The Rival? (1)
Ji Yu-chan stood frozen, his gaze fixed on Hwang Ha-na’s indifferent eyes and expression, along with Do-hyeon’s strange reaction.
Huang Ha-na, as if the evaluation had already concluded, spoke while scanning the newly arrived trainees.
“Guided by the other trainees who entered earlier. From today, the facilities are all available. However, starting tomorrow, brutal training begins, so I recommend resting as much as possible. That’s all.”
It was already late in the evening—approaching nine o’clock—so her words carried a certain weight. But with so many people gathered here, no one was simply going to bed.
Even in normal times, sleep wasn’t easy, so the other trainees stepped up to offer guidance to the newcomers.
At first, they might have worried about a competitive dynamic, but the warm welcome from the existing trainees eased their worries. With ages so close, they quickly became friends.
Everyone except Park Dong-wook was in their twenties.
Park Dong-wook, in his early thirties, was only a bit older, so the bond formed even faster.
In the break room, everyone gathered, bought snacks and drinks from the convenience store inside the hunter training center, and chatted away.
As much as they wanted to drink alcohol, there was none in the facility and training started tomorrow, so they settled for soft drinks.
While they were talking—
“Yu-chan oppa seems pretty quiet, doesn’t he?”
“He’s still adjusting, so that’s natural.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Ji Yu-chan, who drew the attention of every woman present, showed no particularly happy expression.
Since he had unwittingly suffered humiliation upon entering the Seoul Hunter Training Center, his pride had been quite wounded by Huang Ha-na’s mana pressure.
He had boasted about himself being a talent on par with her, but now he was being crushed by her right here. His pride couldn’t help but suffer.
Was it because of that atmosphere?
“Hmm. Yu-chan, you don’t look too happy~.”
The older Park Dong-wook deliberately changed the subject with a vague tone.
“Speaking of which, that thing from Instructor Ha-na was really amazing, right?”
“Yeah, I thought I couldn’t breathe.”
“Exactly. It felt like my breath got blocked. The ones who came earlier felt the same, didn’t they?”
When the later trainees said that, the earlier ones nodded and confirmed.
“Yeah, we got hit pretty hard.”
“Man, I finally understand what ‘couldn’t breathe’ really means.”
“Exactly.”
While they chatted, Park Ye-seul clapped her hands.
“Right! But Do-hyeon oppa was totally fine even in the middle of that!”
Hearing Park Ye-seul’s words, Ji Yu-chan immediately turned his head and asked.
“…Is that true?”
The story had come from Park Ye-seul, but Ji Yu-chan’s gaze was fixed on Do-hyeon, who scratched his head awkwardly.
He answered neutrally, feeling a bit bothered by the attention.
“More like pretending to be fine than actually being fine.”
“Wow. Even pretending is hard. You’re amazing, Do-hyeon.”
“Exactly. I nearly fainted, though…”
“Yu-chan hyung seemed a bit unsteady too…”
Saying it while watching Ji Yu-chan’s reaction, Ji Yu-chan said nothing more but looked at Do-hyeon with a spark of competitive fire in his eyes.
To have shaken even under the mana pressure and still pretend to be fine—that kind of pride.
He might have been boasting, but Ji Yu-chan didn’t act rashly and stood up from his seat.
“I’ll be going first.”
“Aigoo! It’s already eleven. Let’s get up too. Training starts tomorrow, so resting well will help our condition a lot, right?”
“Yeah. Let’s wrap it up.”
Once Ji Yu-chan stood, the atmosphere turned lively.
Everyone quickly cleaned up with help, and each person headed back to their rooms.
During this time, Ji Yu-chan kept his eyes on Do-hyeon as he entered, burning with resolve.
Others didn’t notice, but the atmosphere around Do-hyeon was completely different.
Everyone else looked a bit tense while chatting, but Do-hyeon showed no sign of it. Not acting like he wasn’t tense, but actually not tense. Thinking he would be his rival, he entered his own room.
Meanwhile, Do-hyeon, who had been under Ji Yu-chan’s hot gaze, recalled the message window the moment he entered his room.
Unfortunately, the other three traits were F-rank, but one was a big catch, so the disappointment vanished.
It was none other than Ji Yu-chan’s status window.
『Ji Yu-chan』
『Trait: Platinum Sword King [S]』
『Skills』
▶「Sword Technique [A]」
▶「Sword King’s Intuition [A]」
『Stats』
▶「Strength: 7」
▶「Agility: 6」
▶「Stamina: 7」
▶「Mana: 10」
‘No way I could see it.’
Huang Ha-na, who had an S-rank trait, hadn’t failed to analyze it.
But this time he had succeeded.
If Huang Ha-na had failed because her rank was too far apart, Ji Yu-chan’s rank difference was so slight that it had succeeded.
Thanks to that, he could clearly see the characteristics of an S-rank trait.
An S-rank trait with two A-rank skills? It was no wonder he was different from the others.
‘Truly no joke.’
It was only natural that the E-rank Jeong Min-woo had an F-rank skill, but he never imagined Ji Yu-chan, an S-rank trait, would have two A-rank skills.
Well…
‘S-rank and having two is possible.’
Do-hyeon also looked at what he had gained and smiled slowly as a flower bloomed.
He recalled the erased message.
Then.
[Analysis succeeded.]
[The target’s rank is still weak.]
[You will obtain AP below the original rank.]
[500 AP obtained.]
[Analyzed Ji Yu-chan’s skill 「Sword Technique [A]」 and 「Sword King’s Intuition [A]」.]
[Skill above the standard.]
