Possessed an Academy Security Guard

60 – 060. Dungeon Exploration (3)

—–

[ An urgent quest occurs! ]

[ With a strong pulse reaction, a new erosion-type dungeon has occurred inside the dungeon to be destroyed! A few students have been isolated due to dropouts caused by a dungeon outbreak! Rescue the students stranded in the dungeon safely by linking up with other guards! ]

[ Here is the list of currently isolated students! ]

[ Aisle 1: Alexei Romanov, Shin Ji-gun ]

[ Passageway 3: Winter, Kang Seung-hee, Maseok-do, Yoon Seong-won ]

[ Passageway 6: Park Jong-chan, Oh Do-won, Lee Ji-seok ]

[ Passageway 8: Kang Haneul ]

[ Mid-winter is a student at the Green House and a ‘main character’ set in the system. If Midwinter dies, you die as a penalty!

[ Other characters’ death penalty depends on the importance of each character! ]

[ Each student’s location information is displayed in the field of view! ]

1. 7% Increase in expense ratio (current expense ratio 11%)

1. Cross of Cold Flame

2. Token of the Frost Spirit

—–

“What the f*ck… ….”

I forcibly swallowed the curse that came out naturally. I bit my lip at the system message that filled my eyes.

‘Yes, f*ck. There’s no way that Heavenly Demon of Pleasure would pass away quietly.’

How many times has this happened without any sign or anything? His clenched fists trembled at the irritation and anger rising from below.

‘How many people have been imprisoned? He was very determined to f*ck me.’

The isolated students accounted for a quarter of the total number of students. Midwinter was the only main character among them, but the other students were also important supporting characters. If the importance the system says is the weight in the original work, the penalty due to their death can never be ignored.

Because of being trapped in a dungeon because of a fall, the superhuman students who are said to be the best will not die, but that is also unknown. If the grade of the newly created dungeon was B or higher, even a first-class student could not be relieved.

‘Besides… ….’

At the bottom of the ruffled list of isolated students. The name of Kang Ha-neul, who was the only one trapped in passage 8, caught my eye.

“Damn it… ….”

I looked at the passageways the students had entered from the plaza at the entrance of the dungeon. The aisles, without exception, were leaking a thick layer of dust. The students who had barely escaped were sitting in front of it, and the guards were running around them.

In the middle of the chaos, Marco Jackson, the team leader of the Special Countermeasures Division and Team 9, was shouting with an urgent expression.

“Enter each passage and rescue the students! And quickly figure out the number of people isolated beyond the drop by group! When it’s over, send all the students out of the dungeon safely and start the rescue operation! Move quickly!”

“Team Marco!”

At my calling, he turned to me. Naturally, looking around me seemed like I was looking for Jung Ah-yeong, who I wanted to be with. She was in the middle of a conversation with her general department in a hurry from a little distance away.

“What is it, rookie. What happened?”

“Identification of the list of isolated students has been completed. Can I tell the manager?”

“What? How did you figure that out already?”

Marco looked at me suspiciously.

It was a natural reaction. Only 5 minutes from the incident. While the students were still in the middle of getting out of the dungeon, how could they figure out all the students who were already isolated? It’s not like they don’t know the location information of all students in real time.

However, I had a list suggested by the quest. Unless the system is lying to me, all the students who are isolated because the aisle is blocked will be the ones listed in the quest message.

The key was how to convince the truth, but I had something in mind.

“I used the ability contained in the talisman.”

I took off my glove and showed him the talisman. Then, his eyes widened as he looked at me suspiciously.

“Talisman? This?”

“Yes. It is a talisman with detection abilities.”

I told a lie casually. The fact that I had Talisman was a fact that only Min Chae-ryeong and Chae-yeon knew about in the special department. Of course, Marco had no way of knowing whether the ability contained in my Talisman was magic absorption or detection.

It was a strange enough situation that I, who was not a rat, had an expensive talisman, but Marco didn’t say anything about it. He must have judged that I had no reason to lie to him.

“Yes, good.”

He soon closed his mouth and pondered, then asked with a serious attitude.

“Which students are currently isolated due to dropping out?”

“The isolated students are Alexei Romanov and Shin Ji-geon in aisle 1, Midgyeol, Kang Seung-hee, Maseok-do, and Yun Seong-won in aisle 3. Park Jong-chan, Oh Do-won, and Lee Ji-seok in aisle 6. And Kang Ha-neul in passage 8.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

At that confident answer, Marco looked at me suspiciously for a moment. However, the next moment he laughed and laughed, revealing white teeth that contrasted with his skin color.

“Well, Min Chaeryeong’s subordinates must have at least one or two abilities that are more outstanding than others. Good night! I’ll take your word for it! Jung Ah-young!!”

“Yes! Manager!”

At his call, Jung A-young ran in a hurry.

“Since the rookie has identified all the isolated student lists, I will immediately organize a rescue team. Why don’t you feel bad, so let’s send all the guys on our team to the rescue team. You can leave the field work to the generals and the guys.”

