The Academy’s Deceased Ate It All - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Eventually, it was not until night that we were able to return to our respective dormitories.

Unlike the other students, we had a direct encounter with the giant tree, and more importantly, we all had to undergo a thorough examination because of Na Il-Jun’s mental problems, along with the two who had lost their consciousness for a long time.

Fortunately, no one died or was injured.
In other words, Na Il-Jun, who had mental problems, was the biggest patient.

And thanks to the fact that the check-up ended much later than expected, I was able to escape to the dormitory right away without getting involved with Han Soo-Young or Jin Ye-Seul.
First of all, I should take a breather and think of a way to deal with it.

‘I was worried that it might have gone wrong because of me, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to be.’

An ancient tree spirit suddenly appeared in the mock dungeon.
It could actually be said that it was one of the signs shown to warn us of danger.

‘It’s a sign that the seal is being broken.’

In Clouds on the Horizon, there were seven monsters who were final bosses.
And when one of their seals was broken, the other would crack in turn.

But two had long since been broken, and one was an empty seal.
So in the end, only the remaining four were proper seals.
And the rest would eventually explode one after another without any time to do anything about it.

‘Well, it’s solved well in the original story, so I guess I don’t need to worry too much about it.’

From what I’d seen so far, it seemed that the details were different, but the main stem didn’t seem to change much.
As I concluded this, I took out a drink from the refrigerator that was placed in each dormitory.

“Aigo…… .”

After taking a shower, my whole body was very tired.
I sat down in a chair and took out my phone and the amber stone from the dungeon and put them down.
Then I slightly lowered my gaze and looked at my shadow.

“How about you vomit what you ate?”

As I mumbled as if I was talking to the shadow, the appearance of the shadow immediately fluttered.
Then, immediately, I could see the handle of the dagger coming out of the ground as if it had risen from nothing.

‘It’s very convenient.’

I carefully grabbed the handle of the dagger and lifted it as if I were pulling up a radish.
It went smoothly into my hand without any rejection.
I placed it straight down beside the amber stone.

“Hmm.”

Cell phone, amber stone, and silent dagger.
Having glanced at them in a row, I immediately picked up my phone.

[Update complete!]

A large notification popped up on the screen.
As soon as I clicked OK, the explanations came up underneath, and I knew that was what had changed in this update.

‘Let’s see.’

[The Portability and Compatibility section has been updated.
― Now you can browse through any electronic device.
Also, it is possible to temporarily view the information in the air by consuming mana.]

[Data has been optimized.
― Missing or changed information has been applied, and the search for setting books has been further subdivided.]

[Other convenience features have been added.
― ‘Emotion’ function has been added.
― Alarms are accumulated when important information is updated.
― Security has been strengthened, so the contents of the screen are not visible to others.]

“It’s almost…”

That sounded like a game.

I stared blankly at it and immediately operated my phone to the word ‘emotion’.
Then the phone’s screen changed as if the camera was turned on, and I reflexively brought it to the amber stone.

“Oh…. .”

I thought I would be able to take a picture with the sound effect, but the description appeared on the screen right away, along with the amber stone that had just been reflected.

[High Purity Spirit Remnants (Material / Unique)]
[The remnants of the high-purity spirits left behind as the spirits with great power disappear and form crystals like jewels. If you carry it around with you, you may receive reasoned hostility from the spirits.

― If you have it with you, the spirit affinity will decrease slightly.]

‘It’s not as big a deal as I thought.’

I was sure it would be highly valuable if it was used for magic or alchemy, but unfortunately, it was useless to me right now.
I thought about carrying it around with me, but when I saw the phrase that the spirit affinity would be slightly reduced, it bothered me.
Considering how unpredictable the spirits in this world were, it was better not to do anything that offended them for nothing.

‘For now, let’s keep it as an ornamental for a while.’

I roughly placed it next to a glass of Mandragora.
Then, the guy who was looking at me blankly from the water started to stare at the Spirit Stone.
After watching it for a while, I opened the lid of the drink I had taken out.

‘Now that the mock dungeon incident is over, it would be better to follow Choi Hyun-Woo and Han Soo-Young for future events and time series.’

As I quenched my throat, I began to ponder what would happen next.

I didn’t know how each of the playable characters was at the beginning, but from the middle of the game, each of them had their own perspective and story, and I thought it was important to have a clear direction from the beginning.

‘The next was definitely a story related to a giant guild.’

Normal classes would continue for a while, and representatives of each guild who were allowed to enter the academy would come to visit soon.
And, of course, that was the beginning of the second incident here at the academy.

‘Let’s just do what I’ve done so far. Just like until now.’

With that in mind, I threw the can of juice I had finished into the trash.
Then I laid down on my fluffy bed, the sound of my pain naturally leaked out.
I laid down on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘But it’s really good… … .’

A single-room dormitory that looked even better than the home I had originally lived in, and even better than the home I had in this world.
All the furniture looked sophisticated and expensive, as well as basic daily necessities and snacks.
There was also a kitchen where you can easily prepare food, almost like a studio.
These facilities were free for 4 years, and in any case, even living expenses would be provided separately.

‘And then….. .’

I touched my cell phone to check my virtual account.
It was an account created collectively for students who entered the academy, and living expenses and training fees were deposited here.
And the account, which was supposed to be empty, was stamped with a whopping 200 million won.
Of course, considering what would happen in the future, a considerable amount of money would be spent from here, but still, what about it?

Two hundred million.
I didn’t expect such a large sum of money to be deposited into my account so quickly.

‘You handle your business really fast.’

Perhaps a satisfied smile was etched on my face.
And just like that, I was about to go to bed.

