I recalled the story Victor had been talking about as we entered the cave.

He said that since it was the day the Connecticut student team was closing the first gate, there would be reporters spread out everywhere when we came out.

Honestly, I had brushed it off as a joke at the time.

But it seems Victor was right.

After exiting the gate, we came down from the roof of the Elihu Burritt Library. We were about to pass through and go home after receiving simple treatment from the teacher, but

“How was the outcome of the first activity for the official Connecticut student team?”

“We heard this was the first activity for the Connecticut student team. Were there any difficulties? Please tell us about your achievements!”

“Can we hear more details about the awakened student training system?”

“Look this way, boys!”

As soon as we left the library, I instinctively frowned at the swarm of reporters and flash lights that unfolded.

There were roughly 40 reporters gathered at the University of Connecticut where the gate had opened.

I stared at them with a bewildered look.

For a moment, my vision blurred from the rapidly flashing camera lights. As I was about to raise my hand with a grimace, Adrian raised his palm to block my view.

Mr. Benjamin, as if anticipating this reaction, pushed us to the right where there were no reporters. Other soldiers managed the crowd of reporters that had rushed in.

“Exact dungeon information and results will be announced at a press conference tomorrow morning. Please go back for now and come again then!”

It seems the soldiers had been arguing with reporters from the moment we entered the gate.

Checking my watch, I saw that it had been over 3 hours since we entered the gate.

Leaving behind the clamor of reporters, we headed to the jeep we had arrived in. Getting in the car and closing the door, I finally felt like I had come to my senses.

“What a bolt from the blue. I’m completely disoriented.”

I glanced at the reporters still buzzing and huddled together beyond the jeep window. Even that faded as the car slowly started moving.

“You all worked so hard today. This was quite a successful first activity, wasn’t it?”

Mr. Benjamin said to us with a broad smile. At that, Teacher Gina’s face turned red.

“The kids did so well… but I feel like I didn’t do enough. To think that I, an adult, became a burden to the children.”

“No, you did well too, Gina. You used your skills at appropriate times. Considering it was your first encounter with monsters, it’s remarkable that you didn’t panic.”

Mr. Benjamin consoled the dejected Teacher Gina.

I agree with Mr. Benjamin’s sentiment. If anything, isn’t it stranger that we didn’t bat an eye seeing moving rock monsters for the first time in our lives?

‘Well, I guess it’s because I read dungeon data every day.’

Plus, I knew in advance when and where the dungeon would open. Though I didn’t know the amethyst golem would be the boss.

As Teacher Gina treated the scratch on my forehead, it became smooth and unblemished once again.

While riding back in the jeep, I took out the magic stones I had picked up in the dungeon from my inventory.

“These are the magic stones that came out every time we defeated the subordinate golems. Do we need to hand these over to the military?”

“About a dozen small magic stones, and one large magic stone that came out when defeating the amethyst golem. The military doesn’t forcibly collect dungeon byproducts. However, if you sell them to the military, they’ll pay you a fair price. It’s up to you whether to sell them to the military or not.”

I looked at Victor and Adrian alternately with a face asking if they were interested. The two seemed indifferent to the magic stones, perhaps tired from closing the gate.

“I’m not interested in those pebbles.”

“You can have them all, Juno.”

Oh, well, I’m grateful then.

“Alright. No changing your minds later.”

* * *

It was already night when I returned home.

Since I had contacted my parents in advance about coming home late due to training, they seemed to have gone to bed early without waiting.

Perhaps it’s for the better.

I carefully opened the door and entered, then immediately headed to my room on the second floor. I roughly tossed my bag onto the bed and sat right down in front of the computer.

As soon as I entered the portal site, sure enough.

A fresh article uploaded 10 minutes ago caught my eye.

[Connecticut High School Dungeon Team Launched, Closed D-rank Dungeon Above Central Connecticut State University!]

“What, when did they find out it was D-rank?”

They clearly said they would reveal the dungeon information the next morning, but it seems the reporters who caught wind of it have already done some digging.

Along with the article, a photo of the pitch-black gate taken at the state university was displayed.

There were other photos as well.

For instance, two strikingly handsome male students.

For some reason, neither my face nor Teacher Gina’s was visible, and the photos in the article were filled with Adrian and Victor’s indifferent faces.

Are they discriminating based on looks now…?

I was looking at the article with a disgruntled expression and was about to click on another article when an error popped up.

– This article has been deleted.

“Huh?”

It seems the military is managing the articles in real-time.

A few minutes after the article was deleted, another one appeared.

This time, the entire dungeon team’s faces were mosaiced.

The article with mosaiced faces wasn’t deleted even after ten minutes. This one must have been approved by the military.

