I got into school for nothing - Chapter 156
I got into school for nothing (156)
Lesson 31. The last spoonful is always the most annoying - 6
"As expected, the Chain Room's environment completely transforms by the end."
Dokgo Yeon murmured, her eyes scanning their surroundings with interest.
Everywhere they looked, metal filled their vision.
This mechanical empire, formed solely of metal and wires, was so immersive that it would have been more believable to say the party had shrunk and entered a giant machine.
—All machines are strengthened by electrical power.
This phrase was added as a new Trick Room rule, but it was something they had already anticipated.
This meant that from now on, the lightning Rucell unleashed would not only fail to damage their enemies but would empower them further.
It was truly fortunate that they had read the signs in Room 93 and prepared in advance.
"Ban, can we really block it with this?"
As Light said, eyeing the rubber overshoes—or rather, rubber boots—that neatly covered his metal boots with a skeptical gaze.
He kept idly pulling and releasing them with his hand, seemingly enjoying the unique tactile sensation of rubber.
"Rubber is a prime example of an insulator. Of course, blocking Pikachu's million volts with rubber gloves is pure bullshit."
"What's a Pikachu?"
"It's, uh, something smaller and cuter than Rucell."
No matter how much insulation rubber possesses, every material has its limits.
If the voltage gets too high, the heat resistance will fail before the insulation, causing the rubber to burn.
"So, I haphazardly hammered in those two concepts."
Insulation, heat resistance.
Honestly, these two concepts are among the most common found in modern products. Modern people are sensitive about safety, after all.
As long as they wore the rubber boots, which had been generously imbued with those concepts, they should be able to easily block the currents flowing across the floor, even if they didn't know exactly how.
"Blocking currents... So, isn't this just an artifact?"
"Well, you could see it that way."
If there was one drawback to this perfect item, it was that everyone wearing it looked adorable.
With the four of them standing together amiably in their rubber boots, didn't they look just like a group of elementary schoolers on a picnic on a rainy day?
"Pfft..."
In particular, the sight of Dokgo Yeon, who always maintained a frosty expression, waddling around in the boots was art in itself, and Ban Yuwon couldn't hold back a laugh.
"...Ban Yuwon, you just laughed."
It was then that he heard the icy voice and realized whom he had just laughed at.
"No, I don't know what you're thinking, but no! It's just because you're too cute...!"
"What nonsense..."
Srrring. The chilling sound of Dokgo Yeon drawing her sword echoed.
However, before Ban Yuwon could be retired from the field, enemies thankfully appeared.
"You're lucky, Ban Yuwon."
"Unfair..."
Dokgo Yeon strode forward, pushing past Eve, who had transformed into a mechanized tank, Tikke, and the other mechanical familiars. The terrible killing intent emanating from her was recognizable even from her back.
However, wearing those rubber boots, there was still something undeniably cute about her...
"Ah, no. If I laugh again, I'll really be killed...!"
"Ahem. Yuwon, am I cute too?"
Rucell, who had recently been subtly keeping Dokgo Yeon in check, shrewdly appeared before him, almost blocking his view, and asked.
Rucell, being a woman with excellent physique and mature charm, made the sight of her in boots feel a little... niche.
"You're very cute, but... perhaps 12-rated, no, maybe 15-rated."
"Why?!"
"Rucell, we're in combat, so stop clinging to Ban."
"As Light, this is a crucial moment, so don't interfere...!"
The beginning was ordinary.
The significantly higher proportion of elite monsters compared to Room 93 was bothersome, but couldn't they also acquire valuable concepts from such foes?
The change arrived suddenly, in an instant.
"Ugh...?!"
It was none other than Ban Yuwon who first sensed the omen.
He felt a 'flow'.
A massive current of electricity, whose origin he couldn't pinpoint, was surging towards them.
—What kind of Room 94 is this? This is a field trap you'd only see around Room 400...
'It's almost nostalgic to hear that after so long.'
—Do you need help?
'Cellon has changed so much, it's hard to handle her now.'
‘We'll try it ourselves for now... but if my comrades are in danger, could you step in?’
—Alright. You really dote on them, don't you?
If they hadn't been wearing the rubber boots, they would have been electrocuted by this point.
Proof of this was the armored insects, now displaying a transformed aura.
Electricity had begun flowing across the field, already enhancing their power.
However, the same applied to his mechanical familiars.
But they had other weapons on their side too.
"Rucell, begin!"
"Understood!"
Rucell, who had been rampaging on the front lines, seemed to leap back, then jumped high into the sky.
Gwangjo flew in as if it had been waiting for her, and Rucell agilely landed on its back.
"Here I go!"
She unleashed all the stored lightning energy she had accumulated throughout the battle, never releasing it until now!
