Just in case, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
=
Polygon Second Practical Exam.
Exam Candidates: Baek Kang-hyun, Yoon Si-ae.
Type A Annihilation Dungeon: The Graveyard of the Drake.
Appropriate Dungeon Rank: A.
But of course, the letters didn't change at all.
For a moment, I was speechless.
No, it's an Annihilation-type dungeon, sure…
The problem was the word written underneath — "Rank."
Whatever else, the difficulty had clearly gone up.
Ah, seriously. This can't be right.
My recommended rank is C, so why the hell did an A-rank dungeon come up?
Just then—
"…Annihilation-type dungeon, isn't it?"
Yoon Si-ae entered the Graveyard of the Drake right behind me.
Yeah, seeing her, I understood why this was set to A-rank.
Yoon Si-ae's recommended rank was A.
A sigh slipped out.
Her rank was A. Mine was C.
Obviously, the dungeon was assigned to match her rank.
Honestly, what else could it be?
But here's the problem.
She's not an A-rank that feels like an A-rank.
I glanced sideways at Yoon Si-ae.
Sure, she might have the recommended rank of A in the Blessing class, but her actual skill proficiency was practically zero.
That much was undeniable, given that her level was 1.
Unlike the other dungeon types, an Annihilation Dungeon only cleared once all the monsters inside were killed.
Proof?
[0/100]
In the upper right corner, the number of monsters remaining in the dungeon was displayed.
Ha… I knew it, but actually seeing the number "100" made me feel faint.
Still, since this counted as a dungeon, Yoon Si-ae's "Opportunity Mission" could probably be completed here too.
And more importantly—
The dungeon is specifically the Graveyard of the Drake.
Since Yoon Si-ae had zero combat ability, the only thing I could rely on was the fact that this dungeon was not only Annihilation-type, but also the exact Graveyard of the Drake.
The Graveyard of the Drake — the dungeon where she had taken her test in the past.
And if it was that Silver Wing (Eunik, 은익) I knew, then at least one "sure-kill" technique came to mind.
She had definitely used it back during her previous test, right?
Which meant, the probability wasn't zero anymore.
That was the important thing.
"Yoon Si-ae, let's head out."
"Ah, yes."
Standing around here wouldn't do anything but waste time.
Better to move quickly.
"Oh, right. Could you tell me your skills?"
I already knew her status.
But still, I couldn't just jump ahead without asking.
I needed to hear it directly from her before she got suspicious.
"Ah, I have two movement skills, one attack skill, and one defense skill."
"Mm. Do you know how to handle any weapons?"
"Yes, I can use a sword a little."
"Good."
As expected from someone nicknamed Silver Wing, her main talent was "Silver Wings."
And with the "Feather Sword" skill, it was obvious she could handle a sword.
In truth, very little information about her had been made public. Even my "Baek Kang-hyun Notes" didn't have much written down.
Well, I can make some guesses anyway.
A "Temporary Gate" probably opened a gate, and a "Veil of Light" probably blocked something — the names themselves gave it away.
"Um, Baek Kang-hyun, what are your skills…?"
"Oh, my main one is 'Cold Weapon Creation,' and the rest are all support skills."
I smiled faintly as I answered.
It wasn't a lie.
Of course, at the moment I only had two usable ones in a dungeon: Frost Creation and Steadfast Will.
And I still had one trump card left. That was—
=
Yoon Si-ae
- Silver Wings (S)
- Veil of Light (A)
- Feather Sword (A)
- Temporary Gate (A)
=
Her skill list.
The only one I knew for sure was Silver Wings, but if the others were A-rank, they had to be comparable.
I wanted to test them all out, but this was an exam.
She'd show me herself as we went along.
And along the way, her Opportunity Mission would get cleared.
As expected, Yoon Si-ae didn't disappoint.
What was the point of having attack and defense skills if she couldn't use them at all?
"Kyaaaah!"
"…For god's sake."
With the club I created using Frost Creation, I smashed the skeleton in front of her.
This was basically me doing all the fighting alone.
Crunch!
Ah, the feel of a club really was the best.
Smacking things with it actually relieved some stress.