All the articles that appeared afterwards were perfunctory.

After skimming through the articles, I exited.

Now it was time to check the rewards.

Most of the rewards from subduing a dungeon are divided among those who actually subdued it.

Of course, you can sell them to the military. They say they’ll buy them at high prices for research or experimental purposes. It’s not a losing deal at all.

The rewards from this amethyst golem dungeon were magic stones and a D-rank weapon box.

Teacher Gina wasn’t interested in weapons since she’s a healer, and Victor and Adrian also pushed it to me.

There’s no reason to refuse such things.

I shook the D-rank weapon box that came as a reward. No sound came from inside the box.

When I opened the wooden case, I saw a pitch-black space.

When I stuck my hand in, I felt an endless wide space.

A subspace, perhaps. As I was fumbling inside the box, my fingertips caught on something. And a blue window appeared before my eyes.

[System: Dungeon reward acquired!

Acquiring reward from ‘D-rank Amethyst Golem Dungeon’.]

The object that popped out of the pitch-black subspace suddenly lit up with a ‘woong’ sound.

With a pounding heart, I gripped its handle tightly and gaped. I wonder how awesome this weapon will be.

“Wow.”

A new window appeared before my eyes accompanied by the sound of fanfare in my ears.

[System: D-rank melee weapon acquired!

You have acquired ‘Lightsaber’. The more nimbly you wield it, the cooler it looks.]

“…?”

Light… what?

My excitement was short-lived as I gritted my teeth looking at the blue-glowing lightsaber.

For a moment, I felt foolish for expecting something grand. A lightsaber? Am I a Jedi or something?

“Where on earth am I supposed to use this?”

The D-rank melee weapon was inspired by the lightsaber from , America’s only classic.

Well, it doesn’t seem like I can do anything great with this, but it looks perfect to bring to the school Halloween party.

Without looking further, I stuffed the D-rank weapon back into my inventory. If I need quick cash, I’ll have to sell it to Mr. Benjamin along with the magic stones.

“Time to get some sleep.”

As I rubbed my tired eyes and quickly scanned the portal site, a blog post caught my eye.

“What’s this? Harvard 1-year tuition information?”

I glanced at the computer screen while sniffling.

Do blog posts also show up based on algorithms these days? Or did it figure out that I’m going to Harvard?

I probably got some college admission points from today’s events. If I continue to work as part of the dungeon team for a year, I could definitely get into a prestigious university.

With a slightly smug feeling, I clicked on the blog post. Well, since I’m going to attend anyway, let’s see how much the 1-year tuition is.

[Hello everyone, this is blog owner ‘Mimi’. ^^

There were times when I suddenly wondered how much the 1-year tuition for a prestigious American university would be.

You’ve had that experience too, right?!]

“…?”

Familiar writing style and rabbit stickers filled the post.

This pattern seems familiar. No way…

[Harvard University, top-class among prestigious universities! Blah blah.

These days, cheap American public universities are popular instead of expensive private universities. ^0^

That’s all about Harvard’s 1-year tuition. ;D!!]

It had an attention-grabbing title of ‘Harvard 1-year tuition information’, but there was actually no information about tuition in the content.

For a moment, I felt dizzy.

“Ah, this is a Korean portal…”

I barely came to my senses and entered another portal site, Gogle. Due to memories from when I was Korean, I must have entered a Korean portal site and seen such a post.

Fortunately, on Gogle, as soon as I searched for ‘Harvard 1-year tuition’, I got the answer I wanted right away.

However, I froze for a different reason than when I saw the blog viral.

“W-what? $90,000?!”

What is this, did I see something wrong?

I rubbed my tired eyes and looked again, but the number ‘$90,000’ on the screen didn’t change.

$90,000 is 100 million won. 100 million!

“100 million… not even for 4 years, but for 1 year tuition?”

What kind of insane tuition is this? Was it actually a university only for the bourgeoisie? I thought it was a prestigious university embodying wisdom, virtue, and physical education, but it seems it was an embodiment of wealth.

It’s common for American kids to have their parents pay tuition for just one year or pay the rest themselves. They work part-time jobs or take out loans.

I hadn’t heard anything about Timothy’s parents paying his tuition. How on earth is Timothy attending school?

‘At this rate, attending one school will completely bankrupt me.’

As I was feeling dizzy again, I turned on my phone that I had turned off and frantically sent a text message somewhere.

Then I threw it onto the desk and collapsed onto the bed.

The content was simple.

[Mr. Trumpets, I’d like to sell a small amount of magic stones…]

I reluctantly decided to sell the magic stones I collect from dungeons little by little to raise tuition.

The path to attending one school is too arduous.

My head hurt.