Fight Among the Trainees
The fight among prospective hunters in the Special Ability Training Facility isn't rare. Everyone is excited about becoming hunters, and many have lost family or close ones upon awakening, making them highly sensitive. There's also an underlying competitive spirit, so many try to establish hierarchy through fistfights even without electing a team leader. Oh Tae-kwon seemed to be that type of person. He probably read the news article about me and got fired up with competitive spirit, so he must have been delighted when I showed up.
"Get up, you bastard. Let's have a match."
Oh Tae-kwon barked at me again.
"Follow me out."
"Where to?"
"Hmm. The rooftop?"
Oh Tae-kwon pondered for a moment before speaking.
"No need to go all the way to the rooftop. Let's settle it right here."
"In this narrow space?"
"A short match doesn't require much space."
In the world of hunters, especially in this Special Ability Training Facility, avoiding a fight when challenged only makes things more troublesome later. You'll be seen as weak, and they'll ignore and bully you.
"What do you want to use? Fists? Weapons?"
"Let's go with fists."
Oh Tae-kwon nodded his head side to side as he slowly approached. He must have done some martial arts in his youth. What to do. I've mastered boxing, jiu-jitsu, and MMA since I was young.
Whoosh!
The moment Oh Tae-kwon threw a punch.
Smack!
My calf kick struck Oh Tae-kwon's shin.
"……!"
Oh Tae-kwon's face twisted in pain.
Grunt!
Enduring the pain, Oh Tae-kwon charged again.
Smack!
"Urgh!"
Smack!
"Hah!"
Smack!
"Grraaah!"
After taking three consecutive calf kicks, Oh Tae-kwon let out a pained growl. Limp, limp...
With an abnormal gait, Oh Tae-kwon approached and then slumped down.
"Go to the infirmary quickly."
As I said that and turned around.
"Who said it's overeeeee!"
Enveloped in ether, Oh Tae-kwon sprang up and swung his greatsword.
Has he gone mad... Pulling out a spirit sword too?
Clang!
I drew the Butcher of Madness to block the greatsword.
"Urgh!"
I blocked the greatsword with an axe, but it was Oh Tae-kwon who was pushed back. A 1-star spirit sword trying to block a 4-star spirit sword? Ridiculous.
Swoosh!
I swung the Butcher of Madness toward Oh Tae-kwon.
"Hah!"
Surprised, Oh Tae-kwon raised his greatsword to block my attack, but he couldn't avoid paying the price.
Crack!
The upper part of the greatsword broke off.
I didn't stop. I continued swinging the axe at Oh Tae-kwon, and each time, the greatsword broke piece by piece until only the hilt remained.
"What should I do for you?"
I asked Oh Tae-kwon while scratching my head with the axe.
"Shall I slice your neck, or split your head open?"
"Th-that's..."
"Tell me. What do you prefer?"
"Uh. Um."
Oh Tae-kwon couldn't answer, stammering. The eyes that had been burning with competitive spirit just moments ago were now trembling with fear.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"What?"
"I'm sorry!"
Oh Tae-kwon shouted with his eyes tightly shut.
"P-please spare me!"
"I don't want to."
"Huh...?"
"I have no intention of sparing someone who bared their teeth at me."
"A-are you really going to kill me...?"
"Yeah, I'm going to kill you."
The axe blade lightly grazed Oh Tae-kwon's neck.
Drip!
Bright red blood trickled down.
"Eeeek!"
Oh Tae-kwon's eyes rolled back white, and he collapsed with a thud.
"Tsk."
My tongue clicked involuntarily. To become a prospective hunter with such weak mental fortitude...
"Someone take him to the infirmary. He won't die if left alone, but he'll bleed quite a bit."
After saying that, I lay back down on the field bed.
"Um..."
"What do you want to say?"
"Will you be the team leader, Eun-seong-nim?"
A guy who looked like an assassin role asked me.
"No. I hate that kind of troublesome thing."
"Then who as team leader..."
"Figure it out yourselves. No, wait."
My gaze turned to Jeong Ho-bin.
"You do it, team leader."
"Me...?"
Jeong Ho-bin pointed at himself, eyes wide as if asking what that meant.
"Don't want to?"
"N-no. I'll do it."
As if my question felt like a threat, Jeong Ho-bin quickly accepted the team leader position.
"Now that you're the team leader, move quickly."
"Huh?"
"A team member is injured, are you just going to stand by? You need to take him to the infirmary right away."
"......"
Jeong Ho-bin glared at me with his eyes.
"The spirit sword is also destroyed, so there'll be quite a bit of ether loss. If you don't take him to the infirmary soon, he might need to be hospitalized in the intensive care unit..."
"Please help me."
"Ah, yes."
Jeong Ho-bin, with the help of the assassin guy, carried the unconscious Oh Tae-kwon on his back and headed to the infirmary.
I felt Ra Si-hyun staring at me intently, but I ignored it cleanly.
What are you going to do by staring, you little thing...
'Still sleepy though. Ha.'
Even though it was a scuffle with a greenhorn, it should have woken me up, but as soon as I lay down, drowsiness poured over me.
