I got into school for nothing - 9
I got into school for nothing (9)
Lesson 3. This is Your Pet - 1
The very instant he was dragged into the secret room, Ban Yuwon put on a display of pill bug imitation that surpassed Rucell's earlier attempt.
It was a desperate, life-saving maneuver to protect his head and heart amidst a sudden ambush!
—You may look directly. My true form is not here.
But the Chancellor's voice, drifting from right in front of him, instantly broke his defensive posture.
Ban Yuwon lifted his head and cautiously peered forward.
Sitting on a desk was a doll devoid of any life.
Yes, an ugly scarecrow doll was sitting there, possessing its own will.
...Though the doll's mouth did not move at all.
"Principal... no, Chancellor?"
—Ban Yuwon, I grant you permission to address me as Master.
Judging by the tone, he sounded less like a normal master and more like a Dark Flame Master or something similar.
Ban Yuwon suppressed the urge to retort and nodded his head.
"Understood, Master."
—Then I suppose I must explain why I summoned you.
"Ah, yes, sir."
—Ordinarily, I do not interfere with the growth of students.
It was a roundabout way of speaking, circling the main point.
However, Ban Yuwon had surmised that the Chancellor would employ such rhetoric, so he listened in silence.
—Whether they are weak or strong, I leave them be. I do not care if they perish in the Tower, or if they survive to claim power and honor.
Then why was he the Chancellor?
He heard the answer immediately, without needing to ask.
—My sole purpose is to witness with my own eyes the one who reaches the end of the Tower. All other beings, whether weak or strong, ugly or beautiful, evil or good, are utterly without value.
At that, Ban Yuwon couldn't help but ask.
"The Tower... what is it?"
Ban Yuwon was convinced that it was Earth's Tower of Babel, a building rightfully owned by the Ban family, descendants of his ancestor.
He had also heard from his grandfather that if they reclaimed the Tower of Babel, they could regain all the family's power and glory.
That notion was already half-engraved in his mind, and though he hadn't truly expected it, the moment he faced the Tower, he resolved to risk his life to climb it.
But for the Chancellor? And for other students, what was the Tower of Babel?
—The Tower is a path to the gods and a trial. That is why I do not interfere with the students' arduous journeys.
The Chancellor replied succinctly.
Curiously, hearing his words, Ban Yuwon felt a sense of "I suppose so."
According to his ancestor's tales, they possessed abilities almost on par with gods, didn't they?
Moreover, the Tower of Babel, once on Earth, had somehow arrived in this inexplicable dimension.
If the God's Seat awaited at the end of the Tower, then he could only accept it...
—However.
If the Chancellor's words had ended there, there would have been no reason for Ban Yuwon to be summoned.
—However, this time I have decided to make an exception.
"Oh..."
—Because I saw potential in you. The greatest potential I have ever witnessed.
The doll sitting on the desk floated into the air and met Ban Yuwon's gaze.
—A fragile body, yet a spirit surprisingly unyielding. It perfectly reveals your boundless potential.
"..."
—However, the instability of your body and spirit will provoke others in an undesirable way, and if left as is, interference will surely come before you can fully blossom. That, I could not bear to watch.
The doll extended a hand and pointed at the pendant hanging around Ban Yuwon's neck, causing it to vibrate faintly.
Soon, a change occurred in the flow of the pendant's internal strings of characters.
Even though Ban Yuwon didn't fully comprehend it yet, he silently observed everything, engraving it into his mind.
After an unknown period, when the pendant finally settled, the Chancellor spoke.
—However, this is not assistance for climbing the Tower. I have merely taken some measures to prepare you for climbing the Tower.
"What is it?"
—I have granted you the authority to explore external dungeons.
"External? Are you referring to outside the Academy?"
—Indeed.
In this world where Union Academy is located, there exist things called dungeons.
Special underground caverns, similar to the dungeon Ban Yuwon had cleared for his practical exam, teeming with monsters and traps, maintained by a dungeon core.
Their numbers were quite vast, but frankly, their difficulty wasn't high enough for Academy students to bother with them, so the Chancellor occasionally employed people to clear them on a large scale or used them for the practical evaluations of newly admitted students.
