The Guild Master's Brutal Special Training
Sitting on the sofa, Jinwoo couldn't sit still, shaking his leg nonstop. Was his fidgeting that worrying? Youngje, fiddling with his phone beside him, finally spoke up.
“Jinwoo.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah?”
“Stop shaking your leg. You're scaring away the luck.”
“Oh.”
……Yeah, that's our club for you. It was heartwarming to see them looking out for each other's fortune like that.
Right then.
Knock knock.
The sound of someone rapping on the Familia sub-room door echoed through.
“Eek! She's here! That person's here!”
“Jinwoo, don't overreact.”
Sea-a beat me to the words I'd been about to say and headed to the entrance.
“Yesss~ Coming right up!”
Her voice was a full octave higher. With a beaming smile that was nothing like her usual self, she opened the door. And there, peeking from behind it with a grin, was a woman's face.
“Hey there? Familia friends.”
Black hair in a half-up ponytail, a refreshing smile. An off-shoulder black blouse paired with denim pants. Even though this was technically our first face-to-face, it was easy to see how she'd built up a fandom called Moonlight Squad. With looks like that, she could outshine most idols, no problem.
“Ah, hello! I'm Kim Sea-a from Familia!”
Sea-a, startled by her appearance, hurriedly bowed in greeting. Han Yeo-eun smiled brightly and returned the courtesy.
“Got it. I'm Han Yeo-eun from Artemis. And…… mentor to that shivering guy over there. Jinwoo, your mentor's here—aren't you gonna say hi?”
“G-good evening! Mentor! Hope your day's been safe and uneventful!”
“Yeah. Glad to see you've been safe and uneventful too. Looks like you've been studying hard for midterms.”
Only after Jinwoo shot up from his seat and shouted did she nod in satisfaction, stepping slowly into the sub-room. She glanced around, her eyes widening in surprise at the setup.
“Whoa. This is really a club room? Back in my day, we didn't have facilities this nice. Guess the academy's really backing you guys, huh?”
Beaming like a kid in a department store, she wandered around, taking it all in, before turning her gaze to me.
“Heard you were a bronze club. How'd you score support like this?”
Is everyone who comes here wondering the same thing?
“Bought it all with my own money. And we're a silver club now.”
“Your own money? You must be loaded.”
“Yeah. Family's well-off.”
A bit too well-off, that's the problem.
“Huh? Boss, we're silver now?”
“We got promoted?”
“Yeah. First I'm hearing of it too.”
“……Did I forget to mention it?”
Come to think of it, after Yuri told me we'd hit silver, I hadn't passed it on to the kids. I'd headed straight to Jeju after that.
“Anyway, the important thing today is getting special training from Guild Master Han Yeo-eun. We'll talk about that later.”
She was already eyeing the others with keen interest anyway.
“Okay, I get that this girl's Ji Suhyun's disciple. And you were with Elder Gwak Chunsik last time, right?”
“Yes.”
She flashed a grin, probably recalling the academy's freshman welcome event not long ago.
“So, whose disciple are the rest?”
Youngje ducked his head at her smiling glance.
“……I'm under Lottie's tutelage right now.”
“Lottie? Oh my, that crazy bitch as your mentor? Must be tough. And that girl over there…… you're Sword Sage Elder's granddaughter, right?”
Ignoring Jinwoo muttering in the corner.
Choi Yeon nodded at her question.
“Perfect. Got a nice bunch to train.”
She checked her wristwatch.
“Time's about right…… Better get started. Can't leave the guild shorthanded for too long. Where do we train?”
As the head of a major guild, she didn't have endless time for us, it seemed. Elder Gwak had handed his dojo to his son, so he had plenty of free time—but this was the norm.
“We have a training room for club members this way.”
“Cool. Let's head over. Oh, by the way—what kind of special training did you want that you specifically asked for me?”
Her eyes sparkled with genuine curiosity. It wasn't a hard question, so I answered straightforwardly.
“Mental fortitude exam tomorrow. Heard you're the expert in that area.”
“Oh? Nice choice then. But I'll need one more person. Mind if I call her?”
I had a pretty good guess who, so I nodded.
“Of course.”
* * *
As we arrived at the training ground and did some light warm-ups, a woman in a crisp white gown approached with a bright smile.
“Ah, looks like I made it. Artemis Guild's medical team lead, Hik.”
Round glasses, snow-white hair. Her gown bore a name tag: [Gangnam Hik Plastic Surgery].
“Plastic surgery……?”
Youngje blinked at the oddity. She startled and covered it up.
“Ah, haha! I moonlight on the side.”
As she casually slipped behind Han Yeo-eun, she spotted Jinwoo and lit up.
“Ah! Jinwoo, you're here too.”
“Ah, hi.”
“You're always so diligent, Jinwoo~ Keep it up!”
“Ah…… yeah. Thanks, always.”
Jinwoo never usually said thanks, so the others tilted their heads at his reaction. I knew why he was acting that way, so it didn't faze me. The rest would figure it out soon enough.
