The Rival's Challenge
After the note test ended, the scores were as follows.
Gu Min-a: 7 points
Kim Yong-chan: 5 points
Park Ye-seul: 6 points
Lee Do-hyeon: 10 points
Jeong Min-woo: 9 points
Total: 37 points
——————
Kwon Eun-chae: 5 points
Kim Yun-jeong: 7 points
Park Dong-wook: 3 points
Ji Yu-chan: 9 points
Han Jun-seo: 8 points
Total: 32 points
With a fairly large five-point gap, Do-hyeon's team could have taken first place, yet Do-hyeon still wasn't entirely sure how things had turned out this way.
“Kuhuhuu, we only won because Do-hyeon-ssi got a perfect score!”
At Kim Yong-chan's words, Do-hyeon felt dumbfounded.
Honestly, wasn't it more because Park Dong-wook had made a huge mistake?
“Really! I knew Do-hyeon oppa would get a perfect score!”
I didn't even know that myself?
“No wonder your eyes looked different during the lecture! You must have studied hard back in school?”
Better not mention graduating from a local university.
“The last question was really hard. How did you solve it?”
Analysis told me?
Faced with his teammates' burdensome gazes, Do-hyeon didn't know what to do.
He even wondered if he had stood out too much.
Still, it wasn't an entirely bad feeling.
After all, being praised by his teammates wasn't unpleasant.
While he was enjoying that not-so-bad mood, the others spoke up in unison.
“As expected, the team leader is different.”
“Right, right.”
“Who else would be team leader besides Do-hyeon oppa?”
“Agreed.”
“Uh, uung?”
So that was it.
They were pushing the team leader role onto him?
He had been forced into it all through college and thought he could avoid it this time, yet here he was again!
The atmosphere made refusal awkward, so he scratched his head.
‘Well, being team leader isn't so bad.’
There were no extra burdens assigned to the leader, and nothing he had to do, so he decided to just let them handle things themselves.
Do-hyeon was thinking along those lines, but his teammates were genuinely looking up to him.
‘He looked like he was slacking, yet he got a perfect score, and he lasted the longest in the run earlier too. He's probably younger than me, but I should learn from him.’
‘Looks really aren't everything.’
‘At first I thought he was weaker than me, but his stamina is insane and he even got a perfect score on the test. Is this what they mean by both literary and martial excellence?’
‘I have to follow Do-hyeon hyung.’
Though only a single day had passed, Kim Yong-chan already saw Do-hyeon as a younger brother worth learning from, while Gu Min-a and Park Ye-seul were surprised by the abilities hidden beneath his appearance, and Jeong Min-woo resolved to work hard to become like him.
After all, they were teammates who would live and train together for the next month.
Forming bonds wasn't a bad thing.
Above all, Do-hyeon's standout performance among the newly awakened hunters had ignited their motivation, yet Do-hyeon himself remained oblivious, simply assuming they had dumped the leadership on him.
While each harbored different thoughts, the group rested briefly after Kim Ah-reum's lecture before receiving word to gather at the training hall and heading over.
Once again, they felt reassured by Do-hyeon's presence.
* * *
At the Seoul Hunter Training Center, Ji Yu-chan stood at the sink washing his face with cold water.
Even after splashing icy water on his face in the still-chilly winter weather, the heat on his cheeks refused to fade.
Seeing his flushed reflection in the mirror, Ji Yu-chan let out a sigh of disbelief.
“Haa. Why am I being so childish?”
He knew full well that the competitive spirit he was feeling was childish.
But why?
He couldn't let it go.
Objectively speaking, his reflection was handsome enough to make anyone think so, and he had always been talented at sports, having done well in them since childhood.
Though he seemed flawless, the pressure to live up to everyone's expectations had been growing.
That pressure peaked with his mana awakening.
Because he had trained consistently, he recorded physical abilities superior to anyone else's, and by luck his mana stat had also awakened quite high.
After that, the talk he heard was that he was the second rising star expected to surpass Hwang Ha-na.
That was why Ji Yu-chan's obsession with perfection had shattered from the very first day of training.
‘From Instructor Hwang Ha-na to Lee Do-hyeon.’
At first it had been Hwang Ha-na.
She had pressured him with mana, and when he failed to endure it, that obsession had burst out like a seizure, yet he had forced himself to hold on and hide it.
But then Do-hyeon, who had endured it without issue when Ji Yu-chan himself had nearly collapsed, began to grate on his nerves.
‘From the long-distance run to the test.’
It was only the first day, yet he hadn't beaten Do-hyeon at anything.
So Ji Yu-chan steeled himself and thought.
‘The next training will be different.’
Just then—
Knock knock—
“Yu-chan dongsaeng~ Everyone's gathering at the training hall!”
“……Yes, I'm coming.”
The next training was sparring, so he was confident.
Ji Yu-chan had long trained in boxing and kendo, sports that involved direct confrontation, so he resolved to show a different side this time as he left his room and headed to the training hall with Park Dong-wook, who greeted him.
