A Frog in the Well
In the vast training hall, more than a dozen cadets were pouring themselves into their drills.
Only one of them was slacking off: Cha Hyun-woo.
"So those rumors were true?"
He couldn't believe what the person on the other end of the line was telling him.
"Someone that incredible… I just can't accept it."
He voiced his disbelief again and again. Ma Seong-yong, on the other end, remained perfectly unfazed.
"Hardly surprising. That's simply who he is. Among every hero I've ever seen, he stands alone at the top."
"…"
Ask any superhuman who the strongest hero in the country is, and the answers will splinter in several directions. A handful will name the nature mage Ji Yeon-hwa. A few more will put forward Baek Ye-rin, master of the Dawn Guild.
But the name that rises to the lips of the overwhelming majority belongs to one man alone.
Ma Seong-yong.
The superhuman widely regarded as the foremost of the present age. A once-in-a-generation hero whose renown was matched by a mountain of achievements and raw power—an absolute powerhouse in every sense.
Which made this all the more staggering. That the same Ma Seong-yong, a man so sparing with praise, would deify Cheon Hae-beom.
"It's a little strange, hearing you speak of him like that, sir…"
"Hah. Nonsense. No matter how raw my tongue gets from singing his praises, it still falls short of what he's actually done."
Cha Hyun-woo had heard the rumor that Cheon Hae-beom was Ma Seong-yong's master more times than he could count. Every time it reached his ears, he had found it absurd. Who in their right mind would pair a ghost of a man—someone reduced to nothing but a name—with anyone of real standing?
He had dismissed it as empty gossip and decided Cheon Hae-beom was a phantom who didn't even exist. And even if the man did exist, every rumor about him had to be a lie.
…So it was all true.
Reality still refused to settle. The feats Cheon Hae-beom had accomplished were simply too far beyond the bounds of the real.
"Learn well under him. A talent like yours is more than anyone else could handle."
Cha Hyun-woo was the only cadet Ma Seong-yong openly favored. Once again, he poured confidence into the boy.
"You're weak right now, but your potential is extraordinary. Keep growing under him, and you'll surpass me for certain."
Cha Hyun-woo let out a hollow laugh of pure disbelief.
"What are you talking about? There's no one stronger than you, sir."
"Why not? I already told you—there is exactly one."
"…Cheon Hae-beom. You're talking about him again."
"I am."
Cheon Hae-beom was an unimaginable powerhouse, no question. But his achievements belonged to a bygone era. Compared to Ma Seong-yong, Cha Hyun-woo had always assumed, the man simply couldn't measure up. The so-called student surpassing the master—that was how master-disciple relationships worked, given enough time.
He voiced his disbelief once more.
"Even so, he's a hero of the old generation, isn't he? Right now, you have to be a cut above him, sir."
"What? Hahahaha!"
Ma Seong-yong roared with laughter at the earnest sincerity in Cha Hyun-woo's words. He laughed long and hard, as if the ground itself might give way beneath him. Cha Hyun-woo's mind reeled in confusion.
"Ah—so I'm wrong?"
"Heh heh… Haven't had a laugh that good in ages."
Ma Seong-yong let the last of his chuckles fade, then spoke.
"My master has not rusted. If anything, he trains without end and grows steeper by the day. Along that path, he seizes insights no ordinary person would even dare to reach for."
He added,
"What I might accomplish with ten years of grinding, he finishes in a month. You could call him a monster beyond common sense."
"…"
"And the results I could produce with a decade of investment? Spend a single year under him. You'll walk away with more than that."
"I… see."
A chill ran down Cha Hyun-woo's spine. Just who the hell did I pick a fight with?
He thought back to his recent spar with Cheon Hae-beom. The result had been an overwhelming defeat, true—but nothing on the scale Ma Seong-yong was describing.
"Sir. The truth is, I challenged Cheon Hae-beom to a spar not long ago."
"What? Have you lost your mind? A stunt like that would cost you ten lives and still leave you short."
"Ahem…"
"You're lucky to still be breathing. Tsk tsk. From now on, value your life a little more."
Cha Hyun-woo swallowed hard and spoke carefully.
"S-sir. Honestly, about how that spar went—"
"Don't take him lightly."
Ma Seong-yong had already grasped what the boy was trying to say. Kids will be kids. Watching Cha Hyun-woo nurse doubts from a place of pure ignorance was almost laughable.
"Did my master ever once attack you?"
"No…"
"Of course not. One wrong move and you could have died. That was his way of handling it."
In that instant, a voice rang through Cha Hyun-woo's ears like an echo.
The pieces finally clicked into place. Now he understood why Cheon Hae-beom had moved with near-miraculous precision yet never once struck back. He had half-suspected it already—Ma Seong-yong's words simply confirmed it beyond doubt.
"Do you understand now? You're a frog in a well."
