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9. How to Tame a Beast

Jeong Seong-min’s intentions were obvious.

The person who came to call him to the gym was Woo Min-woo.

The path he and Woo Min-woo took to get here would also have been captured on CCTV.

If he and Woo Min-woo caused trouble in that situation?

Regardless of victory or defeat, both he and Woo Min-woo could be expelled.

Because a hunter academy that taught practical skills strictly punished school violence without any exceptions.

Of course, in Woo Min-woo’s case, going against Jeong Seong-min’s words would be more frightening than being expelled.

Woo Min-woo would definitely take all the blame until the end without mentioning Jeong Seong-min’s name.

“Min-woo, even if it kills you, at least stab that bastard once with the knife. If not, you’ll die. Got it?”

Pak!

“Ugh!”

Jeong Seong-min mercilessly pushed Woo Min-woo.

Placed in front of Han Seol by chance, he pointed his trembling sword at Han Seol and shed tears.

“Ready? Ready… Action!”

Jeong Seong-min began filming the two with his smartphone.

It was muted, so his voice wasn’t recorded.

Now, if he uploaded the filmed result to the academy bulletin board using Woo Min-woo’s account, both Woo Min-woo and Han Seol would be finished.

Well, they would pretend to look for the informant who filmed the video, but if they went into hiding, the chances of them getting caught were slim.

Han Seol would claim his innocence while mentioning them, but that was also baseless, so he could just deny it.

The fact that Woo Min-woo was a 2nd year meant that, despite appearances, he had passed the same midterm and final exams as Han Seol and been promoted.

He was by no means an easy opponent.

However, Han Seol pointed his index finger lightly at Woo Min-woo.

“What’s that bastard doing?”

“Who knows. Has he gone mad?”

“That crazy bastard, kekeke!”

When Han Seol, who hadn’t even brought a weapon, pointed his finger at Woo Min-woo instead of getting into a combat stance, Jeong Seong-min and his gang began to sneer.

However, the sneering didn’t last long.

Pyung! Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Han Seol’s Magic Missile flew like a bullet and properly struck Woo Min-woo’s head.

The impact was so strong that Woo Min-woo, who flew back about 1m, collapsed on the spot and fainted, foaming at the mouth.

Naturally, Jeong Seong-min’s gang was stunned and shocked at the sight.

“Wh-what?”

“What did that bastard just do?”

“Could it be a skill?”

“Stupid! How can you use a skill without a trigger?”

A trigger was the activation mechanism for skills.

Usually, passive skills were constantly activated just by having them, but active skills were manifested when the skill’s name was called out, activating the trigger.

However, for Han Seol, who could use Magic Missile as much as he wanted without chanting, there was no need to specifically cast Magic Missile.

“Anyway, that bastard is screwed now. Hey, upload what’s filmed here using that Woo Min-woo bastard’s account.”

“Okay…”

Pyung, thwack!

“Ugh!”

“What the…!”

“Is that bastard really crazy?”

One of the gang members who tried to take Jeong Seong-min’s smartphone was hit in the head by Han Seol’s Magic Missile and fainted.

At the sudden situation, the gang was dumbfounded, but then they seemed to realize the situation and all glared at Han Seol, growling.

Fortunately, both Woo Min-woo and the guy who just collapsed were fine because Han Seol had lowered the power, otherwise their heads would have shattered like watermelons and died.

Regardless, Han Seol stared at them with icy eyes and pointed out their mistake in an indifferent tone.

“I’ll overlook the minor mistakes, but the biggest mistake you made was thinking that I would just let you go. Why did you think that? Did you really think that I wouldn’t dare touch you because you’re a gang with a 2nd year leader? I hope not. If that’s true, you’ll all have to crawl back to the dormitory.”

“That son of a bitch…!”

In the end, Jeong Seong-min, whose anger had reached the top of his head, even causing the veins on his forehead to throb, coldly gave an order.

“Beat up that bastard. I’ll take responsibility for the rest.”

At Jeong Seong-min’s command, the gang pounced on Han Seol with sharp, lethal weapons.

After properly handling the situation, they could just pin all the charges on Woo Min-woo or similar trash anyway.

There were plenty of disposable tools around.

The gang seemed to be top-notch among the 2nd years, as expected from hanging out with Jeong Seong-min.

Especially since most of them were attackers, they were confident in their fast movements and close combat more than anyone else.

No matter how much the opponent was the 1st year TOP, it wouldn’t be a problem.

No, it shouldn’t have been.

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

“Aaaaah!”

Thwack! Thud, pyung! Crunch, pyung! Crack, swish! Slam! Pyung!

Han Seol faced the top-level 2nd year attackers without backing down and rather showed his prowess by digging in.

Han Seol grabbed the wrist of the one who charged first, broke it, took his weapon, the sword, and knocked him out with a punch.

It would be easy to cut them all down with a sword.

But that would cause a big problem that couldn’t be handled.

So Han Seol had to be satisfied with just deflecting, blocking, or stealing the timing of their attacks with the sword to twist the flow.

Instead, Han Seol’s fists and feet definitely beat them up.

In between, he lightly shattered their coordination by mixing in Magic Missiles where necessary.

As Han Seol skillfully used their attacks as if he knew and avoided them, and rather twisted them to interfere with each other, they instantly turned into a disorderly rabble.

