RVHF chapter 7

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Beom Sinje and Yeo Giwon enrolled at the academy.

Doyoung kept the fact that he was also at the school a secret.

He was currently disguised as a C-grade psychic Esper and expected to graduate soon, so he assumed they wouldn’t cross paths.

Their subjects and buildings were entirely different, after all.

‘At least, that’s what I thought….’

There was one thing Doyoung had overlooked while handling other matters: the final group project that had seniors and freshmen entering a dungeon together.

“Huh?”

“Ah!”

Doyoung bit his tongue when he saw the wide-eyed expressions of Beom Sinje and Yeo Giwon.

Before they could say anything, he swiftly led them to a secluded spot.

“Don’t act like you know me in front of others. Ever.”

Doyoung’s low, threatening voice made them exchange glances before nodding obediently.

‘This should be enough.’

Even so, he thought he might need to explain later.

But first, they had a group task to complete.

Their team comprised ten members: four freshmen, three third-years, and three instructors overseeing the mission.

“There’s no need to be overly nervous. It’s a mission-training dungeon. Monsters only appear in designated areas, so keep your curiosity in check and don’t get hurt. Understood?”

One of the instructors joked before they entered.

The atmosphere was relaxed, and Doyoung prepared himself with a nonchalant air.

He intended to stay in the back and offer support, so he doubted he’d even need the monster-handling gun they’d been issued for self-defense.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

Two instructors stepped through the portal first, followed by the graduating Espers.

Just as Doyoung was about to follow, he heard a voice.

“Senior Na Doyoung.”

Doyoung turned with a puzzled expression at the familiar yet strange call.

Beom Sinje was looking at him with concern, Yeo Giwon echoing the same worry behind him.

What’s with them?

‘I told them not to act like they knew me.’

He glanced at the portal.

Fortunately, anyone who would recognize him was already gone.

“Be careful.”

“Yes, please stay safe and stay in the back.”

Did I just hear that right?

Was it a hallucination?

But their eyes, sincere and clear, told him they were serious.

“Ha.”

How absurd.

It seemed he hadn’t misheard.

Who were they to worry about him?

They were just fledgling rookies who had only recently awakened.

While Beom Sinje and Yeo Giwon were bound to become formidable in the future, he was already an S-grade Esper, infamous and powerful—though, of course, they had no way of knowing that.

“You should worry about yourselves.”

Throwing them a look of mild disdain, Doyoung stepped through the portal.

◇◆◇◆◇

On the other side, the atmosphere changed immediately.

The cave stretched out like the second floor of an apartment, roughly 10 meters wide.

Strangely, it lacked the usual dampness of a cave.

And contrary to expectations, it wasn’t dark; it glowed softly, like a moonlit night, providing enough visibility to make out their surroundings.

“Stay in formation. Even in a training dungeon, recklessness can result in serious injury.”

The lead instructor issued a stern warning.

Doyoung, pretending to survey the area, glanced at the freshmen trailing behind him.

More specifically, at Beom Sinje and Yeo Giwon.

They were looking around with different expressions—Yeo Giwon visibly nervous, while Beom Sinje appeared composed.

‘Who would believe he’s just a newly awakened rookie?’

Despite himself, Doyoung felt a bit reassured.

At least, it seemed Beom Sinje wouldn’t make any major mistakes under pressure.

Just as he was turning forward, a system message appeared before him.

[Starting Tutorial Mission! (ง •_•)ง

Disrupt your teammates during the mission to prevent them from successfully hunting monsters.

Mission Time – 00:40:00]

“What?”

What kind of instruction was that?

The message was absurd.

“Hm?”

An Esper next to him gave him a questioning look, but Doyoung didn’t respond.

He was too busy thinking about how to handle this.

‘Sabotage monster hunts? Seriously?’

How petty.

But for someone known as the legendary villain Zero—

‘It would be more fitting to incapacitate everyone or hijack the dungeon altogether.’

Of course, stealing a training dungeon meant for student exercises wouldn’t do much for his reputation as the leader of the notorious crime organization Antithesis.

The bigger problem was that he was maintaining a disguise.

As a psychic Esper specialized in mental abilities, his weapon was limited to the Glock in his hand.

‘Well… even if I use some abilities, they probably won’t notice.’

In any case, the only one at his level was Beom Sinje, and he was still just a fledgling, unlikely to sense it.

‘Come to think of it….’

A scene from the novel flashed through Doyoung’s mind.

‘Beom Sinje participated in a dungeon mission with his group as a freshman.’

On that day, Na Doyoung had made a series of uncharacteristic mistakes.

He almost injured a B-grade Esper who was about to land a critical hit on a monster by firing a misplaced bullet.

‘Or wandering around carelessly and stepping on a monster he shouldn’t have, triggering unexpected combat.’

He’d clicked his tongue at the time, wondering what had gotten into him, but there had been a reason.

Those fights ended with both senior and freshman members injured, leading to chaos when an unexpected monster ambush caused the instructors to panic.

It became a significant incident, but there had been one upside.

‘It was the day Beom Sinje’s reputation skyrocketed.’

The fame was thanks to Beom Sinje, the only one who didn’t lose consciousness at the time, taking down the monster.

Back then, I brushed it off, thinking it was just an episode meant to show the protagonist’s excellence.

‘I never thought it would lead to this.’

