Chapter 11: The First Crisis (1)

“Please don’t leave those children. Because all the teachers so far have left within a few days, the children must have many emotional scars.”

I had known this since hearing Seong Taeyoon’s words.

The lifeless, expectationless look in their eyes.

“I won’t leave.”

Satisfied with my response, the principal pulled out an unfamiliar object.

It looks like a bracelet… but I can feel mana from it!

Feeling mana from an object meant one thing.

An artifact!

“This is a gift from me.”

Anyone would salivate and eagerly accept it.

I, too, briefly felt the urge to take it.

After taking a deep breath, I pushed the artifact back toward the principal.

“…I’ll accept your kindness, but I haven’t done anything worthy of receiving such a valuable item.”

Nothing in this world comes for free.

I didn’t know what kind of favor he might ask if I accepted such a precious artifact.

“Haha, nothing, you say? Just playing with my granddaughter is more than enough to deserve it.”

Wait, granddaughter?

The only young girl was Shin Ahyeon.

Come to think of it, the principal’s name was Shin Hantae.

I never imagined they were granddaughter and grandfather.

Unable to believe it, I kept staring at the principal’s face.

The principal burst into hearty laughter.

“I often hear we don’t look alike.”

On closer inspection, he did resemble Shin Ahyeon a bit.

Their round eyes were almost identical.

“I heard from the villagers that you, Kim Onyu, protected a child from a hunter. This is both a token of gratitude and an investment. I hope you’ll take it and protect the children.”

“…Then I’ll gratefully accept it.”

It wouldn’t be polite to keep refusing, right?

Plus, I couldn’t let an artifact slip away right in front of me, could I?

+++
Name: Bracelet of Nemean
Grade: B-Class
Description: Once a day, it can create a shield that repels any attack. Can be used on another person.
+++

The bracelet fit my wrist perfectly.

When I saw its abilities, my jaw almost dropped.

What caught my eye was the phrase “any attack.”

If the theory holds, that meant it could even deflect an S-rank attack.

If used properly, its power would be immense.

Just as I was admiring it, a familiar system window appeared in the air.

[Warning]

I froze as the system window popped up.

From past experience, I knew what this meant.

Just like during the Han Yu-seong dungeon incident, the system only issued warnings when there was a direct threat to the children’s lives.

[An intruder has entered the school.]

[Emergency Quest: Defeat the intruder and protect the children.]

What is with this place and constant emergencies!?

“Mr. Kim On-yu, is something wrong? You don’t look well.”

“Principal… I think something terrible has happened to the children.”

The principal shot up from his seat.

“What did you say!?”

“Sorry, there’s no time to explain.”

I bolted out of the principal’s office and began to run. I had to get there before the intruder reached the kids.

Thankfully, despite the sudden situation, the principal trusted me and followed closely behind.

‘Who could be targeting the school!?’

These kids may grow up to be amazing talents, but right now—they’re just children.

Who would want to harm them?

I sprinted down the corridor, passing empty classrooms.

Just a bit further now—the classroom where the children were.

Before I arrived, a powerful energy wave shook the entire classroom with a loud “whoosh!”

Even from outside, it was strong enough to knock me back.

Shards of broken glass littered the floor.

“Kids!!”

Damn it.

The intruder got to them first.

The dust gradually settled, and my vision cleared.

The kids were lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

Desks and furniture were completely destroyed.

At the center of it all stood a red-haired man—the one responsible for everything.

I didn’t know who he was.

But the principal did.

“Iblis…!”

The man called Iblis lit up when he heard his name.

“It’s been a while, Principal.”

★★★

Ten minutes earlier

“Haa… Why did the principal have to show up now of all times…”

Kim Seogeon sighed heavily and messed up his hair in frustration.

Unlike the other adults, the principal was someone they were actually grateful to.

‘But that gratitude came with way too much attention!’

Hugging them was standard, and he’d always look at them with an intense gaze.

Acting like a delinquent in front of the principal was impossible.

“Shin Ahyeon! Did you know the principal was coming!?”

“…No.”

Kim Seo-geon couldn’t hide his shock.

It didn’t make sense that she didn’t know her own grandfather was coming.

“No wonder I had a bad feeling when I went to bed last night.”

It didn’t seem like a lie.

Shin Ahyeon buried her face in her arms.

Ultimately, it was she who had to bear the weight of the principal’s overwhelming affection.

“But the principal’s still a good person, right? He always brings us lots of presents.”

Seong Tae-yoon quickly came to his defense.

“Do you really think that? Don’t you remember how the principal acts every time he sees us?”

Of course they remembered.

Whenever their eyes met, the principal would show an overwhelming amount of affection.

At first, it was okay.

But over time, that affection became suffocating.

They still remembered it clearly—

The time they were playing soccer and the principal was secretly watching them from the bushes.

“…So creepy.”

Thinking back to that time, Kim Seogeon shuddered.

What once was a heavy affection had now become a burden.

“Uh… but still, he must be a good person… probably….”

He was no longer certain.

‘One more thing to deal with…’

Meanwhile, Han Yuseong furrowed his brow.

He briefly took out the artifact and rolled it around in his hand.

Something felt off.

An orc’s evolution—something that hadn’t occurred in any of the previous cycles.

A suspicious teacher whose memory had faded with time.

‘Could it all really be just a coincidence?’

Something was going wrong—seriously wrong.

There was no doubt that a crack had formed in the once smoothly-turning wheel of fate.

Han Yuseong gripped the artifact tightly.

