Frustration Forges a Man - Part 2
The days that followed were pure torment.
Ever since that morning jog where I ran into Professor Baek Seol-hee, our sparring sessions had grown brutally intense. Before, she had mostly thrown me around with joint locks or submission holds. Now she was mixing in strikes, weapons, the whole arsenal. Getting my skull nearly cracked open from both sides by twin blades was a memory I’d rather forget….
Naturally, I also noticed the changes happening to my body. My recovery rate had skyrocketed compared to before. Once I failed to dodge a wooden sword and took a nasty gash across my cheek, yet by the time I finished rolling around on the ground, the wound had already closed. Professor Baek Seol-hee called it “a precursor to the manifestation of a special ability.”
I figured the daily beatings had probably awakened some kind of toughness inside me. They say special abilities triggered in extreme situations usually manifest as offensive powers, but mine seemed to be leaning toward self-recovery. Other people summon lightning or spit fire. Why the hell did I get self-healing…?
If I could heal others, I would have skyrocketed in value overnight. But my recovery only worked on me. Healers are welcome anywhere, but a self-healing meat shield is still just a meat shield.
“What are you thinking about?”
While I was lost in thought about my ability, Jia suddenly shoved her face right in front of mine.
“My special ability.”
“Heee, what kind? Telekinesis?”
Telekinesis was one of the most common types of special abilities. I hesitated.
“No, it’s… um…”
It stung my pride a little to tell someone like Jia, who already had multiple confirmed abilities. She had at least two, and I suspected she also had psychometry on top of that. In terms of sheer number of abilities, Jia was already the undisputed number one among our classmates.
“…It seems to be self-healing type.”
“Self-healing? Ah…”
The silence hurt. Self-healing was almost as common as telekinesis, but its effects were weak. It could quickly mend minor cuts and scrapes, but it didn’t do much for severed limbs or serious penetrating wounds. Convenient to have, but not something you’d miss if you didn’t. That was the level.
“Hey, um…”
Jia glanced around, then grabbed my ear and pulled me close. I obediently leaned in, and she whispered.
“Does it… work at night too?”
“…Huh?”
“Self-healing speeds up your body’s metabolism, right? So that means your, um… stamina and vigor would also…”
“……!”
It was a Copernican revolution in thinking. Faster, more active metabolism meant all organs worked harder too. The penis and testicles were organs as well. It was only logical that recharge speed would accelerate. I had taken one more step toward becoming the “strongest man in bed” that Jia had casually mentioned before.
No wonder my muscles weren’t growing as much as the amount I was eating.
“Talking about this stuff outside is more embarrassing than I thought… ahaha…”
“Jia.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“N-no, it’s nothing! I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
Sharp as ever, Jia must have noticed I was feeling down about my new ability and offered me a brand-new perspective. Her face flushed red as she smiled bashfully. She looked utterly adorable.
That said, I was definitely going to need to increase my food intake from now on.
The forest on the outskirts of Seoul was thick with broadleaf trees, filled with the distinctive woody scent of the woods. Sunlight poured through gaps in the natural canopy of branches and leaves like golden ladders.
Plants near Gate entrances experience accelerated growth, which is why lush forests like this one often form around them.
“Alright, everyone pay attention! As you all know, this Gate field trip is the lowest difficulty level. In terms of credits, it’s basically an F- Gate.”
The male professor leading the students began his explanation the moment we stepped inside the Gate. The information had already been in the application guide, but it was worth hearing again.
“The Gate’s designation is Geumcheon 09. This place is primarily used to harvest herbs that serve as ingredients for recovery potions. Once you obtain your Hunter license, this will likely be the first location you visit.”
For rookie Hunters, the usual routine was escorting civilian laborers inside these lowest-grade Gates. Although the Hunter Association strictly controlled the area, monsters that respawned inside Gates were still a threat to ordinary people.
But the demand for recovery potions never went away. They were consumables, and Hunters who stuck their heads into Gates were constantly getting injured. Hiring Healers was an option, but Healers were valuable resources and there simply weren’t enough of them on the front lines. Without pouring in manpower like this, they could never keep up with demand.
