustion was written all over their faces. I felt drained too.
Spending an entire day on practical training was bound to leave anyone tired.
“Alright! Great work, everyone. Today must have been tough, especially dealing with the numerous monsters on the first floor. Make sure to manage your condition for tomorrow’s classes,” Instructor Jang Ancheol announced.
The students, enveloped in fatigue, barely responded, but Jang Ancheol didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t prolong his speech.
As I half-heartedly listened to him, I opened my student notebook to check the rankings.
[Current Dungeon Exploration Rankings]
[1st Place ― Team 7 / 4 hours 11 minutes 22 seconds]
[2nd Place ― Team 3 / 4 hours 42 minutes 52 seconds]
[3rd Place ― Team 5 / 4 hours 44 minutes 05 seconds]
…
Today’s ranking ultimately ended at second place.
But I wasn’t satisfied.
Despite breaking the first-floor barrier faster than any other team, we couldn’t claim first place, and the gap with Shin Young-joon’s Team 5 was a mere minute.
At this rate, there was even a chance we might lose second place to them during the next exploration.
Fortunately, there was still ample time before the dungeon exploration class concluded.
With sessions held once a week over two months, we had seven more opportunities ahead.
Seven chances were enough to not only maintain second place but also climb to first.
Looking to my side, I noticed Yoo Ara glancing at Lee Seo-jun from afar.
Even though her team ranked first, she didn’t seem particularly happy.
Well, with so much of the dungeon exploration left, it was too early to celebrate. Anything could happen.
“Still, it’s thanks to you we placed second,” came a voice from beside me.
I turned my head to see Lee Seo-jun looking at me. His words were clearly directed at me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Thanks to me? Not really.”
“No, seriously. If you hadn’t disarmed that barrier so quickly, we would’ve been much slower. That alone saved us at least 30 minutes.”
Hearing him say that left me with little room to argue. Compliments weren’t something I was used to, and they made me feel awkward.
“Well, that’s all I did.”
“That was more than enough. Honestly, I intentionally formed this team to maximize the adjustment points. You’ve done more than your share—no, you’ve exceeded it.”
Lee Seo-jun gave me a modest smile.
“If anything, it’s me who didn’t do enough. I should’ve used that opportunity to secure first place or at least widen the gap with third.”
“Hey, the dungeon exploration just started. If you’re going to beat yourself up, do it at the end of the semester.”
At my words, Lee Seo-jun smiled.
“You’re right. There’s still plenty of time.”
“Man, I’m exhausted.”
Finally done with the day’s schedule, I returned to the dormitory.
As soon as I entered, I felt all my strength drain away. Moving sluggishly, I collapsed onto my bed.
The softness of the sheets enveloped me, and my body went limp as my eyes grew heavy.
Ah, this is bliss. If only time could stop right now.
“Hmmm…”
Lying there absentmindedly, my thoughts drifted to today’s dungeon exploration.
To call it Lee Seo-jun’s one-man show wouldn’t be an exaggeration—he practically handled all the monsters on his own.
Sure, I contributed by disarming the barrier, but it paled in comparison to what he had done.
Still, as the dungeon levels descend, there will come a point where even Lee Seo-jun can’t handle everything by himself.
Stronger monsters await the deeper floors, after all.
“Why did he form the team like this?”
In the original storyline, Lee Seo-jun’s team included three mid-ranked students and Yoon Hayoung.
That balanced composition had allowed them to take first place easily in the first week.
But with my interference, the team composition had changed, and we ended up in second place.
I couldn’t help but worry if this change would ripple into the future.
Still, there was no use regretting it now. After all, I had left the team composition up to Lee Seo-jun in the first place.
“Ugh.”
Maybe I should check how much mana I’ve accumulated.
[Activating unique trait: ‘Outsider’s Privilege.’]
[Displaying current stats.]
━━
[Stats]
Stamina: 44.09
Strength: 34.05
Magic: 24.4
Speed: 30.04
Reflexes: 32.02
Dexterity: 28
━━
“…It’s ridiculously slow.”
Despite steady growth, every time I checked my stats, an inexplicable impatience crept in. Maybe it was because I had experienced extensive magic power in my previous life.
