Yoo Ah-Ra and Minori proceeded to the portal station in silence, their usual probing and prying gone ever since Minori saw 'it'.
At the station, the two got their stamps before making their way through, arriving at Seoul.
"This way please, Minori. I can't have you getting lost now that we've left Cube." She spoke sweetly and walked ahead, Minori felt something tingle around his neck before falling.
She's not even hiding her attempts to 'charm' me anymore.
"So where are we heading?" He followed behind and discreetly checked his watch to see if it was working.
"... we're heading to Hwan-puk's bookstore." She said as she continued walking.
"Hmm? I thought we were going to pick up some herbs."
"Hah, those were picked up a couple weeks ago." Her tone wasn't the gentle senior from before and instead a mature and smooth voice.
"So why are we going to a bookstore? I doubt you would kill me off after the efforts I've made in the past three weeks." Minori activated [Starlight Seer] but felt nothing amiss apart from the vines emanating from Yoo Ah-Ra.
"Building relations with the important members of your class did indeed sweeten the pot. You've got instincts to notice something was off, but you gotta conceal your mana fluctuations if you don't want your emotions read."
So that was it.
"As for why we're heading to a bookstore, well, you'll see."
That's not good. Hwan-Puk store is thankfully pretty famous. So I know it's roughly 5 minutes away from the station.
Seeing as how, I'm unlikely to die, I have to get as much information as possible before making the best of the situation.
"I see. Well, since the game is up, mind telling me what was up with your other persona?"
"Hm? You mean wanting you to call me Noona?" She laughed heartily.
"I just have a preference for ripping young boys like you apart is all."
Minori shuddered.
"...So, that number…?"
"Yes, it's real. It'll be our way of conversing. So make sure to save it to a private watch and burn the card." She spoke cheerfully.
"..?" Minori suppressed his mana.
"We're here, let's go in." She entered without looking back.
I stood in silence, before tapping something on my watch and turning it off.
…
The room inside was dimly lit, as if it was long past closing hours.
"You know, I've been watching you since the start of the year, ever since you surprised me with your observation. You even corrected my manner of speech, indirectly."
"..."
Walking past the shelves, Yoo Ah-Ra threw her Cube jacket to the side, revealing a black tank top and the head of a tattooed centipede peeking over her shoulder.
"We've only had a few conversations so far but even so you manage to keep me on my toes. Your observation skills are something that we've taken note of."
"..."
Her body was toned and fit, nothing like the gentle senior Cube knew.
"You're smart. To the point I was forced to act so early. You made enough preparations that I had to close off my path of silencing you."
"..."
Minori held the knife in his pocket discreetly.
"Which is why I'm forced to take another route."
Seeing this the woman chuckled, tying her hair into a low ponytail.
"So let me ask you something, what do you value the most?" The wisps of mana became visible to the naked eye as they spread across the room, curling at the edges and blocking the exit.
The Djinn turned to Minori, her face flushed as her body streamed with mana. Her expression excited and expectant, her eyes wide open and glaring.
Releasing mana, Minori killed the spread of vines near him, with an exterminating white force. Only for them to grow back and wrap around my ankles, making them numb.
Minori gave up on destroying the vines and let them slither at his feet.
"Isn't that obvious? I value my own life before anything else." Minori spoke.
Yoo Ah-Ra smiled.
"Then you've left me no choice. Welcome to The Evil Society, brat." Hearing the name of the organisation, Minori broke out into a cold sweat.
Evil Society, a horrifying Djinn group, recognised by the government as the number one wanted group. Although there were more vicious ones out there, Evil Society exists in almost all countries.
"Hahaha! I love that face! Don't be too afraid, we won't kill you unless you stray too far. And since you've made yourself clear, we won't even force you to become a Djinn. All you have to do is follow my orders to a T!"
"Your first order is to call me Noona from now on! Yoo Ah-Ra is too tacky, even for a fake name. My real name isn't something you need to know until later."
Minori remained silent, his eyes darting around, realising the bookstore they were just in was covered in dark purple vines.
"You don't want to? What a shame, guess we'll bleed you until you're compliant."
"Fine then. If that's what it takes. I'll become a member of the Evil Society. Just don't be too harsh on me, Noona." Minori sighed and revealed a lazy smirk.
The lady smiled and blushed before clapping her hands together.
