Author: Dawn

The Tower’s 2nd floor has incredibly messy rules, but when simplified to the extreme, they’re as follows:

① Collect 10 flags.

② Stick all 10 flags in a magic circle to summon the boss monster.

③ Defeat the boss monster and you’re done!

What we need to do right now is collect 10 flags.

From here on, killing monsters won’t drop flags, so we have to steal them from other cadets. We currently have 6 flags, which means we need to steal 4 more.

But that’s easier said than done.

‘When the hell are we supposed to finish this?’

The 2nd floor’s stage is Gangnam-gu.

To steal flags, we first need to find the 97 cadets hiding somewhere in Gangnam-gu.

In an apocalyptic world with no cars, buses, or subways. This means we have to scour all of Gangnam-gu on foot.

That’s why this practicum takes 2 nights and 3 days.

But Gyeon Junhwi found a way even in this situation.

“The closest place from here is Seonneung Station. It’s a 30-minute walk… but with Yeon Sora here, we should allow 50 minutes. Let’s hurry.”

Gyeon Junhwi informed us of the route, and we immediately moved.

The roads were a complete mess, so walking wasn’t easy either. There were swamp zones here and there where our feet sank deep, and sections where chasms had formed right in the middle of the road as if there’d been an earthquake.

On top of that, orc squads were patrolling this area, so we had to fight monsters too.

“Squee! Squee! Humans….”

The moment the words left its mouth, the orc squad appeared and immediately made their exit.

Because Ki Hyeonmin took care of them before they could even finish their lines.

‘My baby’s evolved in the meantime.’

Seems Hyeonmin has completely mastered the holy sword.

Yesterday, it just had exceptional cutting power, but just now a white lightning bolt extended from the blade. That lightning zigzagged around, felling 8 orcs one after another, and—

“Squee, killed….”

The last orc hasn’t died yet, apparently.

Just as Ki Hyeonmin approached to deliver the finishing blow—

“Wait!”

The fairy fluttered her wings as she flew in front of Ki Hyeonmin.

For reference, the fairy is wearing a blue princess dress with a white fur cape over it. Since she can’t use her wings with a cape on, and she kept whining about freezing to death, Boram had to alter it on the spot.

‘She’s really only visible to us, right?’

The fairy is an ethereal being, so she can only materialize in front of specific people… In simple terms, she’s like a ghost. Only people who can see ghosts can see her.

The fairy circled around the orc before approaching Ki Hyeonmin.

“Can I take this orc’s vital force?”

“Understood.”

That’s her asking for food.

This fairy has been asleep for 17 years and is completely drained, with battery life under 10%.

Snap!

The fairy snapped her fingers, then approached the orc and opened her tiny mouth wide. But despite being a fairy, she has two long fangs.

Chomp!

The fairy sank her fangs into its neck, then started sucking diligently.

The palm-sized fairy dressed as a princess mimicking a vampire—a bizarre sight. I tilted my head at the strangeness, while Boram hopped up and down excitedly.

“F-Fairy-nim! Are you a vampire hybrid? Is the b-blood tasty?”

“Who’d eat disgusting monster blood! I’m absorbing vital force!”

Meanwhile, Ki Hyeonmin opened his mouth while looking at the fairy with a serious expression.

“If you need energy, a healthy orc would be better than one on death’s door.”

“Obviously!”

“Understood. Wait.”

“Why? What are you going to….”

Before the sentence could finish, Ki Hyeonmin vanished. And shortly after, he appeared carrying two orcs over his shoulders.

“I knocked them out with pressure points. No damage to their life force.”

“You… you’re a freshman, aren’t you? How can you… monsters have different pressure points, how can… a lower-dimensional creature….”

She seems genuinely shocked—it looks like she has no idea about Ki Hyeonmin’s identity. The protagonist of this worldview is right before her eyes, yet she can’t recognize him.

“We don’t have time. If you’re going to eat, eat quickly.”

“Ah, okay!”

“Tell me if you need more.”

Seems he’s trying to train her with food.

After that, Ki Hyeonmin brought fresh orcs two more times, and the fairy gladly accepted them.

While we were moving like this, the instructor’s voice came from the training Drone Eye.

[Trial status report. First trial dropouts: 4. Second trial dropouts: 12. No teams have newly entered the third trial.]

Even though a full day has passed, we’re still the only cadets who’ve entered this zone.

“What, everyone still hasn’t passed?”

“There aren’t many angel marks that let you get flags from Boogeymen! Our Juwan is a treasure!”

“Sora, cut it out… But isn’t it weird that only 4 people have dropped out of the first trial the whole time?”

“Don’t tell me it’s Bang Haeun’s group?”

While we chatted leisurely, Gyeon Junhwi looked somewhat tense.

“In the next three or four hours, people will start coming out. We should hurry.”

Our Junhwi can read all sorts of information from changes in numbers. Because he’s a genius.

When Junhwi says to hurry, that’s what we need to do.

Therefore, feeding activities are banned for a while.

ɚʤʧɮɸʆɶʅɻʛʝʡçʌɑɟɜ

“Stop eating.”

“But I need to charge too!”

“I’ll give you more later when we have time. It’s urgent right now.”

Using the true name while giving orders, the fairy made a sulky face but obediently retracted her fangs.

“But what are you trying to do?”

“Ambush.”

“Ambush?”

What we’re about to do is simple.

Operation: Catching Rats in a Jar!

Right now, other cadets are trapped inside buildings fighting Boogeymen. When they come outside, they’ll scatter in all directions, so let’s ambush and take them down while they’re still trapped!

While I roughly summarized and explained this to the fairy, we finally arrived at our destination.

