Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Extreme Situation Generator
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I left the training to Sanghun and headed to the research lab set up near the World Tree to commission the training equipment.
“Jae-in.”
“Chairman.”
Jae-in looked at me with anxious eyes.
“.... Why are you looking at me like that.”
“Because you showed up in the middle of the night. What do you want.”
“Ahem. No matter what, I’m still the chairman. That attitude…”
“Then I’ll resign…”
Jae-in started to pull her resignation letter from her pocket, so I grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“It’s because we’re close that it’s okay. We’re friends, right? How about we drop the formalities while we’re at it.”
“.....Forget it. So, what is it.”
Jae-in tucked the resignation letter back into her pocket.
“Please make some training equipment.”
“Training equipment.”
I explained the details of the bet to Jae-in.
“Damn Americans…”
“Huh.”
“The Americans always swing Korea this way and that, claiming they have the core technology. I was already pissed off about it.”
“Was it like that.”
I had left tech development entirely to Jae-in and paid no attention, so I didn’t know.
“They say since they hold the core technology, we have to build factories in the US or pay massive taxes, so we’re building American factories while crying and forcing it down.”
I didn’t know about that either.
“Lose to those bastards in technology. Not while there’s still dirt in my eyes. You said you’d personally oversee the training, Chairman.”
“Yes.”
“Then, anything short of instant death, you can save them, right.”
“.....Yeah.”
Jae-in swept everything on the desk aside, sending objects clattering to the floor.
The entire desk was a touch screen. She fired up a design program and started drawing like a maniac.
“Research team! Drop everything and design training facilities now.”
“Yes. Director, if we miss the deadline on this, we pay penalties.”
“Pay it. The chairman has tons of money.”
“No… Jae-in, you don’t have to go that far…”
“Chairman, you gonna lose to the Americans.”
Jae-in glared at me with bulging eyes.
“Whoa. This a fight against America. Let’s do it.”
The researchers came rushing over and peered at what Jae-in was scribbling down.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Jae-in and the researchers didn’t even reply; madness shone in their eyes.
* * *
No matter how much your level or stats go up, it’s meaningless if you can’t bring out your real strength. So while waiting for the training equipment to be ready, I ran practical training by clearing gates.
And since this match would be against humans, I picked humanoid monsters about the same size—Lizardmen.
“Everyone except Rose clears the small fry, and Rose takes on the Lizardman Lord one-on-one.”
“Huh.”
“....Me by myself. Isn’t a lord B-rank.”
“You’ll be B-rank soon too. Teamwork matters in team battles, but if individual skill falls short, even great teamwork is pointless. And your physical abilities, skills, and mana control are already beyond B-rank.”
“Ehehehe…”
Rose beamed at the praise.
“But. Your experience using them is way lacking. You build skill through tons of brutal fights like this. Can’t do it, I’ll swap you out of the main lineup. Hand Peter off to someone else.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Move out.”
The group charged into the Lizardman pack.
Rose boosted her speed with acceleration magic and leaped over the Lizardmen up front, flying straight at the lord.
The Lizardman Lord’s green eyes coldly fixed on Rose. It leaped up toward the incoming Rose as well.
The strongest monster Rose had ever faced was C-rank, and even that had been with other hunters helping—so the lord’s movements felt insanely fast.
Rose chopped her fist at the approaching lord, flames erupting from it.
The Lizardman Lord, now within arm’s reach, slashed down at the magical flames with its sword. The flames smashed against the mana-charged blade, scattering everywhere and whipping up a storm.
“Kyaaak.”
The storm shoved the lord back, but the recoil from her rushed spell sent Rose tumbling to the ground herself.
“Oof…”
While she rolled on the ground groaning in pain, the Lizardman Lord thrust its sword in.
She rolled forward across the stone floor, springing up and burrowing into the lord’s guard. She blasted flames into its side and pulled back.
Kwang.
It was armored there, so Rose’s flames just riled up the Lizardman Lord without dealing real damage.
The Lizardman Lord lunged its sword at the retreating Rose.
At the same time, Rose gathered every ounce of strength and unleashed a torrent of flames from her right hand onto the Lizardman’s face.
Pook.
“Grrk…”
Its shoulder pierced through, the Lizardman Lord went flying backward. Its face burned in agony, but it wasn’t over yet.
Blinded in the eyes, it flailed its sword wildly; Rose dodged the blade and closed in again.
She aimed another fist chop at its unarmored face, blasting a fireball point-blank.
The Lizardman Lord toppled backward first, and exhausted Rose flopped down after it. Blood streamed from her shoulder.
“That’s one down. Do it another hundred times or so, and you’ll get the hang of it.”
I tossed her a lump of life force to heal the wound.
“Ugh… mo…”
Rose lost consciousness.
* * *
Out of one gate, straight into the next. I handled their physical recovery, and Nayeong cast Mind Cleansing on the five mains to manage mental fatigue.
“Sis Nayeong, sell this stuff. Any hunter would snap it up no matter the price. Never felt so refreshed.”
Rose got cleansing first and looked ready to float to the heavens.
Separate from the friendly match, Adriana got special training too. Mexico’s hunters needed to level up.
“Nayeong, no weird stuff, okay.”
Adriana edged back warily as Nayeong reached for her head.
