Transcension Academy

C31 – Dungeon Sweeping Contest (1)

“A dungeon sweeping contest?”

Seo-joon tilted his head and checked Seo-yoon’s smartphone in detail.

It was an article with a title and details listed under it.

Instead of reading the article carefully, Seo-joon checked the briefly summarized information.

< The 24th dungeon sweeping contest.>

-Content: Jurisdiction designated Dungeon Raid.

– Eligibility: Government-approved Hunter Academy students.

– Application period: 15 days from the date of publication of this notice.

– Evaluation criteria: the number of dungeons that have been cleared within the deadline.

– Prize money: 300,000,000 ￦

Seo-joon read the summarized information and grasped some information but could not know the details.

“What’s this?”

So Seo-joon decided to just ask Seo-yoon.

Seo-yoon answered by taking back her smartphone.

“Well, to put it simply, it’s kind of like a contest to clear an untreated dungeon.”

“A contest to contest the untreated dungeons?”

Seo-yoon nodded and explained more details.

This was an era where one could become an awakened with money and as a result the number of hunters continued to increase along with those who wanted to be hunters.

However, with the end of the cataclysm, the number of monsters and dungeons decreased, and the ever-increasing number of hunters continued to be unable to work even after becoming hunters.

In the end, the government decided that it needed to control the number of hunters and along with the Professional Hunter Test, a system called the Professional Hunter Certificate was introduced.

This was the background of the creation of a new industry called Hunter Academy.

Under the government’s policy, the number of new professional hunters has plummeted, and stability has begun to be sought.
However, considering the existing hunters, it was safe to say that the number of professional hunters in Korea was almost saturated.

And there was one really ironic problem that came up here.
The number of professional hunters was saturated, but not all dungeons were raided on time.

What does this mean?

“Because they don’t try to raid dungeons that don’t make money.”

“Oh, well, that’s true.”

It meant that professional hunters only raided dungeons that made money.

As you can see from the word “professional hunter,” the current hunter is actually recognized as a job.

If the awakening in the days of cataclysm had a sense of mission or belief, the current professional hunters only seek benefits.
Therefore, people call the awakened of the cataclysmic days heroes, separated from the current professional hunters.

Anyway, it was the reality of the moment that no one touched dungeons that didn’t make money.
And dungeons that are not raided break down over time, with monsters pouring out of the dungeon.

The dungeon where the break took place does not disappear, but remains in place, and over time, monsters pour out of the dungeon again.

This event keeps repeating.

Of course, the lower the grade and the more difficult it was to target, so there was no big problem even if a dungeon break occurred but even such monsters were a threat to the public, and the government was obliged to deal with them.

So, at first, public servant hunters were in charge of this job.
However, it was difficult to handle all the dungeons across the country.

Above all, they were also professional hunters, although they were civil servants.

They were talented people who passed the difficult test, and it was inefficient in many ways to waste their manpower on such a place.

In the end, the government had to take a different approach and the dungeon sweep contest appeared.

“So that’s what the dungeon sweep contest is.”

“Exactly.”

Seo-yoon nodded a couple of times at Seo-joon’s words.

In the end, the intent of this contest was simple.

The government couldn’t ignore the low-grade dungeons and since the unhandled dungeons were generally dungeons that could be handled at the student level so they held a contest because that would cost them money anyway.

Academy students are manpower so they could be used.
In addition, it would be reflected in the academy evaluation element.

“Really… I don’t know who it was, but they did a good job.”

Seo-joon shook his head.

“It’s a reality that I have no choice but to accept even though I know it.
But I think Seo Jun will be able to win.
What do you think?”

Seo-joon was lost in thought for a moment in response to Seo-yoon’s question.

“300 million…”

The more money he had, the better his situation would be and 300 million was a prize with enough merit.

Besides this would be the result of Seo-joon’s efforts, so it will probably be fully reflected in the causal rate of the Transcension Academy.
In addition, the contest itself was a dungeon sweep, so it was possible to increase the progress of the lectures while conducting the raid.

If he thought about it a little bit, there was nothing harmful to Seo-joon.

In short, the dungeon sweep contest was filled with only essential elements for Seo-joon now.

Seo-joon, who thought so far, lowered his gaze slightly and looked at Seo-yoon, who sincerely helped him even though he didn’t ask for it.

It was clear that she had probably searched here and there by herself for this information.

