[Imperial Academy Field Training Catastrophe]

Grade: Hidden

Objective: Survive with as many students as possible until the Rift completes its transformation into a dungeon

Reward: Gold, experience, and a random Rank B–S item box

Final rewards will vary based on your performance.

An unforeseen disaster has erupted during the Imperial Academy’s field training. The Rift has torn open within the practice grounds and unstable energy is spilling out into the world. Two young students have lost their lives to this calamity. If you stand by and wait until the Rift stabilizes enough for the Academy to send in a rescue team, there may be additional casualties. Save as many of the Academy’s students as you can.

This wasn’t some hidden quest tucked away in the game files, waiting for players to stumble across it. The quest was created in this exact moment, existing only here and now like a whisper from the world itself, spelling out what it wanted from Do-Jin.

Fucking great. I’m busting my balls trying to climb to Rank 7, and they toss me a catastrophe-tier hidden quest. At least it’s not marked as Fate, so I guess I should be thanking someone.

LOST was built on disasters unfolding live with no reruns or do-overs. As a Regenian, he was stuck right in the center of it all, doomed to forever run around and patch up the holes in a sinking ship.

“Anemone.”

At his call, the wolf lifted her head and nodded. “Same as last time, right?”

“Yeah. Same drill.”

Once again, he’d have to rely on her senses. She had carried her weight in Danumine Gorge, and she’d do it here too.

“Someone nearby reeks of fear.”

Do-Jin followed at her side while Bill trailed behind, trying to stay quiet but stumbling enough to remind the others he was there. They moved through the forest one step at a time, every sound measured, every shadow treated as a threat.

Then, Anemone froze. Her nose twitched forward, pointing straight ahead. The silence broke with the sound of leaves crunching under desperate feet. Ragged breaths followed, thick with panic as they faded into the night. Do-Jin pushed aside the brush just enough to peer through, his eyes cutting through the pitch-black as if it were day.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Look who it is. I have no clue what the hell she’s running from, but I’d better drag her in before she draws more shit this way.

It seemed Xenia Bondrei had been running blindly through the forest. The woods around them were still and empty, and though Anemone and Do-Jin sensed no danger, the girl’s wide-eyed panic told them she’d seen something.

If I spook her, she’ll scream her head off.

He waited until Xenia got close to them, then yanked her straight into the brush.

“Ah—”

Before she could get a sound out, his hand clamped hard over her mouth. She struggled, thrashing in his grip, but Do-Jin’s voice cut low and sharp against her ear.

“If you want to live, then shut the fuck up. I’m saving your ass.”

His arms locked around her body and squeezed tight. He wasn’t only holding her down; the pressure acted like a reset switch on someone drowning in panic. Within seconds her frantic struggling slowed and then stopped. Once Do-Jin pulled his hand away, she began to relax a little, but her eyes still looked vacant.

Wait... that’s not the problem...

His brow furrowed as a coppery stench hit him out of nowhere.

“Do-Jin, she’s bleeding badly,” Anemone said.

“I know.”

Her black clothes had hidden it, but the gash across her stomach was ugly. Something sharp had ripped her open, and blood was soaking through the fabric fast.

“Bill... Licht...?” Xenia’s eyes found Bill, just steady enough to call his name.

If she can still tell who’s who, she hasn’t bled out too much yet.

He dug for a potion, only to see her eyes widen again.

“We... we have to run. Over there, it’s—” She started thrashing, panic boiling over.

Fuck.

Do-Jin cut her off before she could scream. His hand slid from her jaw to her throat, pressing down on her carotid hard. Within seconds, her body went limp. Bill’s face went pale, eyes wide with horror. Do-Jin simply gave him a sharp gesture to stay quiet. Then he leaned out of the brush, scanning the treeline.

Just then, something moved in the distance. Slowly, a mantis-like abomination crawled into view, but it wasn’t just a mantis. It had two massive pincers, two more arms shaped like scything blades, and four jagged legs that dug into the dirt as it skittered forward. There were no eyes, no real head but only grotesque antennae twitching and tapping the ground like drumsticks as it felt its way ahead.

“It’s a Mantis Predator.”

This was a hunter born from the deepest, lightless shadows. They appeared across different regions, but the lowest-level zone where they ever showed up was at least Rank 125 territory. The only shred of good news was that the Mantis Predator was deaf, blind, and nose-dead.

