The Shattered Dummy
The R&D team of Yushin Guild, the core department that churned out technology capable of shocking guilds across Korea and the world. Their current task was the production of training dummies for the facility.
“The test results look good…”
It had been a week since Jin Seong-ah’s sudden growth. After slipping into a gate alone without telling anyone, she had returned stronger than before. For an S-rank hunter, quantifying individual power was difficult, and even she herself didn’t know the reason. The long-discussed overhaul of the training facility for S-rank hunters had become necessary.
“I just need to report it to the team leader.”
The project, which had been temporarily halted, was resuming. The chief researcher in charge found Lee Seon-yul without much difficulty.
“Team leader?”
“Ugh…”
In the team leader’s office tucked away in a corner of the development team, Lee Seon-yul could always be found on the small folding mattress beyond the towering stacks of documents.
“…Why?”
“Did you sleep here again today?”
“……”
Lee Seon-yul, who had been curled up like a shrimp, woke at the researcher’s voice and looked down at her spot.
“…I must have dozed off. I only meant to close my eyes for a second.”
“Ah… yes.”
The employee didn’t think much of it; it was already a familiar occurrence. Lee Seon-yul tucked her hair behind her ears and asked, “Why?”
“The sample for the S-rank training dummy is complete. Could you test it for us?”
“Just a moment… ngh.”
“……”
The researcher looked away as Lee Seon-yul stretched while seated. Even though they were both women, there was something strangely seductive about the languid way she arched her back.
“…Let’s go.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Lee Seon-yul rose to her feet and followed the researcher with weary steps. They took the elevator inside the development team up to the sample storage room and opened the door.
“We’ve completed the basic tests as instructed. It’s twelve times stronger than the current training dummies. By applying the outer shell structure of the monster Behemoth exactly as you designed, we were able to dramatically increase its durability.”
“Who did the testing?”
“We received help from Kim Seon-ho, an A-rank hunter from Team 3.”
Kim Seon-ho. A physical enhancement awakener, he was considered one of the most skilled members of Team 3. Since the new dummy had been created because of Jin Seong-ah, they had tested it with another physical enhancement awakener.
“Kim Seon-ho’s attacks were all absorbed without issue. As you can see, there isn’t a single scratch.”
“……”
“Before Hunter Jin Seong-ah tests it herself… it would be best if you tried it first, Team Leader.”
The only variable was the gap between A-rank and S-rank. If A-rank hunters were treated as human weapons, S-rank hunters were strategic assets. Even among physical enhancement awakeners, the difference between A-rank Kim Seon-ho and S-rank Jin Seong-ah was vast. The research team still hadn’t fully grasped just how powerful she had become.
“Understood.”
The most reliable method was to have another S-rank hunter test it. Though she wasn’t a physical enhancement awakener, Lee Seon-yul was also S-rank. Her intellect was secondary; she had already been renowned as an S-rank hunter long before the research and development team was even formed.
“Hoo…”
Her ability was telekinesis, a common power among magic-type awakeners. That was why ordinary levels of telekinesis weren’t enough to be called S-rank. Lee Seon-yul had long surpassed that ordinary level. She was a telekineticist, one of the highest-ranking figures in that school of magic.
“……”
“…Eek?”
The vibration of mana. Even the non-awakened researchers could feel the storage room trembling. Creak… As the mana gathered, thin metal plates began to bend and glass flasks started to crack. Then Lee Seon-yul suddenly spoke.
“…Come to think of it.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“How big are Jin Seong-ah’s hands?”
“About the same size as an average adult woman’s, or perhaps a little smaller.”
“Average adult woman size.”
At her words, Lee Seon-yul clenched her fist. She calculated the surface area that would strike the dummy when she extended her own fist, then adjusted her telekinesis accordingly. The mana swirling around her began to seize the surrounding air and compress it. It was always a fascinating sight. The transparent air that normally went unnoticed twisted and distorted as it was compressed, warping the space like a heat haze.
While the researcher stared in fascination, Lee Seon-yul said, “Get behind me.”
“Ah, yes.”
She compressed the air down to the size of an adult woman’s fist—matching the level of her own clenched hand—and confirmed that the researcher was properly hidden behind her. Hoo. Letting out a short breath, Lee Seon-yul slammed the compressed air into the dummy.
Bang!
The moment it struck the metal dummy, the compressed air burst free, creating an explosion and a gust of wind throughout the room.
