Cheon Dong-ha immediately disagreed with Yeom Jun-yeol's words.

But he couldn't bring himself to say no.

‘There are 200 students on the summit, so we have to stop it. If it explodes like this, they'll die. Or they'll be swallowed by the corrupt darkness while trying to escape.’

No matter how advanced the abilities and technology became, humans were powerless in the face of natural disasters.

In the face of a massive disaster, only a few players had the strength to protect themselves and others.

Even if the third-year students of Eun-gwang High School were exceptional adolescent players, it would be impossible to counter the eruption of a volcano.

If the volcano erupted while they were unable to leave the summit, it was uncertain how many out of the 200 would survive.

If they were hit by lava flowing at temperatures above 700°C or by volcanic ash, rock fragments, or volcanic bombs ejected at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, survival would be difficult.

Moreover, in addition to the students, the nearby residents would also be caught up in this disaster.

‘During the replay, the eruption was stopped midway thanks to Jun-yeol's power. I'm sure he can stop it again. We can only move according to the enemy's wishes right now.’

Kwahhhh!

As Cheon Dong-ha hesitated, a cloud of volcanic ash rose from the cracked ground.

Reacting to the shockwave of the explosion, the students immediately lowered their bodies and activated their abilities to defend.

Teachers urgently gave instructions to students with support abilities, minimizing the damage while providing additional responses, but the situation could not be viewed optimistically.

Luckily, lava had not yet begun to flow, but if Yeom Jun-yeol didn't act, the enemy would stimulate the volcano's veins and cause an eruption, wiping out all the students still on the summit.

Tight.

At that moment, Yeom Jun-yeol's fingers touched Cheon Dong-ha's forehead.

A warm energy flowed from his forehead, causing Cheon Dong-ha to stop assuming the worst and raise his gaze.

Yeom Jun-yeol had shared the blessing of the Dragon King, "My fire will not burn you."

Since Cheon Dong-ha couldn't make up his mind, Yeom Jun-yeol appeared to have moved first.

"Dong-ha, I'm sorry. I need your eyes. Please go with me."

Yeom Jun-yeol had a determined expression.

There was trust in his eyes.

Eyes that trusted both Cheon Dong-ha here and his master and family, who weren't present.

Because of that gaze, Cheon Dong-ha regained his composure and answered.

"You don't need to apologize. I was planning to go with you."

"Thank you."

Yeom Jun-yeol smiled and called for Hong-ryong.

Thanks to temporarily receiving the blessing, even though Hong-ryong's body was blazing with flames, Cheon Dong-ha felt no heat when reaching out to it.

Hong-ryong lowered his body so that Cheon Dong-ha could easily mount him.

Meanwhile, Yeom Jun-yeol spoke to the most senior teacher among the accompanying staff, the teacher widely known as the "0-class reader," a nickname for the teacher who specialized in interpreting.

"Teacher, I'll leave this to you. Please hold on a little longer."

"I'll go too. This looks dangerous, but we can't leave the students behind! I can still contribute."

"I want to go too!"

After the words of the 0-class reader teacher, Ma Jin-seung also interrupted, but the other students, almost as if it had been planned, quickly silenced Ma Jin-seung and let him fall back, not disrupting the conversation.

The 0-class reader teacher was a veteran with decent abilities, but he couldn't compare to other non-human level teachers like Jeongal Jaegol, Ham Geun-hyung, or Im Yeon-hwa.

Still, he was far better than Ma Jin-seung or an average student.

Though he didn't have extraordinary abilities like Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha, as he had said, he could at least contribute one full portion, but Yeom Jun-yeol shook his head.

"I'm sorry. If I distribute the blessing to many people for too long, it will put a strain on Hong-ryong. Also, we need someone to stay behind here."

"Teacher, I’ll support Jun-yeol well."

After the persuasion from Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha, the teacher relented.

The 0-class reader teacher felt embarrassed that he had to place such a burden on the students, but he also knew well that he didn’t have the strength to match theirs.

In the end, the teacher decided to let them go without worsening the situation.

"Please be careful."

"Once the corrupt darkness is gone, we’ll come to help!"

"Right, even if the volcano erupts, we can hold on, so do your best and come back safely."

After the teacher’s words, the students sent off Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha.

In truth, many students who were confident in their abilities wanted to follow them, but if they hadn't been obstructing, Cheon Dong-ha would have already told them to stay behind, so they held back.

Only Ma Jin-seung expressed his intention to follow them, unwilling to give up.

"I'll go too. I don’t need to ride on Hong-ryong, I’ll just run...!"

“There’s corrupt darkness on the ground, you fool!”

"Hey, even if you call out the flames, they'll be burned by Hong-ryong’s flames and the lava. Stay still."

"Yeah, if you have energy left, just cheer quietly."

"If you cheer loudly, you’ll be a real nuisance, so just keep quiet."

Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol didn’t say anything, even as Ma Jin-seung struggled.

It wasn't that they were ignoring him.

Both of them already knew how much potential Ma Jin-seung had.

They simply wished for him to stay in a safe place this time.

Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha took off, riding on Hong-ryong.

The sky, tainted by corrupt darkness, mixed with the clouds of volcanic ash.

However, Cheon Dong-ha's eyes found a gap and successfully carved a path through it.

"Hong-ryong has disappeared beyond the corrupt darkness!"

The students left behind on the summit cheered as the heat of the summit intensified.

Amid the cheering, the students talked about Yeom Jun-yeol.

"Even if Jun-yeol can't stop the eruption, he should be able to call for support."

"Still, he’ll probably try to stop the eruption. If the volcano erupts, it won't just end with us dying and getting hurt."

"Let’s think about the possibility of support coming. We can prepare for escape and conserve our stamina while finding a way to break through the corrupt darkness."

