Chapter 9: Qualification (4)
Kang-jun packed his belongings in the dorm room. Hye-mi, watching him, couldn't stop sighing with regret. As a new Hero, he had to live in the dormitory for a month for collective training. In other words, whether she liked it or not, she would have to be apart from him for a month.
"I'll miss you, hyung-nim."
"What can I do? Just bear with it. ...Until then, don't slack off and train hard. I'll ask Tzusyu about it later, okay?"
"Understood."
"Promise."
"Promise."
Kang-jun pinky-swore with Hye-mi. Then he yanked her hand, pulling her into his arms for a deep kiss. Her eyes glistened with tears.
He slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped into the living room. Despite the early morning, everyone was already awake, waiting for him.
"Don't party too hard while I'm gone. Training isn't for me—it's for yourselves. Got it? Remember that."
Kang-jun shook hands and hugged each team member individually. Though it was only a brief parting, they felt a significant emptiness. That meant he had carved out a substantial place in each of their hearts.
The five of them left the dorm together, drawing in the cool morning air deep into their lungs.
A van waited in the alley with Kang So-mi. She bowed her head from a distance in greeting.
"Take care of yourselves until then."
"You too, hyung-nim. *sniff*"
"Why are you crying? I'll be back soon."
"Hehe, I'm not crying. Just got some dust in my eye."
Hye-mi forced a smile at Kang-jun with her red-rimmed eyes. He made eye contact with each team member one last time before turning away. Hye-mi hugged Tzusyu. The older sister buried her nose in her younger sister's hair and patted her back.
"Let's go."
Kang-jun gave Kang So-mi a nod and said it so briefly as he climbed into the van. Manager Kang waved to the remaining team members before getting in behind him. The van glided smoothly under the streetlights.
The pre-dawn roads were clear except for a few speed-loving vehicles. Kang-jun rolled down the window. The entire world was a soft blue. The cold wind hitting his face swept away his fatigue, sharpening his mind.
The radio continued with urgent reports. Kang-jun briefly glanced toward the driver's seat before returning his gaze. Despite the chaos every time, people kept living without dying. Probably because they'd grown accustomed to it. Even in such cases, repetitive learning demonstrated its full power without fail.
Kang-jun rested his chin on his hand, watching the passing scenery. Especially when crossing the bridge, the sunrise reflecting on the water stirred up nostalgia for Earth. It overlapped with the view he'd seen riding the subway over the Han River early in the morning. The poor writer who used to earn a meager $220 a month writing back then missed those days intensely.
With no traffic jams yet, the van soon arrived in Zone 45. By then, the morning sun had risen, illuminating the four seas.
"Mr. Kang-jun, good luck!"
"Yes. Please give my regards to the CEO."
"Yes!"
Kang-jun finished with a brief nod and strode toward the Hero Branch. After a simple ID check at the main gate, he entered the branch. This time, with the Hero ID issued by the branch, he could pass through the headquarters entrance as well.
'It's been a while since I've been here.'
During his third playthrough, he'd mostly operated out of Branch 15, so visits to Branch 45 were rare. Still, seeing the interior brought back old memories vividly. It was like the fun an adult feels when overturning a basket of childhood toys. Strangely, the visual stimuli caused fragmented memories to reassemble themselves in a miraculous way.
"Newbie! Don't loiter—go straight to the audiovisual room."
A man who looked like an assistant shouted at Kang-jun. He followed the arrows on the floor down to the first basement level. He opened the thick soundproof door in the corner and entered the audiovisual room. Like everywhere else, the moment he stepped inside, the stench of rat droppings hit him.
He'd thought it was first base, but it turned out to be second base. Someone had already taken the front seat, sitting there with an eagerness that bordered on desperation. Kang-jun recognized the person just from the back of their head. It was the second-place woman.
'Her name was Natasha, right?'
He thought he'd heard of her during his third playthrough, but nothing came to mind immediately. She didn't seem untalented, but whether she died without making a big impact or hadn't grown enough for him to notice was still unclear. By the end of this collective training, he'd probably get a rough answer.
Not being a model student, he naturally avoided the front row. But sitting all the way in the back from the start would seem too arrogant, so he chose a seat a few rows forward.
As he watched the gods' antics, the newbies started trickling in one by one. Whether it was a psychological battle or something else, none of them sat next to each other. Naturally, there were no greetings either. ...Well, among D-rank Heroes, the concept of rivals was stronger than comrades, so that made sense.
When the 8 a.m. bell rang, the supervisor strode into the audiovisual room. He was a muscular guy with a neat scar on his face. Climbing onto the stage, he swept his gaze over the ten successful students and spoke in a deep voice.
"Welcome to becoming Heroes, gentlemen."
The instructor from Branch 41 was a middle-aged man who scratched his slightly protruding belly while chain-smoking, but this one was a sharp, muscular soldier. Neither was particularly likable, but this Blade-Muscle had a face that suggested life would be troublesome in various ways. Mountains beyond mountains, they say...
"From now on, you will hold the status of D-rank Heroes, and you need the spirit and attitude to match. Remember that we Heroes exist to serve the citizens."
The speech that followed was unbearably boring. The long speech could be summarized in one line:
- Protect the citizens from monsters.
