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Join the ServerInside the designated emergency bunker at the Seoul Awakened Academy.
The subterranean shelters were strictly compartmentalized by academic year to ensure logistical efficiency, and the sector Jang Se-hee occupied housed only the third-year cadets.
“Everyone, direct your focus to the front!”
One of the senior tactical instructors raised a handheld microphone, commanding silence. The anxious murmuring of hundreds of elite students instantly ceased, their eyes locking onto the raised platform.
“An active C-rank Dungeon Break is currently unfolding in our immediate civilian sector, and high volumes of monsters are bleeding into the commercial grids. Fortunately, the original raid team along with several localized freelancers have managed to establish a primary intersection bulkhead. However, significant civilian casualties are already manifesting across the uncontained zones.”
The reality was grim. The original raid party consisted of hunters who had already been militarily overwhelmed and driven out of the dungeon depth by a population surge. Even with nearby freelancers responding to the Association’s emergency broadcast, their numbers were drastically insufficient.
While they had successfully thrown up a makeshift defensive line, their tactical coverage was limited to a few specific chokepoints. Without an immediate, heavy deployment of professional backup, that central dam would fracture within minutes. When a combat line is scattered so thin, massive civilian casualties are a mathematical certainty.
“Consequently, by official decree of the Hunter Association, the entire third-year class is being deployed into the field immediately. Your objective is strictly limited to civil extraction and emergency rescue coordination. Under no circumstances are you permitted to engage in active combat operations. Is that understood?”
The moment the strict combat prohibition left the instructor’s mouth, Se-hee’s hand shot into the air with sharp precision.
Snap!
The instructor looked over at her, his brow furrowing slightly. “Yes? Cadet Jang Se-hee? State your inquiry.”
“Sir! The data confirms that the professional hunters currently holding the primary intersection are predominantly registered as C-rank and B-rank combatants. While we lack their live operational experience, the baseline output of our rank metrics cannot be disregarded. At the very least, myself and the other verified B-rank cadets in this room possess more than enough structural power to provide immediate offensive value on the frontline!”
She wasn’t asking to assist with logistics; she was explicitly demanding to be put into the meat grinder. Hearing her request, the instructor’s expression darkened into a harsh scowl.
“Rank metrics? Yes, Cadet, those numbers exist on paper. But what you are fundamentally ignoring is the unquantifiable gulf of raw survival experience. You children have never cleared a single high-tier gate without a full safety matrix of faculty members monitoring your vitals. How dare you attempt to place yourselves on the same operational level as hardened veterans who walk the line between life and death every single day?”
Se-hee flinched slightly, her lips pressing into a thin line. “…”
The instructor swept his gaze across the sea of third-year faces, his voice echoing through the reinforced concrete room.
“Look at yourselves. You are the elite of this nation—granted the highest tier of corporate sponsorship, premium gear, and structured academic conditioning. But right now, you are nothing more than delicate flowers cultivated inside a temperature-controlled greenhouse. When you step outside these walls today, you will encounter dozens of independent hunters whose official ranks are far below yours. Yet, if I dropped you into a live dungeon alongside them, I guarantee those ‘low-rank’ veterans would neutralize targets and secure objectives with a speed and efficiency that would leave you paralyzed.”
The academy cadets were prized, aristocratic blossoms raised in luxury; the independent hunters who couldn’t secure academic placement were weeds—flung into the jaws of low-tier gates with zero formal training, left to fight for every scrap of scrap iron and mana stone. But the weeds who survived didn’t die easily. They grew into iron-root veterans whose instincts were forged in absolute trauma. That was a variance that could not be bridged by a letter on a registry card.
“Once you graduate, sign with a major guild, and systematically accumulate real blood-experience under proper operational protocols, your elite foundation will eventually allow you to completely eclipse those freelancers. But that timeline is not today. Cadet Jang Se-hee… have I made the parameters clear?”
Even for a prodigy of Se-hee’s caliber, defying a direct institutional command during a state-level emergency was a non-negotiable threshold.
“I… I understand, sir,” she muttered, lowering her head.
The instructor turned back to the crowd. “If a localized breach occurs near an extraction corridor, the accompanying faculty members will manage the threat. Your sole focus is the preservation of civilian life. Move out!”
Under tight military coordination, the third-year class began streaming out of the bunker, transitioning rapidly toward the active red zone.
Meanwhile, at the primary intersection directly fronting the bleeding C-rank portal.
BOOM! CRASH! ROAR!
Following Se-hyeon’s initial black artillery strike, two more successive volleys of dark energy detonated across the asphalt, vaporizing the secondary werewolf line and giving the buckling vanguard tanks a critical moment to reset their footing.
