Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: First Day Training
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“Nam Si-hwan.”
“Yes….”
“How long do you plan to keep working at that information agency?”
You can’t get results by forcing motivationless people into the mix. I thought they’d recognize the opportunity I was giving them, but these idiots need everything spelled out one by one.
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you hear me? How long are you going to keep working at the information agency?”
“Uh…. I’ve never really thought about it.”
“Are you satisfied with threatening people and stealing the hush money?”
“I haven’t been doing that lately.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now you’re just running around taking photos of affairs with a camera, right? You can’t do that forever. You said you wanted to be Hunters. Don’t you want to become Hunters? If you hate this, there are plenty of spots in Regen production jobs. I can get you in there. Just say the word anytime.”
The three of them bowed their heads and listened.
“It’s fine to give up. That’s a choice too. But shouldn’t you at least try until you die once before giving up?”
I was speaking to the three of them, but it was also a message to my past self. If someone had pushed me like this back then, my end might have been different.
“I’ll do it.”
The three of them listened quietly before steeling their resolve and answering.
“Good. Get ready.”
What followed was several hours of grueling battle. I didn’t hold back on advice about their skills in between.
“Nam Si-hwan. Use your skill. Scream until the ants burst.”
“Yes! Aaaaaah!!!!!”
Si-hwan kept Shouting until blood came from his throat, and his maximum volume grew enough to make the air tremble. Thanks to that, he disrupted the ants’ communication or made them flinch. Of course, it wasn’t enough to inflict physical damage on the ants. He also got used to defending and attacking with his shield, making it easy for him to hunt ants now.
“Jin-woo. The dogs you summon keep dying, so why do you keep calling them? Make the dogs bigger or reinforce them. If you can’t do that, summon something else instead of dogs.”
After my advice, Jin-woo experimented in battle by summoning various types of summons. Among them, the hawk-form summon worked best. While he tanked, the hawk attacked the ants from above.
Min-woo was already doing well on his own, so he didn’t need much advice. He smashed ants with hands shaped like hammers. Combat dragged on long enough for his hands to hurt, but after fighting for a while, his skill leveled up. Now he could harden parts of himself with the skill, reinforcing the striking surface of the hammer even more to crush the ants. He adapted to combat the fastest among the three, ending up with the highest combat power.
It was getting dark, and the ants were multiplying, leaving the three almost no time to rest. It was time to end today’s training. I texted President Yoo to head back to base camp.
“Alright, that’s it for today.”
I approached the three while growing massive. With each step, I grew larger, and their gazes lifted higher as their faces paled.
Then I stomped the ants on the ground to death.
“Hyung Si-hwan…. You stood up to that guy earlier…. You’ve got real guts.”
Min-woo whispered, thinking my head was too high up to hear.
“No…. I didn’t know he could get that big.”
“Hyung. Grovel and apologize later.”
Jin-woo chimed in from the side.
“No…. This isn’t right?! It’s supposed to be Gigantification, right?! Hyung-nim only grows one meter, but that’s not Gigantification! That’s Giantification!”
I’d cleaned up dozens of ants in an instant and returned to find Si-hwan, Jin-woo, and Min-woo standing at attention.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Their response was crisp. Should I have shown some power earlier? I’d only shown them beatings before—no visually overwhelming force like this.
Everyone was exhausted by the time we returned to base camp.
The interior of the large hunting vehicle we’d arrived in had a bedroom, bathroom, and other rest areas. Expanding the side unfolded a large additional tent.
I assigned sleeping spots to the Oh brothers and boiled stew in a large pot. For outdoor eating, stew—just dumping everything in and boiling—was convenient. We paired it with somewhat hard bread.
“Hyung-nim, check this out. I can make it even harder now.”
Min-woo shaped one hand into a shield and the other into a hammer, clanging them together. Now he didn’t need to carry a separate shield; he could block ant-level attacks with the one he made. Being able to change forms depending on the situation made it far more versatile than regular items.
“Oh, impressive. Hyung-nim, I changed my summon.”
Jin-woo summoned his hawk to show off.
Everyone had gotten a feel for their skills, and as levels rose, their stats and skill levels went up a notch or two. They were like kids with new toys, excitedly showing off their improved skills.
“Lee Ji-seok Hunter-nim.”
President Yoo approached me.
“Thank you.”
He bowed deeply.
“I know it’s not easy for an A-Rank Hunter to train people like this all day and help them qualify as Hunters. Especially since we’re the ones who wronged your mother.”
Seeing President Yoo speak, the other four came over and stood behind him.
“Thank you!”
They bowed politely.
“If you’re grateful, pay it back by working later. And it’s too early to be thankful. This is just day one. Got it?”
“Yes! We know! We’ll work hard!”
