I Killed the Player of the Academy

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  “But if they are this soft, they explode easily.
Look!”

 

  As soon as Marie added mana into the stone, it rapidly began to brighten up and expand in size as if it was going to explode any time soon.

 

  “You have to throw it before it explodes!”

 

  She skilfully threw the inflating manastone at the target.

 

  – Pop!

 

  The manastone popped with a loud burst of noise like popcorn in a microwave.
Because of its soft texture, the explosion resembled that of a water balloon rather than a grenade as it splattered mana into its surroundings.

 

  “Hoh… 80 points.
Looks like you’re quite good at this, Miss!”

 

  The manastone thrown by Marie had a very minuscule amount of explosion range, and the remains of her mana did not escape the boundary of the target.

 

  It was like a game of hit-the-target with water balloons.
Throw-a-manastone was about how accurately and powerfully you could hit the target, while trying to make sure the remains of the mana wouldn’t leave the target area.

 

  Well, it was a mini-game with those settings that was playable in the game where the explosion range of the bomb would either increase or decrease depending on the accuracy adjustment level of the character.

 

  The interesting thing about this… was that the ones thrown by Park Sihu and me in the last iteration had different effects.

 

  “Let me try it.”

 

  I added mana to the manastone I received from Marie.

 

  “Korin! It’s about to explode! Hurry up and throw it!”

 

  “Come on buddy! Throw it quick!”

 

  Despite the rushing voices of Marie and the boss, I continued concentrating my mana into it.
Like a water bomb with too much water, the manastone continued expanding in size. 

 

  I then tossed it using my fingers.
The skills that I gained through my javelin and stone-throwing experiences meant my accuracy was close to 100% in a small mini-game court like this.

 

  – Kwang!

 

  The manastone popped right in front of the target.
Even though I put in a lot more mana than Marie, the range of the explosion was even smaller than hers.

 

  “9, 95 points…”

 

  Good.
This much was good enough.
Even though I was just a sub-player, it seemed that I was still receiving the accuracy adjustment of the system. 

 

  The explosion range of the ‘festival-use faulty manastones’ would decrease with higher accuracy, and the explosion range would expand the lower your accuracy rating was.
Using this feature, some people even put on all sorts of debuff items and spells to create ‘0% accuracy’ and increase the explosion range to 100 meters.

 

  Seriously, gamers have nothing better to do, do they? And yes, that’s right.
I had nothing better to do.

 

  “Uncle.”

 

  “H, huh?”

 

  “Sell all these manastones here to me.”

 

  “W, what?”

 

  “I’ll give you twice the money.”

 

  I took out a purse of gold coins on the spot and handed it over to the boss.

 

  “Korin.
Why did you buy all that?”

 

  “They’ll come in handy one day.
And Senior Marie, you said you had to see Ferghus that old man before your individual event, right?”

 

  “Nn! I have to get my staff and my protective robe repaired.”

 

  “Tell him Korin Lork is calling him, and make him come looking for me right away.
He has work to do.”

  

  “???”

 

  “Oh right, and also, the one taking care of carriage transportation in Merkarva is one of the companies under Dunareff right?”

 

  “Yes.
What about it though?”

 

  “Can you get me the timetable for carriages?”

 

  “Korin…”

 

  Marie squinted her eyes after hearing my consecutive requests.

 

  “Are you scheming something strange again?”

 

  “Huhu.
How did you figure it out?”

 

  “I can look at your face and see everything~!”

 

  “It is time for ‘him’ to come back.”

 

  “‘Him’?”

 

  She blinked her eyes in puzzlement.

 

  ****

 

  “Come.”

 

  Hua Ran slowly lifted her head and looked at her three visitors.

 

  Kang Ryun, Kang Yuhua, Sa Jinhyuk.

 

  The reason the three people from Purple Hawk Academy were here was to move her to a hotel in the outskirts of the city.

 

  With her body tightly bound up in ‘Chains of Zeon’, she had to go through a humiliating experience where Sa Jinhyuk carried her on his shoulder.

 

  The pretext was that Kang Ryun would be making talismans in his workshop that could act as replacements for the ones that used to be sealing her.

 

  Talismans made to restrict the movement of a jiangshi required the use of several special materials.

 

  A yellow paper made with a mix of a jiangshi’s skin, and ink made with the blood of a black dog.
On top of that, the spiritualist had to write a letter on the talisman and cast a spell, so even the first-rate spiritualists had to do it with care under the best conditions.

 

  However, he was far away from his actual workshop, so while renting a hotel at the outskirts of the city for the students, Kang Ryun had created a temporary workshop there in preparation for the formation that he would be using in the upcoming group event.

 

  He was trying to take Hua Ran to that temporary workshop using the excuse that he needed to carry out the restricting ritual there after gathering the right materials.

 

  “Get on the carriage,” said Kang Ryun as Sa Jinhyuk got on the carriage with Hua Ran on his shoulder. 

 

  Kang Yuhua and Kang Ryun got on after him.

 

  “Yuhua.”

 

  “Yes, Uncle.”

 

  That was when Yuhua suddenly grabbed the chained and immobilized Hua Ran by the chin and opened her mouth, as Kang Ryun tossed something inside.

 

  “Uhhk…!”

 

  By the time Hua Ran realized that it was a piece of wood, her insides started burning from pain.
Her body turned powerless and lethargic, like the time when she was ‘ordered to stay still’.

 

  The chains that were restricting every one of her limbs loosened up and started gently resting on her body.

 

  Because of her neutralization, the chains didn’t even have enough aura to absorb.

