192. Hell Training (2)
192. Hell Training (2)
The entire Utopia Party stood at attention before Baek Seol-hee.
"It's been a while."
Baek Seol-hee greeted Utopia with a brief word of welcome.
Jin Yu-ha's master, the individual known as Baek Seol-hee, was quite famous among the Utopia Party members.
An instructor who accepted no one as her disciple except Jin Yu-ha.
Unlike other classes anyone could attend simply by registering, Baek Seol-hee taught only Jin Yu-ha.
And after every lesson with her, Jin Yu-ha always came back looking so drained his soul seemed sucked right out of him, and he would rest for an entire day.
Because of this, stories about her had spread quietly among the Utopia Party members like ghost tales.
Of course, even without Jin Yu-ha, Baek Seol-hee did have some slight personal ties to the Utopia Party members in her own way.
Back when Jin Yu-ha first entered the Velvet Hunter Academy through the Male Quota System.
Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee, who were special admissions students, had been grouped with Jin Yu-ha and received training from Baek Seol-hee.
Im Ga-eul and Sofia had also carried out a Demonized Human elimination mission with her during summer break.
The only people with no prior acquaintance with Baek Seol-hee were Tank Lee Yu-ri and Ichika, the newly joined Special role member.
Baek Seol-hee swept her eyes over the Utopia Party members with an icy expression,
then glanced at Shin Se-hee, who was sitting at a desk and chair set against one wall.
'Hmph. Well, I did follow what she said, but...'
Shin Se-hee had not come here today to participate as a trainee,
but as Utopia's Operator. She was serving as an examiner to assess the party's combat readiness and evaluate their results.
'I don't know if this is really all right.'
— Instructor, expensive gifts and the like probably don't mean much to Jin Yu-ha.
— ...What?
— Well, I've already tried all that myself, you see... And Jin Yu-ha isn't the type to have much material desire to begin with.
— But... Chairwoman Rina achieved 7% through a gift offensive alone.
— You have to consider what those gifts meant.
— What the gifts meant?
Recalling Shin Se-hee's words, Baek Seol-hee felt her mood sour slightly.
'The most important thing to my disciple is the Utopia Party itself, she says... The reason Chairwoman Rina earned that much favor was because she boosted the party's combat power exponentially...'
In truth, a Subspace Tattoo was not something you could simply acquire no matter how much money you had.
An exceptional magic awakener capable of performing the Subspace Tattoo procedure was rare, and the effort required for each procedure was no joke.
To begin with, a Subspace Tattoo was something only a mid-tier guild could perhaps own one or two of, maybe.
'And providing a place where the Utopia Party members can train freely regardless of time or place...'
Baek Seol-hee scanned her surroundings with sharp eyes.
The very location where today's training was taking place was an annex of the mansion Chairwoman Rina had given to Jin Yu-ha as a gift.
The training ground was infused with the essence of various magics, and everything needed for training was prepared.
From spatial expansion, holographic monster generation, five-sense synchronization and materialization, to gravity control devices, even time deceleration devices.
It was a facility several steps more advanced than what was installed at the academy.
— But those are things you can't provide, can you, Instructor? So, you just have to do what you do best. For the Utopia Party.
'What I do best, is it.'
As soon as she learned she would be in charge of the Utopia Party's training, a call came from Jin Yu-ha.
— Instructor, you're really going to train my party members together with me?!
— Yes.
— Thank you so much!! Truly. Master, you've put my mind at ease!!!
It was the most elated, joyful voice she had heard from her disciple recently.
Yes.
The hell instructor whose very name makes the Demonized Human Extermination Squad piss themselves.
She just had to show them that sincerity.
Because once they went through this, they wouldn't be able to become weak even if they wanted to.
Baek Seol-hee's eyes sank low.
* * *
Gulp.
Lee Yu-ri swallowed.
Instructor Baek Seol-hee. She'd grown familiar with her face coming and going, but she still didn't know what kind of person she was.
— Huh? Lee Yu-ri? What kind of person Instructor Baek Seol-hee is...? Well, she's incredibly strong, and razor-sharp, um... Someone you're better off just experiencing firsthand?
— Oh? Yu-ri hoobae? What I said back in that forest wasn't sincere at all, okay! Uh, uh-huh? Instructor Baek Seol-hee...? She dotes on Yu-ha hoobae like crazy, a little... seems to have some personal feelings... old and shameless— Huh-huh? Why are you looking at me like that, hoobae?
— Mm, she's exactly as she appears. She's not the type to hide her true feelings, so don't worry.
"First, before we begin training, let's see what you're made of."
Baek Seol-hee manipulated the training ground's holograms.
Hummm—
Countless monsters of all kinds were summoned before Lee Yu-ri.
— Grrrrrrk!
— ROOOOAR!!!
— Krrk? SCREEECH!
