I Realized It Was an Academy Game After 10 Years

“Get out of the way!”

Renny and I sprinted through the forest with all our might to escape the range of the toxic breath.

But how can a mere human escape a wave of poison? We had no choice but to hide behind a massive rock, trying to dodge the waves of breath that stung the back of our necks.

Thump, thump, thump. My heart raced like mad. The heavy, acrid smell filled my nostrils. The enormous rock was gradually shrinking in size. It was big enough to last a little longer, but even after just one minute, I could already picture a future where I would melt away with the rock. I didn’t want such a future. All I wanted was to smack that little Hydra and check out the bottom of the dungeon.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice to escape, too?

Settle on the mainland, live normally, maybe get married… anyway!

“Hey! Got any good ideas? If this goes on, we’ll both end up as purple-flavored juice!”

Ah, right. Now’s not the time for random thoughts.

I placed my hand on the rock. That was all I could do right now.

“Crafting.”

The melting rock began to reshape into a sturdier stone wall, blocking a wider area. It should hold a bit longer than before. Without wasting a moment, we both ran like crazy before the rock wall could melt away. The sloshing pool of poison was annoying, but I couldn’t afford to care about that now.

Whether I ended up dying from falling into the poison pit or getting hit by the breath, it didn’t really matter.

“Isn’t there any way?! We can’t go back like this!”

“I’m thinking!”

The breath that was burning our backs was gradually lessening. After all, a creature like that couldn’t use such a strong breath for long.

But…

“Hey! That bastard is following us! Do you have any ideas?!”

The ground shook. Its enormous size sent horrific vibrations through the earth as it dragged its body along.

There was no way I could outrun it. Sensing the conclusion, I shouted to Renny, who was running beside me.

“You need to go back and bring Karina! I’ll lure that thing away!”

“What? How are you going to do that?! With a thing like that?!”

“I’ve got a plan, so don’t worry!”

I pointed in a direction. The direction where my territory lay. Our eyes met, and Renny nodded seriously.

Renny bolted toward the direction I pointed. In the opposite direction of where I was heading.

“This way! You snake bastard!”

I deliberately dashed down an open path to keep Renny from following me, shouting as I went. Renny would be out of sight once she entered the woods. Once I was sure Renny had completely escaped, I leapt into a densely wooded area. No matter how gigantic it was, it couldn’t ignore the trees. I needed to slow it down and gain some distance.

I had a decent understanding of the geography of this area.

I headed toward a location that popped into my mind.

I ran while retracing the vague map in my head to reach my target. The earth shook, the poison in the puddle splashed around like a rock had dropped, and the disgusting howls along with the occasional breath darted dangerously close to my life, but I was confident I wouldn’t die.

A level of danger like this came knocking on our door quite often.

“Damn it. Just die quietly.”

Finally, I arrived at the largest rock in the snake’s territory. I quickly climbed on top and glared down at the approaching snake. Naturally, nine pairs of eyes met mine.

Run. Run. Run. Run. Run…

The fear of snakes, embedded in human DNA, whispered terror in my ear.

What a sweet, sweet temptation.

Run away with the speed of a scared rabbit.

In this moment, I felt like a rabbit. The only thing I could do was flee.

…But I’m human.

I cannot simply run away like a rabbit.

“…Let’s give it a shot.”

Just like the first time I faced the Hydra years ago.

I struck the rock. The tip of my shovel sank into the stone, sending dust flying. I spoke softly to activate my skill.

“Crafting.”

Barely finishing my words, my view shot upward. What I created was a stone pillar. It was about 15 meters high, with a narrow, somewhat unstable base, and sharp horns aimed toward the direction of the Hydra. From a distance, it would look like a massive pickaxe missing its handle. Standing atop the stone pillar, I glared down at the Hydra, which was now looking up at the suddenly towering structure.

So high. One misstep, and I might die from the fall instead of from the snake.

“…Should I be grateful it’s become a zombie Hydra?”

It might sound like nonsense, but perhaps it was true. A healthy Hydra was cunning to a fault.

Seven years ago, I vividly remembered when I left behind a bear cub I had killed.

Because of that, I fought a war against bears for nearly a year.

And not long ago, I attempted execution.

The little Hydra was a creature that knew how to gain rather than lose.

“Looking at it this way, becoming a zombie isn’t so bad.”