And since the enemies were skeletons, the effectiveness was perfect.
More than anything, Frost Creation was an S-rank skill.
That meant even without synergy skills, I could crush at least a B-rank dungeon.
The durability's nice too.
The durability gauge on the right had dropped halfway, but a club had high durability, so it would last a long time.
For this situation, this dungeon, this was the most efficient choice.
I looked back at Yoon Si-ae.
"Yoon Si-ae."
"Y-yes?"
"Are you okay?"
"..."
She silently nodded.
What surprised me was how strong her nerve actually was.
Sure, she screamed whenever she faced a skeleton, but she never once looked away.
Too bad that resolve had zero effectiveness.
"Th-thank you."
"…Didn't you say you could use a sword?"
"W-well, I only awakened my abilities recently, so this is my first real battle…."
She probably had all the theory in her head.
She'd grown up called a genius, a prodigy.
But theory was theory — battle was another matter.
And an Annihilation Dungeon only cleared once every monster was slain.
To pass the second exam, I had to clear it with her, no matter how many hours it took.
But wait, who the hell did she clear with last time?
Moving with her now, I realized her skill mastery really was zero.
Which meant, in the past, some examinee had cleared this dungeon with her — someone basically dragging along a partner with no combat power.
Just who the hell was that?
No, that doesn't matter right now.
I could check later.
I glanced at the silver wings sprouting from her back.
So far, I'd seen her use two skills:
Silver Wings and Feather Sword.
The Feather Sword turned out to be a skill where she plucked feathers from the Silver Wings and reshaped them.
Those skills had been incredible when I saw them in the past — flying freely, disrupting enemies with perfect mobility.
But why the hell can't those Silver Wings fly?
I mean, technically she could fly, but the altitude was thirty centimeters.
Do we even call that flying? She looked more like a chicken.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm really no help at all."
"No, it's fine."
She thought she was useless, but that wasn't true.
Because—
[Stage 1 – Protect 'Yoon Si-ae' while defeating monsters (12/50). (Incomplete).]
The less she fought, the more my Opportunity Mission stacked up.
Sure, it slowed the clear speed, but it wasn't a real problem.
After all, I was ranked first in the written test.
As long as we cleared this dungeon, I would pass.
And fortunately—
The map of the Graveyard of the Drake.
The instant I activated my Baek Kang-hyun Notes Lens, the map I had drawn in the past appeared in the upper right corner like a minimap.
Seriously convenient.
"Um, are we going the right way?"
She asked nervously, trailing after me.
Of course she'd be worried — her admission depended on this too.
But it reminded me of those college team projects.
You'd finish the whole PPT, and someone would ask, "Is this really the right way to do it?"
"Yeah. I have a scouting skill."
Of course, I didn't.
But saying that would keep her from questioning me too much.
Even if she did doubt me, it wouldn't matter.
Without me, she couldn't pass this exam anyway.
After about an hour—
Smash! Crack!
I steadily beat down the monsters with my club, reducing their numbers.
Since they were holograms, it wasn't actually scary.
It just took time.
And time was fine.
My written score was first place.
As long as I cleared this, admission to Polygon was guaranteed.
[37/100]
They might have been holograms, but my stamina was still being consumed.
Protecting Yoon Si-ae and doing her share too made the difficulty double. Wonderful!
If my partner retired, I'd automatically fail as well.
Another hour later—
[89/100]
At this point, I'd basically killed everything myself.
And in the middle of that—
[Opportunity Condition, Stage 1 – Protect 'Yoon Si-ae' while defeating monsters has been completed!]
[Character, 'Yoon Si-ae's skills have been added to the Selection Slot!]
I had cleared the Opportunity Mission.
Of course I had — she hadn't fought at all, leaving me to handle everything.
And I found myself grateful to Yong Sang-jae again.
Sang-jae, thank you.
Without your Frost Creation, I'd be dead already.
Never thought an ice club would be this efficient.
And Steadfast Will is amazing too.
If it were only "I must clear this," the condition wouldn't have triggered.
But since Yoon Si-ae was here, it became "I must protect her," and the will to defend another activated Steadfast Will.