The start of the misjudgment was that they were also taking the midterm exams when Han Seol was taking them.

If they had seen Han Seol’s matches even once, they would never have made the foolish mistake of pushing with numbers like this.

If this were a battle using magic and aura, it wouldn’t have been this overwhelming.

But no matter how many there were, in a skill fight without using magic and aura…

Even if it were 20:1 instead of 10:1, it was hard to imagine Han Seol losing.

In the end, it didn’t take long for the ten gang members to collapse, covered in blood.

“Phew…”

In the chaotic scene where groans and moans strangely harmonized, only Han Seol was standing.

His whole body was soaked with sweat and his breathing was rough, but even after subduing ten 2nd year attackers with real swords, it was hard to find a single scratch on his body.

“What are you…? Are you really a 1st year?”

Jeong Seong-min, who had been observing the battle and grasped the seriousness of the situation, frowned as he took off his outer garment and picked up his weapon.

His weapon was a spear.

Unlike his personality, Jeong Seong-min’s specialty was coolly and calmly maintaining distance from the opponent and trampling them.

He lowered his posture and pointed the spearhead straight at the approaching Han Seol, but Han Seol’s steps didn’t stop.

The tables had already turned.

Just as it was not easy for the gang to escape from this situation, he had to kill him and get out of here alone.

Simple threats worked on trash like Woo Min-woo, but not on the gang that followed him.

If things went wrong, they could spill the whole truth.

‘I have no choice. I’ll have to at least offer a deal.’

Fortunately, as the 2nd year TOP, he had been scouted by several guilds that could be considered hunters’ workplaces.

If he promised to safely graduate as a 3rd year, join a good guild, and pull them in, they might keep their mouths shut.

In any case, the ultimate goal of those guys was also to become hunters, so even if they were expelled, as long as they could become hunters, there was definitely a possibility that they would turn a blind eye.

To do that, it was important to kill Han Seol here and shut his mouth first.

‘He’s coming!’

When Han Seol fearlessly entered his range, Jeong Seong-min thrust his spear without hesitation.

His spearhead swiftly and accurately aimed at Han Seol’s heart like a snake launching its body towards its captured prey.

However, he realized that his future plans were just empty delusions.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

Han Seol accurately deflected Jeong Seong-min’s spearhead with his sword.

On the surface, it looked like he was swinging randomly, so it seemed like a coincidence that a playful swing hit.

But that playful-looking action tore Jeong Seong-min’s grip, and blood soaked through.

It was because the recoil was more intense than expected, making it difficult to hold and stabilize the spear shaft.

“Hup!”

But Jeong Seong-min pulled the spear shaft back with a short breath and thrust it forward powerfully again.

Each time, Han Seol leisurely struck down Jeong Seong-min’s spearhead, and Jeong Seong-min, unable to withstand the recoil, had no choice but to let go of the spear shaft.

“Aaargh!”

Jeong Seong-min held his two hands, torn and soaked with blood, to his chest and stared at Han Seol with trembling eyes, sweating coldly.

“D-don’t come!”

“Looks like you have nothing more to show.”

Han Seol approached Jeong Seong-min, who was stepping back.

Then, as Jeong Seong-min’s back hit the school building and he had nowhere to retreat, the distance between him and Han Seol inevitably narrowed.

“I-I was wrong! If you let me go just this once, I’ll definitely have your back as long as I’m at the academy! I promise! Really!”

“Never mind that.”

Han Seol reached out his hand to Jeong Seong-min.

“Wh-what… Ah, money! W-wait a moment! How much silver do I have…”

“I meant your smartphone.”

As Jeong Seong-min hurriedly rummaged through his pockets, Han Seol precisely pointed out what he wanted.

At that, Jeong Seong-min handed over his smartphone to Han Seol with a crying face and trembling hands.

Unlike the past, smartphones were not portable phones that everyone carried around.

They were quite expensive luxury items, so it was a gift that Jeong Seong-min’s parents had bought with great thought to commemorate him becoming the 2nd year top student.

However, compared to being expelled if the truth was known, having his smartphone taken away could be considered getting off lightly.

But Han Seol’s purpose was not to extort Jeong Seong-min’s smartphone as he thought.

“Those who have come to their senses, take off all your clothes and stand in a line against that wall, arm in arm. Wake up the ones who haven’t come to their senses, even if you have to beat them. Otherwise, I’ll wake them up myself.”

“Wh-what? Take off all our clothes? What is that…”

“This won’t do. Let’s get beat up a bit more.”

Han Seol beat up Jeong Seong-min like beating a dog on the hottest day.

It was chilling to see how he could beat someone like beating a dog with such an expressionless face.

Naturally, the gang’s movements became unified.

“Wh-what, what the hell is this?”

“Shut up and stay still for a bit! If you don’t want to get beaten up like that!”

They woke up their friends who still hadn’t come to their senses, even if they had to slap their cheeks, and hurriedly undressed them, pointing at Jeong Seong-min.

The friends who didn’t know what was going on also began to move swiftly after seeing Jeong Seong-min getting beaten.

Like that, with Jeong Seong-min, who was in a horrible state, at the lead, the entire naked gang stood in a line against the wall, arm in arm.

“Recite.”

As Han Seol began filming with Jeong Seong-min’s smartphone, Jeong Seong-min began to recite as Han Seol had taught him while beating him.