“Is… is this the vanguard of a major guild?! Where are the rest of your units, sir?!” a blood-splattered vanguard shouted, scanning the empty street behind the newcomer.
Se-hyeon stepped into the center of the intersection, his expression completely flat. “Apologies to your tactical expectations, but I’m a solo drop. I’m Jang Se-hyeon, a registered Mage class. I happened to be in the grid when the Association text broadcasted.”
Hearing that he wasn’t part of an elite guild raid team, but merely a random independent mage who had wandered over from a nearby block, the hunter’s face fell instantly into deep despair. A single freelance mage, regardless of how hard his initial spells hit, couldn’t alter the macro-math of a thousands-strong C-rank horde.
“Ah… I see,” the hunter muttered, his shoulders slumping.
“Though, looking at your front line, your structural integrity seems remarkably poor,” Se-hyeon observed casually, watching the bleeding red portal continue to vomit out heavily armored Werewolf Warriors.
“Poor? Jang Se-hyeon-ssi, ‘poor’ is a massive understatement. The scenario is entirely apocalyptic,” the hunter spat, his voice trembling with exhaustion. “Your opening bombardment bought us a momentary breathing window, but our stamina reserves are nearly depleted. If the horde presses again, this bulkhead collapses within three minutes.”
Se-hyeon gave a slow, measured nod, walking past the shattered barrier directly toward the apex of the defense line.
“That seems accurate. But since this intersection is classified as the primary civilian containment line, allowing a breach here is functionally unacceptable. We will simply have to maintain this position until the heavy armor arrives.”
The veteran hunter’s jaw tightened in sudden irritation. They were risking their lives in a desperate slaughterhouse, and this random freelance mage was casually dropping textbook platitudes as if he were discussing a corporate seminar.
“Listen here, do you think we don’t damn well know that—”
“Sanctuary Declaration.”
Se-hyeon didn’t let him finish the sentence, calmly uttering the command phrase for his primary domain spell.
SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
An absolute, blinding shockwave of white-gold light erupted from his boots, carving across the ruined pavement and expanding outward until a massive, geometric domain of pure, divine energy locked onto the entire intersection. Simultaneously, the system’s high-priority alert system bypassed the cognitive filters of every single hunter standing within the perimeter.
[A absolute domain ‘Sanctuary’ has been established over the localized coordinate plane.] [Allied entities within the domain receive a +70% amplification to absolute Attack and Defense parameters.] [Allied entities within the domain receive a +42% amplification to Attack Speed and Movement Velocity.] [Allied entities within the domain receive a 2.8x multiplier to Health and Mana regeneration cycles.] [Hostile entities within the domain suffer a -42% penalty to absolute Attack and Defense parameters.] [Hostile entities within the domain suffer a -28% penalty to Attack Speed and Movement Velocity.]
“H-Heh?! What the hell is this metric?!” “Sanctuary?! Is this a high-tier Priest’s ultimate domain?! Look at my stats!” “Oh my god… the fatigue weight in my muscles is vanishing! My mana core is refilling at an absurd rate!”
Thanks to the absolute optimization of his Mana Circuit Nodes achieved during his Stage 3 evolution, the structural efficiency of Sanctuary Declaration had scaled into something truly terrifying. The buffs applied to his allies were nearly double their historic baseline, while the debilitating weight pressed onto his enemies was catastrophic. The moment the Werewolf Warriors crossed the golden boundary line, their movements became visibly sluggish, their ferocious roars muffled by the ambient holy pressure.
“Wait! The kinetic impact of their axes just dropped by half!” a vanguard tank roared, his shield easily catching a heavy iron blade that would have previously shattered his wrist. “The tanking matrix is stable! We can actually hold this ground! Everyone, push back!”
While the sheer volume of the werewolf horde remained immense—with hundreds of beasts still screaming through the portal—the operational difficulty of holding the line had just been slashed down to a manageable tier.
“Excellent. Now that the baseline environment is stabilized, let’s resume the clearing cycle,” Se-hyeon murmured. “Dark Orb.”
Standing calmly behind the frontline bulkhead, he began chanting his offensive matrix once more, unleashing a continuous stream of dark void projectiles into the sluggish ranks of the monsters.
SHIK! BOOOM! CRASH!
As he maintained the bombardment, his sharp eyes continuously monitored the physical output of the vanguard line.
‘Hmm… those two tanks on the far left flank are showing a significant structural deficiency compared to the center pieces. If either of those nodes fractures, the wolves will flood the caster line. Let’s apply a localized restraint constraint. Chains of Darkness!’
