Outside the Rift to the Otherworld.

While the students assigned to the guard squad were hunting enemies, Song Daeseok found himself overwhelmed by the skills of his classmates.

He had trained alongside them, so he had some idea of their physical abilities and supernatural levels, but seeing it in actual combat made the difference feel much greater.

‘Mingrin said the class president fought well, but this much?’

As the phrase Yong Jegun had jokingly written to tease Song Daeseok went, that day he had not seen Bimuyeon in person.

He heard that Kim Yuri and Jo Yi-shin had performed well and that Jin Jeongmuk had shown a disappointing side, but he hadn’t really cared.

He simply regretted not seeing Mingrin, glasses off, smiling under the sunlight.

But now, watching Kim Yuri fight, he understood why she had been praised so highly that day.

Even Jin Jeongmuk, who was said to be not very skilled, showed better skill than Song Daeseok.

Watching his classmates fight, the difference was obvious at a glance between Jin Jeongmuk, who wielded the sword carefully, and Song Daeseok, who was flustered and focused only on defense.

‘I’m worse than when I used to pick fights at school, but fighting together, I know now. They fight so much better than me it’s not even comparable. Seriously, why do those attention seekers fight that well...! And Irena, no, Kwon Rena, she fights that well with her supernatural violin?’

Kwon Rena processed the sound waves emitted from her supernatural violin into supernatural energy, shaping it like a whip.

Compared to Kwon Jein’s power that made water dance with her playing, Kwon Rena’s intangible whip was significantly weaker in scale and destructive power, but on the battlefield, it served its role well.

Though she couldn’t subdue enemies with just her playing, she effectively tripped them up and contributed to the hunt, even succeeding once in disrupting enemies with the short-term use of the “Gwanglim ‘Illusory Banquet.’”

Also, Sawol Seyum, once considered the weakest at Kwon Rena’s level, fought well by utilizing flight skills to exploit outdoor advantages.

Song Daeseok could try to excuse his performance by saying he had neglected training, but that explanation felt hollow when compared to Dokgo Miro, who had been managing an even busier schedule yet fought exceptionally well.

“Did you lose muscle while losing weight? Your swings feel weak.”

“I did lose some, but just now I hit gently on purpose. If I hit harder, the enemy’s flesh might burst and splash onto Han Ihan.”

“Just hit hard. Whatever splashes, you can dodge it.”

Dokgo Miro was not putting on a show.

He still swung the morning star, a two-handed weapon, with one hand, and had enough composure to worry about Cheongho.

Among the classmates, Song Daeseok was the only one without composure.

Though all the teachers had headed to the attack squad, Song Daeseok knew their strength was still intact.

He also knew there were nobles in Class 2-0, and that one of them, Cheongho, was here under the name Han.

So, while he didn’t need to worry about Mingrin or the others’ safety, the wide skill gap with his classmates made him anxious.

‘Can I still fight alongside them now?’

Shiiik!

Before Song Daeseok could throw a punch at an enemy approaching his direction, Mok Wooram swung his axe first.

Relieved that he managed to follow the axe blade with his eyes, he shuddered when he saw a web-like string of supernatural energy unfolding in front of them.

Without Song Daeseok noticing, the thread-like supernatural wave spread like a spider’s web was blocking the regeneration of the enemy Mok Wooram had severed.

It was a spider web drawn from the thread ball In Seon-oh had manifested with her supernatural powers.

Song Daeseok clenched his fist, protected by his guard.

“Daeseok? What’s wrong?”

Using her quick legs, Mingrin, who hadn’t evacuated after failing to see the satellite alarm, and who had returned after evacuating the people and wild animals, spoke to the gloomy Song Daeseok. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Just before joining Song Daeseok, Mingrin had also taken down the enemies the attention seekers had been fighting.

Although she hadn’t improved her combat skills to their level due to preparing for the exhibition, Mingrin had attended classes fairly diligently, so her skills hadn’t dulled compared to Song Daeseok’s.

‘Am I really doing well...? After all, I’m the player...’

Since applying on Jo Yi-shin’s recommendation for the satellite management team internship at the association and becoming a guest researcher after team leader Im Jihwa accepted Han’s counteroffer, he had never regretted any of his choices.

That was still true now, and he had no intention of reducing the time he spent on satellites to focus on combat training.

Still, facing a situation where he couldn’t keep up ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) with his classmates’ fights made him reconsider his decisions.

Heehing...

The white horse neighed softly, as if sensing Song Daeseok’s anguish.

Seeing the white horse made Song Daeseok’s feelings even more complicated.

He knew the legend about the white horse tied to the hero who would appear on this land.

Seeing how obedient it was, it was natural to wonder if that hero might be himself.

But with the current situation, that faint hope quickly faded.

If his social skills were still as terrible as before, he might have shouted at the white horse in frustration: “I’m not that kind of hero, so stop bothering me and go away!”

“The攻略completion time should be soon, but it’s strange. Considering the rarity of this Otherworld, it’s taking too long.”

During a lull in battle, Jin Jeongmuk expressed doubt.

Not much time had passed, but considering the combat power of those who went to the attack squad, it was a reasonable question.