‘I’ll need to move up the plan. To proceed, I might have no choice but to use the teacher.’

He had to go to Seoul.

He needed to bring over to his side an S-rank blacksmith—someone who would one day craft weapons for the Hunters.

“Anyway, before the teacher gets here…”

It was the usual classroom scene, nothing out of the ordinary.

But Han Yuseong felt a momentary sense of unease.

The buzzing of insects and cries of animals that usually filled the background had ceased.

And he wasn’t the only one who felt it.

Sung Taeyoon and Yoon Cheonwoo also wore stiff expressions.

“Damn it, everyone get down!”

Crash—!

At that moment, the windows shattered and someone came in.

Han Yuseong instinctively swung a chair at the intruder.

But the chair wasn’t just blocked—it crumbled effortlessly in the intruder’s hands.

“You’ve got good instincts, huh?”

Han Yuseong immediately knew who the intruder was.

‘Why the hell is he here!’

It was Iblis, an S-rank Hunter from the Sataniel Guild.

A vicious man known for constant interference and the slaughter of hundreds—earning his the name Wizard of Massacre.

“That face… you know me, don’t you?”

Iblis looked at him with crazed eyes.

Of course he knew him.

In every past cycle, the one who killed Iblis was Han Yuseong himself.

Anyone who caught his interest—he killed them slowly.

That was his nature.

As a regressor, Han Yuseong was a particularly fascinating target for him.

He interfered constantly, and every time, he was the one who ended his life.

“First Order: Holy Chain.”

Chains of light shot up from the ground and wrapped tightly around Iblis.

“Huh? Never seen this spell before.”

The one casting the magic was Sung Taeyoon.

He was trembling, barely able to maintain the spell.

It was a spell that shouldn’t be possible in a child’s body.

He had forcibly cast it using the karma of his past life.

‘He won’t last long…’

Blood welled up in Sung Taeyoon’s mouth from mana backlash.

“Everyone, get out of the classroom!”

At Han Yuseong’s shout, the students scrambled to escape.

“You’re leaving already? But I thought we could play. That makes me a little sad.”

Magic pulsed at Iblis’s fingertips. A monstrous S-rank mana.

It surged like a wave, shaking the classroom.

Thick smoke engulfed the room.

This was all a game to him.

He was just enjoying himself.

Han Yuseong and the others began collapsing one by one.

Even with a regressed body, he couldn’t withstand S-rank mana.

‘Why is Iblis even here?!’

He wasn’t supposed to appear for several more years.

This was far earlier than expected.

“Let’s see… the one I’m taking with me is… ah, there she is.”

Iblis’s eyes locked onto Shin Ahyeon.

‘Even if the date has changed, the goal remains the same.’

Before regression, the school had collapsed—primarily because Iblis was targeting Shin Ahyeon.
The timing had moved up.

He had to stop Iblis from taking her.

His mind was fading.

His body, slammed to the ground and struck in the head, wouldn’t move.

Just before his vision was swallowed by darkness, Han Yuseong saw it:

“Guys!”

Kim On-yu was entering the classroom.

★★★

“Long time no see, Principal.”

“What are you doing here?”

They looked like they knew each other.

What is the principal’s true identity?!

Ever since he had handed over that precious artifact, Han Yuseong had suspected he wasn’t ordinary.
But that didn’t matter right now.

The familiar, powerful mana—seen over many years—was leaking from Iblis.

No doubt about it.

Iblis was an S-rank Hunter.

“You already know why I’m here, right? I’m here to take your precious granddaughter.

And you know, of course, that an old man like you can’t stop me.”

His goal was clearly Shin Ahyeon.

And the reason was clear.

She was a child blessed by the gods.

Any guild that knew about that would covet her power.

“Stop this. What has a child ever done wrong?”

The principal’s lips trembled with rage like a trembling leaf.

I glanced sideways at the children.

Thankfully, they were only unconscious from Iblis’s mana. They were safe—for now.

“You know I don’t care about such things. I’ll be taking the principal’s granddaughter now.”

Iblis reached out his hand toward Shin Ahyeon.

Crackle.

A transparent barrier blocked his hand.

“A barrier?”

In that moment of confusion, I rushed at him.

An E-rank Hunter rushing at an S-rank?

That was nothing short of suicide.

It was David versus Goliath.

‘I can do it. Using the shared sensory technique I gained in the orc dungeon, I can somewhat replicate Han Yuseong’s fighting style…’

The problem?

Even if I knew the technique, my physical stats were still E-rank.

“Are you trying to entertain me now?”

Iblis drew a dagger from his waist.

It was no ordinary dagger—etched with red sigils.

He swung it toward my neck.

The intent was clear: he meant to sever it completely.

But daggers have short reach.

I kicked off the ground and leapt back, activating Baal’s Eye.

My body scattered like smoke.

“He vanished?”

Iblis turned his head in all directions but couldn’t find me.

It must’ve looked like I’d vanished from the world.

Even High Orcs couldn’t detect me with this artifact.

‘Even against an S-rank, this should buy me a few seconds of confusion!’

As Iblis turned his body clockwise, a sharp blade grazed his cheek.

Blood streamed down his face.

‘Even if he can’t see, this is S-rank intuition, huh…’

Originally, that blow was meant to be fatal.

But he had turned just before the blade struck—a terrifying survival instinct.

Still, I drew blood. He should be hurting.

But Iblis was different.

He burst into a mad, delighted laugh—enjoying it even more.