It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 34

Chapter 34: How a Second-Place Science Student Clears a Dungeon (2)

Kim Bu-ha asked as he poured sweet and sour sauce over his food.

“Team Leader.”

“Yeah.”

“What the heck is that 『Venom Grimoire』 you can get from the unique dungeon that’s causing such a stir?”

“What, you didn’t know?”

“No. I just heard it’s a crazy skill book, haha.”

“Oh, my god……”

The team leader continued, staring at the drenched sweet and sour pork with displeasure.

“Do you know what the most terrible weapon was during the world wars? Excluding nuclear weapons.”

“Hmm…… Tanks? Fighter jets?”

“Both were great weapons that changed the tide of war. But the most vicious and terrifying weapon was poison gas.”

Poison gas.

A weapon optimized for incapacitating enemy forces, causing fainting, abnormal behavior, and death simply by inhaling or being exposed to it.

Aside from its actual lethality, the psychological shock and fear that soldiers at the time experienced because of poison gas is said to have been immense.

Its power remains formidable even in modern times.

Known as the poor man’s nuclear weapon, dozens of countries around the world, including North Korea, possessed it.

The first thing the team leader learned in boot camp in his 20s was the danger of chemical weapons possessed by North Korea.

Now that the regime has collapsed, they’ve all been disposed of, but that’s how it was back then.

“But in fantasy games like World, isn’t it treated like a crappy skill used by villains? With status ailment resistance or a high-level cure from a healer, you can counter everything.”

“That’s true for typical poison skills. But here, we need to look at the setting of ‘Sever’ who compiled this Venom Grimoire and created the Contaminated Underground Villa.”

“Sever?”

“Yeah. His setting can be summarized in two ways: First, he’s a water wizard obsessed with research and experiments. When people think of water magic, they usually think of healing, buffs, and other positive aspects, but he was a negative water wizard specializing in poison.”

All magic attributes in World are divided into yin and yang.

The criteria are sometimes clear and sometimes ambiguous, and many professors at the Fairy-Elven Magic Academy are still debating it, but think of it this way:

If the ability seems good, it’s positive, and if it seems bad, it’s negative.

So Water Shield is positive, and poison-related skills are negative.

“Ah, so that’s why the book Sever compiled is called Venom Grimoire. Then what’s the second setting?”

“That’s simple too. Sever was interested in ‘knowledge from another world,’ which no other wizard paid attention to, dismissing it as nonsense.”

“Knowledge from another world?”

“Real-world knowledge. When World was released to the players, Seolha Publishing brought in all the books they needed to create the library, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Sever became interested in that. Well, there were books from reality in World before that, but he became completely absorbed after that.”

“That’s interesting. But why did they set it up like that?”

“Just think of it as an experiment. If another world really exists, how would they react when they encounter knowledge or people they’ve never seen before? Have you ever imagined something like that?”

“Yes. I’ve read some novels, haha.”

“Right, there are many novels…… Anyway, it’s surprising, but these days, the humanities and science communities are doing a lot of research on this. I think our company’s research team is working on it too.”

“Ah, the research team is doing that too…”

The team leader and Kim Bu-ha savored the drenched sweet and sour pork for a moment.

The team leader thought that dipping wasn’t bad either, and spoke up.

“But something amazing came out of this experiment. Honestly, I was skeptical, but Sever invented something incredible. A bizarre magic that mixes magic and real-world knowledge.”

“Is that perhaps the 『Venom Grimoire』?”

“That’s right.”

A completely new discipline born from the union of magic and science.

That was the 『Venom Grimoire』.

“Wow, this is interesting. It’s totally like user Kyung-joon.”

“They are a bit similar. But it’s not the same. First of all, Sever failed, and user Kyung-joon succeeded.”

“Excuse me?”

User Kyung-joon succeeded, and Sever failed?

As Kim Bu-ha tilted his head in confusion, the team leader added an explanation.

“Contaminated Underground Villa. That’s the proof of failure. He was very knowledgeable in magic, but too naive about real-world knowledge. While completing the Venom Grimoire, he created a monster.”

