Chapter 17 - Academy Competition (3)
This Academy Competition was conducted in two ways.
It was a dungeon-type maze and a tournament between students.
And the first competition among them was none other than breaking through the dungeon maze.
< The first contest will be held shortly. All students, please finish your preparations. >
High walls visible around.
At the notice that resonated throughout the maze, Seo-joon checked his physical condition.
The first competition, breaking through the dungeon maze, had simple rules.
Place each student randomly in the maze. If you managed to escape the maze, it was over.
In the process, you are free to cooperate with students or break through alone.
However, any behavior that attacks other students is prohibited.
The ability to fight against people was intended to be seen properly in the next event, the tournament.
Anyway, this maze was like a dungeon, with various monsters placed in between.
Of course, it wasn't a real monster because it was simply a competition ground.
The augmented reality of magic engineering that has developed along with the study of the awakened.
It mainly embodies 3-4 star monsters, and it was a high level for those who were still just students.
However, it couldn't be perfectly the same, and the evaluation was that it was actually one step behind compared to the actual monster.
In a word, the first competition is to raid a maze-type dungeon! It was nothing like these words.
In the process, students' situational judgment, combat sense, and improvisation were evaluated.
In doing so, it was also evaluated what and how the Hunter Academy to which the students belonged was taught.
Therefore, what has the greatest impact on evaluation is how quickly students break through the maze.
It was a competition in which the first to break through was the higher the score.
< 3...2...1. The competition begins! >
At that moment, a notice announcing the start of the competition was heard.
Seo-joon gripped the iron bar tightly and moved slowly.
A space with intricately intertwined high and thick walls.
“It’s a complete maze.”
Seo-joon laughed alone at the words that came out without me knowing.
“Rather than that, how do I break through this?”
There was no specific way to break through the maze.
And in this competition, there were no specific rules.
In a word, break down the walls of the labyrinth and advance.
Climb up the wall and see the structure of the maze at a glance.
All I had to do was escape as quickly as possible.
Seo-jun stopped for a moment and looked up at the top of the maze wall.
It was so high that I had to tilt my neck completely back to see the end.
“It’s covered with a ceiling.”
It was difficult to climb the wall like this.
No, wouldn't it matter if we climbed through the ceiling from the top?
Seo-joon walked closer to the wall and tried to hit it with an iron bar with some force.
Tung.
A tingling pain pushed into the hand with a light sound.
It seemed that it was not simply a wall made of concrete.
“In this case, breaking the ceiling is okay, but climbing the walls is also a problem.”
Seo-joon kneaded his hand once and climbed the wall.
And at the same time, I erased from my head how to break through the wall and move on.
Of course, now that the progress rate of Hangwoo's lecture has exceeded 30%.
Using the power of reverse divergence, it seemed like it would be possible once or twice.
But it was literally once or twice.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have checked if the Theseus lecture was in the Free Pass.”
Theseus was a hero in Greek mythology who was responsible for killing the Cretan Minotaur.
And the place where the Minotaur was killed is Labyrinth, a labyrinth from which no one can escape.
Theseus had a history of escaping from Labyrinth.
Except for Daedalus and Icarus, who escaped by flying in the sky, they were the only survivors.
There are many words about the method, but I didn't know if I could get my own tips if I listened to myself.
“But who knew it was a maze-type dungeon?”
However, Seo-jun quickly shook his head.
That's because the content of the contest was completely private.
Of course, I knew that the competition was conducted in two ways, and that it was a dungeon raid and a tournament-style duel.
However, I did not know until the beginning of the competition whether the raid dungeon was a maze-type dungeon or how the tournament duel was conducted.
Seo-joon burst out laughing and thought again.
In this way, there was no choice but to escape the maze in a standard way.
And there are two standard ways that Seojun says.
One of them was luck.
Literally, he moved his steps wherever he went, praying that that was the direction of escape.
But this was only possible if you were really lucky. Using this method, most people were very likely to get lost in the maze for the rest of their lives.