—I have added a function to your student ID that allows you to explore external dungeons and teleport to them. Use this to diligently explore dungeons and hone your skills until you enter the Tower.
"Ah...!"
Only then did Ban Yuwon finally realize that the Chancellor had shown him great consideration.
Even with great potential, Ban Yuwon was still at a level that held back his classmates.
The Chancellor had allowed him to explore lower-difficulty dungeons to grow his abilities, even if only slightly, before entering the Tower.
—Of course, external dungeons are not necessarily easy or safe. You must ensure your own safety.
"I don't expect that much."
Ban Yuwon had no intention of swinging his sword at scarecrows, and in any case, external dungeons were generally less difficult than the Tower.
For Ban Yuwon, at this moment, the conditions were perfectly suitable.
—If you chant the incantation, you can immediately teleport to a dungeon, and after exploring it, chanting the incantation again will return you to your original location.
"Ah..."
This method, too, somehow sounded familiar.
However.
—Remember the incantation: 'Drown in endless darkness.'
The incantation itself was even more severely problematic than Professor Yumina's!
—Now go. Ban Yuwon, move forward without ceasing.
"Thank you, Master."
Ban Yuwon, unable to bring himself to ask for a different incantation, simply bowed his head and withdrew.
As he did, the Chancellor added one more remark.
—If your results are excellent, I will unlock the next authority.
"The next authority?"
—Solo Exploration of the Tower.
At the completely unexpected words, Ban Yuwon sharply raised his head.
—Then I look forward to our next meeting.
But at that moment, the Chancellor gave an order to expel his guest, and Ban Yuwon was flung out of the room as if someone had violently yanked him by the back of his head.
However, he didn't tumble to the ground, because something soft and fragrant had caught Ban Yuwon from behind.
"How was your meeting with the Chancellor?"
"Professor?!"
Ban Yuwon, flustered, pulled away from Yumina.
Yumina, however, seemed unfazed.
"The Chancellor always dismisses guests that way. They have a peculiar personality."
"I'm sorry."
"I was waiting here specifically to catch you, Ban Yuwon."
Yumina, who smiled mischievously, making it unclear if she was joking, suddenly turned her gaze to the pendant on his chest, her eyes sparkling with surprise.
"It seems the Chancellor has great expectations for you, Ban Yuwon. An external access permit."
"They told me to quickly improve my lacking skills by exploring external dungeons."
"That's a good approach. But please be as careful as possible. The areas outside the Academy are beyond our surveillance."
"I will bear that in mind."
"Oh, right."
Yumina clapped her hands, as if something had just occurred to her.
"If you have time after exploring dungeons, it wouldn't be a bad idea to visit the city outside."
"Oh."
"After all, the food and drinks inside the Academy, whether at the cafeteria or convenience store, tend to be predictable and tiresome. And they don't sell alcohol. Can you believe they don't sell alcohol?"
Ban Yuwon felt like he knew what Yumina wanted.
"Should I buy you some alcohol? Though it would be limited to if there's a shopping area near the dungeon that I can walk to..."
"Thank you! Then, could I ask you for a favor?"
Yumina, who readily accepted his half-joking offer, chanted an incantation in an alien language.
"The priests of the Spring Shrine, who serve the god of spring, still brew fruit wine to be consumed during their fasting period. Among them, the Honey Moon from the Spring Shrine in Ronica is famous for its fantastic fruit aroma, abundant foam, and a sticky yet refreshing aftertaste. If you go to Ronica, could you please get me just two bottles of that?"
With those words, Yumina took something from her pocket and strode over to Ban Yuwon, hanging it on his chest.
Ban Yuwon, still dumbfounded by the sudden approach and retreat of the floral scent, came to his senses and realized it was a gem brooch carved in the shape of a magnificent flower petal.
"If you wear this, they'll give you the alcohol. While you're at it, get some snacks and other things too. With this, everything will be taken care of."
Yumina winked at Ban Yuwon.
It wasn't hard to realize that, after the Chancellor, Yumina was also bestowing excessive favor upon him.
