“Wait, F*ck, is this really single-player? There’s way too many!”
“What do you mean? The number of monsters is well within the solo suppression level!”
“Honestly, you haven’t been monitoring this, have you? They’re pouring out like crazy!”
“Don’t lie! If there’s nothing wrong when I checked, you should be ready for some discipline!”
I protested as soon as I came out to Professor Marina.
No matter how I looked at it, that wasn’t single-player.
Meanwhile, Professor Marina frowned and insisted that it couldn’t be true.
Then, she immediately started fiddling with the machine in the corner.
To prove she wasn’t wrong.
A few minutes later, Professor Marina approached me again.
Unlike before, she had a rather sheepish expression on her face.
“…The input was wrong.”
“But you said there was no problem.”
“…”
“Hey.”
“That could happen.”
The initial monster spawn input was 10.000.
That meant 10 monsters.
However, Professor Marina messed up the settings, and it was actually input as 10,000.
A small difference between a period and a comma.
And that made a huge difference.
In the end, the number of goblins that came out of the dungeon I entered totaled 10,000.
A number I could never handle alone.
Even if they charged at me, I couldn’t be sure I’d win easily.
‘If that’s the case, I should have sent Hyeji first.’
[Do you think starting with asymmetric power is wise?]
Before I knew it, Professor Marina had completed the settings and pushed another student inside the gate.
Unlike my turn, she was monitoring immediately.
What a real dog!
‘I’m seriously gonna burn down the professor’s research building before this story ends.’
[Will one instance really make her realize? Japan was hit twice with nukes.]
Just as I set a new goal, I spotted Hyeji emerging from afar.
As expected from Hyeji, her killing speed was impressive.
I was about to ask how she had handled it when she shouted:
“Why the hell was that happening?!”
“…I just smashed them to bits.”
Professor Marina was quicker than me.
She rushed over to Hyeji to scold her.
And instead of lowering her voice, Professor Marina’s tone only got louder.
After some blunt criticism.
Hyeji walked over, looking exhausted.
Her gloomy expression remained on her face.
“Hyeji, what’s wrong?”
“……This is so not my style.”
Hyeji grumbled as if she was very displeased.
“What did that guy say to you?”
“Didn’t I just kill them all? I wiped out all the monsters like usual.”
“Good job.”
Even though she exhibited excessive violence, it’s still the demeanor of a great hunter.
No way was she a victim of some professor’s baseless criticism.
“But why did that professor scold you?”
“She got mad because I wiped out the dungeon without leaving a trace.”
“……”
Some blame might be needed here.
Preserving the dungeon is unexpectedly one of the key elements.
Of course, in truly urgent situations, like Hyeji’s approach to completely annihilate everything is not entirely wrong.
Nothing is more precious than life.
However, unless it’s an extreme case, it’s right to preserve as much as possible.
There’s a lot of information you can obtain just from the dungeon itself.
For instance, the ecosystem of monsters or environmental factors.
Such information is just as important as the materials that come from a monster’s body.
Thus, the principle is to avoid damaging the dungeon as much as possible.
“In a broad sense, hunters are essentially assassins who just kill mobs.”
“If you eliminate everyone, it’s basically mass murder, right?”
“…Wouldn’t that be a better fit for the term ‘extermination’?”
“Ah, I don’t care. The academy is too uptight.”
Just then, someone plopped down next to the sulking Hyeji.
When I turned to look, it was Jeong Ahyeon.
Seeing her smug expression, I really wanted to smack her.
It seems Hyeji shared my sentiments as she immediately began to confront Jeong Ahyeon.
“Jeong Ahyeon, why do you look so satisfied? Feeling a bit rude?”
“Hmph. Hyeji, did you realize the gap in rank between you and me? Silver rank isn’t something anyone can just claim.”
Hyeji’s eyes began to turn icy.
She seemed ready to go for someone.
“F*ck you! Are you gonna roast me again? I’m not in the mood!”
“I’m sorry! Please forgive me! Spare me!”
