I got into school for nothing - Chapter 74
I got into school for nothing (74)
Lesson 16. The Tutorial Is Over - 3
The shocking truth that the artifact he first obtained in the Tower was, in fact, a sealed Constellation, surprisingly held no immediate significance.
"So, do you know which specific Constellation sealed you?"
—No... I only faintly remember the face.
All the Constellations Ban Yuwon had just confirmed in the sanctuary were in the form of spheres of light.
Meaning, remembering a face was utterly pointless.
"Do you know how to regain your power?"
—If I keep using Hyungi, the spiritual binding might slowly loosen.
"You also said you don't remember who your contractor was."
—Once the spiritual binding loosens, I should be able to find them! Of course... that's assuming the child hasn't died.
Even Cellon's name wasn't real, and there was nothing more he could do for her.
He could only climb the Tower like this, slowly exploring.
The only gain was getting to know her identity a little better.
‘No, come to think of it, there was another gain.’
Ban Yuwon murmured to himself, examining the staff, which had changed its appearance once again.
This was because it had grown slightly longer, and black text strings, like vines, wrapped around its entire body, adding powerful concepts.
[Cellon's Tears: Soul 400, Hyungi 300, Curse 100]
The concept of Curse, which arose as her rage intensely burned, specifically recognizing those who sealed her, was born from her understanding the concept of Seal they had inflicted upon her and accepting a portion of it as her own power.
—It's a completely separate power from mana. It's because I interpreted another Constellation's power with my authority and made it my own. Do you despise it? If so, you don't have to use this staff anymore.
"No, it's awesome."
The power of Curse fundamentally applied to all magic cast using the staff, corrupting and simultaneously strengthening it.
But would Ban Yuwon, who himself had accepted a Constellation's power, reject a curse? He only saw it as a benefit, as his magic grew stronger.
"Then let's summarize simply. I don't particularly like Constellations, and neither do you, having been betrayed by them. This means our goals could align in the future... What do you think, Cellon?"
—I agree. From now on, I'll cooperate more actively with you. I can even teach you everything I know about magic. In return, if you find my contractor... if that child is alive, I hope you'll help her. Please.
"If they're alive, that is. I'll reciprocate as much as I've received from you."
—Yes. ...It's a fair trade.
Thus, the relationship between Ban Yuwon and Cellon became a little stronger.
Partly thanks to Cellon's attitude becoming clearer after finding her sense of purpose.
But also because Ban Yuwon had opened his heart to Cellon, if only a little.
‘I thought all Constellations were just trying to exploit their contractors.’
Cellon's attitude when talking about her contractor, whose face she couldn't even remember, wasn't it like a parent worrying about a child left by the waterside?
Considering she prioritized her contractor's safety over even her desire for revenge against the Constellations, the possibility of her attitude being an act approached zero.
‘All the bastards who pestered me were sons of bitches... but maybe, among them.’
The thought that, just as Yumina once told him, there might truly be good Constellations like her.
It occurred to him, if only a little.
* * *
As Ban Yuwon had implicitly hoped, the scale of the rooms once again expanded significantly from Room 21.
It was clearly very different from what they had learned in lectures, but none of the Rebellion members now cared about such minor differences.
The problem was that due to the vast scale of the rooms, clearing a single room consumed a considerable amount of time, regardless of the party's combat power. The fact that this was true even with Ban Yuwon, who found the fastest route with his All-Seeing Eye, was truly chilling.
"Light, if you get Lost, I swear I'll kill you."
"Why are you all singling me out?! I hate all of you!"
While Room 21 had been an enormous cave, Room 22 was a forest where everything had withered, as if greeting winter.
The Tower's structure had transformed into a forest!
However, upon clearing Room 22 and reaching Room 23, they were astonished to find a small city connected to the forest.
At this point, everyone realized something.
"Is this perhaps."
"It's a Chain Room."
At Dokgo Yeon's words, a tension finally settled among the group.
They had experienced a Chain Room before, from Room 15 to Room 16 during a previous exploration.
With a Trick Room even layered on top, it had been a shockingly difficult challenge, so much so that even Dokgo Yeon had nearly been Lost. That's why they couldn't take the current situation lightly.