So, in fact, there is only one way to say that it is a standard.
It was a method of sticking one hand to the wall and continuing to walk.
It was what was known as the left-handed or even-handed method.
In this way, the whole section of the maze can be scanned without overlapping, so one day it was possible to escape from the maze.
However, this method was not without problems, so it was literally ‘someday'.
I didn't know when that was.
‘Still, it's better than leaving it to chance.'
Seo-joon decided to use the left-handed method after much thought.
Even if it took time, it was better to be sure than simply leave it to chance.
Seo-joon pressed himself against the wall on the left. He told me to put my hand on it, but it was only to go to the left wall, so there was no need to do that.
‘Shall we go?'
Seojun moved slowly.
how long did it take Seo-joon was able to face a fork in the road.
A three-way fork, left, right and front.
Seo-joon moved to the left without worrying according to the left-handed method.
however.
‘hmm?'
Some kind of strange sensation stopped Seo-joon's steps.
I don't know what it is and I don't know why.
Instead of just going back to the wall on the left, it felt like I had to turn right now.
An indescribable feeling.
‘what...?'
Seo-joon couldn't understand that.
‘Could it be... is this part of my intuition?'
At least this was the only thing Seojun could explain.
The sixth sense currently being taught by Chiron.
I knew it was nonsense, but now the progress rate of Chiron's lecture has exceeded 30%.
I vaguely thought that maybe it could be because of the sharper and more sensitive senses.
“What should I do...”
Seo-joon pondered.
After all, leaving it to your intuition wasn't that different from leaving it to chance.
However, Seo-joon did not worry for long.
“I don’t know.”
Seo-joon turned to the right without hesitation.
Afterwards, Seo-jun walked through the maze as his senses led him.
There was no hesitation in my steps, and I took my direction without hesitation no matter how many forks there were.
Even so, Seo-joon did not face any particular problems.
If it's a problem, it's like no other incident happened?
< Cho Seok-min, a student at Ska Academy. You have been eliminated. >
Judging from the intermittent announcements, it seemed that other students were fighting monsters.
‘Why am I not doing anything?'
However, Seo-jun had never met a monster until now.
Could it be that intuition avoids even that?
Ay no way
‘If it's really like that, what will happen if I film 100% and learn the metamorphosis.'
Are you even predicting the future? Do you know how the enemy attacks after 3 seconds?
Seojun let out a laugh. It was because there was a degree of delusion.
Seo-joon turned his gaze to the side involuntarily.
And Seo-joon shook his head once again at the scene he saw, thinking that it could never happen.
because.
“brother. be careful. You never know when and where monsters will pop out.”
It was because I didn't meet the monster, but I did meet the same student.
That's also Lee Min-gi, whom I met in the waiting room a little while ago.
I guessed that he was young with a student-like atmosphere, but he was actually a high school student at the age of 19.
Of course, as soon as a year passed, it was like an adult. However, in Seo-joon's eyes, he was still just a young student.
And there was nothing special about the reason Seojun went with Mingi.
It was because Min-gi, whom he met by chance, followed Seo-joon.
‘I thought this guy would be there if I went the right way.'
To be exact, it was Min-gi who first turned right and ran into it shortly after.
‘you are?'
So when Seo-joon found Min-gi, he was a bit surprised.
‘hot!'
Of course, Mingi's surprise increased.
Anyway, all the students competing were competitors, so Seo-joon and Min-gi were wary of each other.
However, attacking other students in the first competition, the maze, is a strict violation of the rules.
Seo-joon realized the fact and soon let go of his guard.
‘then.'
Then, Seo-joon passed by Min-gi without taking any special action.
‘Over there...'
But Min-gi grabbed Seo-joon.
When Seojun looked at Mingi, Mingi hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
‘Would you like to go out with me?'
Seojun was a little embarrassed.
It is said that attacking other students is against strict rules and there is no limit to working together, but Seo-joon and Min-gi are completely unaware of it.
‘Wouldn't it be better to work with the same academy students rather than me who I don't know?'