 

  “Wow~”

 

  Seeing that Hua Ran had been immediately neutralized, Jinhyuk curiously asked Kang Ryun.

 

  “What was that thing just then, master?”

 

  “A wooden board made by cutting a peach tree.
It is the natural enemy of jiangshis.”

 

  “So now…”

 

  Can I kill it now then? That was what his eyes were suggesting but after reading that thought of his, Kang Ryun turned to him with a sharp glare.

 

  “Don’t even think about it.
Even the peach tree is only going to lead to symptoms of a flu for a jiangshi of this level.
Do not look down on jiangshis that have reached the status of a ‘Heavenly Yaksha’.
It’s possible for them to turn into a ‘Hou’1 at any moment.
They might become monsters that are even worse than dragons.”

 

  “Tch.”

 

  “Hyuk, remember.
Our goal is to take that wicked thing away from Ran, and not kill her,” reminded Yuhua.

 

  “I know I know.”

 

  Yuhua said to Jinhyuk, but Hua Ran was the one who reacted the most.
She asked with a pale face.

 

  “What do you… mean by that?”

 

  “It is as we said, Hua.
Uncle Kang Ryun will rip you away from Ran’s body.”

  “I, if you do that…!”

 

  “You will definitely be eradicated after losing your body, or turn into a demonic spirit at best.”

 

  “T, this body…!”

 

  “It is clearly not yours.
Don’t you know that yourself?”

 

  Facing Hua Ran who was now sweating profusely due to consuming a part of a peach tree, Yuhua replied with a glare that contained not a hint of her usual gentleness.

 

  “We will retrieve Ran from you.
Do you think you have the right to obtain that body as the one who killed countless poor souls?”

 

  “I…”

 

  Hua Ran was still hesitating about her response as the carriage approached the walls.

 

  “Master.
We are almost there.”

 

  “Right.
Let’s quickly go to the workshop and deal with—!!”

 

  – Dung dududu dung dung! Dung dung!

 

  – KIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT!!!!!

 

  – U, uaahkk! What the heckk!

 

  The driver driving the carriage yelled as a massive carriage suddenly drove into the one carrying Kang Ryun and his group.

 

  – Kajik! Kajijijik!

 

  – Creaaaaakk!!

 

  The two carriages crashed into each other at full force, and the one that collapsed with a deafening thud was the one carrying Kang Ryun.

 

  “That’s right! Boss, what do we do now?”

 

  “Huhahahaha! Take everything valuable!”

 

  It was the typical line of bandits, but after an eye contact with the leader of the bandits behind the opened doors, Hua Ran couldn’t help but widen her eyes.

 

  “You…”

 

  The man had red eyes and a characteristic ponytail.
Even though he was wearing a mask, there was no way she could mistake him as someone else.

 

  “Oi oi! We have a bishoujo2’ here!”

 

  “Huh?”

 

  “We’re in luck today! Boys! We’re taking this girl with us!”

 

  “Yes! Boss!”

 

  The masked man quickly picked up Hua Ran and left the collapsed carriage.

 

  “Yuhua! Jinhyuk!”

 

  After quickly coming to himself, Kang Ryun called his two disciples and the two warriors quickly jumped out of the fallen carriage to chase after the bandits, but—

 

  ❰Water Bomb❱

 

  Water Bombs had been installed in front of their path and the overwhelming pressure of water bounced the two back.

 

  “Kuhk… a mage? Hyuk! Find out where the mage…!”

 

  “They’re on one of the roofs! I don’t know which building they’re in! First, we have to hurry up and take that bitch…!”

 

  ❰Blood Realm❱

 

  Before the two could come up with their next course of action, a crimson barrier appeared around them and the Blood Realm successfully separated the three of them from the mounted bandits.

 

  “What’s this?”

 

  “A barrier?”

 

  They did not know what it was.
Since it belonged to a vampire, which was already unique among demi-humans, and since a Blood Realm was a skill that could only be used by Vampire Elders and above, they were bound to be unfamiliar with the ability.

 

  “Huhahaha! A successful operation, boss!”

 

  “This much is enough! Let’s go!”

 

  “Let’s go!!!”

 

  That was the mighty return of Immortan Lork.

 

  ………

 

  ……

 

  …

 

  ‘Mhmm…’

 

  Marie, who helped Korin by isolating the three people from Purple Hawk with her Blood Realm, was caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events.

 

  “Wasn’t expecting… someone to be able to break the Blood Realm…”

 

  Her original plan was to lock them inside for at least 1 hour, but the three had done something to the barrier.

 

  To be exact, it was Kang Ryun who did something.

 

  He unfolded his fan with a flick as an article of a tortoise with a snake head on its tail and an article of a white tiger floated out by themselves, as they then created a small hole on the barrier.

 

  “Yuhua.”

 

  “I will go find them for sure.”

 

  Marie quickly repaired her Blood Realm in surprise but Kang Yuhua was able to escape from the barrier using that short moment.

 

  She couldn’t do anything else here, because Korin had made it exceptionally clear that she couldn’t openly do anything to them.

 

  ‘Korin… Be careful.’

 

  ****

 

  “What was that?”

 

  After hearing an urgent report from one of the security officers of Merkarva, Josephine asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

 

  “A, a student has been kidnapped!”

 

  “…Which student, and by who?”

 

  “About 5 minutes ago, a group of mysterious mounted bandits attacked the carriage carrying the VIPs of Purple Hawk, and kidnapped a student called Hua Ran!”

 

  “…”

 

  Josephine sent the security officer away and collapsed onto the seat of the Senior Professor’s office.

 

  “What the hell is he doing?”

 

  That was her first time swearing in the last 35 years.