—Kiiiiiiiiii!
Gwangjo cried out, its sound amplified.
The powerful lightning energy focused on Gwangjo was then evenly distributed to all familiars currently on the battlefield through the concept of 'Resonance'!
—Kwaaaaaaa!
The previously even atmosphere instantly reversed, and Ban Yuwon's familiars began to overwhelm the armored insects in a single sweep.
As Light and Dokgo Yeon, who had been fighting frantically, were finally able to catch their breath and retreat.
"The difficulty must be truly immense; this is the first time my Level has increased from combat experience alone, with no other rewards."
"Mine went up too... We haven't even reached Room 100 yet, and it's already like this. Can we really keep climbing the Tower?"
"At least Ban Yuwon and I can."
Dokgo Yeon, having shaken off the oil and insect bodily fluids clinging to her short sword, turned and spoke.
There, she saw Ban Yuwon, standing silently in the middle of the battlefield, clad in his rubber boots, deeply focused.
She had no intention of questioning what he was doing in this urgent situation.
Because she could feel the explosive current flowing across the ground falter in his presence.
‘Indeed... he intended to use this as an opportunity for growth.’
Dokgo Yeon recalled the martial art Ban Yuwon aimed to achieve.
He perceived everything in the world through special symbols only he could recognize, and he sought to perfectly read and control the flow of those symbols.
If he could encounter and influence the flow of enormous concepts that didn't originate from him, it would aid not only the Giwon Sword but also the evolution of Hyunsingong.
‘However, Hyunsingong cannot evolve without an accompanying, different kind of enlightenment.’
Thus, he probably wouldn't be able to achieve the evolution of Hyunsingong within this Tower, even if he could with the Giwon Sword.
She knew this yet didn't tell Ban Yuwon, because if she were to carelessly reveal the secrets of martial arts, it could actually hinder his growth.
‘But it will be possible. No one has mastered Hyunsingong to this extent in such a short period.’
Just as she realized her discerning eyes had grasped something profound and was about to feel content, she remembered Ban Yuwon's nonsensical remark about her earlier.
While she was glad for her disciple's achievement as a master, she could not tolerate being teased.
If he wasn't teasing... though there was no way that could be true.
Then it was even less forgivable.
"...Dokgo Yeon, are you alright? Your eyes looked a bit strange just now."
"Ahem."
Dokgo Yeon cleared her throat and turned away.
There was no time to be lost in thought while watching Ban Yuwon.
Many enemies still remained to be slain, and Ban Yuwon, now out of her hands, would grow wildly on his own.
"Hup!"
—Swaaaah
She unleashed Or towards the armored insect, which was filling the ground, sucking up electricity, and spitting out sparks.
Then, as if nothing had happened, she spoke to As Light.
"At any rate, if you don't want to be left behind, you'll have to put in the effort. I'm getting tired of seeing you struggle with that sword of yours."
"Nothing unusual happened this expedition, though. I feel like I've crossed a line now, you know? Just you wait, I'll train intensely during the break and by the second semester, I'll have it perfectly under control...!"
"...Hmm, then was inviting Ban Yuwon to your dimension this vacation also for that special training?"
As Light was speechless.
Even as they spoke, the spear he had been swinging at the enemy suddenly lost its aim and drew circles in the air.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but his face seemed to be blushing.
"Uh, uh? Well, you see. Ban and I are close friends, so, that..."
"Never mind, no need to say it. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of appearance you'll make in the second semester."
Dokgo Yeon scoffed, swinging her sword to cut through a spider web that had flown towards her, and then bisected the armored pillars' bodies.
"Perhaps you'll show up in a dress."
"A dress?! That's weird, no, not that dresses are weird! But even if I wore something like that, Ban would..."
"Hmm? I'm not sure what Ban Yuwon has to do with this."
"Eh?!"
Dokgo Yeon lightly swung her sword, annihilating another group of armored insects, then tilted her head and replied.
Since her expression rarely changed to begin with, if she deliberately feigned ignorance, anyone would be fooled.
"Hey! That's because you just brought up Ban! I can't show a weird side to my friend, so I..."
"Friends, you say. With a face like that, and you still call yourselves friends."
Dokgo Yeon snorted.
"You should be grateful to Ban Yuwon for understanding and playing along with your lie. Otherwise, you might not have even become friends."
Even the thick-skinned As Light couldn't help but be dispirited by her scathing words.
Especially since he already felt guilty towards Ban Yuwon about that very thing.
But Dokgo Yeon's venomous remarks weren't usually this severe, and speaking at such length during combat was truly unlike her...
That look in her eyes earlier, too—As Light, sensing something amiss with her, suddenly considered a single possibility.
"...Aren't you a little angry?"
"No, not at all."
