I got into school for nothing - 21
I got into school for nothing (21)
Lesson 5. The Tower is a One-Way Street - 4
“Everyone, stop fooling around and focus. A shift is happening, we’re in Room 2 now.”
As Light, who had stepped back from the commotion, said, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
It must have been the aftermath of defeating the elite monster; the surrounding environment changed, and before they knew it, grass was sprouting from the floor.
In the meantime, Ban Yuwon organized all the concepts he had obtained from the Claws-Eater that he and his party had caught, and the elite monster Rucell had hunted last.
[Life (生) 8, Demonic Spirit (魔鬼) 11, Fusion (融) 12, Acid (酸) 5, Resistance (抵抗) 1]
‘I’ve been exploring dungeons for nothing until now.’
Ban Yuwon thought this, almost as a joke.
Not only had he obtained an amount of Life that would typically require defeating nearly ten Hobgoblins (or clearing ten low-rank dungeons), but he had also acquired a large quantity of Demonic Spirits that could help Eve and Lilyth grow. Furthermore, the Fusion and Acid concepts, which he had obtained for the first time, were also excellent.
And even Resistance, which he hadn’t expected!
‘Resistance aside, I got Acid (酸) from the elite monster Rucell defeated... It probably means acidity (酸性). Could I extract pure oxygen (酸素) from this, perhaps? No, that’s probably impossible.’
However, since both Fusion and Acid clearly possessed properties that could melt enemies, there was no harm in acquiring them.
His only slight concern was whether the weapon itself would melt if he applied them directly to it.
‘...It should be fine, right? It already has blood poison imbued in it, after all.’
Still, just in case, he separated about 3 units of Fusion and imbued them into an ordinary knife.
The knife remained intact, so he retrieved the concepts and imbued all 12 units of Fusion (融) into his own sword, the Executioner's Longsword.
As he was about to imbue Acid as well, Eve, who had returned to her serpent form, playfully bit Ban Yuwon’s hand.
He thought it was just a display of affection, but her eyes held an unusual glint.
“You want it?”
“Hiss.”
Acid seemed more aggressive than Fusion... but since he had never lost anything by following Eve’s words so far, he boldly imbued it into her.
Of course, externally, nothing seemed to have changed.
He would know soon enough.
“That child, she instantly became stronger.”
Dokgo Yeon’s voice echoed in his ear.
Ban Yuwon flinched and retorted.
“Can’t you stop sneaking up on me like that?”
“You should train your senses more.”
Right, he thought.
Ban Yuwon vented his frustration by not replying to Dokgo Yeon.
In his stead, Eve hissed charmingly at Dokgo Yeon.
“Truly... how adorable.”
He wanted to believe she wasn't calling *him* adorable.
“Don’t slack off! They’re appearing!”
As Light yelled roughly and swung his sword.
Perhaps having realized from Rucell’s earlier performance that they could attack the walls directly before the monsters fully materialized, he, too, immediately fired a sword energy of light at the flowing aura.
“But honestly, it’s boring. No matter how careless a lion is, it won’t die from an ant biting its neck.”
“You never know when you’ll be caught off guard if you keep being so complacent.”
“Ban Yuwon, I’ll yield my share. Isn’t this an opportunity to rapidly increase your abilities?”
Ignoring As Light’s chiding, Dokgo Yeon turned and stared intently at Ban Yuwon, saying.
Ban Yuwon quietly met her gaze.
Since entering the Tower of Babel, he had felt that she was watching As Light.
It seemed he, too, was a target of her scrutiny.
“It’s a good offer for you, isn’t it?”
“You...”
As a leader who needed to foster harmony among everyone, he couldn’t help but want to say something about Dokgo Yeon’s attitude.
However, realistically, it was more beneficial for Ban Yuwon to defeat more monsters than for her to step forward.
Especially since they didn't know when stronger monsters might appear, taking down as many easy targets as possible now would help with future strategies.
“Hmph, fine. You’re right. But I can trust that you’ll cooperate later, just as you’re saving your stamina now, right?”
“Ban! Such a preposterous offer—”
“At the very least.”
Dokgo Yeon’s unwavering voice cut off As Light’s interjection.
“I promise you won’t die due to overexertion right now.”
“Alright then, Eve.”
“Shhhyaaa!”
Ban Yuwon conveyed his intent to Eve.
Instantly, Eve transformed into a bundle of chains and rapidly fired sharp chains everywhere. Just as As Light had done, the monsters melted away before they could even fully form.
