This World Has Me
The plaza in front of the main building.
The cadets already selected as the top ten of each year stood in formation, while roughly ten faculty members waited on the platform above them.
Screech!
The bus came to a halt. With a hiss of exhaust the doors swung open.
Word that the elite exchange students from the Mongolian Academy were arriving had already spread far and wide, so a sizable crowd of onlookers had gathered around the edges of the plaza.
“……Huh.”
A few of them sucked in a sharp breath.
The Mongolian Academy cadets stepping off the bus one after another looked anything but ordinary.
What kind of height is that……
They were giants who looked as if they easily cleared an average of 190 centimeters.
Damn, look at those faces. Are they really students?
Looks more like they brought a whole mercenary company.
They had supposedly picked only the top ten of each year, and their presence alone proved it. Was this the kind of aura the fierce generals under Genghis Khan once carried when they trampled the Eurasian continent?
They did not even wear uniforms. Every one of them was clad only in armor reinforced with the hides and bones of magical beasts.
“Hahahaha!”
That was when the massive man leading the Mongolian cadets let out a booming laugh. The sheer force of it made Korean cadets and faculty alike flinch.
That’s him……
Mongolia’s S-rank hunter!
Professor Batar!
Batar sneered openly.
“Your uniforms are pressed so neatly. Shame, though—those delicate little flowers don’t even reek of blood, let alone sweat. Toss them into a dungeon and they’d just be snacks for the beasts, wouldn’t they? Hahahaha!”
The interpreter broke out in a cold sweat. Translating that word for word would start a war.
“What is he saying?”
Head Professor Jin Myeong-hoon pressed the interpreter. Left with no choice, the man translated, and Jin Myeong-hoon bit down hard on his lip.
They’re saying that right to our faces?
Anger surged, yet he could not fire back recklessly. The other man was S-rank; he himself was only A-rank. Pushing his pride too far might leave him looking even more pathetic.
“You’ve come a long way, Professor Batar. Thank you for the trouble.”
Still, the head professor could not simply stand there with his mouth shut. The students were watching. Jin Myeong-hoon forced his expression stiff and stepped forward.
“Our academy teaches restraint and dignity before we ever let blood stain our hands. Which side is stronger need not be decided with words—we’ll find out soon enough.”
“True. No need for words.”
The corner of Batar’s mouth curled upward. The moment he took a single step—
Kuuuuung……!
A savage aura exploded from Batar’s body.
“Kh—!”
Jin Myeong-hoon’s breath caught in his throat. It felt as if a massive boulder had slammed down on his shoulders.
This crazy bastard. He’s releasing killing intent at a welcome ceremony?
Of course. The man had done it on purpose. He had waited for Jin Myeong-hoon to speak so he could use it as an excuse to seize the initiative.
Batar’s unspoken message was clear.
—If the professors are this weak, how could the cadets possibly be strong? You should be grateful we’re even willing to exchange with you.
“You’re taking the joke too far, Professor Batar.”
A smooth yet overwhelming force flowed out from behind and swept Batar’s aura away. Dean Seo Il-hyun had stepped onto the platform.
“This is an academy, not a battlefield. You came here to educate cadets. If you’re truly that confident, there’s no need to intimidate anyone with a professor’s aura, is there?”
“Hahaha! My apologies, Dean.”
Batar withdrew his energy and offered a shameless bow.
“Just a light greeting. It’s good to see you still in such fine form.”
“You almost sound disappointed that I am.”
“A misunderstanding. On the steppes they say an old predator is the most dangerous of all. Knowing you’re still strong lets me play around without worry.”
The sheer scale of the psychological warfare left Jin Myeong-hoon rubbing his chest in relief. At the same time he felt genuine gratitude.
Thank god I’m not the one in charge!
The dean had told him earlier. The professor assigned this time was the contract professor, Kang Hyun. Under normal circumstances Jin Myeong-hoon would have objected, but right now he wanted to applaud the dean’s brilliant personnel choice.