[You can acquire the skill by consuming AP.]
[The target’s rank is weak.]
[You can acquire the skill with half the AP by meeting the conditions.]
[
『1000 AP』
▶ Acquire one skill with 500 AP?]
[Confirm?]
It was a fairly long message, but Do-hyeon had already read it, so he knew the content.
Ji Yu-chan was weak enough for analysis to succeed, and he obtained 500 AP with which to acquire one skill.
He couldn’t help but hesitate.
Sword Technique and Sword King’s Intuition.
Of course Do-hyeon read the descriptions of both skills.
『Sword Technique [A]』
▶ When using sword technique, you can infuse a small amount of mana into the sword.
▶ Makes learning sword technique even easier.
『Sword King’s Intuition [A]』
▶ All intuition becomes excellent.
▶ Especially improves all senses regarding swords and the body.
‘Sword Technique is a weapon-skill like single-sword, and Sword King’s Intuition is a passive skill.’
He hesitated a bit, but in such cases Do-hyeon knew exactly which one to choose.
After all, he was the one who played games.
So he chose without delay.
[Acquired skill 「Sword King’s Intuition [A]」.]
[Skill above the current stats.]
[Stats will rise slightly below the original.]
[Strength, Agility, and Stamina will permanently increase by +2 due to the acquired skill.]
[The skill cannot be used at full power.]
‘Wow.’
He could’ve been a bit greedy, but what was done was done. It would cause no harm to Ji Yu-chan, so wasn’t mutual benefit the best?
No, that wasn’t it.
In any case, after acquiring the skill, Do-hyeon opened his status window.
『Lee Do-hyeon』
『Trait: Analysis [Ex]』
『Skills』
▶「Sword King’s Intuition [A]」
▶「Coercion [B]」
▶「Fire [F]」
▶「Mana Manipulation [F]」
▶「Single Sword [F] (2 / 3)」
『Stats』
▶「Strength: 5」
▶「Agility: 7」
▶「Stamina: 5」
▶「Mana: 8」
『Points』
▶「P: 100」
▶「AP (Analysis Points): 150」
‘Wow.’
His stats and skill list had changed dramatically in half a day.
Looking at it, he smiled with delight.
His physical stats had risen quite a bit.
Compared to Ji Yu-chan, his mana and strength and stamina were a bit lower, but among everyone else, they were clearly the best.
In just one day, he had grown this much. Do-hyeon looked at his status window, shook his head, and muttered.
‘I’m even scared of my own growth. Yu-chan, thanks.’
Thinking about it, Do-hyeon recalled his classmate Ji Yu-chan and felt grateful.
Thanks to that, he had truly gained the extreme benefit.
‘But Yu-chan didn’t seem to like me much…… Whatever.’
Since help was received, if there was a chance to help, he would.
Do-hyeon thought about it lightly and lay down on his bed.
Anticipating tomorrow’s training and thinking he would become even stronger with a new instructor, he fell into a deep sleep with a satisfied face.
* * *
5:30 AM.
Normally everyone would be asleep, but at the Seoul Hunter Training Center, that wasn’t the case.
Weeeeeeeee—
A siren blared, and the sound echoed throughout the entire building.
The trainees jolted awake from their sleep.
Anyone would react to a sudden siren. The familiar voice reached their ears.
Huff huff—
-All awake. Gather at the outdoor training ground within 30 minutes.
Once the microphone turned off and the siren sounded again, the trainees snapped to attention and understood.
Where they were.
All were tired modern people; waking at 5:30 in the morning was unthinkable, so they moved groggily.
Do-hyeon, however, moved quickly, quickly showered, changed into the training clothes from yesterday, and headed outside.
He wasn’t fast because he was a military veteran.
Otherwise, most of the men would have come out. It was just that Do-hyeon was fast.
When Do-hyeon appeared at the outdoor training ground, Ji Yu-chan arrived a bit later.
Ji Yu-chan frowned when he saw Do-hyeon first, but Do-hyeon paid it no mind.
‘He must have some battle spirit.’
That was all he thought.
When Do-hyeon and Ji Yu-chan appeared at the outdoor training ground, they saw Instructor Ha-na standing on the podium as she had been yesterday.
And luckily, exactly thirty minutes later at six o’clock, all the trainees had gathered without missing a single one.
Since it was the first day, Huang Ha-na smiled faintly and murmured.
“Luckily, no tardiness.”
With those words, Huang Ha-na shouted.
“If you’re late often, I’ll introduce you to the instructor who can see you!”
Another instructor climbed onto the podium with Huang Ha-na’s words, and the trainees’ faces all turned pale.
A figure between muscle-hardened training clothes emerged, looking like a man who might not even be human, with overwhelming muscles and a face filled with them, and shouted.
“Nice to meet you, trainees! I am Choi Pil, the instructor in charge of physical training. From now on, I will remodel your spirits.”
Everyone trembled with the oppressive feeling as if they would truly be remodeled.
And Do-hyeon swallowed hard while watching Choi Pil.
『Choi Pil』
『Trait: Muscle Artist [C]』
『Skills』
▶「Muscle Healing [C]」
▶「Boxing [C]」
▶「Coercion [D]」
▶「Vitality [D]」
▶「Mana Manipulation [D]」
▶「Haste [E]」
『Stats』
▶「Strength: 65」
▶「Agility: 43」
▶「Stamina: 59」
▶「Mana: 61」
[Analysis succeeded with the effect of 「Sword King’s Intuition [A]」.]
[150 AP obtained.]
‘Muscle Healing? No way…?’