He immediately realized. That was Acid (酸).
‘She certainly puts it to use quickly.’
Once again, Eve hadn’t been wrong.
It seemed the concept of Acid she was wielding was effective, as she was astonishingly killing monsters more easily than when they had faced the Claws-Eaters.
The concepts flowing in from them, other than Life, were mainly Demonic Spirits (魔靈) and Human Ghosts (人鬼).
He deduced that they were spectral types, and moreover, monsters taking on human forms.
“Like Room 1, these are monsters with special abilities but no physical forms.”
“I had a feeling they were like that, seeing them burst apart so easily. More importantly, Ban Yuwon, why don’t you take on that beast’s share as well? That way, her fits might be delayed a little longer.”
“Ugh!”
“Dokgo Yeon! You really...!”
The “beast” Dokgo Yeon referred to was, of course, Rucell.
As Light, who had been diligently clearing his assigned direction alone, flared up again, and even the timid Rucell mustered the courage to retort.
“But Ban said he’d... find a solution...”
“Hmm, Rucell.”
At this point, Ban Yuwon, having fully grasped Dokgo Yeon’s intentions, spoke up again.
While he was incredibly grateful for Rucell’s trust, unfortunately, here, he had no choice but to betray her feelings.
“I will certainly find a solution, but truthfully, as Dokgo Yeon said, I need to grow a bit faster.”
“Ah.”
“Also, it feels like you two stepping up already would be like using a cow-slaughtering knife to catch a chicken. Would you mind if I handled this alone for a bit?”
“Ugh. If that’s the case...”
Rucell retreated, her expression showing understanding but not yet full conviction.
Ban Yuwon was annoyed by Dokgo Yeon’s snort of disdain as she looked at Rucell, as if saying, “See?” But since things had come to this, he decided to properly secure his practical gains.
“As Light, you too.”
“What... Ban, are you serious?”
“Right now, I feel it’s urgent to somehow close the gap between us. I think I can handle this much alone. Could you help me with that?”
“Help you...?”
If Ban Yuwon had seemed to be yielding to Dokgo Yeon’s unreasonable demands, As Light would have remained stubborn to the end.
But when Ban Yuwon appeared to genuinely desire it, As Light couldn't simply ignore him.
He sheathed his sword, stepped back, glared at Dokgo Yeon once, then firmly declared to Ban Yuwon, who was stepping forward.
“Fine, do it. But if it seems even slightly dangerous, I’ll intervene immediately.”
“I’d be grateful if you did. ...Dokgo Yeon, it’s just as you wanted, isn’t it?”
The fact that Dokgo Yeon had been sulking because he seemed to be hiding his true abilities—
—Ban Yuwon had seen right through it.
“Well, did I overreach?”
He snorted at Dokgo Yeon’s sly demeanor and then sent Eve a message to commence the full-scale hunt.
However, it was Dokgo Yeon, who had actually urged him to reveal his abilities, who was most astonished by Eve’s instantaneous transformation from chains to a magic rifle.
“What in the world is that?”
“It’s a weapon from our world. Apparently, it’s not cost-effective against mana-wielding monsters in this world, so it can’t be used.”
The first thing Ban Yuwon did, upon realizing that machines were abundant in this world, was to investigate whether magical tools and machines created with top-tier dimensional technology could be used in dungeons.
But as mentioned earlier, machines were completely useless in dungeons and the Tower of Babel. Consequently, instead of trying to develop machines that could overcome the mana of dungeons and the Tower of Babel, people began to focus on developing machines that protected human territories and improved convenience.
At least, that’s what was explained in the high-end magical tool shops Ban Yuwon had visited.
“But you...?”
“My case is a bit different. Eve!”
—Dudududududu!
Eve, now completely familiar with her rifle form, spun in place, spewing out magic bullets.
The magic bullets simultaneously contained the properties of Sharpness (銳) and Acid (酸).
Fired at a speed far exceeding the monsters’ reaction time, each bullet precisely pierced through one Demonic Spirit, and even spewed acid at the point of impact, damaging any Demonic Spirits that appeared anew in that spot.
The clatter of spent shell casings rolling on the floor echoed clearly.
“Oh...”
“Huh? Huh?”
“This... it’s not even firing some kind of energy wave.”
Eve spun in a dance-like fashion, unleashing nearly a hundred bullets that pierced and killed all the Demonic Spirits erupting from every direction.
