Transcension Academy

This is the longest chapter I've ever translated xD.

As soon as So-yeon entered the dungeon, she quickly searched it.

In any case, speed was important, so it was necessary to move quickly, and there was no need to hide herself at all because the two-star monsters were not a big threat to So-yeon.

Considering that most of the students struggled with two-star monsters, So-yeon's skills were at the top. Therefore, she had no doubt that she would be the winner of the contest.

However, Seo-joon intervened without warning showing off his ridiculous ability and took the lead overwhelmingly.

Of course, her father Lee Seok-man slowed him down with various obstruction works, but eventually he broke through them and dragged the situation all the way here.

The more she thought about it, the more she didn't like the contestant named Seo-joon.

However, So-yeon did not continue her thoughts because the important thing was to win the contest.

‘I'll definitely win.’

Of course, she knew it's a dirty win and a shameful result but So-yeon didn’t care about those things at all.

No, she thought it was stupid to care.

This world doesn't remember the process. It was a dirty world where only the first place is remembered.

Over time, the process is forgotten in people's memories and only results remain.

When people evaluate someone, it doesn't matter how they got there, it just mattered that they got there.

[The winner of the 24th Dungeon Sweeping Contest – Lee So-yeon]

Therefore, this competition was meaningful only because of this one phrase. The process is sacrificed solely for the sake of results.

‘So-yeon, if you want to be a professional hunter, you should never compromise your heart.’

Therefore, So-yeon's brother, Jin-seok, was a fool who sacrificed his life to save a complete stranger.

He was a fool who thought he was a hero in a childish cartoon, and he had no skills but only a mouth.

After getting older So-yeon realized that the world was a cold place while Jin-seok was so stupid that he didn't realize it until he died.

‘I’ll never do that.’

So-yeon moved her body as if she were shaking off her thoughts without thinking why no monsters were visible in this wide dungeon.

“KEEEEE!!”

The manticore fell down with a heavy sound after a single attack and Seo-joon, who has grown tremendously compared to the Academy Competition, couldn't afford to think about it now because this was the last round that would decide the winner.

Although he handled manticore quickly, it was true that he was much slower than when he did a regular two-star dungeon raid.

On the other hand, Lee So-yeon will be raiding the regular two-star dungeon. Maybe…Lee So-yeon already finished the raid.

Seo-joon quickly headed out of the dungeon, leaving the manticore's body behind.

Seo-joon came out and the first thing he saw was Shin Young-seok slowly approaching him.

“Participant Kim Seo-joon."

As he got closer, Shin Young-seok slowly opened his mouth. However, Seo-joon immediately opened his mouth to stop Shin Young-seok's words.

"There was a manticore in my chosen dungeon."

"…Manticore?”

Shin Young-seok tilted his head for a while and replied in a startled manner.

"Hold on a second. Are you saying that there was a four-star monster inside?"

"Yes. What I faced in the dungeon was a manticore. You can check it out for yourself."

"What is…?”

Shin Young-seok looked at the dungeon behind Seo Jun with an incredulous look on his face.

"It’s a measurement error dungeon."

He did not doubt Seo-joon's words because he knew that Seo-joon would not lie since it was enough to go inside and check.

Shin Young-seok then looked at Seo-joon with a surprised look on his face.

"…So you're saying you took care of the manticore yourself?”

Seo-joon nodded calmly.

He knew why Shin Young-seok was surprised, but that wasn't the important thing for Seo-joon.

"So I want to have another match. This is unfair."

"Well…"

Shin Young-seok seemed to think for a moment and soon opened his mouth.

"I fully understand Kim Seo-joon's request but I don't think it's going to ruin the confrontation."

"What?"

Seo-joon wanted to protest but,

"Participant Lee So-yeon hasn’t come out.”

He shut his mouth immediately.

"You won despite the bad conditions, so is there a need to have a rematch? If you want, I'll consider it."

Shin Young-seok said with a smile as if he understood Seo-joon’s surprise.

"Now, if you take care of the remaining dungeons, you'll win."

Shin Young-seok pointed to the remaining dungeons with his finger.