Yeah. Just her being here is a kind of help.
Without it, I might have collapsed already. That toughness increased my basic stamina too.
Finally—
I gripped the ice club tighter and stopped in front of the last chamber.
A drake statue with its jaws open.
I'd seen the picture during research.
This was the entrance to the final chamber.
We'd actually made it.
Now the real problem begins.
Annihilation dungeons were hard because of the final room.
Unlike the other two dungeon types, here you had to kill the dungeon's ruler.
Alright. Once we clear this, it's practically over.
The previous monsters hadn't been that difficult.
The average difficulty was more like B-rank, despite the dungeon being rated A.
With Sang-jae's S-rank skill and my steady training, I'd managed so far.
But the problem was the next one.
The Skull Drake.
The reason this dungeon was classified as A-rank.
A massive, powerful boss, incomparable to the other monsters.
Beating the Skull Drake with just me alone? Impossible.
Alone, impossible.
But I wasn't alone.
I had Yoon Si-ae.
I glanced at her.
"Yoon Si-ae."
"I-I'm sorry. I really haven't been any help…."
"No, just not retiring already makes you helpful."
Not a lie.
If she had been knocked out, my exam would've ended there.
And—
[89/100]
Just to be sure, I checked again.
The boss room had one Skull Drake and ten underlings. That made the numbers match exactly.
So everything outside is cleared.
Alright, time to put on a calm face.
"Yoon Si-ae, your Wing and Feather Sword skills…"
"Yes?"
"You also had two more, right?"
She nodded.
Ten years as a reporter had taught me the value of acting clueless even when you already knew.
"What are the other two?"
"One's a barrier, and the other's Gate Open."
"…Gate Open?"
"If it's within my line of sight, I can open a gate to it."
Wait, what? Isn't that broken?
Opening a gate to anywhere in sight? That had to be Temporary Gate.
Why the hell wasn't that S-rank?
"The gate stays open for ten seconds. But it's one-way only, and I can only use it once because of restrictions…."
Ah, I understood immediately.
"And the barrier?"
"It's a shock-absorbing shield."
Are you kidding me?
If she had that, shouldn't she have used it earlier when I was fighting?
She'd just been hoarding it?
At my expression, Yoon Si-ae looked guilty and turned her eyes away.
"Um, it can only be used once too…."
"..."
I was speechless.
Out of four skills, two were one-time use, and the other two were practically useless.
And this was supposed to be the future Silver Wing?
Yeah, before her "Limit Release," she's pretty underwhelming.
Her true Blessing skill must appear after that.
For now, all she had were situational utilities.
"…It's fine. It's fine."
I forced a smile and nodded.
No need to get angry. She was only seventeen. Why take it out on her?
She's probably more frustrated than anyone.
Besides, we'd already come this far.
Once we cleared this last room, my admission was set.
And objectively, she would one day be revered as a savior. Making ties with her wasn't bad at all.
And those one-time skills might be more useful than they looked.
One-time gate and one-time shield.
If I linked them with my empty slots, one of them could even be used twice.
Plus, I knew the Skull Drake's weak point.
The real challenge started now.
"Yoon Si-ae, you know, my skill has its limits."
"Limits?"
"Yes. All I can make are weapons."
"Then to kill this dungeon's ruler…"
"We'll need a single, overwhelming strike to overturn everything."
What we needed was a finishing move strong enough to kill the Skull Drake in one blow.
Looking at our current skills:
Frost Creation, Temporary Gate, Veil of Light.
Silver Wings and Feather Sword existed, but they were practically useless here.
So the plan had to be made with those three.
And Yoon Si-ae already knew the answer to that "finishing move."
"Um…"
"Yes?"
"The dungeon boss… it's probably a Drake, right?"
I nodded.
The Skull Drake was the final boss.
Since this was the Graveyard of the Drake, and no drake-type monsters had appeared yet, it was an obvious guess.
"Then I have it."
"…Have what?"
I tilted my head, feigning ignorance.
That kind of poker face was second nature to me from my reporter days.
"A single overwhelming strike. Or to put it simply… a finishing move."
Yes, she had it.
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