The Arrow That Splits
Jeong Hayeon and I headed to her personal training room inside Elphon Academy. The academy provided every student with their own private space for individual practice. As we stepped inside, the room was lined with targets, training bows, and arrows.
“....”
She drew her bow without a word and pulled the string taut. The arrow whistled through the air and struck dead center on the target. She continued training alone like that.
“.....”
She was treating me like I didn’t even exist—like I was invisible. The only reason she was letting me stay was because skipping a sparring partner would cost her points. What the hell was I supposed to do? If she kept training this way, she would lose to Kant for sure.
One of the biggest reasons she would shine in the future was her insane trait that let a single arrow split into multiple ones. Enemies who let their guard down after seeing just one arrow would be helpless against the sudden swarm. But of course, she couldn’t use it yet.
That made sense. The person who had taught her archery was her older brother—the rising star of the Hunter Association, the one racking up incredible achievements. Given their relationship, it was only natural she couldn’t imagine straying from his teachings.
Jeong Hayeon only learned how to split one arrow into many after his death. The problem was… would she even listen to me if I told her to break away from her brother’s methods?
Well, I had to try.
“Hey.”
I spoke cautiously.
“.....”
Jeong Hayeon lightly ignored me and stayed focused on the target. Maybe I needed to poke her a little harder to get a reaction.
“That’s not how you’re supposed to shoot a bow.”
“.....What?”
She whipped around with a fierce scowl.
“I said, that’s not how you shoot a bow.”
“...You wanna die?”
Her eyes turned chilling as she stared at me. It looked like she might fire that arrow at me any second.
“Imagine splitting the arrow you already shot into multiple arrows.”
“...I said one thing and it was completely useless.”
Jeong Hayeon brushed off my words and went back to the target.
Normally, when one arrow splits into many, the power of each one drops. The combined destructive force ends up weaker than a single focused shot. That’s why most people don’t bother with the technique.
But Jeong Hayeon was different. She had the talent to split arrows without losing any power at all. And that was one of her exclusive traits—something only she could do.
I needed to awaken that talent of hers as soon as possible. The sooner she grew, the better.
“Hey. Listen to me for a second.”
“......”
Even so, Jeong Hayeon continued to ignore me completely. How the hell was I supposed to get through to her?
“Kant. You’re not training?”
One of his friends spoke to Kant, who was lying on a park bench.
“Why would I train?”
“Still, your opponent is the Hunter Association President’s daughter. Isn’t that a little dangerous for you?”
“Then why aren’t you nervous?”
“Why would I be nervous? I can’t even picture a scenario where I lose.”
“I heard Jeong Hayeon is training hard in the training room. You never know. Shouldn’t you practice a bit too?”
“I could beat her with my feet. Stop worrying about useless things.”
Kant let out a short laugh.
“Hey. Haven’t you heard? The Hunter Association is full of total trash these days. They’ve completely lost it.”
“You’re a candidate for the Crystal Guild right now. If you beat the Association President’s daughter, won’t that damage their image even more?”
“Why should I care?”
“You confessed to her before.”
“So?”
“You don’t still like her, do you?”
“Shut the hell up.”
Kant’s face twisted into a frown. Just hearing Jeong Hayeon’s name made irritation surge through him. He had once liked her and confessed. But she had rejected him spectacularly in front of the entire school, humiliating him. Ever since then, even the sound of her name made his teeth grind.
If he couldn’t have her, he would destroy her completely. So thoroughly that no one else could ever have her either. That would be the perfect revenge on Jeong Hayeon.
What was the best way to get revenge…? Yeah, that would probably be the most certain method. If he could completely ruin the Hunter Association’s image, she would naturally lose her place little by little. That sounded fun.
Kant smirked.
“Where is Jeong Hayeon right now?”
“I heard she’s in a private training room with Nam Doyun.”
The name Nam Doyun strangely bothered him. A while ago, when the Crystal Guild had come for their information session, he had heard that name. Why had the counselor mentioned Nam Doyun back then? Had the Crystal Guild actually taken interest in some random student?
“Let’s go check it out.”
“What? For real?”
“Yeah. Where are they?”
“In Jeong Hayeon’s personal training room.”
The two of them headed toward Jeong Hayeon’s private training room.
