The enormous snake that appeared outside the base had a size comparable to a disaster-class magical beast.
Each time the snake’s massive body moved, a thunderous roar echoed, and the ground trembled.
Each team’s assault unit immediately began preparing for battle.
Of course, since focusing solely on the snake could leave them vulnerable to attacks from other teams, the defense and support units stayed behind to guard the assault team.
—Sssss!
Thus began the battle against the giant magical beast.
Countless spells struck the snake’s body precisely, but none could pierce its tough skin.
It was proof that the snake had the durability of a field boss.
Meanwhile, Shin Young-joon, attacking the snake to earn points, couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
What kind of confidence did Team B have to send only Kim Sunwoo into the base?
No matter how good Kim Sunwoo was at strategy exams, sending him alone against the ace members of two other teams was a gamble.
If they had at least sent in Lee Seo-jun, or even Jang Soo-yeon with him, they would have had a much better chance.
With those two’s skills, they would surely be stronger than the other teams’ ace duos.
And then, there was something else bothering him—Lee Seo-jun’s last words.
—Kim Sunwoo said to just focus on racking up team points out here.
In other words, Team B’s seemingly irrational movements were part of Kim Sunwoo’s strategy.
What kind of strategy could it be…
“Ah.”
In that moment, Shin Young-joon realized what Kim Sunwoo’s plan was.
There was no other explanation for Team B’s movements.
He immediately turned his gaze to Lee Seo-jun.
“Lee Seo-jun.”
At Shin Young-joon’s call, Lee Seo-jun paused his fight with the snake and looked at him.
“What?”
“You’re giving up on taking the base and going all-in on the external events, aren’t you?”
“What?”
“You guys know you can’t hold the base even if you take it, so you’re trying to monopolize the external event points instead. Am I right?”
Team B had far fewer mages specializing in AOE magic compared to the other teams.
That meant even if they did capture the stronghold, it would be very difficult for them to hold it.
If they captured it, they’d have to defend it against two teams at once—and Team B simply couldn’t manage that.
It was, in a way, the obvious choice.
The only lingering question was: if they were going to give up on the stronghold, why did Kim Sunwoo enter it?
That was probably to prepare for any unexpected variables inside the stronghold.
“……”
Lee Seo-jun fell silent for a moment at Shin Young-joon’s words.
He immediately understood what Shin Young-joon was getting at.
Indeed, given that B Team lacked AOE magic and was at a disadvantage in defending the base, this was a strategy more suited to their circumstances.
However, based on the subtle meaning in Kim Sunwoo’s words the night before, it was clear he had no intention of giving up the base.
And if he had planned to give it up from the start, he wouldn’t have entered the base at all—he would have stayed out here.
Now Lee Seo-jun found himself wondering too.
What on earth was Kim Sunwoo thinking?
He soon cleared his thoughts and turned back to Shin Young-joon.
“Think what you want.”
[You have entered the base.]
[Real-time Location Status]
[1st Floor: Kim Chang-hyun, Jeon Min-gi, Kim Sunwoo, Choi Seo-yoon, Yoo Ara]
As I entered the base, I noticed the overhead digital display lighting up the dark corridor.
It was a real-time monitor that roughly showed where each person inside the stronghold was located.
From Team A, Kim Chang-hyun and Jeon Min-gi had entered.
From Team C, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara were inside.
They were each team’s leader and ace.
“Just as expected.”
Since failing to secure the base came with massive drawbacks compared to the benefits of taking it, this result was inevitable.
I glanced away from the monitor and looked down the end of the corridor.
Pitch-black darkness.
It was eerie—like some ghost or monster might suddenly pop out.
“…Feels creepy going alone.”
If I had known it’d be like this, I would’ve brought someone with me.
[Your eyes are adapting to the darkness!]
Just then, my Evolution and Adaptation trait activated, and I began to fainty see through the darkness ahead.
Fortunately, there were no ghosts or monsters.
Still, I couldn’t let my guard down.
In this world, even if ghosts aren’t real, monsters can appear at any moment.
Just as I was about to walk down the corridor—
“Oh, right.”
I remembered the hidden secret on the first floor.
It was the illusion magic that made people repeat the same path endlessly.
I immediately used Illusion Severance.
[Activation Effect: ‘Illusion Severing’ has been triggered.]
Whoosh!
At the same time, the view before me changed.
A hidden passage appeared beside a single intersection.
“Heh. Too easy.”
I let out a light chuckle and entered the secret passage. It, too, was a long stretch of dark corridor.