* * *
And so the trainees gathered at the training hall.
They could see the extremely sturdy-looking floor and facilities even indoors.
The floor and walls alike seemed made of some special material, gleaming with polish yet giving off a heavy impression.
A few of them tapped the surfaces with their hands or feet and let out impressed “Oh”s at the solid, unyielding feel beyond mere hardness.
While they were still marveling, a man who had appeared at the center of the hall called out to them.
“Everyone, gather in the center.”
His voice was gentle, yet somehow it reached everyone's ears clearly and heavily.
The tone was so weighty it felt like it was being driven into their ears rather than simply spoken, and everyone gathered in the center while feeling puzzled.
Do-hyeon also moved toward the center in wonder, and at that moment Analysis kindly explained.
Analyzed the application method of the skill 「Pressure [D]」 with 『Analysis』.
‘So Pressure can be used like this too?’
It really told him everything.
Anyway, Do-hyeon committed the application method to memory and gathered in the center, where he saw the new instructor.
Unlike the other instructors, he wore a tracksuit instead of the instructor uniform and looked like everything was a bother.
His hair was messy, and he resembled the typical neighborhood slacker one or two of whom could always be found around, yet why?
All the trainees felt considerable pressure just looking at him.
Of course, the reason was—
The skill 「Pressure [D]」 is faintly spreading.
Analyzed the skill 「Pressure [D]」.
‘Doesn't seem like he's trying to crush us like Hwang Ha-na did?’
Seeing him spread it subtly around even though he could output it much stronger, Do-hyeon realized there was another intention.
Probably to make them focus, he thought, and looked at the instructor.
Once again, Analysis activated.
Successfully analyzed with the effect of the skill 「Sword King's Intuition [A]」.
Acquired 150 AP.
‘Another C-class!’
After Kim Ah-reum, who was an ordinary person, he had finally obtained AP again following Choi Pil, and Do-hyeon was inwardly pleased when suddenly his vision turned red and red text appeared.
Analyzed a threatening attack path.
A phenomenon he hadn't seen even against the goblin during the tutorial.
He might have been flustered, but perhaps thanks to Sword King's Intuition, Do-hyeon felt an instinctive certainty that he wouldn't be in danger despite Analysis's warning.
At the same time, following that instinct, he confirmed the attack path shown by Analysis and instantly drew up the mana in his body.
In the slowed world, though Do-hyeon himself was slowed as well, he watched the red trajectory and the attacker's hand blade marked in red, moving his body as much as possible.
The mana circulating through him brought vitality to his body, and as he grew slightly faster in the slowed world, he immediately pulled his head back as far as possible from the red trajectory.
A hair's breadth away from contact.
The moment he barely dodged by that paper-thin margin, the slowed world returned to normal time, and a fierce gust of wind from the fingertips scattered Do-hyeon's hair.
Whooooosh——
As the strong wind spread outward, the trainees reacted belatedly.
“Kyaaah!”
“Wh-what!?”
“I-Instructor?”
They could see the instructor pointing his fingertips at Do-hyeon and Do-hyeon calmly staring at those fingertips.
The movement had been so fast that the trainees hadn't seen the middle process, making it look as if the instructor had teleported in an instant.
Amidst that, the instructor—Kang Ji-hoon—tilted his head in puzzlement at Do-hyeon's still-unblinking expression.
He had only meant to stop right in front of him, not actually attack, yet seeing his fingertips farther away than expected, Kang Ji-hoon looked puzzled.
Had his senses dulled?
No, that couldn't be.
Then—
‘He…… dodged?’
His attack?
That made even less sense, so Kang Ji-hoon reached a conclusion inwardly.
‘Guess my senses have dulled since I haven't been to the gate in a while.’
Thinking that, he opened his hand and lightly tapped Do-hyeon's forehead before muttering.
“No daydreaming in the training hall.”
“Yes, I'll keep that in mind.”
“……”
He answered well.
Anyway, Kang Ji-hoon turned away from the answering Do-hyeon, while Do-hyeon secretly smiled at the message only he could see.
Kang Ji-hoon returned to his position and looked around at the still-dazed trainees.
Among them he spotted Ji Yu-chan, whose eyes were trembling violently, but he ignored him and continued.
“I'm Kang Ji-hoon, the instructor in charge of sparring training. It's the first day, but since it's a bother, let's start team sparring from today.”
His voice and tone dripped with lethargy, yet the meaning contained within was nothing short of brutal.
Making people who hadn't learned a single thing about sparring fight each other— wasn't that dangerous?
As expected, the female trainees reacted most sensitively.
Kwon Eun-chae of Team 2 raised her hand first.
“Isn't it dangerous to spar when it's our first time?”
“Even if you get hurt, Instructor Choi Pil is here, so it's fine.”
“……?”
Didn't that mean they would get hurt?
While everyone stood dumbfounded at the absurd statement, Kang Ji-hoon looked at the trainees and answered in a tone thick with annoyance.