“S-Seonneung Station!”

* * *

Seonneung Station was hollowed out as if it had been bombed. Most buildings had collapsed, but 17 buildings maintained their skeletons. The other cadets are in one of those.

How do I know? The secretary uncle told me. The locations where monitoring personnel and CCTVs are concentrated are the practicum sites.

My team members were looking around, scanning the vicinity.

“I don’t see any Drone Eyes?”

“They said they put invisibility skills on them, so of course we can’t see them.”

“I don’t really see people either….”

“I can sense presences. But they’re not concentrated in one place.”

The only clue secretary uncle gave was ‘Seonneung Station.’

We need to figure out which building ourselves, but that’s not too difficult either.

Because we have Gyeon Junhwi.

“Yeon Sora, follow this trajectory.”

“Okie!”

I copy-pasted the coordinates Junhwi sent me exactly into the Drone Eye. Set to autonomous flight.

Whirrrrr—

I watched the Drone Eye fly intently, and there was a section where the Drone Eye, which had been flying stably, suddenly performed strange acrobatics.

“There.”

All Drone Eyes have built-in collision avoidance settings to prevent crashes with other Drone Eyes.

If my Drone Eye did acrobatics, it means there are numerous invisible Drone Eyes nearby.

That building is the practicum site.

“Alright! Let’s finish them off and move on!”

Now we just need to enter the building and take down the cadets inside! An unprecedented ambush operation!

I marched forward with full enthusiasm, but a problem arose.

There’s a green barrier at the building entrance.

A system window even popped up.

[You cannot enter this zone]

My team members and I stared at the notification with dumbfounded faces. It meant the Tower wasn’t allowing outsiders to enter.

“What, there was this kind of setting?”

“Seems so….”

“I, I had no, no idea!”

“No one could have known. This is a new setting that wasn’t known before. We should get extra points for discovering it.”

“But… doesn’t this block our operation? What should we do?”

We held an emergency meeting again. If we can’t be rats in a jar, we need to find another method.

“Sh-should we split up to cover the 10 sites total, since there are 6 of us?”

“Seong Hayul and Gyeon Junhwi aren’t combat types.”

“Ah, right. Then, sh-should the 4 of us split up?”

The ‘Catching Rats in a Jar’ operation ultimately got revised to the ‘Waiting at the Rabbit Hole’ operation. Waiting for cadets to come out, then immediately taking them down.

The problem is, there are 10 rabbit holes but only 6 of us.

And only 4 people with combat power.

‘The practicum itself has no issues, but….’

I need to meet all 103 cadets participating in this practicum. I have to conduct grasshopper inspections.

“Can’t we check for bugs later?”

“But opportunities for all 103 people to gather at once are rare.”

“Life requires compromise.”

“How about we split up to cover 4 exits, and put some kind of obstacle in front of 6 of them….”

As we were having a strategy meeting, I saw a silhouette beyond the revolving door.

A familiar face. A person I’ve run into quite frequently.

“FXck! It’s Yeon Sora! Yeon Sora is waiting outside!”

The mini-villain I’ve knocked unconscious twice, Baek Hyeonjung.

Why doesn’t he drop this class when we keep running into each other like this?

“That crazy bitch! She’s waiting outside to catch me!”

“Yo! Why isn’t Kang Anseong coming!”

“He says he’ll arrive in 2 minutes!”

“Should I put that on?”

Baek Hyeonjung hurriedly started putting on some kind of armor. Seems he’s collected all the flags and will be coming out in 2 minutes.

‘We still haven’t decided on a strategy though….’

We need to decide who’ll guard which rabbit hole, but the mini-villain is getting in the way. I got a bit annoyed and frowned, then suddenly a thought flashed through my mind.

I looked at Ki Hyeonmin and shouted.

“Ki Hyeonmin! Just smash it!”

“…?”

My baby tilted his head, his face full of questions. On the other hand, Seong Hayul fired up her nagging engine.

“Smash what? Don’t tell me the barrier? We can’t break a system barrier at our level, you know?”

“No, not the barrier—smash the building.”

“What?”

“There’s only a barrier at the entrance, so if we smash the building it should work! That holy sword can destroy buildings! Let’s destroy the rabbit holes!”

“Hey, you crazy bitch! Rabbit holes are what now? Speak so I can understand! If you smash that building, everyone inside will get teleported to the waiting area!”

“Ahh, why can’t you understand? That’s exactly why we should smash everything!”

The barrier beyond showed Baek Hyeonjung’s group holding flags and approaching. My stomach churned from Seong Hayul’s dullness, but Gyeon Junhwi, who’d been thinking, smiled and spoke.

“No, not bad at all. Let’s do it right now. Ki Hyeonmin, please.”

“…….”

“I’ll explain later. For now, let’s do as Yeon Sora says.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Hyeonmin swung his holy sword.

Schrrrriiiip—

KABOOOOM!

The building split exactly in half and collapsed with a crash. Seong Hayul screamed with a pale face.

“HEY!!!! What do you mean actually do it!!!! Just because Yeon Sora says so!!! What even are rabbit holes!”

She still doesn’t get it.

If having 10 rabbit holes is the problem?

We shouldn’t adjust ourselves to the rabbit holes—we should adjust the rabbit holes to us.

Why can’t she understand this obvious logic?

Author's Thoughts

Hey everyone~
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Dawn

Hello! If you any questions and if you found any errors on my translations, please do @ me on our discord server (@_dawn24) since I might miss your comment here. FYI, you can periodically check my Patreon page where I usually uploaded the completed version of the novels that I translated (including regular and advanced chapters), they come with a discounted price too!

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