Even within a uniform B-rank party, individual talent and gear quality varied wildly. Recognizing the weak points in the human wall, Se-hyeon directed his dark energy toward the massive pack of wolves trying to exploit that specific gap.
CLINK-CLINK-CLINK-CLINK!
Thirty thick, pitch-black ethereal chains erupted from the asphalt, instantly splitting into two groups of fifteen and wrapping tightly around the limbs of the leading Werewolf Warriors. The sudden, absolute loss of mobility caused the front beasts to stumble, creating a massive pile-up as the trailing monsters slammed into their backs, forcing the entire left-flank push to scatter outward in confusion.
The two struggling tanks suddenly found the empty air in front of them completely cleared of active threats, allowing them to draw a desperate, ragged breath.
“Haa… haa… I don’t know who the hell is running that crowd control, but thank you!” one of the vanguards screamed over his shoulder, his eyes darting back to the front as he locked his shield back into place.
“Pure explosive bombardment is a waste of micro-space,” Se-hyeon calculated internally. “It’s statistically more efficient to split the orb matrices and manually guide them to reinforce failing sectors.”
Up until this point, he had been using standard area-of-effect bombing runs on the dense rear lines. But he quickly realized that using fine, individual control to sniper-neutralize specific high-threat targets pressing against the tanks provided a significantly higher tactical yield.
‘Dark Orb! Dark Orb!’
With a dual intent, he manifested a dense array of twenty independent black spheres.
‘I hadn’t fully conceptualized what the system meant by “Massive Increase to Magic Mastery” during the memory-transfer phase, but the functional execution is absurd. The efficiency is flawless.’
Indeed, one of the primary rewards unlocked during his Stage 3 evolution was an absolute enhancement to his spell manipulation index. Before the evolution, he could comfortably guide a maximum of ten Dark Orbs simultaneously while standing stationary, dropping down to six if he was forced to move. Now, his multi-tasking ceiling had expanded exponentially.
He could stand perfectly still and direct twenty independent Dark Orbs along twenty distinct trajectory paths, striking twenty different monsters in their exact anatomical weak points simultaneously. Even while sprinting at full velocity, he could comfortably maintain manual control over fourteen active spheres.
BANG! BOOM! CRUNCH! CRASH!
The moment twenty precision-guided void bombs began dancing across the front line like a swarm of black hornets, systematically executing every werewolf that managed to put pressure on a human shield, the defensive bulkhead became absolutely impregnable. The sheer physical stress bearing down on the tanks plummated to near zero.
Watching this absurd, one-man performance unfold, the mid-line damage-dealers who had been preparing their spells began whispering in utter disbelief.
“My god… who the hell is that guy?!” “I’ve never seen a mage guide twenty independent projectile spells with that level of surgical precision… and the raw damage profile is insane! One orb is literally melting a C-rank Werewolf Warrior?! Wait, no, it’s an explosive attribute, so the splash damage is bleeding into the surrounding targets as well!” “Is he an unlisted A-rank titan?!” “Are you blind? Look at his mana consumption! He’s been spamming high-tier destruction spells and a massive regional domain for minutes without pausing once to consume a mana potion or channel a recovery skill! If an A-rank tried that, their core would have experienced absolute mana depletion ten spells ago. That man is easily an S-rank Archmage.”
While the tanks at the very front were too focused on physical survival to analyze the mechanics, the rear DPS casters had a perfect, birds-eye view of Se-hyeon’s output. A lone man had single-handedly resurrected a dying defensive line, stabilized it, and was now actively grinding down a C-rank wave. To their eyes, classifying him as anything below S-rank was a logical fallacy.
As Se-hyeon continued his methodical clearing cycle, a heavily armored man wearing an elite gold crest hurried toward him from the command node.
“E-Excuse me, Master Mage!”
Se-hyeon slightly tilted his head toward the newcomer, his right hand remaining extended as three Dark Orbs rocketed over the man’s shoulder to obliterate a charging werewolf. “Yes?”
“I am Hwang Tae-ho, an active strike-commander from the Zeus Guild. Sir… if your internal mana reserves permit, is there any possibility you can reallocate your deployment to reinforce our secondary sectors?!”
The Zeus Guild was currently ranked 1st in the national league—a monolithic entity known for possessing the most flawlessly balanced elite rosters in the country.
“Reallocate to other sectors?” Se-hyeon questioned calmly.