“Ugh…”
The researcher, who had been crouched tightly behind Lee Seon-yul, barely managed to open her eyes and check the tablet.
“Shock absorption rate… 94%. It held.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
Lee Seon-yul squinted at the dummy. Aside from the walls around it being gouged as if clawed by a beast, the dummy itself looked intact.
“100% was… the maximum power Jin Seong-ah showed last week, right?”
“Yes, Team Leader. We designed it to withstand up to 140% of that. Also, since striking with the body is different from your telekinesis, there would be variables like posture and condition…”
“The chance of exceeding 140% is almost nonexistent. Is that it?”
“Yes.”
Throwing a punch was inevitably more difficult than directly applying physical force with telekinesis. Roughly 1.5 times the power. Even after a week, could someone really grow that much so suddenly?
‘If that’s the case, then I…’
Even accounting for how recently she had awakened, achieving that level of growth in just one week was impossible. For Lee Seon-yul, who had long since hit a plateau in her own growth, it was hard to believe Jin Seong-ah could have become even stronger than last week.
“Still, just in case, it would be good to have other S-rank hunters test it as well.”
“Other S-ranks…”
“Yes. We’re a bit hesitant to ask them directly… Would you mind making the request, Team Leader?”
Who could they ask? Guild leader Shin Ji-hye and Team 1 leader Baek Seol were out of the question. Neither of them were physical types, and more importantly, they tended to destroy their surroundings when using their powers.
“Team 2 leader is on rotation, right?”
“Ah, yes. She should be in Gangwon Province right now.”
“Then Team 3 leader, Yoon-ah…?”
Park Ha-neul, the physical type, wasn’t available. Kim Hee-jung and Do Hyun-ah were magic types. Choi Mi-ra was a mental type. Excluding Jin Seong-ah herself, that left only Do Yoon-ah and Lee Chae-eun from the secretary’s office… Lee Chae-eun was a physical type, but clearly weaker than Jin Seong-ah. Unlike Jin Seong-ah, who had been judged S-rank from the start, Lee Chae-eun had been re-evaluated from A-rank.
In the end, only Do Yoon-ah remained.
“Would Team 3 leader… do it?”
“……Hmm.”
After a moment of thought, Lee Seon-yul shook her head. Do Yoon-ah didn’t like standing out. Using her powers required a wide space, so they would have to conduct the test in the training facility, which she would surely dislike.
“She probably won’t.”
“I suppose not…”
“Can’t be helped. We’ll just have to have Jin Seong-ah test it herself. You made several, right?”
“Yes. This is the prototype, and there are three more identical ones.”
“Then install a new one in the training facility.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
After watching the researcher call the other staff, Lee Seon-yul pulled out her phone.
“……”
Her finger hovered over Jin Seong-ah’s contact before moving upward instead. Yu Seong-eun. She pressed the name firmly.
-Hello?
“Hey, Yu Seong-eun. Are you with Jin Seong-ah right now?”
-No? Why?
“You both came to work, right?”
She had heard that Jin Seong-ah had moved. Not just anywhere, but to guild leader Shin Ji-hye’s house. Yu Seong-eun, who was apparently playing chauffeur for some reason, would know.
-Yeah. She should be at the company. Why?
“Send her to the training facility. We need to test the new dummy we made because of her.”
-Okay.
After hearing Yu Seong-eun’s reply, Lee Seon-yul hung up. All that remained was to see the test results with her own eyes.
#
The training facility on the 15th floor of Yushin Guild. Normally bustling with countless hunters, today only a handful of people had gathered. Research and Development team leader Lee Seon-yul. Jin Seong-ah, the very reason the new dummy had been made. Marketing team leader Kim Hee-jung, who had somehow caught wind of the event and arrived with a camera. And Do Hyun-ah, standing by in case of any unexpected incidents.
Amid the four hunters occupying the vast space meant for hundreds, a hollow voice rang out.
“……No way.”
The dummy, modeled after the outer shell of Behemoth, a 9th-grade monster that had appeared in an S-rank gate and taken considerable effort for Yushin Guild to subdue… had been destroyed by a single punch from Jin Seong-ah. No, it had been utterly shattered.
“T-Team Leader…? Did I do something wrong…?”
Even the one who had shattered it was staring at Lee Seon-yul with a dazed expression. She looked genuinely confused. That was understandable. From Lee Seon-yul’s perspective, Jin Seong-ah hadn’t even used her full strength.
