A Test of Strength
At Seong-il's flustered voice, Lee Ah-hyun nodded and continued her explanation. "After all, five-person parties are only allowed up to rank 8. From third year onward, the rank 7 and higher dungeons we enter have a maximum capacity of four, so there's no problem. If we hastily accept some mediocre classmate just to fill an empty spot, and that person ends up as a fixed member for the whole semester, the team will only suffer more. I think this is the better choice."
"...Are you sure that's okay?"
"Of course. To be blunt, the three of us—me, Yu-ju, and Senior Seung-jin—can clear a rank 9 dungeon on our own. Plus, I'm a dual ability user, so I can pull 1.5 times the weight of a normal teammate."
"Hmm…"
"And after you've experienced dungeon exploration three or four times, Seong-il, I believe you'll be able to carry your own weight. That's why I'm not too worried."
"Is that so…?"
Yu-ju jumped into the conversation between the two. "Then you're planning to keep running a four-person party like this? Without recruiting anyone else??"
"Not necessarily. If someone catches my eye in the meantime, we can bring them in. But I won't accept people just to fill numbers. That kind of thing is actually a minus in my opinion."
"Well… that's true. Having dead weight is worse than going without."
At the word dead weight, Seong-il flinched with an awkward expression. Yu-ju burst out laughing when she saw him.
"Ah~ Seong-il~ You're jumping at that way too much. I wasn't talking about you~"
"Ack… you caught me…?"
"Don't worry~ Of course, until you get used to dungeons you'll probably be more of a burden than help, but for the sake of a dual-awakened ability user, I can put up with that much~"
"Uh, th-thank you…!!"
Once the casual introductions were over, Ah-hyun invited them to the group chat and began sending out simple reference materials.
"If you look at the files I just sent you, I've listed each party member's abilities, specialties, strengths, and weaknesses. I'd like everyone to memorize them."
Seung-jin let out an impressed whistle at her thorough preparation. "Whoa, you're really meticulous…!? There's a ton of content here."
"Thank you. Inside, I've also written out the tactics, formations, and strategies I'm considering. Please read through them and let me know if you think we can execute them as written. If you spot any wrong information, please point it out."
"Got it. I'll do as you say."
Seong-il answered and began carefully reading through the materials Ah-hyun had sent. She looked at him and added, "Especially you, Seong-il. I want you to memorize it thoroughly. And…"
"…And?"
"Do you have time later?"
At Ah-hyun's words, Seung-jin put on a mischievous grin and started teasing her. "Ooh~ Ah-hyun~ Are you already making a move? Not bad at all."
Thud!
"Kek…!"
"Senior… if you embarrass your girlfriend one more time, you're getting another punch. Understand?"
Yu-ju threw a punch at him. Seung-jin flinched, quickly shut his mouth, and fell silent. Watching them, Seong-il gave a bitter smile and asked Ah-hyun, "Time? What for?"
"Ah… I wanted to request a personal spar."
"…A spar?"
"Yes. I was quite impressed by your recent duel with Go Yeong-tae. Especially the way you dodged his attacks with the absolute minimum movement, and how you shattered his reinforced face with a single punch."
"Ahem… well…"
Seong-il's face turned foolishly pleased at her praise, and he didn't know what to do with himself. Ah-hyun put on a cool expression and continued.
"However, I still can't be certain of your true skill."
"Huh…?"
"I'll acknowledge that you easily dodged Go Yeong-tae's attacks. But the critical hit you landed on him only happened because he let his guard down and provoked you first."
"Mmm…"
"In other words, whether you actually possess effective offensive power is still unknown. That's why, if you can spare the time, I'd like to confirm your strength through a spar."
"I see…"
"How about it? Can you do it?"
Well… when I was beating Go Yeong-tae, if that bastard hadn't kept taunting me with "hit me~ hit me~" the outcome might have been different. It's a convincing enough explanation.
Seong-il nodded at Ah-hyun's logical reasoning and answered her. "Of course. If that's the reason, I'll do it anytime. What day?"
"Monday afternoon. I can ask the professor and reserve the sparring room for about an hour then."
"…You can reserve the sparring room? I've never heard of that??"
Seong-il asked in surprise. Ah-hyun looked slightly troubled before answering.
"Um… the truth is, Choi Hyunwoo and I receive special privileges. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but…"
"Ah… I understand. If I were in their position, I'd probably give you that much special treatment too."
"Um… well… thank you for understanding. Then let's do the spar right away on Monday."
"Alright. Anything I need to prepare?"
"Nothing. Just come like you're attending class."
After finalizing the spar with her, Ah-hyun turned to Seung-jin and the others. "Once I grasp Seong-il's combat ability, I'd like us to gather the next day for mock training. What do you all think?"
Seung-jin nodded at her suggestion. "We absolutely should. Even though it's a low-risk rank 9 dungeon, our team is short one member, one of us is a complete beginner, and we've never practiced coordinating together. Mock training is essential. Letting our guard down could easily lead to an accident, so I think we must do it."
Both Seong-il and Yu-ju nodded in agreement with Seung-jin's words. Seeing their response, Ah-hyun gave a satisfied smile and thanked them.
"Thank you all for responding positively. Then we'll end here for today and meet at the sparring hall next Tuesday. Any objections?"
"Nope."
The party members all nodded, agreeing with Ah-hyun's opinion. Once the discussion ended, they spent a long time going over detailed self-introductions and explaining their abilities before finally parting ways.
