Climbing the Cheonryeong Mountain Range, where named monsters hop around like bunnies, without a guide was insanity, especially when even Everest climbers on reality Earth seek seasoned Sherpa guides.
“Can I ask for your uncle’s help?”
“If you’re confident you won’t regret it, sure, go ahead and ask.”
“Then I’d like to make a request.”
“What are you doing? You said please. We should head out.”
“Where to?”
“Up the mountain.”
“…Is it far?”
“See that peak over there?”
“That one?”
“On the other side of that peak, there’s a plateau with a lake.”
“Sounds like a nice place.”
“Across that lake, there’s a long tunnel.”
“…The distance keeps getting longer.”
“When you reach the end of the tunnel, there’s a wondrous paradise.”
“A safe zone, then.”
“No, the professor living there has a rented flat next to a cliff hole.”
Hiscliff couldn’t hold back and sighed.
“If you have the stamina to get that far, you wouldn’t need any help in the first place.”
“What, the place where the instructor and a professor both live? Everyone stop for a moment; I just realized something.”
Jezel lowered her voice seriously, as if she had found out a world secret.
“Isn’t the little lady taking special lectures in the suburbs right now? To make up for the attendance shortage and curriculum, she’s getting special lectures throughout the vacation.”
“Does that make sense? You’re pushing it too far.”
“Could it be a coincidence that she ends up where the professor lives? Just like how immortals have nice spots, professors might also live here and there.”
“No way! That sounds plausible!”
Titosoga chimed in with a vigorous agreement.
“There were vampires appearing even in the Underground World, right? As far as I know… Professor Sadako is a vampire!!”
Isabel asked, “What kind of professor is Professor Sadako?”
“She’s the scariest professor in our academy!!”
“All students think their professors are the scariest. The professor who teaches cooking from the Eastern Empire is pretty scary too; she blasts the fire up to 2500 degrees, and I feel like I’ll be cooked before the ingredients!”
“I’m telling you, it’s true! Professor Sadako is different!”
“Yeah, yeah, our Professor Mao is also kind of different.”
Titosoga, feeling wronged, tried banging her head against the light stand, but the trend was still at the level of ‘What happened to that professor.’
“Professor Sadako is also an undead vampire; there must be a connection with the vampires!”
“What nonsense. I may consider a Monkey Humanoid my domain over a mountain, but your uncle is living on a mountain cliff. No law says the same race has to live together in the same area.”
“Hmph.”
“Hey, acting like a crybaby won’t change a thing. We won’t fall for your tears like the Oknodie. We’ve suffered enough to develop a ‘Tears Resistance’!”
Under Isabel’s stern attitude, Titosoga was reluctantly dragged along, bound like Son Ohchun.
“Seriously, what’s up? This light stand is ridiculously heavy?”
“Son Ohchun, no use acting like a coward.”
“This is driving me nuts.”
Reluctantly, Titosoga adjusted the weight of the light stand with magic, and Son Ohchun joined in, summoning clones to help haul Titosoga.
The harsh journey, bypassing where the Giant Golem frolicked and creeping past the Seed Shooter’s aggressively shooting seeds, continued while trolls the size of trees were being gobbled by a huge mountain goat!
“Is the Fourth Princess doing well, so won’t she just run away?”
Even Hiscliff, the Middleway Sword, felt this was a bit much, but the anger still boiling in Titosoga and Son Ohchun shot him a look that said he was wasting his breath.
Isabel and Jezel regretted overlooking the two, but the resolve to not let the monsters escape, even using duplicates or lights, left them with no solutions.
Grrr…
Hieee… Ugh!
“Shut up. If you get caught by that, you’re all dead.”
The ground, initially thought to be part of the mountain, cracked wide open as a giant turtle carried a whole slope on its back and adjusted its stance, turning everyone into circle-faced clay dolls.
As the mountain turtle quieted down, Son Ohchun and Titosoga finally exchanged worried glances but decided against fleeing now that Jezel said they were almost there.
The unfortunate Jezel party, like crabs in a basket grabbing at each other, trying to help one another!
“The plan to exploit child labor on an environmentally destructive plantation like GMO imperialism makes me wish our banana stock would crash, as long as I can come back alive, I’m good…”
“Did you invest in such stocks?”
“Money doesn’t pick races.”
“That’s why the monkey’s paw doesn’t grant my wishes freely.”
“Shush.”
Jezel shot a glance at Isabel and Son Ohchun.
“We’ve arrived. Right up ahead.”
“It sure would’ve been easier to just go meet my uncle.”
With Son Ohchun’s grumbling came the end of their long pursuit of the Oknodie.
As soon as they pushed open the large rocky door, they were greeted by the wild flying creature that had just taken off with a harness, the Oknodie and Jiang.
“Beat that fker down!!”
Son Ohchun screamed in rage.
If they let the Oknodie escape again, they had no idea where they’d have to search.
“Tito Beam!!!”
Fueled by anger, Titosoga unleashed a beam, causing the blind creatures to scream pitifully as they fell.
“Wait, how do we land them!”
Huff.
Ah!
Fortunately, the flying creatures were able to land safely based on their riders’ skill.
[Mana Spider Web]
[Web Ground]
[Control Magic]
[Emergency Landing]
The Oknodie and Jiang landed differently on the protruding part of the cliff.
