It didn't take Do-Hyeok long to get back to the city.
About 5 minutes at full speed.
So it was safe to assume he made it on time.
He slowly made his way back to Nest via one of the college buses and went straight to the lecture hall.
Although he was rather fast, the bus took so long he was around 5 minutes late to class.
BAM-!
He burst through the door.
"---unbelievable, not a single one of you manag-"
"Sorry I'm late professor! The bus took longer than I thought."
Silence.
All eyes turned to him.
Then professor Ji spoke up,
"...Student Kim Do-Hyeok. You're late, do you want me to boot you out of this class?"
"No sir! I was just really far out in the province so it took a bit to get back…"
The professor sighed,
"Haah just sit down…"
"Thank you sir."
And as instructed, Do-Hyeok walked over to an empty seat and sat down.
"Now as I was saying…
Pathetic.
None of you managed to find a single one."
Then the class was in uproar,
"What do you expect us to do when it's nowhere to be found!"
"Yeah! it's not anywhere online either."
Do-Hyeok was a little confused,
'Is it that rare?'
Then he smiled,
'Guaranteed A++!!!'
"Well i never expecte-"
"Sir, I completed the assignment."
Professor Ji began to speak but Do-Hyeok cut him off.
All eyes turned to him.
"...what?"
"He did it alone?"
"Bullshit!"
Then professor Ji cut through again.
"Enough."
Silence.
"Do-Hyeok. Hand in your assignment."
"Ah, yes sir."
Then Do-Hyeok reached into the bag he had with him and pulled out a can of jungle juice.
"""?!"""
They were all shocked.
It was a genuine can of jungle juice.
"I got an A+ right sir?" Do-Hyeok said rather smugly.
"...yes. you are the first to get an A+ this semester Do-Hyeok. Good job."
Rather than being shocked, Professor Ji had a smirk on his face. The kid in front of him just did what even the most elite at Nest can manage.
'Not bad, kid.'
Professor Ji picked up the can and returned to where he stood when Do-Hyeok entered the room.
"i retract my previous statement.
One of you found a single can, and a full one it would seem.
However, I never expected you to find any in the first place."
"""?!"""
"since that was the point of this assignment.
The objective was for you to realize just how difficult it is to find.
As you've experienced for yourselves,
Nest is currently facing great difficulties in acquiring more jungle juice.
We barely have enough for two or three vials of Cinderella this year.
How so?
Because somewhere beyond the boundaries of our nest...
...there's another force of insect humans out to collect jungle juice for themselves.
We don't have much data on this group as of now.
However…
...We do know that they've been attacking random bystanders with the spray...
...and turning them into insect humans without their knowledge.
They've been illegally importing and breeding dangerous, often alien species...
Including endangered species and even natural monuments.
They've been engineering these species to create various specimens of insect humans,
and many of those victims are with us at Nest even now.
I'm sure some of you in this very room can relate.
Having been turned into what you are today...
...not by your own doing or choice…"
'...' Do-Hyeok couldn't help but grow anxious at that.
"...but by an unintended turn of fate that would change your life.
Until now, this group has rarely crossed paths with Nest.
They've kept themselves hidden for the most part,
and there was little need for us to engage them.
But recently, they've grown extremely bold and menacing…
...Even setting shameless traps to threaten our community.
So, this is all to say…
...Things around here won't be anything like last semester.
From this moment on, you will be given assignments focused on real combat…
...By actually engaging in combat with dangerous insects like this group."
'Real combat?' Do-Hyeok felt his lips curl up into a smile.
"Im just gonna say it.
Any of you can drop out of this course right now."
""?!""
"Real life combat with specimens like these...
will be a test of survival according to the laws of the jungle.
It will be an unimaginable threat to your existence.
You've likely all heard what happened to Group A during the assignment.
Critical injuries like those will be likely."
'Group A was Suchan's group right? I wonder what happened…' Do-Hyeok was in the dark.
"Actual casualties can occur…
...as in the case of the recent Praying Mantis escape."
'Not a fun memory…'
"I know that some of you have already faced great risks to your life.
Which is why…
Now more than ever…
Only those who are ready to die should remain."
Silence echoed through the lecture hall again.
'I only came here for this anyway… that and campus life. Although I suppose it'll always be threatened if we don't take care of those bastards.' Do-Hyeok remained calm, he knew what he signed up for.
Then someone near the middle rows stood up and raised his hand.
It was, once again, Suchan.
"Sir… will we be graded on that? Fighting these predators I mean."
"""?!"""
It was surprise after surprise in this lecture hall…
But Professor Ji answered nonetheless.
"...of course. Your final grades will be impacted considering the extreme risk of combat."
