Ch 160
Became a swordsmanship instructor at the academy
Chapter 160
On the way back to school by car, Eunseo's expression is quite dark.
It seems to be because of the sparring results from earlier today….
She lost to both Se-jin and Hyeon-jeong, but it's a natural result.
Even if Eunseo is considered exceptional among her peers, those two are active Hunters.
Moreover, they're not ordinary active Hunters either - Se-jin may only be B-rank in classification, but in terms of actual ability, she's easily among the top tier of A-ranks.
She's also receiving teachings from Master, so in just a few years, she'll probably break my record and become the youngest S-rank Hunter.
Hyeon-jeong is also an already verified A-rank Hunter, and since Antiroider Guild has a system where all guild members spar every month, she was quite skilled.
Although Eunseo has learned martial arts, it's only basic mental cultivation methods, not the mental cultivation techniques I learned.
It's not like she ate Wild Ginseng like Se-jin did either.
Even though I taught her martial arts with basic mental cultivation methods, I tried to get Wild Ginseng for her if possible, but luck wasn't on our side this time.
Last time I was somehow lucky, but originally, getting Wild Ginseng in the middle of winter is like finding fish in a desert - it's not an easy task.
As a compromise, I've been consistently giving her Red Ginseng extract and medicines made from medicinal herbs that help improve internal energy, but they don't have the same effect as Wild Ginseng.
"Eunseo, should we stop by and get a chicken to go on the way?"
"Ah, I'm fine."
She's even refusing chicken. She really seems deeply upset.
"Is it because you lost in the sparring? It's okay. You did well enough."
After the sparring ended, everyone praised Eunseo a lot.
They said it wasn't at a student level.
How could a second-year, not even a third-year, reach this level?
When Eunseo was decided as the representative, Se-jin also showed quite a surprised reaction.
In the interview Se-jin gave after last year's martial arts tournament ended, she mentioned Eunsu as the student she was looking forward to after her graduation, but Eunseo completely shattered that expectation.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for? Both of them praised your skills. Don't take it too much to heart. It's natural to lose."
"But... You even taught me special mental cultivation methods, and I was lacking...."
"Se-jin learned them too. Besides, Se-jin is last year's winner, right?"
Se-jin learned even better mental cultivation methods, so I feel a bit guilty.
Should I look for Wild Ginseng once more....
"I couldn't even beat the magician."
"Hyeon-jeong is also an active A-rank Hunter, you know? She has much more experience than you and is much older too. It would be a problem if she lost."
"Still, I couldn't even make a proper attack, and both of them seemed to be going easy on me.... I feel like I'm too lacking."
Oh dear, what should I do with this timid girl?
Where did that confident figure go, who boldly raised objections by mentioning school regulations when everyone's attention was focused on her during the closing ceremony....
"Who says that? I don't think that way at all."
"But...."
"Student Seong Eunseo, are you ignoring an S-rank Hunter's opinion right now?"
"Hey, what's with the sudden formality?"
"The only thing you lack is confidence. You've already proven that you're the best among the 4,200 prospective Hunters in Korea by winning the martial arts tournament, haven't you?"
"Well, that's true, but... Honestly, if my sister had given her all...."
"I think differently though? During the sparring, she definitely went a bit easy, but in the final match, Eunsu gave her best."
"...Really?"
"Of course. Even if she didn't give her all because you're her younger sister, that means Eunsu's determination was lacking compared to yours."
"I, I see. I was worried that I might tarnish your reputation because of my inadequacy...."
"I don't care about that. And no matter what anyone says, Eunseo is my second disciple, right? Eunseo, you need to believe in yourself a bit more. If you can't do that, then trust this teacher who is the youngest S-rank Hunter."
"Yes! Um... Then is Se-jin my senior the first disciple?"
"Huh? That's right."
"Then if both me and Se-jin were drowning, who would you save first?"
Why is she suddenly asking such a childish question?
