"It's more than I thought."
Seo Woojin looked around and stuck out his tongue.
Hundreds of knights and soldiers were neatly arranged.
There seemed to be more numbers than last time.
"Because we're going to Demonic Helldane. Even though it's just the outskirts, Helldain is not an easy place."
At Irene's words, Seo Woojin nodded.
"Well, it was the same in the North."
Thinking back on the subjugation in Massive Guardian, he didn't think this number of people was excessive.
"Because there's also a mission to guard 100 Heroes."
The purpose of this 'Lesson' was to give the Heroes a proper real-world experience.
But that didn't mean they could really fight for their lives.
If they made a mistake and lost their lives, it would be too much of a loss.
Build real-world experience as much as possible but eliminate the risk factors.
That's what the knights and soldiers were for.
"I don't know if it will really be an experience."
Seo Woojin thought a bit negatively.
He had really experienced the crisis of death countless times in the North.
But Irene seemed to have a slightly different thought.
"It's not a bad method. It's easier to adapt step by step rather than rushing from the beginning."
"…That's not something you could say."
Who threw Seo Woojin, who was holding a sword for the first time, in front of a monster?
"I also protected Woojin from death."
Irene smiled faintly.
'That's true.'
If it weren't for Irene, he would have died several times.
If they do what he did in the subjugation, this class might be quite helpful for the Heroes too.
"As long as nothing strange happens again."
"What?"
Irene asked at Seo Woojin's mutter, but he shook his head.
"It's nothing."
Surely, that Gerald guy won't show up again.
The empire also focused all its efforts on security and defence, so something like that won't happen again.
"Ah, it looks like it's time to depart."
Irene pointed to one side.
There was a giant door.
"The door is shining?"
As Seo Woojin said, the entrance of the door was emitting a bright light.
"It's a warp gate."
"Are we going through there?"
Seo Woojin thought he would take a train or carriage to a place called Demonic Helldane.
So far, the only means of transportation Seo Woojin had experienced were those two.
Although he expected something like teleportation magic in a fantasy world, he hadn't seen it before, so he didn't think about it this time either.
"It takes over a month to get to Demonic Helldane by carriage. Of course, there is no direct train route."
He didn't know it was that far.
Well, considering the large number of people traveling by horse and carriage, it didn't seem like an easy task.
'Could there be traffic jams?'
Seo Woojin chuckled as he thought about the rush hour made of horse-drawn carriages.
Irene looked at Seo Woojin strangely and continued explaining.
"The Empire's warp gates are famous. You can go anywhere within the Empire territory."
The Empire boasted the largest landmass on the continent.
It was a place without advanced means of transportation like on Earth, so the warp gate was one of the Empire's most important facilities.
"Of course, it doesn't activate anytime. Since it consumes a lot of magical power, it's only used for essential matters."
Even so, it was activated for the Heroes' class.
Thinking about that, one could understand how much support the Empire was providing for the Heroes.
"Let's go inside now."
The warp gate activated, and the Empire's First Knight Order, the Imperial White Knight Order, entered first.
It seemed like they were going to secure a safe zone by moving first.
Seeing the figure disappear into the light, a scene from an old movie came to mind.
"At that time, they went to another universe."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing at all."
As it was a somewhat pointless story, Seo Woojin shook his head and slowly moved forward.
Only after the knights and soldiers had all entered did it become the turn of the Heroes.
"This is fascinating."
"It's my first time teleporting, too."
"Come to think of it, I heard there are Heroes who use spatial magic. Were they A-ranked?"
The Heroes entered the gate with expressions of tension and excitement due to the unfamiliar experience.
"If you cross here, the Demonic Helldane appears, right?"
"That's right. Be careful. Helldane is a dangerous area, not inferior to the North in comparison."
Upon Irene's words, Seo Woojin crossed the gate, raising his tension.
Whoosh!
'Ugh!'
He felt the sensation of being sucked in.
And at the same time, he felt a huge magical force pressing on his body.
'…Crazy!'
He felt pain to the extent that curses involuntarily came out.
But it was only for a moment.
Phat!
"Ugh!"
The pressure compressing his body disappeared, and an unfamiliar place unfolded before his eyes.
A black forest.
Although it was undoubtedly a place where sunlight seeped through, Seo Woojin felt that this forest was too dark.
'Is this Helldane?'
The landscape fit the name "Demonic Helldane" very well.
"Hoo, hoo!"
"Ugh, damn it. I didn't say it would hurt this much!"
"Nausea…"
It seemed that the pain was not only felt by Seo Woojin.
The condition of the Heroes who had entered ahead of Seo Woojin didn't seem to be good.
"Huk!"
It was the same for Irene.
As expected of a knight of Sion, she looked completely undisturbed, but her face was completely white.
