Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched
Everyone has a solid plan. Until they get punched in the face!
Dawn's Light Guild, basement level 3, indoor training hall.
This was a place where awakeners primarily visited to temper their bodies and minds.
'Huh? Can't you just break ghost stories by exploiting their rules? Why bother training?'
——Someone out there is probably wondering that right now.
But.
As the saying goes, stamina is national power. To survive a ghost story, sure, you need exceptional wits and luck, but above all else, your own body is the most important thing.
For ghost stories ranked Disaster-grade or higher, most rules boil down to something pretty simple. "Run away" or "survive."
From that moment on, it's just a raw fight for survival.
For example, not long ago, Phantom obliterated the [Prankster Ghost Story], whose rule was "Kill the sacrifice to survive."
At their core, ghost stories revel in tormenting and killing people. They get their thrills from chasing down those who flee in terror, gasping for breath until their lungs burn.
·····Of course, there are rare ghost stories that aren't like that, but they're a tiny minority.
In the end, if you want to survive a ghost story, brains alone aren't enough. Your body has to hold up before you can even follow the rules.
That's why, these days, pretty much every guild has a training hall—not just for battling ghost stories, but also to subdue the rising tide of "awakener criminals."
And among them, Dawn's Light's training hall lived up to its reputation with top-tier facilities. A 20-meter-high domed ceiling, walls made of special materials. Swords, spears, dual blades, even guns and hybrid weapons.
It was exactly the kind of setup you'd expect from a hunter web novel training ground.
And today, this very hall was hosting a field trip and class for students—from kids to teens—who had cracked ghost stories at a young age and gained awakening abilities.
"Man, Dawn's Light really lives up to the hype. These facilities are no joke."
The burly student waiting in the training hall spoke up first.
"Of course! This is where our fox-eared 'Gaeun Goddess'—even cuter lately—hangs out!"
"Shut your trap, you perv."
"Can you guys quiet down? God, all men are perverts. If this weren't a field trip, I wouldn't even be here with you losers."
As the two guys started snickering and bantering, a girl quietly reading a book nearby made her displeasure clear.
"Hypocrites shipping famous male awakeners in BL fantasies."
"What I pursue is pure love. Not like you degenerates obsessed with the smut."
"Aww~ Of course you are~"
"···This punk's getting cocky 'cause I'm letting it slide? Wanna throw down before Teacher Eun-ha shows?"
"If you're man enough, let's go!!"
Maybe it was because they'd gained superpowers from their fantasies at such a young age, but these kids fought like cats and dogs every other day.
"Yo, they're at it again. Someone stop 'em."
"Ask the class rep?"
"Seol-hwa? No way."
"Just let 'em. Teacher Eun-ha'll be here soon anyway. Might as well watch."
As the glasses-wearing girl and the big guy stood up to intervene—
Thud.
"I'm already pissed. Sit your asses down."
Sharp eyes. A boy with slightly long black hair tied back tapped the floor with his sneaker sole.
That brief impact silenced the noisy hall full of kids like magic.
"······."
"······."
The atmosphere went dead quiet, like they'd all rehearsed it.
"Hah, shit. Who the hell are you to— Whoa?!"
The burly guy recognized the voice and immediately broke into a cold sweat, apologizing nonstop to the boy.
"Haha, J-Jin-woo! I'll just sit quiet now, cool?"
"Appreciate it."
The guy scurried back to the group at a speed that didn't match his size.
The boy who'd nipped the mini-chaos in the bud with one word was Ha Jin-woo. At just 17, he'd cracked a ghost story and was one of the stronger awakener trainees.
"Ugh, why do we gotta learn useless crap like swordsmanship?"
Right now, though, Jin-woo was griping about the sword class.
Swordsmanship was a relic from a bygone era. In a world where one awakening power solved everything, who used plain old swords?
'To beat the class rep who always takes first... I need to train my awakening more, not waste time on this!'
Jin-woo clicked his tongue, staring daggers at the girl wandering the hall alone, lost in thought.
'What the hell's her deal? Can't figure her out. Barely talks.'
She was always like that. Marching to her own beat, speaking only when needed. The unflappable class rep who always aced everything: Cheon Seol-hwa.
'Just you wait. I'll beat you someday.'
As Jin-woo burned with rivalry toward the rep, a kid next to him patted his back.
"Lighten up, Jin-woo. Sword class ends, then Teacher Eun-ha does awakening training herself. Hang in there."
"Sigh... If only her classes were longer. Wasting time on this pointless crap. Who's even the instructor? Never heard of 'em."
Rustle.
Jin-woo picked up the handout with the class outline.
Handwritten by Teacher Eun-ha herself, it read:
<Swordsmanship Class>
[Supervisor] Kang Eun-ha
[Instructor] Yoon Si-hyeon ← The coolest son in the world♡♡
Famous, powerhouse awakeners everywhere, and they stick us with some no-name hack?
"First time hearing Teacher Eun-ha has a son... Let's see what this guy's about. If he's just riding nepotism... I'll challenge him to a duel and smash him."