Is she still a child?
"Well, since I can't swim, I'd probably call 119."
"Mmm, not that kind of answer. If you were good at swimming and absolutely had to save one person first?"
She's quite persistent about this part.
"Then it would be Eunseo."
"Really? You're not just saying that because you're with me right now, are you?"
"Not particularly. Of course I'd have to save Eunseo first."
Looking at her asking this question, Eunseo seems like she can't swim, but Se-jin wouldn't fall into water in the first place, and even if she did, she'd get out on her own, so saving Eunseo first would be right.
With Se-jin's current skills, even if Void Walking is difficult, Water Walking would be possible.
"...."
There's no response, so when I look at Eunseo, her cheeks are dyed bright red.
Is it very cold in the car?
I turned on the heater, but since I'm not affected by cold or heat, I'm not sure.
"Are you very cold? Should I turn up the heater more?"
"No... I'm fine."
"You say you're fine, but your face is red. You don't have a cold coming on, do you? Should we stop by a hospital or pharmacy?"
"It's not that, I'm really fine."
Her expression has definitely brightened up.
"Well then, should we stop by a chicken place on the way?"
"Instead of chicken, can't we go eat Mudfish Soup?"
Ugh, I don't like Mudfish Soup....
***
Time really flies by quickly.
It feels like just yesterday I was preparing supplementary lessons with Eunseo, but before I knew it, we came to America, competed in the WHCU tournament, and only the final match remains.
Since WHCU is a tournament where only the most outstanding students from around the world participate, the students' levels were quite high, but there were no students who could match our confident Eunseo.
Although it wasn't a completely overwhelming victory like Se-jin's last year, she calmly achieved victory one by one.
In yesterday's semifinal, she defeated Howard from America, who was a championship candidate, and proudly advanced to the final.
The final opponent is coincidentally Nonomi, a Japanese female student who was mentioned as 'Top 3.'
Since it's a Korea-Japan match and a duel between swordsmen who use the same weapon, the interest is really intense.
"Instead of giving encouragement, what's with 'go and come back'? Aren't you being too stiff?"
This year the Vice Principal didn't accompany us, but Se-jin was invited as last year's winner and came along.
With so much attention focused on her, the pressure must be great, but since I believe in Eunseo, I didn't say anything special.
For someone with Eunseo's style, special encouragement like with Se-jin would actually make her feel more pressure.
I just told her to go and come back as usual, and Eunseo, who is now standing in the dueling arena, also calmly said she would go and come back as she always had.
"Eunseo is a bit different from you."
"Still, it would have been nice if you had said at least one warm word. Aren't you worried? You bet all your assets and took out loans again this time too, didn't you?"
This time, like with Se-jin, I not only bet all my assets but also took out loans using my building shares as collateral to bet on WH Toto.
Since our Eunseo is also a Top 3 championship candidate, the odds aren't as high as before, but since the betting amount is large, the profit will probably be similar.
"Just like I believed in you last year, I believe in Eunseo."
"I don't think Eunseo will lose either. By the way, when will you make the announcement?"
"Tomorrow or the day after? I can't steal Eunseo's protagonist spot."
Since Eunseo won the WHCU tournament through her efforts, if I make the plan announcement today, attention would be divided.
"That soon?"
"I'm just making the announcement quickly. The challenge will be about a week later. I need to receive the prize money."
"You won't even be able to use it from now on anyway. Honestly, I understand to some extent, but at this point, why bother...."
"As I said before, my thoughts haven't changed. So that's enough. The duel has started."
With the referee's whistle, Eunseo began charging first.
Now she moves with complete footwork, fiercely pressing forward.
The female student named Nonomi is also skillfully parrying, showing the ability of someone who made it to the finals.
But when I enhanced my vision, her flustered state is evident.
That's understandable, since Eunseo rarely made the first move while advancing to the finals.
