Chapter 22

“The search for team members continues.”

Since I couldn’t find anyone noteworthy in the 2nd year, I decided to visit the 1st year floor this time.

Maybe because they were freshies, unlike the composed 2nd years, the 1st years were a bunch of chatty kids.

‘The 2nd years have gone through the Magung, so there’s a clear difference between those who haven’t faced it yet and those who have.’

However, among these 1st years, there were indeed exceptional individuals.

The special class for 1st years was one such example.

They could be immediately put into 2nd year without any issues.

This special class, formed by assembling the top talents, was on a different level than the regular 1st years.

“Hmm? Looks like a small fry is coming this way.”

“Yeah, they’re tiny.”

I could hear the kids whispering while looking at me.

But as soon as they saw my name tag, they shut their mouths.

The blue representing the 2nd years and the Student Council emblem made my image heavy.

The 1st-year students naturally parted to give way.

The treatment I received was completely different compared to when I walked through the 2nd-year corridor.

‘The members of the special class were already checked beforehand.’

And there was someone I needed to bring along first.

“Hey there, junior.”

“Y-yes?”

When I called out, a junior, flustered, hurriedly responded, getting into the usual spirit of a 1st year.

“Do you know where Aisha Bizbel is?”

The Greatsword Iron.

Aisha Bizbel.

She’s the junior who trains with me every morning.

Since I’ve depended on her for quite a while, I thought I’d take the chance to rely on her a bit more.

After hearing my question, the junior easily pointed me toward Aisha.

It made sense since she always trains extra during lunchtime.

‘Training in the morning, and then more training after lunch.’

At this rate, Aisha must really be made of steel.

She was even more of a steel human than my own steel-like skin.

As I found the training room, I wasn’t surprised to see Aisha there.

Wearing her gym clothes instead of the uniform, she swung a massive greatsword.

It was definitely a ridiculous-sized greatsword, yet it moved in clean arcs.

Again, her muscles were absurd.

“Aisha.”

As I called her name, Aisha halted her sword.

She turned around and smiled as if she had just seen a familiar face.

“Oh, senpai! What brings you here?”

Aisha’s smile caused the junior who showed me the way to have a look of utter disbelief.

“The, the Greatsword Iron is smiling?”

Seeing his reaction, I quickly guessed the situation.

Aisha held a position that was tough to approach for the 1st years.

In the Empire, the Bizbel family.

Simply put, the Bizbel house represented the fighting race of the north.

Men and women alike are all tall and incredibly sturdy.

If you ever come across a male from the Bizbel family, regular men would be reminded of their biological disadvantage and would feel quite intimidated.

Aisha was recognized for having outstanding talent even among the direct descendants of the Bizbel family.

Moreover, when she entered Jerion Academy, she came in via recommendation rather than the admission exam.

Her martial arts scores were currently at the top.

Since she spent almost all her time training, her friendships with other students weren’t very deep.

It’s no wonder that in this whole school, the one she talks to the most is probably me, a 2nd-year senior.

So it was no surprise that Aisha was always seen as an intimidating figure to the 1st years.

The fact that Aisha smiled when she saw me was truly unexpected for the junior who had guided me.

The junior stared at me with a blank expression.

His face clearly screamed, “What kind of person are you?”

‘It seems my reputation hasn’t spread to the 1st years yet.’

Fair enough; everyone was busy adjusting to the academy life and handling their studies.

They certainly didn’t have time to worry about rumors within the academy.

“You can go now.”

Once I casually opened the conversation, he finally snapped back to reality and quietly left.

Still, the questioning look in his eyes lingered.

“Senpai, what brings you here?”

Meanwhile, Aisha approached me pleasantly, wiping off some sweat.

I handed her a drink I had cleverly brought along.

I figured it was only a matter of time before Aisha would be in this situation.

“Oh, thank you.”

“Aisha, have you decided on a team for the Magung?”

Aisha, who was sipping her drink, shook her head.

I figured as much; it was what I expected from Aisha.

“I was planning to form a team this time. How about it? Want to join?”

If someone like Aisha joined my team, it would be unbeatable ahead.

So when I made the offer, Aisha drank her beverage and flashed a robust smile.

“Was this drink a bribe for that?”