Power aside, even Dokgo Yeon was impressed by the speed at which she took down monsters.
“The projection of metal spheres? Aside from being excessively linear and having an aura that's too easily sensed, it could even be used in Murim. Third-rate, no, for assassination, perhaps even against second-rate martial artists...”
“A weapon? Is this purely the power of the weapon itself? Or is its power enhanced because you, Ban Yuwon, made it an artifact? No, even if its original power was half of this, it wouldn’t matter. If only soldiers could be armed with this!”
While Dokgo Yeon, already a formidable expert beyond the reach of mere guns, admired the very structure of the magic rifle, As Light clenched his fists, entertaining thoughts much like those Earth’s rulers might have had upon first seeing a gun.
Meanwhile, Ban Yuwon was moving, sword in hand.
He had already instructed Eve to kill anything beyond a three-meter radius from him, as he would handle everything within that range himself.
—Kyaaah!
The Demonic Spirits, who had repeatedly died upon creation due to challengers far too strong for the room's level, finally managed to fully materialize and growled.
However, the moment Ban Yuwon charged in with his sword and swept it horizontally, they all dissolved into nothingness.
‘Fusion (融) works too!’
The difference from Acid was that it melted slower and seemed to stick to the sword as it dissolved.
But in the end, once melted and gone, nothing remained, which was the same.
—Except for the language concepts they would surrender to Ban Yuwon!
‘If this is the case.’
If he could kill enemies in one hit anyway, it was more important to swing his sword continuously rather than with full force every time.
The moment he realized this, the momentum in Ban Yuwon’s sword changed.
Slightly bending his knees, relaxing his arms just a little, and raising his head to take in his surroundings.
As he adopted a lighter overall stance and began to successively cut down Demonic Spirits appearing close to him, like throwing jabs, it looked like a plausible sword dance.
His own pure talent, which had been overshadowed by the rare Authority of the Babylonia Code, was finally able to shine through.
“So, you personally cut down anything that enters your shadow, and leave what’s outside to your artifacts. Is that your original combat style?”
Ban Yuwon, aware that his movements were becoming more concise the harder he tried to swing lightly, merely gave a slight nod.
Lighter, faster, more precisely.
Each sword stroke was different, each step was different, so he had to concentrate on these changes himself.
[You have realized various aspects of Swordsmanship (劍術), increasing its Depth to 31.]
[You have found a way to enable lighter and sharper sword strikes. Swordsmanship's Depth has reached 33.]
[More lethal thrusts are now possible. Pierce (貫) Depth has reached 25.]
The most intuitive evidence of his growth was the continuously deepening concept of Swordsmanship.
Dokgo Yeon, her cross-shaped pupils sharpened, nodded at Ban Yuwon’s continuously evolving sword momentum (劍勢).
“It’s clear you hadn’t swung a sword until recently. And the speed at which you’re growing is absurd... If you were deceiving me, that would be even more impressive.”
Not only his expansive vision even amidst fierce combat, but also his rapid situational judgment and swift sword strikes that cut down multiple targets along the shortest path.
Under the protection of Eve’s magic bullets, Ban Yuwon continued his sword dance (劍舞) without stopping even once.
“It makes me wonder if he’s overly focused on fast sword (快劍) techniques due to the situation, but still, it’s much better than a fool who’s merely controlled by his sword.”
Realizing that Ban Yuwon had no mind to respond to her words, Dokgo Yeon started teasing As Light again.
As Light, who had been secretly thinking similar thoughts to Dokgo Yeon and gazing at Ban Yuwon with admiration, flared up and shouted.
“I was fine today!”
“Well, can a fool who screams battle cries every time he cuts down weightless shadows possibly manage such nimble (飄忽) movements? Moreover, you...”
“Wh-what?”
“Today, the number of times you just shot sword energy from afar was far greater than the times you directly cut down enemies, wasn’t it?”
“Ugh...”
As Light was speechless.
As Light couldn’t help but admit that she had figured out a great deal about him in such a short time.
It was also clear that she hadn’t said those words merely to tease and oppress As Light.
Just as Ban Yuwon had demonstrated, she was urging As Light to change, to grow.
However, Ban Yuwon, who was sweeping through Room 2 alone, couldn’t help but think this while listening to Dokgo Yeon and As Light’s conversation.
‘What is she, our teacher?’
It was the moment Dokgo Yeon’s image solidified in Ban Yuwon’s mind.
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