While talking about support, the students realized something.

They had forgotten in the chaos, but Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t be alone.

The foolish dragon kin or the red lion wouldn't let Yeom Jun-yeol go alone to the island, and Yeom Jun-yeol hadn’t hidden that there were bodyguards around him.

However, it was odd that they weren’t showing themselves, even in this emergency.

"Hey, but haven't we never seen Jun-yeol's bodyguards?"

"They usually don’t show themselves around us because they don’t want to disturb us. Except for the dragon teacher."

"It’s strange that they haven't appeared while Jun-yeol is going to do something dangerous with the volcano erupting."

A question spread among the students, but no one had the answer.

Instead, a hypothesis formed.

While they were hiking together, the corrupt darkness must have caused a separation.

If the bodyguards didn’t expect something like the corrupt darkness and, in order to hide their presence, moved from a distance and lost track of him, the theory seemed plausible.

"Then, the student council president has already gone out beyond the corrupt darkness, so there’s a possibility he’s joining the bodyguards."

"Jun-yeol said he would pour the fire's energy into the veins to stop the eruption. Even if he couldn’t climb with us because of the corrupt darkness, the dragon kin should be able to sense the energy and find him."

As the students made hopeful observations and used their skills, preparing their items, they focused on praying for Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha's success and keeping themselves safe from the eruption.

But there was still someone who hadn’t given up on helping them.

"If I just break through that, how can I get through?"

Ma Jin-seung had cheered with joy when they disappeared into the corrupt darkness, but soon grew frustrated, glaring at the corrupt darkness.

Ma Jin-seung had a rough idea of what was happening and had prepared in his own way, but everything ended in failure.

Still, unable to let go, he thought about a way to follow in the direction Hong-ryong disappeared, recalling the place where Yeom Jun-yeol had stopped the eruption in the replay.

‘During the exchange battle and in the replay, Cho Won saved the kids, and Yi Shin said my Gwanglim was amazing. But how do I use this well?’

While Ma Jin-seung pondered, sounds of explosions, heat, and shockwaves intermittently rose from below the ground.

Yet, Ma Jin-seung was determined to keep thinking until he found the answer.

Before the satellite alert signaling the occurrence of another world rang, in the Air Hotel, Snow and Air Jeju.

The new team member of the Hydrangea team, Ji Myeong-su, had finished the task of removing bugs from the hydrangeas early and returned to the hotel.

Thanks to Ji Myeong-su’s Gwanglim “Floating Gift,” which suited the task well, the job was completed quickly, leaving him with time to spare.

Ji Myeong-su checked the box filled with bugs, which Gold Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol hated.

‘I thought it would be about half full after checking the entire hydrangea field, but it’s almost full. There are more bugs than expected.’

Ji Myeong-su remembered Gwak Kyung-goo, who had shown particular interest in the box of bugs.

Even though it was disgusting to see the wriggling bugs, Gwak Kyung-goo seemed oddly intrigued and kept making silly comments while watching.

“The bugs all ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) look pretty similar.”

The bugs in the box varied greatly in shape.

It seemed like Gwak Kyung-goo had compared them to other bugs he had seen elsewhere.

Ji Myeong-su carefully sealed the box to prevent the bugs from escaping and thought about his juniors.

‘Today, my juniors said they were going to Hallasan. Some of them probably resisted, so should I call them and treat them to a meal?’

As a former student council president, Ji Myeong-su knew very well how Eun-gwang students behaved.

In fact, many third-year students had stayed in the dorms, refusing to hike.

As Ji Myeong-su headed toward the Icarus 1st floor lounge café, where the Eun-gwang students gathered, planning to call a junior to treat them, his device vibrated and emitted a warning sound.

‘It’s a low-rarity otherworld and quite far away. There’s no need for me to go out.’

Ji Myeong-su received the alert about the otherworld occurrence, but he decided to watch it for now.

Though he was a player, he was also a tourist at the moment.

There had been several cases where outsiders, claiming to belong to famous pro player teams, interfered and disrupted the atmosphere by giving orders or getting in the way of local pro teams collaborating.

If it happened nearby and quick action was needed, or if the rarity was high and it became difficult to respond with the current system due to the increase in the number of otherworld entities, it would be the right time to step in. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Ji Myeong-su decided to carefully observe the otherworld alert.

‘Also, there are probably a lot of dragon kin around here. Jun-yeol came to the island, and there’s no way he’d only send a few bodyguards. He probably deployed dragon kin disguised as tourists around here.’

Ji Myeong-su was well aware of the situation with Yeom Jun-yeol.

Unless the Dragon King had advised against bringing dragon kin through the shaman or some other circumstance had made it difficult to move the dragon kin, they were definitely in Jeju.

‘But I heard that the Dragon Palace has been a bit busy moving to the surface recently... The shaman said she had a close relationship with our master.’

As Ji Myeong-su recalled what the master of the Hydrangea team, Baek Hwa-nam, had said, the hologram he had set up in front of him froze.

His device could no longer receive satellite information, and the communication was cut off.

Instead of panicking, Ji Myeong-su immediately ran toward the hotel’s main entrance.

He needed to move to a place with better reception to assess the situation.

However, Ji Myeong-su stopped at the door.

Whoooooo!

The hotel’s front door had warped into a strange shape.

It was a phenomenon caused by spatial distortion due to a powerful force.

The source of that force was the ground.

The earth's energy was distorting the space around here.

‘What in the world is going on?’

Ji Myeong-su searched for a less distorted spot and peered through the window.

Since it was an ocean-view hotel, even from the first floor, he could see the sea.

The distant sea, with its giant waves, was churning violently, and it had turned black due to the enemy’s influence.