Boom… Crash!
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh, Aaaah!!”
The entire ceiling came crashing down, crushing the students who were running through the hallway.
“This is… severe.”
Even Professor Sadako, who always had a serious demeanor, couldn’t help but comment on the nightmare level chaos of Oknodie.
“You’re all at fault for this. I’ve told you repeatedly. If I fail here, there’s no place for me in the guild. Don’t chase me away. But if you do, it means you don’t care if I live or die. If you don’t respect my life, I will not respect you!!”
A disheveled woman in a lab coat staggered as she shouted.
Her Mana Board vibrated in her hands, randomly twisting the walls, ceilings, and structure of the Academy as she shouted.
Isabel’s face went pale at the sight of remains from students who had failed to escape flowing down the cracks between the walls.
“What a thoroughly insane woman. Professor. What’s up with her?”
“… A student who failed to advance.”
Professor Sadako quickly assessed the student’s situation.
“The Academy doesn’t just advance everyone with the passing of time. You can’t advance without earning grades. The higher the year, the more challenging the credit requirements become.”
“Is it not possible for a third-year to earn grades just by attending classes?”
“… First years can’t just pass. Only those who score exceptionally low and need to retake classes stand a chance. The hurdles get higher in the second year. By third year, it becomes increasingly difficult.”
Isabel interrupted Son Ohchun’s question.
“Look over there. It’s Oknodie again.”
A nightmare repeating three times against the backdrop of the Academy, just as they had witnessed.
Oknodie, now disoriented, took shaky steps while clutching a glowing pebble tightly in her arms.
Crackle, crackle!
Taking tiny steps forward, relying on the faint light emanating from the pebble.
Unable to tolerate even that, the woman in the lab coat glared and shouted while gripping her Mana Board.
“Don’t come any closer!! If you do, I won’t spare even a child! If you don’t want to die, get lost immediately!”
“This… this is my sister’s Philosopher’s Stone! I came to return it…”
“That’s useless now! It’s an unfinished stone that lost funding and location for research; it can only be sold as a weapon. The Philosopher’s Stone I made to alleviate the food crisis ended up being used to develop weapons that destroyed my country! I don’t even want to see such a thing anymore!!”
Too specific to be just a nightmare.
As the milky white stone in Oknodie’s hand shone brighter, another stone rose and vibrated within the woman’s Mana Board.
The imperfect Philosopher’s Stone emanating a murky glow was just as flawed.
But that stone had found its purpose.
It served as a Amplification Stone, enhancing the abilities to destroy and shatter.
“Research can be done again… Ugh. We can just destroy the weapons we created ourselves…”
“You think you can fool me with sweet words and stop attacking to steal my Mana Board? I won’t be deceived!”
“Ah…”
Crack!
A fissure appeared in the small stone.
Shatter!
The fragment split in two.
Facing the rampaging woman, Oknodie lowered her head deeply.
“This is wrong. It’s too late. This isn’t my specialty.”
The pressure began to bear down on Oknodie herself.
As if hit by a gust of wind, she crashed into the wall with a thud, and the broken piece of stone dropped from her hand.
With the incomplete Philosopher’s Stone holding her together, Oknodie could barely hang on.
A dagger had now appeared in her hand.
“I have to kill. Only then can I escape. But if I kill, I can’t accept any reward. I can’t end it like a good person. That’s… losing. Given everything I’ve faced until now, I cannot afford to lose.”
Blood dripped from her head as it collided with the wall.
Wincing in pain, she aimed the dagger not at her opponent but at her own neck.
“So, let’s start over.”
“Oknodie!!”
“Mouse!!”
Before Isabel and Son Ohchun could intervene, Oknodie made the choice herself.
As her eyes became glazed over, the world around them turned pitch black as if covered in darkness.
And then the Academy campus unfolded once again.
“What the… this nightmare is too much…”
“A nightmare that doesn’t end even after death. That Mouse must be suffering from this serious nightmare…”
There had been no such signs when they fell asleep in the forest during the entrance exam.
It was fine then, but could this be the curse now causing such events to unfold?
Or had she always faced this nightmare and it merely intensified due to the curse?
‘I had no idea at all. Not a single bit, not even a fraction.’
Blood welled up in Son Ohchun’s hands, known for smashing rocks.
In the meantime, a new cycle of nightmares began within the dream.
“Aaah… I should have done this sooner. I could have just burned it all to the ground. A little more. A little more… much earlier.”
With a chilling laugh, Rosgini, from the Red Mage Tower, ignited a fire that turned the campus into a hellfire.
The youthful cheeks that once gave her the appearance of a first-year had completely vanished, replaced only by a hollow despair that held no maturity or adulthood.
“That child is a friend of Oknodie. I remember Oknodie chuckling when the Fundamentals and Understanding of Mana Usage lecture professor, who is a full attribute professor, was set aflame by a fire attribute student.”
Isabel felt madness creeping in.
She couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
“Professor. Do we still have to wait?”
“That’s enough now.”
Professor Sadako sensed it.
Oknodie had crossed the threshold of the curse.
She had managed to overcome half of the vile curse all on her own.
Watching Oknodie’s obsessive fight was painful, but it had offered a clue.
An unspoken agreement between Oknodie and the nightmare to end this nightmare.
The solution that the curse had found for what Oknodie feared most.
“There are two methods. One is to kill all the friends rampaging in Oknodie’s nightmare.”
“That can’t be done!”
“Didn’t Mouse choose to intervene precisely because she didn’t want to do that?”
“Oknodie’s stubbornness might lead to her energy being exhausted, resulting in her dying in the real world. When her energy wanes, her resistance against the nightmare will diminish.”
“That’s…”
“We are here.”
Son Ohchun’s eyes burned with a fiery resolve rivaling that of the Red Mage.
“If Oknodie tires out, we can take her place and knock them out. Shamans can intervene in dreams, right?”
“I’m not a shaman, but… I can do something similar. Just remember this: the level of that nightmare is not normal; even I, a teacher, find it unsettling.”
It was no ordinary disaster a plain student should be able to cause.
Even at the Academy, it would be a critical hazard with a tragic potential for dozens, if not thousands, of casualties.
‘It’s not a coincidence that this is happening.’
Information about the Academy’s facilities is also critical.
The way mana surges and magical disasters are caused by students with various abilities, and their repercussions.
All perfectly grounded in reality based on an understanding and analysis of every type of power.
‘Is it possible that while Professor Destroyer and my undead were extracting information from the Foundation, the Foundation was already obtaining this profoundly detailed information about the Academy?’
This was not light information that could be absorbed overnight.
Knowledge, reasoning, logic, spatial designs, three-dimensional formations, reflections on the principles of power, philosophical inquiry.
It sent a chill down his spine just to imagine how much time and effort went into gathering the information Oknodie possessed.
‘It’s been a while. It’s the first time since my first encounter with the Dragon Principal that I’ve felt this kind of fear.’
But simply being afraid wouldn’t save Oknodie.
“You said you were ready, but if this goes wrong, you might end up lost in the nightmare. Are you still going to challenge it?”
“We’ve shaken off all fear since we entered this place.”
“What we fear is a future where we cannot save Mouse.”
What great friends they are.
A smile appeared on Professor Sadako’s face.
A bond of friendship that had not rusted with the passage of time was so solid.
“Alright. From now on, we will ‘materialize’ your presence. Oknodie and the entities within the nightmare will recognize us. Brace yourselves.”
The second way to save Oknodie.
Instead of killing the student causing the issue, they would look for a way to calm the rampage.
For some reason, Oknodie always seemed to know that method.
Whether it would work or not, she always acted.
Even with means, information, and items that would force the rampaging students to react.
Oknodie’s and the Foundation’s informational prowess is eerie, but this thorough intelligence might serve as an advantage this time around.
Crack, crack!
Oknodie, now wearing special gloves, appeared holding a white stone, facing off against Rosgini, who was burning the students.
Clasping her hands as if it was a struggle with the chilling cold emanating from the item she possessed, Professor Sadako snapped her fingers.
Snap!
She had to make it happen.
As Oknodie walked with that determination in her eyes, her gaze sharpened.
“Isabel? Son Ohchun? Even Professor Sadako? You three shouldn’t be here…”
Am I seeing things?
As Oknodie was flustered, Son Ohchun reached out his hand.
“If it’s tough, say it, Mouse. Don’t keep silent and worry us.”
As she stared blankly at his hand, it touched her cheek.
With her rice cake-like cheeks, one of his big fingers pinched her cheek.
“Ugggh! That hurts! It huuuuurts!!”
“Are you back to your senses? Are you back?”
“Yes! I’m back!”
With tears streaming down her face, Isabel sustained Oknodie’s arm.
“Oknodie.”
“Ugh. Isabel’s wearing that scary expression too…”
“Do you know how worried we were?”
“I’m sorry…”
“We’ll listen to the story later. For now, let’s just think about getting out of here.”
You’re not alone.
With two comrades and Professor Sadako joining them, Oknodie, who had seemed so weak, regained her usual vigor.
“By the way, Professor Sadako? I have a question.”
“What is it?”
Why are you here with us, or do you know something about me?
Did you learn something you shouldn’t have known?
She had to handle whatever sensitive questions came her way calmly.
Otherwise, Oknodie might harbor resentment towards her friends and the professor herself.
Professor Sadako resolved to have no emotional sway while holding everyone’s lives at stake.
Oknodie posed her question to Professor Sadako, who was unexpectedly tense despite being undead.
“If we break this together, will the resistance be divided into quarters?”
“… No. You get it all.”
“Phew! Then I’ll gratefully accept the help!”
This isn’t easy.
The state of this kid’s mind was on another level.
The professor felt her tension rising for different reasons.
