Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 23

EP.23 You’re Screwed

While exceptional talent didn’t necessarily come from a good bloodline, having a good bloodline increases the likelihood of possessing such talent. The Asiris Club, created with this principle in mind, held the second most powerful influence within the academy.

[Academy. The status plummeting endlessly since the rampage incident.]

Their influence had become meaningless as the academy’s status continued to fall.

‘Of course, with no alternatives or competitors, they will regain their status over time.’

But that wasn’t important to Regina. Even if the academy regained its former glory in the distant future, her generation would be labelled as the ‘Cursed Generation,’ receiving more pity than respect. She didn’t need to think hard to realize how much this would devalue her, causing her constant headaches.

‘If only Erie had done her job properly.’

The original plan was for Erie to trigger the dungeon berserk, then kill Lee Jeong-hyeon. Erie would then blame everything on Lee Jeong-hyeon while also calming the dungeon, but the opposite happened.

Not only did Erie die, but an unexpectedly large number of first-year students also died, and it appeared as if Lee Jeong-hyeon had resolved everything.

It was the worst-case scenario among possible outcomes, and she wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. However, there was nothing she could do at the moment. The academy’s status wasn’t built by a single student but by its long history.

“Relax your face. You look too tense.”

Regina forced a smile and nodded at Hillaton’s light-hearted advice.

“Yes, I suppose it’s better to stay calm… So, how are the preparations going?”

“More than well. If we can’t kill him, it would be strange.”

“… Good. That’s a relief.”

She rubbed her tired eyes and sighed. She wanted to kill Lee Jeong-hyeon immediately, but with all eyes on the academy, any move against a first-year student could lead to suspicions of her involvement in the dungeon rampage. So, she had to wait, planning to kill him when the time was right.

Just a little more time, she told herself. But then, she heard the most baffling news of her life.

“… Don’t be shocked, but Lee Jeong-hyeon is on his way here.”

“Here…? You mean to the club room?”

“Yeah.”

At those words, she couldn’t bear her headache anymore, clutching her forehead and closing her eyes tightly. This was an entirely unexpected turn of events.

***

Jeong-hyeon was heading toward the Asiris Club, swinging the sword he had stolen—or rather, borrowed—from the pig-like guy, Jer. There were several reasons for targeting Regina amidst the current chaos, but three stood out the most.

‘Bishop Lea is absent, I have a legitimate reason, and I have leverage to threaten her.’

Therefore, now was the perfect time to attack Regina. Without hesitation, he headed towards the Asiris Club. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and he turned to Lucia, who was trailing behind him.

“Stay behind me during the fight. Once it’s over, patch up anyone who’s lost an arm or a leg.”

“… Just so you know, I’m going to give you a ten-hour lecture after this.”

“Why? They’re the ones who started this mess.”

“… Well, if it’s for revenge, then…! Ugh, whatever, go ahead and chop them up!”

Lucia, midway through her words, seemed to give up and told him to do as he pleased. He accepted this and kicked the club room door with force.

Bang!

Breaking down wooden doors was something he had done countless times. With one kick, he shattered the door and calmly spoke.

“Where’s Regina?”

At his words, about a dozen second-year students grabbed their weapons and glared at him. Their faces were filled with murderous intent. If it weren’t for the luxurious uniforms and furniture, he might have mistaken the clubroom for a gangster’s office. But having experienced death multiple times, their killing intent seemed laughable to him.

“I asked, where is she? Why aren’t you answering?”

Provoked by a first-year commoner who was already causing trouble, one of them couldn’t hold back and approached Jeong-hyeon.

“You bastard, do you even know where you are?”

He was like an upgraded version of the pig-like guy. Not only was he larger, but the mana he exuded was also incomparable.

‘And although I don’t know what he really is…’

Judging by the relieved expressions of the others when this muscular pig stepped forward, he was likely one of the strongest in the club.

‘This means the stronger my victory, the greater the fear I sow.’

Given this, it seemed best to start off aggressively. As soon as he approached, Jeong-hyeon swung his fist without hesitation and struck him hard in the side.

Bang!

It wasn’t just the sound of fists colliding with flesh. Along with the sound of air bursting, his body crumbled effortlessly and fell to the ground. Seeing him collapse with such ease, Jeong-hyeon grabbed him by the hair and lifted him up.

“I’m sure you all know, but do you know how your friend died?”

