Chapter 286: Tempering (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 286: Tempering (2)
An unexpected 1-on-1 duel was underway.
The team members stood against the wall, watching the two people facing each other in the center of the training ground.
Their eyes held undisguised sense of anticipation.
It was only natural. Ever since they’d started working together, the team had been curious about one thing: the gap in skill between Kim Do-jin and Son Seo-yeon.
Just how big was it?
“They didn't seem that far apart in dungeons… I wonder how this will go.”
“Do-jin definitely has the upper hand. But… the aspect? is bad.”
“Not aspect, matchup.”
“Ah… Korean is fucking hard.”
“Eh, Elena! You shouldn't copy Yu-jeong's swearing…!”
Everyone agreed that Kim Do-jin had the advantage.
The youngest B-rank Hunter.
He'd broken numerous records for the fastest dungeon clears and even participated directly in the Kraken raid.
His career path since his sensational debut was so impressive that most Hunters were in a completely different league.
“But Kim Do-jin uses a sword too, right?”
“Still… Seo-yeon Sunbae learned from Hunter Son Si-woo.”
“Ah, right.”
However, Son Seo-yeon’s standing within the team was also formidable.
She may have failed the qualification exam, but that was only due to childhood trauma.
Otherwise, she would have passed with ease.
Furthermore, she was born with a silver spoon—no, a diamond spoon—in her mouth, the likes of which were rarely seen in the Hunter industry.
Son Si-woo and Han Ju-hee.
Her mother and father were the two people said to be the strongest of the pillars supporting South Korea.
Her talent for the sword and magic stemmed from their genes.
On top of that, the teachings she received from those who had reached the pinnacle of their respective fields were a unique privilege that money couldn't buy.
Adding the matchup advantage of a magician versus a swordsman, they concluded that the gap wouldn't be that large.
‘They're wrong.’
Standing in the center, Kim Do-jin, who had overheard their whispers, refuted their opinion.
‘Unfortunately for them, I've never taught Seo-yeon a single thing.’
Because of Han Ju-hee, who was determined to raise her child as a magician, he'd never had a chance to give her any proper training.
Though it seemed she had learned a fair bit about magic from her mother.
‘Thanks to that, her other side has become a mess.’
An innate talent for stealing sword techniques she'd only seen over someone's shoulder, almost perfectly.
Added to that, the physical excellence to perfectly embody the stolen swordsmanship.
And even with such outstanding talent, the mental fortitude to never grow complacent and always strive for improvement.
She possessed three talents, any one of which would have allowed her to live a lavish life in the Hunter industry.
‘She's my daughter, but she's truly incredible.’
She was so perfect you could say she had everything needed to be a Hunter.
Her current skill was such that, aside from himself, she had no rival at Korea University, a place full of the nation's top talents.
So, is she perfect?
‘Absolutely not.’
On the contrary, she was an incredibly easy opponent to figure out.
The first or second fight might be difficult, but if one were to focus solely on countering her, there were endless ways to find her weaknesses.
‘I'll have to teach her that, starting now.’
Blood is thicker than water, as the saying goes.
Even if she wasn't his daughter anymore, he didn't want to see her get ruthlessly crushed by someone else and fall into despair.
Her problem was the kind that could only be found after taking a major fall at some point.
‘If that's the case, I should be the one to expose it.’
With that resolve, Kim Do-jin gripped a blunt training sword.
He then provoked Son Seo-yeon, who was glaring at him with eyes burning with a quiet fighting spirit, by crooking his finger.
“Come at me whenever you're ready, Sunbae.”
“……”
Blue veins popped on the back of her hand as she gripped her sword.
Seeing this, Kim Do-jin clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Tsk, tsk… there's another weakness.’
She's weak to taunts.
In other words, her mental state was easily shaken.
It couldn't be helped.
She was young and had grown up pampered, always getting what she wanted, so of course she'd have no immunity to this sort of thing.
‘This is why it's so easy to deal with kids these days. Back in my day…’
Oops.
Right, they call you a Geezer if you say things like that.
Just as he was feeling immensely relieved that he hadn't said it out loud…
Fwoosh!
Stomping hard on the training ground floor to gain momentum, she surged forward.
“Hah…!”
From left to right.
The tip of her sword drew a sharp, unwavering arc.
But her sword never even came close to Kim Do-jin.
“Whoops.”
Because as soon as she took her stance, he had taken a step back, getting out of her range early.
Son Seo-yeon was momentarily flustered.
‘How…?’
She had put her all into that attack.
It was an all-out attack, acknowledging his skill, yet it had been scattered so easily.
She gritted her teeth.
One strike wouldn't be enough.
‘He must have a weakness. So…’
I'll just have to probe every possible spot without hesitation.
Her attacks continued against her completely relaxed opponent.
High, middle, low.
More specifically, targeting the neck, heart, side, the back of the knee, the knee itself, and the ankle.
A flurry of strikes moving dizzyingly from top to bottom, meant to pin her opponent down.
Was it thanks to the fighting spirit, a feeling she rarely experienced, guiding her body so smoothly?
‘This feels good.’
A faint, soft smile formed on her lips.
Her body felt much lighter than usual.
The tip of her sword moved with precision, striking her intended targets without the slightest error.
