The Academy Geniuses I Raised and Dressed

"Get him! It's Nam Yein! That bastard took Meiling!"

Cheongwang’s shout rang out behind me.

"What!? Why the hell is he here?"

"He must’ve come for the end-of-month assignment! Hurry, let’s move!"

Dammit. He should’ve just gone down with the spike bombs. I used five at once, for god’s sake.

As I sprinted down the hallway, I muttered to myself.

The biggest weakness of spike bombs was that if you dropped to the floor, you could avoid most of the damage.

They must’ve figured that out after getting hit once before.

And normally people panic when the smoke hits, don’t they?

As the smoke spread, I used my movement skill from the skill slot to instantly approach Meiling’s position.

But that bastard Jin Cheongwang had immediately fired a crossbow bolt at me.

If I hadn’t thought to bring a shield just in case, that bolt probably would’ve gone straight into my head.

"……."

Meiling, who I was carrying on my back, wasn’t even breathing audibly.

This isn’t good.

If Meiling died like this, I’d get nothing.

Of course, if Cheongwang’s crew caught me, it’d be game over too.

But carrying someone on my back and wearing heavy armor made it nearly impossible to outrun all three of them.

Especially since that bastard Cheongwang had a special ability called Thunderfire that increased his movement speed fivefold.

If I were a player character, I’d have charged into the room the moment I spotted Meiling and Cheongwang’s crew.

Taken out all three of them and continued with the original scenario.

But right now, I was Nam Yein.

Even with decent armor, I couldn’t take them on head-on.

That’s why I needed prep—and why I had no choice but to enter the room later than ideal.

"There he is!!"

The big guy’s voice called from behind.

"Leave it to me!!"

And there was the musclehead’s voice.

That guy had a charging skill that lasted for two seconds.

Clenching my teeth, I turned the corner.

Thud-thud-thud—heavy footsteps pounded behind me.

Glancing back, I saw the musclehead barreling around the corner with both arms raised like a guard.

It was like he’d teleported.

I stretched out my left arm and fired a Mana Shot.

"It won’t work!"

The shot bounced off his body the moment it hit.

As expected.

When I saw his foot land where I predicted, I thrust my shield forward.

Click!

"Huh?"

A confused voice escaped him.

Zeeeeee!!

A sharp, tearing noise filled the air as a blue flash exploded.

Lowering my shield, I saw the musclehead completely frozen in place.

The cold mine I’d planted in my escape route had gone off.

The Mana Shot was just a distraction to keep him from noticing.

"Wolff!"

Damn. No time to stand around.

I turned and ran down the hallway again.

"W-Wolff!!"

"That bastard!"

Their voices shouted from behind.

Right. Now I remembered. The musclehead’s name was Wolff.

"Use your movement skill to chase him! He’s carrying Meiling, so he can’t use any mobility skills!"

"What about Wolff?"

"Leave him! If we don’t catch that guy, we’re all screwed!"

"Got it!"

Cheongwang was saving Thunderfire till the end.

Well, makes sense. It lasts 10 seconds and has a 2-minute cooldown. Best to save it for a decisive moment.

I silently prayed he’d keep holding back and slipped into one of the many doors lining the hallway.

"That idiot! He went into a room!"

The big guy shouted again.

I ran to the farthest corner and gently propped Meiling against the wall.

Then I pulled out a vial from my inventory and poured its contents over her body. Once emptied, I converted the bottles back into icons.

Just then, the door opened and the three of them walked in, crossbows in hand.

I stood in front of Meiling and raised my shield.

"So this is what they mean by 'a rat in a trap.'"

The big guy bared his teeth.

Cheongwang, on the other hand, quickly scanned the room, his eyes darting about.

"Don’t go in."

"What?"

"There are no monsters in this room. It’s a trap he set."

"Oh! You’re right—there aren’t any!"

Of course they noticed right away.

In monster attack dungeons, monsters only appear inside rooms.

So an empty room means it’s either one the player has already passed through—or a trap.

"He probably laid down something like what Wolff got hit with earlier."

At Cheongwang’s words, the big guy stepped back slightly.

"But what’s the plan? Gonna hole up and camp? You never know when the monsters might respawn."

"Why are you targeting her?"

I stared at Cheongwang.

"Why do you care?"

The big guy shouted.

"Yeah. It’s none of your business."

Cheongwang replied, then raised his crossbow upward.

With a crack, the drone flying above me fell to the floor.

"Maybe the school’s shields and teachers could save your life—but this is a dungeon."

Cheongwang reloaded another bolt as he spoke.

"Come to think of it, none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t started acting out. And even now, you're getting in our way."

I quickly ducked behind my shield.

A bolt struck the back of my Turtle Iron Shield.

The shield’s durability dropped.

Since I’d already taken one bolt while saving Meiling, that meant each of Cheongwang’s bolts did about 90 damage.

No, probably more than that, accounting for physical resistance.

"Let’s see how long that shield can protect you."

Cheongwang aimed his loaded crossbow at me again.

Who said I was gonna just sit here and take it?

I threw an item toward them.

Immediately, they dove back and hit the floor.

"Gotcha."

I smiled.

Zzzzzzt!!

"Argh!!"