Of course, it’s unlikely that Na Doyoung received a system mission like I did, but I observed the situation carefully to follow the original work faithfully.

The plan was to keep an eye on things from a distance and step in with my abilities at the right moment.

But that was easier said than done.

‘Why do they keep looking this way?’

Every time I glanced toward the freshmen, I would make eye contact with either Beom Sinje or Yeo Giwon.

‘They should just watch the upperclassmen fight the monsters.’

Grumbling, Doyoung scanned the scene with eagle eyes, noticing gaps starting to show.

‘Maybe I have a knack for playing the villain?’

Even if they were seniors about to graduate, to Doyoung, who was seasoned in real combat, their weaknesses were clear.

There was no need to fake incompetence or pretend to make mistakes.

‘I could just nonchalantly blend into the fight at the right moment and create enough confusion without being obvious.’

So cunning that even the teaching assistants wouldn’t notice.

“It’s already been 20 minutes.”

“The target time was 40 minutes, right?”

“Yes. With this lineup, I thought it would end faster. Surprising.”

As the battle dragged on longer than expected, the mood grew tense.

Successful attacks became fewer, while more failures provoked the monster into a frenzy.

‘Now I get why they gave us 40 minutes.’

Nodding, he glanced around at the formation.

The freshmen’s faces were even stiffer, probably because the seniors were struggling.

Among them, Beom Sinje stood out with his composed demeanor.

As Doyoung smirked slightly, the moment arrived.

‘There it is.’

Above the freshmen’s heads, a dark, viscous substance appeared on the ceiling.

It looked like a mix of octopus tentacles and melted stalactites.

‘It’s Otyu.’

Otyu was a creature that lived underground, with tentacles that functioned as limbs, each lined with suction cups.

Although the body wasn’t visible yet, it would soon reveal itself.

Otyu had a huge mouth with steel-like teeth that secreted a paralyzing toxin.

Not fatal, but enough to immobilize its prey.

‘It only paralyzes.’

In that state, Otyu would snatch up its prey with its tentacles and swallow it whole.

‘The problem is that it’s a B-class monster and shouldn’t appear here.’

In the original story, the teaching assistants were caught off guard and succumbed to its toxin.

Even now, Otyu was quietly moving its tentacles, unnoticed by anyone.

‘What should I do?’

Leaving things as they were would still complete the system’s mission.

While Doyoung didn’t care if the others got hurt, he didn’t want Beom Sinje or Yeo Giwon to get involved.

At that moment, Doyoung locked eyes with Beom Sinje. Unconsciously, he gestured upward with his eyes. Following Doyoung gaze, Beom Sinje looked up.

Everything happened in an instant.

The sword at his waist flew out and cut through the air.

Ssshhhkkk.

The blade sliced through the approaching tentacles and even grazed the dungeon wall.

Otyu, hidden until now, was exposed.

“Aaah!”

“What is that?!”

The freshmen screamed at the sight of the enormous body that fell to the floor.

Although its tentacles were severed, Otyu wasn’t dead yet.

Its gaping mouth prepared to spit out its toxin.

“Giwon!”

Beom Sinje shouted, and Yeo Giwon charged at Otyu like a bullet.

“Raaah!”

Despite his delicate appearance, Yeo Giwon had extraordinary strength.

His voice boomed as well.

Even if it was reinforced with iron spikes, it was remarkable that he wasn’t wielding a sword.

Yeo Giwon grabbed Otyu and ripped it apart with his bare hands.

“Whoa!”

“Unbelievable. He just crushed that with his hands.”

The freshmen erupted in astonishment at the sight of the two dispatching a B-class monster in seconds.

“Impressive.”

It was indeed the kind of action expected of main characters.

A fleeting sense of pride welled up, but Doyoung quickly turned his attention elsewhere.

They had shown enough presence for now; it was time to focus on the mission the system assigned me.

Fortunately, his task wasn’t difficult.

[Congratulations ~(≧▽≦)~

You have completed the tutorial mission successfully!]

After 40 minutes, the system window appeared, containing only two brief lines.

‘What about the reward?’

Usually, completing a mission like this would yield something.

Isn’t there anything?

Doyoung waited, just in case, but the system remained silent.

“Seriously?”

What kind of mission offers no reward?

Frowning in irritation, he noticed the area becoming busier.

“Thank you for your hard work, everyone. The results of today’s task will be updated on the website by 9 a.m. tomorrow, so please check them then.”

The teaching assistant spoke sympathetically to the seniors who returned defeated.

Given how hard they had tried, it was understandable.

In contrast, the freshmen had more excited expressions.

Of course, they were cautious under the watchful eyes of their distant seniors, so there was no cheering or loud conversation like before.

“Well then, let’s leave. Leaders first!”

Following the assistant’s command, Doyoung and the other seniors filed out.

“That bastard. Why does that clueless rookie have to get involved?”

As Doyoung followed behind his classmates, he overheard angry mutterings.

“Do you know that kid’s name, the one swinging the sword?”

“It was Beom… something.”

“How dare he interfere with the seniors’ graduation task?”

Ah, right.

This dungeon mission not only showcased Beom Sinje’s prowess but also set the stage for conflict with the upperclassmen.

‘Hmm…’

There was no need to deal with such petty guys.

Doyoung glanced at the muttering group briefly before losing interest.

Beom Sinje and Yeo Giwon were emerging from the gate.

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