'Oho~'
Then Do-Hyeok chipped in,
"So it's high risk, high reward?"
Suchan looked at Do-Hyeok and nodded,
"Then what's there to even consider?"
Suddenly the mood flipped.
What was once serious became a slight inconvenience.
The students all considered the pros and cons and finalized that it was indeed what they signed up for anyway.
And then the professor cut in,
"thats all for today.
Good work on your group assignments.
We'll be beginning special sessions next week,
but it's not always so intense around here.
Huijin, is it tonight?"
Then Huijin responded,
"Yes, it is!"
"?"
"It'll be a good chance for you all to get to know one another."
—
Student orientation at Nest.
Or in simple terms,
A party.
Everyone from Nest who had registered for a course and passed were here.
It was a lot more normal than expected.
Do-Hyeok also learned what happened to Group A.
Apparently, Huijin and Suchan ran into an insect-human.
Huijin was impaled and died.
But miraculously, due to her complex, she came back to life.
Do-Hyeok didn't know what to say.
He couldn't exactly say anything about the stray dogs but he also had to come up with an excuse for being able to find that can of jungle juice.
Thankfully, Carly helped out with that.
"You were out camping for a week and just stumbled upon a can that was just buried there…?"
"Yup."
Suchan looked at Do-Hyeok, not believing him at all.
But what could he do?
Do-Hyeok was innocent until proven guilty.
'Captain, you have once again earned my respect.' Do-Hyeok said internally.
Then out of nowhere,
"Do-Hyeok!!! Help! Get her off of me!"
Hyeseong appeared with a massive scorpion grappled to his back.
That scorpion, of course, was a drunk Dohwa.
"Yeehaw!"
'What the hell do you want me to do?'
Then he thought back for a moment…
He remembered something.
"Dohwa." He called out.
"Hah?"
"Fight me."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"What?"
—
Now, about a minute later, they're in the middle of the hall squaring off.
Do-Hyeok thought using his complex would be overkill.
He thought wrong.
Dohwa was a pure brawler,
She didn't care about how much damage she took, she just brute forced everything.
So she was hard to deal with to say the least.
The worst part?
The Dohwa that Do-Hyeok was fighting was a drunk one.
"Woah!"
Swings from left to right, jabs coming from every direction, Do-Hyeok could keep up but if a single one hit he'd be out for the count.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Dohwa was laughing, clearly she was having fun.
So, Do-Hyeok thought,
'Let's beat her sober.'
She launched her pincer at Do-Hyeok at a blinding speed.
Air.
He ducked under it,
"Tch!"
Do-Hyeok moved closer to her,
Uppercut to the jaw!
He was being rough with her,
Not very gentlemanly.
But Dohwa was tougher than steel,
She tanked it to the face!
Grabbed his arm and swung.
Do-Hyeok slipped out before it could connect.
Spin-!
Kick to the stomach!
Dohwa flew back.
But as much as she was being beaten,
She was smiling all the same.
'Maso?' Do-Hyeok thought.
Then both got back into a stance, ready to launch,
Then…
"Dohwa."
A voice resounded behind her,
It was a man.
He was unfamiliar to Do-Hyeok,
Standing at around his height, he had black purplish hair, tan skin and equally black eyes.
He was wearing a hood over his head and two bandages at the sides of his mouth.
He also had black nails…
'Who's this dark and gloomy guy?' Do-Hyeok felt something off about this guy, no clue what though.
"Come and have a drink with me over there."
'???' Do-Hyeok was confused, they were mid brawl.
No way she'd just get up and go right?
"...The fuck?"
'Thought so-'
"What took you so long cutie~" Dohwa was all smiles and wrapped her arm around his and went with him.
"???"
Just like that?
No way right?
Then this guy who looked straight out of a goth album turned around for a second.
And looked at Do-Hyeok.
Not looked.
Glared.
It was so fast it was barely registered.
But Do-Hyeok caught it.
'...The fuck?'
—
A little while later, outside the venue.
This dark man, Junhyeong, had Dohwa tied up in some kind of webbing and unconscious, sleeping peacefully against a tree.
"Looks like I've managed to stay under the radar."
He turned to look at Dohwa.
"And she's passed out cold from all that booze. Probably won't be waking up anytime soon."
He walked over to her and crouched,
"I'd stay asleep if I were you cutie…"
He reached out to grab her.
"If you know what's good for you…"
GRIP-!
An arm grabbed him before he could go any further.
"Oi jackass.
Do you find taking advantage of a sleeping woman fun?"
"..."
"Hey."
The person pulled Junhyeong toward him.
"Answer me asshole."
It was Do-Hyeok.
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: The ANTicipation is killing me.
Heh…
My bad.