TRPM 395

chapter 395

The Bus to the Retreat

Inside the bus heading to the retreat, the girls in my class were practicing songs.
It was for the talent show that would be held during the retreat.

Elena was going to sing solo, while Kang Garam, Ryu Ayoung, and Lee Haeun would sing together as a trio.

Because of that, the four of them kept singing the same song over and over.

… Objectively speaking, their singing wasn’t bad.
No, it was actually good—more than good.

But since they only sang that same song to practice, listening to it on repeat made me feel like I was about to develop a neurosis.

“Zzz….”
“……”

Maybe because of that, all the teachers riding with us had earplugs in and were taking naps.
Even the bus driver had his in.

Guess the students going on these retreats every year must’ve been the same.

That’s probably why they all came prepared with earplugs.

Let’s see….

I pulled some earphones out of my subspace artifact, plugged them into my smartphone, and played some music.

“……”

After confirming that the girls’ singing no longer reached me, I turned my gaze out the window.

Oh….

Outside, I saw a familiar sight: monsters spilling out of a gate and soldiers firing their rifles at them.

Looks like that dungeon has been neglected for quite a while.

In cities with lots of awakened people, that kind of situation was rare.
It usually wasn’t possible for a dungeon to be left alone long enough for monsters to start pouring out.

But in places with very few or no awakeners, dungeons could get neglected like that, and only later would the Association send awakeners or the army to deal with them.

… Honestly, having regular soldiers enter and raid a dungeon isn’t recommended.

If things are urgent, it can be done, but ideally awakeners should be the ones to clear them—it’s much safer.

Still, this one doesn’t seem too dangerous.

When reinforcements from awakeners are delayed and the field commander judges it safe enough, the military sometimes clears a dungeon on their own.
The one I was looking at now had just been left alone too long, but the monsters spilling out were only goblins—easily handled by soldiers.

“Hey, Geonwoo.”

As I was lost in thought, staring out the window, Lee Dumin, who was sitting next to me, shook me and called my name.
I pulled out my earphones and looked at him.

“You brought your weapon, right?”
“My weapon? Of course I did.”
“Not just yours, but some extras too?”

In my subspace artifact, I had the Harmony Divine Sword along with plenty of other weapons stored.

“Then, could you lend me one when we go into the dungeon during the retreat?”
“?”
“I forgot to bring my gauntlets.”

At first I didn’t understand what he was saying, but then it hit me.

Ah… right, the schedule mentioned going into a dungeon at the retreat.

I remembered that note in the itinerary and looked at him again.
Did this guy seriously think they meant a real dungeon with monsters?

“That’s not an actual dungeon, you know.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just a dungeon experience zone the retreat center built. A kind of mock dungeon.”

It was just an imitation, so there wouldn’t be any monsters.

“If real weapons were needed, the retreat notice would’ve told us to bring them.”

Besides, among the first-years, there were plenty of students who had never even set foot in a dungeon.
Some planned to live normal lives, go to university—many didn’t even own personal weapons.

So there was no way the school would throw them into a real dungeon.
If weapons were truly necessary, the retreat center would provide them.

“Oh… yeah, that makes sense….”

Hearing me out, Dumin looked embarrassed as he realized it was a needless worry.
If he had thought it through slowly, he would’ve figured it out on his own.

… Even before my regression, plenty of kids freaked out just from seeing the word “dungeon” on the schedule.

Back then, my classmate Kim Eun-yeon, who wasn’t a combatant, had hidden behind me, sweating nervously.
And Jin Cheonha had….

… what did he do? He covered his mouth with his fan and said something, I think.

It was so long ago I couldn’t recall his exact words. Looking back, he probably just used the fan to hide his nerves.

Anyway.

“Hmm? We’re turning onto a narrow road.”
“Oh, looks like we’re almost there.”

The bus, which had been driving on a wide, open road, left the pavement behind and began bouncing along an unpaved path.

Soon, familiar scenery came into view.

Ah, right. It was here. This is where our class played paintball against each other.

Because I had attended this retreat before my regression, plenty of memories resurfaced.

And just to clarify, this retreat center wasn’t the same one I’d gone to in elementary and middle school.
Those earlier ones were normal retreats, used by both regular schools and awakener schools.

But this place was clearly built with awakeners in mind—complete with dungeon simulations and specialized facilities.

When it wasn’t retreat season, entire guilds would rent it out for training, since only guilds with real resources could afford facilities this good.

