NOVPUB"Kkugugugu..."
As soon as Maeng Hyo-don was engulfed, the ground that had cracked began to try to close again, as if the target had been achieved.
Tak Geo-san tried to follow, but his ankle was caught by the enemy’s interference.
Jo Su-hyeok left Maeng Hyo-don's middle school teacher in Kim Cheol's care and engaged in eliminating the enemy.
The way Jo Su-hyeok swung his two swords appeared calm at first glance, but inside, his mind was far from at ease.
‘The sky in the garden was clouded, so I didn’t consider the underground...! It’s rare to encounter a realm with both a high sky and an underground.’
Each realm has its own rarity and type, which determines the structure and the kind of enemies that appear.
Not only Jo Su-hyeok but also Kim Cheol, Tak Geo-san, and even Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher knew about this.
Among them, the one who lacked knowledge of these realms was Maeng Hyo-don.
That’s why Maeng Hyo-don was the first to sense the threat from the underground, which everyone else had overlooked.
Had Maeng Hyo-don not noticed, his middle school teacher would have been swallowed by the ground and captured by the enemy as a hostage.
‘The enemy I’m facing now doesn’t seem like the type that would appear in a realm filled with clouds and mist.’
The enemy that appeared now was manipulating rocks.
These enemies sometimes blended into the ground, evading Tak Geo-san's strikes.
The underground structure and the enemies’ appearance didn’t fit the garden realm filled with clouds and mist.
“I’ll turn the ground upside down!”
When Tak Geo-san saw his student disappear before his eyes, his face twisted in anger.
The thought that these enemies might follow and attack Maeng Hyo-don only fueled his rage.
Energy surged from Tak Geo-san’s whole body.
He was ready to flip the ground and crush the enemies, going all the way to the edge where Maeng Hyo-don had fallen.
However, if he did that, he wouldn’t have enough strength left when facing the owner of this garden.
Jo Su-hyeok activated his Gwanglim and Perfect Wingbeats to block Tak Geo-san’s violent actions.
“You don’t need to go that far.”
The wings extending from Jo Su-hyeok’s back enveloped his twin swords, and the blade turned to a wooden color.
The enemies, sensing the energy radiating from Jo Su-hyeok’s dual swords, began to retreat, shaking the ground.
But escaping Jo Su-hyeok’s Gwanglim was impossible.
Jo Su-hyeok swung his sword toward the ground where the enemies had hidden.
Chwaaaak!
The sword’s afterimage scraped across the ground, spreading wide.
At the same time, the force of the wood attribute dug into the ground.
Through the principle of the Five Elements (Wuxing), wood overcomes earth (Mugeukto), and the earth-type enemies, unable to resist the power, screamed and jumped out of the ground.
Gikigik...!
The enemy’s rock-like skin was tinged with the wood color, and it writhed in agony.
Not missing the opportunity, Tak Geo-san dealt the final blow.
Tak Geo-san’s foot pierced the wood-colored part of the enemy, obliterating it.
Following that, Tak Geo-san tried to strike the ground where Maeng Hyo-don had fallen.
It looked as if he was going to dig up the earth, but Jo Su-hyeok stopped him.
“It’s better to find another path. From the depth Maeng Hyo-don fell, if you dig, it’ll take much longer. It’d be faster to find the path connected to the garden’s owner.”
“Hmm...”
“This place feels like it’s made up of several different types of gardens. The one behind this garden uses powers that defy common sense, so we should consider the possibility that multiple gardens have merged here. Let’s go find the garden’s owner with that in mind.”
Thinking of the depth Maeng Hyo-don had fallen, Tak Geo-san retracted his fist with a complicated expression.
Although it was natural for him to be confused seeing his friend disappear before his eyes, Jo Su-hyeok remained cool-headed, analyzing the situation and considering the next step.
Feeling that he couldn’t show a disordered appearance in front of Jo Su-hyeok, Tak Geo-san cleared his throat and steadied his mind.
Once he confirmed Tak Geo-san had calmed down, Jo Su-hyeok relayed the thoughts he had while fighting and used his Clairvoyance to look toward the direction where Maeng Hyo-don had fallen.
His eye pierced through the deep ground, searching for Maeng Hyo-don, and soon, Maeng Hyo-don appeared within his sight.
To cushion his landing, Maeng Hyo-don must have struck the ground with his fists repeatedly, as the earth was heavily disturbed.
Though Maeng Hyo-don was covered in dirt from the rough landing, he seemed to be unhurt.
‘Thank goodness. Hyo-don made it without any major injuries.’
Jo Su-hyeok checked not only Maeng Hyo-don’s condition but also the direction, depth, and surroundings of his location.
As he pinpointed Maeng Hyo-don’s general position, just as Maeng Hyo-don was getting up from his roll, Jo Su-hyeok’s vision blurred.
Then, a sharp pain pierced his eye, and his Clairvoyance was deactivated.
Blinking his eyes, Jo Su-hyeok withdrew his energy as he anxiously observed the middle school teacher, who was watching the situation.
“...Can you see Hyo-don? Is he safe?”
“Yes, Hyo-don landed safely. But with the interference in my Clairvoyance, there seems to be a presence nearby emitting a strong energy.”
The middle school teacher felt relief after hearing Jo Su-hyeok’s first words, but grew pale after hearing the rest.
The thought that someone with the power to summon a powerful enemy might be nearby, close to Maeng Hyo-don, filled him with worry.
Tak Geo-san’s wrinkled face also stiffened in anger and concern.
