The Hunter's Instinct
National Team Selection Trial 1st Round: Third Match Concludes.
A large bulletin board had been set up in the booth, displaying the records of all participating archers.
Among them, the list of those who would advance to the second round of selection — limited to the top 16 — stood out, clearly separated.
1st: Kim In-ha – 1,071 points, X-10s: 55
2nd: Park Gye-ri – 1,066 points, X-10s: 51
......
1,071 out of a maximum of 1,080.
It was an overwhelming figure.
Moreover, the number of X-10s was the highest among all participants.
Someone who had been staring at the record sheet murmured quietly.
“In this weather... 1,071 points?”
“The highest score in the third match of any selection trial so far.”
“This isn’t amateur level at all...”
The surrounding area fell into an instant silence.
Only 16 people could advance to the national team’s second selection trial.
The fact that Kim In-ha had taken that precious spot.
And he was a professional Go player.
Not even a selected player, but someone from the general public.
No matter how much the world was about skill, on this stage filled with elite athletes,
Offering a spot to Kim In-ha, who was an outsider to them all, would wound their pride.
After a short silence, someone turned their head and asked,
“Right. Chul-hee, wasn’t that your lane right next to him? You saw it, right?”
“How was it, Archer Kim In-ha?”
Close teammates asked.
Shin Chul-hee remained silent for a moment, then opened his mouth in a low voice.
“...He went crazy.”
“What?”
“He didn’t even look at the wind. He just shot as if nothing had changed.”
The one who had asked frowned.
“So he was shooting randomly?”
“There’s no way. All of them hit X-10s.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
For a moment, no one could continue speaking.
An inexplicable sensation.
An accuracy that couldn’t be explained.
The record sheet didn’t lie.
But on the other side, there was clearly a realm that couldn’t be explained in numbers.
“...I just can’t judge him. That’s the answer.”
Shin Chul-hee left these words as if he had spilled them.
The aftertaste was long and deep.
Of course, there were also those who didn’t react at all even after hearing those words.
The top-tier athletes.
Former national team members.
Flagship players from corporate teams.
They were focused on fighting themselves, not their opponents.
The first selection trial was just a gate for them.
The real goal was the final selection.
No matter who the opponent was, they had to win against themselves in the end.
So they took deep breaths, calmed their minds through meditation, and opened their routine notebooks again to check on themselves.
But.
Even if they tried not to notice, their gazes were gathering somewhere without them realizing.
“...”
Outside the booth.
Under a gray sky where the rain was still pouring.
Kim In-ha sat alone on the bench, eating his lunch.
The rain had weakened a bit, but he slowly chewed his food while looking at the wet leaves, grass, and flags.
It was as if he was chewing the wind together with time and humidity, not the food.
It wasn’t a routine.
Immersion.
Concentration.
Devotion to victory.
Just that sight was enough to provide a strong stimulus for those aiming for national team spots.
***
Steam was faintly rising from the wet lunch bag.
He opened the lid, ate the rice and side dishes, then slowly closed it again.
The flagpole in front of the lane.
It was different from just a moment ago.
The wind’s direction had shifted slightly.
“The wind has tilted more than before.”
The sky was still overcast.
The rain had almost stopped, but the humidity had risen even higher.
“It’s better to shoot in bursts a bit later.”
He opened the lid again and took one spoonful of rice. He also took a light sip of the soup.
At the same time, he took in the wind with it.
His breath dug inward, and his senses revived.
While other archers went inside or to the lounge to rest,
I didn’t leave that spot.
I sat alone on the bench, focusing all my attention on reading the wind.
“...I can’t afford to be careless.”
Three matches left.
The point difference had already been widened.
The X-10 count was also ahead.
But I couldn’t let my guard down.
“It’s not like another sport. It’s Korean archery.”
Since compound archery became an official Olympic sport, the competition has become much fiercer.
A layer of athletes who wouldn’t be out of place in any selection.
Almost thirty of those skilled players were packed in.
Moreover, today’s weather was tricky.
A moment of carelessness could ruin everything.
I took a slow breath again.
Manifesting talent was my way of life and proving my success.
But this time, it seemed difficult to just enjoy it as usual.
The Taeguk mark.
It was never a light symbol.
The heart was light, but the responsibility was heavy.
Yet the senses within were even sharper.
I emptied the remaining lunch, closed the lid, and put it in the bag.
“Then shall I keep shooting?”
I slowly headed toward the lane.
Under the overcast sky.
The rain that had been in a lull was becoming rougher.
And I was waiting for that wind.
To become the overall 1st in the Compound National Team Selection Trial 1st Round.
Because it was the most reliable way to prove myself, starting late.
***
National Team Selection Trial 1st Round: Sixth Match.
The archers standing on the line were continuing their final shots toward the target.
“...”
Coach Nick Cutter was repeatedly checking the record sheet and the archer on the lane.
Bad weather.
The fiercest rain of the day.
Considering all these conditions, it was a figure that was hard to believe came out normally.
Kim In-ha, the participant who wrote this overwhelming record.
Coach Nick Cutter’s gaze fixed.
“...Kim In-ha’s record is amazing. He was more than 10 points ahead of second place even after the fifth match. The X-10 count is overwhelmingly high.”
Coach Jung’s words were relayed to Coach Nick Cutter through an interpreter.
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. In this kind of rain, such a performance.”
Coach Noh, who was next to him, added carefully.
That was how amazing the record was.
Coach Nick Cutter’s mouth, which hadn’t taken his eyes off the lane, slowly opened.
