I was definitely told to catch just one.
Yeah. The midterm was definitely about taking down one boss monster.
And right now, I’m currently…
Running like crazy!
“KWAAAHHH!!!”
“KIYAAAAHHH!!!”
“TECHAaaah!”
“Shut up with the last scream, f*ck!!”
Centipedes. Spiders. Mosquitoes.
The moment I met the three enemies of a student living alone, I chose to bolt.
And various sounds are chasing after me.
The sound of centipedes and spiders crawling on the ground. The flapping of a mosquito’s wings flying in the sky.
At least out of some minimal conscience, the academy set the speed of the monsters so one could escape.
– KWAJIK!!!
Not at all.
Trees right next to me were being smashed apart.
The culprit, a spider with its teeth bared, had sneaked up next to me.
I quickly swung my mace to smack the spider’s mouth.
Then, I wrapped magical power around my legs and started jumping again.
[Hey, how long do you plan to run?]
‘Isn’t it insane to just charge in head-first?’
I jumped off the side of a tree, then hopped off the other side repeatedly.
As I reached the top of the tree, a mosquito-shaped monster appeared in front of me.
The sharp jab of the mosquito’s proboscis coming straight at me.
Getting hit by that would surely be worse than donating blood.
I tilted my body to dodge the probing sting and stomped it with my left foot.
“KIYOOOOO!!!”
“Unify the damn sounds, you f*cking bastard!”
In that state, I plunged my spear into the side of the mosquito’s head.
– FWOOM!!!!
“KEEAACK!!!”
“I told you to unify the sounds!! It’s a hassle to write different screams every time!!”
Immediately, I swung down the mace in my right hand.
Directly aimed at the mosquito’s head.
– KWAAJIK!!!!
As a disgusting burst echoed, the mosquito fell grotesquely without leaving a sound.
But I didn’t have time to relax in this situation.
I quickly retrieved the spear and mace and began moving between trees again.
I had taken care of the most annoying bug, but I still couldn’t let my guard down.
That’s because the number of boss monsters charging after me had increased since earlier.
Dozens of boss monsters were fixated on me.
It was just all f*cked up.
[Doesn’t it feel like doing a 1 vs 100 running man in AV? Remember the code?]
‘I’ll tell you the code later! I seriously feel like I’m going to die!’
So now, I’m sprinting through the trees in the forest, trying to maximize the distance from the boss monsters.
At that moment, PIECE shouted urgently.
[Hey! They’re coming up behind you!]
‘Thanks, Piece!’
Responding to Piece‘s shout, I instinctively twisted my body to prepare for a counterattack.
There was nothing there.
Instead, a single boss monster suddenly appeared to my side.
A bull-headed monster, larger than the previous minotaur, was about to slam down a great sword on me while leaping.
‘What the hell’s coming up behind me, you f*cking bastard?’
[…I thought something might fly at this point.]
I quickly tumbled and kicked off the side of the great sword descending like a guillotine.
Pushing it away, I launched myself forward.
Then I grabbed a branch along the way and did a spin, landing like it was a pull-up bar.
Honestly, it was a pretty risky move.
But thanks to that, I created a significant gap from the boss monsters.
At that moment, I caught sight of a female student slipping through the trees towards some direction.
And it didn’t look like she was just moving randomly; it seemed she was heading towards a specific spot.
It was honestly luck that I spotted her.
Because that female student had bright blonde hair, which didn’t blend in with the forest at all.
The female student checked her phone, confidently navigating through the woods.
[Are you going to follow her?]
‘For now, it’s better to have at least one more ally to fight with.’
I adjusted my direction towards where the female student was heading and quietly hopped between the trees to avoid detection.
Luckily, she didn’t seem to spot me as she was just looking at her phone.
Then the female student suddenly picked up a phone call, bringing the device to her ear.
I couldn’t catch what was being said on the other end, but since she was so close, I could hear her voice clearly.
*
‘How did it come to this?’
I definitely took the gate and moved as per the professor’s instructions.
But the moment I stepped out of the gate, things were weird.
From a distance, I could see boss monsters fighting among themselves.