“Sure, now that you’ve drunk it, you can’t run away. If you try, I’ll blackmail you for accepting a bribe.”

“Scary. I can just imagine you doing something weird with blackmail.”

“For now, I might threaten to reduce morning training.”

“I’ll fight back by throwing myself into it.”

Imagining Aisha charging at me sent chills down my spine.

“So about the team?”

“I’ll join. I feel like I’ll work well with you, senpai.”

After all, we had trained together quite a bit already.

Within the academy, I was confident that nobody partnered better with Aisha than me.

With that, I had picked up two offensive members for the team.

What remained now was.

‘A healer.’

A student from Holy Studies.

* * *

Time passed again.

Before long, summer had begun to sneak in, signaling the arrival of early summer.

At Jerion Academy, the tension was at its peak.

The manifestation of the apostle due to the Evil Zone is identified through astrological signs of the four seasons.

On the day when spring weather is at its finest.

On the day summer officially begins.

On the day the length of autumn nights surpasses that of days.

On the coldest day of winter.

Apostles are born when a season reaches its climax.

A newly born apostle possesses weak powers.

That’s why, in this period, academies around the world are sending students into the Magung.

And today.

As summer fully heats up during early summer.

At the entrance to the western Magung, which Jerion Academy is responsible for.

A plethora of students gathered under the guidance of professors and assistants.

It’s obvious that this many people won’t rush into the Magung all at once.

Starting from the top scorers of the 3rd year, they would be let in sequentially.

‘The structure of the Magung is quite abnormal.’

The ultimate goal of the apostle is to emerge from the Magung and spread chaos in the world, giving birth to evil zones.

Therefore, apostles are all born in the hatching room on the 1st floor.

But for an apostle to get out, they need to approach the Evil Zone.

Their power when newly born is weak.

In this state, they would only end up being hunted down by the knights guarding the Magung Front.

So they chose to descend into the Magung.

To absorb the power of the Evil Zone and grow stronger.

The further down an apostle descends, the stronger the power they possess.

And once they reach the moment they become complete apostles, they begin the ascension back to the surface.

The purpose of establishing academies worldwide is to prevent these apostles from making their move before they can ascend.

To achieve that, students are sent in four times a year.

‘Thinking about it again, it truly is an abnormal structure.’

Standing in front of the entrance to the Magung, while observing the 3rd-year students being sent in first, I quietly gazed at the Magung.

It looked as if it was ready to swallow everything above ground.

The grotesque entrance seemed like a hellish mouth wide open.

This was the entrance to the Magung.

‘If I were the Evil Zone, I’d probably create apostles right from the start.’

Was there really a need to create apostles at the entrance of the Magung?

Even as someone who has played this game for a long time, I still don’t understand why the Magung has this particular structure.

‘In the first place.’

The existence of the Evil Zone itself is filled with mysteries.

Even in the ending of the Firefly Butterfly route, it was unclear whether the Evil Zone was truly defeated or not.

It left a very ambiguous conclusion.

‘Deus Ex Machina.’

The god of mechanical devices.

It’s a sort of device inserted into the story for smooth progression.

Users referred to the Evil Zone in this way.

‘Some say someone left the Evil Zone ambiguous for the purpose of writing the final chapter in the sequel to Magung Slayer.’

It’s a disappointing story, but the developers of Magung Slayer haven’t given any news for over five years since.

In the end, only speculations among users abound.

Official information about the Evil Zone is nowhere to be found.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me, you burned sweet potato?”

As I stared at the Magung, I suddenly heard a nagging voice next to me.

There stood a girl with bright red hair resembling a pompadour.

“When is our team coming? Honestly, you tricked me, didn’t you? This is all a lie!”

Seron Parmia.

She had come to me the evening before I finalized the team.

“Cough! Ahem, hey there, burned sweet potato, you mentioned your team is one member short.”

She had called out, and I was curious to see what she had to say.

Seron kept clearing her throat, trying to gather her thoughts.

“I-I might be able to join. Uhm…”

Seron had desperately searched for a different team right to the end.

But it seemed like no one would finally call her to join.

If it continued like this, she’d end up in the leftover team assigned by the professor.

For Seron, there couldn’t be anything more humiliating.

Eventually, her gaze landed on my team as a last resort.

She figured it was better to be on my team than to be stuck with a bunch of leftovers.

