I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 63



62 – Time to Return

[+5P]

This guy is only worth 5 points? The points system is so inflexible. It’s a loss, a loss.

The robot, slashed by the dagger and beaten by fists and feet, completely lost its original form.

…Rohan. Quickly, drink a potion. If you don’t have a spare, I’ll give you mine.

I have a spare. Keep your potion safe.

The one who finished the battle the fastest among the three was Zion.

While Rohan was dealing with one entity, Zion smashed two robots in an instant with a truncheon.

Zion must have noticed that monsters in a parasitic state are particularly vulnerable to electricity.

After finishing the battle, Zion kicked off the wall and flew to assist Rohan, who was wrapping things up.

Clara cleaned up the robots just as Rohan was finishing his fight.

Fighting robots is completely different from killing creatures with blood and guts, so it seems to be quite tricky.

Thus, the 30th floor was concluded.

In this battle, Zion and Clara were unscathed, but Rohan’s wounds were quite spectacular.

Thanks to that.

The balisong slipped from Clara’s hand as she approached after the battle.

Ting! The clear sound of it hitting the floor.

Oh, brother…!?

As Rohan turned his head, the sunlight piercing through the window made it clear.

Clara’s expression was indescribable. Tears were welling up, ready to fall at any moment.

The sound of sniffles broke the silence. Rohan was more flustered than ever since arriving in the academy city.

His steps naturally led him to the girl.

“It’s really okay. Don’t cry, okay?”

“You always… always say it’s okay…”

Clara, with her lips pouted like a duck, hung her head low.

Rohan gently took Clara’s hand with his clean, blood-free hand.

“It’s just a skin cut, not deep. Sorry for making you worry.”

“…”

Clara herself was bewildered by her uncontrollable emotions. Just as much as Rohan standing in front of her.

Sion, who had been watching the two, was also quite surprised.

About a minute passed like that.

Clara, who had been sobbing, seemed to come to her senses and whispered softly.

“Oppa… I’m, I’m sorry…”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. I’ll train hard when we get back.”

Rohan had no intention of asking the girl what she was sorry for.

The hidden meaning of the apology was easy enough for Sion, who was watching from the side, to understand.

Injuries in battle are inevitable. Clara knew that fact well.

She knew well that revealing emotions and burdening others with her wounds was not a good action. That’s why she apologized after regaining her composure, but Rohan was not burdened at all. Instead, he was glad for the emotions Clara showed.

It also serves as good motivation to spur on training.

After Rohan drank the potion and stopped the bleeding.

The party went up to the 31st floor. Upon arrival, they were surprised to find it completely empty.

The reason was discovered on the 32nd floor, where the noise of inter-floor disturbances was loud.

As they headed upstairs, a robot was coming down from the 33rd floor. It was the same security robot they had seen on the 30th floor.

Could it be that the parasitic plant judged it couldn’t win with the current number of heads?

From one of the robots standing in the middle, thorny vines poured out and began to wrap around the surrounding robots.

Shrrrk! Crack! Crack!

The robots were crushed by the physical force exerted by the thorny vines. They were forcibly pulled and bound together, intertwining the vines.

The robots from the 31st to the 33rd floor gathered to form an absurd combination.

Through a principle that did not match the precision of the machines at all, they increased their strength. Hence, we call that a monster.

.

The thorny vines tangled together, growing several times thicker, and miniguns protruded here and there in a complex manner.

On the shattered display, glass shards poured out, flickering with light and static.

Intruder detected.

Commencing cleanup.

The machine’s voice was clearer than before.

The sense of intimidation was on a different level from the previous robots.

However.

When Rohan’s party was united, they were more synchronized and efficient in dealing with a single entity than when they were scattered.

Hadn’t they been fighting together for about three days straight? Their coordination wasn’t perfect, but it was sufficient.

Rohan had Zion draw his pistol. There wasn’t much time left now.

Tatadadang!

A magazine was emptied in an instant. The deafening gunshots marked the end.

Zion quickly resolved the situation with his unique magic-infused bullets.

Rohan had expected high points from the combined monster, but it was only 7 points.

He felt it was a loss.

There were no monsters on the 34th floor.

It was clean, with no thorny vines, but that created an undeniable sense of unease.

As Rohan remembered, this place was a resting area before heading to the boss.

Zion and Clara, unaware of this, remained on high alert for a while, but after thoroughly checking the surroundings and confirming it was safe, they listened to Rohan’s voice.