Now that Lee So-yeon has not come out, Seo-joon will win if he takes care of the 3rd dungeon.

However, Seo-joon stood there without saying a word.

It was strange. No, it was really weird.

In fact, Seo-joon was convinced that the measurement error dungeon was not an accident, but a trick committed by Lee So-yeon. Therefore, it was for that reason that Seo-joon appealed to Shin Young-seok as soon as he came out.

But in the current situation if Lee So-yeon played a trick she should have come out before Seo-joon.

If she had planned to win by delaying Seo-joon, why didn’t she come out already?

Didn't Lee So-yeon play a trick?

No way, Lee So-yeon also entered a measurement error dungeon?

‘I don't think so.’

Seo-joon shook his head quickly. There's nothing more stupid than losing the championship with useless nosiness.

Above all, considering Lee So-yeon's actions so far, it could be said that it was a good thing.

"Kim Seo-joon?"

"Oh, yes. I'll take care of it right away."

Seo-joon turned to the remaining dungeon when it happened.

"Huh? What's wrong with this all of a sudden?"

Suddenly, the surprised voice of an official came from behind. However, Seo-joon did not stop walking.

"Manager Kim, what's going on?"

"The mana meter is weird. It suddenly pointed to the third star…Four stars this time?”

"What? Let me see."

Shin Young-seok approached Kim Da-ri and took away the mana meter.

"It's true. What is it? Is it broken?"

"Does the mana meter break?"

"It happens sometimes. No matter how precise the magic is, this is also a machine."

Seo-joon had no choice but to stop walking after feeling a cold sensation.

Seo-joon's last conversation with the Sword Saint was passing by in his head now. It was a conversation that originated from a question Seo-joon asked the Sword Saint after his meeting with Calia.

– What is the dungeon distortion Mr. Sword Saint?

– If the dungeon is distorted, it means that the magic wave inside the dungeon is distorted.

– The mana inside the dungeon is distorted? What's that?

– It means that the mana measured is different from the figure that was measured when the dungeon is formed. This distortion has several ripple effects, but in most cases that the grade of the dungeon rises suddenly or the dungeon erupts even though it is not time.’

“By the way sir, have you ever seen a broken mana meter?”

"I don't know. I've worked for more than 20 years, but I've never seen one break down like this before…"

“It's a phenomenon that can't be seen now. But in the days of the cataclysm, it happened all the time.”

"Well… I think it’s necessary to call professional hunters to investigate just in case."

Shin Young-seok turned his head and said to Seo-joon.

"Contestant Kim Seo-joon, we have a problem. The dungeon is…Huh?”

"Where did he go?"

Seo-joon was nowhere to be seen from Shin Young-seok's perspective.

"Cough!"

So-yeon's body flew in the air with a huge explosion and after a fairly long glide she fell headlong to the floor.

Her consciousness blinked and seemed to faint at any moment, but So-yeon held her consciousness until the end.

"What the hell!"

However, unlike her mind, her body did not lift a finger as if it was at the limit now.

So-yeon lowered her gaze and looked at her body.

Blood was constantly coming out of the wounds that had formed between the torn clothes and from the cut on her left arm.

She used mana to block it somehow, but she was also at her limit. Above all, she couldn't feel the lower half of her body due to the collision just now.

So-yeon looked up again and looked straight ahead.

“KYYYYYAAAAA!!!!”

The roar of the six-star monster, Nerquila, rang in her eardrums.

It had a huge 15m body and a big horn hanging on his forehead.

“KYYYYYAAAAA!!!!”

It was a roar mixed with anger, hatred and joy but for So-yeon it was like thousands of evil spirits were screaming at the same time.

She didn't know why Nerquila, a six-star monster, was in a two-star dungeon but those things didn't matter to So-yeon now.

What's important to So-yeon right now is that she didn't have the strength to deal with Nerquila and only death awaited her.

So-yeon closed her eyes gently as the end of her life was approaching and she didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.

So-yeon suddenly burst into laughter at the end of her life.

"Are you saying this is what you were talking about?”

If that's true, this was the most appropriate end for her.