“The Black Gates won't wait until you're ready. Moreover, the other races inside are just waiting for you to let your guard down, and the moment you do, they'll attack and take your lives. Are you still going to insist it's dangerous?”
““……””
Everyone fell silent at Kang Ji-hoon's words.
They couldn't think of any rebuttal.
Because they knew it was the truth.
Perhaps because of that, their eyes gradually regained focus one by one.
Kang Ji-hoon looked at the trainees, scratched his head while thinking how bothersome it was, and added a few words since he was an instructor after all.
“The winning team today gets one hour of free time.”
The sparring class ran from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
It meant giving them half the class time off.
That statement poured oil on the already-burning motivation of the trainees.
“Ooh!”
“We'll do our best!”
“A whole hour?”
“Nice!?”
“I was disappointed we only got less than thirty minutes of rest earlier!”
“We'll definitely work hard!”
While everyone was excitedly chattering, only Ji Yu-chan couldn't take his eyes off Do-hyeon.
And as if pouring cold water on the excited atmosphere, Ji Yu-chan spoke to Kang Ji-hoon.
“Instructor, I want to spar with trainee Lee Do-hyeon.”
It was a sudden nomination, yet Kang Ji-hoon looked at Ji Yu-chan as if he had already known.
Faced with Ji Yu-chan's eyes burning like flames, Kang Ji-hoon casually scanned his hands and body and thought.
‘Boxing, and he's done kendo for a long time.’
He didn't have Analysis like Do-hyeon, but having lived as a hunter for quite a while, he could tell that much easily.
And the moment Kang Ji-hoon turned his head toward Do-hyeon, he felt an inexplicable chill and looked Do-hyeon over.
But there was nothing he could infer.
‘Did this guy really beat Ji Yu-chan with stamina?’
He couldn't believe it even after seeing it.
How could that skinny guy beat Ji Yu-chan? Feeling puzzled, Kang Ji-hoon nodded and answered.
“Very well. The first spar will be between Team 1's trainee Lee Do-hyeon and Team 2's trainee Ji Yu-chan.”
At Kang Ji-hoon's words, Do-hyeon stepped forward as if he understood, and likewise Ji Yu-chan stood facing Do-hyeon, preparing for the spar.
When the two faced each other from their respective teams, their teammates shouted like mad.
“Do-hyeon-ssi, win!”
“Do-hyeon oppa, fighting!”
“We know you'll win, oppa!”
“Hyung! Fighting!”
Team 1 cheered rather quietly.
In contrast to that—
“Uahahaha! Knock him out! Yu-chan dongsaeng!”
“Yu-chan oppa, fighting……”
“Win……”
“You can win!”
Park Dong-wook shouted noisily with an extremely excited expression, while the other Team 2 members cheered timidly, looking embarrassed.
Though the cheering lacked spirit, both teams still supported their respective leaders.
Leaving their teammates' cheers behind, the two faced each other with roughly five meters between them.
Kang Ji-hoon glanced at them with a slightly less annoyed expression and muttered.
“Since it's a spar, keep it moderate. If you admit defeat or pass out, it's a win.”
One might wonder if passing out counted as keeping it moderate, but no one raised an objection.
Kang Ji-hoon stood with his hand outstretched between them, then raised it to signal the start of the spar.
Whoosh!
His hand shot up in an instant, and just as Ji Yu-chan took a boxing stance and tried to step forward, something whitish flashed out at terrifying speed.
“!!!”
In that moment, Ji Yu-chan tried to dodge with his head, his senses ringing alarm bells, but the opponent had already anticipated it, twisting the trajectory once in midair like a snake and striking Ji Yu-chan's jaw as he tried to evade.
Crack—
With the sound of something breaking, Ji Yu-chan saw Do-hyeon's troubled face beyond his blurring vision before his sight went dark.
Thud—
Along with the sound of a body falling, when he came to his senses he saw Ji Yu-chan collapsed on the floor, Kang Ji-hoon whose eyes were trembling violently, and Do-hyeon looking somewhat troubled while watching Kang Ji-hoon.
Then he asked.
“Does this mean I win?”
“……”
Kang Ji-hoon couldn't bring himself to answer.
How could he?
The movement Do-hyeon had just shown was the skill Ambush that Kang Ji-hoon himself had demonstrated to Do-hyeon moments ago.
Therefore, instead of answering Do-hyeon's question about the outcome, Kang Ji-hoon asked back.
“Wh-what did you just do?”
His voice trembled, unlike his usual self.
Do-hyeon answered nonchalantly.
“Huh? I just watched and copied it?”
“……?”
Hearing Do-hyeon's words, Kang Ji-hoon thought for a moment.
There was a phrase for times like this, wasn't there? After pondering briefly, he remembered and looked at Do-hyeon.
“Crazy monster bastard.”
“What? Me?”
Kang Ji-hoon glared at Do-hyeon with an expression that said, “Who else but you?”
Do-hyeon felt slightly wronged.