If you really think about it, Moyong Jun’s Group A hasn’t exactly done anything impressive either.
‘We still signed a nonaggression pact, though.’
Depending on how the finals play out, there’s a good chance it’ll get broken later... but until then, they’re the enemy.
Honestly, even if we hadn’t signed one, they would’ve been the enemy anyway.
Either way, it ant I had no reason to hold back.
After that quick rationalization, I looked around—and at so point we’d already pushed deep into Group A territory.
So I told my party mbers.
“Let’s do it around here.”
What we did was the exact sa as before.
We checked the positions of the nearby sanctuaries and, in between, set traps.
Then we hid in a suitable spot and waited. That was it.
Chaemi circled the sky once and picked out a pri location that fit my requirents, but—
“Cover’s a little lacking.”
The terrain was wide open. No rocks, no trees—nothing to hide behind. And even if we managed to conceal ourselves sohow, the mont we fired a mortar round, it felt like our position would get pinpointed.
I was thinking we should look for sowhere else when Park Nari asked carefully,
“Is... that all you need......?”
“If that’s all, then this place is the best. Unless...?”
A druid can use a balanced spread of Beast Tar skills and wood-and-earth elentalist skills.
Of course, compared to soone who digs into a single specialty, they tend to have less depth—so there are things they can learn and things they can’t.
Still, I asked just in case she had sothing usable, and Park Nari slowly nodded.
“Yeah....... A little.......”
She placed a hand on the ground and began murmuring a spell under her breath.
For a mont it seed like a faint vibration was spreading, and then—
RUUUMBLE......
So spots sank down while others suddenly rose, forming a rough, uneven terrain.
In other words, it beca perfect for hiding our bodies.
I blinked, playing dumb, and said,
“As expected, ‘our Nari.’ There’s nothing you can’t do, huh?”
“No....... It’s just that the situation matched well.......”
Even as she waved it off, Park Nari kept vigorously petting Beomi’s nape, and the little guy stared back like, Are you out of your mind, human?
Anyway, ti passed in a warm, friendly mood, and soon our first guests showed themselves.
Three students with a green ‘A’ on their chests.
They laughed and chatted amongst themselves as they started charging crystals.
Unfortunately, the good vibes didn’t last.
Because a mortar round ca falling down from above their heads.
KABOOOOM—!
[Side Quest: Finals Week 17–18](In Progress....)
▷Objective 1: Eliminate competitors(22/20 people)
After confirming Group A’s trio had been cleanly deleted, Seo Ye-in turned her head toward .
“Praise.”
“This ti too, you were excellent.”
“Our Ye-in.”
“I believed in our Ye-in from the start. Thanks to you, I get to ride the bus comfortably.”
“Vroom vroom.”
Only then did Seo Ye-in look satisfied, giving a tiny nod of her chin.
Then she ford a lump of light in one hand and flicked it around, throwing it here and there.
She was casting [Trap Toss].
“Why? You think soone’s coming?”
“......That kind of feeling?”
“Better to prepare.”
Lucky Charm hunches tended to be right, annoyingly often.
Even if nothing happened, using the skill a lot would help with rank-ups.
And around the ti Seo Ye-in turned the area into a trap field, the next guests appeared.
The mortar fired another blue shell into the air—
KABOOOOM—!
—and another party got swept away.
Leaving only their crystals behind.
Just as Chaemi went to retrieve them after the charge finished—
KIIIRIIIK—!
With a sharp tearing whistle from sowhere, mana arrows ca flying in.
“PYEH-EHK?”
Chaemi zigzagged through the air, barely dodging.
Park Nari shouted urgently.
“Ch-Chaemi! Co back!”
“PYEH-EEENG—”
Chaemi dove down like it was crashing, and everyone’s gaze turned toward the direction the arrows had co from.
“Looks like Cha Hyeon-ju.”
“......Bad-mouth kid.”
Since the attack didn’t continue, it was unclear whether they realized it was us.
They might’ve just been annoyed that sothing was flying around in the sky.
“Either way, they’ll co.”
