Just Close Your Eyes and Try

The wager was over.

Jo Youchan had taken it, 1–5. From the moment his growth had kicked in, Jeong Sangguk hadn't landed a single touch.

The two of them stepped out of the training room — Jo Youchan beaming like he'd won the lottery, Jeong Sangguk wearing the vacant look of a man who'd just watched his world tilt sideways.

The rest of Support Team 3 could only click their tongues in amazement.

"You saw that, Team Leader?"

"Of course I did."

"I'd only seen him coach martial arts the one time, so I wasn't sure if it was a fluke — but he actually made him grow again."

"It wasn't just once. Remember the backseat coaching on his first day? We just didn't recognize it for what it was, so it looked like a rookie acting out. For Hunter Jo Youchan, that was the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Ah, right. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even chased him out and told him to go home that day."

Back then, none of them had known. That the new hire had this kind of ability. That he would raise Jo Youchan all the way to SS-Rank.

No — honestly, they still didn't understand. How something ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like that was even possible.

"Think he'll pull it off this time too? With Hunter Jeong Sangguk, I mean."

"...This time might be a stretch."

"Yeah, I figured. Hyeonseok's probably a specialist in lightning arts."

Granted, extremes meet, and martial arts always overlap somewhere — but Jo Youchan and Jeong Sangguk were completely different cases.

"And it's Evasion, on top of that. The mechanism, the potential — it's nothing like Thunder Finger."

Evasion was a trash skill.

Jeong Sangguk was something of a celebrity inside the guild — the man slated to become the next Director of Hunter Management Headquarters. The blood-and-sweat story of how he'd tried every possible way to make Evasion work was equally famous.

"How many masters have already thrown themselves at this and failed? Honestly, Hyeonseok knowing more about martial arts than the high-floor experts? If anything, he'd know less."

Jeong Sangguk had sought out countless masters for guidance. Being the next Director-in-waiting, plenty of them had been willing to try. Get him up to the 40th floor, and you'd have the Director of Hunter Management Headquarters as a rock-solid backer.

But every last one of them had failed, and after that Jeong Sangguk had changed course. He'd decided to pick up ordinary skills as a generalist instead. That desperate scramble had gotten him as far as the 32nd floor — and that was the ceiling. His awakened skill was just too garbage.

"People told him to try using it for charging in, this and that — but at the end of the day, it's just a parlor trick."

In the end, Evasion was just Evasion.

There was another difference from Jo Youchan's case. Heavenly Exploding Strike had already been in the middle of evolving. But Evasion was a closed skill — not a single recorded case of evolution.

"I gave the okay to bring him in, but looking at this now... I think I just did something cruel for no reason."

"Why?"

"Look at his face. He watched Hunter Jo Youchan grow right there on the spot and completely checked out. That's false hope. That's torture."

"Ah..."

This was a man who had already given up and started preparing for retirement. And then they'd dangled hope right in front of his eyes.

"Well... he's old enough to manage his own feelings. Shut down the analysis equipment. Let's head up."

"Yes, sir."

And that evening, after everyone else had gone home, Jeong Sangguk was still standing in the training room, staring at nothing. That man's voice kept circling through his head.

Pie in the sky.

Charge in, and then what? Did that magically turn Evasion into an attack skill? Even if you closed the distance, you were still a weakling with no real awakened skill. That didn't change.

It was just some kid who'd been watching a game, getting high on his own idea and dumping it out of his mouth. Nothing more, nothing less.

But...

He'd seen it with his own eyes. That ridiculous bit of backseat coaching — and Jo Youchan had actually grown from it. That, more than anything, had felt like a game. A game-like growth, utterly unlike the years of standing still that was his reality.

"Hey, mister."

"...Hm? Youchan, you were still here?"

"What are you overthinking? Just close your eyes and try it. It's not like you've got anything to lose."

"..."

"Come on. Same tag game as before. First to five."

It was absurd, a mirage of a suggestion. But he was so desperately thirsty that even knowing it was a mirage, he couldn't look away. And now someone was shoving him forward from behind, too.

...Fine. I'll just close my eyes and try it.

Pushed this hard, he had no choice but to check. He already knew it was a mirage, so there was no expectation left to betray. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already knew it wasn't an oasis, so he couldn't get hurt.

