The Ten-Day Transformation
Ten days.
Some might call it a long time, but for training an awakened youth it was an impossibly short window.
“There’s nothing you can change in ten days.”
“Must be rough getting stuck with Kim Gyojun as your trainee.”
“He’s nothing like Woo Hana. Nothing at all.”
In the trainer team’s office, every conversation circled back to the same refrain.
The trainee Kang Yujun had chosen possessed far too little potential. Even after ten days of brutal training, expecting any meaningful transformation seemed unrealistic. His ability was one thing, but physical stamina could not be built in such a short span.
“You earned such strong marks with Woo Hana. This is disappointing.”
“Still, it’s early in your career. Even if Kim Gyojun is expelled, Trainer Kang will keep climbing.”
Everyone believed Yujun had no chance of preventing the expulsion.
Meanwhile, inside the guild leader’s office.
“Team Leader Kim.”
Ten days had passed, and the day of the internal evaluation had arrived. Guild Leader Lee Hyeokjun had summoned Kim Dohun, leader of the trainer team. Before the formal review, he intended to inspect the youths alongside him.
“Today we need to focus most closely on the expulsion candidates.”
The internal evaluation was ruthless. Roughly once every three cycles, youths who failed to meet standards were cut, and the guild leader scrutinized those decisions with particular severity. Too many times, trainees expelled through no fault but their own incomplete assessment had later blossomed elsewhere. If that happened, the guild would be left with nothing but regret. Should the story spread across SNS or YouTube, the damage would be severe.
A guild with no eye for talent. A guild that discarded a promising awakened. The mockery would be relentless, and awakened individuals might begin avoiding them entirely. Every precaution was necessary.
“What outcome do you expect today?”
At the guild leader’s question, Team Leader Kim wore a contemplative expression.
“It has only been ten days.”
“This is an entirely different case from Woo Hana. She brimmed with potential. Kim Gyojun, however… From our long observation, the odds of him developing into an awakened who meets the guild’s standards are practically zero.”
“Zero percent?”
“Close enough.”
Even as he spoke, Team Leader Kim added, “Trainer Kang Yujun might manage to change several things in ten days. Still, withdrawing the expulsion order seems unlikely.”
The chance of transforming Kim Gyojun in a mere ten days was near zero. Even with longer training, whether he could reach Sky Guild’s level remained doubtful. While Kang Yujun’s successful work with Woo Hana had been impressive, Kim Gyojun appeared to be a lost cause.
“If anything, this will be valuable experience for Trainer Kang. Better to taste failure early.”
It would mark his first failure as a trainer, yet that wasn’t necessarily bad. To grow into an outstanding trainer, one had to experience setbacks.
“We should assign him the more promising youths. Once this evaluation ends, let’s discuss placing the participants for the upcoming inter-guild youth evaluation under him.”
“We can speak about it after today’s results.”
The internal evaluation took the form of simulated combat. Trainees wore VR equipment that recreated tower environments, then carried out strategies inside them. While real towers could be used, the risk of accidents made the simulation preferable. For youth evaluations, the VR format was superior. Trainees who held back because they knew they could not die would be penalized in the scoring. Therefore, every participant had to fight with full strength.
“The format will be identical to the previous internal evaluation.”
After Team Leader Kim finished speaking, he activated a massive screen. It displayed the trainees undergoing assessment. The footage looked indistinguishable from an actual tower.
Defeat every monster.
Display the full extent of your abilities.
Time Limit: 15 minutes.
Exceeding the time limit incurred penalties. In real combat, time was everything.
“Then, first participant…”
The internal evaluation began in earnest.
“Start!”
Each trainee unleashed their abilities. Guild Leader Lee Hyeokjun and Team Leader Kim Dohun watched with piercing focus.
Whoosh!
The monsters that appeared were goblins. Common foes inside towers, yet these VR versions had bloodshot eyes. They were clearly not ordinary.
“You said it would be the same as before…”
“The monster difficulty seems higher.”
“At least their numbers are lower?”
The monsters were stronger but fewer. Still, it would not be easy. As expected, the unfamiliar appearance of the goblins flustered the trainees, allowing several hits. The confusion lasted only moments. They quickly adapted, deploying their abilities and overwhelming the creatures.
“Evaluation complete!”
Strategy time: fourteen minutes and thirty seconds. They had scraped inside the limit.
“Hmm…”
“Ability utilization was decent.”
Lee Hyeokjun and Kim Dohun exchanged evaluations.
“Next!”
The assessments continued in sequence.
“Next participant, step forward!”
The next turn belonged to the trainee everyone had been watching.
Kim Gyojun.
All eyes locked onto him as he moved to the center.
“Doesn’t look like much has changed…”
“Ten days really is too short.”
Team Leader Kim and the trainers shook their heads. They had heard he invested a full hundred hours across those ten days.
“His eyes do seem sharper…”
Yet Kim Gyojun remained Kim Gyojun. On the surface, nothing appeared dramatically different.
“If we kept training him, he might improve, but…”
It was unfortunate, but devoting that time to other trainees would yield far greater efficiency. The same effort poured into someone with more potential would accelerate their growth much faster.
The other trainees held similar thoughts as they watched him.
“Woo Hana had experience and talent, so…”
“There’s nothing to be done for Gyojun. Not really.”