A lunatic like that needs another lunatic to handle him!
And right on cue, Kang Hyun was walking toward them from a distance, a bottle of whiskey in one hand as always.
Ahhh!
Jin Myeong-hoon felt a lump rise in his throat. To think the day would come when that bottle he had always found so irritating would look so welcome!
“So, who is the Korean professor overseeing this joint training?”
Batar swept his gaze across the faculty on the platform.
“He’s coming right now.”
Seo Il-hyun smiled faintly and pointed at Kang Hyun.
“That is our side’s assigned professor.”
Following the fingertip, Batar’s brow furrowed. Messy hair, two shirt buttons undone, reeking of alcohol as he walked—this man was really the professor in charge?
“……Haha, Dean?”
“What is it?”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“As you well know, I am not a particularly amusing man. I don’t make a habit of jokes.”
Batar’s face hardened.
“So Korea is fine putting a drunkard like that in charge of an exchange program?”
“Didn’t you just say their clothes were pressed too neatly? That’s why I brought him. The man has the temperament of a wild stallion from the steppes—he’ll get along just fine with someone like you who judges by presence before words.”
The interpreters’ mouths worked overtime between the two heavyweights. Batar was thoroughly displeased. Feeling openly dismissed, real killing intent began to leak from his body.
Kuuuuung……!
The aura did not scatter. It compressed into a sharp spear and shot straight at Kang Hyun alone—killing intent on a completely different level from what had crushed Jin Myeong-hoon.
Yet—
“……?”
A strange light flickered in Batar’s eyes.
Kang Hyun walked forward as if he had not even noticed, raised the bottle to his lips, and took a leisurely swallow.
What?
He was astonished.
He’s just letting my aura slide off him like it’s nothing?
Did this man actually have something?
The irritation in Batar’s eyes shifted into interest. Batar liked the strong. When a strong man behaved eccentrically there was a reason; when a weak man did the same it was just arrogant nonsense. That was his philosophy.
So which one was this man—the former or the latter?
Kang Hyun, for his part, could not have cared less about Batar’s curiosity.
Let’s see……
With a languid expression he scanned the Mongolian cadets.
Any usable talent among them?
Their builds were certainly impressive. A few even possessed frames comparable to Seo Hae-in or Ma Chul-woong. But that was all. No one worth taking as a disciple stood out.
Tch.
Just as he was about to click his tongue in disappointment—
Hm?
A familiar scent brushed his nose. Faint, yet nothing could deceive Kang Hyun’s sense of smell.
A musty, unpleasant stench.
Similar to the smell of blood, yet slightly different—an odor like rotting mud mixed with murky blood. Ordinary people would never notice it. Only Kang Hyun, who could push his five senses to the extreme, could detect it.
Narrowing his eyes, he traced the source.
That one.
A young man with copper-toned skin.
Where have I smelled this before?
Kang Hyun rifled rapidly through his memories. His pupils sank for an instant.
Ah!
He remembered.
One of Asura’s subordinate groups!
It was the stench of the Nachal Sect—the vanguard of Asura that commanded corpses and wielded every kind of foul sorcery and heretical art.
For the briefest moment a surge of aura leaked from Kang Hyun’s body. Seo Il-hyun and Batar both flinched.
As expected.
Kang Hyun murmured inwardly.
He’s coming.
Asura was clearly preparing his descent. Somewhere in this world he had already planted his agents and was laying the groundwork.
“Hey.”
Batar’s voice cut through Kang Hyun’s thoughts.
“I’m Batar. Professor in charge of the Mongolian side.”
“Kang Hyun.”
Kang Hyun answered offhandedly. Batar’s lips curved into a peculiar smile.
“I’m looking forward to this exchange. At least you look better than those empty husks over there. Let’s get along for the next two weeks.”
“Yeah. Let’s get along.”