"Wonderful! If you're a good dog, you might even get the attention of a Demon! Then you'd be a real member! Ah, you'd be such a perfect Djinn for Lilith!"
So that's her backer… no wonder her charm abilities are so strong. She must be particularly favoured… which means Lilith might be watching right now.
As soon as Minori thought that thought he heard a faint laughter in the back of his mind, dark and alluring, only for it to fade out shortly after.
… guess I'll just have to act like I'm cooperative. When I get out of here I'll report her the first chance I get.
"Oh, one more thing!" The woman raised her watch and played a recording.
["Fine then. If that's what it takes. I'll become a member of the Evil Society. Just don't be too harsh on me, Noona."]
"..."
The woman smirked sadistically as my dread set in. Yet I persisted and gave a grimacing expression.
This was the moment when the branch leader of Korea's Evil Society had personally picked out a mole to spy on Cube.
…
"Cube had a variety of artificial terrain created to allow for more efficient training: mountains, hills, limestone caves, etc. Each environment had its unique puppet monsters, and naturally, there were also artificial Dungeons created with cutting-edge magic technology."
'Yoo Ah-Ra' sat on my couch, lounging back with a beer in her hands.
"Today you'll be participating in a mock dungeon trial." She was in a black tanktop and shorts, her gentle mask thrown away.
"Okay?" Minori had a mug of coffee in his hands, having been awoken at four in the morning by his new devilish superior.
"One of ours has already swapped some of the monsters and created life threatening traps. I'm just telling you to be careful, and if anyone gets hit by an arrow make sure to protect them until they wake up properly." She explained calmly.
"So, the arrow turns people into Djinns?"
"Nah, it just makes their mind weak and susceptible to attacks from our masters. So be careful not to get hit yourself if you still want to keep your humanity… unless you want to officially join?" She chuckled.
"Oh, and make sure to make it to the boss room quickly. Can't have Cube getting things under control before the fun begins."
"Right… is that all?" Minori blinked his tired eyes as a ray of sunlight crested over the skyline.
"Yep. Oh, I also wanted to see if you have a Violet Banquet account. It's just a safer way to contact you than on the messenger app."
Minori nodded along.
"So if I add you, you won't come to debrief me at 4 in the morning?"
"Mmmm, depends on how I feel."
"..."
Minori hated his new superior, she was beautiful, calm, strong, reliable, rich and even generous.
Her only flaw was that she doesn't seem to be able to hide that lecherous gaze. She even came to spend lunch with me with the excuse of monitoring me. It should be the other way around!
And at the eye of her attention was the new recruit, a human, Minori Nii.
"Hehe, there's that adorable face again."
Djinn's really give me the creeps…
"On another note, the gunner in your class. Do you think he's easily usable? There are some pretty sick rumors about the guy. Blackmail, rape, going to Seoul everyday to drink and indulge." She practically cackled at the thought.
"I doubt it. All he did was get on the bad side of a rich girl."
"Shame. He seemed pretty special when he blew up Lucius' Dog's arm with a bullet."
…
"Today's combat training is a bit special." Kim Soohyuk announced.
Just like the instructor said, there were two classes participating in today's combat training. The classes were gathered outside an eerie cave, its entrance emitting an ominous energy.
So that's the mock dungeon they drafted up… I wonder how many of us have infiltrated Cube….
Looking to the side Minori saw his self proclaimed team leader, psyching herself up.
Chae Nayun seems determined to attempt first place.
Good, I'll just let her take the reins, it'd be bad if we went too slow. I don't want to get hounded by Noona.
"Today, you'll be entering this cave with another class. As a joint training exercise, a team from each class will join a single team."
If this were a couple months ago I would've felt sick at so much group work. I guess I'm getting less and less fazed.
"This is the first time I've seen you hyping yourself up. Don't tell me you're nervous." Minori held his short sword loosely.
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous."
Their teammates, Rosen and Demian, arrived shortly after.
===
[Team 3]
Veritas class - Team Chae Nayun
World class - Team Sven
===
Sven…
Minori looked over and saw a boy with blonde hair tied into a low ponytail. His blue eyes were crystal and although his face was calm, his mana was simmering.
He looks easy to sacrifice.
"H-Hello, Nayun. I saw you in the hunting club."
Sven reached out his hand to Chae Nayun at that moment. His eyes were full of affection but Chae Nayun replied with an apathetic look.