‘At this rate…’
Wouldn't even Dad, the master of this swordsmanship, praise me if he saw this?
The moment that pleasant thought crossed her mind, her mood crashed to the floor.
“Ah…!”
Even though it was arguably the best she had moved in years, she hadn't even touched Kim Do-jin, let alone wiped away the casual air that clung to his every move.
“How on earth…?”
Overwhelmed by shock, she forgot she was even in a duel and stared blankly into space.
The movements he had just shown were seared onto her retinas.
He had dodged all of her best attacks in recent memory at what seemed like less than half his usual speed.
‘How is that possible?’
She replayed his movements in her mind over and over.
Once, twice, three times.
After reviewing them countless times, she finally found something peculiar.
‘He was fast.’
Not his speed, but his start.
The speed at which he decided to move and acted on it coincided perfectly with the start of my attack.
That meant…
“You knew… where all my attacks were headed?”
It could only mean that he could see the path and destination of all her attacks.
Just from her preparatory stance alone.
To the question she'd asked, half in disbelief, Kim Do-jin nodded in affirmation.
“That's right.”
“…How?”
Son Seo-yeon asked again, as if she couldn't possibly understand.
Kim Do-jin answered with a calm expression and tone.
“You said you learned your swordsmanship by stealing it from Hunter Son Si-woo, right?”
“Yeah… that's right.”
She nodded weakly.
To his daughter who was desperate for an answer, Kim Do-jin criticized her in a sharp tone.
“That's the problem. To be precise, the problem is that the swordsmanship you learned just had to be Hunter Son Si-woo's.”
“……”
A heavy silence fell over the training ground at his sharp criticism.
The watching team members all stood with their jaws agape, not knowing what to do.
And the target of the criticism, Son Seo-yeon, scowled and glared at him.
In the heavy atmosphere, she opened her mouth.
“Are you… insulting my dad right now?”
At this, Kim Do-jin laughed as if in disbelief and shook his head.
“No? Why would I? Even if the entire world insulted Hunter Son Si-woo, I probably couldn't.”
This was only natural.
What kind of madman spits on his own face?
The premise was wrong from the start.
“I'm saying this because you seem to be greatly misunderstanding something.”
“……”
“Hunter Son Si-woo's swordsmanship is not Hunter Son Si-woo himself, Sunbae.”
It happens sometimes.
When a person is so great, like a historical figure, that people deify everything that comes from them as being equally great.
“Besides, your swordsmanship is just a copy you learned by stealing his, isn't it? So it's even less of an insult to Hunter Son Si-woo.”
“……”
Son Seo-yeon pressed her lips shut.
She was displeased, but he was right, so she had no proper retort.
Kim Do-jin put down the now-unnecessary training sword and picked up his smartphone.
What he brought up on the screen was Nertube.
“Sunbae. You know the world is a pretty great place these days, right?”
“…What are you talking about?”
He paid her no mind and continued.
“If you just type the name ‘Son Si-woo’ into the Nertube search bar, a ton of stuff comes up.”
Countless images of Son Si-woo: giving press conferences, doing interviews, walking the red carpet, attending banquets.
Among them, things like this also existed.
“Son Si-woo suppressing a villain destroying the city, Son Si-woo fighting a monster that appeared from a broken rift, and so on.”
They were only fragments, but there were thousands, tens of thousands of videos of him posted online.
Available to everyone equally, whether they were villains, civilians, or Hunters.
Even if they were tiny fragments, when thousands and tens of thousands of them were gathered, they formed a single mass.
In other words…
“The enemy that gave the ‘National Hunter’ Son Si-woo the biggest headache wasn't a villain or a monster. It was this.”
His indiscriminately released videos were, in other words, information.
What kind of swordsmanship he used, how he moved when he dodged an attack, and so on.
These videos, fragmented and incredibly inconvenient, but which could be compiled if one was determined enough, were his biggest nuisance.
“Not everyone, but some people would figure it out. And a truly gifted person could understand the unrevealed parts just from the revealed fragments.”
In fact, there were quite a few villains like that.
Twisted, but geniuses.
Madmen who considered themselves revolutionaries who would overturn this absurd society, saw Son Si-woo as a pawn and vanguard of that society, and sharpened their blades, vowing to defeat him.
Those types would often chill him to the bone with their so-called 'How to Fight Son Si-woo' manuals, created by patching together, studying, and digging into information about him.
Having experienced crises big and small, he began a new training regimen from that day on.
To ensure that no one could fully figure him out, no matter how many videos spread.
“Here's a question.”
“……?”
“How do you think Hunter Son Si-woo blocked his enemies from getting information on him?”
After thinking deeply, she finally asked.
“…I don't know. What did he do?”
Kim Do-jin shook his head.
“Don't rely on others; figure it out for yourself, Sunbae. Constantly ask yourself, ‘What would my dad have done?’ and ‘What should I do?’”
It was a bit late, but while she was at it, she could try to have some respect for her dad.
“If you want, I can be your sparring partner anytime, so whether it makes sense or not, just try it.”
A Hunter who only eats what others spoon-feed them will quickly stagnate.
For a Hunter, stagnation is death.
Son Seo-yeon, her head heavy with all sorts of thoughts, nodded with difficulty.
“…I'll try.”
Kim Do-jin hoped she wouldn't die an early death.