“Don’t tell me that monster is the boss of Contaminated Underground Villa……?”

“Oh, what’s this? Kim Bu-ha is quick-witted today. Anyway, that boss can be considered the essence of Venom Grimoire.”

Incredibly potent poison.

A powerful toxicity that cannot be challenged by ordinary cures or purifications that priests have learned so far.

It was a poison from another world, reality, that could not be explained by magic or curses.

The operation team predicted that this poison could only be mitigated by rare-grade cures.

Even rankers would have a hard time dealing with that monster.

Poison that cannot be completely cured is very fatal.

What if Kyung-joon defeats that deadly boss and obtains the unique magic book 『Venom Grimoire』?

“If you plan your tactics well, you might be able to fight multiple rankers at once. And although it’s not yet decided, in the war content that will be updated in a few years, it will really show its fraudulent ability. Just like how poison gas caused a huge number of casualties during the world wars.”

“Is it that strong? That’s amazing……”

Kim Bu-ha’s legs trembled at the team leader’s explanation.

To be able to fight not just one, but multiple rankers at the same time.

Just how strong is it?

Seeing Kim Bu-ha’s reaction, the team leader chuckled and said something to ease the tension.

“But even if it’s user Kyung-joon, no one knows if he can defeat that boss. Who knows, he might not be able to clear it?”

As expected of a unique dungeon, the boss of Contaminated Underground Villa was on another level.

“But wouldn’t it be a problem if user Kyung-joon can’t clear it? Half of the NPCs in the Beginner’s Village will die……”

“It’s okay. The operation team has made a decision. If that happens, they’ll stuff everyone’s mailboxes with goodies to avoid complaints.”

The 18th trick game companies use to appease users’ complaints!

Giving out free stuff!

Even users angry about terrible game management can’t help but smile when they suddenly see 50,000 cash in their mailbox!

This is how game companies tame their users!

That’s when it happened.

[User Kyung-joon’s experience has increased by 4,231.]

[User Kyung-joon’s experience has increased by 4,633.]

[Level up!]

[User Kyung-joon’s experience has increased by 4,231.]

.

.

.

[Kyung-joon: Lv.65→Lv.66]

“Excuse me…… Team Leader? User Kyung-joon’s level went up from 19 to 66 in just one day, doesn’t it look like he’ll clear it no matter who sees it……? That’s a whopping 47 levels.”

“……I can do that much math too. Damn it……”

The team leader and Kim Bu-ha thought to themselves.

Forget Venom Grimoire and the boss of Contaminated Underground Villa, maybe the real monster was this user Kyung-joon.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

▼Sulfuric acid slime (Lv.143)

▼Crawling Yellow Chaos (Lv.149)

▼Yellow Jelly Snake (Lv.146)

All sorts of sulfuric acid monsters were swarming before his eyes.

The poisonous sulfuric acid gas they constantly emitted.

Thanks to Bangwool’s Water Shield, it wasn’t a problem, but his mana was slowly depleting.

This couldn’t go on.

[Unique skill 『Rain of Sodium Hydroxide (Lv.1)』 ]

Whooooosh!

Kyung-joon used a skill for the umpteenth time.

Rain of Sodium Hydroxide poured down, engulfing Kyung-joon and the surrounding area.

It didn’t cause any damage to Kyung-joon, who was protected by Water Shield.

“Kyaaa!”

“Squeal!”

“Grrr!”

However, sodium hydroxide was a truly terrible liquid for the sulfuric acid monsters.

As soon as the Rain of Sodium Hydroxide touched their yellow bodies, there was a sizzling sound! They simply turned into water.

The powerful, venomous monsters disappeared, transforming into ordinary, harmless water.

[Experience has increased by 4,066.]

[Experience has increased by 4,633.]

[Experience has increased by 4,231.]

.

.

.

Kyung-joon had already killed nearly a thousand sulfuric acid monsters this way.

The reason why this dungeon was originally difficult to clear was because of the endlessly respawning sulfuric acid monsters.

Sulfuric acid monsters constantly emerged from the contaminated ceiling, walls, and water.