"Don't slow us down." She spoke confidently.
"Y-Yes."
I looked to other members of Sven's team to find them all staying silent.
They seem a little… dull.
My watch buzzed as I was observing.
[Noona: Make sure people get hurt, you don't have to kill them if you don't want to. It doesn't matter who, as long as Cube's failure is evident. I'll pull some strings to make sure your footage is altered~]
'You don't have to kill if you don't want to'… Is she trying to gauge my dedication?
Minori instinctively read the message as 'As long as people spread the word, it doesn't matter.' but after a bit of thought it was probably 'Kill people for extra credit! Just make it look like Cube's fault.'.
The end goal is probably for Cube to tighten up their security which would make infiltrating harder. In turn Cube would probably be confident enough to turn their suspicion away from existing students.
It's pretty smart… Yeah, I can do that…
I'll definitely get imprisoned if I try my earnest to become a hero, so I might as well place my bets with the Evil Society.
With those thoughts, he looked to his teammates and took note of their weapons.
Two archers, three swordsmen, one Tank and two one fighter and one spearman…
When the team assignments ended, the groups filtered into the mock dungeon one by one.
…
As the eight of us walked through the cave, we formed a four laned formation. The sharpshooters behind damage dealers, the supporters flanking with another set of damage dealers.
The whole formation was made up on the spot with a little of my own input. Clumping us all together with 'the sole intention of killing anything as fast as possible'.
Eventually we arrived at a crossroads with eight paths to choose from.
Chae Nayun scrutinised the paths before pointing at the sixth path.
"They all lead to the center! So let's go to the one that emits warmth!" She was confident in her senses.
"Alright then. Let's go." Sven strode towards the entrance.
The path was completely silent apart from the dry, warm air that wafted through.
"Smells like smoke…" I muttered pulling my shortsword out of its sheath.
"Yeah." Chae Nayun agreed, nocking an arrow into her bow.
"Really? I don't smell anything." Demian said as he unstrapped his hammer.
"No, it's closer than we think." Chae Nayun fired an arrow as something in the darkness ignited, screeching loudly as molten blood poured from its wound.
The blood illuminated what appeared to be a red scaled lizard, its eyes slitted and menacing.
As soon as we caught sight of it properly, Demian ran forward and rammed his hammer down, drawing agro.
The Beast dodged before circling back and attempting to pounce on the hammer user. Rosen ran up in time and swung her claymore to cut at it.
But before she could land the slice, the salamander reared up, its mouth glistening with red hot fire.
Chae Nayun fired another arrow, having it soar through the air and landing under its head, piercing through the neck and staggering it.
Sven ran up and sliced when he got the opportunity, only to stumble and trip, his momentum bringing him right in front of the lizard's mouth, burning hot white with unreleased flames.
"Don't get in the way."
I, who tripped him over, dashed over his fallen body and pierced the salamander through the eye, driving my shortsword through its skull.
White, hostile sword qi surged from my blade, ripping into the side of the beast's face. Sparks and embers sputtered before dying down into a mildly warm liquid that evaporated into wisps of mana.
"Alright, don't relax too much everyone. That should've been the switch."
In dungeons a switch is what reveals the true nature of the dungeon.
I helped Sven up and glanced to my left, noticing an arrow head ripping through the air.
That must be it. It's barely noticeable.
I stepped to the side and acted natural.
"Alright let's continu-" Chae Nayun was cut off as Sven fell to the ground once more.
"Kagh!" He spluttered as the arrow pierced his shoulder.
I wonder if I would be credited if it hit him in the chest.
At that moment the air heated up unbearable, a show of the dungeon finally switching.
The ground became charred as we appeared to be in a field of sometype, wilting grass and red leaved maple trees began sprouting.
"W-What? That can't be a part of the training!" Svens teammates began panicking as they pointed their weapons in every way.
"Don't panic, let's just make it to the boss room and get the instructors to help us. It's not like we can make it out the other way now."
… They must've figured something out by now. It won't be long before the instructors come through.
"I agree, the faster we can get to the end, the faster we can get help." I re-gripped my short sword and walked ahead.
Before I could finish my thought, hoards of small scaly critters, the flame they emitted far larger than themselves, swarmed towards us..
Around 19? They look like peanuts.
"Less talk and more fight, let's get a move on." Chae Nayun raised her weapon, as did the others.