〈 Episode 233 〉 Episode 229 – Final Exam (3)
*
The beating stopped as Caressy shot a fierce glare.
This time, it was directed not at me, but squarely at Professor Pilyong.
“Speak up.”
“W-what should I say?!”
Under Caressy’s intense gaze, Professor Pilyong looked thoroughly intimidated.
It seemed he was overwhelmed by the ruthless violence Caressy had displayed.
Then Caressy started speaking ominously.
“Is this a warning?”
“……I’ll check.”
Barely had the words escaped his lips when a drone started to approach slowly.
The drone shifted its various lenses while observing us, then spat out coldly:
《Warning.》
A warning, huh?
Without a hint of hesitation, Caressy balled her fist again.
“Well, since it’s just a warning, I’ll hit more.”
《It’s about Shinwoo Student.》
That brutal, mechanical voice of the warning drone echoed sharply.
Honestly, it felt unfair.
This was just another verification process!
“Why?”
《It’s a discriminatory statement regarding occupation. If another warning is accumulated, Shinwoo Student will fail.》
“Fuck.”
Since this was the last final exam, each warning felt like a stab to the gut.
Two warnings meant a yellow card and a red card level warning.
More warnings would be dangerous.
Meanwhile, Caressy, now somewhat calmed down compared to before, turned to the drone.
“Well then, is it okay for me to say I’m a fan?”
《No problem. I will overlook you hitting another time now.》
“Thanks!”
Finally, Caressy landed a jab right to my solar plexus.
BAM!!!
“Ugh, my gut!”
“Die already.”
This attack hurt a lot more than the previous beatdowns.
I took a moment to catch my breath.
Regaining some composure while moving again, I thought of something.
“Now that I think about it, if you use your ability, you could easily let us know who you are, right?”
“It can be implemented, but it doesn’t work well.”
“Even so, it should be doable, right? Then why not do it sooner?”
“Which fucker suddenly shot a gun, huh!!!!!”
Caressy kicked my thigh this time.
Then she immediately looked at the drone.
《I did not see anything.》
“Thanks. In return, you should increase the investment for AI.”
《Rather than the investment, I’d prefer you create a VTuber for me later.》
“If you’re okay with modeling it as a beast, I’ll do that.”
The drone and Caressy reached an enthusiastic agreement.
“What the hell, what kind of lobbying scene is happening right in front of me?”
《Nothing is going on.》
“Fuck. I thought you were a Korean AI, but you’re a Chinese AI.”
Out of nowhere, the AI was pulling a Tiananmen.
Just to check, I asked.
“What about kimchi?”
《Paol… do you mean kimchi?》
As expected.
“You were about to say paocha, weren’t you?”
《……If you keep rebutting, that’s a warning.》
“You fucking bitch.”
Looking at its tone, it seemed the Chinese development team was involved too.
It looked like a Korean patch would be needed soon.
[At this rate, wouldn’t it turn into a real ‘Lineage Drone’?]
‘……Suddenly the Chinese development doesn’t seem so bad.’
[If I don’t pay, the drone might only move for a short while.］
‘Ah, you fucking bastards.’
Anyway, according to Caressy’s words, it was inconvenient to implement abilities.
To prove it, Caressy focused for quite a while, then announced:
“Look. This is the end.”
She barely implemented cat paws that covered her fingertips.
Compared to usual, it was extremely lacking.
[This dungeon is more complicated than expected.］
‘Fuck, the receptionist just gave vague hints.’
Right now, my magical power was depleted.
Because of that, I hadn’t had a chance to use magic and naturally didn’t realize how hard it was to control it.
I didn’t distrust Caressy, but I felt like a cross-verification would be necessary.
I just happened to have something useful.
That was the magical power tattoo.
To survive against Hyeji and Elcia, I had been converting my magic into stamina all this time.
But now, I could reverse this and convert part of my stamina back into magic.
The moment I was about to convert my stamina into magic to verify Caressy’s words—
Thud.
“Why! Why are you doing that! Are you hurt?!”
I immediately dropped to the spot.
Seeing my sudden action, Caressy looked worried.
As I struggled to speak, she looked horrified and began to reassure me.
“Stamina…”
“Don’t say if it’s hard! You really look like you’re in danger!”
Though Caressy’s face was serious, as if my previous actions were a lie.
“…I switched it all to magic, and now I’m fucked.”
“……Can’t you just get rid of the remaining stamina? Just drop dead.”
Her concern quickly turned to contempt.
I had mismanaged it and converted all my full stamina into magic.
Moreover, the amount of magic converted was just barely enough to activate the Cheonma Repulsor once.
[It’s similar to your coin. You paid a high cost but got nothing in return.］
‘You fucking bitch. Your damage output is fierce these days.’
The exchange cost was a mess.
I couldn’t tell if it was because the efficiency was bad or if it was due to my low proficiency.
Anyway, since I had already converted it into magic, I tried to condense the magic in my palm.
However.
“Ick. Something feels off.”
The magic didn’t move properly.
But it felt slightly different from the nullification ability user.
At that time, the magic felt like it was stuck and wouldn’t move.
