"Silence!"

A sound infused with mana spread through the noisy crowd below, instantly silencing everyone and drawing their attention to the professor standing on the academy hall's platform.

The professor scanned the students for a few moments, then gave a small nod and began to speak again.

"As everyone knows what we're about to face… it's the dungeon — a place filled with countless dangerous monsters. Our duty as humans in this world is to protect it from those damned creatures. Although it may be quite dangerous for students like you, there's no need to worry. The professors have already arranged and chosen suitable dungeons for each of you."

"Moreover, the dungeon holds many treasures for those who truly put their lives on the line in battle. And for the lucky ones, perhaps a chance to stumble upon rare rewards — though I hope most of you will earn yours through real effort. A fighter can only grow through countless battles."

The professor glanced over the students again, his voice rising with energy.

"Also, you'll be given badges that record the marks of monsters you've defeated. Here's my advice: try to kill as many as you can, because the one who sets a new record will receive a great reward from the Principal. The rest of you can still use your badges to exchange for academy items — of course, the quality depends on how many monsters you've slain."

He blinked once, gesturing for the other professors to hand out the badges to each student.

"And one more thing — you'll be forming teams. I've already arranged them, so just follow the assignments."

***

"Damn it! I hate teams."

Carl sighed, glancing at the people standing nearby — a tough-looking guy, a gentle-faced man, and, worst of all, a girl.

He never thought that damned professor would throw together a team like this. None of them looked like normal humans. Ever since they stepped into the Rank-E dungeon, not a single word had been exchanged.

It was obvious they could never cooperate properly.

Unluckily, they had also gotten completely separated from the other groups right after entering the dungeon. That was unusual — all students were supposed to appear close together upon entry.

This was a Rank-E dungeon. Even though it lay within the academy's territory, no single student could handle it alone against a horde of monsters.

"Damn it, we'll get torn to pieces if we can't find the others," Carl muttered, worry flickering across his face.

After about ten minutes, the gentle-looking man finally spoke up.

"Everyone, I think we need to talk. We're in a pretty bad situation."

Carl shrugged and walked closer to him. He had no reason to refuse — honestly, they should've done that the moment they arrived, not now.

The tough guy glared at Carl for a few seconds, then smiled and greeted,

"Hello, crippled heir of the Ryan family."

Carl just sighed as usual. Again, he had to deal with another idiot. Trouble always seemed to find him. Still, Carl understood his situation, so he kept quiet. He would wait for the right moment.

Carl was a killer who followed discipline.

"Gibbs, you shouldn't act like that. Right now, we need everyone's effort to get out of this situation and regroup with the main team to clear the dungeon."

"You're right, Jordan." The green-haired girl, Melinda, nodded, shooting Gibbs a hostile look before turning to Jordan with gentle eyes. Then she glanced coldly at Carl and asked,

"Do you have any suggestions?"

Carl rubbed his chin, studying the students in front of him. They seemed to know each other well — probably classmates.

In contrast, Carl didn't know any of them. Worse, he guessed they all knew him, since his reputation was too well-known among the students.

He blinked and activated his skill.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Age]: 16

[Class]: Stoker

[Rank]: E

[Soul Rank]: ★★★

Skills: Aura of Suppression (Rank C) / Breath Flame (Rank E) / Swordsmanship (Rank E) …

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

When he turned his skill on the others, their stats didn't seem any different.

"Hey! She's asking you! Why didn't you answer her? Don't you know it's rude to ignore her?"

Jordan grimaced and quickly stepped forward, reaching to grab Carl's collar. His behavior was completely different from the calm attitude he showed earlier.

Carl clicked his tongue, caught Jordan's hand midair, and twisted it — a sharp yell echoed through the place.

Honestly, Carl was a bit confused by how insane this so-called gentle guy was. All that just because Carl didn't answer a girl's question?

"Are you trying to flirt with her by attacking me?" Carl smirked, then swiftly kicked Jordan in the face, sending a few teeth and splashes of blood flying.