The Hydra approached. Its massive body charged forward like a dump truck. But this was just one of many experiences I had on this island. I began to step on the backside of the tilting pillar, peering down at the nearing Hydra.

Nine pairs of eyes glared at me atop the collapsing pillar. It seemed like it didn’t even care about the pillar. Like a zombie, its sole intention was to kill me, nine heads barreled toward me with intense hatred.

As Hydra’s heads drew closer, I kicked off the slanting pillar and leaped down.

The rough wind whistled past above my head.

Did the heads pass by?

In my slanted view, I caught sight of the heavy stone pillar crushing one of the Hydra’s heads. The horn I created pierced into the neck right behind the head.

My gamble was successful. With its neck impaled, no matter how monstrous it was, it couldn’t move right away.

Landing on the Hydra’s back, I slid down like surfing as I rode the slick reptilian skin. Although it was slimy, it allowed me to reach the ground safely. That didn’t mean it was safe, though.

As soon as I landed, I rolled away like an action game character from the explosive sound behind me. The ground shook. The poison splattered like an explosion, sticking to my armor. Instinctively, I covered my face. From a glance, it was clear that my armor was half melted.

At this rate, I’d be nothing but a puddle, Hydra or not.

I dashed toward a nearby tree, ripped off some of its bark, and immediately used my skill.

“Repair.”

The bark I grabbed stuck to my body. It looked rougher than before, but there wasn’t much time to care. The quickly disintegrating tree was rendered useless by the poison. I diverted my gaze from the fallen tree and looked back at the Hydra.

Through my slightly bleary vision, I could see the Hydra trying to turn its head toward me. But it couldn’t move due to the stone pillar. Still, I couldn’t stall for long.

I raised my sight to look up. I could see the pillar piercing the neck bone of the head in the center. At this rate, wouldn’t it tear its head off in flailing struggles?

In the end, I bought myself a moment of time.

Should I make a run for it?

Since it was a zombie, if Karina came, it would be an easy victory. There was no need to fight.

I turned my body and dashed into the forest. Behind me, I heard the roar of the snake. Maybe even in its zombie form, some intelligence remained. Thinking about it, the snake’s blood circulates slowly, so it might not have fully transformed. Still, it looked like proper thinking was already out of the question.

“At least it seems I’ve shaken off the pursuit, but when will they come…”

I returned to the area filled with greenery and gazed in the direction of where my house was. Naturally, it was nowhere to be seen, but escaping the danger always made me think of home.

After all, the outside world is perilous.

Once this matter was settled, I needed to hole up at home for a few days. It’s a deserted island, but even then, sometimes you need time to heal.

…Anyway, once I catch that snake, the dungeon will be the only thing left.

“…Even in zombie form, that voice is ridiculously loud.”

I plugged my ears from the Hydra’s terrifying noise pollution. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to hide comfortably anywhere.

…But it feels like the sound’s getting closer?

It sounded like it was right behind me—

At that moment, my survival instinct, honed for ten years, went off alarm bells.

I immediately turned my body and looked back at the path I had come.

“What the hell.”

A purple water gun flies through the air.

I rolled sideways to avoid the toxic breath pouring toward me. The hot wind whisked past my body.

As I got up, I clicked my tongue at the traces left behind by the passing purple water gun.

Everything the poison touched was melted away.

If I’d been hit, I’d be dead right then and there.

“Wow, I’ve never had such a ridiculous situation in my life…”

A pair of eyes glared at me.

Yeah. A pair.

Damn it, a head ripped off and separated from the body is coming to get me on its own, what kind of crazy situation is this?

No matter how much of a snake it is, it still has a brain and internal organs, but this is over the line!

How the hell is it moving?

If the head is decapitated, it should die quietly! I named it Hydra casually, but it truly has a disgusting regenerative ability.

This is too much!

…Hah, now’s not the time to get worked up.

I took a deep breath. One, two. One, two…

Calming my mind, I glared at the now slower snake. It was still about 30 meters away.

Glancing beyond it, it seemed the main body couldn’t find me.

Grinding my teeth, I muttered as always.

“…But still, it’s just one head. No big deal.”

What could a severed head possibly do?!

“It’s your nine heads that made you scary; one makes you nothing!”

I tightened my grip on my shovel.

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