A tidy little rationalization settled into place in Jeong Sangguk's unconscious. And he reached a desperate hand toward the mirage.

CRACKLE-CRACK-CRACK—!

Lightning afterimages stitched themselves wildly across the walls and empty air. A moment later, a streak of light came charging in.

Don't dodge...

It grazed past him. Use the burst of acceleration from Evasion to close in—

Huh?

Evasion activated. No — this was different from Evasion.

Whoosh—

His field of vision flipped. Right in front of him was Jo Youchan's back, mid-sprint. He touched it.

"Huh!? What was that?!"

Jo Youchan was stunned. So was Jeong Sangguk.

"Mister, what was that just now? You vanished without any in-between and popped up behind me— ah."

Unlike Jeong Sangguk, Jo Youchan was used to this kind of situation. So he caught on immediately.

"Congratulations."

"...What?"

"No matter how you look at it, that wasn't Evasion! You didn't have a skill like that before, right?"

"What are you... talking about right now."

Jo Youchan just grinned, saying nothing. Then he took off along the wall again.

CRACKLE-CRACK-CRACK—!

A short while later, the wager was over. 5–0. Jeong Sangguk's victory.

"But isn't that completely broken? If you can just teleport behind someone, you could stick a knife straight into an exposed neck."

"..."

"That's a straight upgrade over my Supreme Heavenly Movement."

Jeong Sangguk just stared, eyes wide, unable to answer.

"Oh, I said I'd tell you my secret, right?"

Jeong Sangguk's head snapped up at that.

"That guy from this afternoon — he's my Master."

"Master?"

"He changed my life."

Once, he would have snorted at a line like that. He couldn't anymore. A moment later, Jeong Sangguk's body vanished. Not a skill — he'd entered the Tower.

Jo Youchan let out a small laugh.

The support team folks are gonna get another fat bonus. All thanks to our Master.

He'd done everything Master had told him to. Time to clock out.

"Yes!"

It worked!

He'd just gotten home and was changing out of his work clothes. He entered the Tower immediately.

Entry!

Shunpo was a broken skill. Ridiculous burst speed. Near-perfect evasion frames.

And that wasn't even all. Shunpo had a true value all its own.

Land behind the target with Shunpo, and the next attack gets a critical hit — damage inflated to 400%.

He'd just needed an evasion-type skill for this timing. And he'd hit the jackpot instead. He wouldn't use the damage amp just yet, though.

The power on Heavenly Exploding Strike is still more than enough. It just burns a ton of mana.

Far off, an elf was drawing a bead with an arrow.

Last time it was scout-class elves. This time it's the archery class. That's why they're lining up shots from so far out.

Dodging all of that while closing the distance would've taken forever. But!

Fwoosh—

He stood still until the arrow was right on top of him. And just before it punched through his chest—

Whoosh—

The back of the elf's head — the one who'd fired the arrow — was right in front of my eyes.

The elf panicked the instant I vanished, whipping its head around.

"This is what I'm talking about."

It startled like it was having a seizure. Its hand flew toward a dagger, but my fist was faster.

KRA-KOOM—!

The elf's body shattered to pieces.

The thunderclap shook the floor, and the remaining elves reacted. Four of them clustered together in the distance. Then, as if they'd rehearsed it, they drew their bowstrings in unison.

Whoa, archery class really is different. If those came at me head-on, dodging would've been a nightmare.

But not anymore.

Whoosh—

My vision flipped. The fwoosh of incoming arrows cut off mid-sound. I swung my fist at all four elves.

KRA-KOOM—!

After that, it was almost too easy. I'd stroll along, and whenever an arrow came flying, Shunpo. Then I'd smash the head that appeared in front of me.

BOOM—!

Way too easy!

I returned to my room. At least now I wouldn't come home with a hole in me and get chewed out by Dad.

I was still basking in that warm glow when the door burst open. It was my little sister, Do Seohyeon, still in her school uniform.

"Gah!"

"What, you were in here? Why didn't you answer when I called?"

"Y-you called? I was busy — didn't even hear you."

"Too busy to answer...? What are you even saying."

"Haha! Why are you home this early? What about evening study hall?"

"No evening study today. Come out and eat."

Do Seohyeon shut the door and left. Phew. That was close. I'd almost gotten caught as stupidly as I had with Jo Youchan.