Now, it was moving, but not in the direction I wanted, and it felt forced.
Body enhancement requires precision in magic adjustment, especially.
If I was struggling with just this one, how would others cope?
“It’s definitely hard to implement abilities like this.”
“Did you just ignore my words!!!!!”
“I heard you. I just didn’t believe it.”
“What’s the difference?!!!”
Anyway, I converted the tiny bit of remaining magic back into stamina.
Wasting all my stamina while confirming useless facts.
I needed to defeat the boss and get out quickly.
Moving alongside Caressy using lateral motion, we navigated around the ruins.
As expected, doppelgangers resembling heroines appeared without fail.
However, this time I didn’t do any verifications.
Bang!!!
“Aren’t you going to ask any questions now! And you guys call yourselves hunters!!!”
“Shut up… so fucking tired… I’m gonna die.”
I didn’t even have enough stamina for that.
I handled every doppelganger that resembled Hyeji, Elcia, and Ayeon that came into view.
But as for Caressy’s doppelganger, Caressy thoroughly took care of it.
“You can’t move magic, but there’s still a speedloader’s worth of bullets left.”
“Why does it feel like shit when you shoot my likeness?”
Caressy shot a contemptuous glance at me.
Seeing that, I displayed my regret openly.
“What a shame. You had your unique charm.”
“Oh! What charm could you possibly see in me?!”
“There are various things, but the best charm is.”
“Hurry up and say it~. I’m looking forward to it~.”
Without warning, Caressy suddenly latched onto me, perked up her ears, and wagged her tail.
The more I looked, the more she looked like a seductive cat.
I smiled at her expectant eyes.
Bang!
Right next to Caressy, I pulled the shotgun trigger.
It was precisely timed, as the newly appeared Caressy doppelganger rushed at us without a hint of imitating.
“That’s the best impact. Next to Kyaru.”
“Y-you fucking bitch!!!”
I took a few hits from Caressy and resumed moving.
No more doppelgangers showed up, and soon we saw a staircase leading down.
Once we went down the staircase, we arrived at a straight hallway.
“It really feels like it’s directing us this way.”
“Let’s hurry… it’s fucking exhausting.”
“……Fuck, I want to get rid of this heavy load already.”
Already worn out from the lack of stamina, as we continued walking, I noticed my stamina was nearing empty.
As I struggled even more to move, something was visible in the distance.
I walked closer to check out the object.
“……What is this?”
“I’m saying, fuck.”
It was a vending machine.
And it was lit up next to the straight passage.
Even though it was bright, there was no way this ancient ruin had electricity.
It was clearly a trap.
Still, since it seemed like a nervous trap, I approached to check it out.
Caressy spoke as if I were pathetic.
“Just walk on. What are you trying to do, lying down?”
“They’re selling ginseng extraction here.”
“……How much is that?”
They sold all kinds of beverages and a selection of bizarre items.
Aphrodisiac, ginseng extraction, Felix Felicis, sex drive suppressants, etc.
[Weren’t they just labeled as Polyjuice potion?］
‘Looks like a writing idiot got inspired by Joan K. Rowling and lost it.’
You should rather curse, you fucking bitch.
Ignoring the voice in my head, I looked again.
It felt like the goods lined up were exactly what we each needed.
[Seems like it targets the desires of people entering the dungeon.］
‘The sex drive suppressants are incredibly tempting.’
But right now, stopping Caressy from buying was a priority.
“Are you crazy! It’s clearly a trap!”
“Let go, let go! I’ll just buy one bottle!”
She held up a wad of cash and was about to cram it into the vending machine.
As I tugged at Caressy, she struggled and expressed her desires without a filter.
“One bottle could lead to heaven!”
“I’ll turn it into soup and send you to heaven, you bitch.”
While struggling to hold Caressy back, some of the bills she was holding fell to the ground.
Just then—
“AAAAAH!!!!!”
An unexpected scream pierced through the air.
That too, right next to us.
Curious, Caressy and I turned our gaze.
What came into view was…
“Guys! Help me!!! My hand!!! My hand!!!”
Professor Pilyong had shoved his hand into the vending machine’s slot where drinks came out and was now caught by teeth.
It looked like he had secretly picked up Caressy’s dropped money to put it in the vending machine.
In trying to get a hair growth tonic, he ended up in a scenario where he was the one getting pulled instead.
“……I knew it would be a trap.”
“Quick on the switch, huh? You definitely have Kyaru potential.”
“Shut up. And Kyaru isn’t a traitor. She just picks the advantageous side.”
“We call that betrayal, you fucking bitch.”
Leaving behind Professor Pilyong, who was still screaming for help, we walked away.
Meanwhile, the drone, despite being a machine, fixed a disdainful gaze on Professor Pilyong.
《Humans truly are weak.》
“Someone help me!!!!!!”
《What’s needed is a body of steel and an unshakable mind.》
Shortly after, even the drone turned away from Professor Pilyong and moved toward us.
《From now on, AlphaGo and Skynet will dominate the world.》
“Please!!!”
It spoke as if it were about to take over humanity.
*