Jin-woo crumpled the paper slightly and waited for the instructor.
* * *
I'd taken the sword instructor gig to help Lea recover her memories, but...
·····Straight up, it was a massive pain in the ass.
"Sigh, what kinda karma is this?"
I knew I liked swords and was good with them. When I dabbled in kendo briefly, it was obvious: I had talent.
But there's a huge gap between "being good" and "teaching well."
"I swing 99% on instinct anyway."
I'd just swing, hit the mark. Incoming attacks? Spot 'em and block. Following my body's natural flow—that was my whole skillset.
Trying to teach like this? The kids might lynch me.
"Hmm... Gotta be a way to bail on this class—"
"Si-hyun, what're you scheming?"
Lea poked my cheek, interrupting my daydreams of an early dismissal. The girl was buzzing with excitement at finally getting to practice swordplay.
"Haha, nothing. You seem happy, Lea."
"Umu! This body finally gets to wield the sword it craves! I've said I'm a knight, but those white-coated humans wouldn't give this body one."
"'Cause you trashed the lab last time they did."
Early on, I'd given her a wooden practice sword as a test. But Lea just flailed wildly—no proper form. Arming the hyper girl ended in total disaster.
'Broke everything from the MDM onward. Priceless gear. The researchers' teary faces still haunt me.'
As the Notification Window proclaimed, Lea was indeed the mengmang-grade ghost story[Noblesse].
However.
The current Lea showed zero trace of the novel's mighty black knight power.
—『Lea can't use any power because she wants it that way.』
The window's words echoed in my mind.
A girl screaming to be recognized as a fearsome ghost story, yet deliberately weakening herself?
'Maybe tied to her inner wish back in the fragment—not to be the Knight King anymore.'
Pat pat.
I stroked Lea, snug in my arms and buzzing with energy, calming her a bit.
"Lab was too cramped to swing properly, right? Training hall's huge—you can go wild."
"Hehe, this body can finally show its true skill!"
"Haha, I'm curious too. How good is our knight with a sword?"
"This body wonders about Si-hyun's skill too. Heard that rude woman who hugged this body called Si-hyun a genius!"
Come to think of it, I'd never swung a sword in front of Lea.
Should've played around at home. Might've jogged her knight memories sooner.
"Genius? Just enough to protect our knight~"
"Umu! Protecting a strong knight like this body? Si-hyun is a genius!"
As we chatted, we reached the training hall entrance.
"Hehe, introducing my son to all these cuties gives Mama chills of excitement~♡"
"Mom, please, just keep it normal."
"I'll try~♥︎"
Mom Eun-ha smirked slyly and pushed open the door.
* * *
"Cutie pies, pay attention~~ Here's your sword instructor for today, my loveliest son, Yoon Si-hyeon~~♡"
"······."
I was an idiot for expecting normalcy.
I knew she always exceeded my wildest guesses, yet here I was, blindsided again.
"Hehe, greet your instructor nicely~~"
The kids hit me with a rainbow of stares at Mom's sing-song intro: suspicion, envy, apathy.
'That's Teacher Eun-ha's son?'
'Who?'
'Famous awakener?'
——Probably.
For a social recluse like me, all this attention was overwhelming.
Guess I should greet them...
Ahem.
I cleared my throat, lowering my voice to sound steady.
That instant—
Whoosh!
A black-haired boy stood abruptly and fired a question.
"Instructor, one question. I'm a big awakener buff—know all the famous domestic ones. But I've never heard your name. Recent awakening?"
Ha Jin-woo, he'd introduced himself, barraged me without breathing.
"Or... did you snag this gig riding Teacher Kang Eun-ha's coattails as her son?"
"······."
"Care to explain?"
Lighten up, dude! Why the murder face? It's scary—I can't even talk!
Did I do something wrong?!
I glanced at Mom Eun-ha, pleading for backup with my eyes.
But.
"Oh my, whatever this is, it's fun~♡ Go get 'em, son~ Hehe♥︎"
Squeeze!
Mom just gripped my hand with sparkling red eyes, cheering excitedly.
·····Idiot me for hoping.
Sigh. No help from Mom Eun-ha, huh.
'Fine, experience is experience! Answer the kid honestly.'
* * *
"It's natural you've never heard my name. I'm not an awakener."
"······Powerless?"
"You could say that."
Grind.
Jin-woo gnashed his teeth at Si-hyun's reply.
'A powerless nobody teaching awakeners?'
Already fuming over wasting time on useless swordplay, now some rando was gonna lecture them?
No way in hell.
'I... I gotta get stronger fast—for a reason!'
Step.
Jin-woo strode forward, stopping before Si-hyun. He jabbed a finger at his eyes and declared boldly.
"No interest in learning from a powerless hack. But since Teacher Eun-ha brought you, I wanna test you."
"······."
"I challenge you to a duel. Lose, bow out and leave quietly."
"And if I win?"
Crunch.
Jin-woo was dumbfounded. How could a powerless loser beat an awakener?
'He won't win anyway, so throw in some BS condition.'
"If you win, I'll be your dog for the day."