So-yeon has always lived for results. She didn't care about the process if she could produce results, and the means and methods were literally means and methods.

She did it not only in contests but also in countless places and there were countless people trampled by her.

So-yeon was more suited to evil among good and evil, so it could be said that her current circumstances were the result of her actions.

"That can't be true."

But So-yeon shook her head.

There is no such thing as good and evil in the world, that’s only in fairy tales.

So-yeon's brother, Jin-seok, was the best example.

The end of Jin-seok, who always said cheesy words and trivial things, did not come true as he said.

Jin-seok always wanted to be a professional hunter who made people's hearts race but the Jin-seok that So-yeon saw was more of a pushover than anyone else, and more of a fool than anyone else.

He tried to save another person's life without knowing his place, but eventually died.

"At least I won't die as stupid as my brother."

So-yeon lived the exact opposite of Jin-seok. She lived a wrong life.

“Kwaaaaaa!”

Now that death was just around the corner So-yeon thought that the man in front of her was so stupid.

"Cough!"

“Kwaaaaaa!”

Nerquila roared at the unexpected uninvited guest and in that terrible scream he could feel the monster madness.

It's hard to even stand at this level of pressure that was different from that of the manticore.

Seo-joon opened his mouth with difficulty.

"Cough! Can you move…?”

"What are you…?”

So-yeon mumbled blankly as she didn't understand this situation now.

"What's wrong?”

Aside from everything else, So-yeon couldn't understand why Seo-joon was here now.

"It looks like it's hard to move, but as much as possible… kkk! Run away!"

However, the man in front of him only uttered silly things while facing Nerquila.

"What are you doing?”

You’ll die. I'm not kidding. You’ll really die.

No matter how strong Seo-joon was, he was not Nerquila’s match.

Six-star monsters are really different. If it was a four-star monster, So-yeon could deal with it somehow. However, Nerquila cut her left arm after she made 1 mistake.

Those who have enough skills to catch Nerquila at the student level can be counted on the fingers.

Seo-joon, however, did not respond to So-yeon's words.

"Cough!"

He gritted his teeth at Nerquila’s attack and jumped to the side.

Nerquila followed him at a tremendous speed, and swung his claws at Seo-joon.

“Kang!”

It was like a frictional sound of metal hitting and sparks splashed.

Every single attack led to a fatal wound but Seo-joon lured Nerquila by letting him attack as much as possible. However, he changed his attack pattern as if he had read Seo-joon's thoughts.

Nerquila attacked with his big horn along with his claws and

Seo-joon tried to avoid it in a hurry, but he couldn't avoid it completely, perhaps because it was right after his posture was disturbed.

"Gasp!"

The large horn stuck in Seo-joon's shoulder, and red blood burst through it. Nerquila immediately threw Seo-joon, who was stuck in his horn, toward So-yeon.

Seo-joon plunged to the ground with a pain that seemed to break his mind.

“Kwaaaaaa!”

Nerquila roared but Seo-joon hurriedly corrected his posture and said,

"Cough! He's smarter than I thought. I don't think I'll last long. Is it still hard to move?”

Seo-joon spoke calmly with blood pouring through his open shoulder.

"Why…Why are you doing this?”

Seo-joon turned his head slightly back and looked at So-yeon.

"Why did you come to save me? What good is this for you?"

There was an indescribable emotion on So-yeon's face and she shouted again.

"It's none of your business! If you just do the remaining dungeon raid, you'll win!"

So-yeon shouted again and again.

"You think this will make you something? Don't be mistaken! After all, you joined this competition for money, too!”

"Yes, I participated in this competition to make money. You don't know, but I need a lot of money."

"Then go like this! Go out and win! What the hell does this have to do with you? Most of all, you wouldn't know what I did. You don't think I'd appreciate it if you did this? Because you think I'll regret it? What a load of crap!!"

"No."

Seo-joon turned his head back to the front.

"What you did was definitely wrong and I have no intention of forgiving you but I don't think that's a reason for you to die."

So-yeon was momentarily absent-minded. Her eyes were looking at Seo-joon and at the same time at the man in her memory.