He didn’t know if it was because Seo-yoon felt sorry for Seo-joon, but Seo-joon nevertheless thanked Seo-yoon.

At first they had a relationship in which they used each other but now there was something more.

Seo-joon is the best partner for Seo-yoon, and Seo-yoon is the best partner for Seo-joon.

“All right, I’ll play.”

“I knew you’d say that.
Then I’ll register you right away.”

Seo-yoon smiled clearly and manipulated her smartphone again at Seo-joon’s smile and answered.

Seo-joon needed to prepare since he decided to participate in the contest.

That’s because he knew that he knew he shouldn’t take it easily after experiencing the last Academy competition.

Of course, it is because there was a variable called Lee Jun-hwan, but he didn’t know when, where or what variables will be again this time.

Seo-joon wanted to win the championship this time, so he worked harder than usual.

[Intuition is actually an area of thought, not a sense.
We instinctively think and judge the information we receive through our five senses, but intuition is what we feel when our reason does not understand the process.]

[We’re just ‘imagining’ it because it’s our senses.
In short, keep in mind that intuition is not a sense that doesn’t exist, but an idea that exists.]

“Oh… I see.”

[If you watched all the way here, you can say that you have some basic skills for spears.
So today we’ll talk about Ran Na Chal, which is called the basics of spear skills.]

[Of course, the reverse divergence technique I teach is not so simple.
Kids like you have a long way to go before mastering it so if you’re looking forward to it start right away.
Okay, first of all…]

“Is this how you do it?”

[Mana is the essence of existence.
In that sense, you could define Mana as a life force.
Well, if you think about it, it’s also an interesting argument.]

[If you look at it like this, you can say that it’s not about realizing your imagination but giving life to things that are just imagination.
Then Mana…]

“… I think I’m going to lose my mind.”

Seo-joon faithfully took the lectures.

“You’re working hard even though I still don’t know what you’re doing.”

Of course, for Seo-yoon he was just staring at his smartphone screen.

“Haha…”

Seo-joon smiled awkwardly.

When he was about to listen to the lecture again he asked a sudden question.

“Come to think of it, Seo Yoon.
How do I proceed with the contest?”

“Oh, right.
I didn’t tell you anything important.”

Seo-yoon immediately continued as if she had forgotten.

“When the contest begins, the government sends a list of dungeons to the participants.
Then participants can check the list, book dungeons they want to raid, and raid them.”

“How can I make a reservation?”

“Use the app.
However, you have to deal with the dungeon within 10 hours after making a reservation.
Otherwise, the reservation will be canceled automatically.”

“It means that we’re not allowed to play hardball.”

Seo-yoon nodded.

The main evaluation factor is how fast and how many dungeons are “cleared up.”

“Speed is life.”

“Yes.
So, as a joke, I heard that more gas will be paid.”(You can make more money depending of how fast you clear the dungeon)

Seo-joon slowly opened his mouth at Seo-yoon’s joke.

“That’s not good enough”.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Besides the dungeon raid the bodies have to be disposed of.
But if speed is life, well.”

Seo-yoon said at his words.

“What? No.
We don’t dispose of dead bodies.
As I told you, the amount of money coming from the bodies is only a small amount.”

Then, Seo-yoon suddenly grasped the meaning of Seo-joon’s words and asked with a feeling of no way.

“Oh, no.
Wait a minute.
Did you mean to dispose of the bodies yourself again this time?”

Seo-joon then tilted his head and answered.

“The regulations don’t say anything about it.”

Seo-yoon felt dumbfounded for the first time in a while.

“No, how much can you make?”

“It’s a pretty big amount when you add it up.
Why throw away all that money?”

In fact, Seo-joon had to earn the money himself, not borrow from someone or take out a loan.
And Seo-joon, who is still a student, didn’t have many ways to make money.

In that sense, Seo-joon could not miss not only the prize money but also the profits earned from the dead bodies.

“But you have to win to win the prize money!”

“That’s why I said it was troublesome.”

Seo-yoon shook her head and Seo-joon laughed at her.

Well, he didn’t mean to be stubborn if that wouldn’t work since the only thing that mattered was the prize money and as he was thinking.

“Wait.
What exactly are the rules?”

Seo-joon came up with a pretty good idea.

