Hunter Trainee: Field Training (1)
After carefully reading the above and voluntarily signing this consent form.
High Sung-yoon signed in the blank space and then handed the dungeon steward the form.
“…Confirmed. If you wait here, the assigned hunter will come for you.”
With that said, the steward rolled up the oath document and left the waiting room.
As he glanced back at his seat, Ko Sung-yoon watched the people gathered in the management office.
The Hunter Trainee: Field Training program he was about to join together with others.
There were six people in the waiting room, including himself. Among them, three men and women were chatting together as if they knew each other.
“Hey. When does the program start?”
“They say it starts when the assigned hunter arrives.”
“What a pointless thing to say. They aren’t sending trainees into an F-rank dungeon, of course not.”
“R-right. Ah…! I wonder when he’ll come.”
“Good idea. Go find out.”
“O-okay, I’ll be right back!”
A lanky man left the waiting room. The moment he was gone, the muscular man sitting beside the woman spoke to her.
“He listens well, that’s a plus.”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm, what are you staring at from earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“…Are you even listening to me?”
“Yeah.”
“This is really…”
The man stared at the woman in bafflement, then suddenly turned his head. He had noticed Ko Sung-yoon’s squinty glance.
Before their eyes met, Ko Sung-yoon turned away. He saw a woman with wireless earphones in her ears and a man in a robe with the hood pulled up. Their outfits screamed that they wanted to block out any attention from others.
“……”
That must have been it. Ko Sung-yoon suddenly felt lonely.
A strong urge to run away and hide in his phone contacts popped up.
But he held it in for just a moment.
Because today’s instructor for the field training was none other than
“Hello.”
Choi Yeon.
Without a sound, the door to the waiting room opened and the familiar squinty-eyed man entered.
High Sung-yoon’s hand almost flew up in excitement. He had only just managed to hold back after realizing Choi Yeon had pretended not to notice the brief eye contact earlier.
“Nice to meet you. I’m C-class Dongdae Hunter, Choi Yeon.”
“Nice to meet you…!”
High Sung-yoon answered with full energy. Exactly, only among the trainees.
Without any intention, the trainees who had been annoying him were now scanning Choi Yeon.
C-class hunter, Choi Yeon…? Never heard of him before?
That thought was plain on their faces.
“…Um, did you all introduce yourselves to each other?”
“No. We didn’t.”
“I see. Well then, since we’re all colleagues for today’s program, let’s start with self-introductions.”
High Sung-yoon gave a small chuckle. He had already been nervously trying to greet his new colleagues.
Slap!
High Sung-yoon quickly raised his hand, but it wasn’t pointed at him. There was another person who had done the same.
“Yes. You, the muscular trainee over there.”
“Isn’t it usual to apologize before starting the program?”
“Apologize?”
“You’re late.”
“…Ah. So you had high expectations for today’s field training, huh?”
“What…?”
The man whose words were cut off was glared at by Choi Yeon, who pointed at the wall clock.
The clock hands pointing at 2 and 12 respectively showed that it was exactly 2 o’clock.
“It’s exactly on the hour, and you’re late. I can tell how much you were looking forward to today.”
“No, I-”
“It’s my fault for not understanding the mindset of a trainee. Sorry. I’ll try to arrive earlier from now on.”
“……”
The man’s mouth closed shut.
He had gotten the apology he wanted, but he felt even dirtier about it.
“Then, shall we start the introductions again?”
Slap!
High Sung-yoon quickly raised his hand once more, but it wasn’t pointed at him.
There was someone who raised their hand even faster.
“Yes, you from the back.”
“I’m Kim Yerin, a mage. And this is Kang Woo-seok, a tank.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Is it okay to ask a question?”
“Sure.”
“Does it really get stronger when you open your eyes?”
“Yes?”
“You know that saying about squinty eyes. If you open your eyes, you get super strong.”
“…Even if it’s a public secret, I’d appreciate it if you kept it that way.”
Choi Yeon placed his index finger to his lips.
Pu-hut, Kim Yerin let out a faint smile, as if she found the unexpected reaction funny. The trainee she had just ignored, Kang Woo-seok, pouted hard.
“Next is… you. The middle trainee.”
“Hello! I’m Ko Sung-yoon, 22 years old. I’m a warrior, but I don’t have a weapon. Please take care of me for the whole day!”
High Sung-yoon’s greeting was full of energy. It was so energetic that the trainees sitting nearby felt burdened.
Choi Yeon pointed at her next as the next speaker.
“We’ll continue, shall we, the trainee beside her?”
“I’m Yu Ha-rin. I’m an archer.”
“Nice to meet you. How about introducing the trainee in the back seat too?”
“…Seo Yun-jae. A mage.”
Yu Ha-rin and Seo Yun-jae gave their introductions flatly. It was even more contrasting after High Sung-yoon’s lively ones.
“The remaining trainee is-”
“Ah…!”
Choi Yeon’s words were cut off by a surprised voice. The lanky man looked at Choi Yeon with a flabbergasted expression.
“Y-you were already here?”
“……”
“I asked the steward when you would arrive….”
“…Ah, I see.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know the steward was outside and I was looking for him….”
“It’s fine. You happened to be in the middle of introductions, didn’t you? You can finish it.”
“I’m Park Jun-ho! I’m a close-range dealer, though it’s sloppy….”
“For reference, I, this muscular pig, and you are all members of Hunters GYM.”
After Park Jun-ho’s greeting, Kim Yerin jumped in. Her index finger kept pointing between herself, Kang Woo-seok, and Park Jun-ho.
Hunters was a GYM that Choi Yeon knew too, with high participation rates in the district office program.
