106. Interpersonal Combat Practical (2)
106. Interpersonal Combat Practical (2)
A sparring match with an instructor was arranged on the spot.
I looked at Instructor Hong Ji-na in front of me and pulled up what I knew about her.
First-year Damage Dealer instructor for Velvet Hunter Academy's 「Interpersonal Combat Practical」 course, Hong Ji-na.
Master of every weapon type, she ranks among the top instructors at Velvet Academy in pure combat ability.
Alias: Battle Maniac (戰鬪狂).
That was it.
'...Only if I knew something.'
The instructors almost never appear as enemies, so I'd never fought them, and since the in-game classes weren't actually playable, there honestly wasn't much information about the Velvet Academy instructors.
Just that they're overwhelmingly stronger than the cadets, basically?
'Well, if you follow the main story, within a year you hear "you're now at the level of a Velvet Academy instructor," but still.'
What I could roughly gather from context was that she was a far trickier opponent than Ryu Jin-ju from the Hunter Management Bureau, whom I'd faced a couple of days ago.
As a baseline, the power balance was set so the Hunter Management Bureau was weaker than Velvet Academy.
And since she taught Damage Dealers, her combat strength was bound to be top-tier even among the Velvet Academy instructors.
That's why this spar was important.
Among the battles I'd fight in the future, there would definitely be enemies I had no intel on.
I couldn't keep losing my head every time. So this was a chance to prepare a countermeasure against an "unknown enemy"—you could even say this had worked out well.
'Still, she's probably weaker than Instructor Baek Seol-hee.'
The idea that monsters like Instructor Baek Seol-hee were crawling all over the place just didn't make sense.
No matter how much those Demonized Human bastards ran wild, that would strip all plausibility from Velvet Academy ever being in danger.
The instructors would just step in, clean house, and game over.
'Hmm, first I need to gauge Instructor Hong Ji-na's combat strength...'
"Jin Yu-ha, do you have some method you've thought of?"
At that moment, the orange-haired Righteousness Freak, Lee Min-young, asked me.
I turned my head to look at her.
A rigid face filled to the brim with conviction (which I'd call stubbornness).
I subtly raised the corner of my mouth.
'There we go. A combat-strength measuring device...'
As if sensing something ominous, Lee Min-young flinched and stepped back.
"...Wha—, what is it!"
Hey, I'm not gonna bite.
I quickly fixed my expression and spoke with a serious attitude.
"Lee Min-young."
"......Yes."
"Right now, we're only three Damage Dealers."
"......That's correct."
"In this situation, if we recklessly charge in with attacks, the result is obvious. An academy instructor isn't someone you can take lightly."
She seemed to think my logic was sound; her face hardened along with mine.
"Yes, you're right. That's why we need a strategy."
I picked my words while recalling her personality.
"Well, among us, you're the only one with a shield."
"......A shield, you mean?"
"Right. A Damage Dealer as well-balanced as you is rare. Actually, it's no exaggeration to say they don't exist. Because you're a balanced talent who can organically link offense and defense and do both simultaneously."
As I suddenly launched a bombardment of praise, Lee Min-young swallowed a gulp of air, her face still rigid.
This girl pretends otherwise on the outside, but she absolutely loves getting praised and recognized by others.
Because she's overflowing with a thirst for recognition, she actually pays close attention to how others see her and is sensitive to their evaluation.
"E-Even if you flatter me like that, my resolve to defeat you remains unchanged!"
Lee Min-young shouted, as if determined not to be fooled by my honeyed words.
"A-And you! Just last week you beat me mercilessly, so what are you talking about now!"
But Min-young.
Then why is your voice so elated and your breathing so ragged? I truly have no idea.
"That was because it was you."
Swallowing the laugh threatening to slip out, I stuck to my serious attitude.
"......Because it was, me?"
Lee Min-young's eyes wavered.
Now was the time to hammer home the point with words she'd love to hear.
"Yeah, you're someone with 'conviction' that doesn't break easily, right? Even before entering the academy, I've always 'respected' you."
"......My conviction, respect!? You? Me?"
Her eyes widened even further, brimming with surprise.
"That's why I had no choice. Because you're not the kind of person who will ever easily speak of surrender. If I hadn't focused and let my guard down back then, I would've been the one lying on the ground."
Gulp.
Lee Min-young swallowed dryly.
Shivering briefly, she whipped her head away.
"Hah, honestly! I-Is that how it was!?"
But her shoulders kept fidgeting, as if unable to hide the surging joy.
"Hm-hm! S-So, what is this strategy! Tell me!"
She spoke with her head still turned.
"......First, you'll take point and face the instructor alone. Then, targeting those openings, Kang Do-hee and I will move in to attack."