"It must have been connected from Room 22, right?"
"But think about it. The condition for clearing Room 21 was to defeat an elite monster and find the exit from the cave. If the environment of Room 22 represented the forest outside the cave..."
"Then it could be a two-stage Chain Room."
Ban Yuwon nodded involuntarily.
Just as expected, this was what they called the Tower.
"Since dusk is falling, let's enter the city first. ...I almost wish monsters would appear instead."
But even as Ban Yuwon said that, he had already half-given up.
Why was it that diverse experiences from external dimensions were necessary to conquer the Tower?
He had a rough guess at the answer.
"Hey, travelers? Don't come in! Don't cause any more chaos in our city!"
"Get lost, you monsters! It's all your fault the city is a mess!"
"What's that? ...Are those people?"
Light muttered in astonishment, facing beings that looked utterly human, armed with crude weapons, aiming at them from atop the city walls.
Dokgo Yeon sighed and replied.
"Whether they're people or not, it's clear they're not monsters for now."
"Indeed."
Ban Yuwon also nodded with a bitter smile, looking similar to her.
At this moment, ringing in their minds was the familiar voice of the Tower, which they had experienced two weeks ago.
—Do not attack the innocent.
"Given that they're protected by this damned rule."
Room 23 was a small world dominated by unknown beings and a trick rule that protected them.
A Chain Room spanning two rooms, and on top of that, a Trick Room.
He figured, even if he didn't know the specifics, passing this room wouldn't be easy.
—Huh? But you, this. Since you can distinguish good and evil...
‘Let's wait and see for now.’
Cellon, having recognized the rule of Room 23, tilted her head and spoke to Ban Yuwon, but he decided not to jump to conclusions.
By then, the group's gaze was fixed on Ban Yuwon.
Ban Yuwon, realizing anew that he was representing the group, cleared his throat and stepped forward.
Thwack! An arrow flew and embedded itself at his feet.
"Don't come any closer!"
"Please calm down. If something is happening in the city, we can help..."
Thud, thud! Several more arrows flew.
They clearly had no intention of talking to them.
‘Whatever incident broke out in the city, there's no reason for us, who just arrived, to be suspected. It seems they lack even basic reason.’
Ban Yuwon was confident that with his innate linguistic ability, once he started talking, he could either make the other party understand him or make them so frustrated they'd burst a blood vessel. However, if they wouldn't even open their mouths like this, there was nothing he could do.
Hissing...
Eve flicked her tongue and her eyes gleamed, perhaps angered by the city's inhabitants threatening her master. However, she was a familiar, and she couldn't ignore the Trick Room's rules, so he had to stop her from doing anything reckless.
"What are you going to do, Ban?"
"Indeed. It seems clear we need to enter the city to proceed, right?"
After a moment's thought, Ban Yuwon looked around at his party members, then nodded.
"Let's retreat for now. I think we need to set up camp."
"Ugh, I was happy thinking we could rest in an actual building with people."
"Can't be helped. Let's go."
The group retreated back to the entrance of Room 22, into the forest, avoiding the eyes of the human-like beings watching them from atop the city walls.
Given the considerable size of Rooms 21 and 22, it was already evening, and the sky was darkening, perhaps influenced by the outside world, even in Room 23.
Ban Yuwon took out a tent from his inventory, set it up, and then rolled various tree branches, stones, and snowballs around to form the two words: protection and vigilance.
The moment he lifted his staff and thrust it into their center—thump!—Ban Yuwon and Cellon's Hyungi mixed and were absorbed into the two words, creating an invisible protective barrier around the tent, just as he had envisioned.
Furthermore, an alarm would sound if anyone approached the group stealthily.
"It's like a formation."
"It'll be fine as long as you don't disturb it. Now, let's eat."
Ban Yuwon took a pot of meat stew from his inventory, heated it, and shared the bread he had bought from a bakery with the members, replenishing their energy.
"It would have been really tough without Ban's inventory..."
"It seems other students enter with large backpacks for camping."
"I do think there's a certain romance to that, though."
But romance doesn't feed you. Convenience was king.