"Because you don't like that I invited Ban? ...Are you perhaps jealous?"
The moment As Light uttered those words aloud.
"Jealousy?"
Swaaaah...
Exploding magical power everywhere, sparks leaping from all directions due to torrents of electricity, armored insects incessantly crawling out from the depths of the mechanical empire and shrieking...
The din of all these things subsided into a profound silence.
"I would appreciate it if you stopped entertaining such ridiculous delusions."
Dokgo Yeon's cross-shaped pupils stared directly at As Light.
As Light, reading death in those eyes, froze like a mouse before a cat.
"Uh, yeah..."
"Hmph."
As Dokgo Yeon snorted and turned her head, everything finally returned to normal.
To think that the harsh environment of Room 94 was unable to overcome the aura of a single Dokgo Yeon and actually recoiled!
Clutching his pounding chest at this unprecedented experience, As Light thought.
‘She’s really jealous, isn’t she?!’
Ban Yuwon, what a terrifying person...!
* * *
Ban Yuwon was certain.
‘I can’t reach the source.’
It was Ban Yuwon's belief that every flow had an origin.
However, he couldn't find the origin of the current now filling the area.
At first, he wondered if his own abilities were insufficient, but after pursuing the concept's origin and converging on it to some extent, he soon realized that it abruptly cut off halfway.
In that case, the answer was as good as found.
The origin of this current lay at some point inaccessible in their current situation.
‘Perhaps... if we reach Room 95, I'll be able to make contact.’
He felt his heart pound.
He'd expected it from the beginning, but this Chain Room was truly a jackpot.
[You gain a fundamental understanding of the flow of energy. The depth of Hyunsingong has reached 242. The depth of Hyungi has reached 492.]
[The concept of 'Body' is transforming. The depth of your Body has reached 2.]
No, but this was still too weak.
Ban Yuwon instinctively realized that Hyunsingong could not be perfected here.
Still, the Giwon Sword.
If it was a martial art that developed through reading and controlling all internal and external flows.
[You feel the concepts within your body integrating.]
In this situation, where immense concepts flowed externally, and he sought to read and interfere with every single one of them, he should be able to complete it somehow!
"Elite... something huge is coming!"
Rucell, riding on Gwangjo's back, supplying it with lightning and observing the battle, shouted loudly.
Even without her words, everyone noticed something surging out of the giant hole from which the armored insects had been crawling.
Violent tremors, severe enough to make it difficult to maintain balance.
"Yuwon, it's a dome! A dome!"
Ban Yuwon half-opened his closed eyes and saw a gigantic, hemispherical mechanical mass appearing on the ground.
It was tightly sealed, but he was certain that the moment it opened, something terrifying would emerge from within.
‘This is in Room 94, not even Room 95?’
He felt the electric current, which had filled the floor, rushing towards the dome.
It was almost as if the reckless surge of electricity from the very beginning was all for the appearance of that thing.
But even so, he couldn't simply allow it.
‘If I read all external concepts, I can theoretically achieve a perfect response by controlling internal concepts.’
That was true.
But if that was all, he wouldn't be able to overcome his limits.
Against formidable individuals like Russein Lounpalomer Aquinas Ortima, Dokgo Yeon, or Aire.
No, if he wanted to defeat Lyu Cheolmyeong, who was currently baring his fangs at them, that wouldn't be enough.
Therefore, the goal of the Giwon Sword was not merely that.
It had to be a martial art that transcended his limits, one that could bring the strong to their knees.
‘Read all external concepts and interfere to control them.’
It was something he had done several times before.
The simplest instance was conceptualizing and absorbing a cannonball flying towards his party.
He had also once added the concept of 'harm' to the concept of 'poison' that filled an area, thereby detoxifying it.
That was what Ban Yuwon desired for his Giwon Sword.
To perfectly read all internal and external concepts.
While controlling all internal concepts.
To interfere with external concepts and somehow create a path for himself to break through!
‘Concepts already flowing violently. If I can't even control those, I can't complete the Giwon Sword.’
Ban Yuwon closed his eyes once more.
Now, the conversion to the concept of Hyungi could be accomplished without even lifting a finger.
Countless directions, in other words, the concept of 'Directionality'.
The concept of 'Flow', which lent power to it.
‘Go!’
All of his magical power conceptualized and blanketed the surroundings.
The artificial flow created by Ban Yuwon mingled with the current of electricity rushing towards the dome.
Pajijijijik.
Fierce resistance, concepts clashing against concepts.
Ban Yuwon focused even harder.
Resistance would only consume concepts.
He expanded his senses to read the flow more meticulously, more perfectly.
And then, at one particular moment, he finally succeeded in subtly twisting the flow.
The countercurrent had begun.
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