They finally succeeded in reuniting with the hard-to-meet Goo and…
“Jiang! How could you leave me behind!”
“Tito?”
“Our little lady is rather hard to take care of. Is there any injury?”
Huff. “Why is Jezel here?”
Jezel lifted up a lunchbox.
“It’s a lunchbox I was asked to deliver to the vampires.”
The pile of stories built up between the entrance exam party and the Professor Sadako student trio.
Only Hiscliff was awkwardly standing in the back, showing some interest in the forcibly landed flying creature.
Though it was a beast with a horse’s body and wings, it was a Pegasus, which is hard to find even among super rare monsters.
‘I clearly heard that it’s temperament is so bad that the High-Altitude Knight Brigade failed taming it; how the hell was I riding it?’
As if sensing Hiscliff’s gaze, the Pegasus glanced back, mumbled, and spit.
It seemed ready to stomp with its front legs until the Oknodie’s small hand slapped its waist, making it instantly calm down.
“Are you going to eat me if I don’t behave?”
Grrr…
Its whining while lowering its ears and tail clearly looked like a pet that was trained well.
“How on earth did you tame the Pegasus? Did you corrupt it like you did with the Harpies?”
Huff. “How can you say something so horrible, uncle? If dark mana is injected, it will lose all its hair!”
“!!”
Upon hearing ‘dark mana,’ the Pegasus flinched.
“Dark mana is only given to naughty kids that don’t listen; our good Pegasus won’t be injected. Right, Pegasus?”
Grrr…
“…”
Ah, I see. So they’re using threats of injections to control it…
Despite feeling sorry for the Pegasus, what mattered to the Oknodie’s companions and guardians wasn’t such things.
“Little Mouse, where’s that Emperor you kidnapped? Trying to sneak off while he’s away?”
“Emperor Papa is buried underground!”
“What?!”
“There should be lots of friends with him, so I don’t think he’ll be bored alone! Um, no wait. Maybe it’s a bit lacking? Then I’ll send plenty of people to entertain Emperor Papa!”
To anyone overhearing, it sounded like the Emperor was submerged, and a whole bunch of people were going to drown with him!
“Does that underworld refer to the Underground World?”
Out of the panicking comrades, only Isabel smirked.
“Huh! How did you know?”
“The Oknodie’s thought process is predictable. I figured you’d think it’s more fun to say that.”
“Wow! Isabel, you’re so smart! It’s like you’ve mastered mind reading!”
Could it be called fortunate? The Emperor merely remained in the Underworld.
“The Underworld was kidnapped by the Emperor, but I came here to see my mentor.”
“Jiang’s mentor?”
“Ranked 10th among the continent’s top ten thieves, Life Thief Rung Nosa. If an Oknodie has combat skills suitable for an assassin, then my mentor’s techniques could surely help.”
“But Oknodie is a disciple of Professor Destroyer. Can’t you summon another mentor?”
“It doesn’t matter. I also learned from Professor Bronze, Oknodie’s other mentor.”
“Wait, wasn’t Oknodie’s mentor Professor Sadako?”
At Titosoga’s words, everyone fell into confusion.
Professor Destroyer, Professor Bronze, Professor Sadako, and even Rung Nosa this time…
Why are there so many mentors?
“Hmph, I’m jealous. Oknodie has two dads but four mentors.”
“Titosoga is also learning maid mana flow techniques and maid skills from Leef and April!”
“Hehe, I guess so?”
“Are you learning the techniques well?”
“I’ve mastered the way to mop the floor while inscribing mana spells! I also cleaned the windows so well that the mana technique seeped in nicely!”
“…”
Hiscliff vowed silently.
He would tell Emperor Masugaki to fire all the maids from the Foundation and the Academy immediately.
“So, what have you been learning from Mentor Rung Nosa?”
“Training to pierce the target’s vital points through throwing while falling from high up!”
“Oh wow, that sounds fun. Can I do it too?”
“Of course!”
Son Ohchun got excited and mounted the Pegasus.
“What does the target look like?”
“If you focus your eyes and gather mana, you’ll see a special mana mark!”
“Alright, here I go!”
Without a shred of fear, Son Ohchun jumped from the Pegasus to practice throwing!
With a thud, the stone hit the cliff, and Oknodie lamented.
“Such a waste! That missed by about 120m.”
…What’s wasted?
More importantly, Son Ohchun hadn’t climbed back up.
Upon closer inspection, he was hanging down while scratching the wall with his hands until grooves were left behind, like a noodle.
“Fk! When the hell is this crazy Pegasus coming down! Help me━!”
“Hey, don’t shout so much! There’s toxic gas below the cliff, there’s no way the Pegasus can go down without its respiratory system getting messed up!”
“…!!”
With a face ready to burst from embarrassment, Son Ohchun began to climb the cliff by himself.
Titosoga, frowning, asked,
“Yikes?! What if you fall?! Is it really okay to struggle so intensely to climb up?!”
“The trick is to leave enough focus to launch the flight magic on time! Ugh, oh, Uncle Ohchun, that’s not how you climb up!”
“Fall and use flight magic? What if I can’t trigger it in time due to lack of skill?!”
Oknodie blinked and spoke.
Thud.
“Thud?”
“That would hurt a lot, right?”
“…Uwaah! That’s so scary!”
With Hiscliff’s determination grown by one more, he thought something needed to be done about this crazy child abuse style suicide training…