Since neither cure nor purification worked properly, players had no choice but to engage in a war of attrition with them as they continued to appear.

Originally, this was how even rankers would be worn down by the time they reached the boss room, which was the concept of Contaminated Underground Villa.

However, this method didn’t work on Kyung-joon at all.

Every time he used his Unique skill Rain of Sodium Hydroxide, all the sulfuric acid monsters around him were instantly wiped out.

And that wasn’t all.

Even the contaminated walls, ceiling, and water were completely purified.

As the sulfuric acid-contaminated substances were washed away by the sodium hydroxide, they turned into clean water.

A clearing method that Kyung-joon would never have been able to achieve if he hadn’t studied chemistry diligently.

This was how the second-place science student cleared the dungeon.

[Level up!]

[Kyung-joon: Lv.66→Lv.67]

“Leveling up is really easy. I’ve played a lot of games, but this is the first time I’ve seen it this easy.”

<Wouldn’t it be the same anywhere if you were slaughtering hundreds of monsters over 100 levels higher than you?>

<-_-a;;>

It usually takes an average player six months to reach level 60-70.

For rankers, it takes about 3-4 months at the fastest.

Excluding the year before he got his Mythical Job, Kyung-joon actually only took one semester, 3-4 months.

Almost on par with rankers.

The important thing was that Kyung-joon wasn’t particularly trying to level up.

He was just playing the game to study, and the reason he was currently clearing the dungeon was to obtain the general chemistry book.

“It looks like the room beyond this door is the boss room.”

<Yes. I can sense an unusual energy from beyond the door.>

“Is the general chemistry book in there? I hope that boss didn’t damage the book.”

He was worried whether the book would be intact in this space filled with sulfuric acid.

<We’ll have to go in and check.>

“Yeah. Okay, let’s go in.”

Before entering, Kyung-joon asked Bangwool, who was covering his entire body, for a favor.

“Bangwool, just in case, use your maximum mana to strengthen the Water Shield.”

━Mumul!

He could feel a lot of mana draining from his body.

Instead, Bangwool’s Water Shield became even thicker.

His MP wasn’t lacking.

Thanks to his high mana and intelligence stats, his mana management efficiency was good.

In the first place, he could kill all the monsters with a single skill, and since his HP/MP was always full from leveling up, there was no way he could run out.

Creak.

The door to the boss room opened, and a thick, yellow gas seeped out.

Pushing aside the sulfuric acid mist and entering, he saw a giant, yellow liquid monster.

[Vitriol Acid]

▶A monster of super regeneration born from the coagulation and condensation of ultra-strong sulfuric acid and mana. The endless mana emanating from its core instantly transforms into deadly sulfuric acid, devastating its surroundings. It will regenerate indefinitely unless the core is destroyed.

▶Level: Lv.150

▶Attribute: Water

▶Characteristics: Boss Monster, Equipment Corrosion, Physical Attack Immunity, Explosion Upon Fire Attribute Damage, Super Regeneration

“Groooar….”

A bizarre roar.

Its massive body rippled, and sulfuric acid gas leaked out.

He picked up a nearby piece of rock and threw it as a test.

Chiiiiik!

The moment it touched, the rock melted away.

It was an unprecedentedly strong acid.

“Such strong acidity…… It’s amazing how the floor isn’t melting.”

<Some kind of magic is at work on the floor. The magic formula seems to be almost unique grade.>

“Did Siri’s father do this?”

<It’s likely. It’s a unique magic formula, but I sense the Fairy-Elven Magic Academy’s style in it.>

Siri from the old bookstore told him that her father, the owner of this Underground Villa, was a professor at the Fairy-Elven Magic Academy.

She didn’t explain why he quit being a professor, built an Underground Villa in a place like this, and why he left it to become like this.

“First, I need to catch that guy to find out about her father or find the general chemistry book.”

Kyung-joon focused his mana in his hand as he looked at Vitriol Acid.

[Unique skill 『Rain of Sodium Hydroxide (Lv.1)』 ]

Whooooosh!

A powerful alkaline rain poured down on the monster in front of him.

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