Everyone knew Kim Gyojun was a hard worker. But no trainee in Sky Guild slacked off. In the end, talent decided everything. Woo Hana had combined overflowing talent with bone-deep effort, yet before meeting Kang Yujun her unaddressed weaknesses had weakened her position. If even she had struggled, Kim Gyojun’s case needed no explanation.
“My turn next. It has to be me.”
Woo Hana had been reborn beneath Kang Yujun’s guidance. Trainees who understood this wanted desperately to catch his eye. The trainers under Team Leader Kim taught competently, but their methods seemed painfully ordinary compared to Yujun’s.
“Trainer Kang seems to customize everything to the individual.”
“I heard he trained Gyojun the same way.”
“They say he even uses his personal time.”
They craved that level of personal instruction. If they received Kang Yujun’s training, perhaps they too could soar.
“Begin.”
At Team Leader Kim’s command, Kim Gyojun’s evaluation started.
Shaaaaak—
The monsters materialized. Kim Gyojun was an awakened who possessed the Weapon Enhancement ability. His combat style revolved around the sword at his waist.
Shaaaaaaaak—!
Five goblins wielding massive clubs charged simultaneously.
Clang—!
Kim Gyojun blocked a descending club with his enhanced weapon. Team Leader Kim frowned. Defense was the wrong choice. One of Kim Gyojun’s critical weaknesses was his inability to maintain weapon enhancement for long. Choosing to block would drain excessive mana and rapidly deplete his stamina. He had never overcome this flaw. Ten days was simply too brief. With more time, the focus could have shifted to amplifying strengths instead.
“At this rate he won’t highlight any strengths at all. He’ll show nothing…”
Lee Hyeokjun nodded at Team Leader Kim’s assessment. Kim Gyojun’s baseline specs were truly pitiful.
“Even focusing on strengths feels insufficient. It seems he failed to follow Trainer Kang’s instructions.”
Both men glanced at Yujun with regretful expressions. Yet Yujun, contrary to their expectations, was smiling.
“Huh?”
Thud—!
Kim Gyojun immediately demonstrated why.
He accelerated sharply and carved straight through the goblins. Both observers shot to their feet without realizing it.
“H-how…?”
Kim Gyojun’s greatest weakness had always been stamina, something impossible to correct quickly. Yet here he was, moving with ferocious intensity. He deflected every attack, countered instantly, and dropped a goblin in the blink of an eye.
Thud—.
He had eliminated the creature faster than any previous trainee.
“This is impossible…!”
“What happened to him?”
Kim Gyojun had become someone else entirely. After felling the first goblin, he flowed into the next step. His attacks chained rapidly, pressuring the remaining monsters. To the observers, he appeared completely unburdened by stamina issues.
Yujun crossed his arms, watching with satisfaction.
I completely rebuilt his mana utilization from the ground up.
Kim Gyojun no longer wasted mana compensating for his frail body. Every drop now funneled into weapon enhancement and raw offensive power.
Pouring mana into patching a weak body is pointless. The return on investment is too low.
So he had flipped the entire approach.
I redirected everything into attack power.
Instead of scattering mana, he concentrated it like a blazing candle. Changing the habit had been difficult because using mana for body reinforcement was instinctual. Even when told otherwise, the body defaulted to old patterns. But Yujun possessed a skill that bypassed such limits.
Because I have Linguistic Correction.
By the third day of training, Kim Gyojun had come to trust Yujun completely. The rapid changes in his body had been impossible to ignore.
He must have felt the difference himself.
Now he was a single, razor-sharp blade. Yujun’s training had forged him perfectly.
His durability remains low, but…
Low durability only mattered if he got hit. And right now, no one was landing a blow.
Look at them. Everyone was stunned. Everyone was shocked. Only ten days? For Yujun, it had been more than enough time to flip the script.
Those two probably expected me to ignore the weaknesses and emphasize the strengths.
They were half right, half wrong. He had not left the weakness alone. He had hidden it so completely it appeared nonexistent.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Kim Gyojun swung his sword like a man possessed. The enhanced blade cleaved goblin clubs in two. After such a display, who would claim his stamina was weak? The flaw had been wrapped inside strength until it looked like an asset. It appeared as though he had even improved his physical endurance in that short time. In truth, the increase had been minimal.
I simply cloaked the weakness with strength.
The illusion was what mattered. Evaluations, once recorded, were difficult to revise. Even if adjusted later, the next internal review would allow further improvement to his stamina. Then there would be no problem at all.
This was the power of the Awakened Training System. Other trainers could not replicate such rapid results. Yujun’s insight pierced an awakened’s abilities and potential, while the system enabled perfect, efficient training. The awakened he taught were unbound by ordinary limits of time or circumstance.
Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
In moments, Kim Gyojun had sliced through to the fourth goblin. His breathing was ragged, yet he still projected composure.
His mental strength is truly outstanding. He’s executing every movement exactly as trained, without the slightest deviation.
His A-grade mental capacity made it possible. In reality his entire body must be trembling with exhaustion, yet he perfectly followed Yujun’s instruction to maintain a composed appearance.
Yujun smiled with deep satisfaction.
“Excellent work, Trainee Kim Gyojun.”
Kim Gyojun felled the final goblin.
“Huff…”
He remained standing for a moment, then slowly dropped to one knee.
Nine minutes and thirty seconds.
“First place!”
It was the fastest clear time of any trainee so far. At the unbelievable result, every eye turned to Kang Yujun in pure astonishment.
“Just what…”
What on earth had happened during those ten days? What exactly had Kang Yujun done?