Chapter 207
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Growing Onahole Squad
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Basic stamina training, posture checks, repeated skill mastery.
Yuuna's training method was incredibly systematic.
The reason the class president of F-Class, who had no particular talents, could stay a step ahead of others was rooted in that kind of honesty.
Hena could be called a student who had only just taken her first steps at the academy, but Yuuna had been standing in front of a wall for a long time.
At first, she hadn't even realized there was a wall in front of her.
She only came to know it after seeing people who had climbed over it.
After the exchange match, Yuuna had become aware of her ambiguous position in the face of true talent, and that awareness was turning into frustration.
'I need to get stronger.'
Yuuna had been affected by the villain's attack just like everyone else.
She realized she could never become like Quintia, the Sword Saint's daughter, and changed her style, but there were no dramatic results.
'Hena has talent.'
Yuuna thought this as she watched Hena grunting while hanging from the horizontal bar.
Hena would surpass her in no time.
Those born with magical talent grew quickly. In Hena's case, Yuuna believed her passive nature was merely holding back her potential.
'Do I have that kind of potential too?'
Watching Sanghyeok shoot up rapidly, Yuuna felt an inexplicable sense of grievance somewhere.
Was she too used to the caretaker position?
「The results of your A-rank promotion exam are regrettable.」
「Nakamori Yuuna's specs are a bit ambiguous.」
「Why don't you develop your specialties a bit more?」
「It would have been better if you had magical talent.」
'If it were that easy, I would have done it.'
Before she knew it, her goal had become not to be a burden.
Kim Sanghyeok would go to higher places—a vague premonition.
On top of that, if Yuuna got pregnant, she'd semi-retire from hunter life...
But more than that future, what weighed on Yuuna right now was not wanting to drag down the Onahole Squad.
This is right for B-rank hunter Nakamori Yuuna!
Besides, how beautiful would it look to her boyfriend to see his girlfriend growing?
'Yeah! I'll do it at least to look pretty for Sanghyeok.'
「...Yuuna, I fell for you because I love that side of you.」
Sudden fantasy Sanghyeok ON.
Yuuna's cheeks flushed red, and she shook her head vigorously.
"Cla... Cla... Yuuna. Why...?"
"N-no... I just suddenly remembered something... Should we run one more lap?"
"Yeah!"
When it was for the guy she loved, strength welled up.
The two kept moving diligently in the indoor training ground until the sparse crowd thinned out completely.
At lunchtime, they showered together...
"Hena boobs get!"
"Kyaa!"
"Whoa. So big and soft..."
"...I'll grope them too...!"
They played around like this,
went out for a meal, and replenished energy with tteokbokki, fried food, and sundae.
"We're gonna move more, so let's eat hearty."
"Y-yeah."
Watching Hena shrink a bit mysteriously once outside, Yuuna smiled.
"Why are you hunching like that? Have some confidence!"
"It's not easy..."
"You're Kim Sanghyeok's first girlfriend, you know?"
"......"
Whoosh.
Hena's face turned tomato-red. This fantasy Sanghyeok seemed no slouch either.
"It feels like a dream..."
"Huh?"
"Having a friend like you... and a boyfriend like Sanghyeok..."
"Friend?"
"Ah, n-no, not friends? S-sorry..."
Yuuna giggled.
"We're not like official wife and concubine? You're the official, I'm the concubine."
"N-not official wife or anything..."
"Kidding. We're friends. We even made a rice cake vow."
"......"
Hena's eyes looked strange.
Yuuna flinched and added,
"Not that rice cake, this rice cake? Real tteok."
"......Yeah. I thought you sounded like an old man..."
"N-not that kind. Though we did that too, of course..."
The two fell silent.
They quietly ate their tteokbokki, thinking of Sanghyeok.
"......I miss Sanghyeok."
Hena spoke first.
"Right? Does it make sense not to see your girlfriend's face on the weekend...?"