“Don’t move. Move even an inch and you die.”

It hunted through vibration alone. Inside a fifty-meter radius, every footstep, every pounding heartbeat, every shift of one’s weight would be picked up.

If we were a second slower, it would’ve been over.

If the duke’s little princess had flailed or screamed, they’d all be ground meat. Crude or not, choking her out fast was the only option he had.

The Mantis Predator tapped its antennae against the dirt, then stopped cold. Suddenly, it shot forward at blinding speed and stabbed down on a target. A tree trunk split apart and blood splattered across the ground.

Must be a raccoon.

Through Silent Night, Do-Jin caught sight of the poor animal, already shredded to pieces. The monster had torn into the spot with all four forearms, chopping and digging like it thought dinner came with a side of hidden burrow.

I never thought I’d be thanking a pack of raccoons, Do-Jin thought. This is our chance to move.

He slung the unconscious princess over his shoulder, whistled Anemone back, and gave a low warning toward the quivering little noble brat. “Move. Stay as quiet as a mouse unless you want to die screaming.”

Though it wasn’t meant to intimidate, Bill was still scared speechless.

Step by step, Do-Jin eased back, keeping his movements featherlight. Normally, even those tiny shifts would’ve been enough for the Mantis Predator to zero in instantly. But right now, the beast was too caught up in its feeding frenzy, ripping into the ground and gorging itself on a fresh kill. Even its own thrashing was throwing out so much vibration that it was tripping over its senses.

We should be far enough now.

Fifty meters was the usual range, and by his judgment, they’d slipped clear.

Do-Jin jerked his chin toward Bill. “Back to the cave.”

“Huh?”

Bill blinked at him like an idiot, but rather than repeating himself, Do-Jin simply bolted.

“Not that way. Head right, Do-Jin,” Anemone said in a low but sharp voice.

Eventually, they made their way back to the little burrow. After everything that had happened, this cramped hole in the earth felt almost cozy.

“Christ, she’s heavy as hell.”

Do-Jin carefully slung the dead weight from his shoulder to the ground. He couldn’t care less about Xenia’s comfort, but he had to avoid making any noise big enough to draw another predator down on them.

“That monster from earlier hunts by tracking vibrations. If you want to live, wedge yourself in that corner and don’t twitch.”

“I... uh...”

Bill’s lips moved like he wanted to say something, but Do-Jin cut him off before he could embarrass himself further.

“Think about it. What’s more important right now? Answering your little questions, or keeping people alive?”

“I, I’m sorry.”

“Good. Then get the hell over there.”

He jerked his chin at the corner, and Bill obeyed, dragging his feet with an expression so full of shame it was almost pitiful.

First priority is keeping the brat alive. After all the effort it took to drag her here, it would be a fucking joke if she died the second I let her go.

He pulled a potion from his belt, turned and froze at the sound of a voice.

“How dare you put your hands on my throat?”

Xenia was awake now, her eyes locked on him, blazing with fury. Even in this nightmare, what stuck in her craw most was the fact he’d knocked her out.

Long since tired of her attitude, Do-Jin exhaled through his nose. “I really don’t have the time or patience for your whining. Drink this. And pour some on the wound while you’re at it.”

He tossed the potion her way and she missed it completely. The glass bottle ended up smacking her right in the face.

“Are you insane?!”

“I honestly didn’t think you could fuck up catching a bottle. That’s on me.”

“Forget it. I’m not drinking anything that comes from you. I have my own potion.”

She threw his potion aside, yanked one of her own from her pack, and chugged it down.

A heartbeat later, she doubled over and vomited it all back up. Do-Jin’s expression hardened.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

Ignoring her shrieks, he shoved her hands aside and forced her clothes up to check her stomach area. Then he uncorked another healing potion and dumped it directly over the gash.

However, the wound didn’t knit shut. The flesh twitched like it wanted to mend, yet the bleeding never stopped. Worse, her body started to convulse as she let out another scream. The healing should have soothed, but instead it ripped through her with white-hot agony.

It’s a poison, huh?

It wasn’t just any poison. This was specifically designed to prevent recovery. Sometimes the healing would be halved, while at other times it would be completely negated or even converted into damage.

Out of all the rotten luck, it had to be this.

Triggered by the potion, her skin went chalk-pale in seconds, her lips drained of color. She looked one breath away from collapsing for good.