To conquer the base, I needed to take control of the “Control Room” at the very top on the 5th floor.
Naturally, that meant I had to find the stairs.
Think of it like climbing a tower.
As I kept walking down the corridor, something moving in the darkness caught my eye.
Thanks to Evolution and Adaptation, I could see it clearly even in the shadows.
A beast’s face.
Large leathery wings sprouting from its back.
It looked to be about 220 cm tall.
A Black Guardian Gargoyle.
—Grrr…
Maybe because I had used my “Silent Steps” trait to suppress both sound and presence, the gargoyle hadn’t noticed me approaching.
I had activated the trait for situations like this—definitely the right call.
I reached my hand toward the creature.
The gargoyle’s defining trait was its agility—on par with an A-rank enhancement-type mage.
If it turned into a one-on-one fight, things could get annoying. I had to take it down before it noticed me.
Fortunately, its one weakness was its low defense. A quick spell, even if briefly cast, could land a critical blow.
Whooo…
I gathered mana.
A few dots of mana formed at my fingertips and soon merged into an orb.
And the moment the orb was fully formed—
I fired it immediately.
Bang—!
The orb shot forward, brightly illuminating the dark corridor.
As expected, the gargoyle sensed the mana and reacted quickly, trying to dodge.
But I didn’t plan to let it escape.
I instantly used Grasp of Nature to grasp its leg tightly.
My grip strength wasn’t that great, but it only needed to confuse the beast.
—Screee!?
KABOOM—!
[You have defeated the Gargoyle guarding the base.]
[You earned 50 personal points.]
[Achievement Unlocked: ‘Silent Monster Assassin’]
[You earned 2,000 points as a reward.]
“Whew.”
That was easier than I thought.
As I approached the gargoyle’s corpse, it gradually crumbled into dust, leaving behind a small key.
━━
[Key to the 2nd Floor Made of Mystery]
Description: Inject mana to unlock the door to the 2nd floor of the stronghold.
━━
“Finally, the second floor.”
It was a more anticlimactic ending than I expected.
I immediately gripped the key and injected mana into it.
At the same time, a bright light burst from the key, and a dimensional gate opened in the empty space, forming a staircase.
“Shall we go?”
I climbed the stairs.
Meanwhile, Choi Seo-yoon and Yoo Ara were still wandering around the first floor.
They still hadn’t realized that an illusion spell had been cast on it.
About fifteen minutes had passed like that.
Choi Seo-yoon began to sense something was off.
“Don’t you think we’ve been walking around the same spot this whole time?”
Yoo Ara nodded at her words.
“Yeah. I felt it too.”
“Isn’t this some kind of illusion spell? Something’s weird.”
The sense of endlessly walking around the same place was strong evidence that the first floor was under an illusion spell.
If so, they had to hurry and break the illusion barrier.
But Yoo Ara didn’t have much talent outside of manifestation-type magic.
She had scored high in exams related to illusions, but that was only because she used her own unique method, not a traditional one.
Yoo Ara turned her gaze to Choi Seo-yoon.
“Can you dispel the illusion?”
“No. I can use some support-type magic, but I haven’t learned anything related to illusions yet.”
Of course.
Even if Choi Seo-yoon was ranked first, she was still a first-year.
At that age, she was just beginning to learn the basics of magic, so it was natural that she couldn’t handle illusion spells yet.
“……Then I guess there’s only that method.”
“That method?”
Choi Seo-yoon looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Step back. As far as you can.”
Choi Seo-yoon did as she was told and backed away.
Yoo Ara glanced at her, then spread her arms wide.
At the same time, a surge of powerful mana began to erupt from her body.
Fwoooosh!
Multiple fireballs floated above her head.
Choi Seo-yoon opened her mouth in surprise when she saw them.
“S-Sunbae? What are you—”
“If I can’t dispel the illusion, I’ll just blow it up!”
As soon as Yoo Ara spoke, the fireballs she had conjured rained down in all directions through the hallway.
Boom! Boom! Booooom!
Explosions continued to erupt.
It was a rather brute-force approach, but it was a special method that only someone like Yoo Ara—who specialized in area attacks—could pull off.
By blasting magic everywhere like this, she could potentially destroy the hidden device maintaining the illusion spell.
And then—
Her crude tactic worked.
Whether because the continuous area attacks damaged the illusion device or not, the scenery before them began to change.
“There we go.”
Yoo Ara smiled in satisfaction.
She worried briefly that she might’ve looked a bit reckless in front of her junior, but since the result was good, it didn’t matter.