Dokgo Miro, who had experienced the tricks of Yong Jegun’s games, soon proposed a plausible hypothesis.

“The vice-homeroom teacher went with them. Maybe he’s interfering?”

“It’s a real battle where someone could get hurt, but if it’s Teacher Yong, that would make sense!”

“Right!”

Following Dokgo Miro, several classmates agreed.

But some seemed to have other thoughts.

Ong Gildong, who had appeared to fight recklessly, testing all sorts of flashy skills, spoke.

“This Otherworld has been strange from the start. Targeting Teacher Ham Geun-hyung, but the fact that the teacher has to go to the attack squad to lower the rarity and make the攻略easier bothered me.”

“Huh? Isn’t that so the teacher can lure Teacher Ham Geun-hyung?”

“If they have a target they want to kill for sure, it’s weird to be weak only against that target.”

In Seon-oh lightly agreed, but her words weren’t so light.

Hearing the conversation, Song Daeseok set aside his self-defeating thoughts and pondered the unease he felt from his classmates’ talk.

‘Strange? Now that I think about it, whenever I observe this nearby Otherworld via satellite, there’s something bothering me. Hongcheon’s readings fluctuated due to the terrain and demon attacks, but if I fix some variables and organize observations...’

Song Daeseok’s thought process always connected holistically with the player satellite.

Just by listening to that short conversation, he quickly linked the necessary parts from countless stored observations, formulated a hypothesis, and deduced the result.

When he found a plausible answer, he spoke excitedly as if he had never been discouraged.

“According to satellite observations, the Otherworld generated in Hongcheon showed similar terrain changes based on攻略progress. The noise from entering the boss room masked it, but combined with that strange part...”

“Daeseok, there’s no enemy right now, but we’re fighting, so summarize quickly!”

Mingrin cut him off and requested, so Song Daeseok hurriedly condensed his thoughts and spoke the conclusion the classmates wanted to hear.

“You said it’s strange that they only weaken against Teacher Ham Geun-hyung. Actually, that wasn’t true.”

“Then does that mean攻略became even harder?”

“It’s possible the rarity of the boss enemy increased just as we entered the boss room. They probably set a trap to lure and eliminate Teacher Ham Geun-hyung!”

Song Daeseok then rattled off the objective evidence he’d seen on the satellite that led to his judgment.

Listening, the classmates worried about Teacher Ham Geun-hyung but greatly admired Song Daeseok’s passion for and knowledge of the satellite.

The white horse watching Song Daeseok from a distance neighed softly with pride.

Inside the Rift to the Otherworld.

Because the land recognized the power I used as Teacher Ham Geun-hyung’s, the rarity dropped sharply, making攻略not difficult.

There weren’t many enemies, and no complicated gimmicks existed.

Due to the expanded dungeon’s nature, the longer攻略took, the more the interior expanded, making it easy to get lost, but thanks to the rarity dropping, we advanced before it could expand.

“Hey, vice class president! Leave one alive. Let’s practice!”

“I’ll leave one on the next floor.”

Because I used the power of the Changcheon Myeonggung bow, all enemies were pierced by arrows before they could approach, so Maeng Hyo-don, who focused on close combat, had no chance to step forward.

Yong Jegun was openly just watching, and Hwang Ji-ho had erected a barrier, but otherwise had little to do.

Teacher Ham Geun-hyung quietly watched me shooting arrows and gave advice.

Sometimes, he said, you can take down enemies without using full power; just now, if you lure enemies in one direction, shooting one arrow can kill two enemies. It was a useful tip.

As we smoothly攻略progressed and reached the boss room—

“Good job. From here, I’ll go alone.”

Teacher Ham Geun-hyung, who hadn’t taken the lead until then, said so.

The discomfort I had felt suddenly materialized.

I think I understood how the aftereffects of this land were targeting Teacher Ham Geun-hyung.

So I couldn’t simply step back.

“Is there a reason I can’t go with you?”

“......”

Teacher Ham Geun-hyung didn’t answer immediately.

Maeng Hyo-don, who was about to agree without thought, started to feel strange, and Yong Jegun and Hwang Ji-ho, who had wanted to follow from the start, looked at me brightly.

“I think you already know the answer.”

“Not yet.”

Teacher Ham Geun-hyung looked around at everyone here.

He soon realized it was impossible to persuade anyone except Maeng Hyo-don, and nodded grimly.

He headed toward the other side of the boss room, where the answer awaited.

When the door opened, cold wind mixed with snow poured in.

It was clear the source of the chill filling the dungeon was the boss room.

“Haha! I thought it was a spatial-type Otherworld, but it wasn’t.”

Yong Jegun used spatial magic to block the snow from his eyes and looked around.

Having confirmed where we were, he said,

“This is a relic-type Otherworld. It’s been continuously reproducing the memory of the land where the Otherworld’s Rift occurred. Teacher Ham Geun-hyung, have you been hiding this?”

Inside the boss room was the Hongcheon ski resort from 20 years ago.

Just like the relic-type Otherworld recreated the Creation Myth in the first round of the Korea-China-Japan exchange, this Otherworld had taken the form of this land as it was 20 years ago.