Thanks to that, pharmaceutical companies were apparently raking in massive profits. And since the laborers were all daily hires doing simple work, there was no worry about rising labor costs.
Memories of the nameless middle-aged man I’d met while working part-time during high school came flooding back.
“Today, you will observe actual Hunters performing their duties and submit a report afterward.”
After finishing his speech, the professor left. Looking around, the students seemed like they were on a picnic. Most of them appeared to think, ‘It’s the lowest difficulty, and it’s a gathering-focused Gate. What danger could there possibly be?’
‘Should I go kill some time with Jia?’
I looked around for her, but Jia had already disappeared somewhere. The other students were also scattering to watch the Hunters work. She must have left first.
A strange sense of disappointment washed over me, but I shook it off and started walking. Everyone around me was in groups of three or five, chattering away. I was the only one walking alone.
‘Wait a second… am I really…’
I was the class loner.
‘Jia, please don’t leave me by myself.’
Strong in bed or not, right now this man was completely alone.
. . .
The Hunters assigned to escort duty looked bored out of their minds. It made sense. The monsters that appeared in a Gate like this were barely even monsters. If they could deal damage, even a regular person could probably take them down. Watching them yawn endlessly, I had no idea what kind of report I was supposed to write.
I shook my head and turned to look for anything interesting, when my eyes suddenly landed on one of the laborers.
Dark circles from exhaustion, worn-out work clothes. A typical middle-aged daily construction worker.
‘Hey, that’s my old uncle.’
“Uncle! It’s me!”
I waved enthusiastically. The man rubbed his eyes when he saw me.
“Huh? Is that you, Hyun-do?”
“Yes, sir. How have you been?”
“You little rascal! You suddenly vanished without a word, so I thought you must’ve died!”
“Come on, who said anything about dying? There was just some stuff going on back then.”
This was the uncle who had looked after me when I first started working construction part-time during high school. I never learned his real name. Everyone just called him “Uncle,” so I did too. Despite his rough appearance, he worked hard and took good care of the younger guys, so he was popular. I remembered him complaining over hangover soup and soju about having to feed his kids and wife. Seeing him again filled me with genuine joy.
Even while talking, the uncle’s hands never stopped harvesting herbs.
“Uncle, how have things been lately? You doing okay?”
“My kids moved out, so now it’s just me and the wife. Looks like we’re headed for divorce though.”
“Aigoo, what happened?”
“She says she knows exactly how hard it is being married to a construction worker. What am I supposed to say to that? Oh, this one’s rotten.”
“Hey, you were the hardest worker out of all of us back then. How can she say something like that?”
The uncle tossed aside the spoiled herb and finally straightened his back.
“You didn’t even see me working with your own eyes, so how would you know? The kids are independent now, so there’s no burden left. By the way, what brings you here, Hyun-do?”
“Ah, I got into the Hunter Department. I’m a freshman now.”
“You? Well I’ll be damned, you did it! You really made it!”
The uncle’s face lit up with pride as he clapped me on the shoulder. Back on the construction sites, I had been the youngest, so they practically treated me like a mascot. That was also the period when I was desperately grinding to earn money. The older guys seemed to like how hard the young kid worked, so they always looked out for me and gave me extra food.
The uncle adjusted the basket full of herbs on his back and started walking.
“I’m heading a bit deeper in. Hey, Hunter! Let’s go!”
“Ugh, I’m dying of boredom. Just go by yourself. It’s not like anything’s gonna come out anyway, right?”
The nameless rookie Hunter waved him off with a yawn. That attitude was definitely going to get him written up later.
“Fine, whatever. You just stay right there. I’ll go alone.”
Without another word, the rookie Hunter lay down on the spot and closed his eyes. Was he seriously sleeping?
Completely dumbfounded, I rolled my eyes before quickly hurrying after the uncle.
“Uncle, isn’t it dangerous to go alone?”
“I’ve been back and forth here hundreds of times. There’s nothing here.”
The uncle’s steps were light and confident. The way he moved forward without hesitation made it clear he really had walked this path many times before. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this. It felt like I shouldn’t let him go alone.
“Uncle! I’m coming with you!”
I rushed to catch up with him.