Kang Hyun gave a careless nod. His attention was already fixed on the cadet who reeked of that scent.
After the welcome ceremony ended—
“Chick.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Just say the word.”
“Among the Mongolian cadets who just arrived, there’s a copper-skinned guy.”
“Pretty much all of them were copper-skinned, weren’t they?”
“The one at the very back with slightly red eyes.”
“Ah!”
Lee Se-ah nodded immediately, and her reaction actually surprised Kang Hyun.
“You know him?”
“That would be Cadet Kasahr. Of course I know him! He’s famous.”
“Famous?”
“Yes, worldwide. Red-eyed Kasahr! He was once talked about as the youngest S-rank hunter prospect. They even called him the Son of Mongolia.”
“Once?”
“Yes, once. Lately his grades have been strangely poor, from what I heard. He barely made the exchange student list this time.”
“Any reason?”
“That I don’t know.”
Hmm.
Kang Hyun closed his eyes.
Hasn’t been long since he was exposed to the Nachal Sect, has it?
He recalled the scent once more. Among the countless demonic practitioners of the Nachal Sect, the one that gave off that distinctive rotting stench—
Simdeung-gwi. The Heart Lantern Ghost.
A type of jiangshi that wielded sorcery. Kasahr had probably harbored an abnormally intense desire to grow stronger.
That’s why he fell for the sorcery.
Anyone exposed to the demonic energy of a Heart Lantern Ghost fell under its control unconsciously once night fell. Training hard by day and becoming its puppet by night—no wonder he was exhausted. Of course his grades had dropped.
“But why are you asking about Kasahr?”
“Just because.”
The corner of Kang Hyun’s mouth lifted slightly. Keep a close eye on the boy and the Heart Lantern Ghost’s location would reveal itself soon enough.
Asura, I don’t know what schemes you’re cooking up to prepare your descent, but this world has me in it.
Not the Murim he had been dragged into against his will—the world where Kang Hyun’s real life existed. He had no intention of sitting back and watching those schemes unfold.
Evening, under a crimson sunset.
“Hooo.”
Behind the main building, in an open lot, Cha Yu-sik sheathed his sword and regulated his breathing. Whenever he practiced the Unfettered Sky Sword Art, a refreshing clarity filled his chest.
The Emperor’s Sword Form is incredible, but this sword art is just as remarkable.
The more he trained, the wider his vision seemed to become. Once he mastered it, he would drive opponents into isolation beneath the open sky through endless, unbroken combinations.
Keep swinging.
Cha Yu-sik settled into stance again. Off to one side, Kwak Do-jin and Yoon Hyun-jong were locked in a vicious spar. Seo Hae-in was reviewing the conversation she had shared with Ma Chul-woong that morning, while Han Tae-ho drenched himself in sweat striking a training dummy.
To the five of them, the Mongolians were already beneath notice. They belonged to the group Kang Hyun had created. To keep their positions as team leaders, they had to grow stronger first. That was all that occupied their minds.
“S-seniors!”
A frantic voice cut through the darkness. Cha Yu-sik halted his sword and turned. A junior from the 20th batch came running.
“What is it?”
“Haa, haa! You need to come see this! There’s a fight with the Mongolian kids over at the training grounds of Building Nine!”
“What?”
The other four mid-training froze as well.
“A fight?”
“Yes! Their strength is no joke. Several people are already hurt.”
Cha Yu-sik’s brow furrowed. Being interrupted in the middle of training left a sour taste in his mouth. Even so—
I can’t just ignore it.
Cha Yu-sik was the leader of Irang. He had decided to become the guardian wolf of Cheonrang. And a wolf, by nature, must protect its territory and its pack. Turning a blind eye while uninvited guests rampaged through someone else’s home, using training as an excuse, would make him a dog with its tail between its legs—not a wolf.
The other four cadets seemed to share the thought; they were already walking toward him. Cha Yu-sik let out a quiet sigh and looked at the junior.
“Lead the way.”