Chapter 18 : Chapter 18
Chapter 18 : Reality
“The Principal’s order was to teach the dungeon, but honestly speaking, the danger of the outside world won’t really hit home for kids like you.”
Sinclair pointed his hand over the podium behind him.
Beyond it, the cityscape was revealed.
“You are alive despite being weak. That means you grew up in a safe place. And that is a weakness you must overcome while you are here. Your survival instincts will be terrible, and if you go outside in that state, you will die quickly and painfully.”
Sinclair continued in a calm voice.
“Now, raise your hand if you think you can fight a monster here and win.”
Sal looked back and was startled.
More than ten students were raising their hands.
Sinclair wasn’t surprised at all and shook his head as if disappointed.
“I haven’t even said what kind of demon it is, yet you already think you can win? Good, everyone who raised their hand, come forward.”
He reached out and pointed to a student in the crowd.
“Not a chance. You raised your hand too. Come out before I drag you out.”
Some students moved awkwardly, but there were those who walked forward proudly.
Sinclair looked at them and let out a deep sigh.
“Who knows what a Prowler is?”
When a few nodded, Sinclair knelt and opened one of the equipment boxes.
He took out a skull with a long and pointed shape from inside and put it on his hand.
The teeth were in two rows, all sharp and hideous.
Sinclair stood up and held the skull up for everyone to see.
“This is a Prowler skull. It’s the demon you will encounter most frequently. Right after vampires. Tell me about the biggest characteristic of these guys. There, starting with you.”
Among the students who nodded that they knew the Prowler, the designated student answered.
“The manual says they are quie…”
“Quiet—that is what is written in the manual. The content omitted there is as follows.”
Sinclair looked at the students for a moment and continued.
“These bastards are faster than you, stronger than you, and if bitten, a limb will go flying. But the truly worst part is, they are predators that hunt in packs and you are all prey.”
Sinclair looked around at the students whose expressions had changed from before and continued.
“Now, who thinks they can fight this guy and win even now?”
Sinclair raised the skull once more and looked at the students who had raised their hands at the first question.
Eight of them lowered their heads or smiled awkwardly, but four still didn’t lower their hands.
He sighed and started taking off his shirt.
“Just to state for the avoidance of legal issues, I clearly warned these students that they would surely die in front of a Prowler. But these friends are the ones who claimed they could win. If four must die to save ninety-six, I will make that choice anytime.”
Gesturing toward the staff waiting on one side of the arena, Sinclair instructed them to come forward.
“The medical team will come to save you only after you start bleeding profusely. Make sure to thank them when you wake up.”
Sal wanted to look at Divinity to verify if she knew what situation this was, but the moment he saw the look of terror rising on her face, he thought he didn’t want to know.
He had run to the main auditorium in a hurry after finishing the workshop, but all that had happened so far was Sinclair, the newly appointed professor and hero, listing off what terrible things could happen in the Red Zone one after another.
There were no faces he knew among the students who raised their hands, but Sal couldn’t help but be curious about how Sinclair intended to change their minds.
“Lastly, let me state to everyone watching this. The scene you are about to see is a single Prowler acting alone revealing its presence, breaking away from the pack, and commencing an attack. In the Red Zone, it is rare for all these conditions to be met. It’s a fairytale-like situation that is extremely considerate to greenhorns.”
“Reality, actual combat, battlefield. Whatever you call it, know that there, no matter how strong you are or how cool an ability you have, that moment could be the threshold of death. You right here in this spot are in a state unprepared for the cold reality of monsters.”
With those words, Sinclair threw his shirt to one side and sprang forward with amazing speed.
In an instant, his pale skin disappeared and his body was covered in sleek black fur.
“Wh… What!“
”Kyaaaak!”
Screams filled with terror burst out among the students, and more than half stumbled backwards, while some already burst into tears.
Sal barely kept his balance, but seeing the sight of sharp teeth biting into a student’s shoulder right before his eyes, he also thought he didn’t know when he might collapse.
The professor, no, the Prowler’s body landed on the ground tumbling over the student’s shoulder, and before anyone knew it, he mercilessly threw the student he held in his mouth, sending him flying toward the medical team.
In less than a single second, the first student fell.
None of the students who had confidently raised their hands could even activate their abilities, and in that interval, the second student also fell with his chest and legs torn.
The Prowler’s forepaw shredded flesh and bone, and what followed was the terrible sound of bones breaking and the victim’s scream mixed with sobbing.
Of the remaining two, one completely broke down and collapsed on the floor, and the other started running away just like that.
The Prowler kicked the fallen student’s head to knock him unconscious, and started walking, slowly chasing the fleeing student.
The entire Silver Cohort held their breath and watched with eyes stricken with fear, and the gasping and desperate crying of the fleeing student echoed in the classroom.
Then suddenly—the Prowler sprang up.
It was insufficient to describe it as a charge.
It was as if a black shadow teleported; it flew behind the student’s back, pounced on him just like that, tore his back with claws, and suppressed him in an instant.
Sal fell to his knees right there.
Sinclair, having returned to human form, was coming back while whistling cheerfully.
In one of his hands, the ankle of the last student he took down was held, and without any politeness, he dragged him and threw him in front of the medical team.
The medical staff glared at him, but Sinclair handed over the student without a word of apology, then turned around to check the entire class.
“Now, I will ask again. Raise your hand if you think you can fight a monster and win.”
The students were all bowing their heads with frustrated expressions.
