“Mommaaaa!!!”
“Kyaah, F*ck!!!!!”
“Master, let’s go together!”
We were sprinting through the cluttered ruins of the abandoned buildings.
You might have questions, but obviously, this is the site of our final exam.
Yet, we had no choice but to throw the exam aside and run away.
“F*ck! So fast!”
“Shinwoo, don’t go ahead! Stay behind me!”
“Everyone, don’t leave me behind!!”
This was happening shortly after the final exam began.
*
As soon as we crossed the gate, what we saw was a chaotic mess of abandoned buildings, as if a zombie incident had occurred.
When I looked back, Kim Yuna and Professor Park Mi-ran had vanished, leaving behind only a drone.
Honestly, I had no intention of looking for Kim Yuna since I expected her to be useless.
Eventually, we found ourselves wandering the path between the abandoned buildings.
“It’s kinda creepy, isn’t it?”
“Shinwoo, scared?”
“Master, I think something’s there.”
Just as Jeong Ahyeon finished her sentence, something large and black suddenly charged at me from an abandoned building.
A glossy, black chitinous shell. Six sharp, spiny legs.
Wings unfurling with a flap, and a mouth opening threateningly as if it were about to bite.
It was a cockroach.
Not just any cockroach—a HUGE one, the size of a person.
I instinctively shoved my sword into its mouth and kicked it away.
“You scared me! You little sh*t, Todd Howard!!”
The cockroach slammed to the ground, lying there, spewing fluid and foam as it let out a scream.
I wiped the cockroach’s insides off my longsword onto Jeong Ahyeon’s uniform when she was distracted.
“What are you doing!!!”
“Ah, got caught.”
But that wasn’t the end of it.
There’s a saying that if one cockroach shows up, dozens more are close behind.
And here came the proof of that saying.
As if the cockroach’s scream was a signal, the others began pouring out from all around.
From the entrances, the walls, the rooftops—no matter where you looked, cockroaches were crawling everywhere on the building’s exterior.
The sheer number of cockroaches was so vast that counting them became impossible, and just a slight trigger would set them off charging at us.
With Hyeji’s ability limited, I doubted I could rely on her, so I spoke to Jeong Ahyeon.
“Jeong Ahyeon, can you handle them?”
“There are too many. I’ll try something first.”
Jeong Ahyeon closed her eyes and placed her hands on the ground, beginning to summon her summoned beasts.
As countless beasts emerged, it seemed to serve as the battle signal, prompting the cockroaches to charge us all at once.
Seeing that, I gripped my longsword tightly.
“Thanks! We’ll take off now!”
“Shinwoo! Let’s go together!”
“Wait!!! Master!! Are you planning to abandon me!”
And we ran.
Well, honestly, it was just too overwhelming.
Besides, while I could touch a cockroach, that one was too gigantic.
I just had an instinctive revulsion.
[But are you really going to abandon the heroine and run away!!!]
‘For now, I need to live to save the heroine.’
And so the story returns to its starting point.
Jeong Ahyeon stopped summoning and was running after us.
Hyeji and I in front, Jeong Ahyeon behind us, and behind her, a horde of cockroaches pursuing us.
All the cockroaches were screaming in the strangest way as they chased us down.
“No way, f*ck! How long are those bastards gonna follow us?”
“Shinwoo, I’m really struggling, so go slower than me.”
“Master! Are you really going to abandon me?”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!!”
“Jordan.”
“…Is there a bipedal cockroach over there?”
Fortunately, there wasn’t.
Phew.
My breath was coming in bursts, but the cockroaches showed no signs of getting tired.
How fast must one run to escape that swarm of cockroaches?
The answer: just faster than the person next to you.
But the three of us were running at almost the same pace.
Hyeji was running at a surprisingly explosive speed despite her small stature, and Jeong Ahyeon had caught up to us despite starting late.
At least it was a relief that there was a considerable distance between us and the cockroaches.
Just then, Jeong Ahyeon stumbled and almost fell.
“Oh no!!!!!”
“I won’t forget this beautiful sacrifice!”
“I’ll come to rescue you someday!”
Hyeji and I said our goodbyes to Jeong Ahyeon and sped up.
At least we tried to.
– BAM!!!
“…Huh?”
“…What?”
Jeong Ahyeon toppled forward, gripping my and Hyeji’s ankles tightly.
As a result, Hyeji and I were halted and fell embarrassingly.
“Gotcha.”
Jeong Ahyeon wore a bright smile on her face, yet a sinister voice escaped her lips.
To break free, Hyeji and I started kicking Jeong Ahyeon repeatedly.
