A Crash Course in Reality
The man named Suho stepped forward confidently and began the class. "Do you know what the biggest problem is for fledgling hunters like yourselves?"
He's a bit cocky... I thought. Starting off with such an arrogant question.
"It is their lack of real combat experience and their low tolerance for pain."
But the moment the words left his mouth, I understood. I accepted it. Anyone who had survived real combat had every right to say that...
"Real combat experience is actually the easier of the two to address. You can make up for it to some extent through training, and you naturally improve once you've been through the ringer. But pain is a different story."
Pain... People who rarely experienced physical suffering in their daily lives tended to overreact to even the slightest sting. But in battle, pain carried an entirely different weight.
How often did an ordinary person have their bones shattered or their flesh sliced open? Even if they did, could they actually push through it? Most people, when hurt, would collapse and roll around on the ground screaming. Very few could grit their teeth and keep moving.
But you couldn't afford to do that in a fight. What if you got hit and injured? What if you were in agonizing pain? You still had to bite the bullet and bear it. And if you couldn't...? Well, you died. Simple as that.
"The various pains you will encounter in battle, big and small... If you cannot endure them, you put not only yourself in danger, but also the comrades standing beside you."
And that wasn't all.
"No matter how high your adrenaline is pumping in the heat of battle, pain rarely vanishes entirely."
That was the real kicker.
"Before you ever step foot into a real dungeon, you must train yourselves to endure pain. Of course, that doesn't mean I can just go around beating you up."
Then how on earth was he planning to do it? He lifted the massive shield leaning beside him and let it drop. It hit the floor with a heavy, resonant thud that spoke volumes about its weight.
"All you have to do is take one of those wooden weapons over there and attack me with moderate force. I will block it with everything I've got... and in the process, you will experience pain."
He explained that this was his personal skill—a technique that transferred and shared the impact of a blocked attack back to the attacker. I recalled hearing in a previous lecture that while it allowed tankers to retaliate, it wasn't considered a particularly top-tier skill. Who would have thought someone would use it for training like this?
"Now, who wants to go first?"
Suho taunted, tapping his shield with a hollow clang-clang. A few guys stepped forward, oozing bravado.
But their expressions... were a bit grating. Arrogant? They were looking at the instructor with clear distaste. Judging by the smug, self-righteous looks on their faces, they seemed to want to teach him a lesson. Did they even realize they were dealing with a B-class hunter? I watched the scene unfold with mild amusement.
The first guy to step up picked up a wooden sword, pretended to inspect it, and then swung it in a sudden, surprise attack.
But the hunter's reflexes were far superior. He effortlessly shifted his heavy shield to intercept the blow. A sharp crack echoed through the room as the strike was blocked.
"Aaargh!"
A painful shriek erupted from the boy who had swung the sword. Meanwhile, the hunter simply smirked.
"You must always be careful when swinging a weapon. A poor angle can easily ruin your wrist."
Tell me about it... Wrist flexibility and strength were absolutely crucial when wielding a weapon. If your strike landed cleanly, that was one thing, but if it was blocked, the entire kinetic shockwave would travel straight back into your joints.
"And if this were a real battle..."
The hunter raised his shield and slammed its edge into the floor right next to the groaning student.
"You would be dead right now."
You couldn't just collapse because it hurt.
"Even if you are in pain, you must endure it to assess the situation or retreat. Otherwise, you will be counterattacked instantly."
It was common sense, really, but these kids had lived sheltered lives. They had never experienced anything like this, which explained their pathetic reactions.
"For the record, I didn't even use my skill just now. He simply sprained his own wrist with a sloppy swing."
I glanced at the guy clutching his wrist. It wasn't a serious injury—a minor sprain at best. It would probably heal in a day, maybe even a few hours.
It just went to show how utterly fragile his pain tolerance was. On a real battlefield, you had to push through that level of discomfort. Even if it hurt, you had to keep swinging your sword and keep fighting. Showing weakness like that wouldn't just get you killed; it would drag your comrades down with you.