That made it even harder to understand. The dummy that had withstood her own telekinesis had been destroyed so easily, even though Jin Seong-ah claimed to have held back?
“How… how is this possible…”
“Team Leader…?”
“Just a moment.”
Her head was spinning. It definitely hadn’t been like this before… Even though Jin Seong-ah had broken plenty of dummies in the past, it had never been to this extent… How could this happen in just one week?
“You.”
“Yes…”
“You could have hit it even harder than that, right?”
“Probably…?”
The true value of a physical enhancement awakener was revealed in actual combat. The power they wielded instinctively, without thinking—that was their real strength. And yet, this was just a single test punch, not even real combat…?
“You, Jin Seong-ah. You definitely weren’t at this level a few days ago.”
“N-No…?”
“What happened? What the hell did you…? Did you find some kind of elixir and eat it? How on earth…?”
Her eyes trembled. Jin Seong-ah shook her head in confusion, equally shocked by her own power.
“Oh my, this changes things… I’ll have to revise the promotional strategy.”
“M-Me…?”
“Yeah. You’re S-rank too, Seong-ah. We’ve been thinking about how to present you to the world on a guild level…”
Kim Hee-jung set down her camera with a satisfied smile.
“My initial plan was… a magical girl. Seong-ah, do you know what a magical girl is?”
“Isn’t that like a transforming hero…?”
“Hmm… pretty much! Since you wear flashy clothes, I thought that concept would suit you… but…”
She looked at the dummy, now reduced to scattered fragments, and smiled meaningfully.
“I think it would be better to go with something cooler.”
“Cooler…”
“Magical girls are really for kids, you know? A concept that appeals to elementary schoolers or otaku. But with this level of power, there’s no need for that. Seong-ah’s concept should be…”
Kim Hee-jung snapped her long fingers in the air.
“Newfound power. That sounds good.”
“What do you mean by ‘newfound power’… if I may ask?”
“Even though you’re S-rank, you were a bit lacking compared to the real deal physical types, right? But… looking at you today, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. You know the famous hunters, right? Guild leader Park Tae-hyun of Seongjin, or Guild leader Ymir of Daehyeon. Or Ha-neul and Yoon-ah.”
“Hold on, Kim Hee-jung.”
Lee Seon-yul, who had been standing there blankly, cut in.
“Jin Seong-ah is at that level?”
“That’s how it looks to me.”
Marketing team leader Kim Hee-jung. Normally, she handled promotional work for hunters and the guild, but in emergencies she became a power analyst. For her to mention the names of other well-known physical enhancement awakeners… it meant Jin Seong-ah had truly reached that level.
“…Do Hyun-ah.”
“……?”
Do Hyun-ah, who had been watching the entire scene with sleepy eyes from a short distance away, turned her head.
“Is it possible for a physical enhancement awakener to become this strong in less than a month?”
“Wouldn’t you know better than me?”
“That’s why I’m asking! Because it doesn’t make sense!”
“Hmm…”
Do Hyun-ah, who had been sitting expressionlessly, shrugged.
“It’s not completely impossible…?”
“……”
“There’s the variable of re-awakening, and like you said, she could have eaten an elixir or absorbed a magic stone from a monster. There are plenty of possibilities. Though it doesn’t seem like Jin Seong-ah’s case is one of those… even I don’t really…”
“No, wait. Hyun-ah, there is one possibility, isn’t there?”
“What is it?”
“Sex.”
At Kim Hee-jung’s sudden remark, Lee Seon-yul frowned.
“Kim Hee-jung, what the hell are you—”
“……”
“Oh my.”
Upon seeing Jin Seong-ah herself blushing and lowering her head, Lee Seon-yul had no choice but to fall silent.
“Seong-ah, you did it, didn’t you?”
“……”
“I knew it! Who was it? A boyfriend? Did Seong-ah get a boyfriend? Why didn’t I know? Who is it? Can’t you tell just me?”
“Ah, th-that’s…”
Only then did Jin Seong-ah’s changed appearance become clear. Clothes that exposed her shoulders. A skirt that was a little shorter than before. An outfit clearly meant to look pretty—and seductive. It was obvious she had dressed this way for someone specific.
……So it was true? The sheer absurdity of it all made her feel like her mind was fleeing her body.