No, more importantly, if I couldn’t increase my magic power quickly, breaking through other achievements would also take longer, and that was frustrating.
“…Should I start clearing easy achievements one by one?”
After all, nothing worked better for getting stronger than earning points. And for earning points, there was nothing like achievements.
Sure, I could gain points through the fame system, but the conditions for that were tricky and involved a lot of complicated politics.
Alright, let’s start with easy achievements.
Easy achievements…
What were they again?
I sat up on the bed and opened the memo app on my smart student notebook.
Right, let’s organize them one by one.
Late at night, long past the end of the workday, two female teachers were still in the faculty room. They sat in their chairs, watching a video.
“Huh? That’s Kim Sunwoo?”
“Yes. Even I was surprised when I saw it.”
The video was footage from the dungeon exploration training for 2nd-year Class A earlier that day.
On the screen, Kim Sunwoo was using magic to dismantle a barrier. About a minute into the video, the barrier’s form began to dissolve, and it disappeared entirely in what seemed like no time.
“No way. This has to be edited, right?”
Kim Yunjin, a support magic teacher, muttered in disbelief as she watched the footage.
No matter how skilled someone was at barrier-breaking magic, dismantling a barrier at that speed was nearly impossible.
“Why would I bother editing this? Look, let’s watch it again.”
Lee Hee-young rewound the video to the moment where Kim Sun-woo touched the ground and began to deactivate the barrier.
“It took exactly 1 minute and 14 seconds. From when he placed his hand down to completely dismantling it. Isn’t that incredible?”
In response, Kim Yunjin stared at her colleague in disbelief.
“Incredible? Lee Hee-young, you probably don’t know much about support magic, but this isn’t just incredible. This is… beyond logic. It’s just… impossible.”
Lee Hee-young blinked, surprised by the unexpected reaction.
“…Wait, is it really that impressive?”
“Of course! Even a highly skilled support mage would need at least three minutes to dismantle a barrier like that. And I’m talking about someone at an S-rank level—nothing less.”
That much?
Lee Hee-young, whose main interest lay in manifestation magic, had no idea this feat was so extraordinary.
“Come on, aren’t you exaggerating? Maybe the school just made the barriers easy to break for the assignment.”
“That barrier? I installed it myself. And I didn’t make it that easy to dismantle. That kid has a natural gift for interpreting magical formulas.”
“…I didn’t expect it to be that significant.”
Lee Hee-young muttered, dazed.
At that moment, Kim Yunjin, as if making a firm decision, spoke in a resolute tone.
“That kid. He needs to come to the support division.”
“What?”
“Kim Sun-woo. He’s in the manifestation division, right? Tomorrow, I’ll persuade him to change his specialization.”
“Persuade him to change his specialization? To support magic?”
“Of course. With a talent like that…”
“That’s not right.”
Lee Hee-young’s voice turned cold.
“Excuse me? Didn’t you just hear what I said? That kid has an unprecedented gift for support magic.”
“And who decides that? Sunwoo has talent in manifestation magic, too.”
“Manifestation magic? Sure, but in support magic, he’s on a whole other level. This isn’t just about talent—it’s a waste on a national scale to not have him in support magic!”
But Lee Hee-young, who loved manifestation magic deeply, couldn’t accept this. She stared directly at Kim Yunjin.
“Sunwoo has enough talent in manifestation magic. I’ve taught him myself, so I know.”
“Oh, really? Then why is he ranked last in the class?”
“What?”
Lee Hee-young stood abruptly.
What had started as a casual discussion about Kim Sun-woo’s training video had escalated into an emotional confrontation.
“You think he’s just a bottom-ranked student? He drained his magic while using compression casting! You didn’t even know that, so don’t act like you do!”
“Stop making things up. Even if what you say is true, talented manifestation mages are everywhere. But talented support mages? They’re rare.”
“What did you say? Talented manifestation mages are everywhere?”
Lee Hee-young glared at Kim Yunjin with fiery eyes.
Kim Yunjin returned the glare, unwavering.
“Well, I’m not wrong. Manifestation magic is pretty straightforward, isn’t it?”
“You…”
“Me?”
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