Perhaps feeling a little uneasy about relying solely on Ban Yuwon's inventory, or perhaps simply finding the stew Ban Yuwon had bought from the restaurant unappetizing, Rucell suggested to him with a rather serious expression.
"I'll prepare breakfast tomorrow morning, Yuwon."
"That's kind of you, but I'd rather we could enter that city..."
"The city is one thing, but."
Dokgo Yeon, who hadn't forgotten her vigilance even during the meal, grumbled, chewing on a piece of bread thoroughly soaked in stew, her expression a frown.
"It's strange, no monsters are appearing at all."
"Now that you mention it."
In Room 21, they had been exhausted dealing with the endless wolf-shaped armored beasts appearing in the forest, but now, despite the environment being eerily similar, there was no sign of any monsters whatsoever, to the point of being unsettling.
"Perhaps those things on the city wall were monsters after all?"
"If you act without certainty, you might end up like the last exploration."
"Why are you looking at me?!"
"You're overthinking it, Light."
After finishing the meal, Ban Yuwon, who had asked Light to clean up (perhaps feeling a prick of conscience even though no one had said anything), called Dokgo Yeon aside.
"What is it, if I may ask? The beast will get jealous."
"Dokgo Yeon, those people earlier... they didn't seem that strong, did they?"
Dokgo Yeon, who had been making a somewhat sullen face and a clumsy joke, quickly sobered up at Ban Yuwon's serious tone and replied.
"That's why I didn't attack them right away. If they were hiding their abilities, the difficulty would be ridiculous."
"Then what if you and I infiltrate?"
"You, perhaps, but you?"
The moment Ban Yuwon uttered those words, Dokgo Yeon scanned him from head to toe and let out a snort.
He felt a great sense of humiliation.
"If you're talking about that amateur stealth technique, it's impossible. Although it has improved considerably in the past few days..."
"That's not all there is to it."
"Hmm?"
Over the past few days, Dokgo Yeon had been sparring against Ban Yuwon's Gwoeyeonggong, thanks to which its depth had almost doubled to 38.
However, there was something Ban Yuwon hadn't shown Dokgo Yeon: the martial arts concept of Assassination at level 65, which he had obtained along with the shadow weasel that greatly expanded the concept of Gwoeyeonggong itself.
‘I was going to show it to her after I mastered Gwoeyeonggong a bit more.’
That was a mistaken judgment.
His Gwoeyeonggong had been enhanced by the shadow weasel's concept, hadn't it?
Then, naturally, it would be much more powerful when used together with Assassination, which he had also obtained from them!
"Be careful."
Dokgo Yeon chuckled at Ban Yuwon's words and began to speak, "You're saying something funny, warning me while attacking head-on—"
The next moment, she narrowed her eyes.
She couldn't help but be startled to see him vanish without a trace.
‘He completely hid his presence. But... even his internal energy? How? Is he tricking me?’
The next moment, she sensed a sharp blade thrusting towards her neck from an angle and quickly extended her hand.
The longsword Ban Yuwon unleashed was caught between her fingers.
Ban Yuwon's dumbfounded expression was a bonus.
"To be blocked like this. Is catching a blade with fingers even possible in reality...?"
"But it's an amazing breakthrough. You completely lost your presence for a moment... How did you do it?"
Ban Yuwon elaborated on the concepts he had obtained from the shadow weasel.
He first obtained Gwoeyeonggong from an intruder contracted with a Constellation.
At that time, the concept held little meaning, but thanks to the shadow weasel's unique concept of 'shadow,' it became complete. He realized that it needed to be used in conjunction with the assassination technique also obtained from them to be perfect.
"Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmm..."
Ban Yuwon had merely wanted to ask if they could infiltrate together now, but Dokgo Yeon's contemplation dragged on.
If it wasn't possible, she could just say no. What was she hesitating about?
Just as Ban Yuwon was about to urge her, Dokgo Yeon hesitated and then spoke.
"Martial arts..."
"What?"
Ban Yuwon blinked and asked back.
Dokgo Yeon closed her eyes tightly and then blurted out.
"I'll teach you martial arts!"
"...Again?"
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