Lee Yong-chan clenched his teeth. The remaining Aura barely flowed through his entire body.

Thump, thump, thump!

Gravel flew up every time Lee Yong-chan pushed off the ground.

He barely felt the weight of Kim Songcheol on his shoulder.

His body weight was light compared to his strength. Rather, his concern for Kim Songcheol was pressing down on his shoulder more heavily.

Next to him, Park Ha-su was running. He was also carrying Kang Hye Castle.

Kang Hye Castle was perfectly conscious, but physically, she couldn’t keep up with the Swordsmen.

There was no other way in such an urgent situation.

Thump, thump, thump!

The two Swordsmen clenched their teeth and ran. A faint Aura scattered along their path.

“Damn it, they’re coming!”

Park Ha-su shouted.

Monsters were running from the darkness in the distance.

This was because Kim Songcheol had spent a lot of time dealing with the Gatekeeper.

Red glowing eyeballs were visible.

It was hard to count them all.

The distance between the 24C Team and the Portal was about 100 meters.

The monsters were already very close to the Portal.

Whoosh!

Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su drew their swords again. As expected, they still had the Mages slung over their shoulders.

Can’t you run without shaking so much!?

Kang Hye-castle shouted.

He, who had been flapping on their shoulders, also spotted the Monsters.

The distance was closing in. They had to unleash their magic while there was still some distance.

This is the best I can do!

Park Ha-su said, as if feeling wronged.

Damn it!

Kang Hye Castle placed his left hand on Park Ha-su’s opposite shoulder and raised his hand. His expression was utterly urgent.

A magic circle was drawn in front of him.

Though the casting speed was slower than usual, Wan Castle managed to do it.

Rupture!

A Fireball shot out from the center of the magic circle.

Boom!

The moment the Fireball hit a Monster, it caused a fierce explosion. A cluster of Monsters was blown apart.

But the Foes behind them stepped forward, treading on their corpses.

They had to go against this torrent of Monsters.

I’ll go first!

Hold on tight!

Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su shouted in turn.

Barrier!

At the same time, a shield appeared and blocked Lee Yong-chan’s left side.

Slash!

Lee Yong-chan’s sword tore through everything. The rushing Monsters were shredded and scattered to both sides.

They were in a hurry.

They had to enter the Portal before the large Monster that Kim Songcheol had been handling appeared.

Break through!

Crazy!

Lee Yong-chan became the vanguard of the team, clearing the way, and Park Ha-su did his best to keep the opened path from closing.

Air Blast!

The next moment, Kang Hye Castle’s Air Blast exploded, blowing away the Monsters, and for a moment, the path ahead was completely clear.

You should have used that earlier!

Park Ha-su’s scolding.

If I had only used this from the beginning, we wouldn’t have even made it this far!

Kang Hye Castle gritted his teeth and shouted.

Air Blast doesn’t deal with Monsters, it pushes them back.

Then the Monsters would inevitably pile up, and the wall would become too thick for Swordsmen to break through.

It was a magic that couldn’t be used at first.

Run while the path is open!

Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su sped up a little more in response to Kang Hye-castle’s voice.

It was the best speed they could muster, and their mouths were already dry.

They were also with Castle.

The distance to the Portal was 30 meters.

They had greatly reduced the distance.

“Damn it, is it this hard without big brother!”

Kang Hye-castle shouted.

“Shut up…!”

Just as Park Ha-su was about to say something.

Thump thump!

A large monster appeared right behind the Portal.

At this rate, they would encounter those foes before entering the Portal.

Now the distance to the Portal was 20 meters.

“I’ll throw you, go in first!”

Park Ha-su, who was cutting down a monster, lightly pushed Kang Hye-castle with his shoulder.

Just as his body seemed to float slightly, Park Ha-su’s hand flew out and firmly grabbed Kang Hye-castle’s belt.

“What…!”

Park Ha-su then took a running start and threw Kang Hye-castle into the Portal.

“Whoa whoa whoa!?”

Kang Hye-castle flew about 10 meters and slipped right into the Portal.

With the burden gone, Park Ha-su rushed forward and began to cut down the monsters.

“Quickly!”

Lee Yong-chan urged.

Park Ha-su unleashed his aura in all directions, desperately clearing a path.

And his efforts were rewarded.

The distance to the Portal narrowed to about 5 meters. This distance is but a step for swordsmen.

“Go in first!”

Park Ha-su shouted.

In response, Lee Yong-chan simply threw his sword. The sword flew fiercely and pierced the forehead of a monster rushing at Park Ha-su.

In the meantime, Lee Yong-chan embraced Kim Songcheol and threw himself towards the Portal.

“Follow immediately! Or you’ll die…”

Lee Yong-chan’s shout abruptly cut off. It was because he had entered the Portal.

Thump thump!

A large fist flew towards Park Ha-su, who was left alone.

Park Ha-su twisted his upper body with all his might to dodge the fist, then stepped on the face of the rushing monster and leaped up.

Another hand flew at him.

Park Ha-su flipped his body in mid-air. A large hand grabbed where Park Ha-su’s head had been just a moment ago, and Park Ha-su fell straight down and entered the Portal.

It was the moment all members of Team 24C escaped.

***

Kim Songcheol opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Kim Myeongju’s face.

He was sitting next to him, staring at Kim Songcheol.

“Oh, are you awake?”

Kim Myeongju scrambled up and approached the bed.

“That…”

Kim Songcheol felt nausea and a headache a beat later, and he frowned.

An experience of feeling something similar flashed through his mind.

After being forced to drink by his seniors in college, the next morning when he woke up.

This was ten times worse than that.

“Are you alright?”