Ding-dong.
I jumped up from my seat when the doorbell rang with a cheerful sound.

“Huh?”

There was no one who could come at this hour.
I thought to myself as I got up from my seat and walked towards the door.

‘Who could it be?’

Several names were running through my mind.
There was no way Han Soo-Young was going to break the rules and enter the boys’ dorm because of her curiosity.
Choi Hyun-Woo would have contacted me before coming, and I didn’t have any other friends who would visit me at the dorm.

‘Could it be Jin Ye-Seul?’

And I flinched for a moment when I heard an unexpected voice over the door.

“Hey, sorry to bother you at this late hour, student Yoo Ji-Hyuk. Can I talk to you?”

It was Lee Myung-Joon’s voice.
When I opened the door to the completely unexpected guest, he looked at me and bowed slightly.

“Hunter Lee Myung-Joon?”

“I’m sorry it’s so late. Did I wake you up?”

“No. I was about to go to bed.”

“Well.”

Then he gently lifted what he was holding in one hand.
From the smell alone, I knew it was chicken.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you inside.”

* * *

“Hunter-nim, have some too.”

“No. I’m fine.”

First, I let him in and I put the chicken he had bought on the table.
Seeing him sitting down naturally, I thought that he must have come this midnight because he had something important to say, so I put the chicken aside.
If I eat it now, I won’t be able to taste it properly anyway.

“First of all, sorry for coming so late at night.”

Watching him bow his head to me, I let out a small sigh.
Judging by his polite attitude, it was clear that he had brought something that would bother me.

“Let’s talk.”

“No. For now, I’ll just say it like this.”

With those words, Lee Myung-Joon took something out of his pocket and began to place it on the table.

Blackened and dried wood pieces.
And some photographs.
Lee Myung-Joon pushed the photos toward me as if to ask me to check them.

“This…… .”

I checked the photos, my eyebrows furrowed slightly and my words dropped.
The person in the photo was Esmeralda Lysnerger.

“As you know very well, Ji-Hyuk, it’s Esmeralda Listenerger who was arrested at that time.”

“Yes. I can see that.”

In the photo, she was quite haggard, but there were no signs of torture.
But when I saw that she was blackened and dried up to the elbow of her right arm, I instinctively knew why he had come to visit me.

“And these are some of the remains of a giant tree we collected from the site today.”

Lee Myung-Joon, who paused for a moment, was looking straight at me.

“They all have one thing in common, they’re all black and dried up, and Ji-Hyuk was at the scene in both cases.”

I didn’t answer.
I was about to ask him back, ‘Wasn’t Choi Hyun-woo at the scene beside me?’ but if he had come all the way here, he would have already prepared all the responses to my questions.

“So what’s the point?”

Eventually, I raised the white flag.
Lee Myung-Joon, like Choi Hyun-Woo, was not someone who would go anywhere and spit out my secrets.

‘I’ll have to be more careful from now on.’

“Ji-Hyuk…… .”

As I was thinking that, Lee Myung-Joon lowered his head once more.

“I came here because I wanted you to help us. I would like to remind you that I have no intention of threatening or disadvantaging Ji-Hyuk by doing this, so please understand this.”

“Yes. Well, I understand.”

I looked at him and snorted softly.

“It’s almost like a notice, though. Well, as you said, it’s not a threat.”

“I’m sorry. But the situation is too tense…… .”

Lee Myung-Joon said so and looked at me with earnest eyes.

“Lysnerger still hasn’t opened her mouth. We can get the information out of her in the near future here, but the poison that is coming up through her arms is going to kill her before we do. She is aware of that.”

“…… .”

“We can’t let that happen. We really need her information. So, I and my colleagues are currently searching around, trying to find a way to detoxify her poison.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you cut off her arm?”

He smirked at my question.

“Of course I tried. As soon as I cut her wrist, it spread right up to her elbow.”

“…… .”

This was a fact I hadn’t known.
Then it meant that if I could clearly wound and poison someone with Nidhogg’s fang, I would be able to kill my opponent at some point.

“Please.”

As I looked at Lee Myung-Joon, who bowed his head with those words, I slowly began to think.

Since I had already come this far, it was an obvious fact that I had to make my attitude clear.

Should I just reject him?
To be honest, the importance of the character Esmeralda Lysnerger in the story was quite heavy.

‘And there…… .’

Lee Myung-Joon.
A person who should have died long ago was now alive and bowing to me.
His disposition was perfectly biased towards order and line, and he was not a person who would betray others or forsake his faith.

‘But.’

I didn’t like it.

He had bowed to me, but it was only superficial.
Looking at the current situation, I felt like I was being followed by him, so honestly, my feelings were dirty.
I was vaguely thinking of just pretending not to know and saying no.

‘Wait…… .’

Just as I thought that, a thought crossed my mind and I immediately shut up.
And after a brief calculation, I came to the conclusion that maybe I could make the best of the situation and it would turn out to be a plus for me.

‘No, it is possible. Why didn’t I think of this method before?’

Red Case, the villain group to which Esmeralda Lysnerger belongs.
Their main characteristic was that they were a team of assassins, bodyguards(of the leader), infiltrators, and terrorists, each with their own specialized abilities, united under the command of their leader.

In order to defeat them, we first had to break their unity and make coordination impossible.

‘Then…… .’

Convinced, I nodded my head slightly.
Lee Myung-Joon was still bowing his head.

“Okay.”

Even then, he didn’t move.

“That means…. .”

“I can’t help it, I’ll help you.”

At my answer, Lee Myung-Joon put on a relieved expression on his face.
Looking at him, I also smiled.