“Team manager. I have something to tell you about it. This is what I heard from the contact person outside the dungeon.”

The story that Ah-young Jeong brought up was an urgent notice from the Gate Management Bureau a while ago.

A new erosion type dungeon has occurred inside the dungeon, and the estimated grade is A or higher. The earthquake a while ago was also judged to be a phenomenon caused by the occurrence of a dungeon.

“…… Holy sh*t.”

As he listened to her story, Marco spat out a low-pitched curse.

“I understand. I mean, it’s a pretty sh*tty situation. If I make a mistake, I’ll pay a tribute today. Hey! 9 Teams! Everyone gather here!”

After gathering all the members of Team 9, Marco immediately began organizing a rescue team.

A total of 8 people gathered including me.

Marco, who assigned the team members to each aisle, looked at me and asked in a hint.

“Newbie. You decide where you go. I guess that would be better.”

His gaze turned to the talisman in my right hand. It’s probably a measure to respect my opinion, who has the ability to detect.

That question got me into trouble. Two names continued to catch my eye on the list of isolated students displayed in the corner of my view.

Midwinter. And the river sky.

I was worried about which of the two to go to.

Considering the penalty due to death, it was correct to go to aisle 3 in the middle of winter. In the worst case, if midwinter is in danger of life without me, there is no way to do anything.

‘But… ….’

However, I was worried about Kang Ha-neul’s safety to go to a place where there is midwinter. Unlike other students, she is alone and isolated. Her current specifications, which are weaker than the original, will not be able to protect her body from the monsters in the A-class dungeon.

“…… Manager. Can I offer just one opinion?”

After thinking about it for a long time, I finally came up with a compromise plan. I send the most powerful Marco to the 8th aisle where the river is located and I head to the 3rd aisle. That was the best way for now.

…… That’s the best way. I thought so hard.

After Marco accepted my opinion and coordinated the organization of the rescue team, we immediately entered each aisle.

The number of people going with me is Jung Ah-young and the other members of Team 9. And there were 3 general members selected from the general department. As we proceeded along the labyrinth, which collapsed in places, it wasn’t long before we saw a place that was completely blocked by falling rocks in the distance.

“…… If it’s that tight, I think it’s impossible to pierce it. It looks like we’ll have to take a detour and approach it through the side road we passed a hundred meters ago.”

From nob le mt l dot com

Looking at the dungeon map, Ayoung Jeong said. I blocked her way.

“Why is that?”

“The side road there must have been blocked too. The detour is over there.”

As I pointed to the side road in the other direction, Jung A-young tilted her head in a puzzled way.

“That road is a dead end. It’s also shown that way on the map. Rather, how do you know that the detour over there is blocked?”

“I can feel a slight flow of air from the side road over there. Conversely, I couldn’t feel the air flow on the side road I had just passed. Perhaps, due to an earthquake a moment ago, the wall of the originally blocked side road collapsed and the original detour was blocked.”

“Yes? What is that…….”

Jung Ah-young’s expression became more puzzling. It was a natural reaction. She said that the wind hardly blows in the closed dungeon. It would be impossible to feel such a weak flow of air unless you are a superhuman with sensory superpowers.

However, it was only natural for me to think it was strange that I, who was not a sensory expert, said such a thing.

Of course.

“Sure. Trust me.”

Jung Ah-yeong, who was worried for a while about her confident attitude, finally nodded her head.

“…… Great. Let’s check the side road over there first.”

So we entered the side road in the opposite direction to the original detour. The width of the side road was one-fifth the width of the central passage that had just passed. Almost two or three people could barely pass.

It takes about 5 minutes to go down that narrow side road. I could see the collapsed wall in the distance and the central passageway stretching beyond it.

Jung Ah-yeong looked at me with surprised eyes. So did the other crew members.

“…… Really. How can I do this even though I am not a sensory expert? ….”

Shrugging my shoulders at that question, I looked around the corner of my field of vision once more. To be precise, the location information of an isolated student floating in the corner of his field of vision.

That’s right. In the corner of my field of vision, the map inside the dungeon provided by the system was being displayed in real time. The appearance was almost the same as the dungeon map I received in advance, but the difference was that it was blocked by falling rocks in places, or that the newly created passages were up to date.

That was the secret to finding the correct route to the other side of the fall. I couldn’t explain the system, so I was just vaguely evasive as if I had a good sense for the crew. You could say it was Talisman’s ability, as he did to Marco, but it wasn’t good to expose Talisman’s existence too much.

“If you go out through the aisle and go all the way to the deepest part, students will come out. I can feel the movement there.”

Pretending to listen, me and the crew came out of the side road through the collapsed wall.

That moment.

-Quaaagh…….

An explosion was heard from across the aisle.

In the next moment, the dark area on the other side of the aisle began to turn bright yellow. Those who lost their eyes at the change immediately exclaimed, “Huh, huh?”

-Roaring!

The identity of the yellow light was a flame. A storm of fire. The firestorm that filled the entire passageway was ravaging this way, ravenously devouring the empty space.