After he went home Seo-joon lay on the bed and took out his smartphone.
Normally, he would have accessed the Transcension Academy right away to listen to the lectures but he didn’t do that today.

Instead Seo-joon called someone after looking through his phone agenda.
After waiting for a while the other person answered and the voice on Man-cheol was heard after a long time.

-What is it? Why did you call all of a sudden?

Seo-joon was glad to hear Man-cheol’s voice.

“What is it? If anyone hears you, they’ll think I’ve never contacted you in years.”

– You know me well.

“Ha ha.
It’s been a while since I heard that, isn’t it?”

– Plague.

As expected, the voice of Man-cheol has not changed.
For some reason, Seo-joon’s smile kept leaking out without even realizing it.

– So.
Why did you call me?

“It’s nothing, old man.
Why don’t you work with me?”

– Work? What work?

In response to Man-cheol’s question mark, Seo-joon explained the issues related to the contest in detail.

Man-cheol slowly opened his mouth after hearing Seo-joon’s explanation.

– So you want me to carry the monster bodies from the dungeons you raid in the contest or whatever?

“Of course, I’ll pay you a commission while you’ll carry and dismantle the corpses.
As you know, that takes up a lot of time.”

If it was simple transportation, there was not much reason for hunters to pay carriers high fees.
However, dismantling and extracting money from monster carcasses was essential, and it was quite a skill-intensive task.

Seo-joon saw Man-cheol as a professional but above all he could trust him with anything.

“Even if it’s not a lot of money, it’ll be nice to eat with you.”

– Hmm…

Man-cheol answered after thinking a little bit.

– The proposal isn’t bad, but the question is, can the two of us handle it? Speed is the key.
If you’re trying to take care of me for no reason, you don’t have to.

In fact, Seo-joon expected that answer and opened his mouth with a smile that leaked out without realizing it.

“No, it’s because I really need you.
The prize money is the prize money, but we also need to earn money from the dead bodies.
And they’re low-grade monsters, so if you and I do it, we’ll do it quickly.”

Of course, there was nothing more foolish than missing out on the prize money for the monsters’ bodies’ money.
However, if Man-cheol helped, it was possible to collect the profits of the corpses along with the prize money.

“What’s the point of giving up when we can take both?”

– Are you sure?

“Yes.”

– Well, I’m happy with that.

Man-cheol pretended that he couldn’t win and accepted.

Seo-joon was grateful for Man-cheol who took care of him.

– So, can I play soccer with a lich’s skull?

“I don’t know about liches but I’m sure there are skeletons.
Do you want to play with their heads?”

– Plague.

The two exchanged jokes for a long time and giggled.

Time passed quickly again and it was the day of the contest.

Seo-joon briefly checked the progress of the lectures on his smartphone while waiting for Man-cheol in front of Dream Academy.

< Merlin Lecture Progress 9.9%>

Thanks to his hard work, progress could be seen.

One strange thing was that the progression of Chiron and Merlin’s lectures stopped there so Seo-joon thought that something else was needed, considering that there is a certain change every 10%.

In particular, the 50% change certainly seemed to have something else, considering that he was able to deal with sword aura when the progress rate of Xiang Yu lecture exceeded 50%.

Seo-joon put his smartphone back in his pocket while Seo-yoon, who was next to him at that time, said to Seo-joon with a nervous look on her face.

“Seo-joon, did you install the application?”

“Yes.
I checked everything I needed yesterday.”

However, Seo-yoon told Seo-joon once again as she was worried.

“I’ll explain the rules again just in case.
The contest will last for a week, and don’t forget to make a reservation for the dungeons on the app.
You can only make one reservation at a time and if you want to make a reservation for the next dungeon, you need to complete your current dungeon raid.
And also…”

Seo-yoon then continued to talk about the contest rules and soon her explanation ended and now he was in a situation where he could start as soon as Man-cheol came.

“Maybe he can’t find it”.

Seo-yoon said because she was worried since Dream Academy was quite remote.
However, Seo-joon shook his head and answered.

“I don’t think so.
He’s really good at finding directions.
I’m not kidding.
If I look at his ability to find his way, I’m sure he’s as good as you.”

“Really? When I saw him then, he didn’t look like that…”

“Unlike his appearance, he has an unexpected charm.”

Seo-joon smiled and after a while.

“Oh, you’re just in time.
Here!”

He saw Man-cheol in the distance.