I Become a Mafia in the Academy

Chapter 93

"──Found it."

He dashes towards the still focused guy on the screen and throws a straight punch.

"Huh? What the hell!"

Sensing the killing intent, the guy quickly grabs the pickaxe and blocks the punch.

"How on earth...!"

"How? We took the elevator."

As he sneers at the bewildered guy, Jinwoo releases the aura gathered in his fist, sending the guy flying backward due to the recoil.

"How can there be an elevator in a dungeon...!"

The guy, grimacing as if the initial surprise attack had worked, shouts.

Jinwoo bursts into a chuckle at the sight.

"In this day and age, there can be an elevator in a dungeon. Why, does it bother you? Heh heh."

"That damn kid...!"

It's not entirely incomprehensible that the miner is so furious.

Because even I hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

"Don't be too upset. We were just a bit luckier."

What we found on the first floor of the dungeon was a freight elevator used at the club booth.

We thought this dungeon overlapped with the one underground at the club booth, expecting similar traits and terrain, but we never imagined there would be an elevator connected to the club booth.

'Wow, it's here too. Boss, can we ride this?'

When Jinwoo discovered the elevator and spoke, I was also in a state of uncertainty.

Because this had never happened in games either.

'By the way, does this thing really work?'

The problem was, even after finding the elevator, how to get down.

The dungeon's elevator was designed to light up only on the conquered floors.

But.

[D1]

.

...

......

.........

[D10]

'Huh? Isn't the light on for the 10th floor? Oh, it works.'

Was it because the villains had already occupied the lowest floor?

As soon as we pressed the 10th floor, the elevator we were in started moving with a smooth mechanical sound.

[Ding-dong.]

[──10th floor underground.]

Thus, we arrived at the 10th floor.

The sight of the miner looking indignant in front of us was quite a spectacle.

"Do you think luck would lead to this kind of situation!"

Was our emergence from the elevator so shocking that the guy pointed at us with the pickaxe and shouted?

Well, it wasn't incomprehensible to understand his feelings.

Normally, one would have to conquer the upper dungeon floors while being exhausted to reach the 10th floor.

They must have planned based on that assumption.

But what can we do about it?

This dungeon, in fact, belongs to me.

"You tried to illegally enter first, yet you yell at the owner like this... It's laughable."

"What?"

"You were caught because of your terrible luck to begin with. Isn't it nothing new? And..."

I glance at the screen he had been looking at until just now.

Was he monitoring the entire dungeon like this?

Judging by the other screens, it seemed most of the kids were safely navigating the dungeon under the protection of the instructor.

"Illegal entry and voyeurism. When did the Villain Alliance turn into a pervert alliance?"

"...Watch your mouth, rookie."

"It's you who should be careful."

With a clang! sound, the dagger Jinwoo threw hits the miner's hard hat.

"What, is that hard hat that tough? I threw it with all my strength."

Taking advantage of the time we were talking, Jinwoo attempted a surprise attack and said so with regret while shaking his wrist.

"Such petty tricks... Do you think such an attack would work on me?"

"He's not even bragging about his hard head, what's with that arrogance. What do you think, Boss? If we gang up on him, it'll be over quickly."

Though Jinwoo spoke confidently, there was something else I needed him to do.

"Jinwoo."

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"More than that... Do you see a hole above the miner?"

"A hole? ...I can see one."

I quietly gave Jinwoo a secret order.

"When I give the signal, jump through there to help the 9th floor."

"Huh? You want me to help the 9th floor instead of fighting the miner?"

Jinwoo, taken aback by my words, asked back.

But there was a reason for doing it this way.

"In the end, to escape this dungeon, we need to conquer the 10th floor's boss, so it's better to conserve our strength. So help the 9th floor first and then join us here with the other kids."

"...You'll face that guy alone, Boss?"

"I can handle it alone."

"If the Boss says so... Then, what's the signal?"

It's better to show action than to answer.

"Now."

I focus the aura on my lower body and dash towards the guy in one go.

"Damn brat! Did you think I'd fall for that again!"

The miner raises the pickaxe to block my charge and strikes the ground.

As the ground shakes and sand dust rises, making it hard to pinpoint the guy's location, but with this, the first phase of the strategy has already succeeded.

"Boss! You must win!"

Because Jinwoo managed to enter the hole the guy used to infiltrate the 10th floor.

If we hadn't been here, the guy would have gone straight to the 9th floor and joined the 'Snow Girl's gang' to attack the kids... But now, I'm staying on the 10th floor.

In this situation, there's no way he would abandon the 10th floor and go up.

Above all, would that miner run away from a freshman?

"No way."

Because he's not that kind of character.

