The Duke's Son :Re-Chapter 22

The students from Class A doubted their ears. A Class B student had helped in the battle? It wasn’t even funny.

He said it was Kang Jae-Hyeok, the Yaksha’s son?

A student thought, Perhaps Kim Jin-Myeong admires the Yaksha, so he’s trying to raise Kang Jae-Hyeok’s reputation?

Older people often praised the Yaksha’s past accomplishments. It wouldn’t be strange if the Yaksha’s son had a teacher sympathetic to him.

Hmph, what Yaksha? He’s just the father of terrorists. Thinking of Jin-Myeong’s obsession with that old has-been, the students from Class A inwardly laughed.

Then one of them explained, “Someone woke up the Leech King during training. Our teacher led us on a raid against it.”

“The Leech King!”

There was a commotion in the surroundings. The Leech King was a C-class boss monster. It wasn’t something that freshmen could handle.

Kim Jin Myeong sucked in a breath. “You mean he didn’t wait for support and raided it with just his students?”

“It's just a C-class boss monster. Is support needed? The average level of Class A is over 20. We also have two National Treasure candidates.”

With many generations of successful predecessors to look to, the pride of Class A had long since skyrocketed. It reached the level where the students belittled the teachers.

The first-year homeroom teachers were only B-class, after all. The students knew they would catch up to their teachers’ level by the time they reached their second school year. That much was expected. And by then, the professors in charge of them would be A-class players.

Naturally, Class A’s arrogance was always high.

And this year, they also had two National Treasure candidates among them, so they practically regarded themselves as a group of active players.

Kang Jae-Hyeok scoffed in disdain as he watched the situation. “Listen to yourself bragging. Anyone who heard would think that you’re actually the National Treasure candidate.”

“Looking at your smug face, are you Kang Jae-Hyeok?”

“Uh. Your faces are rotten. You can’t hide the rot, even with all that armor you’re wearing.”

“?”

“Apologize first. Where did you get the nerve to hold your head up so high when you caused such a big mess?”

Jae-Hyeok gestured to the students of Class B and Class C.

“Can’t you see that they are in a shabby state because of you?”

In truth, their shabby appearance had nothing to do with the Leech King. It was from rolling around in the swamp during their test. But in any case... being attacked by dozens of leeches while exhausted wasn’t a laughing matter.

It wouldn’t have been strange if there had been a serious accident.

The students of Class A didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation.

“Don’t exaggerate. You’re even worse than the rumors.”

“With how you're acting, anyone would mistake you for the precious heir of a prestigious noble family. Are you relying on the teachers to act like this? You can’t have a teacher by your side every hour of the day.”

They couldn’t understand Jae-Hyeok’s criticism.

There were two teachers.

Even if a few E-grade monsters came, the teachers would’ve been able to kill them and the students would’ve been safe.

They didn’t like Kang Jae-Hyeok, who complained as if finding fault with them.

The atmosphere was about to turn ugly when Kim Jin-Myeong suddenly stepped in. “I will penalize you with ten demerit points each.”

“...Huh? What did we do wrong?”

“Aren’t you threatening a student? And in front of a teacher at that. This is disrespecting the school rules and teachers. It’s reason enough to impose a penalty. Isn’t that right, Teacher Gu?”

“Ah... t-that’s right,” The teacher of Class C responded. He had ignored his conscience too many times today, so he felt he had to agree.

The students in Class A gritted their teeth when they received the demerit points.

They didn’t know that Kim Jin-Myeong had just protected them from being beaten up.

At that moment, a huge explosion sounded from the depths of the forest. It seemed there was a setback in the strategy to attack the Leech King.

“This! Go to the main building right away and ask for support! Teacher Gu, let’s go!”

Even a National Treasure candidate had to start from level 1. They had a time when they were newbies, just like anyone else, and freshman year was precisely that time.

Kim Jin-Myeong and Class C’s teacher rushed to the forest.

Jae-Hyeok and the other members of Class A followed them.

“Uh? Why is that person following?”

“Hey! Kang Jae-Hyeok! Ugh, you crazy bastard!”

The students in Class B were about to leave with Class C, only to turn back and see where Jae-Hyeok was going.

Having trained together daily, their camaraderie was stronger than they’d realized. In that moment, it was tested, and everyone in Class B rushed toward the forest to bring Kang Jae-Hyeok back.