"Now, who's next? You're all going to have to try it eventually."
Perhaps because they had just witnessed someone cry out in pain, no one stepped forward. The guys who had been eager to show off a moment ago were now hesitating, exchanging nervous glances.
Ugh, what a bunch of pathetic losers. If we have to do it anyway...
I stood up and confidently walked to the front. Picking up a decent-looking wooden sword from the rack, I gave it a test grip.
"Oh ho..."
Suho stared at me intently. He must have realized I was a woman, because his gaze drifted toward my chest and hips. It shouldn't have been easy to tell under my loose training clothes, so he had surprisingly sharp instincts.
He had probably picked up on my subtle posture and movements through his combat experience. I guess I couldn't completely write him off just because he was a B-class...
Anyway, I gripped the hilt and gave it a few light swings. Yeah, this is just a cheap piece of wood carved into the shape of a sword. It's not a proper weapon at all. The balance is completely off...
Well, not like anyone else here would notice. Only someone who had actually mastered the blade would care about things like center of gravity.
"Here I come, then."
I gave him a fair warning, and the hunter immediately raised his shield. I swung the wooden sword toward it with moderate force.
Thwack! The wooden sword struck the shield, sending a sharp jolt of pain through my wrist. A moment later, I felt a surge of mana from the hunter's side, and a sudden shockwave rippled back into my body.
"Hmm..."
That was it? It's barely anything.
"Huh..."
The hunter looked utterly astonished.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Pardon?"
Wait, was that supposed to be the counterattack?
"My reflection skill should have triggered. Are you really alright...?"
"Oh, yes. It's perfectly manageable."
It really wasn't that strong. It felt about as painful as getting lightly tapped by a fist.
"This doesn't make sense..."
The hunter muttered, looking thoroughly bewildered.
"Should I go again?"
"Ah, no, that's quite alright."
I returned the wooden sword to its rack and walked back to my spot. When I looked around, I realized everyone was staring at me.
"Are you seriously okay?"
The person next to me actually whispered the question.
"Well, yeah. There was a bit of a heavy impact, I guess."
But to me, it was practically a tickle. I had survived having my entire body crushed to splinters before, after all...
Feeling uncomfortable under the weight of their gazes, I pulled my cap down lower.
Perhaps emboldened by my lack of reaction, a few others gathered their courage and stepped up. However...
"Argh!"
"Ow, that actually hurts...!"
"Ugh..."
The reactions of the others were dramatic, to say the least. In truth, my pain tolerance was just freakishly high. Their reactions were the normal ones.
Because of this, the students who finished their turns kept casting bizarre looks in my direction.
"Unni, did it really not hurt at all?"
"It's not that it didn't hurt. It was just bearable."
"Was it...?"
Soon, it was the women's turn, and they generally seemed to handle it much better than the men. Well, of course they did...
"Is it similar to period cramps...?"
Though it varied from person to person, women were relatively accustomed to dealing with regular, recurring pain. Of course, a battlefield wound was a different beast entirely, but the simulated pain the hunter inflicted on us was surprisingly similar to menstrual cramps.
"Now that you've experienced it, how does it feel? It hurts, doesn't it? But the pain I just showed you is relatively mild. The agony of a real injury sustained in combat is far more excruciating. Only when you can endure that pain and keep moving can you truly call yourself a hunter."
A fraction of the students looked visibly shaken by his words.
"Of course, you might think, 'I'll just make sure I don't get hurt.' And yes, if you only fight monsters weaker than yourselves, your chances of injury are low. But life is unpredictable. You never know when disaster will strike, so you must always be prepared."
With those parting words, the hunter shared a few anecdotes from his active career. Among them was a sobering story about a comrade who had died because they couldn't receive medical treatment in time.
"I don't know if there are any healers among you... but if there are, even though it is a dangerous and grueling path, I hope you will become hunters and heal others. Please, help ensure that no one else has to suffer the same fate as my comrade."
