Soon, as the Chick Class children huddled together in front of the screen to watch the video, a tidal wave began surging toward them.
‘Fortunately, they don’t seem too startled.’
If the children started shrieking that the 4D effects were scary, the plan might go awry.
But the children were fascinated instead, and found it fun.
Geuru’s face had flushed red with excitement, and she kept turning to the friends on either side of her, letting out cries of admiration.
After confirming this, Gwon Riyeong glanced at the sprinklers. She had already shut them off so they wouldn’t activate.
When it came to incidents, fire was always best.
The plan was this.
‘Because the Chick Class teacher and children were experiencing a 4D video, they failed to react to the fire in time, and with the sprinklers inexplicably turned off that day, it nearly became a major accident. However, thanks to Docent Gwon Riyeong’s swift response, the danger was averted.’
In other words, she intended to become the hero who saved a group of kindergarteners.
And among those children, by sheer coincidence, was the daughter of Guild Leader On Jurim.
She thought this was a plan that would let her put them in her debt without causing the children any serious harm.
Gwon Honggyun had been displeased, asking if something so minor would really be enough, but she was confident of success.
After all, luck had always followed her.
Click.
In other words, her being unlucky had not been included in the plan.
Click.
‘Huh?’
Click. Click. Click!
Cold sweat ran down Gwon Riyeong’s back as she kept pressing the ignition device switch.
Click, click.
But no matter how many times she pressed it, there was no response.
She slipped behind the screen and checked the device.
Bzzzt—
‘A short circuit?!’
Gwon Riyeong’s face twisted.
Since this was a 4D theater, it seemed the water sprayed in time with the tidal wave video had seeped into the ignition device.
‘It breaks down here?’
Of all times, now?
‘Damn it!’
Rage surged up in her, her face flushing bright red as curses rose to her throat.
‘Endure. Endure. Endure…….’
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them.
Because she had prepared another plan, just in case.
Moving to a corner of the theater, she took out the whistle hanging around her neck.
Piiit—
No sound came from the whistle. Only the faint sound of air leaking out could be heard.
But it would reach Mara, the hunting dog she had raised with such affection.
The second plan was to awaken the monsters on display.
Lesser monsters were displayed on the first floor, and her dog would drive them up into the theater.
Just then, on the screen, the tidal wave and crustal upheaval stopped, and a Tyrannosaurus revealed itself. Then it thrust its face toward the children.
Because of the 4D effect, it must have looked to the children as though the dinosaur had come out of the screen.
“Kyaaaah!”
Amid the piercing screams, laughter burst out. The dinosaur experience in 4D seemed to be quite enjoyable.
Just then, scritch, scritch, scritch, came the sound of something scratching at the door. It seemed Mara had completed her mission and returned.
After confirming that even the Chick Class homeroom teacher was absorbed in the video, Gwon Riyeong quietly opened the door, and a large black retriever slipped inside.
Its tail was tucked between its legs, and it was whining.
“Mara?”
What’s wrong? Just as Gwon Riyeong was looking puzzled—
Slaaash—!
A massive arm covered in scales that looked as though they were made of ice tore through the center of the screen with sharp claws.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Waaah!”
The children laughed and clapped.
Through the torn screen, the long face of a reptile poked out.
With a long snout unique to reptiles, golden eyes, and elongated pupils, the monster resembled a dinosaur with frost clinging all over its body.
It sniffed toward the children, then opened its enormous mouth.
“Kraaaaaah!”
It was a roar that sent goosebumps rising all the way down the spine.
But the children, and even the Chick Class homeroom teacher, merely reacted as if it was incredibly realistic.
Only Gwon Riyeong and Beilak’s faces stiffened.
‘That thing is real.’
Only then did Gwon Riyeong understand why Mara was so terrified.
[Failed Remnant of the Snowfield (A)]
Failure
What stood before her was not some F-rank or E-rank creature displayed in the museum, but an A-rank monster.
The Chick Class homeroom teacher realized something was wrong when another Remnant kicked in the lower entrance where the screen was.
“Kraaaaaak!”
The children squealed and burst into laughter again, but the teacher, face rigid, grabbed as many children as she could in her arms.
“Chick Class, everyone stand up! Hurry and go outside!”
Fortunately, the monsters were not attacking the children yet, but she had to get them outside before something terrible happened.
The children looked puzzled, but one by one, they began to rise unsteadily.
“Teacher, why are we leaving?”
“Aren’t we watching the dinosaur anymore?”
The Chick Class homeroom teacher carried three children at once and ran toward the rear door.
“Teacher Gwon Riyeong!”
“Yes, yes!”
Gwon Riyeong, who had been standing there blankly, came to her senses at the teacher’s call.
The children’s safety came first right now. She immediately picked up the children and carried them outside.
The Remnants of the Snowfield entered the theater, rolling their eyes around as if searching for Mara.
‘Four A-ranks?’
Gwon Riyeong swallowed dryly, her face ashen.
The ‘Failed Remnant of the Snowfield’ was a giant reptile covered in ice scales, breathing out cold air and freezing everything around it.