"No contact either..."
"I miss Sanghyeok. I want to hold Sanghyeok's hand."
"I want to be hugged tight..."
The girlfriends started venting their longing.
The tteokbokki auntie watched the grumbling girlfriends, depleted of skinship energy with Sanghyeok, with an amused fondness.
"Shall we go hard in the afternoon too?!"
"Yeah!!"
Fueled up on carbs from the tteokbokki, the two returned to the academy training ground.
"You two...?"
There,
was a famous figure rarely seen.
Seridwen Evelyn. The crimson-eyed empress with flowing black hair.
"Pr-Professor Seridwen."
Hena quickly hid behind Yuuna.
"Here for training? Want me to watch a bit?"
An unbeatable opportunity...!!
Even amid the dizziness from the overwhelming presence of the woman before her,
Yuuna said in a trembling voice,
"Y-yes! P-please guide us!"
"Don't be so tense."
Seridwen smiled faintly.
'Ahh... Even as a fellow woman, she's so cool......'
Seridwen Evelyn.
Korea's strongest master hunter.
A genius among geniuses who ascended to the ranks of master hunter recognized by the World Hunter Association in her mid-20s.
To Yuuna—no, to all academy students and hunters—she was the shining glory and goal itself.
If such a person watched, it was an unbeatable opportunity.
"Show me what you two can do."
"I-I'll go first!"
Yuuna pulled out her masterpieces from her inventory.
Yukihime and Ebony Blade. Holding the black-and-white swords one in each hand,
Yuuna charged at the dummy with a far more serious demeanor than her morning practice.
The Eight-Spanned Ferry was a complex dual-wield skill Yuuna had developed to break through the limits she felt watching Quintia.
Softly parrying with Yukihime, then overwhelming with Ebony Blade's fierce momentum...!!
"Hup!! Haah!"
"You not going?"
Hena flinched.
"S-someone like me... I-I'm only C-rank..."
Before Seridwen, Hena was so intimidated she could barely speak.
"I was C-rank once too."
"...Really? But Professor Seridwen is a master hunter...?"
"Yeah. So give it a try. As much as you can."
Hena knew Seridwen's personal coaching was worth more than money could buy.
Unlike Yuuna, mustering courage was hard for Hena from the start. If she got scolded for showing such trash, she'd never recover.
Hena trembled inwardly.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
People like Seridwen couldn't imagine the massive anxiety Hena felt even in casual conversation.
"I-I-I..."
What Hena thought of then wasn't fantasy Sanghyeok, but the real Kim Sanghyeok.
「Hena, be brave. Your mana is strong and full right now.」
「If you stop there, sure. But the highest place you can reach won't just have that.」
'The highest place I can reach...'
"I'll do it."
"Good."
Staring down the dummy, Hena gathered mana for her once-in-a-lifetime Void Magic Bullet.
Shooo!!
Thud.
Contrary to the buildup, it fizzled out with a pathetic impact.
Hena kept firing magic bullets. Yuuna didn't stop her sword dance.
Because Seridwen hadn't told them to stop.
Whenever Seridwen seemed about to speak, Hena and Yuuna stopped in sync and turned.
Both were already drenched in sweat, though they'd just showered.
They'd poured everything out at full power for 3 minutes.
"First..."
"N-Nakamori Yuuna."
"Hena Isis...!"
Seeing their tense faces, Seridwen smiled faintly.
"My impression from watching you two: lack of aggression."
"Aggression...?"
'Lack of attack power'?
For Yuuna struggling to grasp it, Seridwen stood behind the dummy herself.
"Why do you think they made these human-shaped?"
"Uh, well..."
It was an element so obvious it was always there,
but Seridwen's prod made her realize it.
"Right. You need to know exactly where to hit. Using your strongest skills matters, but hitting vitals is key."
With that, Seridwen pointed at the dummy.
"Head, neck, chest."