Kim Myeongju asked worriedly. He hadn’t called a doctor separately. He had already been told that there was nothing wrong with Kim Songcheol’s body.

“…I’m not okay.”

“Where do you feel uncomfortable?”

“A headache and… I’m very nauseous…”

“Maybe some painkillers…”

“No, I don’t think that will do it…”

Kim Songcheol stopped Kim Myeongju and placed a hand on his forehead.

He didn’t have a fever. He just instinctively put his hand there because his head was hurting.

“What happened? Did everyone get out?”

Kim Songcheol asked.

“About…”

Kim Myeongju checked his wristwatch and continued.

“It’s been about three hours. All members of Team 24C have escaped.”

“That was a cheap escape.”

Kim Songcheol finally managed a difficult smile.

If everyone had escaped, being unconscious for about three hours was no problem.

The ‘magic hangover’ would get better if he endured it a bit longer.

“Brother!”

At that moment, the members of Team 24C entered the infirmary.

It seemed they had been dozing outside and woke up when they heard Kim Songcheol’s voice.

“Are you alright?”

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

Lee Yong-chan, Park Ha-su, and Kang Hye-seong crowded around the bed.

When the dark foes spoke loudly, his already aching head throbbed even more.

“You guys… look fine. I’m okay.”

Kim Songcheol gave a thumbs-up for now.

It meant ‘don’t worry’.

“Do you know what happened after you collapsed, brother?”

“I was clinging to Park Ha-su’s shoulder like a hawk, and even though I was shaking, I was using magic! No, that’s not what’s important…!”

“Another monster wave came, so I carried you, ready to die…”

“This guy threw me, didn’t he? I could only say ‘uh-oh’ as I flew through the portal…”

“Park Ha-su was the last one left, and I was so worried about what would happen if he couldn’t get in…”

As if they had been waiting, the team members poured out their worries like a torrent of nothingness.

Since it was a hospital in the training institute, there were no other awakened, but the problem was that Kim Songcheol was also an awakened.

His headache was getting worse, and his stomach twisted as if an eel had been put inside.

“Ugh…!”

Eventually, Kim Songcheol dry-heaved, turned his head to the side, and Kim Myeongju quickly brought a trash can to catch it.

But since there was nothing in his stomach, nothing came out.

“Ugh…!”

After a few dry heaves, Kim Songcheol lay back on the pillow with a look as if his soul was about to leave his body.

“Hey, you should have changed your clothes!”

Kang Hye-castle pointed her finger at Lee Yong-chan and Park Ha-su.

Their combat uniforms were still stained with monster blood.

They had been waiting in front of the hospital because they were so worried about Kim Songcheol, but they missed the chance to clean up.

In fact, the metallic smell of monster blood was further squeezing Kim Songcheol’s stomach.

Normally, he would have just felt a bit nauseous, but in his current state, he couldn’t even stand that much smell.

“I’m fine… go… get some rest… please…”

Kim Songcheol gestured like a grandmother who had been harassed by her grandchildren for three days.

“Then we’ll be back.”

As Kang Hye-castle bowed her head.

“No, you don’t have to come back, just go rest…”

“Come on, you must be tired, let’s go out for now.”

Kim Myeongju finally noticed the situation and led the team members out, comforting them.

Silence fell upon the noisy hospital.

Only then did Kim Songcheol feel a little better and was able to rest.

Kim Songcheol lay there for another 12 hours before getting up.

His physical condition was much better. It was now weaker than a normal hangover.

Kim Songcheol settled his points first.

Points are currently the most important asset and are strictly managed by official position.

The rule is for team members to send them to their leader, and the leader to a designated person.

In the case of training institute students, they had to send them to Kim Myeongju.

Kim Songcheol went up to the stone slab alone and checked his points.

His total points were 410,000 points.

He had set a new record once again, following the previous 380,000.

Miscellaneous monsters didn’t give many points.

However, by earning most of the points from the large monster and gatekeeper, a record of 410,000 was set.

“Was it worth it…?”

Kim Songcheol tilted his head, weighing the danger of the castle against the amount of points.

The conclusion was yes.

Isn’t it better to get at least this many points than to just face danger without getting any points?

Kim Songcheol immediately transferred the 410,000 points to Kim Myeongju.

Kim Myeongju, who was briefly looking at nothingness in the Education Director’s thread, stopped cold when he saw the message that 410,000 points had been transferred.

‘…He broke the record?’

He thought he had already been surprised enough when Kim Songcheol had accumulated 380,000 points.

But he didn’t expect him to break that record too.

Kim Songcheol’s thread power was being proven not only by magic but also by points.

“Huh…”

Kim Myeongju, who was enjoying the lingering afterglow of pleasant surprise, suddenly made a call.

“This is Education Director Kim Myeongju. Can I get the current Republic of Korea’s points held? Yes, it’s just a simple inquiry. Yes, yes. Ah… yes, I understand.”

He had a short conversation and hung up the phone.

Kim Myeongju’s expression, as he carefully placed his mobile phone on the desk, was even brighter than before.

The Republic of Korea’s current points held were 1.94 million.

Adding Kim Songcheol’s points would make it 2.35 million.

Had the total points ever exceeded 2 million before?

Since he was appointed Education Director, it had always hovered between 1 million and 2 million.

But today, for the first time, it exceeded 2 million.

Normally, 3 million is considered a safe zone.

This is because the cost of deleting a C-class gate is in the late 2 millions.

A country that can delete a C-class gate as soon as it appears.

That was absolutely not common.

But at this rate, even the safe zone was not a dream.

Having Kim Songcheol.

That advantage was being felt much faster than expected.