Open the Gates
“Open the Gates.”
After the two openings, the atmosphere in the training ground shifted dramatically.
“Hmm?”
More accurately, it was the light erupting from Teraden’s body that had completely changed the mood here.
Hwigwang.
His other Ineung.
When Teraden first demonstrated Hwigwang back at Gukhak, the entire academy had erupted in chaos.
“Th-that Ineung…!”
The academy head—normally always relaxed during public events—had even abandoned everything to rush over, eyes wide with shock.
In an instant, Teraden had become a celebrity, drawing endless attention from people.
“Student Teraden, could you spare a moment and visit the research lab?”
“Ugh! I said no!”
Though I found it fascinating every time, this guy—despite not having any Ineung of his own—still got to live without that kind of regret.
“It really is the Hwigwang whispered about in rumors. One glance was enough to tell it wasn’t ordinary at all. In that case, I suppose I can’t just sit by quietly either.”
“This is where it gets real. From now on, we’ll be the ones drawing his attention. Haru will finish it—let him handle the cleanup.”
Tatat!
Together with Teraden, I kicked off the ground to close the distance with Jubern.
At the same instant Blanser rolled his feet, the earth beneath Jubern shuddered. Tosa (earth and sand) erupted upward, pinning Jubern’s limbs in place.
The sand eventually crumbled under Jubern’s strength, but that level of resistance was exactly what we had expected.
While Jubern remained trapped in the sand, we closed in until our faces were mere inches from his, launching coordinated attacks from both sides.
Perhaps sensing Teraden’s Hwigwang, Jubern looked a little more strained trying to block our joint assault than he had before opening.
Whoong!
As Jubern blocked the attack, he swung his neck horizontally with a massive swing.
I twisted my upper body swiftly to dodge, but Teraden created a glowing ball of light in his palm and blocked it.
Kuung! Jiiik.
“Ugh!”
“Light with physical force… Even though I thought you only just opened your Ineung gate half a year ago, you’re this strong?”
As the glowing sphere Teraden had made collided with Jubern’s neck and didn’t lose its shape, Jubern hurriedly pulled back his sword and tried to create distance.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Teraden didn’t miss his chance. He hurled the sphere at Jubern,
Hwaaak!
The sphere, still faintly glowing, unleashed an explosion that lit up the entire training ground.
“Umm!”
Jubern slammed his eyes shut against the intense direct beam exploding right in front of him, then shattered the light fragments away with his hands.
Taking advantage of the disorientation, Blanser smashed Jubern’s neck and immediately pinned his limbs again.
Finally, the chance to land a blow on him?
His legs buried in the dirt without even opening his eyes, both of them immobilized.
He couldn’t possibly see ahead properly, yet Jubern used inhuman focus to avoid Teraden’s knee kick.
“You dodged that too?! You have an extra eye or something?”
Jubern’s posture had already collapsed while evading Teraden’s kick, leaving him completely defenseless.
Thanks to that, I slipped into his arms relatively easily and aimed for the surefire hit I couldn’t miss.
But right before my fist connected with his face, he muttered a single short sentence.
“Open the Gates.”
Puwhaak!
A massive water column burst through the ground, wrapping around his body and soaring into the sky.
The water, now at the ceiling’s height, spun violently and plunged straight back down to the earth.
“Kuh, kuhuk!”
The moment his body slammed into the ground, the entire world spun wildly.
Because of that, it was impossible to tell where the sky ended and the ground began.
It was hard to breathe, and my spine felt as if it had been pierced by electricity.
“Hey! Above!”
Using my eye power, I saw a dark shark-like creature charging toward me with its mouth wide open.
Peong!
Thanks to Teraden’s warning, I barely rolled on the ground and dodged it.
If he hadn’t warned me, I probably wouldn’t have survived.
Even though everything still looked like three objects and the vibration made me dizzy, I didn’t have the energy to care about those minor issues right now.
With one hand planted on the ground, I barely managed to stand up. Jubern immediately fired a heavy fist.
Pbaek!
Even with both arms crossed to block, the attack lifted me into the air and was so heavy my arms felt numb.
“Ugh!”
“You alright?”
I glanced at Teraden and nodded lightly, meaning everything was fine.
After that, the smile vanished completely from Jubern’s face in my eyes.
“I’m afraid I underestimated all three of you too easily. From now on, I’ll approach this seriously.”
After speaking, he replaced his broken neck with a sleek, dark sword forged from Ineung.
Teraden, watching that, seemed half-dazed and muttered,
“This… isn’t that cheating?”
With a single gesture from Jubern, dozens of majestic water columns appeared around him.
Along with that came a fierce roar like a waterfall filling the entire area—a truly spectacular sight.
If only we didn’t have to face that.
Chuksok, shuaaah.
The dark waves, constantly devouring space, soon rose all the way to our calves.