Ma Seong-yong had been watching Cha Hyun-woo carefully. Still, one concern lingered.
"You are not the center of the world. Don't get too full of yourself."
The hero hopefuls of this generation brimmed with confidence and raw spirit. Put generously, that was the word for it. Put accurately, they were arrogant.
And for good reason. Over the past years, mana itself had advanced by leaps and bounds, and the heroes standing at the heart of that progress were the young ones. The superhumans of the old generation had been swept away by the storms of time. Of those who had been active as heroes a decade or more ago, eight or nine out of ten had already retired.
The reasons varied. Physical injuries. Something close to PTSD born from the deaths of comrades. There were many causes for retirement, but the chief among them was a simple failure to adapt to the modern age.
In short, they were conservative old fossils.
The superhumans of earlier days had been so drunk on their own power that they refused to accept anything new. It was understandable, in a way. Awakening was an extraordinarily rare phenomenon—a choice of the heavens that appeared at a rate of one in ten thousand. Superhumans grew arrogant and insolent as a matter of course. And those tendencies ran deepest among the superhumans of the old era. Having awakened in the very first days of mana's emergence, their pioneer complex could only grow stronger, never weaker.
The only thing they trusted was themselves. That arrogance had contributed enormously to blocking their own growth. Time marched on, and the age advanced. Even through all of it, the heroes of the old generation clung to their stubborn pride and bravado—and in the end, they fell. The pitiful final chapter of superhumans whose light had long since faded.
Naturally, the eyes of the new generation held little fondness for them.
Cheon Hae-beom.
He had looked down on the man far too much simply for being a superhuman of the old era. He hadn't even known who he was dealing with, and he had crossed every line of disrespect.
Maybe I should have attended the theory class…
Regret rolled over him in waves. He poured his grievances out to Ma Seong-yong.
"If I'd known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have skipped class today either…"
"You? Skipping class? You're usually so diligent. Why?"
"…It was a theory lecture…"
"Ah. Then you did well."
"Excuse me?"
The question slipped out before he could stop it, sounding thoroughly stupid. Ma Seong-yong answered again, with absolute certainty.
"The one thing my master despises most is using his head. When it comes to theory, he's hopeless. Completely hopeless."
"…?"
"Just a brute of a monster with nothing but raw strength. His character is outstanding, of course—but that doesn't translate into knowledge."
Only moments earlier, Ma Seong-yong's tone had been thick with reverence. Not a single scrap of that reverence remained now. Cha Hyun-woo let out a long, deep sigh. He had nearly lost a night's sleep over this.
"Haa… A silver lining, I suppose."
"Heh heh. The cadets stuck in that class have my sympathy."
"Hey, I was first! Wait your turn!"
"Instructor! Eun-sol's cutting in line!"
"Wh-what?! When did I ever—!"
My head hurt. Having cadets throw themselves into my class with real passion was fine. Watching them shove and scrap like this was just ugly.
"Ssam… Ssaaam…! Help me…"
Shin Na-yul was getting jostled back and forth by the brawling cadets. True to her loner nature, she offered no resistance at all—she just came running to me for help. I shook my head and pulled her free. Once she had finally escaped the crush of bodies, she pressed a hand to her chest and exhaled.
"Haa… I thought I was going to suffocate."
Every last cadet had gone blind with greed for the elixirs and was wrestling each other for them. Shin Na-yul hadn't even dared to join the fray—she'd only watched from a distance.
"…Looks delicious."
What part of that looked delicious, exactly? I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.
Tsk. Poor kid.
She looked as dejected as a stray dog that had lost its owner.
"Haa. Tch."
I rummaged through my coat and pulled out a single bottle of elixir. I'd set one aside just in case something came up—and here we were.
"Take it."
"Huh?"
"A mana elixir."
"Uh… uh uh…"
Watching her stand there blankly, fretting over nothing, was exhausting. At this rate someone would notice and snatch it away.
"What. You don't need it? Then I'll just—"
"N-no! I-it's just—I'm so grateful, that's all!"
"Good, then."
"W-wait a second! I have something for you too!"
She dug through her pockets and produced two pieces of candy.
"Green grape candy?"
"Yes! I've been saving them to eat later, but I'm giving one to you specially, Instructor!"
"…"
"Ah—that doesn't mean I'm giving you both! One of them is mine…"
I'd thought she might have stashed away something solemn and significant. Turns out it was just this. No—wait. The person giving it was Shin Na-yul. Shin Na-yul, the loner dirt-poor extra who couldn't even get pocket money to buy snacks. Shin Na-yul, who was obsessed with food, had just handed me a piece of candy.
Holy crap.
In the original story, even Cha Hyun-woo didn't manage to get anything out of her until second year. She really did attach herself to me more than anyone else.
"All right. Thanks."
"It's good, right?"
"Sweet. Tastes great."
"Heheh."
She popped her own candy into her mouth right along with me.