They mainly invited adventurers who had reached a certain level, but in Choi Yeon’s eyes, the participants had more confidence than actual skill compared to active hunters.
To him, the GYM director was using the program to belittle the adventurers’ spirits.
They would gain valuable experience without needing to put in much effort themselves. What a wonderful program it was.
“…How is the director doing?”
“He’s fine. I’m just dealing with this muscular pig’s headache though.”
“Haha.”
Well, it probably wasn’t just that one person. Choi Yeon just chuckled briefly instead of revealing his true feelings.
“Good. Since all the introductions are done, shall we begin the actual field training?”
Choi Yeon led the trainees out of the management office to the dungeon right outside. As they walked, he threw a few simple questions.
They were review questions from the introductory process.
“There are five types of dungeons in total. Does anyone know what they are? Yes, Trainee Yu Ha-rin.”
“Monster dungeon, statue defense dungeon, nuclear altar dungeon, wave dungeon, and chalice dungeon.”
“Which dungeon will we be entering today?”
“Monster dungeon. It makes up 65% of Korean dungeons this year, and in Chungcheong-do alone, it’s 80%.”
“The conquest conditions and order?”
“Clear all monsters, including the boss. The order is to explore the terrain and monsters first, then hunt.”
“Accurate. Thanks to Trainee Yu Ha-rin, the teacher who made the printouts didn’t waste his time.”
Choi Yeon praised Yu Ha-rin.
Even someone who worked in the field would know that information, but her eager tone as she answered impressed him as a daily instructor.
“Even elementary school kids know that… Don’t you think?”
“Ah, yeah. Yeah.”
Far better than the suspiciously small voice of the student mocking him.
Thinking the same, even Kim Yerin from the same group fell a bit behind. She seemed to want to avoid being treated the same.
Whether she hadn’t heard or simply didn’t care, Yu Ha-rin only looked at Choi Yeon.
Then…
Choi Yeon decided to pretend he hadn’t heard either. After all, that kind of pretentious behavior wouldn’t last long.
“Our district office has been running the program through the Solbambong-dong dungeon for a long time. Does anyone know why?”
“Because it’s F-rank, it’s safe!”
“Because it’s close to the district office.”
“Efficiency issues. For wave dungeons, it takes a long time since you have to survive multiple rounds, I heard.”
Answers poured out.
Thanks to the eager trainees who wanted to become hunters, there was nothing to criticize.
It was clear that High Sung-yoon and Seo Yun-jae didn’t like the shape of Kang Woo-seok either.
Choi Yeon, who shared the same sentiment, nodded with a satisfied smile. They had also given the right answers.
“All the reasons I mentioned are correct. But there’s a separate reason that’s the biggest.”
“A separate one?”
“What is it?”
“That’s it.”
“What?”
“I’ll teach you once we enter. Now, it’s time for the final check before entering the dungeon.”
“……”
The trainees’ eyes suddenly dimmed. They looked as if they wanted to ask why they had been left curious like that.
Kang Woo-seok, who had been unimpressed the whole time, let out a dry laugh. Park Jun-ho beside him awkwardly chuckled.
Choi Yeon told the trainees to check their equipment. At the same time, he tapped the screen of his smartphone with his finger.
“Actually, I don’t think you would understand even if I explained now.”
“You don’t think you can understand?”
“Yes. You’ll really understand once you experience it yourself after entering.”
Why was that?
A question bloomed in the trainees’ minds. But no one lingered to think deeply.
After all, they would naturally figure it out once they entered the dungeon.
“Everyone seems ready. Shall we enter?”
With that, Choi Yeon led the trainees into the dungeon.
The scenery changed from a park surrounded by modern buildings to an open plain.
The scent of grass still lingered in their noses, but the artificially planted grass and trees had been replaced.
In their place, low wild grass and wildflowers waved freely in the breeze. Choi Yeon and the trainees stood in the center of it all.
“Wow….”
The trainees exclaimed in admiration.
They looked around excitedly as if they had come on a tour.
Only High Sung-yoon had his eyes wide open, scanning everything around him.
Slap!
Choi Yeon clapped once to gather everyone’s attention.
“Just now, Trainee High Sung-yoon saved all of you. Or maybe he was the only one who died alone.”
“What? Me?”
“In a dungeon, the first entry is the most dangerous. Monsters often ambush right away. But the one who warned us about that was only Trainee High Sung-yoon.”
That meant High Sung-yoon had either blocked it alone or died without being able to.
After hearing Choi Yeon’s words, the trainees reacted in two main ways.
The ones who realized the first entry was dangerous and then went to look around instead regretted it and felt ashamed. Those were the positive ones.
The ones who only got their confidence puffed up didn’t react that way.
“Hmph. It’s just a program, so it makes sense. If we had really entered the dungeon, we would have done it properly.”
“Maybe.”
Choi Yeon stared straight at Kang Woo-seok and agreed. He added the same words once more.
“Maybe.”
Even though it was an agreement, to the trainees, Choi Yeon’s words sounded different.
No, you would’ve done it just like now. And not just you, but all your colleagues would have fallen into danger too.
He thought.
Choi Yeon was one step ahead of Kang Woo-seok, who was about to deny it.
“Then let’s start again. I believe you won’t make the same mistake this time.”
“Yes…!”
Hearing the spirited reply, Choi Yeon took another step forward.
Step. Step. Step!
Because they were walking on the wild grass, their pace was slow.
But none of the trainees complained about the forward speed. Or rather, it was accurate to say they couldn’t even notice it.
They were slower than Choi Yeon while walking while keeping an eye on their surroundings, but not faster.
Even the completely ignored Kang Woo-seok was biting his lip as he followed behind. There was nothing he could do right now.