“We are trash-like bastards! I tried to extort 1st year junior Han Seol’s skill books, following the bad practices of Cheongsol Academy! I used my classmate Woo Min-woo to lure him behind the 2nd year building and intended to beat him up with the gang here. Please forgive us worthless people!”

As Jeong Seong-min bowed his waist while arm in arm, naturally, the other gang members had no choice but to bow their waists as well.

“Enough.”

Han Seol, who had recorded the video, took out only the data card from the smartphone and returned the smartphone to Jeong Seong-min.

Han Seol stared straight into Jeong Seong-min’s eyes with an icy gaze and brought his palm to his neck.

Then, Jeong Seong-min instinctively covered his face and curled up his body, trembling, looking pitiful.

Han Seol tapped Jeong Seong-min’s nape with his palm and said,

“Let’s get along well.”

“Yes! Big brother!”

Jeong Seong-min, who seemed to have pulled himself together, bowed his waist 90 degrees toward Han Seol with discipline.

The fear of Han Seol had already taken over his mind.

Seeing his unfamiliar appearance, the gang couldn’t believe it, as if half their souls had left their bodies.

8. Cheongsol’s Beautiful Tradition

That night.
Han Seol went to his personal training ground as usual.
The difference from other times was that he had three skill books in his possession that day.

“Aura skills, huh…?”

The method of applying skills was surprisingly simple.
Hold the skill book in your hand and declare that you are acquiring the name of the skill book, and the skill book turns into smoke and the skill is applied.
However, Han Seol deliberately did not acquire the aura skills and kept them.
Because the moment he acquired aura skills, he would not be able to learn the divinity he had wanted.

However, the unique skill system of this world was not without interest to Han Seol.
In this world, skills were important, but skill luck was also one of the very important factors.
If ability was achieved through effort, skills were literally determined by luck.

Acquiring a skill did not mean that its effect was applied 100%.
In short, it was gambling.
If you were lucky, you could get 100% at once or close to 100%, but if you were unlucky, you could get a low percentage.
However, there was no need to be disappointed.
Because you could reset the percentage as many times as you wanted by using the same skill book.

Of course, there was also the possibility of aiming for 100% from 90% and getting 1%, and vice versa was also possible.
Naturally, a lot of money would be spent, but on the flip side, as long as you had money, you could purchase the same skill book as many times as you wanted to aim for 100%.
And if the skills were the same, the effects were cumulative.

For example, if you learned Mana D skill and then learned Mana C skill, it didn’t mean that Mana D skill disappeared, but the effect of C skill was cumulatively applied on top of the effect of D skill.
Also, to learn a higher rank of the same skill, the percentage of the lower skill had to be over 90% as a basic requirement.
For example, you couldn’t acquire Mana C skill if Mana D skill was at 50%.

‘Even so, it’s undeniable that skills are definitely convenient.’

In the world he lived in his previous life, mages had to cultivate meditation and mental concentration that seemed to strip their souls in order to absorb mana.
That wasn’t the end.

Knights aiming to become sword masters had to train to convert mana into aura at that stage, and that process was nothing short of extreme efforts that seemed to carve their bones.
Naturally, it was a prerequisite that innate talent had to be the foundation for that.

But in this world, if you had money, you could skip such a process just by learning skills.
If the knights associated with Han Seol in his previous life knew, they would have shed tears of blood and hit the ground in frustration, but Han Seol’s thoughts were a bit different.

It was definitely a big merit to be able to acquire mana and use aura just with skills.
But they could only use what was given to them.
If they acquired mana force, they could only use magic skills, and if they acquired aura force, they couldn’t use skills other than action skills.
As a result, the range of strength narrowed, and they had no choice but to compensate for each other’s lacking aspects through groups such as teams, parties, or guilds.

On the other hand, Han Seol knew how to become strong on his own, except for divinity.
In the first place, divinity was the exclusive property of a few chosen by God in his previous life, so this world where divinity could be purchased with money was a big merit to Han Seol.
Moreover, Han Seol’s mana breathing technique was very special.

It was developed by the sword genius Jebius von Tristan and improved and passed down by the empress blessed with mana.
Therefore, although it may start out weak, it had the characteristic of increasing mana tremendously like a snowball as time passed.
However, the flow of mana was extremely minimal in this underground.

Even in his previous life, places where mana was this scarce were rare.
Perhaps even if he trained here for a lifetime, he wouldn’t be able to restore even 1/10 of the mana he had in his previous life.
That was because the area where Cheongsol Academy was located was a developing zone, the outskirts of underground Seoul.

Due to the construction that was always ongoing because of the underground city expansion plan, dust floated hazily in the air, and the exhaust fumes from the factories concentrated in this area were always mixed in the air.
Moreover, the ventilation facilities were also the worst in this zone, so it was nonsense to expect abundant and clean mana here.

‘I have no choice but to look forward to the surface.’

Han Seol had no choice but to hope for the possibility remaining on the surface.

* * *

Finally, the long-awaited summer vacation began.
Students who failed the midterm exams with heavy footsteps and those who passed with lighter hearts than ever headed home.

Because all students lived in dormitories, the vacation was the only time when students whose homes were far away and who had difficulty meeting their families even on weekends could meet their families.
However, Han Seol only had a phone call with his parents and did not return home.