When Seo-joon asked, Min-gi hesitated a bit before answering.
‘Oh well... I competed alone.'
It was only then that Seo-joon realized that there was an academy besides himself that he participated in alone.
‘But why bother with me?'
‘Looking at it earlier, it seems that you also competed alone. I wondered if it would be better for weak people to join forces.'
Are you weak? I?
At Min-gi's words, Seo-joon tilted his head.
Of course, Seo-joon could have been weak. Even though it was a competition that was treated as a 4th division league, it was a place where those who were called promising players in each academy competed.
No matter how much Seo-joon listened to the lectures at the Transcendent Academy, he could still be weak.
But the problem was that Seo-joon had never come here and showed off his fighting skills.
‘Ah...'
However, Seo-joon was able to understand Min-gi's words right away.
It was because of the appearance of Seo-joon himself, who was seen with a downward gaze.
Looking at the outside, Seo-joon really didn't have much to do with it.
He's from the unheard of dream academy.
It's been less than a month since I entered the academy.
Above all, it's a weapon, and isn't it holding an iron bar on the construction board!
I wanted to see it well, but I couldn't see it well.
Seo-joon thought that this might be the reason Min-gi approached him in the waiting room.
Seo-joon smiled and turned his back.
‘I don't like it.'
‘Don't do that, let's go together.'
Even so, Mingi did not give up.
In fact, Seo-joon, who knew how to shy away from Min-gi and avoid it, was a little embarrassed.
‘I don't like it.'
‘People like us have to gather our strength to escape even a maze.'
So for a while, a quarrel ensued.
“By the way, brother. You've been confident in your steps since earlier, so what do you know?”
That strife is what has come so far.
Seo-joon glanced at Min-ki once.
In fact, if Seo-jun wanted to get rid of Min-gi, he could have done it right away.
But the reason why I didn't bother to leave it alone was because I wasn't bored listening to Min-gi talking about it.
Seo-joon had nothing to do since he hadn't encountered any monsters, and Min-gi's sociability was enough to fill the void.
Because of that, not only Min-gi's age, but that both of his parents died and that he lives with his 10-year-old younger sister.
I learned about Min-gi's circumstances, which I didn't really want to know, but it was worth listening to.
‘Maybe that's why.'
Seo-joon laughed and said to Min-gi.
“no. I just go with my feelings.”
“Somehow... If you go the way you feel, Maze will be in big trouble. Since I know how to escape the maze, I will take the lead from now on.”
Then, Mingi took a step forward and stood in front of Seojun.
Seo-joon watched Min-gi's actions for a while, wondering what the way to escape was.
Then, Min-gi clings to the wall on the left.
“If you scan the left wall like this, you can escape the complicated maze.”
Seojun shook his head and said.
“It takes too long. I'll just go as I feel.”
“yes? Then you will definitely get lost.”
“Then let’s go separately.”
“Ha, but…”
Seo-joon moved without hesitation.
The appearance of Seo-joon walking away without Min-gi having time to say anything.
“brother! let's go together!”
And that was the moment when Min-gi caught up with Seo-joon.
“Is it here?”
“What kind of steps are so fast... Huh?”
For a moment, Seo-jun stopped walking and suddenly pushed hard against the maze wall next to him.
“What are you doing all of a sudden…?”
That moment.
Parapampppa!
A fanfare echoed throughout the maze.
< The breakthrough of the dungeon maze has appeared! >
< Breaking time: 27 minutes 12 seconds. >
< Breaking time in the shortest time: 1 hour 4 minutes 34 seconds. >
< Record breaking! >
Then a large electronic display board rose into the sky, and its name appeared. started to drip
< 1st place: Seojun Kim >
< 2nd place: Minki Lee >
“...?”
For a moment, the expression of Earl disappeared from Mingi's expression.
After being in a daze for a while, I suddenly came to my senses.
And look around several times.
I soon became aware of the situation.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?!?!?!
startled and started to freak out.