They saw Chaemi drop around here, so they’d try to check what it was.
Sure enough, I could feel presences approaching fast, so I pointed the other way and gave instructions.
“Let’s act like we’re backing off and lure them in.”
Thanks to Lucky Charm hunches, the area was already a trap field.
But if we showed ourselves too early, Cha Hyeon-ju’s group would start watching for traps.
Worst case, they’d just pull out and keep sniping from far away. And then, win or lose, our plan to harass Group A would ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) go up in smoke.
To minimize variables, the best move was to guide them right into the middle of the trap field.
So we slowly retreated and hid behind a nearby rock, and soon Cha Hyeon-ju, Kang Hee-chan, and Baek Jun-seok appeared.
‘How’d they not step on anything on the way in?’
Looks like they had so luck.
Of course, whether that was really luck—and whether it would keep holding—was another matter.
Baek Jun-seok looked around and asked,
“You sure it’s here?”
“Yeah. It definitely fell here.”
“Doesn’t look like there’s anything.”
“Use your eyes before you talk.”
Cha Hyeon-ju snapped, then explained while gesturing around with their chin.
“The terrain’s artificial. Soone changed it with magic. And there are footprints. At least three people and one beast. The traces go that way—”
Cha Hyeon-ju shut their mouth mid-sentence.
Because they saw us stepping out from behind the rock.
I let out a slow clap and an admiring remark.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP,
“Your observation skills are excellent. Guess we got caught.”
“Doesn’t look like you were trying to hide.”
“Honestly, if we fight, we win.”
We had three prospect-tier talents. Cha Hyeon-ju’s party had one prospect and two around the 600-point range.
There was no universe where it beca a real fight.
Even so, Cha Hyeon-ju raised one corner of their mouth and snorted.
“Does your brain not work? Why would we just fight you like this?”
They slowly raised their bow toward the sky, like they were going to fire a signal flare.
aning Group A would swarm in from all sides.
That was the opposite of pleasant for , so I raised a hand to stop them.
“Hold on.”
“Why, scared?”
“I was thinking... how about a light little ga?”
“.......”
Cha Hyeon-ju frowned but slowly lowered the bow.
They were clearly thinking, Fine. I’ll hear what nonsense this is.
I smiled brightly and tilted my eyes toward Seo Ye-in.
“As you know, this person has a trap skill. And we laid a ton of them here.”
“......!”
“......!”
Kang Hee-chan and Baek Jun-seok hurriedly checked beneath their feet.
Cha Hyeon-ju, on the other hand, kept their gaze locked on .
“So what?”
“Even if you call your friends, it’ll be hard for you to walk out in one piece.”
“And if we don’t call them, we can walk out?”
“If luck’s on your side.”
Only then did Cha Hyeon-ju seem to realize what I was proposing.
“If we walk out without stepping on anything, you’ll let us go?”
“And we won’t interfere.”
“So you’re telling not to use a signal flare.”
“Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair.”
The three of them exchanged glances over their shoulders.
I could see exactly what they were thinking, so I added one more condition.
“And you can’t go back the way you ca. That’s too easy.”
KOOOM!
Thick ice walls rose up and blocked their retreat route.
Cha Hyeon-ju’s expression twisted as they kept asking.
“After we get out?”
“Do whatever you want.”
Finish collecting crystals. Gather teammates and chase us. Whatever.
Cha Hyeon-ju didn’t even ask their party mbers. They just tipped their chin.
“We’ll play along.”
“Excellent. Then begin.”
For a while, heavy silence settled over the field.
Everyone was pouring every ounce of focus into staring at the ground.
“......”
The first one to move was Baek Jun-seok.
Overly cautious, they stepped forward one slow step at a ti.
But before they’d gone very far—
KRRRRAAACK—!
Ice surged up their legs with violent force and, in an instant, froze their entire body solid.
In that state, they were ejected out of the artificial dungeon.
“......Idiot.”
Kang Hee-chan left that short appraisal, then stepped exactly into Baek Jun-seok’s footprints.
