Episode 20: Mock Dungeon (4)
Ju Han-gang snorted as he looked around.
“Is this supposed to be a dungeon?”
“Yeah, right.”
The path was overly simple. After passing one or two forks, there wasn’t a proper trap in sight, and the goblin from earlier was the only monster they had encountered. At this rate, they would reach the central area in no time.
The walls were decorated with antique patterns, but they weren’t nearly enough to create any tension.
“Hyung said the Gaon Dungeon class was a nightmare, but this is nothing.”
Han Iri grumbled indifferently as he walked ahead.
“We just need to focus on which team we’ll run into.”
Ju Han-gang’s expression hardened as he spoke.
Han Iri paused for a moment to process his words, then asked, “Who do you want to face? Yohan?”
“Yohan? I don’t know about one-on-one, but we can’t beat his team.”
The members Yohan brought to the mock dungeon were the same ones he planned to team up with in the future.
They were a hero and a crusader guarding him.
“Then who?”
Han Iri asked again.
“Jung Haein.”
“Honestly, after Cheon Yeoul dropped out, I thought I’d be the seed candidate. But some parachute punk shows up… And didn’t he team up with Yu Hana before, too?”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”
Ju Han-gang snorted and continued.
“Basically carried, no question.”
Han Iri chuckled lightly and nodded.
“Who do you want to face?”
At Ju Han-gang’s question, Han Iri seemed to ponder for a moment, then turned his head nonchalantly. But deep down, he already knew the answer.
To be honest, he had fallen for her at first sight when the semester began.
Han Iri was usually the one receiving confessions, not the one to confess his feelings.
But this time, he had been trying to gather the courage to approach her.
However, every time he tried, her response was always the same.
‘Sorry, I have to meet a friend.’
And to make matters worse—
‘She told me to use her family name….’
Once, he boldly tried calling her by her given name.
‘Call me Ha Sion.’ she had said.
He couldn’t forget the cold look she gave him that day.
From that moment, the “friend” she always mentioned became a thorn in his side.
“Me too.”
In the end, he answered nonchalantly.
“Jung Haein for me too.”
Whether it was jealousy, anger, or simple competitiveness, he wasn’t sure.
But one thing was clear—
He wanted to show her a version of himself that could defeat Jung Haein.
“Well, I’m just curious about the guy.” he said, pretending to be indifferent, and gave a faint smile.
But his eyes were already trembling with emotion.
***
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Jung Haein’s team was in a safe zone.
“Hah… Haein….”
Jung Haein’s team had already triggered their seventh trap.
Monsters were a given, and Kim Dae-hyun was more exhausted than he’d ever been in any training or battle.
“Is a maze-type dungeon supposed to be this hard?”
“Hahaha, yeah, let’s just die already!”
Beside Them, Yoon Sang-hyuk had Lost It.
After the sixth breakthrough, the arrow that grazed between his legs seemed to have been the final trigger.
“No way.”
Jung Haein was just as baffled.
However, Sion, standing beside him, took a deep breath and replied calmly.
“It’s a maze-type dungeon, but it seems like it’s mixed with an exit-type as well.”
An exit-type dungeon has a clear distinction between the entrance and the exit, with two portals generated at either end.
While the path from the entrance to the central area is filled with obstacles and traps, the exit is designed to be traversed easily with little interference.
In real combat, these dungeons are often called “free loot” dungeons, as players prioritize finding the exit first and attacking it from the reverse direction.
Most dungeons are designed with a single primary feature in mind, but occasionally, there are dungeons that mix two or more characteristics.
“As we get closer to the central area, I can sense it. This dungeon doesn’t end at the center. It seems to also have a path leading to the exit.”
This meant that the current dungeon was a malicious hybrid—a maze-type dungeon with few monsters but combined with an exit-type filled with abundant traps and monsters, creating a complementary challenge.
As Sion explained this, Yoon Sang-hyuk, who had seemed out of it, suddenly erupted.