With that, the hunter bowed his head.
"Everyone, that is all for today's class."
Even after the hunter left, no one made a move to get up. His lecture had been raw, practical, and deeply unsettling. It had shaken them to their core.
Those who had entered the academy with a casual, lighthearted attitude now wore expressions of grim realization. They were finally grasping the true, lethal weight of the profession.
I suppose it was only natural. Hearing a firsthand account of a comrade's death from an active hunter was a harsh, sudden slap of reality.
In any case, today's class concluded on an incredibly somber note.
I had planned to head straight home afterward, but I ended up getting caught by a group of classmates. It seemed today's lesson had given them a lot to process.
"I just wanted to make some decent money and snag a handsome husband..."
The one whining about finding a man was Lee Jihye.
"Is there anyone here who didn't think the same?"
A few others chimed in, agreeing with her.
Thinking back to the staggering figures in my little sister's bank account, I could understand why these women had come here looking for a wealthy husband. Earning a monthly salary that most people couldn't even dream of making in a year? At the very least, they would never have to worry about money again.
Of course, not every hunter raked in that kind of cash. My sister was an A-class, which put her in the high-earning bracket. Those below her rank undoubtedly made a fraction of that.
"Ah, but I suppose Nix is different?"
And here she goes again, targeting me...
"She's driven by a noble calling, after all."
Still as sarcastic as ever. I told myself to bear it. Beating people up is bad. Just endure it.
"So, are you going to quit being a hunter then?"
I threw the question back at her, fully intending to return the favor.
"No way. I've spent too much money to back out now."
So she wasn't going to quit. Sigh...
I was forced to listen to their pathetic chatter for a while longer. But Jihye kept taking passive-aggressive jabs at me, testing my patience. I had intended to let it slide. I really had. I told myself that we wouldn't have to see each other's faces in a few weeks anyway, so I should just hold back...
But instead, I quietly followed Jihye as she left. Once she reached a dark, deserted alleyway...
"Do you live nearby?"
I spoke up intentionally.
"Nix...?"
"Hehe, why so surprised?"
This girl had spent every single day badmouthing and mocking me with that smug attitude of hers.
"Jihye, do you have a problem with me?"
"W-what are you trying to do...?"
A flicker of fear crossed her face.
I let out a soft chuckle and lightly patted her cheek.
"Hmm? Cat got your tongue, Jihye? Do you hate me that much?"
"M-are you crazy?!"
Crazy, huh...
"Yeah, pretty much."
Jihye's expression twisted in anger, but she was so paralyzed by the bloodlust I was radiating that she couldn't even move a muscle.
"So why did you have to go and provoke a crazy bitch, hmm?"
Her silence was getting boring, so... I slapped her across the face. A wonderfully crisp smack echoed through the alley.
"Y-you crazy bitch! Why did you—"
Before she could even finish her sentence, I slapped the other cheek.
"Are you awake now?"
"You fucking bitch!"
Oh? I guess getting hit broke her out of her terrified trance.
I effortlessly subdued Jihye as she lunged at me. Pinning down a girl with zero combat experience was child's play.
"I'm only going to say this once."
I grabbed her by the hair, pulling her close, and whispered softly into her ear.
"We don't have much time left at the academy, so let's just get through it quietly, okay? Don't make me show you my bad side."
Seeing the sheer terror in Jihye's eyes finally made me feel a bit better.
"You understand, right?"
Trembling like a leaf, she nodded frantically.
"Sigh, and here I thought I was being so nice. You really were too much, you know?"
"I-I'm s-sorr—"
I clamped my hand over her mouth.
"Who said you could apologize? Just keep your head down and live like a dead mouse from now on."
I gave her one final warning and let her go.
"Oh, and feel free to report me if you want. That is, if you can find any evidence."
I smirked and turned on my heel.
Ah, that felt amazing! I hadn't originally planned on taking it this far, but I guess I had accumulated more stress than I realized. Seriously, though, I had no idea why she hated me so much in the first place.