"......Me, alone?"
Lee Min-young turned her face back, a bewildered expression on it.
I nodded.
"This is something only you can do—someone who can perform the role of both a Damage Dealer and a Tank simultaneously. That's why I'm asking."
"......Because it's me."
"How about it, can you do it? Tell me now if you think it's too much."
"......Hah, honestly. What do you take me for! Just leave it to me!"
'Easy.'
With just a little push, Lee Min-young fell for it way too easily.
Just what you'd expect from a top-tier blockhead, a Righteousness Freak.
And she boldly stepped forward, adjusted her grip on her shield, and took up a Tank's stance.
Kang Do-hee, who'd been silently listening to the conversation beside me, had been looking at me like I was trash from some point on.
"......."
'What. Why. Why are you looking at me like that.'
* * *
"Alright, all strategies set? Hmm, this should be interesting."
Hong Ji-na spoke as she watched the three step out into the sparring arena.
She smiled, recalling Instructor Park Jin-soo's whining the day before.
'Hmm, that ice-cold man grumbling while looking vulnerable was quite cute—. No, right—didn't he say Jin Yu-ha had come up with a genius strategy no one else could imitate?'
Just being the disciple of her rival Baek Seol-hee (though only Hong Ji-na herself thought of it that way) was enough to make this cadet worth keeping an eye on.
And now, hearing that he also possessed a brilliant mind made her even more eager.
That's why she'd arranged this spar against herself, grouping not just him but three Damage Dealers as a team.
'If I experience it firsthand and then tell Instructor Park Jin-soo, it'll be helpful for him.'
Of course, about 90 percent of it was the selfish desire to see Instructor Park Jin-soo abandon his frosty demeanor, grab her hands, and cling to her in gratitude again.
Hong Ji-na put aside the mindset of facing a first-year cadet,
and settled into a stance suited for taking on an upperclassman.
"Then, I'll start right away. Come at me with everything you've got."
Vwoom—
With those words, Instructor Hong Ji-na's Subspace Tattoo glowed.
And axes, spears, swords, greatswords, arrows, katanas, daggers...
All kinds of weapons began raining down from the sky.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
A feast of menacing scrap metal, summoned from thin air and crashing down.
Lee Min-young stiffened her face and turned her head toward Jin Yu-ha and Kang Do-hee.
"......Watch out! Everyone, dodge!"
But before she even opened her mouth, Jin Yu-ha and Kang Do-hee had already distanced themselves far away, outside the attack range.
"......."
At that, Lee Min-young wore a briefly choked-up expression, then gritted her teeth and flung herself backward.
With weapons raining down right behind her, Lee Min-young ran desperately, a chilling sensation crawling down her spine.
Boom!
Boom!
It began like that—an area attack right from the start.
Before long,
the summoning of weapons stopped. Around Hong Ji-na, countless weapons were impaled in the arena floor.
"Now then, shall we begin?"
* * *
"Whoa, she's on a whole different level...."
"For real, they always said the academy instructors are in a different dimension from us cadets...."
"That's so broken—she can actually use all of those weapons?"
"I feel like the first weapon summon alone would've shredded most regular monsters."
"At that level, what hunter rank would she even be?"
The cadets taking the 「Interpersonal Combat Practical」 class were watching the spar from far away.
Whoosh—!
Arrows flew in, spears were hurled, and swords were swung like the teeth of a comb.
Even while using all kinds of weapons as soon as they came to hand, the linkage between one weapon and the next had no openings.
To those who had only ever experienced cadet-versus-cadet combat, the sight of a real, nationally-certified 'Hunter' was a shock in itself.
"......Is Min-young gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, she's not even a Tank.... What's she doing there?"
"Sigh, getting tangled up with Kang Do-hee and Jin Yu-ha and ending up in that mess—what a nightmare."
"Mm, Min-young's a nice kid, but her personality is a bit...."
Even though they didn't finish the sentence, other cadets nodded as if in agreement.
"......But wow, she really dodges well?"
In reality, Lee Min-young was practically facing Hong Ji-na alone.
Instructor Hong Ji-na did attack Jin Yu-ha and Kang Do-hee with long-range weapons like bows and arrows,
but the distance between them was already so great, and the two were focusing entirely on evasion using their nimble speed, so Lee Min-young was the one taking the brunt of her attacks alone.
"Was she always that good...?"
The spectators watching the spar looked at Lee Min-young—who was desperately throwing her body around to dodge—with fresh eyes.
Of course, in Lee Min-young's case, her face was deathly pale as she was internally screaming.
'Aaaaaaah!!! S-Save me!!!'
[ Lee Min-young, roll backward now. ]
Roll, roll.