As the dust slowly settles, the surroundings start to become visible.

The guy's figure is nowhere to be seen.

But I've had similar experiences before and knew how to deal with it.

"Was it like this?"

I emit aura from the soles of my feet to probe the surrounding ground.

It was the exploration method I saw when I conquered the kobold dungeon with Mr. Gwak Chunshik.

If it were me from the time when I knew nothing, maybe not, but now that I've practiced aura control with the bracelet given by the old man, I can vaguely sense the shape of the guy hidden underground.

"So you were hiding there."

The foreign shape felt from underground.

It seems he's ready to break through the ground and ambush me at any moment.

"I don't like playing whack-a-mole."

At the same time, I leap towards that spot and slam my fist into the ground.

Boom!

The ground explodes into a crater from the punch packed with aura.

"What the hell! How on earth...?!"

Inside it, there was a miner trembling with a pickaxe raised, blocking my punch with his shaking arm.

"Curious? There should have been someone else good at finding things besides me. I learned from that person."

As I say this and concentrate aura into my fist, the guy's expression crumples.

"An aura user with detection abilities...?! Could it be. Are you a disciple of Gwak Chunshik?!"

Perhaps because the name of the person who put him in Niflheim was mentioned, anger started to flicker in his eyes.

"So what are you going to do about it? Just so you know, I'm not going to accept any apologies even if you kneel and beg."

As I say this to provoke him, he grinds his teeth with a crunch.

"You rookie, you're getting cocky...!"

At the same time, a flash from the headlights snatches away my vision in an instant.

"I'll turn you into minced meat!"

Did he think that taking away my sight would create an opening?

If it were me from a while ago, it might have been quite threatening.

But.

[[Skill: Aura Sonar] is activated.]

The aura emitted from my body spreads throughout the dungeon, illuminating the surrounding scenery.

Right in front of me, a miner is about to swing down his pickaxe.

I grab the pickaxe with my outstretched arm and deliver a headbutt to where I assume his head is, feeling something soft and squishy with a crunch!

"Aaargh!"

Was it his nose?

If so, I'll headbutt him again──

"──Get lost!"

With his shout, an intense pain assaults my solar plexus, cutting off my breath. But my body flies backward without stopping.

"Hmph!"

I reduce the impact with a breakfall, then look in the direction of the guy as my vision slowly recovers.

"Huff...! Huff...!"

I see him, nose bleeding profusely, stretching his leg towards me.

"...Mugcheolhwa."

[Mugcheolhwa], an item known to be made by him, given his main job of digging the ground.

It's a unique piece of equipment made by melting 'Mugcheol', which is occasionally found in dungeons and has an unimaginably high difficulty to process.

So, was it because of that?

Thanks to wrapping my abdomen with aura just before the attack hit, I narrowly avoided a serious injury.

"...I aimed to burst your body, but you're pretty tough."

The guy spits out a clump of blood from his nose with a snort and glares at me, muttering.

"Was that a hit? I thought it was just a mosquito bite."

"What? Kuhahaha!"

As I pretend to scratch the hit spot, he bursts into laughter in disbelief.

"Your expression doesn't look good for someone who says that... Wouldn't it be better to just stick your head out nicely? It'll be less painful that way."

I show him my middle finger instead of my head in response to his offer of a painless death if I surrender.

"Why don't you straighten out your smashed nose before talking, you worm?"

"...What?"

His expression hardens instantly at my words.

"Did you just call me, this miner, a worm?"

"Oh, that nickname was given by that person, wasn't it? Why, do you have PTSD from it or something?"

It must not have been a pleasant memory for him.

The only person in this world who called him a worm was probably that one person.

"Mr. Gwak Chunshik said this. That miner bastard should have changed his villain name to worm. What else would you call someone who only knows how to dig and shit?"

Well, that was a somewhat sanitized version.

To be precise, it was mixed with profanity, comments on family background, the miner's parents' health, and derogatory remarks about his character... but it's too vulgar for me to say out loud.

So, I can only call him by his nickname.

"It suits you well, worm. Wouldn't your parents be proud that their son is called the villain worm?"

But even my somewhat sanitized provocation seemed to be quite humiliating as his head drooped and his body started to tremble.

"Yes... worm... Heh. Hehehehe. But do you know this?"

He holds the pickaxe like a golf club and takes a swing stance.

"Gwak Chunshik. Even that bastard couldn't withstand this!"

With a bang! sound, rock fragments destroyed by the pickaxe start rushing towards me at incredible speed.

Moreover, did he coat the rocks with magic power during the process? The rock pieces are emitting an ominous light as they fly towards me.

No, but this is a bit──