Seeing Seron for a moment, I tilted my head.

“Why are you acting like you’re doing me a favor?”

Does this girl really not realize her own position?

“W-what? I’m specially joining your team. You probably couldn’t gather proper members anyway!”

And that’s when it hit me.

Seron really had no idea what our team composition was like.

That’s why she was acting so bold.

“Our team’s rear guard is Poara Silin.”

“Huh?”

As the next words followed, Seron’s expression went from disbelief to shock.

She must have heard of Poara’s name before.

The whole academy had been buzzing about the Spirit Sovereign.

They had even tried to recruit Poara from the 2nd and 3rd years.

It seems strange to not know who Poara is.

With just that, the value of our team skyrocketed.

“And our front line includes Aisha Bizbel from 1st year.”

“W-wait, what?”

Seron comes from an Imperial noble family.

You can’t be unaware of the Bizbel name if you’re noble.

Her complexion turned pale as realization dawned on her.

She had just figured out that the team I assembled is actually stronger than she had expected.

She probably thought I’d just thrown together some random folks to make a team.

“Right now, there are quite a few people who want to join my team.”

After the rumors of 1st-year prodigy Aisha and Poara joining my team spread, I frequently heard others expressing their desire to join.

Regardless of how our team performed, it was wise to secure some face time with both Aisha and Poara.

And this is why a person’s reputation matters.

But Seron had mostly been alone for a while now.

After being kicked out of her quartet, no one had been around to keep her company.

So, Seron probably hadn’t heard about the composition of my team.

As things stand, I had no reason to include her in our ranks.

Seron realized her position, stepping back.

“Seron Parmia.”

I mentioned her full name.

Her shoulders flinched, and the arrogance she had crumbled.

“If you want to join the team, you shouldn’t speak like that.”

I smiled warmly.

“Try saying that again, properly.”

“Do you want to end up with the leftover team?

Or do you want to join our team, which is a strong one?”

There’s no denying that if she ended up with a leftover team, her grades would nosedive.

Who knows what kind of ridicule she might face from others.

Someone as proud as Seron wouldn’t be able to endure that.

She hesitated, glaring at me with fierce eyes, then eventually bit her lip.

Her forehead began to flush red.

The heat was so intense it looked like steam might start rising from her!

Yet she was desperately trying to suppress her humiliation.

Then she quietly bowed her head to me.

“P-please let me join the team.”

“Louder. Clearly.”

“Please let me join the team!”

“Express more eagerness.”

“Please, please, let me join the team! I-I beg you! Please!”

Is this her limit?

“My dad said he’d kick me out if I don’t get good grades this time…please, just let me in.”

Watching Seron collapse and start crying, I graciously nodded.

And just like that, she became a member of our team.

“Right, I had it coming. There’s no way someone like Aisha or Poara would team up with a burned sweet potato like you. I was fooled. Trickery!”

…Is this girl a total airhead?

Even after getting humiliated by me yesterday.

She’s already bouncing back like nothing happened.

At this rate, she must have wiped yesterday’s incident from her memory with an eraser.

I raised my hand and clamped it over her mouth.

As Seron widened her eyes in surprise, about to shout in protest, I redirected my focus elsewhere.

“Keep your eyes wide open and pay attention. Look over there.”

Aisha and Poara were approaching.

As they made eye contact with me, Poara bowed her head, while Aisha offered a brief smile.

“…I’m in trouble.”

With my hand covering her mouth, Seron’s mumbled response slipped out clumsily.

Once I released her mouth, I wiped the spit off on her clothes.

“S-so, who’s the last member?”

It dawned on me that I hadn’t mentioned the final member.

Just as I turned my head, someone was walking over.

One by one, the eyes of the students began to focus in that direction.

When surprise and respect mingled in the faces of the students,

Seron’s expression, in contrast, turned into one of disbelief as her mouth fell open and her eyes widened.

“W-wait, what?”

Seron had finally succumbed to her own ignorance.

“Let me introduce you.”

I pointed out the person walking towards us to Seron.

With her shining platinum blonde hair and the only person allowed to wear a white outfit with golden embroidery at Jerion Academy:

“It’s Saint SirMiel.”

Our team’s final healer.

The saint, Eden of SirMiel.