“Alright, time to help with the 'mental fortitude' training your boss requested…… The method I taught Jinwoo is pretty intense, but don't worry too much. That white-haired one's a bit ditzy, but her skills are top-notch.”
Sea-a clenched her fists and nodded fiercely.
“I'm ready for any training from you, Guild Master!”
“Yeah? You're Ji Suhyun's disciple, right?”
“Yes? Oh, yes!”
“Then you should hold up fine.”
“……Pardon?”
In the blink of an eye, a small dagger appeared in her empty hand.
“This is called Karnwenan. When it strikes, it only transmits pain—no wounds. Best to experience it yourself.”
And just like that, she vanished from sight.
And.
“Hngh?!”
Sea-a, who'd been standing right in front of me, clutched her side and crumpled at the same instant.
“Oh dear, collapsing from that? This'll be rough.”
Han Yeo-eun had zipped to Sea-a's side in a flash and stabbed her in the ribs.
Shunk.
The blade slid out of her waist with a sound. Sea-a clutched the spot instinctively, but no blood flowed.
“Th-that hurts too much……!”
“Gotta endure the pain. You gonna sit down crying in real combat? Get up.”
Sea-a grimaced and rose at her cold command, signaling the training's start. Han Yeo-eun nodded approvingly, twirling her dagger.
“Simple rules. For ten minutes, I attack at full power. You defend at full power—or survive till time's up. Easy, right?”
Jinwoo took a stance like it was routine—At least it's not live steel today—while Youngje and Sea-a looked dazed. Choi Yeon silently drew her sword from her waist.
“Hik, time us.”
“Yup yup. Stopwatch ready. Oh, if anyone gets hurt or passes out during training, I'll patch you up somehow. No worries, underclassmen?”
She said it so sweetly, like go ahead and die, I'll revive you.
“Wh-what kind of mental exam makes you go this hard?”
Sea-a, pain still etched on her face, asked incredulously. Youngje answered for her.
“Mental magic inflicts pain, judges your response…… Yeah, this'll make it a breeze.”
“Yep. Trained this way and aced it. Ready…… go.”
She vanished again. I heightened my senses, scanning around—then clanging metal from the right.
“Blocking it, huh?”
“……!”
Han Yeo-eun swung her dagger leisurely with one hand; Choi Yeon barely parried, hands trembling.
But.
“Good senses…… but your physicality's not ripe yet.”
Bang!
Choi Yeon's sword flew upward.
“──Let's see how well you take the pain.”
She reversed her grip and slammed the blade into Choi Yeon's collarbone.
Was she serious about full power? Choi Yeon's body collapsed. Han Yeo-eun turned back with a sly grin.
“Cheon Sword House miss—out. Patch her quick.”
“Yup yup.”
Hik trotted over familiarly; the others gaped in shock. They knew Choi Yeon's strength—no way she'd go down that easy. But that was reality. The gap between the industry's top and a promising sprout.
Han Yeo-eun's eyes locked on me next.
“Let's check how great a disciple Elder Gwak Chunsik raised.”
She vanished in a blur, just like before. But I was ready. I'd spread my aura around, primed to pinpoint her position, focus locked.
Sensing killing intent from the left, I threw a punch—there she was, body crouched low to the floor.
“Insane senses?”
She twisted like rubber, her blade grazing my ankle. Just a skim, but the weapon's property sent agony racing up my spine, overwhelming my senses.
But pain like this was old hat. I gritted my teeth, planted my left foot, spun, and whipped my right leg at her head.
A powerful roundhouse rocketed toward her.
“Counter too?”
She contorted acrobatically to dodge, grinning.
“Boss is boss, huh? Nice. How long can you── hm?”
Ting!
She casually swung at empty air. Sparks flew midair as a dagger embedded in the ceiling.
“Cute.”
She smirked, glancing toward Jinwoo, who'd thrown it. He grinned back.
“Just doing what I was taught.”
“Damn right. No idiot stands by while their ally's attacked. My mentee through and through.”
——Kiiiiing.
A navy glow swirled around her satisfied smile. Dark aura evoking a night sky—beautiful beyond words, yet laced with inexplicable dread in its stillness.
Choi Yeon, recovered and disbelieving her blackout, snatched her fallen sword and charged Han Yeo-eun.
Han Yeo-eun's grin widened, teeth flashing.
“Yes! That's the spirit!”
At this rate, Choi Yeon would faint again, so I rushed from the opposite side, yelling.
“Hit her together!”
A clash between Korea's top-tier hero and Familia was about to unfold right here.
* * *
“Jinwoo, what'd you get?”
The kids, faces drained, swapped exam scores.
“Perfect. You?”
“……Perfect too. Youngje?”
“Perfect. Boss…… perfect, right?”
“Yeah. Text just came—Choi Yeon got 98.”
Yesterday's special training paying off? All of Familia nailed top 1% scores.
Only the full spar left tomorrow. And for that…….
“Oh. Looks like you all aced it. Eugene, got any ssanghwatang?”
“Heh. Americano for me.”
The two elders had already arrived in Familia's sub-room.
……Sigh. When do these exams end? For real.