How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

During the time I spent resting alone in my dorm room, I had precisely calculated how many points would be needed to twist the story to a certain degree.

Now, I firmly grasped the white gun that had become familiar to me. The smooth texture of the gun brought me a peculiar sense of stability.

It was our team’s turn.

I took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

“Let’s go!”

We entered the gym with energetic strides.

As soon as we stepped into the gym, a gigantic slime filled our field of vision. Its body was filled with small clusters of light, resembling a cluster of stars.

The enormous starlight slime seemed to have spotted us, slowly turning its gaze and then letting out a wail.

The battle began.

As we had decided a few days ago, we switched to a monster raid formation.

“Nya ha ha! Here we go!”

A strong gust of wind swirled from Choi Soo-jung’s hands, and soon a wall of wind was formed, trapping the slime.

The wind currents, resembling thorny vines rather than a wall, wrapped around the slime entirely.

“—?”

The panicked slime thrashed about, but the wall of wind didn’t budge.

“Movement confinement complete! Attack team!”

“Got it!”

Lee Ha-na shot an ice spear at the slime and dashed towards it without a word, followed closely by Park Si-woo.

The starlight slime was a monster with countless small cores glowing like stars within its massive body.

Thus, the typical strategy was to confine its movements and gradually chip away at its body.

Of course, if we had enough firepower, it would be better to attack the whole mass at once, just like we were doing now.

The ice spears that Lee Ha-na shot struck the slime’s body all over.

“—-!”

“Gang Na-hyun!”

The scammer called my name. I focused on the writhing slime and accurately aimed my spear. The coldness condensed within the spear burst forth into the slime’s body.

“——-!”

In an instant, the slime began to freeze.

Perhaps sensing its impending doom, the slime thrashed even more violently, but ultimately, it became an ice statue.

“Final blow, Park Si-woo!”

And Park Si-woo sliced through the frozen slime with his decisive strike.

The slime shattered into countless pieces.

The small cores of the starlight slime interacted with each other to aid recovery. However, if it was shattered into such small pieces, it would be safe to say recovery was impossible.

As we quickly finished the hunt, the teachers wore expressions of astonishment. Apparently, we had set a record or something.

Having high scores is good. I nodded to myself and readjusted my grip on the gun.

The important thing is not the exam itself. It’s the ‘raid event’ that’s about to occur.

The incident where the gate created by the game’s villain, described in the novel, opens in the training center.

It would be the first time a protruding gate appeared in the academy, which had been a safe zone.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

The scammer, seeming to prepare for the impending disaster, gave a stern warning to everyone.

“Why are you all acting like this? The exam is already over.”

“Right, you can relax!”

As the teachers said this and stood up, the training center suddenly began to tremble.

“What’s happening?”

The teachers looked confused. This tremor meant it was not a trial included in the exam.

“Uuuuuuu—!”

A sound that seemed to roar. It was coming from the very floor of the gymnasium. The entire gym floor was shaking.

I readjusted my grip on the gun again.

Finally, the raid event had begun.

As if paint were spreading over a shimmering mirage, a blue hue began to mix into the quaking floor.

The swirling blue light grew larger, revealing a field illuminated by a full moon.

And the edge of the circle illuminating that space continued to expand.

I instinctively realized that I had to use the narrative twist now.

There were various reasons why a tragedy occurred in this event.

The gate was so massive that it could envelop not just the underground gym but the entire training center above ground. However, the students who remained in the training center were still inexperienced and couldn’t properly fight.

There was only one solution. To reduce the scope of the gate.

Make all the monsters turn towards us.

I activated the narrative twist and described, “The gate did not exceed the bounds of the gymnasium.”

[The raiders decided to primarily attack the gym. The gate did not exceed the bounds of the gym.] [1000 points] [Would you like to purchase?]
Of course!

[1000 points have been deducted.] [Current Meta Points: 800]

As soon as I activated it, the gate, which had been growing to engulf the gym, began to slow down.

