Hunter Trainee: Practical Course (3)
Was it because of the height difference?
The trainees who spotted the goblins first dropped low. Kang Wooseok tried to charge in on his own, but Ko Sung-yoon and Kim Yerin grabbed him and held him back.
Choi Yeon had told them to find the goblins — not to find them and start hunting.
They turned their eyes toward Choi Yeon. He had been whispering with Park Junho, and now he called for Yu Ha-rin.
"…Trainee Yu Ha-rin."
"Yes?"
"Want to try killing that goblin?"
"Yes."
The moment the words left his mouth, Yu Ha-rin nocked an arrow and drew the string. The smooth, unbroken sequence of movements told anyone watching that she had been drawing a bowstring for a very long time.
All that remained was to let go —
"……?"
She couldn't take her fingers off the string. It was as if glue had been smeared across it; the string refused to leave her grip.
Creeeak, creeeak…
Yu Ha-rin shifted her gaze from the goblin to her right hand. She couldn't understand why she couldn't release the string.
Until now, every time she had drawn and loosed in pursuit of becoming a hunter, it had worked just fine…
So why?
A feeling settled over her that she simply must not let go. It was a sensation she had never felt before.
"…Hey, why aren't you shooting?"
A cold bead of sweat slid down the back of her neck just as Kang Wooseok cut in. He had held his tongue longer than usual.
"If you don't think you can hit it, just step back."
"……."
"If this is you looking down on m—"
"You can lower the bow, Trainee Yu Ha-rin."
Sss…
At the voice that cleanly severed the useless chatter, Yu Ha-rin slowly lowered her bow.
She was flustered and confused. In all the time since she had first learned to properly draw a bowstring, nothing like this had ever happened.
"Trainee Yu Ha-rin."
"…Yes."
"Just now — you couldn't release the string, could you?"
"No, I couldn't… I honestly don't understand why—"
"It's all right. It happens sometimes."
"It happens sometimes? This does…?"
"Yes."
"……?"
Yu Ha-rin's head tilted. So did the other trainees'.
There were cases where you couldn't shoot an arrow at a goblin? So it wasn't that she had frozen out of fear of missing?
"Let's take a look at the goblins."
Choi Yeon pointed them out.
The ones that still hadn't noticed their group stood about a hundred and twenty centimeters tall, each carrying an axe or club nearly as big as its own body.
Carrying things like that, of course they would leave tracks on the ground.
"Do you understand?"
Understand what, exactly?
The question rose in every trainee's mind, but none of them asked it aloud. No one wanted to admit they didn't know.
Then —
"It's cognitive dissonance."
The assassin answered, then belatedly raised his speech level. Judging by the way he carefully covered his mouth afterward, the words had slipped out before he could stop them.
Choi Yeon's mouth curved until it looked ready to split.
"Cognitive dissonance, huh… Yes. Would you keep going?"
"…Me?"
"Yes. You."
"……."
The assassin's lips twisted.
I slip up once out of sheer frustration and this is how you mess with me? Maybe I should just drop the whole act.
"It's a phenomenon that shows up when you face humanoid monsters like goblins."
He grumbled inwardly, but he answered anyway. He had already said he would put up with this, and there was nothing to gain from blowing things wide open.
If there had been, Jeokryeohui would never have hired him for the hit in the first place.
"Unconsciously, the brain maps them onto the humans it's familiar with."
"What? Who the hell is dumb enough to mistake that for a person? The skin color's different for starters."
"I only heard about it myself."
"So it's just nonsense, then?"
"No, I don't think it's completely made up. I've seen a paper with a similar premise to what Junho just said. Just the title, though."
"Ugh. So there really are idiots like that?"
"……."
Yu Ha-rin's face flushed red. Exactly as they said, she felt like she had been reduced to a complete fool, and the shame burned. She couldn't even accept it herself, so she couldn't push back — she only bit down on her lower lip.
"You don't need to be embarrassed."
"……."
"Your brain simply used what it was familiar with as a reference point and got confused for a moment."
"For a moment?"
"Yes. It's because you're not used to monsters yet. Once you adapt, you'll be fine."