Whirrrr—
The door to Jeong Hayeon’s personal training room opened. Two men walked in. One was Kant, and the other was his friend.
“Hey, Hayeon. How’ve you been?”
Kant greeted her with a sleazy smile.
“Hello! Have you been well, oppa?”
Jeong Hayeon answered with a bright smile.
“You know we’re going to be sparring this time, right?”
“Yes, oppa.”
“Hayeon, if you lose this time, the Hunter Association’s already bad image is going to hit rock bottom. You know that, right?”
His words from the very beginning were full of thorns.
“.....”
Jeong Hayeon stared at him silently.
“So I’m being extra generous here and giving you some advice. Just forfeit now. Yeah? That way you won’t have to show everyone how bad it really is.”
“Puhaha— Yeah. Hayeon, Kant’s saying all this because he’s thinking about you.”
His friend laughed as he spoke. The claim that he was doing this for Jeong Hayeon’s sake was a complete and utter lie. If she forfeited, the story that would spread was that the Hunter Association President’s daughter had gotten scared of a Crystal Guild candidate and run away. That would damage the Association’s image far worse. It was better to just lose in the actual match.
“Right? Hayeon, what do you think? Oppa is only saying this because he cares about you. You know that, don’t you?”
“......”
Jeong Hayeon was probably cursing up a storm inside, but she was holding it in for the sake of her image. In that case, I could speak for her instead.
“You dumbass.”
I looked straight at Kant as I spoke. He turned his gaze toward me. The atmosphere felt like he might throw a punch at any moment.
“What did you just say?”
“I said you’re a dumbass.”
“Look at this rude little junior talking to his senior. This is completely out of line.”
“A senior has to act like a senior first. If a senior who got rejected after confessing comes here throwing a tantrum, then I’ll just pretend you don’t exist.”
“What? This little—”
Jeong Hayeon turned to look at me and let out a small snort of laughter. It seemed like hearing me say what she wanted to say had been incredibly refreshing.
“If Jeong Hayeon loses, I’ll get down on my knees and apologize. But if you lose, how about you get down on your knees and apologize to Jeong Hayeon?”
“What? Puhaha—”
Kant clutched his stomach and laughed.
“Are you serious? You really mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Buddy, it looks like you still don’t understand how scary second-years are. You really think you can take me on?”
“So are you taking the bet or not? I’m completely confident I’ll win.”
“Your name was Nam Doyun, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“I thought you might be someone worth watching, but it turns out you’ve got terrible judgment. I don’t need to pay attention to you at all.”
I let out a short laugh.
“If you’re scared, you don’t have to do it. So what’s it going to be?”
Kant’s expression hardened in an instant.
“Fine. But let’s add one condition.”
“What is it?”
“If I win, you let me hit you a few times.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
“Alright. See you after the spar.”
With those words, Kant and his friend left the room. After they were gone, she stared at me intently. She stood up from her spot, grabbed a water bottle from the corner, and walked over to me.
In a way that wasn’t like her at all, Jeong Hayeon held out the water bottle and said,
“Hey. Aren’t you thirsty?”
What was with her all of a sudden?
“....You didn’t put poison in it, did you?”
“You wanna die? Then don’t drink it. Whatever.”
She tried to snatch the bottle back.
“I was just kidding.”
I gulped down the water. After that, a long silence stretched between us again.
“Hey.”
Jeong Hayeon spoke first.
“What?”
“What were you thinking, making a bet like that? There’s no guarantee I’ll beat Kant. Honestly, if we’re being realistic, the chances that I’ll win are…”
“I’ll make sure you win.”
“...What?”
“Try what I told you earlier. The thing about splitting one arrow into multiple arrows.”
“.....Sigh… Fine. Just this once.”
Two days later.
“Wow, we have quite the crowd gathered here today.”
In the center of the coliseum-style arena, the host wearing sunglasses spoke. Looking around, I saw quite a few notable faces. Scouts from various guilds who had come to recruit talent from the top academy, Elphon, as well as fairly high-ranking government officials. An incredible number of people filled the spectator seats.
“The first match of the day is between Jeong Hayeon and student Kant. Please come forward.”
The two of them entered the coliseum and faced each other.
“Then… ready… begin!”