All the monsters that appeared were holograms, but as if possessing real substance, their eyes glistened with hatred toward humans.
It was just an extension of the training she always did, but having someone evaluate her made a surge of tension rise up unbidden.
'Fuuu... Stay calm. Yeah, just do what you always do. What you always do.'
Lee Yu-ri lightly stilled her stiff body with a deep breath and readjusted her grip on her shield.
Her eyes quietly burned with fighting spirit as she sharply fixed them on the monsters.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
— SCREEEECH!!!
One monster, a massive creature with a lizard's head, exuded overwhelming presence as it charged forward.
WHOOSH!
Its thick hand, covered in a disgusting membrane, fell as if to split her head open.
Lee Yu-ri watched that attack to the very end without even blinking.
And the instant those claws reached her head.
She raised her shield.
The Cross Shield.
A Mana barrier unfolded between the cross-shaped pillars.
And the tips of the creature's claws touched the barrier.
Scrape!
But Lee Yu-ri slightly deflected the attack's direction and then immediately withdrew the barrier.
WHOOSH—!
The creature's attack twisted lightly aside, its force undiminished, and shot fiercely forward.
But the deflected attack reached none of the party members standing behind her.
Then, following the first creature that had charged ahead, the other monsters swarmed in.
BOOM—!
Lee Yu-ri stomped her feet to draw their attention.
'Not yet.'
Even with monsters flooding in, she did not strike her shield.
Because she had to deal with the entire horde of monsters, not just the one or two right in front of her.
Her skill, Taunt, had a wide range, but since it had a cooldown, she had to draw in as many monsters as possible each time she used it.
'A little more.'
So until the optimal moment arrived, she held out with her body.
With action, with her gaze, with fighting spirit, with her voice.
"Bring it on, all of you!!!!!!"
— ROOOOAR!!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Enemy attacks rained down from all sides.
But Lee Yu-ri's sharply honed concentration did not permit a single moment of the enemy's assault to land.
It was then that a gleam flashed in her eyes.
'Now!'
With a gesture as fluid as flowing water, she drew the dagger from her waist and struck her shield.
Claaaaaaang—!!!
A sharp metallic ring spread outward along with her Mana.
"......"
Whip! Whip! Whip! Whip! Whip!
At that, as if a scene from a horror movie, every monster's head simultaneously turned toward Lee Yu-ri.
BANG—!
BANG—!
At that moment, two sounds of the air being torn apart rang out from behind her.
It was the sound of Jin Yu-ha and Kang Do-hee kicking off the ground.
First, Kang Do-hee, wreathed in crimson flames, crashed down like a meteor into the center of the monsters.
BOOOOM—!!!
A violent tremor and an explosive roar echoed out.
— SKREEEE!!
— ROOOOAR!!
Monsters shrieked from the shockwave and were sent tumbling backward,
while those in close range had parts of their bodies blown clean off.
Slice!
Slice!
While the monsters were reeling from Kang Do-hee's preemptive strike.
Jin Yu-ha's sword danced.
A blade gliding gracefully across their vital points.
Hummm—
And the black foothold that appeared beneath him as if following his feet gave wings to his sword.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
Slice— Slice— Swish—
Accelerated by Im Ga-eul's buff and moving even faster, Jin Yu-ha and Kang Do-hee darted like beams of light.
Ping! Pi-ing—!
Amid it all, Sofia's healing provided intermittent support, allowing them to exterminate the monsters even more aggressively.
'It's different from yesterday.'
Monsters targeting the Support and the Healer.
Lee Yu-ri evaded attacks fired from blind spots by instinct alone as she thought.
'...This feels good.'
Each and every enemy attack was so clear she felt she could catch them with her eyes, her steps were solid, and her body was light as a feather.
The hand gripping her shield was also firmly fixed without the slightest slip.
'Today, I don't think I'll let a single attack get through.'
Days when her condition was this good didn't come around very often.
It was almost a shame that where she stood today was not a life-or-death battlefield, but a training ground.
She even found herself wishing today's battle could go on forever, but—
[ Training complete. ]
Once all the summoned monsters had been eliminated, the battle had no choice but to end.
"Fuuu..."
And today, Lee Yu-ri had not permitted a single attack directed at the Support and Healer, nor at herself.
It was a performance she couldn't replicate even if asked to do it again—the absolute best she was capable of.
Feeling a deep sense of fulfillment welling up inside, Lee Yu-ri looked toward Baek Seol-hee with expectant eyes.
Baek Seol-hee stood with her arms still crossed, her posture and expression the same as at the start.
After a moment, her lips slowly parted.
"Pathetic."
Words different from what Lee Yu-ri had expected flowed from her mouth.
"You lot. Have you been dragging down my disciple this whole time with skill like that?"
At her steely words, the atmosphere in Utopia froze cold.
"Stop being a nuisance and get out, if you would."