***

The Leech King was a big monster that was ten meters in size, and from the moment it entered battle, it accumulated poison in its body. Its body would slowly swell with the building poison until reaching its limit. Then, it would explode, spraying out poison—flesh and acidic fluids—on its surroundings.

Class A’s strategy against the Leech King was simple: do enough damage during each cycle of poison accumulation to interrupt the attack and prevent it from exploding.

Unfortunately...

“It’s exploding!”

"Kuaaaack!"

The Class A teacher let out a terrible scream.

He was doused with the acidic liquid while trying to protect the students who hadn’t escaped from the range of the Leech King’s explosion.

His skin melted quickly.

The students paled at the terrible sight. Even the students whose lives were saved thanks to the teacher were unable to support him and became nauseous.

“Teacher!”

Amid the chaos, only Chae Da-Hee moved quickly.

She thrust her rapier, driving the pursuing Leech King back and rescuing the homeroom teacher.

However, the Leech King was tenacious. It wouldn’t let go of its prey easily.

[The flesh of the Leech King creates a poisonous swamp.]

[The Leech King infects its prey with acidic liquid.]

[The Leech King is preparing for the second explosion!]

The ground she stood on turned into a swamp in an instant.

Unlike ordinary swamps, it was a swamp that caused poisoning.

In addition, the acidic fluid that covered her homeroom teacher moved like a living creature and transferred to Da-Hee’s skin.

Da-Hee’s wrist melted down. There was a disgusting smell and smoke rose from it.

However, without making a single groan, she cut off the flesh affected by the acidic fluid.

It was a determination that was completely different from her usual personality.

“Potion! Give it to the teacher!” Da-Hee threw her homeroom teacher to the disgusted students and jumped out of the swamp.

The Leech King had become noticeably smaller after the first explosion, but it still recognized the humans in the field as trivial prey.

Da-Hee hadn’t jumped high due to the muddy ground, so she was still within the monster's range.

The Leech King extended from the swamp and attacked with a head butt to knock her back and keep her from getting close.

Da-Hee twisted her body in the air to dodge the Leech King’s lancing head. Then she repeatedly thrust her rapier into its philtrum.

By overlapping precise strikes on the same spot without errors, she induced the Weakness Exposure state on the Leech King.

Kyaaaak!

The Leech King suffered for the first time.

[You have struck the exact same spot at least five times.]

[The Leech King’s weakness has been exposed. Attacking the weak point will guarantee a critical hit.]

The rapier was a weapon that focused on sophistication. Having been developed to attack gaps in armor, it was light and capable of stabbing rapidly. This meant it was easy to induce the Weakness Exposure state, provided the user’s skill level was sufficient.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and support Da-Hee!”

Yoo-Jin pushed through the students who were admiring the swordsmanship of the freshmen runner-up.

She’d been dealing with a swarm of leeches that would rapidly multiply if left alone and arrived late to the scene. She immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

Shinra Kyeong and Loren were nowhere to be seen. They were supposed to be taking the lead in fighting the Leech King.

The teacher must’ve counted on them and forcibly started the raid.

So why didn’t she see them?

Don’t tell me...

Yoo-Jin thought of Shinra Kyeong and Loren’s usual attitude. The two of them were never interested in being involved in class. Did even this emergency seem like part of normal class to them? This still wasn’t enough to make them interested?

The homeroom teacher had recovered to some extent and struggled to speak. “Kyeong and Loren... Aren’t they here yet...?”

“It’s been a while since the others went looking for them but... ” a boy replied hesitantly.

The homeroom teacher and students finally came to the same realization as Yoo-Jin.

“Shit!” was all Yoo-Jin said. There was no time to curse Shinra Kyeong and Loren further. Instead, she looked forward and threw her hammer.

The attack was filled with tremendous strength.

The swamp of leeches, which were summoned by the Leech King to shake off Da-Hee, was swept away by the spinning hammer and exploded.

Other students also stepped up to help.

“Wind's Blessing!”

"Shield!"

Someone gave Da-Hee a buff while someone else moved right next to her and cast a defense Skill.

Thanks to this, Da-Hee dodged the Leech King’s attack and landed dozens of attacks.

The moment the Leech King faltered, Yoo-Jin retrieved her hammer and launched her offensive Skill together with the other students.