From now on, lock the door before I go in.

I headed to the living room for dinner.

"Where's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dad?"

"He said he's working overtime."

"He's been doing a lot of that lately."

I sat down and started eating.

"This is good."

"Of course it is. Who do you think made it?"

The company cafeteria was decent, but nothing beat Mom's home cooking.

"By the way, Hyeonseok."

"Yeah?"

"I heard from your father."

"Cough!"

What, what is this all of a sudden. An interrogation at the dinner table? When did I get found out?

"You got commended at the guild, didn't you?"

"Huh? Ohhh..."

Phew. So that's what this was.

"So our boy is settling in well?"

"Ohhh, is Do Hyeonseok making it big?"

"Tsk. Do Seohyeon. I told you not to call your brother by his full name."

Do Seohyeon just pouted for a second at Mom's scolding.

"Well, I just worked hard."

"That's my boy! I was so worried you wouldn't adjust, it being your first job and all."

The commendation had actually been for a different reason. But it was true that I'd adapted well. Felt weird saying it myself, but everyone seemed to like how diligent I was.

"You're not going around sticking your nose in other people's business, are you? Giving unsolicited advice or anything."

"O-of course not! I just helped with the hunters' mental care. Said some nice things from the sidelines."

There was no way I was telling them I'd gotten thoroughly chewed out for backseat coaching on day one.

"When's your first paycheck, oppa? Are you gonna give me allowance?"

"I'm only 'oppa' when you want something? Study hard and I'll give you some."

"Really? I always do well in school!"

"Not well — hard. You can do badly. Just work hard."

Do Seohyeon was smart enough that if she actually tried, she'd do well no matter what. She'd grown up a lot earlier than I had. Always brought home good grades.

I ended up landing on my feet too, but I never thought life would turn out like this.

Look at me, telling someone else to work hard. Yeah. Once the paycheck comes in, I should play the big brother and slip her some allowance.

"Oh, right. Today's payday."

"Huh? Who forgets their own payday?!"

My main income was going to be mana stone exchange money anyway.

They said it'd be delayed a bit because of bank maintenance.

Right on cue, my phone buzzed.

"Ah, it just came in."

"Oh, I wanna see, I wanna see!"

"Seohyeon! You don't peek at other people's money!"

I didn't push my sister's peeking head away. The internet said you should hide your income even from family, but honestly, I wasn't sure about that. Maybe it was because I'd only just become a working adult. It didn't really click.

It's not like looking at it wears the money out.

And since I let her be, Do Seohyeon latched on.

"Are you actually gonna give me allowance if I study hard?"

"Seohyeon. Your brother's a new hire. He doesn't have paycheck money to give you. He needs to save."

"But at Dad's guild, don't new hires get like three million? Oppa, how much do you make?"

"Do Seohyeon! I told you not to ask things like that!"

I opened the account. And a sound of amazement slipped out on its own.

"Oh!"

"Why 'oh'? Let me see too... oh. Ohhh!?"

Do Seohyeon's eyes went as wide as mine. Was this money for real?

"Mom! Oppa's paycheck is fifteen million won!"

"W-what? That can't be right."

"It is!"

The salary was 2.8 million won. But the performance bonus was a staggering 12 million.

It felt like overkill, but I understood soon enough. An SS-Rank achievement was the kind of industry-defining result that happened once every few decades.

"Wow... what on earth did you do at work, oppa?"

"Are you sure that's not a mistake? Even so, how does a new hire get fifteen million..."

"Ah, this is the performance bonu—"

Then my phone chimed again. There was more coming in? Do Seohyeon peeked over.

"Mom! Oppa just got paid again! It's twenty-eight million now!"

"What!?"

Another 13 million had been deposited. The proceeds from selling the mana stones from floors 1 through 10 that I'd left with Jo Youchan.

And that wasn't the end of it.

Ding!

This time Do Seohyeon just grabbed my wrist outright and stared at the phone. And I couldn't believe my own eyes.

"Hah!?"

"Why 'hah' this time? ......Hah!?"

I snatched the phone away in a hurry. But it was already too late.

"This is... a billion won, oppa?"

"...What on earth are you two talking about?"

I was just as speechless as they were.

Sender: Jo Youchan?

I read the message that came with it.