They were such affectionate parents that his desire to meet them was strong, but he had something he had to do now.
Now that most of the students had gone home, the 1st year gymnasium was practically rented out by him.
The reason he said most was because there were students who stayed in the dormitory to take supplementary classes even though they passed the practical exam but failed the academic exam.

Of course, that would also end in a week, so the dormitory would also be completely empty a week later.
In the first place, Han Seol was also at the top of his year in academic subjects, so he didn’t need to care about supplementary classes at all.

Swish, rustle… Pat! Whoosh! Swish swish swish!

Han Seol definitely took advantage of the privilege of using the spacious gym alone.
In the secret training ground next to the storage room, the space was cramped and he couldn’t move as he wanted, but here, no matter how much he moved his body, there was still space left.
Of course, if he regained all his skills from his previous life, even a gym this size would be cramped, but now it was overflowing.

‘Power is a problem to think about later. For now, I’ll start by getting my body accustomed to the swordsmanship of my previous life.’

The body of Rohan, the previous life, was the best body that inherited the genes of Jebius von Tristan, called the sword genius.
It was infuriating for Han Seol, but he couldn’t deny the fact that that body was more suitable for the sword and inherited more talent than his current body.
Han Seol’s current body was an extremely ordinary 15-year-old child’s body that inherited the genes of extremely ordinary men and women.

No matter how much Han Seol trained to the extreme, it was unreasonable to use the emperor’s swordsmanship created by Jebius as it was.
It was the same now.

When he was 15-year-old Rohan in the past, it was a basic stance that he could unfold without even disturbing his breathing.
However, the current Han Seol had to lie on the gym floor in a (大) shape and gasp for breath without even unfolding half of it.

“Huff, huff…!”

His clothes were soaked with sweat, and small cramps occurred in his arms and legs.
Thanks to his experience and sense from his previous life, it ended with only small cramps, but if not, it wouldn’t have been strange if he had suffered muscle tears or ligament injuries.
In particular, the food was too lacking.

Even after moving like this, the only food provided by the academy was nutrient tubes and capsules, so it was inevitable that the alarm in his stomach went off 24 hours a day.
However, Han Seol quickly got up from his seat.

If it was something that could be solved by complaining to someone, he would have done it long ago.
But it’s not like the situation would improve by doing that, right?
Then there was no choice but to face reality and do his best according to the situation.

If he wanted to eat delicious food abundantly, he had no choice but to desperately crawl up to a position where he could do so.
As he was about to start training again after a short break, an unwelcome guest came to Han Seol.

“Are you Han Seol?”

‘Woo Min-woo?’

The person who came to the gym to find Han Seol was someone who was not in Han Seol’s memory, at least.
However, judging by the color of his name tag, it was certain that he was a senior one year above him.
But his condition was very strange.

Cold sweat was flowing from his forehead, his aimless eyes were wandering, and his restless appearance didn’t seem to have come with good intentions.

“Do you know Seong-min? Jeong Seong-min, 2nd year 1st place. He says he wants to see you for a moment. I’m sorry, but can you make some time? If you don’t follow me now, bigger problems might occur later. Sorry…”

“I understand. Please lead the way.”

Han Seol quietly followed Woo Min-woo as he said.
The place he arrived following him was behind the 2nd year building, located in the blind spot of CCTVs.
Moreover, it was during the vacation period, so teachers and other students rarely came this way.

Jeong Seong-min and his gang, who had arrived first, were waiting for Han Seol there.

“Oh, seeing you here like this, it’s really nice to meet you! Right? Han Seol, have you been well all this time?”

“Stop the lousy acting and tell me what you want quickly if you have any business.”

“Lo-lousy?”

“You didn’t call me here to exchange pleasantries, right?”

At Han Seol’s precise point, Jeong Seong-min, the 2nd year TOP, let out a chuckle and brought up the main topic.

“You, don’t act so arrogant just because you’re a 1st year top dog. Just because your friends and instructors praise you a bit, do your respectable seniors look like dogs to you?”

“Well, you do look like that right now.”

“Wha-what? This bastard, when I see you…”

However, ignoring Jeong Seong-min’s anger, Han Seol scratched his head with his finger and pondered deeply.
No matter how much of a jerk they were, there must be a reason why they were taking the time to mess with him like this.

The 3rd years who were about to graduate would be out of the academy during the summer vacation to help pro hunters with field training, so they would definitely not be here…
The 2nd years would be focusing on training even during the vacation period to prepare for their 3rd year, so there was no way they were waiting here to play with Han Seol.

Then, one fact suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, is it that? The unwritten rule of Cheongsol that the skill books received by the top three 1st years must be taken by the seniors? Whatever it is, is that why you came to find me?”

“You know it well. You bastard. And it’s not ‘taken’, it’s a ‘gift’, you brat. Are you ignoring the beautiful and heartwarming tradition of Cheongsol where junior students give gifts to their senior students, saying, ‘Please take good care of us in the future’?”

Skill books were expensive.
And the more you owned, the higher the probability of acquiring skills with high percentages of that grade.
Naturally, such bad practices arose.

Of course, Han Seol had no intention of following such bad practices even the slightest bit.

“If we cause a problem, it won’t end quietly for both of us, right?”

“Don’t worry. Only you and this guy will be screwed.”

With those words, the person Jeong Seong-min pushed from behind was none other than Woo Min-woo, who had brought him here.