Most of the surrounding terrain had turned into a swamp, but the Class A students had adapted to the swamp thanks to their previous training.

They were agile enough to dodge the Leech King’s attack.

However, the swamp summoned by the Leech King was poisonous. The longer they spent in the swamp, the more the students were poisoned and weakened.

The opponent was a C-class boss monster. Even Class A couldn’t handle it.

The reason they had tried the raid was purely because they believed in Shinra Kyeong and Loren’s strength.

If things continued like this, they would definitely fail. One by one, the students started to feel despair.

Panicked, many students’ concentration cracked, and the Leech King took the chance to attack them.

Yoo-Jin took charge of the students in place of Da-Hee, who was busy keeping the Leech King’s aggro. “Those who have run out of mana, come chop down trees! Build a foothold so you don’t have to step in the swamp!... Huh?” Yo-Jin turned to Da-Hee but blanched at what she saw.

Da-Hee’s wrist was in terrible condition. The flesh had fallen off to the point where the bones were exposed. It was the wound left behind from where Da-Hee had cut off the flesh affected by the Leech King’s acidic fluids.

“Da-Hee, why didn’t you use the potion?”

“Jae-Hyeok... No, I gave it to Do-Jin.”

“Does that make sense? Why would you give your only supply to others?”

Yoo-Jin could only sigh.

Kang Jae-Hyeok.

It might’ve only been a brief encounter, but Yoo-Jin got a rough idea of his personality. He had a style that shook people with words. He didn’t hesitate to tell the lie about not awakening. He was someone who could trick the innocent Da-Hee and take everything away from her, including her liver and gallbladder.

“Use this.”

Yoo-Jin threw her potion to Da-Hee.

Da-Hee’s role was crucial in overcoming this crisis. She’d successfully exposed a weak point on the monster even with the pain of her injury.

Without the National Treasure candidates, they could only rely on Da-Hee and their teacher.

The Homeroom teacher made a quick decision. Knowing they wouldn’t get cooperation from Shinra Kyeong and Loren, he said, “Everyone, get out of the swamp. Work together around Da-Hee to open a way out. I will attract the Leech King’s attention.”

He was prepared to sacrifice himself.

It was the duty of a teacher to protect his students. Moreover, this situation happened due to his misjudgment.

He naturally had to take responsibility.

However, Chae Da-Hee was refused. “I’m going to fight to the end!”

At the time of the famous Paju Gate Break incident, Da-Hee had survived thanks to Duke Kang Dae-Guk. She witnessed the salvation of an entire city by a single great player, and she could still see the crying citizens happily reuniting with their families and friends.

She wanted to be like him.

Chae Da-Hee became a player with only this intention.

Turning a blind eye to someone who was in danger? This wasn’t the type of player she wanted to be.

Sacrificing someone to save others? Then she would rather sacrifice herself.

A girl driven only by justice—Chae Da-Hee was so upright that it was frustrating.

“That’s why we like you,” Yoo-Jin said.

Inspired, many of the students rallied around her.

Those students who were usually close to Da-Hee, including Yoo-Jin, launched an onslaught against the Leech King.

Of course, not all students were like this. More than half the students started to retreat without looking back. Others were buying time for them, so it was easy to escape.

This was the worst development for the homeroom teacher.

He tried to save all the students at the expense of himself, but nearly ten students stayed back and lost their opportunity to survive.

“I’m ashamed... ”

Had he known this would happen, he would’ve said to work together until support arrived instead.

It was too late for regret.

The homeroom teacher and remaining students focused on the battle but...

It’s impossible.

There’s no chance of winning.

A crisis couldn’t be overcome through courage alone.

Soon, the remaining students became depressed. The Leech King didn’t die, and the wounds on the students only increased.

The rest of their potions ran out, and even more serious, they’d run out of mana and couldn’t use their Skills.

“Ah.”

The Leech King’s body was swelling up once more.

The precursor to another explosion.

Acidic fluids would pour out once again.

It was over.

The students turned pale as they thought they were going to die.

“Should I awaken?”

Just then, a strange boy fell in front of them.

He muttered something incomprehensible and heavily tilted his upper body.

The sight of the sword being drawn was beautifully neat and wonderfully fast.

No one saw the dozens of body weights come loose from him and fall into the swamp.

They were fascinated by the silent sword light that accurately stabbed out and slashed the small weak spots that Da-Hee had created.