Chapter 95

The weekend had passed, and weekdays had returned.

Around the time the aftermath of the comprehensive exam was finally settling down, a new piece of news was mercilessly delivered to the Academy cadets.

“We’re going on a field training trip soon.”

“Ah, that. I heard about it too. Apparently, we’ll be staying at Dohwawon for a week.”

“Dohwawon? That’s the famous training institute, right?”

Effectively, the main event signaling the start of Story Chapter 3.

Since it was an episode that existed in the original work as well, I was also somewhat familiar with the content.

‘…If I recall correctly, a Specter from the goblin lineage, skilled in concealment arts, appeared.’

Mysterious incidents kept occurring due to a high-rank Specter that had established its territory in Dohwawon, a spiritual hotspot, and eventually, even the protagonist Yoo Haon and his party got caught up in it.

Although both 1st and 2nd years moved to the same location, since the 1st-year dormitories were closer to the Specter’s hideout, the incident likely unfolded focusing on them.

‘There were casualties, but it didn’t seem to escalate into a truly dangerous situation…’

But with the added element of Hell Difficulty, there was absolutely no telling what would happen.

Ultimately, it meant I shouldn’t let my guard down as much as possible.

“Is everyone here? Then we’ll depart.”

A grand movement involving all classes of 1st and 2nd years.

Thus, we boarded the bus prepared by the Academy, arrived at Dohwawon, moved to our assigned lodgings, and immediately unpacked.

“What, we’re in the same room again. Who’s the other one?”

“It’s me. Let’s get along for the week.”

“So it’s Adrian. Well, it’s just the familiar crew.”

Jeong Hansol, Adrian, and me.

The three of us decided to leave all our belongings in the room and spend our time freely until the scheduled evening event.

As I opened the door and stepped out, I immediately saw a man with solid muscles sitting cross-legged on the balcony of the room right across, with his eyes closed.

It was Hwang Jihak.

“…Meditation?”

“Leave him be. He always does that wherever he goes. Something about harmonizing with nature and becoming familiar with the Spiritual Power in the atmosphere.”

Come to think of it, I think there was such a setting. Seeing it in person was quite a sight that drew the eye.

Click.

Feeling it was an opportunity, I went outside the lodging, found a suitable spot, and focused on deploying Detection Spells multiple times.

However, as expected, nothing was caught by the spells.

‘As expected, my current specs aren’t enough.’

Well, it’s a high-rank Specter that specializes in its race’s inherent Concealment Art. It might be stranger if it were caught by a Detection Spell of my level.

After roughly familiarizing myself with the surrounding terrain, I returned to the lodging before it got late and joined the group.

“You’re here. Apparently, there’s nothing special today. Seems like a local instructor is just giving a special lecture.”

As is typical with field training, the first day passed uneventfully without much to do.

And from the next day, full-fledged training utilizing the characteristics of the spiritual hotspot began.

“It’s not difficult. Just hold onto this flower, preventing it from wilting for as long as possible. The passing condition is one hour.”

Flowers already plucked from their stems. However, in this place overflowing with Spiritual Power, it was possible to maintain their vitality purely through the ability to handle Spiritual Power.

“I can’t do this.”

“Ah, I focused too much and it burst.”

“Excuse me, if we succeed within today, is there any separate reward?”

In response to a student’s question, the supervising professor Baek Jieun, with a nonchalant face, replied.

“Those who pass will be given rest.”

“……”

Thus, an endless ordeal announced its beginning.

But to be honest, since I already knew the trick, I passed exactly in one hour and obtained free time.

“Hey, tell me how before you go!”

“Don’t just blindly push Spiritual Power in; try doing it with the feeling of literally ‘nurturing vitality’.”

Leaving only those words, I left the training ground without hesitation. I wanted to gather information in advance to prepare for the upcoming events if possible.

The first thing I checked after gaining some time was the area near the 1st-year cadets’ dormitories, where numerous abnormal incidents would occur.

There were a few cadets who seemed to have also passed the same training, among whom Cheong Joohwa and Han Seoa were also present.

“You succeeded on the first try, I see.”

“So yours was also maintaining the petals?”

After chatting about this and that with the two of them, I parted ways and began moving along the outer perimeter of the 1st-year dormitories, selecting places the Specter could potentially use as passageways.

But honestly, there were too many, so it probably wouldn’t mean much.

‘As expected, I can’t stop its activities themselves.’

I checked just in case, but honestly, even in my own opinion, that was too greedy.

Ultimately, it meant the moment to aim for would be when it acts.

‘Should I borrow Yohan’s power?’

Since I hinted a while ago that he has prophetic abilities, he would probably try to help me using that fact.

However, the Specter appearing this time didn’t seem to have good compatibility with Yohan’s Cursed Technique, so I had no choice but to postpone the decision for now.

‘The first disappearance occurred on the second night.’

So, it will definitely reveal itself around here this evening.

I began imagining myself in its position, picturing how it should move to efficiently achieve its goals.

In the midst of that, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Oppa? What are you doing?”