Pointing to a hidden corridor revealed in the darkness, Yoo Ara spoke.
“That way.”
Choi Seo-yoon stared at Yoo Ara in shock.
She already knew Yoo Ara’s magical style and that she had practically unlimited mana, but seeing it in person was far more destructive and intense than expected.
‘……She just smashed the illusion spell?’
The current evaluation of Yoo Ara in the public eye was that if not for Lee Seo-jun, she would be called the most gifted genius of her generation.
This second-year class was referred to as a “legendary generation” not just because of Lee Seo-jun, but because of the presence of an equally monstrous second-in-command—Yoo Ara.
But Choi Seo-yoon, top of the first-years, hadn’t wanted to admit that.
She was proud of her own generation and believed they were competitive with the upper years.
But now, after witnessing Yoo Ara’s magic, her perspective had changed.
This second-year generation really was full of monsters.
Not just Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ara—but geniuses like Luke and Lily Rose abroad as well.
“What are you thinking about?”
Yoo Ara’s voice snapped Choi Seo-yoon out of her thoughts.
“O-Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s hurry.”
“Yeah? Then let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Choi Seo-yoon responded with energy.
And so, Yoo Ara and Choi Seo-yoon headed toward the hidden room.
Then, Yoo Ara suddenly became curious about the current status of the base.
She turned on her smart student notebook, and a real-time status board linked to the base appeared.
[Real-Time Location]
[1st Floor: Kim Chang-hyun, Jeon Min-gi, Choi Seo-yoon, Yoo Ara]
[2nd Floor: Kim Sunwoo]
The result she expected appeared on screen.
“…Of course it’s Kim Sunwoo.”
Yoo Ara murmured quietly.
Though she was highly competitive, her expression didn’t show any frustration.
Seeing that, Choi Seo-yoon felt a sudden curiosity.
“Um, sunbae?”
Yoo Ara turned her head at the call.
“Why do you think Kim Sunwoo sunbae is the only one who entered the base?”
“Because he’s unmatched in this kind of exam.”
Choi Seo-yoon nodded at her words.
It was already well-known that Kim Sunwoo had outstanding ability in this type of challenge.
“Hm. But even if Team B captures the base, defending it won’t be easy.”
“True. They don’t really have anyone good at AOE magic.”
Muttering to herself, Yoo Ara spoke again.
“Still, we can’t let our guard down. With Kim Sunwoo around, you never know what kind of variable he’ll bring.”
At those words, Choi Seo-yoon was struck by another question.
“Sunbae, how strong do you think Kim Sunwoo is compared to the rest of the second years worldwide?”
It was a question she’d had for a long time.
Exactly where did Kim Sunwoo rank on a global scale?
If anyone knew, it would be Yoo Ara, who had watched his magic closely for a long time.
“When I saw the video from the last captain match, he seemed just slightly behind Lee Seo-jun sunbae.”
“Hm…”
That fight—Lee Seo-jun vs. Kim Sunwoo—was considered one of the highlights of the first midterm team battle.
Yoo Ara hadn’t watched it live because she had been too focused on her own match.
But afterward, due to all the buzz, she had gone back to watch a replay of their battle.
At that time, Kim Sunwoo had shown signs of being slightly overpowered by Lee Seo-jun.
Of course, there were moments when he did something strange—like casually kicking Lee Seo-jun mid-battle—but that didn’t last.
As if he had awakened, Lee Seo-jun began overpowering Kim Sunwoo with incredible speed and force.
Had a teammate not interfered, Kim Sunwoo likely would have lost.
At least, that’s what the footage suggested.
And most people who saw the fight concluded the same thing:
Kim Sunwoo was unexpectedly skilled, but still no match for Lee Seo-jun.
But—
Yoo Ara knew a behind-the-scenes detail about that battle that no one else did.
“…During that captain match. Lee Seo-jun told me Kim Sunwoo was holding back.”
At her quiet whisper, Choi Seo-yoon’s eyes widened.
“What? Kim Sunwoo sunbae held back against Lee Seo-jun sunbae?”
“Yeah. Lee Seo-jun said so himself.”
Choi Seo-yoon was shaken.
She already knew that Kim Sunwoo’s skills were greater than what was publicly known.
But even so, she thought he was still below Lee Seo-jun, a globally renowned genius.
Yet he had held back against him?
Which meant…
“You’re saying Kim Sunwoo sunbae is actually above Lee Seo-jun sunbae?”
Yoo Ara shook her head, then answered seriously.
“I don’t know. But I do think Kim Sunwoo isn’t behind him in any way.”
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