"Are you okay?"
Seo Woojin, who had somewhat calmed down, asked with a worried expression.
"I-I'm fine."
Judging by Irene's face, she seemed to not have expected to feel this much pain.
'Still, she's impressive.'
Even Heroes surpassing high-ranking knights struggled to maintain composure in agony.
However, Irene, only an intermediate knight, showed no change except for the color of her face.
'Of course, knights who have been training for a long time are different.'
The Imperial White Knights, who had gone ahead, were silently carrying out their duties like Irene.
"Please pay attention here."
At that moment, a figure who seemed to be a knight from the Imperial White Knights stepped forward and spoke to the Heroes.
'Who's that?'
It was his first time seeing this knight.
The middle-aged knight in his forties appeared exceptionally skilled at a glance.
Unlike other knights who moved as if nothing was wrong, he genuinely seemed fine.
"I am the knight responsible for you all in this place, Ronain."
He was not only a top-ranking knight but also the leader of the Imperial White Knights.
Of course, the Heroes couldn't focus on the words of such an exceptional person.
That's how intense the pain was.
Seo Woojin and the elite friends were the only ones in relatively good condition.
However, Ronain continued without paying attention to that.
"In the coming week, you will live here. From meals and beds to combat for survival, you must handle everything yourselves."
It was a class that combined practical training with survival training.
"We will intervene as little as possible."
So, the meaning was that there was no intention to interfere with anything other than rescuing the Heroes on the verge of death.
In his calm words, even the Heroes who were writhing in pain began to focus little by little.
No matter how unwell the body may be, they couldn't afford to casually dismiss words that were directly related to survival.
"While this is the outskirts of the Helldane, it's not a place to feel secure at all. Monsters, and occasionally followers of the Demon King, appear here."
Ronnain continued to teach what to be cautious of here and what was necessary for survival.
Seo Woojin engraved everything in his memory without missing a single detail.
"Lastly…."
Ronnain looked around at the Heroes.
Then he spoke.
"Unless absolutely necessary, I recommend forming a team rather than going alone."
It wasn't just a casual suggestion.
No matter how much knights helped, it was impossible to prevent unexpected events from occurring.
Building a group for survival was not a choice but a necessity.
"Well then, I wish you good luck."
With those words, Ronnain stepped back.
The surroundings became quiet.
The black forest, where not even the sound of common insects could be heard, created an atmosphere that could turn silence into fear.
"Uh, what should we do?"
One Hero who couldn't withstand the silence opened his mouth.
"Let's form teams."
"Yeah, that knight also recommended it."
The Heroes, whether to shake off their fear or to get busy, began to move actively.
Those who were already close.
Those who have been keeping an eye on them for a long time.
People with useful jobs mixed together and formed their own groups.
"Hmm…."
Seo Woojin stood alone, observing his surroundings with a blank expression.
'If there's someone I can move together with.'
However, Irene, despite having officially offered her support, couldn't act alongside him.
So, there were only two people left.
Lee Ji-ah and Kim Dahye.
'Should we team up?'
There was a bit of friendship.
No, actually, they were quite close.
They practiced together every day, and she even taught him various things.
But thinking about spending a week together in this place made him a bit hesitant.
After all, weren't they just twenty-year-old girls?
Living with a strange man in the woods for a week would be uncomfortable.
Apart from those two, there was no one else he interacted with.
"Should I just stay alone?"
It wasn't a big problem.
Even though this place was called the Helldane, Seo Woojin was confident he could handle most dangers.
As long as it wasn't a monster like Gerald…
"Yeah, let's just go alone. Since when did I get along with other Heroes?"
Seo Woojin made up his mind.
"Ah, mister! Do you want to go alone? Leaving us behind?"
A familiar voice came from behind.
There was only one person who talked that much in the first place.
"Lee Ji-ah."
When Seo Woojin turned around, as expected, Lee Ji-ah was looking at him with wide eyes.
"No, we came all this way to team up with you! Betraying us like this! I didn't expect you to do that!"
Honestly, it was unexpected.
I couldn't figure out what on earth she believed in to come without fear like this.
Still, it didn't feel bad.
It was the fact that there were people who believed in him.
"I thought, maybe you might be bored, so I brought some other people too!"
Come to think of it, it wasn't just Ji-Ah and Da-Hye.
There was also Yoo Hong-Seol, whom he had met at a previous party, and there were two more guys he hadn't seen before.
"Oh, hello."
Yoo Hong-Seol and the guys awkwardly greeted Seo Woojin.
"Oh, yes. Hello."
Seo Woojin also smiled and greeted them, then looked at Ji-Ah.
"Who betrayed whom?"
Seo Woojin laughed.
"Please take care of me for the next week."