“What are you doing? Go and beat up that bastard. Or do you want your head shoved in the toilet again?”

“Ah, okay. I’ll do it!”

In the trembling hands of Woo Min-woo, who was pushed like that, there was a real sword, not a training sword.

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry…”

Han Seol looked at Woo Min-woo, who was tearfully begging for forgiveness, and Jeong Seong-min’s gang, who were giggling while watching their situation, with cold eyes.

7. Obtaining D-Grade Skill Books

The last remaining test was the 1:1 evaluation match between students and teachers.

“I believe you have better realized your shortcomings or strengths in the individual mock battle and group mock battle. The evaluation match with teachers is a test to find a way to supplement those shortcomings and further refine your strengths into greater advantages, so don’t feel burdened and face it.”

If one truly faces it without burden believing those words, they could receive the worst possible result imaginable.
Rather, in the evaluation matches with teachers, critical weaknesses that even the students themselves were unaware of were often discovered.
In such cases, the evaluation match is a test where expulsion is possible at the teacher’s discretion.

In short, regardless of the results of the previous two matches, this one evaluation match is the most important.

“My results weren’t good in the individual mock battle, and I even gave up midway in the group mock battle. What if I get expelled because of that?”

“Before you go, check carefully if there’s anything you forgot to pack.”

“You’re really…”

“Class 1, Han Seol, come forward!”

When his name was called, Han Seol got up from his seat and headed to the individual arena.
The individual arena was a space isolated from the outside, where only the instructor and the student being tested could be present.
Thanks to that, even fatal weaknesses or strengths the student wanted to hide from others could be discussed in more depth.

As Han Seol entered the individual arena, the instructor who was taking a short break came out to greet him.

“Welcome, student Han Seol. Thanks to this midterm exam, you’ve practically become a superstar. Not only your peers but also quite a few instructors and upperclassmen are interested in you. How do you feel?”

“I don’t particularly care.”

“You definitely look like that. Even I, who am saying this, watched all your matches. To be honest, I couldn’t believe it. No matter what, after teaching these greenhorns for half a year, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember someone like you. But I really had no idea you existed. So when I checked the roster, oh my gosh… You were a complete infirmary VIP, right? How can someone who never missed a day and stamped attendance in the infirmary every training session have skills like this?”

To the instructor’s reasonable suspicion, Han Seol made up an appropriate excuse.
It was impossible to honestly say that he had been reviewing the swordsmanship he learned in his previous life at night.

“My family has been running a martial arts dojo for generations. It went bankrupt a long, long time ago, and now we’re barely keeping it going, but that has been a great help to me.”

“Does that mean your father is also an outstanding expert?”

“My father was too weak to inherit it. I also learned from my grandfather when I was young, and my grandfather passed away a few years ago.”

Prepared lies flowed smoothly from Han Seol’s mouth.
To this end, he had already called home in advance and coordinated his story with his parents.
They probably wouldn’t dig that deep anyway, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

“For him to pass down such martial arts to you, he must have been a renowned and excellent hunter.”

“Although our family’s circumstances were not sufficient for him to become a hunter, I believe that if he had become one, he would have definitely made a great name for himself.”

“You’re proud of your grandfather.”

“It was my grandfather’s unfulfilled wish to become a hunter, prove his martial arts, and make a great name for himself in the world. Now, my grandfather’s dream is my dream.”

For some reason, the instructor’s eyes were already moist with tears.
Without realizing it, he turned his head and furtively wiped the corner of his eye.

“Your parents also asked me, the instructor, to convey to you that they support you.”

‘As expected, they contacted him.’

It’s good to be prepared for the unexpected… It seemed like he did well to coordinate the story in advance.

“Your evaluation match ends here. Originally, I should give you a solution to supplement your weaknesses and utilize your strengths through sparring, but… Between you and me, I’m honestly not confident. Rather, I’m more worried that you might notice my lacking areas. Hahaha!”

He was an instructor who joked around quite well.

“I have no doubt that you can grow even more on your own. And I’ll try to get permission from other academy directors for your personal training space. Now, don’t waste time in the infirmary and work even harder than now.”

‘It seems my thoughts were wrong.’

He had thought that all the instructors at Cheongsol Academy lacked both motivation and ability, but that seemed to be his misconception.
Not everyone was like that, but there were definitely instructors who sincerely cared for their students, like the one in front of him.

“Thank you, Instructor Park Sang-tae.”

“Enough with the empty words. After you graduate and become successful, treat me to a big meal. Hahaha!”

“I’ll try my best.”

As Han Seol, who had finished a slightly different evaluation match than other students, returned to his seat, Park Sang-tae’s voice calling Seong Yu-ra rang out through the speakers.
Han Seol conveyed a message to Seong Yu-ra, who was passing by his side.

“Do as you wish. That instructor won’t be so blind as to not recognize your sincerity.”

“Huh?”

Seong Yu-ra was startled by Han Seol’s unexpected advice, but there was a strange belief in his words that somehow it would work out if she did as he said.

“Got it! Do well and…”

But Han Seol, who should have heard the answer, was already far away after saying what he wanted to say.
Feeling a bit deflated, Seong Yu-ra, who gathered the strength that had drained from her shoulders, walked vigorously to the individual testing room.

