I Became an Illegal Cheat User

31 – The Other World – Brief Moment (1)

The instructor, Gang Cheol-su.

Fought valiantly with the main core.

…Or so it seemed.

While the main core completely vanished under a tremendous shockwave.

Gang Cheol-su, who was swept away, emerged completely unscathed.

“Oh… I had a bit of a stiff shoulder.”

He exclaimed that exercising had actually loosened up his tense muscles and made him feel refreshed.

Indeed, the resilience befitting a former top-tier hero.

Although at the moment, due to the ‘Plague Fragment’ embedded in his body, he could only unleash the power of an upper-tier, unable to properly control his abilities.

Nevertheless, his physical strength of the utmost tier remained intact, so to him, this level of explosion was merely a muscle massage.

But the reason I was flustered was because of the “achievement bonus” for the main quest.

As you may know, the achievement bonus offers additional rewards based on one’s achievements.

That’s why I had poured out all the bombs I had to personally destroy the main core…

Whether the destruction of the main core was due to my explosives or Gang Cheol-su’s hero landing, I couldn’t determine the outcome.

So I’m eager to confirm the result right away, but I’m still in a state where I haven’t escaped the other world.

“Instructor, is it normal for the Rift Activation to be this slow?”

“No, only the rifts tainted by corrupt beings behave like this. Normal rifts usually appear with the activation as soon as the core is destroyed.”

I’ll say it again, corrupt beings are wicked and cunning.

As Gang Cheol-su said, in the case of a typical rift unaffected by corrupt beings, when only one core is destroyed, the rift appears and activates simultaneously.

On the other hand, the cracks touched by the fallen ones require the destruction of the main core, including the sub-core, for the cracks to appear, yet it remains inactive.

And the shockwaves caused by the activation of the cracks.

– Whoooa!

– Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!

– Let’s… become one with us…

It draws in all the demons present in the underworld.

Literally, until the cracks are fully activated, one must survive the onslaught of incoming demons.

However, considering the strength of the people here, it’s not much of a worry.

And decisively, here and now, we have our mentor, Kang Cheol-su.

“What are these pathetic demons?”

Kang Cheol-su raised his foot with a grim expression.

And with a thud towards the direction of the swarming demons.

Crash…!!

All the demons are pulverized in an instant.

“…”

Everyone looked astonished, gaping at Kang Cheol-su.

Certainly, the demons here might be weak, but the sheer number of those that just swarmed in was overwhelmingly colossal.

Yet, they all turned into dust with just one stomp from Kang Cheol-su.

How could anyone not be astounded?

“Why?”

As everyone’s gaze fell upon him, Kang Cheol-su asked with a puzzled look, as if wondering if something was wrong.

The kids just shook their heads, saying it was nothing.

“That person is our mentor…”

Someone muttered in awe.

Seems like they’ve newly found a sense of reverence.

“Why all this sudden awe, kids?”

Approaching me with a puzzled expression, Kang Cheol-su asked.

While everyone else was in awe, he was curious why I seemed unaffected.

To which I chuckled and replied, “It’s because Mentor is just too cool.”

“Oh, really?”

Kang Cheol-soo stroked his chin in response to my answer.

It was a gesture that appeared when he felt awkward.

“Uh, sir. I have something I’m curious about. May I ask?”

“Curious? What is it?”

The complete activation of the crack had not yet occurred.

Since all the demons had disappeared, I took this opportunity to resolve the curiosity I had in my mind.

“When you mentioned that if something dangerous happens, we should press the emergency rescue request on the smartwatch, what effect does that have?”

“Oh, that.”

Kang Cheol-soo showed me his smartwatch on his wrist.

As he did, his smartwatch made a real-time ‘beep, beep’ sound, and a blue dot was flashing.

Upon seeing it, something came to my mind, and I asked right away.

“…Is it a location tracker?”

In response to my question, Kang Cheol-soo nodded.

“The smartwatches given to the students are connected to the network operated by the academy itself. So when a student presses the emergency rescue request, the smartwatches of the instructors instantly show the student’s location in real-time.”

“Hmm.”

Just by pressing the emergency rescue request, the instructors would come to the rescue.

This… it was both okay and not good at the same time.

If I were a corrupt individual, I could steal the smartwatches that students or instructors have and disrupt or even use them for assassination.

It was indeed a very risky system.

Thinking that way, Kang Cheol-soo chuckled and said.

“I know what you’re thinking. You think this system is dangerous, right?”

I nodded in agreement.

My anxiety disappeared with Kang Cheol-soo’s next words.

“Don’t worry. The ones who created this system are Headmaster and Vice Headmaster. Even if a corrupt person gets hold of a student or instructor’s smartwatch, they won’t be able to use it. Instead, they’ll be tracked down.”

“Oh, really?”

It was a system built by Transcendents, Archmages, and top-tier heroes like the Vice Headmaster?

Then, it was absolutely reliable.

If it was those two, even a seemingly lax system would, in fact, be incredibly meticulous.

Assured by this, I asked one final question.

“However, why are you late?”

I asked not to scold, but because I was genuinely curious.

I know that there is a spatial teleportation magician named Lee Yeon-ji among the instructors.

And since it is possible to track locations like this, if she had helped, she could have come right away.