Shall I attend in your place?
* * *
30 minutes later.
Instructor Kim Sang-eung appeared with Oh Tae-kwon. Oh Tae-kwon's complexion was pale, probably from losing a lot of blood, but the neck wound from my axe was cleanly healed without a single scar. He probably received treatment from a hunter with healing abilities at the infirmary. I wondered if they needed to erase the scar too. A scar would have served as a reminder and lesson.
"Trainee Cha Eun-seong."
"Yes, Instructor."
"Well done."
"Huh?"
"If you had let it slide after he cowardly used ether and even swung a spirit sword, I would have been disappointed, but you handled it appropriately."
"Haha..."
"Why didn't you kill him."
It wasn't me who was surprised by Instructor Kim Sang-eung's question, but Oh Tae-kwon.
"In a real battle, I would have killed him."
"Have you killed people before."
"About seven or eight."
The team members' faces turned pale. Even though they were promising talents recognized for their outstanding potential in this batch, they were still rookies who hadn't experienced real combat even once. My words must have sounded quite terrifying to such team members. As they become active as hunters, they'll learn that for various reasons, killing people becomes as common as eating meals.
"Yet you spared him because."
"Whether I like him or not, he's a teammate, so I judged there was no need to kill him."
"An impeccable answer."
Instructor Kim Sang-eung nodded as if to say 'as expected'.
"Listen up, everyone. Trainee Eun-seong is right. Fistfights among teammates in the same team are acceptable. But if you kill each other, that can't be called a team. Remember that in a gate, the only ones you can trust are your teammates."
Half right, half wrong. In a gate, the only one you can trust is yourself. There are countless cases of teammates betraying each other. Of course, from the instructor's perspective, he can only give the standard answer, so I can't point that out.
"Trainee Oh Tae-kwon."
"Yes...?"
"Don't ambush your comrades again. If you do something like that one more time, you'll die by my hand first. Got it?"
"Y...yes!"
Oh Tae-kwon shouted in attention posture.
"Good, have you chosen a team leader?"
"Yes."
"Who's the team leader of Bravo? As expected..."
Instructor Kim Sang-eung's gaze lingered on me.
"I've decided to take it on."
Jeong Ho-bin slightly raised his hand.
"Why are you the team leader?"
"Huh?"
"Isn't it normal for Trainee Eun-seong to be the team leader?"
Instructor Kim Sang-eung questioned Jeong Ho-bin as if interrogating him.
"Trainee Eun-seong said he didn't want to do something like team leader, so I became the team leader. Haha..."
Jeong Ho-bin answered with an awkward laugh.
"Trainee Eun-seong."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you become the team leader. Not like someone who was aiming for a naval special forces officer."
"I thought that becoming a team leader would bring more responsibilities than benefits."
"You don't want to take responsibility?"
"Yes, something like that."
"Hmm."
A slight look of disappointment appeared on Instructor Kim Sang-eung's face.
"It's not too late now, do you have any thoughts on taking the team leader position? I think you could lead the team members well."
"I'm sorry, but I have no intention. And it wouldn't be polite to the person already elected as team leader."
Jeong Ho-bin was about to open his mouth slightly but closed it tightly when his eyes met mine.
"If that's your will, it can't be helped. Tsk. What a shame."
"Thank you for thinking well of me."
As I gave a slight bow, Instructor Kim Sang-eung sent a glare from under his pressed cap.
'You little bastard, is that how you're going to be?'
I deliberately looked away, pretending not to see Instructor Kim Sang-eung's glare. No matter what, I won't be the team leader. What am I supposed to do leading these chicks... I've had enough of cleaning up after others, I don't want to do it anymore. Unless there's a corresponding reward.
* * *
Even on the first day of enrollment, the training proceeded at a breathless pace. 50 minutes of training consisted of 30 minutes of theoretical education, and the remaining 20 minutes were simple practical exercises. It was precious education for newly awakened prospective hunters, but not for me. It was something I'd done countless times over the past 10 years, so there was nothing new, and I knew more practical tips than what the instructors were teaching. Perhaps because of that, drowsiness poured over me madly, making it hard to concentrate on the training. If it were physical training, it would be a bit better, but sitting at a desk listening to theoretical education, I couldn't help but nod off like a sick chicken.
"Trainee Eun-seong."
"......Yes?"
"Are you allowed to sleep during training? You're learning knowledge that concerns not only your life but also your comrades' lives?"
Instructor Kim Sang-eung glared at me with a scary look.
"I'm sorry..."
"If you're really sleepy, stand at the back and listen, or go out quickly and wash your face or something."
"Yes."
Thinking this was my chance, I headed to the bathroom. I needed to get some fresh air and wash my face with cold water to wake up...
"Phew."
After washing my face with cold water and looking at the mirror above the sink, a sigh escaped me. What am I doing here with these greenhorns... Soon, a large-scale transfer phenomenon will occur on Jebudo Island.
"I wish someone would attend the class for me..."
I muttered to myself unconsciously, and suddenly the Deck of Infinity appeared, and from within it, one card slipped out.