"Thank you. Then, I'll be off."
"I hope you won't be too late."
Yumina gazed at him, grinning.
She seemed to be expecting him to leave immediately.
Of course, he had intended to.
The only problem was the incantation.
"Endless..."
"Endless?"
"En, en..."
"En-en?"
Unable to overcome his shame, Ban Yuwon muttered the incantation under his breath and cursed the Chancellor.
But the moment he gathered his courage to voice the incantation again, he realized his surroundings had already changed.
It was a dungeon.
'So I could just say it silently?!'
At that moment, as he was caught between the relief of not having created an embarrassing black mark in front of his supervising professor and the anger at the Chancellor for tricking him, something tapped his shoulder.
It was the Dokkaebi Club, which had been meekly subdued by the overwhelming presence of powerful individuals until now.
"Thank you, Club. Time to be alert."
He couldn't maintain a relaxed state of mind once he'd entered a dungeon filled with monsters, much less before entering it.
He opened his inventory and took out the longsword with a gleaming blue blade.
Executioner's Longsword [Magic Sword 12, Murder 19, Blood Poison 9]
A masterpiece created by collecting the energies of all sword-concept relics from the trunk and unifying them (any residual concepts that emerged during the process were all shoved into the Code Core).
Simply put, it was a hard, sharp sword imbued with magic, becoming even more lethal when facing human-shaped enemies, and a vicious sword that infused poison into the blood of any foe it wounded.
In Ban Yuwon's view, it was a far more powerful weapon than the Dokkaebi Club he had made during his practical exam, but artifacts with this level of ability weren't particularly rare. Thus, it was difficult to consider it a weapon that fully utilized Ban Yuwon's Authority.
'My armor is also solid.'
Among the relics his grandfather had brought, there weren't many with a defensive concept.
However, there were quite a few items with the concept of a talisman that could deflect crises on behalf of the wearer, and Ban Yuwon extracted all those concepts and bestowed them upon his school uniform.
As a result, his school uniform's defense surpassed that of even decent armor.
"Shall we go then!"
Still, Ban Yuwon took his steps with quite a bit of swagger, as this was his second exploration.
Whoosh, the Dokkaebi Club menacingly cut through the air, escorting him.
At that moment, several arrows shot from down the corridor and rained down upon him!
"No, this is a bit different from what I imagined?!"
Ban Yuwon hastily recoiled, and the Dokkaebi Club, startled, spun wildly in the air, deflecting the arrows.
"Humans!"
"Weak humans... how long has it been!"
The monsters that soon revealed themselves were indeed the goblins he had fought against during his practical exam not long ago.
But these ones weren't blind, and most importantly, every single one of them held crude bows and arrows in their hands!
For Ban Yuwon, who had hoped to test the strength of the swordsmanship he had diligently trained all night with his sister, encountering a dungeon right at the entrance, filled with cowardly monsters wielding bows, was nothing short of a demoralizing experience.
"Fire!"
"The weak human has no shield! Tonight, we feast on human skewers!"
The goblins chattered noisily among themselves, drawing their bowstrings.
However, it would be a miscalculation to think that Ban Yuwon had entered the dungeon relying solely on a single sword.
"Club."
He was well aware that his greatest weapon was the miraculously born spirit-artifact, the Dokkaebi Club.
The two days spent on Earth had been a period of self-improvement through training, and simultaneously, a research period to maximize the Dokkaebi Club's potential.
"Transform."
Ban Yuwon declared.
The Dokkaebi Club, floating in the air, rapidly compressed into a sphere, then, in the next instant, transformed into a firearm familiar to anyone who had served in the military.
More precisely, it should be called a magic gun and simultaneously a ghost gun.
"Open fire!"
—Dudududududududu
The moment Ban Yuwon's command fell, the Dokkaebi Club, now transformed into a shape that could no longer be called a club, unleashed dozens of magic bullets at the goblins.
It was the moment the concept of 'Conversion' (變換), which Ban Yuwon had acquired from countless slime toys he had collected and dismantled with his family's help, shone brightly!
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