“Yes, sir! This central intersection possesses our highest concentration of veteran parties, and thanks to the incredible amplifications provided by your Sanctuary domain, this specific line is now functionally secure. However, our secondary flanking corridors are only being held by tiny, isolated teams of one or two parties. Without immediate high-tier intervention, those smaller nodes will be completely overrun within minutes. We desperately need your offensive output over there.”
It was a logical tactical assessment. The main intersection drew the largest volume of monsters, but it also held the bulk of the defensive assets. With Se-hyeon’s domain active, it was a fortress. But the side streets were blind spots where small groups of freelance hunters were currently being chewed to pieces without any support.
“Even if I complied with that request, I lack the precise geographic tracking data for those outlying teams,” Se-hyeon countered smoothly. “Furthermore, without a centralized telemetry feed, establishing a proper priority matrix is impossible. If I choose a vector at random, I could arrive only to find a squad already wiped out, or waste time reinforcing a low-threat alley while a critical gate collapses elsewhere.”
Reallocating his combat power wasn’t an issue. But running blind through an urban labyrinth without knowing who was dying first was an inefficient waste of energy.
Right at that moment—
“I… I can provide the exact coordinates and real-time threat metrics, sir!” a voice yelled from behind the command barrier.
“Hmm?”
Se-hyeon turned his gaze toward a thin hunter sprint-sliding into the intersection, panting heavily. The man quickly raised his hands to explain.
“I am a specialized Support-class Awakened. My primary unique attribute is Mini-Map!”
A Mapper. Within the support registry, individuals who awakened high-tier spatial mapping skills were classified as an incredibly rare, highly prized strategic asset.
“An active mapping skill? Show me the data.”
“Yes, sir! Mini-Map activate!”
The support hunter channeled his core, and within a fraction of a second, a highly detailed, glowing 3D holographic projection of the entire district materialized in the empty air between them.
“Because my current skill proficiency is low, my scanning radius is restricted to a five-hundred-meter boundary. However, it is more than enough to pinpoint every single active defense node and calculate their current structural stability!”
The floating holographic map was filled with a dense cluster of multi-colored digital pings.
“The red clusters clearly represent the monster forces,” Se-hyeon noted, analyzing the data points with a critical eye. “Define the operational parameters for the blue, green, and faded variants.”
“Sir! Solid blue icons represent active Awakened combatants; solid green icons are unevacuated civilians. The faded, blinking variations of those colors indicate that the entity has suffered critical trauma or is currently entering a near-death state.”
Scanning the map, Se-hyeon’s eyes narrowed. Across the isolated side-street defense nodes, several blue pings were already flashing a faded, pale blue.
But what was far more alarming was the overwhelming sea of faded green dots bleeding through the residential blocks. The dead were automatically purged from the mapping sensor; meaning that this massive volume of blinking green represented living civilians who had already suffered catastrophic, life-threatening wounds and were actively bleeding out in the rubble.
“The civilian casualty rate across the uncontained blocks is severe,” Se-hyeon murmured.
Hwang Tae-ho of the Zeus Guild let out a bitter, helpless sigh. “We are fully aware of the tragedy, sir… but our absolute priority must remain the preservation of the primary defensive lines. If these lines collapse, the monster dispersion will multiply by ten, and the resulting casualty metrics will be completely unrecoverable.”
The small teams scattered across those side streets were intentionally acting as living shields to buy time for the primary evacuation routes behind them. If they died, the teeth would hit the crowds.
“Haa… the dispersion is entirely too wide, and every single node is reporting a critical threat variable,” Se-hyeon muttered, crossing his arms. “Even with the speed of my mobility gear, running to each individual alleyway is a functional impossibility. A solo entity cannot manually cover this much geometric space in time.”
Hwang Tae-ho’s expression fell into deep disappointment. He knew the request was askew. Expecting a single mage—no matter how powerful—to physically sprint across an entire city district and clear a dozen separate battles simultaneously was an absurd ask. He opened his mouth to withdraw the request, but before he could speak, Se-hyeon’s lips curved into a cold, confident smile.
“Though… while I cannot physically occupy those spaces to kill the beasts myself, I can easily provide them with enough structural durability to ensure they survive the encounter.”
Hwang Tae-ho blinked, completely lost by the sudden shift in logic. “Sir? What do you mean by providing durability from this distance…?”
As the elite guild commander stared in utter confusion, Se-hyeon raised his left hand toward the sky, tapping into the massive, pristine holy reserves unlocked from Kaltraven’s legacy.
“Divine Light of Salvation.”
The skies above Seoul split open as he unleashed his newly acquired, tier-3 absolute area-of-effect healing miracle.
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Jinho's Story! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Jinho's Story
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