It felt like a military unit.
“Then go eat and rest.”
The five of them rushed off together to eat, chat, and rest.
“Oppa, you’re taking good care of them no matter what.”
“Just. I’ve often wished for a chance like this in the past. Plus, I wanted to see how much skills grow in harsh conditions.”
“I need to have a big heart like you, oppa, but it’s not easy.”
Na-young leaned on my shoulder.
“No, you’re doing great. How many did you catch today?”
“Ant nest, Goblin den, Werewolf pack, and Walking Trees. About five hundred?”
“….Good job. Not tired?”
“I learned skill control from Paul, remember?”
Na-young floated a ping-pong-ball-sized purple mana orb in the air, spinning it on her finger and tracing figure-eights.
The Mana Orb skill normally shot straight-line mana blasts, but she was controlling it that much.
“Before, I wasted a lot of mana on Mana Orb. Now I use it efficiently, so the color turned purple and the power increased. I’ll research the other skills too and boost their performance.”
Her beaming smile was pretty. But how much more did she plan to grow? At this rate, she’d surpass her past life strength.
“Yeah. Take it slow. I’m heading out.”
“Not resting?”
“Watching them made me feel stuffy inside. Need to blow off some steam. Go to sleep first.”
“Got it.”
“Yeah. Sang-hun, I’m heading out, so watch over those five for me.”
“Yes, take care.”
“Take care!”
With everyone seeing me off, I launched myself into the mountains. There were no monsters in the area that could match me, so leveling up would be tough, but like I told Na-young, I wanted some night exercise, and I was eager to hurry the North Korean territory restoration mission.
I spotted Werewolves, Walking Trees, Hellhounds, and Fairies and picked them off with aura shots from my finger. Shooting while running doubled the concentration needed, upping the difficulty, but I welcomed the challenge.
Unfortunately, no rare monsters like Fairy Queens appeared. I ran all night, taking down hundreds, before returning to base camp.
The second day’s morning dawned.
“Today we split into teams. Na-young goes solo, and Sang-hun teams up with you five. At the end of the day, I’ll check results, and the last place gets a penalty.”
“Hyung! That’s basically giving me the penalty?!”
“Quiet. You’re six people. Work hard. I’ll count by head regardless of monster rank, so catching lots of weak ones might let you win. First place gets the day off tomorrow.”
“You heard him?!”
“Wooo!!”
Sang-hun and the Oh brothers were fired up. To boost mobility, the six pulled out two motorcycles and a four-seater ATV from under the vehicle and set off.
“Oppa. Let’s make a bet. Loser grants the winner one wish. How’s that?”
“A wish? Need something?”
“It’s a secret. You in?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Truthfully, I was optimized for strong single enemies, so Na-young had the edge in mass weak-monster farming, but I welcomed any challenge. And if I lost, granting one wish wasn’t a big deal.
“Promise made. See you at dinner~”
Na-young set off, cape billowing. Infusing mana into the cape to activate the engraved levitation magic was now second nature. She vanished almost like flying.
Based on info from the Awakening Bureau, I headed northeast toward the mountains likely holding the strongest monsters.
I spread my senses wide, pinpointed nearby monsters, and optimized my route to take them down.
“Not even a workout.”
Daytime hunting was even easier than last night. Raising others is important, but I need to grow too—this wasn’t training at all.
Memories of battling the Troll and Helen surfaced. I had to get stronger. Things had changed for the better since my past life because of my actions, but timings were off too. I needed more preparation.
I steeled my resolve and upped my speed. Seeking stronger monsters.
I took down hundreds in an hour, the strongest being an Ogre.
When North Korea collapsed, large monsters migrated north and south seeking people, mostly subjugated in China and Korea. China’s missile barrage redrew the North Korean map back then. Korea had headaches dealing with monsters fleeing China.
Still, in such lush forests, I’d hoped for hidden A- or B-Rank monsters, but if none appeared, restoring North Korea might be easier than expected.
The sun was about to dip over the ridge. About to give up and head back, I sensed a monster with strong life force moving fast.
Finally, something to cut loose on. I leaped toward the presence.
From above, I saw it crashing through trees.
I free-fell, dropping both feet onto its head.
Boom!
Its head hit the ground. I kicked off its head, landing on the floor. The impact shook the leaves.
“Drake?”
A B-Rank monster unseen recently. Covered in tough scales, it looked like a giant lizard or vaguely draconic. Ten meters long, three-meter head height.
My earlier attack could one-shot a Cerberus, but it shook off the impact, glaring at me. Its scales apparently blocked the force from penetrating.
“Come at me.”
I beckoned it with my hand.
Seeing the small me beckon, it scraped the ground with its hind legs, ready to charge.