‘Mara…… where on earth did you bring things like that from…….’
Her heart pounded. The plan had not merely fallen apart—it had grown into something far beyond what she could handle.
Mara was curled up in a dark corner, but the Remnants were searching the surroundings thoroughly and were on the verge of discovering it.
Just as Gwon Riyeong was about to draw her weapon, thinking she had to save Mara—
“Teacher Gwon Riyeong! Geuru! Geuru didn’t come out!”
On Geuru?
“I’ll take her out! You evacuate first!”
Gwon Riyeong swept her gaze around and witnessed an astonishing sight.
A tiny child stood there proudly, a bird perched on her head and a hamster on her shoulder, holding a fork in her hand.
“……?!”
Just as Gwon Riyeong’s face filled with shock, Geuru went toddling toward the Remnant of the Snowfield.
‘Insane!’
Gwon Riyeong rushed over, grabbed Geuru’s hand, and started running in the opposite direction.
Geuru, whose hand had suddenly been seized, opened her mouth into a round O.
“Eeh?”
“What are you doing when it’s dangerous!”
Was it dangerous? Geuru rolled her eyes and blinked.
At that moment, Gwon Riyeong’s senses detected something overhead.
“Geuru, keep running!”
Gwon Riyeong let go of the small hand she was holding and shoved Geuru hard in the back.
Tatata!
Boom!
The steel frame supporting the screen crashed down where Geuru had just been.
The steel frame blocked the space between the two like a massive iron fence.
A trembling breath escaped through Gwon Riyeong’s clenched teeth.
One step.
If she had reacted even a little later, not only she but the child as well would have been crushed to death.
‘No wonder the card had the Grim Reaper drawn on it.’
Gwon Riyeong groaned, and behind her, the monsters’ roars began to rise one after another.
They were not things displayed at the National Museum of Korea. Nor were they the monsters she had prepared.
‘Where on earth did they come from?’
No matter how much she had become an icon of misfortune, she shouldn’t be able to create something from nothing.
“T-Teacher!”
Just then, Geuru’s voice cut through her thoughts.
Geuru was stamping her feet in front of her.
She still hadn’t left? Gwon Riyeong shouted at Geuru.
“Hurry up and run!”
Gritting her teeth, she summoned her sword.
Gwon Riyeong let out a trembling breath and made up her mind.
Protecting the child was now the top priority.
*
Meanwhile, outside the National Museum of Korea, emergency measures were being taken in response to the sudden appearance of A-rank monsters.
As part of the response, Guild Brom received an emergency summons and immediately deployed.
“This is Brom. What is the situation?”
Brom’s guild leader, Cheon Gyuri, was receiving a brief report while gearing up.
“Guild Leader On Jurim, this incident has been assigned to Brom to handle—”
Jurim shoved aside the police officer blocking his way, approached Cheon Gyuri, and said,
“Guild Leader Cheon. I’m going in this time.”
“Pardon?”
Why all of a sudden?
While she asked back with a blank expression, the Chick Class homeroom teacher and the children came pouring out of the museum entrance under the guidance of the police special team.
“Justitia Chick Class has evacuated!”
‘Justitia, then…….’
Realizing that On Jurim’s daughter attended Justitia, Cheon Gyuri looked over the children.
Screeeech—!
“Huiyeon!”
Gu Sinhu, who had stubbornly driven his car through the reporters and officials, leaped out and ran over in one breath, calling Huiyeon’s name.
“Daddy!”
When Gu Huiyeon threw herself into his arms, Gu Sinhu let out a long breath.
On the other hand, Jurim’s gaze trembled as he checked the children’s faces one by one.
As if he couldn’t believe it, he also looked over the faces of the other visitors.
Where? Where is she? Why can’t I see her?
“Geuru is…….”
Jurim swallowed dryly and struggled to speak, but the Chick Class homeroom teacher shouted in a trembling voice.
“A child is still inside! The docent teacher, too! She said she’d take care of one of the children in our class, but I don’t think they made it out!”
In that instant.
Kiiiiiiing—
Cheon Gyuri felt a ringing in her ears.
At the same time, she felt the mana around them fluctuate violently, and her shoulders flinched stiff.
Everyone with mana must have felt it. A pressure like the sensation of the earth itself shifting.
Thinking she could not let On Jurim go in like this, Cheon Gyuri hurriedly grabbed Jurim’s wrist.
“Guild Master On. I’ll go. I’ll bring Geuru out safely, so trust me.”
Because the National Museum of Korea displayed precious items, it was covered by a shield that blocked outsiders from entering.
On Jurim’s expression was fierce and sharp, as though he would shatter that shield and charge in at any moment.
“Guild Leader On! Guild Leader Cheon!”
Just then, an elderly man with a large group of secretaries in tow stepped in front of the two guild leaders.
It was Gwon Honggyun.
In a grief-stricken voice, he grasped Jurim’s hand and said,
“The one left alone in there is my daughter. I beg you. Please save my daughter, Guild Leader.”