Jeong Ahyeon trembled and quickly begged for mercy with her head down.
Looks like she learned the hard way about crossing the line during the midterms.
Truly, people should live according to their station.
Anyway, Jeong Ahyeon’s ability is indeed suited to hunt monsters in dungeons.
Suddenly, a question popped into my mind.
“Hey, Jeong Ahyeon. Did you clear it just by summoning beasts?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
Jeong Ahyeon showed visible discomfort as if she felt her contributions were being brushed aside.
But my curiosity was directed elsewhere.
“Where’s the martial artist concept gone?”
“……Shut up.”
Suddenly, Jeong Ahyeon avoided eye contact.
She had already lost character.
I began to press Jeong Ahyeon hard.
“When I see you auto-hunting with the Miracle Sword, I can’t help but notice it shares the same origin.”
“Don’t compare me to that idiot! Those guys literally ruined their own history!”
[Are you now making sensitive comments about China?]
‘It’s fine, it’s not a K platform or anything.’
[Well, if that were the case, you would have been censored long ago.]
‘If you’re confident in your illegal translations, just try. The Chinese folks turned nice in episodes featuring the same plot.’
As I kept talking, I felt nostalgic.
Those days when countless Chinese people cried supporting the independence of Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet.
While folding that nostalgia neatly away in my heart, Jeong Ahyeon snapped back at me.
“Using firearms in a fight against martial arts deer is just cowardly!”
“Watch your words. Remington and M60 are true martial arts.”
“Shut up!!!!!! How can you even discuss martial arts while using guns!”
“The deer will also recognize its true martial arts. Wanna bet?”
“Fine.”
The bet was like this.
If Jeong Ahyeon wins, my nonsense is completely shut down.
If I win, I get to ask Jeong Ahyeon to do anything I like, once.
Panicked, Peace hastily asked me.
[Dear one? If you lose, does that mean this story is on hiatus!]
‘Why are you making such a fuss? Even with a lot of nonsense, it won’t lead to a hiatus.’
[Every word out of your mouth is nonsense! Are you planning to end the story without speaking again!]
‘F*ck!’
But I didn’t argue any further.
Because it was true.
Soon, all the students had experienced the dungeon and the gate.
And now it was my turn again.
This time, feeling confident, I took my longsword and dagger.
Entering the gate once more, I found the Minotaur from before.
Except for one small issue, everything else was alright.
That minor issue was that there were just a few too many monsters.
‘Did that dog only screw up my numbers?’
[Dear one! They’re already charging!]
Blades came crashing down toward me.
I dodged them with minimal movement and managed to stab through the small gap between the blades.
Immediately, other blades began to swarm me.
As if they wouldn’t allow me a moment’s freedom to act.
Retrieving the stabbed longsword, I deflected one incoming blade with the dagger in my left hand.
It was the most threatening of all the blades.
– clang!!!!
A small spark flew as metal clashed together.
It burst into a small flower made of fire.
As I lunged at that flower with my dagger, the flower made of fire vanished.
In its place bloomed a large flower made of blood.
The dagger sank into the Minotaur’s neck, unleashing a spectacular fountain of blood.
Before the incapacitated Minotaur even fell to the ground, I quickly grabbed the massive sword it had dropped and swung it with all my might.
The Blood Flower blossomed from the attacking monsters.
The Flame Flower burst forth from the weapons of the monsters blocking me.
The two flowers overwhelmed the monsters, causing them to hesitate in their movements.
‘F*ck, how great would it be if I could bring even one back to reality.’
[The moment you take it back, it’s just an ingredient for soup.]
The numbers were still many, but compared to the time I fought the goblins earlier, this felt like pure bliss.
I dashed in and steadily reduced their numbers.
Slice. Step. Jump. Cut.
After quite a long time, I finally killed all the Minotaurs, signaling the end of my training.
Naturally, the first thing I did upon coming back was.
“You messed up the input again, didn’t you?”
I went to Professor Marina to complain.