"Ah…"
Yu Ha-rin let out a breath of relief. For a second she had been afraid she might have to give up on becoming a hunter for a reason she had never even imagined. It was a tremendous relief that all her hard work so far wasn't about to turn to foam.
"And there are more people like you than you'd think, Trainee Yu Ha-rin."
"There are?"
"Yes. That's exactly why our Jung-gu District Office runs this program through the Solbat Park Dungeon."
"Ah."
In that instant, the words Choi Yeon had spoken outside floated back into her mind.
You only really understand once you've lived it — was that what he had said?
He was right. If she had only heard it outside, she probably would have dismissed it as impossible and moved on.
"All right, then. Next — Trainees Kim Yerin and Seo Yun-jae, try it at the same time."
"Yes."
At the answer, the two mages stepped forward.
Of the two, Seo Yun-jae finished casting first. A magic missile flew along the line of his pointing left hand and punched straight through a goblin's skull with a wet thud.
Keruk!
The surviving goblin spun around, spotted them, and bolted. It didn't get far — Kim Yerin's magic missile punched a neat little hole through its torso.
"…Your casting is ridiculously fast."
"That's because I skipped the physical training."
"Is that how it works?"
"You both did well. However."
"Ugh. Can't you just leave it at the compliment? Please?"
Kim Yerin clasped her hands together and put on a cutesy act. It didn't work.
"There was something lacking, so no, I can't. What was it?"
"…Tch. My casting was slower than his."
"And?"
"And? Isn't that the mistake? Or is it not?"
"Not at all. Magic casting speed differs from person to person. Simply being slower isn't a mistake."
"Huh? Then what?"
Choi Yeon didn't answer Kim Yerin's follow-up. He simply glanced around at the trainees and waited for the correct answer to come back to him.
His gaze included the assassin as well.
Not answering this time, you bastard.
From across the way, opposite the glaring assassin, the answer flew in.
"Is it… because the goblin almost got away?"
It was Ko Sung-yoon. When Choi Yeon looked at him, he added,
"A goblin that escapes… comes back with a whole pack of its friends."
"Yes. Exactly. If that goblin had gotten away, all of you would have been facing dozens of them."
"Th-then maybe you could have told us that beforehand?"
Kim Yerin swallowed hard. Even if they were only goblins, taking on dozens at once would have been brutal.
"All right. From here on, hunt while keeping an eye out for runners."
Following Choi Yeon's instructions, the trainees hunted the goblins with careful, deliberate care. They even made plans to cut off any escape.
The pace slowed accordingly, and Kang Wooseok huffed and puffed in open frustration — but that was all he did.
Choi Yeon's earlier warning still lingered in his head: A knife in the back is an easy way to go.
"Hasn't the smell been getting really bad for a while now?"
"Can you not bring that up? I'm already dying over here…"
"I wouldn't mention it if it weren't getting thicker by the minute."
"Yeah, fair."
The trainees wrinkled their noses and agreed with Ko Sung-yoon. The goblin stench that had only drifted past them now and then was riding the breeze itself. It wouldn't have been strange if their noses had gone numb already.
"…So I've been thinking."
"About what? Why it smells this bad? Because they've never washed in their entire lives, obviously."
"Not that — about why the smell got stronger."
"Hm?"
"Maybe it's because a bunch of goblins are gathered in one place?"
"Oh."
A murmur of agreement went up. The goblin stench had intensified because there were a lot of goblins.
It was a simple idea, but a plausible one. No one could really think of another explanation.
And sure enough, before long the trainees found a goblin campsite not far away.
One of them stood a full head taller than the rest and carried a staff as tall as itself.
"A goblin shaman. The only E-rank monster in this dungeon."
"So that's the dungeon boss."
"Yes. Just as Trainee Ko Sung-yoon said."
"Meaning if we take that one down, today's class is over?"
Not exactly…
Choi Yeon didn't correct him. He only smiled. Instead of clearing up Kang Wooseok's misunderstanding, he decided to use it.
The kid would throw himself into the hunt all the way until the dungeon boss went down.
"With your skills, you should be able to take it. However."
"Another 'however'?"
"There are too many of them. Taking them all on at once wouldn't be very wise."