"Graahh!"

Instead of an explosion, a high-frequency zap rang out—like a Tesla coil discharging.

I threw another one of the same item.

Each time I did, the zzzzt echoed again—and their screams faded away.

Lowering my shield, I stepped outside the room.

Cheongwang and the big guy were twitching on the ground.

Their eyes stared blankly into the air, completely unfocused.

"Bet that was shocking."

I looked down at the icon in my hand.

Cheongwang had assumed I’d thrown another spike bomb.

That’s why they immediately fell back and hit the ground.

But this grenade doesn’t explode. It creates an electric field that damages anything on the ground.

So lying down just means you’re asking to get shocked.

The reason I didn’t use this from the start?

I wanted to bait them in.

After getting used to spike bombs and wary of cold mines, this was the perfect moment to throw something new.

They wouldn’t be able to react in time.

"Ugh…"

At that moment, a groan came from inside the room.

"You are...?"

"Nam Yein. Class B, Gwangcheon Academy. I saw Jin Cheongwang’s gang attacking you."

"...!"

The dazed look on her face instantly turned cold.

“Urgh.”

Chen Meiling tried to get up, staggering in pain.

"I did use an HP potion, but the arrows are still stuck in you. Don’t push yourself."

"Mind your own business."

Wow.

Classic Chen Meiling.

So rude.

"Who are you? Did my father send you?"

"Your father? What are you talking about?"

I pretended to be clueless.

"Aren’t you from Forward?"

"I have nothing to do with Forward. I was just here for the end-of-month assignment and happened to witness your little fight. Pretty brutal for a student scuffle, though."

"……."

Meiling's eyes scanned me up and down.

Her expression clearly said she didn’t believe a word.

Not surprising.

Chen Meiling was practically allergic to trusting others.

She walked toward the door and looked down at the floor.

There lay Cheongwang and the big guy, motionless.

"Was that you?"

"Who else could it be?"

Her face twitched at my response.

"...Move."

"Where do you think you’re going?"

She didn’t answer.

"Planning to wander around with arrows sticking out of your arms?"

"Tch."

"Follow me. I’ll patch you up."

"And what are you going to ask for in return?"

Meiling glared at me.

"Money? Or maybe an introduction to my father?"

"Wow. You really think you're hot shit."

"...What?"

Without another word, I pulled an HP potion from my inventory.

"What did you just—AAAH!!"

I grabbed her arm and yanked the arrow out.

Then I uncapped the potion with my teeth and poured it directly onto the wound.

"Kyaaaaaagh!!"

A scream that was anything but cute rang out. I repeated the process on her other arm.

"What the hell is wrong with you!!"

She looked like she was one knife away from stabbing me in the gut.

"What do you mean? I’m treating you."

I replied with an indifferent look.

"This is your idea of treatment?!"

"Ugh, quit whining."

I turned away from her.

"Those guys on the floor aren’t dead yet. Get out of the dungeon before they wake up. I didn’t patch you up just for you to get shot again."

"Ha!!"

A stunned, bitter laugh echoed down the hall.

I turned around.

"What, not coming? Or should I carry you again?"

"W-What… carry me? What are you talking about!?"

"How do you think a person bleeding out and unconscious woke up in a different room?"

I said while staring at her, and was genuinely impressed by how red her face got in anger.

"Fine. Don’t come if you don’t want to."

With that, I turned and walked down the hallway without looking back.

A moment later, I heard heavy, irritated breathing and footsteps behind me—and I smiled quietly.

Once we were out of the dungeon, Meiling ran straight toward the checkpoint without even glancing at me.

Alright. Time to leave the rest to Kai.

In the game, after getting defeated by the protagonist, Cheongwang’s gang disappears.

Later, as the scenario progresses, you learn that all three were killed by hunters sent by Kai.

You can’t have both Chen Meiling and Jin Cheongwang as allies.

Why? Because Meiling constantly stokes the fire of hatred Cheongwang has for her.

If you try to force both of them into your party, Cheongwang will eventually kill Meiling.

Shortly afterward, he himself is killed by one of Kai’s hunters.

In the end, you lose both characters.

The relationship between students—so soaked in blood and hatred—was unlike anything found in any other academy scenario. I was shocked the first time I played through Gwangcheon’s storyline.

Oh, and if you choose only Cheongwang as an ally? Meiling commits suicide in the second semester.

So if I want Meiling as an ally, I’ll have to disable that suicide flag too.

That’s why I never gave in to Meiling’s nasty attitude.

What Meiling, with her deep distrust of people, hates the most—more than anything—is pretense.

Of course, none of the choices given to the protagonist in the game ever included something like yanking arrows out of her arm by force.

You were just supposed to be kind and expect nothing in return.

But I’m not the protagonist.

I’m a side character meant to die in the prologue.

So I had to leave a stronger impression.

It absolutely wasn’t because I lost my temper over her rudeness or anything.

Seriously.

As long as I don’t demand anything in return, the scenario will still connect properly later.

I made my way toward the checkpoint.

Next event happens right before midterms, if I remember right.

But before that, I’d have to redo the end-of-month assignment.

Since Cheongwang destroyed the drone, the recorded footage is gone.

(End of Chapter)