Even the students who could barely meet his gaze had faces that were blank and spaced out.
Sinclair picked up his shirt and put it on, letting out a hollow laugh.
“Everyone lacks a sense of reality. Don’t let your guard down just because you’re sitting inside a tower like this. What you are doing is all ‘training’. Do you not know the meaning of training? Think about what your real job is, and what your future is. It is to go out there, fight the monsters you just saw, and reclaim the land humanity has lost.”
Sal held his trembling legs with his hands and thought.
About what mindset he had during the few days he came to the Academy, and what he came here to do.
“If that had been a real Prowler pack just now, how many of you do you think would have survived?”
Sinclair paused for a moment and shook his head from side to side.
“Well, in your current state, not a single word would enter your heads. Let’s stop here for today. In the next class—”
He clapped his hands once as if he realized something.
“Ah, it’s no fun if I say it. You can just experience it yourself tomorrow.”
***
“What, did you miss us that much?”
Upgrade asked.
Watching Sal walk to his workbench, she seemed genuinely curious.
But as Sal got closer, her smile disappeared slightly, and soon bloomed brightly again.
“You came back from meeting Professor Sinclair!”
Laughter burst out from other workbenches too, but gazes of sympathy were mixed within.
“Ah, that professor?”
“Ugh… He’s harsh.”
Sal sat down without any reply and looked at the workbench in front of his eyes.
The event he just experienced replayed in his head repeatedly.
He knew the Red Zone was a dangerous place, and he knew substantial threats existed there, but actually seeing such a brutal and violent attack right before his eyes had no sense of reality at all.
Sal slowly looked around the room.
He wasn’t looking at anything specific, just letting his gaze drift blankly.
While doing so, he suddenly realized.
He was living in a fairytale-like world.
He can make cool items, and can do upgrades too.
But could he possibly stand against such powerful monsters with things like item appraisal or crafting gloves?
Even though Sinclair deliberately adjusted the level, Sal was shocked to the bone.
His classmates all had the same expressions, and after that, the sight of other cohort kids laughing and chatting while spending time was completely incomprehensible.
Only the fact that they hadn’t met Sinclair yet explained their attitude, and Sal barely suppressed the anxiety rising again.
“Snap out of it.”
Upgrade snapped her fingers and made a sound in front of Sal’s eyes.
Sal blinked and looked up at her, and she looked at him with a slightly frowning face.
“You’re thinking too much right now. You just had a slight taste of reality. But you shouldn’t flounder in anxiety or worry because of that. It’s a process every student goes through. And Sinclair is, in a sense, the best professor in this academy. He saved countless lives, you know? Because he made kids like that drop out. Don’t become one of them.”
Upgrade placed her hands on both sides of the tool box she had gifted him in the morning, and pushed it in front of Sal.
“Don’t just sit here worrying blankly, use your ability. That is exactly the way to flip the board. You can do it.”
Sal slowly nodded, but still had a drained face.
Upgrade smiled slightly and said.
“If you’re that exhausted… I guess you don’t have the mind to review the contract sent down from above?”
She lifted the tool box, and underneath it lay an official document with his name written on it.
A sealed wax stamp was attached, indicating it was real.
Sal held the letter in his hand and looked at it for a long time.
What decision did the upper floors make?
Upgrade tapped Sal’s workbench with her finger and leaned her body close.
"You really, if you don't open it right now and tell me what's written..."
Her impatience made Sal want to drag out the time for no reason, but actually, he was curious too.
He opened the tool box and took out a sharply honed precision chisel.
Using it as a letter opener, he tore the envelope, leaving the wax stamp untouched.
Upgrade looked at him with a gaze saying that was absurd, and Sal waved his hand as if it was obvious.
"I can just restore it. That way, I can pressure them for more supplies while pretending I haven't even seen the content inside."
While he unfolded the letter, Upgrade came behind his back and started reading the content over his shoulder.
"Securing the right to work in the workshop, this is good."
She mumbled her thoughts like a monologue as she read down.
"Non-exclusive contract? You really won this well. Ooh, even providing materials? You'll receive new materials every few weeks, wow, this is cool?"
Sal was reading much slower than Upgrade and was barely following the parts she pointed out, but decided to listen to Upgrade's commentary instead.
‘I can read it slowly by myself later.’
"Bonus! That's rare for contracted workers. But they say they'll give it if you just meet the goal, and with your level, this is a piece of cake. And this is the best part. If you forego the bonus and accumulate points, you can buy things here with them. Without fees or brokerage charges attached."
Upgrade leaned closer and whispered.
"Lucky guy. You won a really decent contract. Earning credits, buying things from above without fees, and even getting material support… Since it’s non-exclusive, you can do appraisals too if you just get tokens from other guilds."
Upgrade let out a sigh, shook her head from side to side, and returned to her seat.
"Make sure to accept."
She spun around as she sat in her chair, then stopped facing Sal again.
"But I'm curious, what are you going to make with those materials?"
Sal answered without hesitation.
It was something he had been planning in his head from the moment Sinclair pounced on the students.
"Armor exclusively for Prowlers."
As soon as Sal answered, Upgrade's laughter rang throughout the workshop.
Then, realizing Sal had a serious face, she laughed even louder.
Sal quietly waited for her to finish laughing, and the single remark she finally said made a chill run down his spine.
"Ah, ah. That’s so fun. If you want to test that… I’ll mention it to Sinclair. He’ll probably pounce on it with excitement?”