"They're still just goblins. Hit them by surprise and we can butcher the lot."
"Hm. Does everyone else agree with Trainee Kang Wooseok?"
Choi Yeon looked around at the group.
Fortunately, the only trainee arrogant enough to overestimate his own ability was Kang Wooseok. Coming this far had already shown each of them where they fell short.
Not a single person agreed with him. Flustered, Kang Wooseok shot a desperate look at Park Junho. Normally the guy would have hemmed and hawed and taken his side — but today he only met his eyes.
What. You want something?
Even a curt reply seemed to hang in the air.
In the end Kang Wooseok let out a small, sulky complaint that didn't match his bulk at all. The sound of his tongue clicking was the only thing that hit the ground.
"In a situation like this, it's better to thin out the goblin numbers first."
"How?"
"Well. How do you want to do it?"
A question came back in answer to a question.
It might have thrown them off — but the trainees didn't flinch. Judging by everything they had seen so far, it clearly meant they were supposed to figure it out themselves.
"Um…"
Just then, the assassin raised his hand.
"I'd like to quit now."
"…Quit?"
"Yes. I can't take it anymore. I think the smell is making me nauseous, too."
The assassin pinched his nose shut.
While the trainees looked startled, Choi Yeon's smile vanished. "I can't take it" had nothing to do with the smell.
If you were going to flip on me this fast, you shouldn't have said you'd put up with it in the first place…
A sigh slipped out on its own.
Then again, it was exactly the kind of person who would set foot in the underworld in the first place.
"Junho…"
Ko Sung-yoon's brows drooped as if he wanted to tell him not to give up. In contrast, the other trainees' faces stayed blank — not out of coldness so much as simple indifference.
It was a district office program, after all. There was no penalty for quitting, and you could always apply again next time. Completing it gave you a little bonus when you sat for the hunter's license exam, but not enough to make a real difference.
"Understood. We'll do that."
So Choi Yeon accepted the withdrawal without fuss. He would have done the same if it had been the real Park Junho.
"There's a rest area nearby. Let's head over there so you can sit down."
"There's a rest area inside a dungeon?"
"Yes."
While the trainees murmured in admiration, Choi Yeon pictured the clearing that was a rest area in name only. Built deep in the woods to keep the goblins away, it amounted to little more than a fence and a few traps set around the perimeter.
Even so, it had the basics covered — and considering it was inside a dungeon, that made it a more than decent place to catch your breath.
"While I take him there and come back—"
"We'll figure out what to do!"
"Don't worry about us."
"All right. If anything dangerous happens, fire a signal flare right away."
"Will do."
"Hmph. What's supposed to be dangerous in a dungeon that only has goblins…"
"I don't know — maybe your back…?"
"……."
Kang Wooseok clamped his mouth shut.
You can't even fire back at a light jab, so why pick a fight over every little thing?
Choi Yeon gave a short laugh and left with the assassin. The man had been silent the whole way, but the moment they reached the rest area his mouth opened.
"…Honestly, I didn't expect Jeokryeohui to send an assassin. I figured they'd come themselves."
"Jeokryeohui? Why the hell are you bringing those bastards up all of a sudden?"
"You're joking, right? I touch Jeokryeohui and an assassin shows up on my doorstep. Of course it's them."
"……."
"I did poke Amhyanghoe as well, but…"
A sweet fragrance drifted past.
Of course, it was only a trick of memory. He was simply recalling the scent of the chrysanthemum wine he had drunk not long ago.
"They're not the kind of half-baked outfit that would send an assassin over something like that."
"Hah… You messed with Amhyanghoe too? Is building coffins a hobby of yours?"
"Hardly. I just did what needed doing."
"Ah. Is that so."
Choi Yeon gave a little shrug of his shoulders.
Like a reflection in a mirror, the assassin did the same. But the matching posture didn't last long.
Choi Yeon and the assassin both swung their right arms at each other — similar, yet different.
CLANG!
Choi Yeon's dagger caught the assassin's blade as it shot out from under the man's hand.
Both of them drew at the same time — but the assassin standing on the right landed first.
Which meant the assassin was faster than Choi Yeon.
"Hmmm…"