* * *

The midterm exams were finally over.
The students waiting for the results announcement were so nervous that some couldn’t even sleep, and some complained of indigestion and spent a painful time in the bathroom even though they only ate tubes and capsules.

Fortunately, there were no classes or training until the vacation started after the midterm exams ended.
Of course, it couldn’t be anything but good news for Han Seol.
Because he could borrow and rent out an entire empty gym.

As he honed his swordsmanship in the gym during the day and quietly gathered mana and studied magic at night, a week had already passed by.

“The midterm exam results are out!”

Class president Yoo Jun-sang (Han Seol only now realized he was the class president) brought a large poster and fixed it on the blackboard.
The poster had the names of Class 1 students written on it, and next to the names of the students who passed the midterm exam, their overall year ranking was listed.

On the contrary, students who failed the midterm exam had a (-) next to their names, which meant disqualification… in other words, expulsion.

“Woohoo!”

“Yaaaay!”

As a result, Class 1 was in a festive mood.
There were students with low rankings, but not a single one had a (-) next to their name.
It was all thanks to their desperate efforts.

Moreover…

“Oh my gosh…!”

“Han Seol, you?”

“I knew that guy would do this.”

While everyone passed, the primary concern of the Class 1 students was, of course, Han Seol’s ranking.
The ranking of the superstar who demonstrated top-notch skills on a different level from others in the midterm exams was bound to be a topic of interest.

{Class 1 Han Seol (1)}

“I thought it might be, but as expected, 1st place!”

“Not to mention his attacker skills, he crushed other tankers with that physique even in tanking. We have to acknowledge that.”

“Shouldn’t we try to get close to him even now?”

If they could lean on him moderately, they would be jealous or wary.
However, if the other person is at a place too high to even lean on, people feel awe rather than envy. That was exactly the case for the Class 1 students now.

Even after confirming his 1st place ranking, the boys admired Han Seol’s still indifferent appearance, and the girls blushed for some reason.
Moreover, he slept during class and didn’t participate in training, so they didn’t know until now, but Han Seol was even…

‘Really handsome!’

‘How can a handsome guy be skilled too?’

‘You guys! If you hit on Seol behind my back, you’re all dead. Got it?’

As he unknowingly gained a fan club, a school-wide announcement rang in Han Seol’s ears.

-Attention. All students who ranked 1st to 3rd in each year’s exam, come to the principal’s office immediately. I repeat. All students who ranked 1st to 3rd in each year’s exam, come to the principal’s office immediately.

“Congratulations, Han Seol.”

“What are you doing? Go ahead. If it’s useless after receiving it, you can give it to me.”

Leaving behind Yoo Jun-sang and Seong Yu-ra’s congratulations, Han Seol headed to the faculty office.
On the way to the principal’s office, he saw a familiar physique and face, and sure enough, it was Han Ji-woong from Class 5.

“As expected, you were 1st place?”

When Han Ji-woong recognized Han Seol and greeted him first, Han Seol asked back.

“What about you?”

“I’m 2nd place.”

Han Seol nodded his head.
He accepted it as reasonable.

In the midterm exams, rank is important, but it’s not everything.
The scores given by the instructors who graded the midterm exams were much more significant than the rankings.

The fact that Han Ji-woong, who met Han Seol relatively early and was eliminated in the 1:1 individual match, got 2nd place…
And the fact that Han Seol, who had no choice but to forfeit the group match due to Yoo Jun-sang’s lack of stamina, got 1st place was thanks to the scores from the instructors who closely watched the matches.

The 1st year 3rd place was the quietest among the three.
He was a class leader of Class 2 whose strengths were mobile shooting with fast feet and high accuracy.
Of course, he wasn’t skilled enough to catch the eyes of Han Seol and Han Ji-woong.

When they arrived at the principal’s office, they also met the 2nd and 3rd year seniors who arrived around the same time.
It felt like a slight cold wind was blowing as if they were conscious of Han Seol and Han Ji-woong, but the two simply bowed their heads formally in greeting and entered the principal’s office first without paying any attention to them.

Of course, it was undeniable that their actions provoked the 2nd and 3rd year seniors, but they decided to endure it for now.

“Hohoho! I heard that the heat of the midterm exams this year was hotter than ever before. Especially the performance of the 1st years stood out greatly, right? I have high expectations for your future. This is a small gift from the principal to encourage you to study and train even harder in the future. Please accept it without burden. Hohoho~!”

The generous principal with a slightly ambiguous sexual identity smiled and presented D-grade skill books to the senior students first in order.

“1st year 1st place, Han Seol, come forward.”

As Han Seol came forward, the principal shook hands with him and presented three skill books along with words of encouragement.

“I heard that student Han Seol was the most outstanding among this year’s new students. I hope you will continue to work hard and become an excellent hunter who will raise the prestige of Cheongsol Academy… and furthermore, the status of Korea. Hohoho~!”

“I will do my best.”

Han Seol, who returned to his seat after shaking hands, checked the three skill books given by the principal.

{Aura (D)}
{Aura Recovery (D)}
{Aura Consumption Reduction (D)}

6. A Needle in a Haystack 

Han Ji-woong stared at Han Seol even more piercingly than before.
The ankle that had been struck by Han Seol earlier throbbed, but it was still bearable for now.

‘He’s coming!’

Pat!

Han Ji-woong carefully timed his attack while staring at Han Seol approaching from the front again.
Then at one point, when Han Seol entered the charging range, this time Han Ji-woong took half a step back first to distance himself.