“It’s okay. Hyo-don isn’t weak enough to be taken down before we arrive. And...”
Jo Su-hyeok spoke with certainty as he activated Clairvoyance once more.
This time, he wasn’t looking in the direction Maeng Hyo-don had fallen.
Jo Su-hyeok was trying to confirm the possibility of something his trusted friend could be doing.
“Hyo-don has other friends besides me.”
“The friend... could it be...?”
Hearing the mention of another friend, Tak Geo-san began speaking.
He knew that Maeng Hyo-don had a very reliable friend among his peers.
When Tak Geo-san was about to leave Eun-gwang High School and give up on welcoming students, it was Maeng Hyo-don’s friend who stopped him and asked him to help with the youth training camp.
—Before the vacation ends, Maeng Hyo-don will become your disciple. So don’t leave and wait.
—I'm not sure how Bang Yun-seob will turn out, but... he might also become your disciple. I have one more request though.
At first, Tak Geo-san was doubtful, but feeling desperate, he followed through with the request.
Though he had never done anything directly for Maeng Hyo-don and Bang Yun-seob, the two came to him on their own, wanting to become his disciples.
While the exact cause was unclear, Tak Geo-san knew for certain that without him, he wouldn’t have been able to accept Maeng Hyo-don and Bang Yun-seob as his disciples.
Thinking of Jo Eui-shin, Tak Geo-san felt a strange sense of trust rising within him.
Meanwhile, as Maeng Hyo-don fell, he wondered if he might get hurt or even die here.
If he focused on landing, he would be fine, but if he were attacked by enemies during his descent, it would be a different story.
Fortunately, while Maeng Hyo-don was focusing on landing and using his fists to control his fall, no enemies attacked him.
‘Looks like Master and Jo Su-hyeok took care of it.’
The surroundings were quiet and dark.
There were crystals embedded in the walls emitting light, so Maeng Hyo-don had no trouble seeing his immediate surroundings, though the overall atmosphere was dim because the light was not very strong.
Whoooo...
Suddenly, the air around him darkened sharply.
Something was approaching Maeng Hyo-don.
‘Probably the one who caused the ground to crack and summoned the enemies.’
Maeng Hyo-don expected a Jin tribe member to appear.
However, contrary to his expectations, what appeared was an enemy wrapped in a dark aura.
The enemy looked human from a distance, draped in a robe, but upon closer inspection, its back was distorted, and the skin revealed beneath the robe was covered in rock, immediately showing that it was no ordinary human.
Moreover, every time the enemy approached Maeng Hyo-don, the surrounding space seemed to distort.
‘It’s the Floor Master. Did it appear because I went underground? But it’s a little different from the one we saw earlier.’
Unless it’s a tower-shaped realm, Floor Masters usually share certain similarities.
But the newly appearing Floor Master looked quite different from the incorporeal enemy Jo Su-hyeok had defeated.
It almost seemed like a Floor Master from another realm.
‘I don’t care. Once I defeat it, it’s all the same.’
Maeng Hyo-don decided to stop thinking and just focus on fighting.
As the Floor Master swung its arm made of rock fragments, huge pillars were summoned.
Boom! Crash! Kkuggugu...
Three enormous stone pillars appeared around the Floor Master, and energy emanated from them, creating a transparent barrier that surrounded the Floor Master, almost like a protective shield.
‘Why set something like that up? It looks like a barrier, but is the Floor Master weak? Wait, what is that?’
Yellow crystals began to rise above the three pillars, and energy started to concentrate on them.
The yellow crystals glowed with a sinister light.
Whoooosh...
Maeng Hyo-don couldn’t quite understand what was happening, but he quickly realized he needed to figure out how to fight and where to strike.
However, as enemies began to gather, drawn in by the Floor Master’s power, he had to deal with them first.
While he cleared out the enemies, the power emanating from the yellow crystals grew stronger, and the Floor Master, hidden behind the barrier, swung its robe and began chanting.
If left unchecked, something terrible would likely happen.
‘Ah, I need to destroy those crystals quickly!’
If his classmates were with him, Maeng Hyo-don could have focused on dealing with the enemies summoned by the Floor Master.
Or, he could have left the enemies to others and focused on destroying the pillars, but right now, he was alone.
‘...I haven’t fought like this in a long time.’
During the Eun-gwang High School realm raids, they usually worked in teams, with roles assigned to attackers, defenders, and support.
Even in the face of sudden danger, there was always someone from the class by his side.
It had been a long time since he fought completely alone.
It might be the first time since the Fight Club.
‘Is fighting alone this hard!’
Back when he was in the Fight Club, fighting alone was a given.
When he first fought alongside his classmates at Eun-gwang High, he felt awkward, but now it was different.
As Maeng Hyo-don sent several enemies flying, the energy from the yellow crystals grew stronger, the light becoming blinding.
‘No, I can’t break it! I’m too late!’
Maeng Hyo-don realized that the finishing move he had in mind wouldn’t work here.
His finishing move targeted one enemy at a time, but now there were three separate targets in different locations.
He couldn’t hit all of them at once.
Deciding to focus on defense, Maeng Hyo-don stopped advancing toward the yellow crystals and tried to retreat, but newly spawned enemies caught his feet.
Whoooosh!
At the Floor Master’s chant, the yellow crystals exploded in light.
It was then.
Shriek!
Three arrows, cloaked in dense energy and light, shot toward the yellow crystals.
Maeng Hyo-don’s eyes widened as he saw the archer’s presence.
There was someone who had saved him from hell before.