Like something being restrained, the speed at which the boundary of space grew gradually slowed until it finally stopped at the gym’s boundaries.

…It really worked.

Fortunately, this prevented significant damage.

However, since the exit was blocked, all the monsters would pour in from this direction. But the party here consisted of Lee Ha-na, Choi Soo-jung, and Dumdum.

As much as I hate to admit it, the scammer was reliable in situations like this, so there was no problem.

“What the hell is this…!”

“Think later! Focus!”

“I know!”

Although Choi Soo-jung seemed startled and started to speak, she quickly regained her posture and didn’t let her guard down at the scammer’s urging.

Before long, howls of wolves could be heard from beyond the field.

Uuuuuuu-!

Wolf-like monsters charged across the field toward us.

The wolves approaching the blue gate began to howl more fiercely.

Eventually, their bodies stretched out beyond the gate into reality.

Thud-!

I heard the heavy sound of a body landing here.

I checked the gym doors.

The gym doors were opaque, so no one outside could see in. The students probably still hadn’t grasped the situation.

“No way, a protruding gate…!”

I could hear the teachers gasping in horror.

“Hurry and contact the other hunters, no, Lord Yggdrasil!”

“Wait, the curse—”

They seemed to be reacting quickly, like seasoned hunters, but it wasn’t the time to worry about them.

Some monsters had already landed near us.

The wolf-like monsters growled, eyeing us warily.

“Teachers!”

I immediately looked for the teachers, but as expected, they had all collapsed by this time.

Seeing that, the other party members were all taken aback. However, the scammer shouted calmly.

“Choi Soo-jung, use the wind barrier to protect the teachers!”

“Got it!”

Taking advantage of that opening, a monster charged at us.

But that ambush was blocked by Choi Soo-jung’s wind blade. The remains of the monster, sliced into pieces by her wind blade, fell to the ground.

Seeing the hesitant monsters, the scammer shouted.

“Lee Ha-na! The monsters that have come out now are weak! Freeze them all!”

“Okay.”

In an instant, cold air swirled around us and spread out.

Whether it was true that they were weak monsters, they froze in an instant from Lee Ha-na’s feeble attacks.

“First… let’s check the condition of the teachers.”

At the scammer’s suggestion, we rushed toward the fallen teachers.

“…It’s a curse.”

Lee Ha-na said as she froze the minions approaching the teachers and inspected them.

“Were they thoroughly prepared…?”

The scammer clicked his tongue lightly and began a brief briefing.

“This is the curse of the raider who created the gate. They were thoroughly prepared. So right now, the gym doors are sealed, and devices cannot be used.”

At his words, everyone’s atmosphere stiffened.

“We can’t expect support until the people outside notice something’s wrong. But this gate is of a level we can clear.”

“How do you know that, junior?”

“I can’t tell you now. Besides, isn’t this not the time to worry about such things?”

“…You really are a mystery, junior~.”

Choi Soo-jung said, stretching her words leisurely while giving the scammer a meaningful look.

“There’s no time for chit-chat. The monster wave will come at us again soon. Let’s move.”

The club members, having grasped the situation, immediately lined up in the monster wave formation as we had practiced before.

The difference from practice was that we were protecting the unconscious teachers at the center of our formation.

Not long after we took our positions, we saw wolf monsters, larger and in greater numbers than before, charging in from beyond the gate.

“Uuuuuuu—!”

They rushed toward us, howling. There were so many of them it was ridiculous.

“Guardian’s Wall!”

The scammer quickly waved a flag to activate a defensive skill. As the skill activated, a spherical barrier of magical power enveloped the center of our formation. With this, the center was secure.

I took aim at the approaching monsters, glaring at them.

Monsters emerged endlessly from the center of the gym, charging at us with our backs against the gym walls.

Dumdum, in the front row, stepped forward to slash the first monsters.

I assisted Dumdum while assessing the situation.

“Kieeeee—!”

The monsters rushed at Dumdum like madmen, but he danced around them, swapping between various swords, spears, and knives to take them down.