“Jeong Ahyeon! At times like this, you should say to leave this to me and run ahead!”
“Why is she so strong right now!”
“Hehehe… we shall die together.”
Despite giving it my all, it felt like kicking a rock, as Jeong Ahyeon wouldn’t budge.
Rather, with every hit, her grip on our ankles seemed to tighten.
Then Jeong Ahyeon opened her eyes just a bit and summoned a summoned beast while still holding onto us.
Two giant wolves appeared, biting at Hyeji’s and my feet, causing us to stop our kicking.
“Hey, Jeong Ahyeon! Your ability changed! Congrats!”
“Can you at least let me go as a congratulatory present?”
“Not a chance. Both of you will meet your fates with me.”
We glanced back at the approaching cockroaches.
The cockroaches suddenly began to congregate from afar.
They clustered together, collapsing and regenerating repeatedly.
Throughout this process, their mass grew larger, becoming the size of a building.
Eventually, the lump of cockroaches formed into one gigantic cockroach.
‘Oh dear f*ck, a Gigantamax cockroach? What the hell?’
[Hey? That cockroach seems to be looking this way?]
‘Oh great, we are seriously screwed.’
This gigantic cockroach was crawling towards us at an alarming speed.
Its six legs scuttled around busily as it approached, a truly menacing sight.
However, even in this dire situation, my and Hyeji’s ankles didn’t budge from Jeong Ahyeon’s grip.
“Jeong Ahyeon! Now that there’s only one, shall we combine our powers to fight?”
“As Shinwoo says, let’s fight together. So, can you let go a bit?”
“No. You’d just run away again.”
‘How the hell do you know that?’
[That’s your karma.]
Jeong Ahyeon spat on my foot as she spoke.
“Master’s thoughts are obvious.”
“Shinwoo, it was pretty obvious this time.”
“Don’t even dream of running away, Scholar.”
“F*ck.”
Meanwhile, in a slightly distant building, I caught sight of Professor Park Mi-ran and Kim Yuna.
They were sitting on a windowsill, chatting away.
Seeing them laughing like they were having fun while we were rolling around like dogs made my blood boil.
At that moment, Kim Yuna and I locked eyes.
And suddenly, the number above her head increased by one, and she let out a small sneer.
Oh, are you laughing?
‘What’s with you, you little b*tch, enjoying a vacation while I’m stuck in a disaster movie?’
[This needs to be punished. Don’t let them live.]
Hyeji seemed to notice Park Mi-ran and Kim Yuna as well, her expression crumpling.
“Shinwoo, did you see those little sh*ts?”
“That b*tch Kim Yuna came back and suddenly started laughing.”
“F*cking little…!”
As Hyeji grit her teeth, a brilliant plan popped into my head.
A way to perfectly mess with both Professor Park Mi-ran and Kim Yuna while resolving this situation.
I clearly said I wouldn’t mind any means necessary.
They would regret this.
“Jeong Ahyeon! Listen to me!”
“Shut up. I won’t trust a master again.”
“Look at those two! They’re just laughing and having fun!”
When I was on the brink of losing reason, Jeong Ahyeon’s gaze turned toward Park Mi-ran and Kim Yuna, and her sanity started to gradually return.
The madness faded from Jeong Ahyeon’s face, replaced by growing rage.
Not wanting to miss this chance, I urgently spoke to Jeong Ahyeon.
“Don’t you think they’re being a little too cocky? We’re over here struggling.”
“How dare they laugh without us? This is absolutely intolerable!”
“So what’s the plan, Shinwoo?”
I briefly explained my plan to Hyeji and Jeong Ahyeon.
After hearing my plan, they both wore terribly unfeminine grins.
“Master, this is an unbelievably great plan. Hehehe… we’ll kill them all.”
“You’re all dead. Hehehe. Your future meals will be funeral food.”
“Ready? Let’s go!”
As soon as Jeong Ahyeon released her grip on us, we all ran in one direction.
That’s right.
Towards where Professor Park Mi-ran and Kim Yuna were.
They didn’t seem to anticipate our charge, still lost in their laughter.
When they finally noticed our approach, their expressions shifted horrifically.
Meanwhile, we all wore sinister smiles as we accelerated further.
Trying to flee in a panic, they had been sitting on a windowsill, unable to move freely.
It was a perfect opportunity.
“What?! What?! Why are they coming this way?”
“Shinwoo! Stop!”
“Hahahahaha! No one can stop me now!”
“I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you.”
“Running away is futile! Accept your fate and die quietly!”
Operation “Sesco” was about to commence.
You thought it was all fun and games, huh?
You little sh*ts.
Let’s take this party to hell!
The grand operation was about to begin.