"Is obsessively targeting vitals important?"
"Mm, visualizing it in your head is key. What happens if you stab the neck? Have you thought deeply?"
"......"
The major artery would gush blood like a fountain.
Imagining that scene didn't feel good. Though she wielded a sword, Yuuna had no intention of swinging it at people.
"You've been unconsciously avoiding it."
"Yes..."
Lack of aggression meant exactly that.
"Once you plan motions to stab the neck, you picture the opponent's reactions and counters, then how to overcome them."
"Picture..."
"That's what we call practice. Just repeating motions mindlessly won't improve you."
Yuuna felt heat of shame spread from her dantian.
All at once.
She saw it all at once from those motions. The professor did.
That they were skills she'd tediously repeated toward the dummy.
"Try again."
"Yes."
Yuuna immediately thrust Ebony Blade at the neck.
Seridwen tilted the dummy slightly, deflecting the stab.
'Then...!'
Yuuna gripped Yukihime and swung. A bit faster...!
With dual-wield, she could recover!
"Your first attack went too deep."
Seridwen pushed the dummy forward slightly.
That alone closed the distance suddenly, leaving Yuuna's attack range short.
In real combat, that meant getting barged into and exposed defenselessly.
'Trying to cash in without recovering posture... Ugh...'
Yuuna realized her shortcomings she'd never noticed before,
and felt embarrassed to the tips of her hair.
"How was it? Helpful at all?"
"Th-thank you."
"Hena..."
Hena was already pale for her turn.
"Don't be so scared. Hm. Actually, I started with void talent too..."
"What!? Professor, you...?!"
Even Yuuna was shocked.
She'd never thought Hena's talent was that high-value.
Of course, she knew it was good, but master hunters were surrounded by monstrous talents...
"Hena, you have similar issues. You need to clearly picture in your head exactly how you want to destroy the opponent."
"Destroy..."
"A mage handling the squad's DPS with weak power? That won't do."
Shake shake!!
Hena shook her head.
"That's why they say mages are twisted types... You need that twist."
"......Twist..."
"No one you want dead?"
Someone she wanted dead...
There wasn't. Until now, Hena had grown up comfortably eating doenjang jjigae in a warm home with a kind mom.
She was aware she'd bloomed like a flower in a greenhouse, untouched by storms.
She didn't even want to hate anyone.
Hena was just a kid content watching her favorite anime.
But...
That day's villain—she wanted to kill.
When villains appeared trying to hurt Sanghyeok and Yuuna, Hena felt an unprecedented rage.
She trembled with helplessness.
Squeezing out that mana...
"Blunt is spear-like. Stabbing to kill is the most aggressive form."
Squeezing out all her mana!!
Hena looked at the dummy, overlaying the villain's image. Kang Si-eun.
The one she wanted dead, who touched Kim Sanghyeok.
'I'll kill. Kill enemies to protect Sanghyeok.'
The first intense enmity she'd ever felt in her life.
She nurtured it inside, glaring fiercely and repeating it.
The most efficient way to kill.
[Void - Scattershot]
[A-Rank Attack Magic]
[Power A, Range B, Power Bonus +1]
[Advanced attack magic used by mages with the rare talent 「Mana: Void」. It shreds enemies with shotgun-like barrages of countless bullets.]
The magic bullets Hena fired exploded like a Claymore mine in front of the dummy, shredding all nearby dummies to pieces.
The mechanism closely resembled shotgun shells.
Even while thinking of kill forms,
Hena pictured her boyfriend fighting.
"Cla... Cla...!"
Exhausted of mana, she collapsed on the spot, but...
"Much better."
A development that hadn't existed before.
Both Hena and Yuuna had grown a step.
"Then I'll watch the teacher go. Keep at it, both of you."
"Thank you, Professor!"
"Thank you...!"
Seridwen turned with a grin.
'This year's second-years are cute.'
Thinking that.