Then they loaded power into their legs—
“Hup!”
—and leapt a long distance.
Trying to get out while stepping as little as possible.
It was a decent judgnt call.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on their side.
KABOOOOOM—!
A pillar of fire erupted where they landed.
“GWAAAH—!”
As Kang Hee-chan got ejected too, Cha Hyeon-ju tossed the sa line.
“......Idiot.”
Even though their party had been helplessly picked off and they were alone, Cha Hyeon-ju didn’t look like they felt any real danger.
Like they still had sothing to rely on.
They picked a direction and started moving.
Thanks to an archer’s mobility skill, their stride was fairly long.
But the traps were laid so densely that they eventually stepped on one anyway.
Just as electric current crackled and was about to surge up, Cha Hyeon-ju’s bow scattered a powerful light.
FWAASH!
In the next instant, the trap had lost its function.
Seo Ye-in tilted her head.
“......?”
“They’ve got an upgrade.”
Good equipnt usually had upgrade slots, and it wouldn’t be strange if one of them held an option for dealing with traps.
It wasn’t the most broadly useful option... but if you interpret it as they wanted to beat Seo Ye-in that badly, it made sense.
FWAASH!
Once again, the bow flashed and disabled another trap.
Even though things were going relatively smoothly, Cha Hyeon-ju’s face had stiffened a bit.
So I casually asked,
“Looks like a two-use limit?”
“......Shut up.”
Yeah, that reaction confird it.
It was probably a “two uses, then cooldown” type.
aning from now on, it was up to luck—which was why tension slowly built across Cha Hyeon-ju’s face.
Like their party mbers, they moved cautiously.
A few steps passed without anything happening, but then—
CLICK,
A chanical sound ca from under their foot, like they’d stepped on another trap.
“......!”
Cha Hyeon-ju threw up every defensive skill they had.
And then, in the next instant—
BOI-OONG~
A spring-loaded doll head popped out and dangled.
Since it was a [Capricious Trap], even a Lucky Charm would sotis get nonsense like this.
Of course, Cha Hyeon-ju had no way of knowing that, so from their perspective they’d just wasted a bunch of skills for nothing.
Watching, Seo Ye-in tossed out a short comnt.
“......Stupid.”
“......!”
Cha Hyeon-ju’s face turned bright red with humiliation and rage.
With bloodshot eyes, they glared at us like they were about to spray arrows nonstop.
I, on the other hand, asked in a calm tone,
“Giving up?”
CRRRNCH,
Cha Hyeon-ju ground their teeth hard as they answered.
“Fgh...... d-don’t... (I’m... not giving up....)”
“Not much left. You can do it!”
“Gk-tsrr... (Shut up....)”
Maybe anger crushed down the sense of crisis, because they started stomping forward in bigger strides.
‘Not like that makes you luckier.’
Right before escaping the trap field, an enormous amount of wind blasted up from below.
WHOOOOOSH—!
Like a snake, it wrapped around Cha Hyeon-ju’s body and lifted them a few inches off the ground.
‘Weathering.’
A debuff that deals damage over ti and makes you vulnerable to wind-type attacks.
It was also one of the [Clear Mirror Calm Water] debuffs.
“......!”
Cha Hyeon-ju flailed desperately, but it didn’t look like they could break out of the wind prison.
I walked over at a leisurely pace and said,
“Looks like we win.”
“What kind of cheap crap is this!”
“If it’s cheap, then you shouldn’t have accepted. You even upgraded your weapon.”
If luck had been on their side, they might’ve gotten out with those two uses.
“You lost, so let’s do the penalty.”
WHOOOOOSH—
Wind gathered and compressed above my palm.
Cha Hyeon-ju’s complexion went pale as if they could already imagine what was coming.
“Wait. Hey—don’t. Don’t do that.”
“Wanna take the Kim Ho train for the first ti in a while?”
“I said don’t do it!”
“Departing, toot-toot~”
POW—!
“GAAAH—! You little—!”
Cha Hyeon-ju got launched sky-high like a mortar shell.
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