“Wait, so that means we’re at the entrance side while the guys on the other side are cruising through the easy part?”
“That’s about right.”
At Yoon Sang-hyuk’s frustrated outburst, Jung Haein nodded in agreement.
“What the heck is this setup—!”
“And…”
Before he could finish, Sion interrupted, raising her hand quietly.
“If we break through just once more, we’ll reach the central area.”
***
For the students who weren’t chosen to participate, the mock dungeon provided more than just a practice opportunity—it was highly entertaining.
The video feeds of each team, visible from their seats, were more than just learning material; they were the highlight of the day.
“Wow, no way. Yu Hana might actually beat Yohan.”
“Is Kang Arin really even a student…?”
On the central screen, scenes of teams already clashing at the center were unfolding.
It was obvious from the setup that these encounters were inevitable.
Meanwhile, ranked 100th student Yong Hyun-sung was watching the feed of a somewhat overlooked team.
The two teams had yet to meet.
“What’s up with them? They’re still not at the center? They’re so slow.”
Another student asked him.
“Yeah, but…”
Yong Hyun-sung’s gaze naturally shifted to the screen showing the maze-type dungeon.
“The difficulty difference between the two is way too big…”
At first, he thought Jung Haein’s team was just slow in their progress, but upon closer inspection, the difference was clear.
Han Iri’s team’s dungeon was overly simplistic. There were no traps or notable monsters, and they looked like they could reach the central area just by walking straight ahead.
In contrast, Jung Haein’s dungeon was a completely different story.
The traps and monsters were intricately linked, and the overall difficulty was on a whole other level.
At the heart of these challenges was Jung Haein, steadily leading his team forward.
Cutting down monsters, avoiding traps, and breaking through obstacles, his movements went beyond mere training—they resembled the actions of professional heroes in real combat.
Yong Hyun-sung’s gaze gradually fixed on Jung Haein’s movements on the screen.
Then, noticing the sudden quiet around him, Yong Hyun-sung lifted his head and looked around.
“Whoa… what’s going on?”
Before he knew it, the eyes of the other students were also gathering on Jung Haein’s screen.
Even those who had been mocking the footage earlier were now silently following his every move.
At first, it was just a few.
But soon, the entire class had their eyes glued to the screen.
“…”
No one spoke, but the silence was even more intense.
“What’s with that guy…?”
Someone murmured softly, almost under their breath.
That remark seemed to ripple through the crowd like a signal. The surrounding students glanced at one another and nodded in agreement.
That guy-no, Jung Haein-was undeniably different.
***
We had finally broken through the last obstacle and were resting in the final safe zone.
However, unlike the previous safe zones, this one had a timer running down.
It seemed to be a gentle nudge from our considerate instructor, urging us to stop resting and quickly proceed to the central area for the battle.
“119… 118… 117…”
Yoon Sang-hyuk lay sprawled on the floor, counting down the timer.
“I just want to die…”
I stared at the tightly closed door leading to the central area and eventually opened my mouth.
“As you all know, the enemy team is likely waiting for us beyond this door.”
“And there’s a good chance they’ve already tackled the exit. They’re probably in better shape than us.”
Sion and Kim Dae-hyun listened to me in silence.
Dae-hyun’s shield was half-destroyed, and while Sion’s hair was slightly disheveled, she otherwise remained calm.
“So, what’s the plan?”
When I hesitated, Yoon Sang-hyuk lifted his head from where he lay and looked at me, waiting for my response.
I debated whether to say the next part.
There was a possibility, but I was only half-convinced it could be true.
When my silence dragged on, Sion softly urged me, her voice gentle.
“Haein, if there’s something you need to say, go ahead.”
I nodded and finally spoke.
“Then, how do you think they spent their remaining time?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk sat up, thought for a long moment, and then widened his eyes.
He collapsed back onto the floor as if in disbelief and muttered under his breath.
“…No way… That’s insane.”
His reaction wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Beside him, Kim Dae-hyun asked with a serious expression,
“Are you talking about… traps?”