With every move he made, a life was inevitably lost.

Numerous monsters were sliced and diced by his blade, but the number of monsters pouring in was still endless.

“Uuuuuuu—!”

More monsters charged in after the first wave, causing me to turn my focus to the right.

“Watch out!”

“Eugh!”

The wolf monster lunged at Dumdum.

Dumdum hastily dodged and countered, but at that moment, the scammer shouted again.

“Here they come!”

“Come on, let’s—!”

“Uuuuuuu—!”

“Gyeh!”

The monster that lunged at Dumdum was suddenly hit by the body of another monster that was dashing in from the side.

All of this chaos and movement unfolded around me as I concentrated on my gun.

Boom!

I aimed my gun at the wolf approaching me and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

A flash of blue light exploded at the tip of the barrel, and the wolf was struck directly.

“Gyeh—!”

With that, the monster crumbled and fell.

“Nice!”

“Focus! Shoot them all!”

“Gyeh!”

More monsters fell as my gun rang out in the chaos. The atmosphere changed from panic to confidence as the monsters began to fall.

The monsters were dying, yet still, they continued to charge at us relentlessly.

My focus wavered for a moment, and that’s when I noticed the monsters behind Dumdum were gathering strength to leap forward.

“Dumdum! Watch out!”

The monsters that approached Dumdum were scattered like petals, but my heart sank as I saw what was behind them.

A monster leaped high above Dumdum’s head, its silhouette massive. I saw the glint of its fangs.

“—!”

I yelled out in warning.

Dumdum narrowly avoided the fangs of the wolf behind him, the huge monster’s fangs snapping shut on empty air.

“Uuugh!”

“Get away!”

Before I could say more, the scammer shouted to the team.

“Lee Ha-na! Ice Spear!”

“I got it!”

Suddenly, Lee Ha-na unleashed a volley of ice spears from behind the scammer, piercing the incoming monsters like a torrential downpour.

“Woah!”

“Nice shot!”

“Good job!”

My heart raced as I fired again and again.

The monsters that charged toward us were mercilessly taken down.

But just as we began to get comfortable with our defense, a chilling howl echoed from the depths of the gate.

The sound was terrifying.

“Uuuuuuu—!”

“It’s here!”

“What do we do? There’s so many!”

“Prepare yourself!”

The number of monsters that charged from the gate doubled again.

“Dumdum! Aim for the bigger ones!”

“Got it!”

With the monsters rushing at us, Dumdum, who had been smashing them in one shot with his sword, moved toward the massive wolf creatures leaping in from the other side.

Lee Ha-na and Choi Soo-jung, having successfully taken down the small wolves, shifted their focus to the larger beasts as well.

The moment I aimed at the charging wolf, I felt an intense sense of dread that made my body freeze.

It wasn’t a matter of numbers anymore.

The size of the beasts charging toward us surpassed that of the earlier monsters.

“Hold the line!”

“Come on!”

Dumdum darted forward and immediately swung his sword, creating a chilling arc of silver light as he aimed for the enormous wolf.

The silver arc soared through the air and struck the wolf.

The wolf that had lost its upper half fell limply, while the remaining monsters continued to flow in like a tidal wave.

“Dumdum!”

“Stay strong! We can win this!”

“Uuuuuuu—!”

The overwhelming howl from the gate threatened to crush my heart, yet in this moment, I had no time to be afraid.

I aimed again, determined to protect our formation.

The energy swirling within the gym began to swell as the monsters leaped forward.

In that moment, the monsters pushed through our defenses, but the power emanating from my gun remained steady.

Boom!

I pulled the trigger again.

Another wolf crumbled at my feet.

“Keep it up! We’re almost there!”

The beasts continued their assault relentlessly, but with each shot I took, our formation held firm.

“Focus!”

The monsters seemed to take one look at the gathering force and recoiled for a moment.

With that, a rush of hope filled our hearts.

The battle was far from over, but the tide was shifting.