For some reason feeling embarrassed, I stopped my thoughts, immediately turned my movement around, and answered.

“I was taking a walk. I was curious about the surroundings.”

“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but your movements seemed suspicious…”

Just as I was glossing over the situation with various excuses, for a moment, a suspicious Spectral Energy brushed against the edge of my Spiritual Sense.

Swoosh.

Simultaneously, I felt Kongsami reacting to something from within the shadows.

‘This is definite.’

The name of the Specter appearing in this story is the Mirror Goblin, Sahwanje.

Since it’s a relative of Kongsami, a Fire Goblin, it must have definitely sensed some unique presence.

I raised my hand to stop Han Seoa’s movement and quickly began scanning the surroundings.

“…Oppa? What’s wrong?”

“I thought something was strange earlier, there’s definitely something.”

After finishing my nonchalant act, I checked the point I had been eyeing.

As a result, I finally found it. Sahwanje, rolling its eyes at us from the edge of the pond.

This was a huge opportunity. A chance to eliminate the crisis right away, even before the story properly began.

Carefully drawing up Spiritual Power, I whispered softly to Han Seoa.

“On the count of three, leave this spot and inform the professors of the situation.”

“What?”

One, two, three.

Finishing the countdown, I instantly kicked off the ground and charged at Sahwanje, who was watching us.

“Kyahk?”

The startled Sahwanje immediately activated its Cursed Technique, trying to escape into its own space, but that much was naturally expected.

I immediately chased after Sahwanje and leaped into the passageway reflected on the water’s surface.

Whoosh.

A brief sensation of floating and dizziness came over me, and what unfolded before me as I suddenly regained my senses was a peculiar space, almost like a cave.

The only difference was that passageways identical to the one I had just entered were scattered everywhere.

‘…I was a bit worried, but I found it well.’

This was precisely the space called Sahwanje’s Nest, a kind of special stage-like area.

Sahwanje freely traversed various locations through this place, sometimes using it as a hiding spot or escape route.

‘No wonder it was hard to catch.’

In fact, even in the original story, it took quite a lot of time to subdue this Sahwanje.

Just as I finished that judgment, a sensation of something crossing through a passageway from behind, along with a familiar voice, began to be heard.

“Hup!”

Crash!

Its identity was none other than Han Seoa, who had been with me.

“Why did you follow? I told you it’s dangerous, so stay away.”

“…How could I calmly run away alone when you say that? Would that have been okay if it were you?”

When confronted with that logic, I had nothing to say. Averting my gaze slightly, I answered Han Seoa.

“Just stick close behind me and follow.”

“…Okay. Got it.”

Anyway, Sahwanje isn’t a case where its combat power itself is exceptionally strong for a high-rank Specter.

One-on-one, it might even struggle against Kongsami.

‘If we’re careful, it should be fine.’

Having made my decision, I began slowly touring the interior of the nest with Han Seoa.

Sahwanje’s created passageways were visible here and there, but Sahwanje itself was nowhere to be seen.

However, it wouldn’t leave us, intruders in its domain, alone, so it was probably lurking somewhere, watching for an opportunity.

‘Actually, I planned to leave Specters I can handle to Yoo Haon’s party as much as possible from now on…’

Sahwanje was an exception. It was one of the Specters I had wanted to make into a Shikigami and test its abilities for a long time.

‘It definitely shouldn’t be that far away.’

Yet, for something like that, its presence wasn’t easily felt.

I took Kongsami out of the shadows and immediately sought cooperation.

Swoosh.

Fwoosh!

“If you sense its presence, let me know immediately.”

“…Burn.”

Kongsami, nodding its head, took the lead and advanced, and Han Seoa and I followed behind.

After moving for a while, we discovered a huge space where countless passageways converged.

“Oppa, this place…”

“Seems like the center of this place. If we cause a commotion here, it might not be able to bear it and reveal itself.”

Taking out a Talisman from my waist, I immediately activated a Cursed Technique and began destroying the passageways Sahwanje had created.

“Void Boundary Erosion Gluttony.”

Fsssh.

Creeeak!

I knew that creating one of these passageways required quite a lot of energy, so Sahwanje would almost certainly come here to stop me.

Just as I had completely destroyed a few passageways, Han Seoa, who had been observing the situation from a slight distance, suddenly began pointing at something with her finger.

“Oppa, what’s that? One has a completely different form.”

“A different form?”

Was there such a thing in Sahwanje’s Nest?

Feeling a sense of incongruity, I stopped what I was doing and stared at the space Han Seoa pointed to.

And immediately, my face hardened as I shouted.

“Get away from there right now!”

But it was too late. A dimensional rift, of a form completely different from the passageways created by Sahwanje, suddenly swelled in size and greedily enveloped Han Seoa’s entire body.

Without even a moment to think of a countermeasure, I immediately ran and leaped into the rift that had swallowed Han Seoa.

And.

Swoosh.

Whoosh.

“…Burn?”

After the massive rift, which seemed like it would devour everything, disappeared, only Kongsami remained alone in the empty cavity, pacing anxiously, not knowing what to do.