His guess was spot on.
In combat scenarios, traps are an essential element.
Especially in situations like capture missions, traps can play a significant tactical role.
That’s why the use of traps is a mandatory part of combat training classes.
But this was a mock dungeon class.
The exercise assumed no external invaders or demonic threats, focusing solely on potential battles between teams.
If the enemy had gone so far as to set traps, it meant they weren’t just focusing on the dungeon challenge but were putting serious thought into the upcoming battle.
Furthermore, traps are usually extreme measures used against high-risk targets like dangerous fugitives, demons, or monsters.
Using them against students in a standard combat exercise was, frankly, over the top.
“So, Haein, what do you want to do?”
Sion’s gaze remained fixed on me, her voice still soft.
The ticking timer echoed in my ears as the numbers steadily dwindled. We didn’t have much time left.
“I…”
***
“Enough, stop messing around and just come out!”
At the center of the dungeon, Han Iri’s team had already arrived.
It seemed that both doors had to open for the dungeon rewards to appear.
However, no matter how long they waited, the opposing team didn’t show up.
At this point, Ju Han-gang proposed an idea.
“Let’s set traps.”
Initially, his teammates were hesitant.
But after Ju Han-gang quoted the instructor’s words, “Win at all costs,” and delivered a passionate speech, they eventually gave in.
Any lingering doubts about whether the instructor had actually meant for them to predict the opponent’s arrival and set traps to incapacitate them vanished from their minds.
What remained was a burning desire to win.
After meticulously setting up the traps, Ju Han-gang and his teammates climbed onto the second-floor ledge of the dungeon’s central ruins and waited.
Their eyes were fixed solely on the opposite door.
“But… what if someone gets seriously hurt?”
One of the teammates who had opposed the plan from the start asked nervously.
“It’s just a practice run. No one’s going to get seriously hurt.” Ju Han-gang replied nonchalantly, while Han Iri added with a chuckle,
“And isn’t the real problem those slowpokes taking forever to get here?”
“True. Maybe the traps will be enough to finish them off.”
They exchanged amused looks and laughed.
Boom.
That’s when it happened.
The door on the opposite side opened, and the dungeon’s reward appeared in the center.
“They’re here.”
In the tense moment that followed, four figures quickly entered the room.
And then—
BOOM!
An explosion.
The deafening roar tore through the air as a sandstorm erupted, blinding their vision.
The ground shook, and the pressure warped the air around them.
“Whoa! That was amazing!”
The explosion’s impact was beyond their expectations. It was a good decision to use traps designed for large monsters.
The homemade magical bombs crafted by their alchemy specialist had worked perfectly.
‘At this rate, even Yohan wouldn’t stand a chance.’
Joo Han-gang waited with a face full of hope as the dust began to settle.
As the haze gradually cleared, silhouettes began to emerge.
And they were… standing.
‘Standing?’
Ju Han-gang was stunned.
As the dust dispersed further, Jung Haein came into view, waving his hands dismissively to clear the remaining sand with a sour expression.
Next to him stood Ha Sion, her sharp eyes instantly locking onto their location. Her lips moved slightly, as if pointing them out.
“You shameless bastards!!!”
A voice suddenly erupted from the side, echoing through the dungeon.
It was Yoon Sang-hyuk, his sweat-soaked hair sticking out in all directions as he yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Are you trying to kill us with this trap??”
The four of them looked entirely unscathed. Ju Han-gang swallowed hard as he glanced around.
And then he saw it.
The shattered remains of troll corpses scattered from the explosion.
Those weren’t four people—they were four monster corpses thrown to trigger the traps.
‘We’ve been found out.’
Jung Haein’s gaze finally landed on them.
His cold eyes seemed to pierce through their hiding spot.
He raised his hand and beckoned them with a flick of his finger.
“Come down.”
His frosty expression sent a chill down the spines of Han Iri, Ju Han-gang, and the rest of their team.