It was a subtle difference.
With his speed, he might not notice that half-step difference.
If he didn’t notice and lowered his body like before, he would be able to see through where he was moving…

Swish!

‘Ah…!’

It was a miscalculation.
Han Seol’s instincts were leaping far beyond his thoughts.
In reality, Han Seol’s body was also leaping over Han Ji-woong.

The moment he lowered his body, when Han Ji-woong took half a step back, Han Seol’s movement of turning to the sides was visible, but… It was as if he had made space for himself to jump upward.

If Han Seol’s speed had been a bit slower, Han Ji-woong would have immediately reacted with a charge, but Han Seol’s movements were too fast for that.
Han Seol, who instantly mounted Han Ji-woong’s shoulder, firmly locked his body with both legs and applied a choke by crossing his legs.

“Ugh…!”

Han Ji-woong’s breath was constricted and his face turned blue in an instant. He tried to untangle Han Seol’s legs while even throwing away his shield, but it was in vain.
No matter how much stronger his strength was compared to adults, it was impossible to overcome Han Seol’s trained leg strength.

In the end…

“Stop! That’s it!”

Only when the instructor as the referee ended the match did Han Seol loosen his legs and release Han Ji-woong.

“Ugh…!”

Han Ji-woong collapsed on the spot and vomited dryly while gasping for breath.
It was a result no one expected, including the instructors and students.

The level of this match was so high that even the instructors conducting tests on other arenas stopped their matches and had them spectate the match between the two.

“As you all saw, the tactic that guy used is the textbook for attackers. An attacker must constantly think. They must endlessly devise ways to bring down the enemy faster, more efficiently, without taking damage. Weapons are just tools to assist with that. If that guy named Han Seol had relied on his training sword instead of his legs in that final situation, Han Ji-woong might have had a chance to endure and turn the tables. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes! Instructor!”

“If you understand, we’ll resume the mock battles! Put your all into it!”

Thanks to the duel between Han Seol and Han Ji-woong, the atmosphere in the arena heated up like a furnace.
The fact that there were guys with skills incomparable to their own in the same year subtly sparked their competitive spirit.

Han Seol was the first to extend his hand to Han Ji-woong, who had caught his breath.

“That was a useful skill.”

“If any other guy had said the same thing, I would have punched them.”

Han Ji-woong grabbed Han Seol’s extended hand and stood up, letting out a chuckle at Han Seol’s evaluation of him.
That’s how overwhelming Han Seol’s skills were.

“If you hadn’t taken that half-step back then, the match would have lasted longer.”

“I know. But if I hadn’t, my defeat would have been the same. I would have never found a way to counter you in that situation. In the end, I had no choice but to gamble, but… Well, as the result proves, your skills were superior to mine. But next time, I won’t lose.”

The two lightly shook hands and returned to their respective classes.
Then, as if a hero had returned, the students on both sides applauded and chattered excitedly, but Han Seol completely ignored them, and Han Ji-woong scratched his head with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

The instructor calmed the excited children and continued the matches.
As a result of the ongoing matches, only the 1st place of each class remained, and a tournament was held to determine the 1st place in the 1:1 mock battle.

The 1st place of Class 1 was, of course, Han Seol, no matter what anyone said.
Until just yesterday, his presence was comparable to air, but now he was virtually the star of Class 1 in name and reality.
And unfortunately, although the 1st place students of other classes were also outstanding in skill, there was no one who surpassed Han Seol.

In the first place, the guys who faced Han Seol all did so with the resolve to learn a thing or two from him, so that was that.
In this way, Han Seol demonstrated an overwhelming difference in skill and seized 1st place in the 1:1 individual mock battle.

* * *

The next day.
Today was the day for the 3:3 group mock battle.

“If you checked your individual skills and identified your shortcomings in the individual mock battle yesterday, today’s group mock battle will evaluate your teamwork and execution of tactics. A hunter is all about teamwork, no matter what anyone says. Even if individual skills are lacking, if the completeness of teamwork is high, you can smoothly clear difficult missions to that extent. On the contrary, no matter how outstanding individual skills are, if the understanding of teamplay is lacking, you may stumble in unexpected places.”

Usually, a stable 3-person team consists of one attacker, one dealer, and one tanker each.
The tanker receives attacks from enemies at the front and focuses their attention on themselves.
The long-range attacker, the dealer, intensively attacks and kills the enemies whose attention is focused on such a tanker.
And the attacker actively moves between the tanker and dealer to confront the enemies.

Usually, they handle enemies approaching the dealer, but if the dealer’s safety is secured, they either slaughter enemies at the front with the tanker or play a supporting role as a sub-tanker to assist the main tanker.

Today, there were two points of interest for the instructors and students.
One was how outstanding skills Han Seol would display as an attacker, and the other was how much Han Ji-woong could contribute to the team as a tanker.

However…

“What? That Han Seol guy…”

“His equipment seems a bit strange?”

“Don’t tell me he’s going to play as a tanker in this match? Wasn’t he an attacker?”

The students’ murmurs made sense.
It was because Han Seol, who everyone naturally thought was an attacker and had proven his skills as such, appeared in the arena with typical tanker attire, equipped with a kite shield and training mace.