“Weird stuff. Like implanting some common sense about not touching other women’s men. Or turning her into a bar girl who doesn’t wear clothes.”
“Jiseok! Nayeong’s bullying me.”
“Nayeong’s joking. Right, Nayeong.”
“......”
“Nayeong.”
“See. Told you she’s nuts.”
“I won’t, won’t. Just a joke.”
She wouldn’t really do it, but that split-second contemplation on her face said otherwise.
“All done.”
Jae-in led me to a massive cylindrical structure.
The cylinder lay horizontally on the floor, 50 meters long and 20 meters across—gigantic.
“You… made this in a week.”
“Remodeled stuff from another project.”
She’d clearly dumped a fortune into it. In a world full of ability users and hunters of all kinds, money could shorten construction times no problem.
“But what is it.”
“Extreme Situation Generator.”
“That explains nothing.”
“Seeing beats explaining. Put this earpiece in and go inside.”
I slipped on Jae-in’s in-ear and entered through the door at the cylinder’s end.
The inside was packed floor-to-ceiling with jagged rocks and sharp metal spikes on the floor, walls, and ceiling.
“Have a good time.”
Jae-in slammed the door shut, eyes gleaming.
“What…”
The cylinder under my feet started to rotate.
“Hm.”
It spun like a hamster wheel, slow at first—then picked up speed. It wasn’t just mine; the linked cylinders all spun in different directions and at different rates.
Obstacles kept coming nonstop in the high-speed spin, forcing constant movement. Dodging spots were scarce, and jumping to the next cylinder threw off balance perfectly with the speed and direction mismatch.
“Oh ho.”
[How’s it feel.]
“Fun. Bit easy though.”
[Stage 1. Now stage 2.]
Right as Jae-in finished, round boulders dropped from above the cylinder. I dodged, and then arrows rained from the ceiling while flames poured down on me.
The stuff that fell rolled around as extra obstacles.
“Ooh. Feels like an amusement park.”
I dodged casually, taking in the various traps.
[Easy ‘cause you’re the chairman. Academy hunters won’t find it so simple. And it’s not over. Stage 3.]
The door swung open, and Hongryong stepped in.
“Hongryong for stage 3.”
“Got asked to.”
Hongryong strolled forward casually; the traps ignored him entirely. He dodged obstacles with ease, clearly no newbie, closing in on me with light steps.
“While we’re at it, let’s do this for real.”
I dropped into stance and clashed with Hongryong.
I could have overwhelmed him with raw power or speed, but I wanted to learn his Taijiquan—so I matched his pace in the fight.
Hongryong looked like he was enjoying the practice too.
* * *
“How is it.”
“Well built. But isn’t this crazy dangerous for the kids.”
“You heal ‘em.”
Jae-in gave me a look like I’d said something obvious.
“Assumes you’ll sprinkle life force periodically. Packed the inner walls tight with mana stones. Exposure to mana stone mana speeds growth fast.”
“Then why not just grind mana stones and eat ‘em.”
“Drip poison drop by drop versus dumping a bucket. Instant death means no time even for your life force. Only packed this many ‘cause you’re here. World Tree life force alone, this exposure kills hunters dead.”
“Ah, you get it.”
“Tested on animals near the World Tree. Most dropped dead on the spot, a few turned full monster-rage mode. Right dose is medicine; overdose is lethal poison even for hunters.”
“Hmm…”
* * *
“Kyaaak! Mommy!”
Rose screamed while fleeing the Hongryong chasing her from behind.
Changhee nailed shots on Hongryong while on the move.
Hongryong caught the incoming bullet on his forearm, flicked his wrist smoothly, and sent it right back at Changhee.
Kwang.
Changhee got blasted by his own shot, knocked out twitching as he tumbled across the spinning cylinder floor.
“Eek.”
Rose spun around mid-flight and spewed flames at the Hongryong now right on her tail.
Hongryong dropped into a near-floor stance and drove his elbow into Rose’s side.
While Rose took the pummeling gleefully, I handled the other three.
I charged at Yesul, who was trying to heel Rose; Jinwoo sicced his bear summon on me.
“So dead-on similar, how’d you not notice.”
Hyeongbin still had no clue it was modeled after him. I kicked the bear summon till it burst.
I went for a side kick on the fleeing Yesul, but Hyeongbin blocked my path.
“Kraaak.”
My kick snapped the wrist holding his shield.
Behind him, Yesul frantically healed her teammates and slapped up shields. No rest while overusing skills nonstop—she looked woozy.
Gates let you catch a breather after clearing a pack.
But Jae-in’s Extreme Situation Generator offered zero downtime, slamming everyone with nonstop hell—perfect training.
Like pounding iron at the forge, I hammered Hyeongbin, hoping they’d all toughen up.
* * *
The training worked wonders. In hours, the five progressed more than dozens of gates would’ve allowed. Monster experience could come later.
“Good work. You’re up first thing tomorrow morning, so rest up.”
The five sprawled on the floor didn’t even twitch at my words.
“Fine, crash there. Next group.”
The match only needed five, but we required reserves too—and training the hunters was the real goal anyway—so I put everyone through it.
The next group had watched the first five on the outer monitor; they opened the door with faces like cattle headed to slaughter.