Being able to stretch that into such a long speech was a skill in itself. He'd make a great university professor. Naturally, since university classes were mostly sanity-free except for electives with lots of female students, Kang-jun was already nodding off. Despite his high stamina, this fatigue was due to mental backlash. It had been nearly 20 years since he left Earth, yet this habit remained unchanged.
Thump thump. Blade-Muscle slapped the board with his palm to wake the dozing student.
"Hero Lee Kang-jun."
"Ah, yes."
"Being the top student, my talk must be boring you."
"No, sir. I was excited and didn't sleep well last night."
Kang-jun lied smoothly without even wetting his lips. Still, the excuse seemed to work.
"Right, it's natural to be excited about Hero life. It's everyone's dream. I'll let it slide this time."
"Yes."
Blade-Muscle kept droning on. Kang-jun tried hard not to fall asleep. He might as well activate the Heavenly Demon Mind Method. It was a solution he'd barely found.
The topic had shifted slightly. It was about the collective living to be implemented for the next month. A plausible excuse was that they'd experience group living in preparation for possible wartime. Unfortunately, male and female living spaces would be separated.
After the preliminary training, the assistants led the ten newbies to the dorm rooms where they'd live for a month. They said male and female spaces were separated, but it turned out to be just a partition in a large room. That was a blessing in disguise. He'd rather avoid being stuck with dark-skinned men for a whole month if possible.
The ten newbies, including Kang-jun, each drew a numbered ball from a box. He got number 3. He went to the bunk bed matching his number. From now on, that number would be used as their name during the training period.
The newbies roughly tossed their duffel bags onto their beds and gathered again. Supervisor Blade-Muscle explained the rough schedule.
Mornings were for mental training, one hour for lunch, afternoons for physical training, and free time after showers and dinner.
And so began the eventful Hero collective training.
The first week passed without major incidents, everyone sizing each other up. There were minor power struggles, but they quickly subsided. Kang-jun had hoped for some excitement in the boring routine, but it fizzled out, leaving him disappointed.
However, the conflict couldn't last long and finally erupted in the second week.
Putting bloodthirsty young men in one place, a fight was inevitable. Especially with women exuding pheromones in front of men with no established hierarchy, it was bound to happen.
The first fight was between Number 1 and Number 2. Number 1 kept wandering around the women's area with his balls hanging loose, which really twisted Number 2's mood.
"Hey, you're acting crazy. Just sit still. Are you trying to drop your balls?"
"Whether my balls drop or not, what's it to you? You bastard."
Number 2's fist swung at Number 1's face, starting the fight. Since both were Heroes, their punches were quite brutal. Hearing the fight, the women came out to watch. So they fought even more fiercely. If they lost here, they'd be sold off in every way.
Kang-jun expected the assistants to jump in, but they ignored the fight. It seemed they wanted the newbies to sort out the hierarchy themselves. ...Well, Heroes had their own hierarchy, and for newbies with zero contribution points, fistfights were the only way to establish it.
Thanks to that, he could enjoy this interesting fight without worry.
The fight ended soon. Number 2's attacks were slightly more vicious than Number 1's. It was more about ability differences than fighting experience.
From then on, the second week's theme became establishing hierarchy. The women also fought occasionally. But no one bothered Kang-jun and Natasha. They implicitly acted as room leaders.
But Number 2 seemed slightly annoyed with Kang-jun. He didn't want to submit without seeing his actual fighting skills, as his pride wouldn't allow it.
Finally, an incident occurred on Thursday of the second week.
During afternoon physical training, Kang-jun was slacking off, exchanging light-hearted jokes with a female newbie. Since his abilities wouldn't benefit from such trivial training, he didn't want to sweat unnecessarily. However, Number 2, who had been waiting, thought this was the perfect opportunity to pick a fight.
"Why are you playing around, you bastard?"
Since the other guy hadn't started with polite words, Kang-jun responded in kind.
"Because only idiots like you do that."
"...Are you tough?"
"Tougher than you."
And so the fight setup was complete. Of course, Kang-jun was the type who showed no mercy once a fight started. He had to crush the opponent thoroughly.
Kang-jun leaned against the window frame and flicked his fingers. Number 2 swung his fist quickly. However, his fist was blocked by Kang-jun's hand. Then his foot struck the guy's chest precisely.
- !
The guy's body jolted upward. But since his fist was caught by Kang-jun, he couldn't fly back. One kick left him unconscious.
"Is that it? So boring."
Kang-jun let go of his hand and kicked his collapsed body again. He controlled his strength to avoid killing him. Murder was a serious crime, after all.
At that moment, Number 7 Natasha intervened.
"Hey, isn't that too much? We're classmates."
"Then you should have submitted on your own."
She shot Kang-jun a sharp glare. Of course, he didn't show any leniency because she was a woman. If she started a fight, he intended to turn her into a bloody mess.
But then the assistant came in, ending the situation ambiguously. Kang-jun smirked at Natasha.
"Lucky, huh? ...If you're itching, come at me later."
She turned away without responding. How dull.
The assistant carried Number 2, who was unconscious and vomiting blood, to the infirmary. Another assistant gave Kang-jun a light warning. They could fight over disagreements, but not too excessively.
"Yes, assistant."
Kang-jun met Natasha's glare as she stood far away, glaring at him.
Now, something boring was starting to become interesting.