“This somehow feels like I’ve become a traitor? Hahaha…”

The reason Yoo Jun-sang was embarrassed when he saw the surprised instructors and students was that he had already taken the test as an attacker on another team.
Yoo Jun-sang, who had achieved good results in the individual mock battle yesterday, was definitely an outstanding attacker.

However, when comparing Yoo Jun-sang and Han Seol as attackers of the same value, the difference was too big, so it wasn’t unreasonable for him to have this reaction.
In fact, he was contemplating whether he should hold the shield himself even now.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I just hold the shield now and you take the attacker role? Even if I’m a bit clumsy as a tanker, you can carry enough. Right?”

“I think that would be better too, but…”

Although Yoo Jun-sang proposed an opinion and Seong Yu-ra agreed, Han Seol firmly shook his head.

“Then the group match would be meaningless. We might be able to get a high rank, but it’s hard to expect good results. A team match is literally about testing how efficiently you can move as a team.”

“But Han Seol, have you practiced as a tanker? For an attacker of that skill level at our age, you probably haven’t even practiced as a tanker, right?”

“…”

To Seong Yu-ra’s reasonable question, Han Seol answered with actions in the match instead of words.

‘This crazy bastard, wasn’t he an attacker? What tanking…!’

Han Seol’s team’s first match.
In a fight between dealer, attacker, and tanker combinations, the first to clash were the tankers.
And the fight between tankers was a battle of spirit to see who could endure longer without breaking their posture.

Naturally, physique and physical strength were very important for this position, and compared to other tankers, Han Seol had a very small build unsuitable for tanking.
Because of that, even the students who were wary of him as an attacker laughed at it as a mistake when he came out as a tanker and didn’t even pay attention to him.

However, that was a big misconception.
In his previous life, Han Seol had also lived his entire life on the battlefield.
Moreover, even after death, he had experienced 999 years of hell chasing after those superior to him in hell.

Student tankers who charged at such Han Seol relying only on physique and physical strength couldn’t even compare to child’s play.

‘Why won’t he budge!’

With the veteran skill of taking a low center of gravity first and concentrating strength on one point with a stable posture, let alone pushing, he was frequently pushed instead.
Moreover, Han Seol was not only skilled at deflecting the opponent’s strength with his shield but also at blocking the opponent dealer’s vision by obscuring the opponent’s sight and controlling their movements.

“Damn it!”

In the end, when the attacker couldn’t hold back and joined to help the pushed tanker, it was over.

“Help me out here!”

Yoo Jun-sang and Seong Yu-ra, who were watching the situation, immediately turned around to eliminate the dealer left alone, and it was over.

“Oh no!”

The attacker, who sensed his own mistake, tried to quickly pull out to help the dealer, but the opponent was Han Seol.
If he hadn’t come from the beginning, it might be different, but once he approached within Han Seol’s range, it was safe to say that the probability of him getting out without Han Seol letting him go was zero.

Rather, due to Han Seol’s skillful use of techniques to steal the timing of the tanker and attacker, even when the two fought together, it created a strange situation where they hindered each other instead.
It showed a great example that defense wasn’t everything for a tanker.

The team that would face Han Seol second watched that match and faced Han Seol’s team with a new strategy.
It was to take a preemptive strike.

Pat!

As soon as the match began, the attacker tried to ambush Seong Yu-ra first by going around Han Seol.
They aimed for the fact that Yoo Jun-sang was very tired from playing duplicate matches and tried to create a 2:2 structure with the dealer and attacker, leaving Han Seol to the tanker.

Of course, they were well aware that their tanker would be pushed back in a 1:1 match with Han Seol.
However, they were confident in dealing with the tired Yoo Jun-sang and taking down Seong Yu-ra before that.

But…

“Ah, seriously! Move out of the way!”

“You think it’s as easy as it sounds? Ugh!”

“What about support fire? Damn it, hurry up and help me!”

It was too naive.
Han Seol toyed with the opponent tanker’s center of gravity and pushed him around at will.
No matter how much the opponent dealer moved to secure a line of sight, it was useless.
By the time the dealer was ready to shoot, Han Seol would unfailingly push the tanker in that direction to block their vision.

In the end, the frustrated dealer started to pour arrows at Han Seol, but that also only had the opposite effect.
Due to Han Seol’s skillful movements and his knack for controlling the opponent tanker, the opponent dealer’s arrows only shredded their own tanker’s back without a single hit on Han Seol.

“Damn it…!”

In the end, even though Yoo Jun-sang was tired, when the situation turned into a 2:1, the opponent attacker couldn’t withstand the combined attack of Yoo Jun-sang and Seong Yu-ra and collapsed. The opposing team declared their surrender before it was too late.
And likewise, Han Seol also declared a forfeit.

It was because Yoo Jun-sang’s stamina couldn’t endure continuing the match any longer.

“I’m sorry. Huff, huff… It would have been better if I had a bit more stamina.”

“It’s unfortunate but can’t be helped. And thank you. For going along with my unreasonable request.”

The glory of 1st place in the group match eventually went to Han Ji-woong’s team, but somehow the person who seemed even more regretful despite winning 1st place was none other than Han Ji-woong.
It was because he wanted to face off against Han Seol again, who had shown tanking abilities superior to his own in a different way.

Of course, it was inevitable that Han Ji-woong’s skills, which had referred to Han Seol’s tanking, would greatly increase later on.