“Everyone, go back to the side road!”

Jung Ah-young, who was standing in the lead, urgently shouted. Shortly after the crew hid themselves down the side road, scarlet flames swept over where we were.

-Roar!

“aaagh!”

“What the f*ck!”

“Everybody run!”

But the expansion of the flames did not stop there. Short of the central passage, the flames that flowed into the byway we had passed radiated scorching heat and pursued us as we fled.

No matter how far they ran, it was only after they had fled almost to the beginning of the side road that the momentum of the flames filling the empty space slowly began to subside. However, the radiating heat was still there, so I and the crew had no choice but to retreat to the entrance of the side road we had just entered.

The crew members, dumbfounded by the sudden firestorm, began to open their mouths.

“How did this happen? Trap? Or is it a monster attack?”

“If you look at the scale, it’s almost like a dragon’s breath.”

“Wait. I can’t believe that…”

The crew members’ expressions turned a leaden color. Among them, a female member of the general department asked in a trembling voice.

“Sir, could it be that the owner of the newly created dungeon is a dragon…?”

“Wait. The newly created dungeon is an erosion type? The owner of the erosion type dungeon, the monster, doesn’t come out beyond the gate in the deepest part? But why did we just get hit by the breath?”

“Could it be that an ordinary monster that is not even the master monster is a dragon-level monster? If that were the case, there’s no way the dungeon would only be grade A, right?”

“I don’t know. It’s unprecedented for a new dungeon to appear within a dungeon. Maybe the Administration Bureau’s rating was wrong…….”

“No. Probably not a dragon.”

All eyes were focused on me at my assertion.

What are you trying to say this time? I swallowed dry saliva at those gazes that seemed to say so.

“Certainly, the power of that flame just now reminded me of a dragon’s breath. But even so, there is no guarantee that the flame is the dragon’s breath.”

“No, then there is no monster in the world that is not even a dragon and can breathe flames like that? Even if hundreds of Salamanders gathered, that level of firepower would not come out.”

“No. Probably a student, not a monster.”

“Ha, student?”

“…… Ah.”

At that time, Jung Ah-young exclaimed as if she understood what I was saying.

“That’s the ability of a midwinter student.”

At that, I nodded softly.

Midwinter’s ability to ignite was the strongest ability that was unmatched only in flames. Her maximum firepower that she unleashes is literally second only to that of a dragon’s breath.

As a member of the crew said earlier, unless the general monsters in the dungeon were dragon-class, it would be reasonable to judge that the fire from earlier was a midwinter attack.

‘The problem is that that midwinter used her full firepower, and that in such a confined space.’

Using high-powered flames in an enclosed space was a half-suicidal act. Even so, the fact that she launched an attack with her maximum firepower would mean that her situation would be serious. That’s right. Even if it was midwinter, the monster in the A-class dungeon was never an easy opponent.

‘Midwinter is like that, let alone river sky…….’

Belated regret came over me. If I had known it would be like this, I would have gone to Kang Ha-neul instead. But the life of midwinter is directly related to my life. But the river sky…….

She shook her head, trying to calm her confused head.

‘Now that I’ve come this far, it’s already too late to regret it. I’ll have to quickly save Midwinter and then go save Kang Ha-neul.’

I murmured softly as I looked at the side road that exhaled the hot heat.

“…… I think we should hurry up the rescue.”

Because of the heat of the flames, beads of sticky sweat formed between clenched fists.

***

“How about this… ….”

Meanwhile, at that time. Kang Ha-neul sighed as he looked at the collapsed rock. Thanks to the equipment he was wearing, he was not seriously injured. However, because the fallout blocked the passage, he suddenly became isolated.

‘No luck, no luck. At least things would have been better if I had been with Taehyung.’

Kang Ha-neul trembled at the fact that he was thrown into a dungeon alone, separated from the others.

Soon she gently turned her back. Unlike the front blocked by falling rocks, the road to the deepest part of the dungeon hadn’t collapsed yet.

The deepest part of the dungeon was connected to all passages. Therefore, if you pass through the deepest part, you should be able to get out of the dungeon through another passage.

‘Can I be alone?’

Her problem was that she had to deal alone with the monsters she encountered along the way.

From an objective point of view, Kang Ha-neul was never weak. Even though he’s inferior to the other 1st class students, if he’s a D-class monster like Living Armor, he won’t lose easily in 1v1.

But what if the monsters pop out in groups of five or six like before?

‘If I did that, I would definitely die.’

As she looked beyond the labyrinth where her black mouth was open, she felt an eerie chill.

“Suho oppa… ….”

In the chill, she wrapped her arms around her and looked for her hands. Of course, there was no answer from her.

Only the sound of her breathing resounded in the static labyrinth passageway.

Are you going to wait here quietly? Or will you move forward and find a way to escape?

Kang Ha-neul, who was worried while looking at the passage of the labyrinth, took her steps toward the darkness of her labyrinth as if she had made up her mind.

She didn’t even guess what was in front of him.