Immediately, Carl sensed a sneak attack from behind. He was sure that tough guy had been waiting for a chance to strike ever since Jordan started the fight.

"How cowardly."

Carl scoffed and made a motion of his fingers. In the next instant, Gibbs was completely trapped by Carl's mana threads from behind.

"You bastard! Let me go!" Gibbs roared, struggling to break free from the invisible strands coiling around his body. But the more strength he used, the tighter — and more painful — they became.

Carl just chuckled at the absurd scene. He obviously had no intention of hurting them, but for some reason — or maybe because their brains were defective — they all decided to attack him without a reason.

He could kill both of them in an instant if he wanted to. However, things were… complicated. Especially inside the academy. He still had many things to take care of.

"What's wrong with you guys? Do you really think I'm someone you can bully like a bunch of trash cans?"

"Please, Lord Carl, have mercy!" Melinda quickly spoke up before her friends could take any more wounds.

Carl shrugged and slowly relaxed his fingers, returning the mana thread to its original form. Gibbs collapsed to the ground, groaning in agony after enduring its torment.

Even so, Carl wasn't good at talking with girls. He simply gave her a glance, hoping she was smart enough to understand what it meant.

"Surprisingly, she's smarter than her stupid friends," he muttered under his breath.

Carl sat down on a nearby stone, waiting for his comrades to recover from their injuries.

In the meantime, a faint yet familiar sound rang in his ears.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

[Side Quest]:

– Investigate the temple of the Stoker class.

Reward: ??

– Join the student council.

Reward: ??

– Kill 10 Cursed Goblins (0/10)

"Cursed goblins? That sounds weird… I've never heard of goblins like that before."

Carl rubbed his chin, trying to recall what he'd read about the creatures on his system screen.

"Do you have any advice for me… my wife?"

…

"My wife?"

Carl gulped and called out again.

"M-My wife?"

Nothing happened. Silence.

A bad feeling crept into his chest. Something terrifying was about to happen in this dungeon.

If he couldn't reach his wife, there could only be two reasons:

First, his system had a major error.

Second, the dungeon itself had a serious problem.

He quickly dismissed the first one—he could still talk to his wife perfectly fine outside the dungeon. But ever since he entered this place, her responses had grown faint.

So in the end, it was clear: this dungeon had a serious problem.

That was fine. For Carl, being able to talk to his wife through the system was more important than anything else.

No matter who he faced, this dungeon was deadly.

"Sigh… so that explains why my team got separated from the main group."

Carl let out a breath and gathered his thoughts before deciding on his next move. Finally, he came to a conclusion.

"I'd rather go alone… but in this situation, that's not a good idea."

He half-opened his eyes, glancing at his comrades ahead with a bored, tired look.

Rising to his feet, Carl slowly approached them.

It was the logical move—he could use them to make it through this dungeon and whatever dangers came next. But first, he had to pretend to cooperate. Unfortunately, the only smart one among them was the girl—someone he could hardly talk to normally.

"It's a waste of time explaining things to a pair of stupid, perverted idiots."

Carl spoke flatly, but his words were clearly aimed at the two guys, not the girl.

"As for the earlier question… I suggest we cooperate. This dungeon's situation is serious."

Jordan looked at Carl with wary eyes, then clenched his teeth in confusion. He didn't say much.

Meanwhile, Gibbs chuckled.

"With you? NEVER."

Carl shrugged. Brainless people like Gibbs were exactly the type he hated working with—reckless, hot-headed, and a total burden to the team.

He gave Melinda a quick glance.

Without hesitation, she nodded.

"I don't refute."

Carl quietly nodded back and turned toward the cave's path. Without another word, he started walking forward. Whoever wanted to cooperate would follow. No need to waste breath.

"I don't like him," Jordan muttered, grimacing as he watched Carl's back disappear into the shadows.

Melinda sighed and looked at her classmate. She didn't understand why Carl refused to talk to her—maybe he hated women, or maybe it was something else.

But it didn't matter. As long as they could survive this dungeon, everything would be fine.

"We should follow him."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.