Everyone seems like good people…
On his way home after the meeting, Seong-il reflected on everything that had happened that day. Thinking about the party members he'd met, he thought, Senior Seung-jin is cheerful and easygoing… and maybe because he's dating Yu-ju, her personality is similar, so the overall atmosphere is pretty relaxed. I don't feel any pressure.
And Ah-hyun keeps the mood from getting too light, so it doesn't go overboard. It's just right…
It was a team he'd joined by chance, but the members' personalities and abilities were all flawless. Seong-il felt he'd grabbed a huge stroke of luck.
Since I've entered such a good team, I should do this properly. Still, once the first dungeon experience is over, I need to prepare to return to the game world. The cooldown on the dual cultivation penalty is approaching… I'll clear the remaining quests in "The Magic City and the Famous Detective" to see the ending and get rid of that penalty while I'm at it…!
After spending a peaceful weekend and devoting himself to training, Seong-il finished Monday's classes and put on his gauntlets with a solemn resolve.
In a little while, if I give it my all in the spar with Ah-hyun, how big will the gap between us be?
Seong-il was curious about the level of effort he'd put in over the past six months. His opponent today was Lee Ah-hyun, one of the top talents in the department, so expecting victory seemed far-fetched. Still, he was genuinely curious how much of a difference there would be if she fought him using only pure physical enhancement without her other specialty, space distortion.
The Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Divine Art is at 4-star… At 4-star, I'm finally at a level where I can call myself a martial artist. It's just a shame that, unlike the mental technique, my martial arts level hasn't kept up. Of course, lately I've been focusing more on martial arts training—especially the Mountain Shattering Divine Fist—so I think I can close that gap sufficiently…
The problem is my severe lack of real combat and sparring experience. The only sparring I've done was just roughhousing with my disciple Irina. Unlike mental techniques, fist techniques require a lot of practical experience. This spar with Ah-hyun will definitely be a huge help to me.
With high expectations for the upcoming spar with Ah-hyun, he quietly took out one recovery potion and one stamina potion from his inventory as insurance against any accidents, then headed to the sparring room.
When Seong-il arrived at the sparring room, Ah-hyun was already waiting for him. She spoke first.
"You're here?"
"Yeah. Um… can you wait a bit? I'll just change into my training uniform and be right back."
"Take your time."
Seong-il headed to the changing room, took deep breaths to calm his racing heart while changing, then finished preparing and returned to the sparring room.
Don't get nervous…! Don't get nervous…!
Once he arrived, Seong-il stopped in the middle of the sparring area and said to her, "Um. Before we start the spar, I have a suggestion. Will you hear me out?"
"What kind of suggestion?"
Ah-hyun looked at him with cold eyes. Seong-il began explaining the sparring rules he'd thought of.
"The reason we're sparring today isn't to determine superiority between us. Right?"
"Of course. We're doing this purely to accurately gauge each other's strength. So?"
"So… how about we do the first spar without using space distortion?"
"Hmm…?"
"We both have physical enhancement abilities anyway. And you said you wanted to see my real skill based on Go Yeong-tae as the standard."
"..."
"So for the first round, let's fight using only our physical combat abilities. Then for the second round, we can use all our combat abilities. That way, you can judge my strength more objectively… don't you think?"
Of course… Induction is a non-combat ability, so I'll be using all my powers…
Unaware of the sly trick Seong-il was plotting, Ah-hyun nodded and agreed. "That makes sense. Doing it both ways will let me evaluate your true ability more accurately. Let's do as you say."
"Thank you!!"
"Then the first round will be physical abilities only. Let's get ready."
"Okay."
They stood facing each other in the center of the sparring room. Since there was no separate referee, Ah-hyun set an alarm on her phone and told Seong-il, "Alright. When I press the button, we each take our stances. After twenty seconds the alarm will sound, and that's when we begin attacking. Any objections?"
"None."
"Good."
Both of them set their stances after turning on the alarm. Seong-il felt each second stretch like a minute as he focused on the countdown and circulated his inner energy.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1...
The time has come.
The moment the phone alert rang out, Ah-hyun launched herself at Seong-il with full power. She seemed to have learned quite a few martial arts; she mixed unique stances as she swung her fist at him. Her psychically enhanced punch flew toward his cheekbone at monstrous speed.
It was an attack so fast it was almost invisible, but Seong-il had already activated his Induction beforehand. He read her attack route with ridiculous ease and began dodging. He lowered his head to lightly avoid the left fist aimed at his face, then sensed the merciless uppercut coming up toward his lowered head through Induction. Using footwork, he retreated lightly as if stepping backward to evade it.
Ah-hyun closed the distance with quick steps and continued launching concise yet sharp consecutive strikes. She attacked one-sidedly like that for a while, but Seong-il dodged her blows as effortlessly as a rat, barely even looking at them.
"Kh…!"
Shocked by his evasion, Ah-hyun drew out even more of her power and swung her fists more fiercely. Watching her, Seong-il thought,
As expected… when I maximize my inner energy with Induction and use the footwork of the Mountain Shattering Divine Fist, I have more than enough competitiveness against first- and second-year students—as long as I'm not facing pro hunter-level physical enhancers!!
Having finished evaluating his own level, Seong-il gave a cold smile. He pretended to keep dodging, then used a reverse motion, stepping with the footwork of the Mountain Shattering Divine Fist as he began charging straight at Ah-hyun.