“Ah, my legs…”
Tied by the dark waves, we had no choice but to face Jubern’s approaching surge head-on.
We thought Teraden’s Hwigwang had created a thin barrier to block it, but it didn’t last long.
“W-what?!”
“It’s true that Teraden-nim’s Hwigwang is a truly amazing Ineung. But it’s not a versatile ability. When the gap in strength between Teraden-nim and me is this big, it’s simpler just to overpower them with raw force.”
Once the light barrier shattered, Teraden grabbed my collar and dragged me behind Blanser.
“Hey, wait a second. Hold them off!”
“No way, senior! Where are you hiding behind me?! The dirt has no synergy with water, ahh!”
“Huh? Hey, it’s fine… Puak!”
Thud.
From that moment on, we were dominated by Jubern—beaten, crushed, and enduring the most terrifying time.
Blanser’s voice had carried a bit of emotion, but perhaps it was just his feelings.
In the end, all three of us were battered until our clothes were tattered and sprawled face-down on the sandy ground.
The beginning had looked so promising.
We had been convinced that we wouldn’t lose this easily until the moment we almost knocked Jubern out with one shot.
There’s a saying, isn’t there.
Everyone has a plan that sounds perfect. Until the beating starts.
From the moment Jubern opened, the illusion shattered completely.
“Aigoo…”
Teraden writhed and let out a dramatic groan.
“How’s your body? Are you okay?”
“No, I feel like I’m going to die. Never thought I’d get hit like this without even swinging back. I didn’t know getting hit by water would hurt this much. What about you?”
“I’m fine. You guys took the hits for me. Blanser, how about you?”
Blanser, pouting, showed a surprisingly reserved expression for someone his size.
“You three are too much. I’m not a training dummy, yet I almost got hit because you hid behind me!”
“Be careful. Unlike you sturdy guys, I would’ve been wiped out by Haru if I took a few more hits. Especially Haru—he took a huge one in the middle.”
“Even if we let that slide for Haru-senior, what about Teraden-senior… I’m not as tough as Master either.”
“Got it, man. No more of that next time.”
Clop. Clop.
“None of you seem to have suffered any serious injuries, do you?”
Dressed impeccably unlike our disheveled state, Jubern walked over to us.
His warm tone conveyed concern, and the pain melted away like snow in the sun.
“We’re fine, Jubern-nim. Thank you for worrying.”
“All three of you looked so naive the first time you came here. Even though it’s three against one, you almost took a blow. You’ve grown so much I can’t even recognize you anymore.”
“Uhaah!”
“If we could have knocked Jubern-nim out, that would’ve been the icing on the cake, but it’s such a shame.”
“Seeing you joking around, I can relax. You seem much better now.”
After Blanser’s praise, he opened his mouth wide and laughed heartily. Teraden, now looking a little healthier, grinned and teased,
“Anyway, starting in about ten days, we’ll have to start performing quests. Do you two think you’ll be able to recover by then?”
It felt like poking at a calm mood, but I held back—until I saw their bodies. Worry crept in.
Teraden and Blanser answered in unison, confidently.
“No problem.”
“We’ll be fine, seniors!”
Starting from the end of the first semester in the preparatory academy at Gukhak, big changes were on the horizon.
One of them was that most students would have to perform quests.
All the resources we had eaten, slept, and lived on during our almost half-year stay here had been provided for free.
Then where had the things we used come from?
There were supports from the empire or other institutions, but the rest came from the payments students received after performing quests.
Money didn’t simply fall from the sky, and it wasn’t something you just sold land for.
Ah, of course, it wasn’t mandatory to perform quests.
If you didn’t want to do them, you could just pay the equivalent of the registration fee instead.
Since most students at Gukhak came from high-ranking noble families, not many wanted to do quests.
But we had no intention of avoiding them at all.
It wasn’t because we had no money.
As the ancestor Ahrirang had said, we wanted to wander around, memorize the continent’s appearance, and help those in need, even if it was just a little.
Fortunately, Maru and Teraden and Blanser gladly agreed with my opinion.
Anyway, the final training match against Jubern before starting quests had ended like this.
* * *
About two weeks later,
“Finally, today is departure.”
“Yes, then we’ll be back soon!”
“I’ll be waiting here for your safe return.”
Unable to hide my excitement, I hurriedly said my goodbyes to Lan and Jubern. Then, without waiting for anyone, we left Gukhak at full speed.
Lan, staring at the backs of the Haru party growing smaller, quietly called out to Jubern.
“Jubern.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I feel like you’re quite excited because this is our first quest. I understand that feeling a hundred times over, but the more excited you get, the more careless you become. So follow them quietly from behind and protect them.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Unless you judge that they’re in any specially dangerous situation, don’t get involved. Just observe and protect.”
“I will follow your command.”
Jubern, receiving Lan’s order, immediately slipped out of Gukhak and secretly followed the Haru party from behind.