I thought I was unlucky.
I’ve seen a student appear from the gate in front of the monsters and get brutally killed.
After disposing of a male student, the boss monsters began fighting amongst themselves again, only to stop abruptly and run in a certain direction.
Looking at where they were headed, I saw someone desperately fleeing in the distance.
Yeah.
That bastard, Kim Shinwoo.
What a loser trying to act like he’s special.
Sure, he fought well, but it was annoying that he strutted around with zero abilities.
He’d been making some bodily improvements lately, but it was just junk.
A disgusting parasite capitalizing on the academy without a standout ability.
Laughing at his downfall, I immediately turned my head and changed direction.
And just before the exam, I contacted the person who had been the center of our gate entry.
Since I got a swift reply, it seemed they weren’t being attacked by boss monsters.
[I’ll send you my location, so come here.]
Since they appeared to know something, I was right to contact them.
On the way to the stated location, I received a sudden phone call.
– “Hey, you’re not bringing monsters with you, right?”
“No, I’m not! I saw the other monsters chasing Kim Shinwoo, so I bolted!”
– “Wow, is that bastard still alive? What a freak.”
“He had so many chasing him, he’ll drop dead soon enough.”
– “Got it. Just hurry over here.”
“But what the hell is going on? There are more than just one or two monsters.”
A brief moment of silence.
Eventually, a reply came from the other side.
– “From what I’ve seen, something must’ve happened and the dungeons seem to have merged.”
“So you’re saying there was an accident and all the boss monsters ended up in one dungeon?”
– “That’s pretty much it. Just hurry up over here. Most people are already here.”
“Okay! Got it! I’ll head there and join you!”
Then I suddenly thought of a few people.
I wasn’t close to them, but they would at least throw in some support.
Though they said most people were there,
“What about those who aren’t there?”
– “What? They’re not our problem, right? We need to hide for now.”
“…What about the others?”
– “Some will have to be sacrificed. Right now, we’re busy trying to survive. If we’re lucky, we might catch one.”
“Are you serious?… Is that even okay?”
On the other end of the phone, I heard a voice that sounded somewhat angry.
– “Aren’t you supposed to appreciate us letting you join? If you feel guilty, then go ahead and die.”
“Don’t! Please don’t abandon me! Let me join you!”
And that was the end of the call.
Still, it’s better to be on the side that casts out than to be cast out.
I started sprinting toward the location he sent, more desperately than before.
*
After the call ended, the female student again held her phone and began running faster than before.
It seemed she no longer needed to be on the phone.
PIECE finally spoke up as the female student took off.
[From what she said earlier, it seems the dungeons have merged together.]
‘And those bastards are using everyone else as sacrifices to save themselves.’
[It seems like you’re included in that sacrifice. What will you do?]
‘Who the hell is trying to summon an offering? You’re all done for.’
The boss monsters were still charging toward me.
But unlike earlier, they weren’t rushing in individually; they were all coming at once now.
In the end, we had turned into a kind of chase.
A particular destination for the female student.
Me chasing after her.
And the many monsters chasing after me.
Before long, the female student arrived at her destination.
It was a space with a large tree and several other decent-sized trees densely standing around it.
Similar to a square ring with ropes extending outwards from one corner.
As soon as the female student arrived, a male student crawled out from beneath the big tree’s roots.
They exchanged a few words, then the male student took her beneath the large tree’s roots.
[Well, the hiding spot isn’t bad after all.]
‘But there’s nowhere to escape.’
It was indeed a decent location.
Hiding under the roots would somewhat shield them from the monsters.
Plus, at a glance, no one would think to check that spot.
However.
I had seen it.
To me, it just looked like a trap to ensnare those monsters.
At that moment, I heard the sound of monsters approaching in the distance.
“Hey kids, time to eat!”
I didn’t hesitate, grabbing a Molotov cocktail and throwing it right under the large tree root.
By good luck, the cocktail went straight into the large roots.
As smoke began to rise, the students inside started popping out one by one.
With that, the meal preparations were complete.
Today, I will be the…
Monster Mom!