Come to think of it, So-yeon had frequent quarrels with the man in her memory.

‘They're not heroes from the cataclysmic days. The cataclysm is over. The heroes are dead. It's the age of professional hunters. There's no one like that in the world anymore.’

‘I’m sure there is a conscientious and uncorrupt hunter out there somewhere.’

‘You're funny.’

So-yeon always laughed at the man. Now that she thought about it, she did it on purpose so that for once he might feel bad, but he always said this with a light smile.

‘It's hard to believe now. But So-yeon, the day will come when we meet again.’

The man in memory and the man in front of her seemed to overlap.

“Besides, I don't need a reason to help you and above all."

‘Acting regardless of any interests, for no reason at all’

"Where in the world is the prize money more valuable than saving people?”

.

.

‘So-yeon, your hero.’

“Kwaaaaaa!”

At that moment, Nerquila rushed fiercely like a hungry beast.

‘You can't win. Don't show off.’

His instincts constantly warn him to run away right now but Seo-joon grabbed the spear and looked at the Nerquila, who ran at him.

“Kwaaaaaa!”

The endless thirst for blood and the hunger seemed to tear Seo-joon apart.

[Intuition is the realm of thought. But most of the students didn't understand the meaning of this expression well.]

Chiron’s words appeared in his mind.

[The realm of thought means judgment in the end. Then someone will ask. Didn't the instructor say last time that it would be late if you thought, judged, and moved?]

[That's right. If you think, judge, and move, you'll be late but most people think this means don't judge and think. That's wrong! Didn't I tell you in the first place?]

[Intuition is the realm of thought]

[Match your thoughts and senses. To leave the judgment to the senses is to unite your thoughts and senses!]

[That's the intuition of a true transcendent]]

He could see Nerquila's attacks.

He could feel the movements of Nerquila's muscles one by one, and he could feel how he would attack and where he would attack.

All five senses of information, including visual information, are transmitted, and thoughts and judgments are made at the same time.

Nerquila's claws passed through Seo-joon's cheek but he felt Nerquila's muscle movement and formed an idea.

‘Continuous horn attack.’

Seo-joon twisted his body with all his might and Nerquila's horn passed through the air.

Seo-joon thought that at this rate he will be able to endure time until a professional hunter comes.

Shin Young-seok asked for the support of professional hunters, so professional hunters will come soon.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this?"

So-yeon didn't have much time.

She had a pale complexion and blood gushed out of her severed left arm so he didn’t know how long she would last.

He had no time to waste so he had to take Nerquila down now.

Seo-joon stepped forward as he clutched his spear and after seeing an opening he threw the spear with all his might.

[Reverse Divergence. Power pulls down mountains.]

[Momentum engulfs the world.]

(I’m not sure how to translate this. Should I use spirit energy/ energy/ qi/Momentum?)

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Nerquila leaped fiercely like an animal struggling with hunger as if Seo-joon’s momentum was nothing but Seo-joon instinct told him that he couldn’t win.

‘You can't beat the Nerquila in front of you with the Reverse Divergence.’

The Nerquila was different from Lee Jun-hwan, but just then.

[Beginners connect the world with their own mental world by deceiving the world with their own will.]

Merlin's words appeared in his head.

[Creating things that only exist in a person’s imagination, deceiving and twisting the world, and bringing them into reality as if they were the laws of the world.]

[An absurd power that exists even though it has never existed before, a prime example of this is Aura, which is the embodiment of mana.]

He didn’t see or hear anything.

Only the Nerquila existed in Seo-joon’s eyes and his only thought was to cut it down.

If Nerquila is a monster that appeared because of the dungeon distortion…

At that moment, bluish energy covered the spear. It gradually grew darker in color and formed a clear line on Seo-joon’s spear as if it were a single entity.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Seo-joon and Nerquila clashed as red blood, which he didn’t know whose it belonged to, soared like a fountain but So-yeon, who was watching it, could see whose it was.

"Cough!"

She saw Seo-joon was bleeding and had a long cut on his body. He was struggling to not to collapse as he held his spear but So-yeon could also see the Nerquila's body that was split open and collapsed.