At those words, the second-year students glared at Jeong-hyeon with expressions full of rage. In response to their hostile gazes, Jeong-hyeon repeatedly thrust his sword into the man’s shoulder, as if to give them a taste of their own medicine.

“Like this.”

Thud!

“Over and over.”

Thud!

“What do you think?”

When Jeong-hyeon finally stabbed him in the other shoulder, the muscle-bound pig-like guy let out a scream, thrashing about in agony. He had to restrain himself from driving the sword into the guy’s neck, trying to calm his emotions.

‘I really want to kill him, but not yet.’

If Jeong-hyeon killed him now, the likelihood of him facing the consequences and all the problems that would come with it was high. So, he decided to focus on instilling fear instead. He continued stabbing him, making sure it was visible to everyone.

“Aaah! Stop… stop!”

Ignoring his cries, Jeong-hyeon kept stabbing until he thought the guy might actually die. Then he tossed him to Lucia and spoke.

“Please heal him.”

Lucia’s eyes widened at the sight of the pig-like guy, who looked like a test subject for how many holes a human body could have and shouted at Jeong-hyeon.

“… It might be better to just cut off his arms and legs!”

Hearing that, Jeong-hyeon said he would consider it and turned his attention to the nine cowering students. Despite their high status as second-year students from well-off families, their appearance was disappointingly similar to what he had seen from Erie’s group. Disappointed, he decided they weren’t worth any more of his time and prepared to cut off a limb or two. Just then, someone shouted and pulled back a curtain.

“Wow, I knew you were crazy, but you’re even crazier than I thought!”

The voice belonged to a man who stepped out from the back room, grinning as if he found the situation amusing. He pointed at him and laughed.

“What are you? Why is this so entertaining?”

Jeong-hyeon felt something off about him, as if he was deliberately trying to draw attention. While Jeong-hyeon pondered this, a sudden surge of mana gathered beside him, and ice arrows flew towards him.

‘It’s so obvious.’

It seemed like the man was trying to trap Jeong-hyeon using his head, but the trap was so blatant that it was almost surprising if he fell for it. Realizing that these guys were only talented on paper and utterly weak in practice, Jeong-hyeon quickly deflected the ice arrows with his sword. Suddenly, he felt an intense surge of mana from the front and noticed a large fireball forming.

“Die, you bastard!”

It appeared the ice arrows sent from the side were the trap. Sensing this, Jeong-hyeon used his sword to cut through the fireball and advanced forward. The trembling students, now with determined expressions, simultaneously lunged at him with weapons imbued with sword aura.

Jeong-hyeon parried their attacks with swift movements and struck the nearest one’s wrist with his sword.

“Aaah!”

Ignoring the screams, he lightly stabbed the next one in the side and then drove his sword into the man’s shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

“Argh! You crazy… bastard!”

It seemed he was in tremendous pain. He screamed out, cursing furiously. Jeong-hyeon stabbed him again in protest of the noise. Though he didn’t quiet down completely, he seemed to have learned that every time he made a noise, he got stabbed. With his remaining hand, he trembled and tried to cover his mouth.

“Mmmpf… mmph.”

Still noisy, but Jeong-hyeon had no time to deal with him further. He quickly moved on, slicing through the others one by one.

“… You insane monster.”

One of them, observing the scene, spat out the highest praise possible. Recognizing him as the one who had previously attracted attention with his comments, Jeong-hyeon slowly approached him. The man, struggling, shouted at him.

“Fuck! Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

Jeong-hyeon chuckled and replied.

“What did I do?”

“What did you do? You came here for no reason and…!”

He cut him off.

“No reason? I have plenty.”

“… What?”

Seeing his confused expression, Jeong-hyeon recited the justification he had mentioned earlier.

“Two second-year students, members of the Asiris Club, were found in the first-year maze dungeon. You guys caused the dungeon rampage, didn’t you?”

Whether they actually did it wasn’t so important. What mattered was that there were second-year students in a first-year maze dungeon, and they were members of the Asiris club. And those two were coincidentally missing and disappeared.

‘It’s not about confirming if they did it.’

It was about planting the suspicion that they were responsible. Smiling, Jeong-hyeon explained his purpose.

“So, I came here for revenge. You guys drew your weapons to silence me. Isn’t that right?”

At his words, the man gulped nervously.