“Did you see what was written on the 1st floor? This building has 35 floors, the next one is the top.”

“Oh! I didn’t know…”

“Did you manage to gather such information amidst the chaos? Then there might be a stronger one next.”

In fact, there was no such information written on the 1st floor.

Rohan was just making it up.

“Let’s be thorough. If you feel your magic is running low, just drink a potion.”

At Rohan’s words, Zion and Clara gulped down the blue potion.

The girls frowned at the bitter taste. Rohan, as if he expected it, put a macaron into their mouths one by one.

“Ah~ open wide.”

When Rohan held out the macaron, not only Clara but also Sion opened their mouths to receive it.

He felt that they had grown closer through their shared hardships.

＜35th Floor＞

Unlike the lower floors, there were iron doors on both sides at the end of the stairs. Despite not being the rooftop, it had a unique structure.

He turned the doorknob as quietly as possible.

“Oppa, there’s something strange inside!”

“I’ve said it every time here, but it’s truly bizarre.”

The girls, who checked inside, looked as if they had seen a bug.

Rohan peered through the gap to see the monster from his memory in real life.

‘Oh.’

Countless thorny vines intertwined to form a massive pillar.

At the end of the vines, which swayed as if dancing, were televisions of various sizes, hanging like fruits, displaying emoticons as if expressing emotions.

It felt like watching a form of modern art called video art.

[^_^] [^_^] [^_^] [^_^]

As with the monsters they had seen so far, the dungeon boss was also bizarre, as Sion had said.

Rohan rolled his eyes and whispered to the girls.

“That’s a monolith, isn’t it? Do you see it?”

At Rohan’s words, the two girls leaned in with interest.

They focused on the thorny vines Rohan had mentioned. And they found it.

Between the narrow gaps of the thickly intertwined thorny vines, like a tree. A space no larger than a fingernail wriggled, subtly revealing a black tombstone with letters carved into it.

As Rohan said, there was something presumed to be a monolith. Unlike its first appearance, it had lost its brilliant light and was now emitting a faint, subtle glow.

“Ah, it’s real!”

“Definitely.”

The intuition felt at the moment of discovery.

The knowledge that breaking that would allow them to leave this place seeped into their minds.

“!”

The three exchanged glances and nodded, sharing their thoughts.

They were convinced that the information in their consciousness was likely true.

“Can you hit that with a gun?”

Sion and Clara had a special talent for imbibing projectiles with magic.

If things went as planned, they might be able to return without the hassle of fighting.

“Piercing that gap is no big deal.”

“Me, me too…!”

The target was not a monster but a monolith. Another name for the way back.

The two girls confidently nodded at Rohan’s question.

Sion pulled out a heavy pistol from her bosom and checked the magazine, and Clara also took out a pistol loaded with subsonic bullets.

They were now convinced that this was the moment to use their bullets without holding back.

“Rohan. It still won’t show the destructive power you expected.”

“Why?”

“If it’s not a specially made gun and bullet, it will explode the moment you put too much magic into it. At most, it would be like what we did against the robot earlier.”

Clara nodded slightly, as if to say that was true. Sion also looked disappointed that there was no sniper rifle.

‘So, there’s something like that.’

From noble mtl dot com

Rohan remembered the information he didn’t know and asked, saying that it was enough.

The girls pushed their pistols through the crack in the door.

Sion sat down and took aim, while Clara stood and aimed the muzzle.

“Clara. Shoot when you’re ready. I’ll hit it.”

“Got it…!”

Pik! A thin sound rang out at the same time Tang! A strong gunshot echoed.

The bullet flew towards the monolith, aiming precisely at the gap where the vines were wriggling.

The vines stiffened and shrank in an instant, as if sensing the attack.

The bullet pierced through the vines and stopped its advance.

Chiiiiik! Steam rose as evidence of the strong impact and friction.

[_] [_] [_] [_]

The emoticons on the television changed all at once.

It was very clear what state it was in.

It didn’t reach the monolith, but the damage seemed certain.

“Oh, brother! That… its expression changed to something scary…!”

“Rohan. It seems that the nature of that entity has changed.”

Rohan placed his hand on the shoulders of the two girls who were reporting in urgent voices.

He calmed them with a voice that showed no sign of tension.

“Don’t worry. We just need to do what we’ve always done.”

It’s time to go back now.