It's not advice I particularly gave, so it seems like a strategy she came up with herself.
Unlike Se-jin's time, she doesn't have Sword Energy, let alone Sword Force, or powerful techniques like 'Meteor Burst Demon Energy,' but she relentlessly presses forward without giving any openings.
"Wow, Eunseo's skills have improved much more than when we sparred before?"
"She worked hard. And who taught her?"
As the offense and defense continued, the Japanese student who kept being pushed back dropped her sword.
It was a golden opportunity to finish quickly, but the Japanese student rolled her body to avoid Eunseo's diagonal slash.
She immediately grabbed her sword again and got up. Since she has a small and thin build, I analyzed her as a speed-focused type, but she's more agile than I thought.
She seems quite capable of improvisation, unlike a typical student. It's really unfortunate.
Eunseo has been showing balanced swordsmanship that emphasizes both offense and defense from the start.
But if she had put more power into her attack even if her stance collapsed a bit just now, she could have ended it.
This part needs to be filled with experience rather than effort, so it can't be helped, but it's still regrettable.
She herself must feel great regret too, but Eunseo continued to pressure her opponent just like at the beginning, and finally succeeded in cornering her opponent in 15 minutes.
The Japanese female student shouted a battle cry and began counterattacking to somehow escape the corner, but she couldn't break through Eunseo's balanced swordsmanship.
There are differences in other aspects too, but the difference in swordsmanship itself is quite significant.
That's inevitable since the swordsmanship Eunseo is currently using was created by our Master.
When I asked him to create martial arts for teaching kids in the past, he said it was difficult and wouldn't do it, but when Se-jin asked if he could create suitable martial arts for my student to use in competitions, he made it in half a day.
He said he created it by interpreting Wudang Sect's sword techniques from memory to make them easy for beginners to learn.
Master also named it directly, and this is really....
The name of that swordsmanship is Fake Wudang Sword, short for 'Fake Wudang Sword Technique.'
It was so terrible that I didn't tell Eunseo the name.
The swordsmanship is useful, but if the name is like that, she might lose motivation to learn it.
"It's over."
At Se-jin's words, when I looked at the arena, Eunseo's sword was already pointing at Nonomi's neck.
Looking at Nonomi's sword lying on the ground, she must have knocked the sword away once again.
Soon the referee blew the whistle again and declared Eunseo's victory.
***
It's already been three days since Eunseo won the championship.
It feels like it passed particularly quickly because we were too busy with various events like victory interviews and parties.
Eunseo took the flight back to Korea yesterday afternoon, but I'm not returning to Korea.
WH Toto prize money can be claimed in America too, and I've already finished all preparations before coming.
"Why aren't you eating more?"
"Thinking it's the last time, the food doesn't go down well... ACK! Why are you pinching me?"
I made one joke and she immediately pinched my side.
"Don't say such things even as a joke. It's not like you're challenging today anyway, it's in 4 days. But really...."
"That's enough. I've already made the announcement. You promised to keep the secret too."
Since this is a famous local restaurant and there are only Americans around us, but there might be someone who understands Korean.
"Really, you're quite unique, Teacher."
"That's a compliment, right? More importantly, don't you need to go back to Korea? Shouldn't you start preparing to join Ares soon?"
"The contract renewal is at the end of February. And since I don't know when I'll be able to go on a date with you again, this much is fine."
"It will definitely be harder to see each other than now, but it's not necessarily like that. If it comes to that, we can meet in Luciel's world."
"As if we could even talk. Hurry up and eat more food. It was hard to make a reservation, so it would be a waste to eat just a little."
In the end, we ordered one more menu item, filled our stomachs, and left the restaurant.
We called a taxi to return to the hotel and while waiting, my face appeared on the large electronic billboard at the intersection.
[South Korea's S-rank Hunter Kang Shin-hyeok declares challenge to the impregnable S-grade portal ‘Hell's Gate’, from which no one has ever returned.]