However, why did she appear at the moment when it ends just by destroying the main core?

“Why is she the only one who appears slowly in this story?”

Since there was no option to ask “why are you late?” in the game, I had no choice but to suppress my curiosity.

But now it is reality.

I can solve the curiosity about why she was late.

“Ah, that……….”

In response to my innocent question, Kang Cheol-su scratched the scar on his forehead.

And then, he finally satisfied my curiosity.

“I’m sorry for being late, but as soon as there was an anomaly in the rift, I immediately went into the rift with Instructor Lee Yeon-ji.”

…He went into the rift with Lee Yeon-ji?

If she was there, she could have come here right away?

Scarily enough, Kang Cheol-su answered my question right away.

“But, the place we were transported to was neither a cave nor here.”

“…Neither of them?”

“Yeah, neither of them.”

So, disregarding the procedures set by those guys, after destroying the main core, with the ability of Instructor Lee Yeon-ji……

Although Kang Cheol-su seemed to be talking about something, right now, I was in a state of shock by the behind-the-scenes revelations that were not revealed in the game.

‘…There has been a dual rift since then?’

Beyond overlaying the parallel world, it intertwines with another parallel world.

That is the duality rift.

The dual rift occurs from the middle of the story, along with the downgraded individuals of intermediate and high ranks.

And only the fallen ones with a named title can create a dual rift.

Which means, from the beginning, the named ones were influencing the academy.

‘…Why didn’t I think of this?’

When Kang Cheol-su or other instructors appear in other stories, it is just before facing enemies and fighting together.

Literally, they fight together.

However, peculiarly, Kang Cheolsu’s appearance in this story is delayed.

If you consider why it’s delayed, one might suspect it’s just an academic cliché, as I and other seasoned individuals initially thought.

But as it turns out, there was a behind-the-scenes story…

‘Who could this named individual be?’

I began to ponder diligently on which named individual had been influencing the academy from the early stages.

I need to start preparing from now on to reduce the risks I might face later.

‘An epidemic? No, not him… He’s not the type to scheme because he’s capricious.’

And at this moment, Kang Cheolsu is likely in the Death Continent recovering from the damage he received.

‘Then, illusion?’

“…Dismissed.”

‘Yeah, illusion is a possibility. He appears in the later part. He’s good at scheming.’

“…Dismissed!”

“……Ah.”

The distant voice returns.

At this point, I realized I was too engrossed in my thoughts.

“Dismissed, are you okay? You’ve had a serious expression since earlier; is something wrong?”

In response to Kang Cheolsu’s words, I touched my face.

…I can feel the stiffness.

I had no idea I was making such a serious expression.

“Euijin, are you okay?”

Suddenly, Seoyeon approached and asked. I coolly smiled and nodded without saying anything.

When Seoyeon asked again if I was sure, I simply confirmed it.

To tell the truth, the information I know is dangerous.

No, aside from being dangerous, it’s not even accurate yet.

‘…Once I leave this place, I’ll have to find out.’

Without the need for deep contemplation, I just have to find out.

There are corrupted worshippers in the academy.

“Alright, everyone. The rift has been activated, so let’s go.”

Everyone looked at the rift at Kang Cheolsu’s words.

A rift emitting a completely blue light, not the crimson light.

Activation was complete, indicating a connection between the Academy and the simulated underworld of the world.

With that, everyone, including myself, stepped into the rift.

And so, we returned to the Academy.

&

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Upon returning to the Academy, the sixteen of us, including myself, were first taken to the infirmary.

There, after undergoing various examinations and confirming that there were no abnormalities in our bodies, we were allowed to leave the infirmary.

Having endured practical training under Kang Cheol-su, we received reassurance that even if we missed classes for the next two days due to exhaustion, our attendance would be marked as normal. We were advised to rest deeply.

Since we had already experienced the simulated underworld, the theory classes about it for the next two days were deemed unnecessary for those of us who had gone through the practical experience.

With that, I headed straight to the dormitory.

After taking a refreshing shower.

“Ah, feels so good.”

I lay on the bed, experiencing bliss.

This, this sensation.

The softness and warmth after the hardships!

It’s truly indescribable.

I feel like falling asleep just like this.

However, for the next two days, we were free to do whatever we wanted, so maybe I could just go to sleep.

As I surrendered to the approaching drowsiness, thinking about…

“Ah, right!”

I remembered that I needed to claim the quest reward.

So, I sat up, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

“…What is it? Feels like déjà vu.”

Didn’t this happen before?

“It seems like it happened before…”

…Wasn’t it just yesterday?

Why does entering the dormitory feel like it’s been a long time?

I felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort for a moment.

But even that discomfort was fleeting.

Glancing past the quest window’s insistent blinking at the corner of my field of view, I brushed aside any discomfort and embraced the anticipation.

“Well, let’s see what kind of reward it offers.”

Saying this, I pulled the quest window, which had been tucked away in the corner of my vision, into a more prominent position.

The distinctive golden glow of the main quest sparkled.

My heart raced in response to that light.

Indeed, what kind of reward would it give?

Suppressing the rising excitement, I reached towards the quest window, swallowing the anticipation building in my throat, and pressed it firmly.

*Ding.*