There was way too much, way too much!
That number was absolutely beyond what I could manage alone.
“No, I don’t think so. Everything seems fine.”
“Stop talking nonsense. You didn’t track this again, did you? The numbers weren’t just a few.”
“……No.”
Suddenly, Professor Marina avoided my gaze.
From the looks of it, I was right.
After pondering why this bitch was acting like this, a sudden thought struck me.
“Are you perhaps being all fussy because of that incident when my arm broke?”
“……”
They say when a person runs out of things to say, they start cursing.
And just like that, Professor Marina swung her whip silently toward me.
With no proper way to block it, I had to take it on the head.
‘Got it, that bitch.’
*
After the work was done, I returned to the cafeteria to wait for the deer.
Of course, I wasn’t alone.
There was Jeong Ahyeon, glaring at me. Hyeji, watching with an annoyed expression.
And Elcia, smiling brightly with an expression of anticipation.
“Elcia, you didn’t have to come along.”
“Wherever you go, my husband must accompany you!”
“……Let’s put down the fried food and talk.”
“Oh my! I picked it up without realizing it!”
Elcia was smiling as she eagerly reached for the fried food.
To be precise, I should say her hands and mouth were operating separately from her brains.
As her hand brought something to her mouth, her mouth instinctively started chewing.
The reason I said “something” was simple.
She even chewed on the napkin she grabbed next to her.
Elcia quickly finished off another piece of fried food and gave a happy smile.
“Still, the cafeteria is such a wonderful place! To offer such food without limits!”
“It’s mine, F*ck.”
The fried food that the kitchen staff desperately passed to me.
Was now rapidly being consumed by Elcia.
Like a person who hadn’t eaten in days, hurriedly wolfing down food.
‘Leave me some shrimp tempura, you little glutton.’
[Looks like there won’t be anything left at this rate.]
At that moment, the thought of Jeong Ahyeon waiting weighed on my mind.
“But what if they don’t show up today? Do we have to wait?”
“I need to see with my own eyes that firearms can NEVER be counted as martial arts.”
“Shinwoo, it’s not always the case. Look over there.”
“Oh, right. That guy is back again.”
Hyeji pointed to a spot.
There was the martial arts deer we had seen last time.
Accompanied by numerous deer.
The reason I was instantly sure it was a martial arts deer was simple.
The deer had a number floating above its head.
Now Jeong Ahyeon spoke to me in a slightly worried tone.
“…Gongja, it seems like the numbers are too many. Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve prepared something too.”
Taking a deep breath.
Clearing my throat, I shouted loudly.
“Mountain Guard, assemble!!!!!”
But nothing happened.
Just an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air.
‘These bastards…’
[Are they worried about being called “Yongduni-mi” if they respond?]
My companions began to look at me with two kinds of expressions.
Ridicule. And pity.
Oddly enough, Elcia didn’t stop eating in the meantime.
‘Leave me the shrimp tempura, you glutton.’
[Looks like she’s eating more instinctively than anything else.]
Unable to withstand the gazes of my companions, I ultimately pulled out my cheat key.
I cleared my throat again and shouted louder than before.
“Mountain Avengers!!!!!!!!!!!”
[b]
All the eyes of my companions shifted from disbelief to more of an expression of pity.
But that pity quickly turned to shock.
Because, in a moment no one noticed.
A single eagle appeared on my left.
“Shinwoo!! An eagle!! An eagle!!”
“Gongja! Be careful!”
“Don’t worry. It’s my companion.”
“Husband! Woof woof!”
“Please stop talking and just eat, will you?”
With that as a starting point, numerous animals began gathering around me.
I slowly started to exit the cafeteria with the animals.
As I got closer to the herd of deer.
Without anyone saying a word, it felt like we had all agreed to stop simultaneously.
In that quiet standoff.
At that moment, filled with pressure like it might break any moment.
I said quietly but clearly.
“Assemble.”
With those words, we all charged toward the herd of deer.
Thus began the saga of the Beast War.