“Oh, there’s the building!”
“Wow, wait—was that a zipline?”
“… You think we’ll be using the zipline as part of the schedule?”
“It wasn’t listed as ‘zipline,’ but there were a few activities that sounded suspiciously similar.”

As the retreat center came into full view, the girls who had been singing—and the boys who had been twisting around to avoid listening—pressed their faces to the windows.

Maybe it was because of our excitement, or maybe because the bumpy dirt road woke them up, but the teachers stirred from their naps, removed their earplugs, and stretched.

“Teacher Son Ji-hye, this your first time here?”
“As a teacher, yes. But I came once as a student.”

The teachers chatted idly while waiting for the bus to stop.
Meanwhile, we cleaned up the snack wrappers and bottles we’d had on the bus.

“Everyone, take your trash with you and follow your teacher once we get off.”
“Yeees~.”
“Okay~.”

When the bus stopped, we disembarked under the teachers’ supervision and headed for the retreat center’s auditorium.

“If anyone needs the bathroom, there’s one right in front of the auditorium. Everyone else, sit down before the hour strikes.”

I didn’t feel the urge to go, so I stayed put.

… To be exact, I knew what would happen if I went now.

“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Go ahead.”
“Wait up….”
“I’ll leave my bag here and go too!”

The bathrooms would be swamped.
It wasn’t just our class—most of the first-years from our school were here, and half of them were leaving their bags to rush to the restroom.

This’ll take a while for everyone to cycle through.

The teacher said to be back before the hour, but there was no way they’d all be done by then.

“First-year Class 1! Where’s Class 1?”
“Oh, over here.”

While everyone but me was gone, a staff member came looking for our class.
I raised my hand, and the staffer checked his papers.

“Your class is five boys, five girls, and one male teacher, right?”

I nodded.

… If the others had been here, they would’ve shaken their heads.

After all, except for me and Lee Haeun, everyone believed Teacher Son Ji-hye was female.

Since I agreed, the staffer handed me three keys.

“These are for your class’s rooms—one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for the teacher. Once everyone’s back, go settle into your rooms, unpack, and return here in thirty minutes. Got it?”
“Yes, understood.”

Seems the retreat staff had also judged it impossible to hold an opening ceremony on the hour.
So they told us to unpack first.

I pocketed the keys and waited for my classmates to return, while the staffer moved on to distribute keys to other classes.

“Geonwoo? Did you get all our room keys?”

Soon, Teacher Son Ji-hye, who had apparently gone to the bathroom quickly, came over and asked me.
I explained about the staffer handing them over.

“As expected, they separated the teachers’ rooms from the students’.”
“Yeah.”

If Teacher Son had been assigned with the students, she would’ve naturally ended up in the girls’ room.
But since she was, in truth, male, that would’ve been problematic.

… Though it would’ve been funny to watch.

Anyway.
According to Teacher Son, when she herself had been a student years ago, the teachers’ rooms had also been placed near the boys’ and girls’ dorms.
So she wasn’t worried about her real gender being discovered this time either.

“If I do get caught, that’ll be its own kind of entertainment.”
“Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”

See? She’s clearly enjoying this situation.

As we joked, the rest of the class began returning from the bathrooms.

******

Once everyone was back, our class headed to the dorms.

“Whoa… it’s pretty spacious.”
“Yours too? Ours is big too.”
“Yeah, they’re all the same.”

The dorm rooms were quite large for just five people.
Actually, they weren’t meant for only five.
Our class was small, which was unusual—other classes likely had about ten students crammed into one room.

Ten people in here would feel pretty cramped.

… Not that it was our problem.
We only had five.

Though I don’t love that our room is the farthest one in the back….

But it seemed they were filling the rooms in order, so ours being the most tucked away was inevitable.

“Everyone unpack, and let’s head out by twenty past. The ceremony’s at half past.”
“Yeees~.”
“Got it~.”

So the boys and I began unpacking.

That’s when it happened.

“Oh hey, there’s a mini-fridge.”

Dumin spotted a fridge in the room, unzipped his suitcase, and—

Clink.

We heard the sound of glass bottles rattling.

“Hm?”
“Huh?”
“… Hey, you….”
“Uh-oh….”

From his bag, he carefully pulled out glass bottles wrapped in clothes and towels to prevent breaking.

“Hey, Dumin.”
“Yeah?”
“… I think I know what those are, but I’m going to ask anyway, hoping I’m wrong. What is that?”
“Oh, this?”

He grinned at us and said—

“Sports drinks.”

“…?”
“…?”
“…?”

Not… alcohol?
But… it looked exactly like booze.