“That guy... Kim In-ha doesn’t calculate the wind. He feels it.”
Compound archery is now an era of shooting like machines.
Release pressure.
Stabilizer weight.
Scope lens.
All elements are quantified, and all postures are refined through repetition.
However, Kim In-ha was ignoring those standards head-on.
Machine-like elements only as much as needed.
The scope was not the target of will, but just a reference.
He didn’t delay the timing.
He didn’t stop when the wind twisted.
“...More like a hunt than a machine.”
Coach Nick Cutter’s gaze sank deeply.
Compound archery originally started from hunting arrows.
Moving target.
Alive wind.
A world where, in a constantly changing nature, one had to end everything with a single shot.
Even now, the upper class in Europe and America still use compound bows for hunting.
They read it intuitively and shoot like instinct.
That was actually the origin of the primitive bow from long ago, and the original form of competitive compound that they had forgotten.
Just like Kim In-ha’s shot, which was more impressive than the score written on the record sheet.
Coach Jung quietly parted his lips.
“It seems like the coach’s philosophy is coming to mind. It’s not waiting for the wind, but overcoming it.”
Coach Nick Cutter nodded.
Clearly the world’s strongest South Korea.
But compound archery, which hadn’t reached the top even once.
He accepted the archery association’s offer to be a coach because he saw the possibility.
South Korea’s archery talent pool.
Unconditional investment.
Transparent operation.
And the system verified in the recurve event.
He was confident.
Even in compound events, South Korea would soon dominate the world.
It just needed time.
At that moment,
A strong gust of wind cut across the entire field.
The rain, carried by the wind, pushed into the booth and brushed against his face.
The flag on the target fluttered relentlessly, and the flagpole twisted sharply.
At that moment when no archer could release the string and held their breath,
Thwack!
Kim In-ha shot.
The arrow leaving the string pierced the center.
Follow-up rapid shots.
One after another.
It didn’t stop.
All arrows pierced the central target zone as if tearing it apart.
And he raised his head and looked at the sky.
He didn’t even check the target with the scope.
No, he ignored it as if certain.
That expression, which took a very short breath.
It looked clearly satisfied even from afar.
“...Maybe.”
Coach Nick Cutter murmured.
“Of all the players I’ve seen, he’s the closest to a hunter.”
A hunter doesn’t check which part of the animal the arrow hit.
Whether the prey has fallen or not.
Whether the goal has been achieved or not.
He only judges that.
“Maybe...”
He thought quietly.
The picture of South Korean compound archery reaching the world’s pinnacle.
The 5-year, or perhaps 10-year plan he had drawn.
It might become reality much faster than expected.
***
At the Gangnam Luxury Hotel Lounge Bar.
When the elevator door opened after taking it up, a gentle jazz music greeted me.
Under the dim lighting, rain was steadily falling outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It was a deep and luxurious atmosphere.
“Here.”
Seeing me, a woman raised her hand in a bewitching way.
Stylish short bob hair.
Small, sparkling luxury earrings.
A fitted one-piece dress and high heels.
A whiskey glass in one hand and crossed legs that caught the eye.
It was Jeong Soo-yeon, the team leader.
“Hello...”
I approached and greeted awkwardly.
She always dressed in office attire, and the title of team leader came to mind first.
But today was different.
“Beautiful.”
It wasn’t the impression of a career woman, but the word that came to mind first was that she was a refined woman.
A luxurious yet neat atmosphere that suited a 5-star hotel and her beauty mark.
More than just a glance, an image that captured the eye.
Team Leader Jeong Soo-yeon smiled.
“You have a surprised face?”
“...I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“I tend to separate work and private life.”
Team Leader Jeong Soo-yeon brushed her hair behind her ear.
The neck line and collarbone that were slightly revealed.
“Mr. Kim In-ha, it seems you didn’t just cause an accident, right?”
Team Leader Jeong Soo-yeon turned her smartphone screen toward me.
9 o'clock news, sports corner.
It was the interview video of me passing the Compound National Team Selection Trial 1st Round as 1st.
“There are many talented players in compound archery. But... I have no intention of losing. I want to feel the weight of the Taeguk mark.”
A neat tone that concluded seriously and clearly.
Unlike usual, a weightiness was felt in the interview.
That was my resolve and attitude toward the national team.
Seeing that, Team Leader Jeong Soo-yeon smiled faintly.
The beauty mark touched by the light was unusually clearer.
“How could you not come?”
She slowly shook the glass and took out a document file.
Cool leather cover.
Emblem engraved with gold.
It was the sponsorship proposal prepared by Ciel Bank.
“Where do you plan to go? National team?”
“Higher.”
I answered without hesitation.
The Taeguk mark.
I had no intention of stopping at just that.
She looked at me and smiled quietly.
“I knew that. The proposal took that into account. It’s the highest amount among the contracts sponsored by Ciel Bank.”
My gaze naturally turned to the document file.
I hadn’t flipped through the cover, but the weight was transmitted to my fingertips.
Just as I was about to reach out cautiously to check,
A slender white finger landed lightly on my hand like a butterfly.
“If it were me... I wouldn’t sign.”
My hand stopped.
When I looked up, she was looking straight at me.
“Mr. Kim In-ha.”
She called my name softly, set down the glass, and smiled delicately.
“...How about this?”
“What?”
A response that seemed to cut off for a moment.
An atmosphere that was dazzlingly neat yet somehow vaguely disrupted, like a dangerous allure.
Her lips slowly curved up.
“As your business partner.”