A month has passed since I took the Hunter qualification exam. The despair I had first felt at the Seongnam Memorial had been mostly set aside.
The anger I held toward the monsters still burned clearly in my heart, but I hadn’t spent my life so poorly that I would be swayed by that emotion.
“Let’s raise my value a bit.”
Before, I moved with only one goal: save this doomed world, and I can go home. Whether I gained recognition or not didn’t matter. I wasn’t planning to stay here anyway.
But now, I have two goals.
I’ll destroy every Erosion Core on the surface and while I’m at it, I’ll make sure to claim what’s rightfully mine. After all, I have to keep living here.
‘I need to live a good life.’
To do that, I have to put on a good show in this ridiculous tournament and produce solid results.
“Hunter candidate Yoo Chan-seok.”
I was no longer Lee Hyun-seok, but Yoo Chan-seok. Since my body had changed, that was only natural.
“Yes.”
I stood and followed the guide to the center of the arena, where many eyes were watching.
― Inflicting serious injuries or causing loss of life is prohibited. If no clear winner emerges, the hunters from various guilds watching this match will decide the victor.
Lives were too valuable to waste here. I gripped the provided spear in my hand.
― The match begins now.
I lightly kicked the spear up with my foot. My opponent was also wielding a spear.
“Come at me!”
He ran his hand along his spear, and flames burst forth from his touch.
What a coincidence. My own specialty has a similar appearance. I looked at his spear, then readied my stance and took a deep breath.
With the breath, I channeled the faint mana flowing into my lungs into my body and the spear. The guy scoffed as he saw me.
“Huh, I thought I'd never seen you at the academy and now I know why. You’re a total nobody.”
“Oh yeah, I heard there’s a daycare center for kids like you.”
I considered applying, but the age limit didn’t fit me.
“Daycare center, huh?”
He muttered that, then gave me a look of utter disbelief.
“Let’s see you get beat by a daycare kid then.”
“Just don’t go crying to your teacher after getting your ass kicked.”
With that extra bit of taunt, the fight began.
“What kind of spear…?”
Technique is that? After seeing his straightforward attack, I sighed, dropped my spear, and while evading, landed a few solid punches into his gut.
“Guh... urgh!”
I was almost embarrassed that I was using my spear against him.
The mana he had built up was about the level of a novice knight in the other world. But his skill and application? Not even close.
Fifteen years of practice, he said? Compared to the ones who spent centuries obsessing over mana, of course he’d fall short.
“Just think of it as getting hit by a truck.”
To make sure he stayed down, I threw two more punches. One to the chest, one to the head, then turned my back on him and walked out of the arena without looking back.
* * *
The fire in Lee Se-eun’s pipe had long gone out. It needed to be puffed regularly to stay lit, but she hadn’t touched it in a while.
She watched the loser coughing on the ground, then silently flipped through the participant list.
“Yoo Chan-seok. Applied a month ago, never even came near the academy.”
She tapped the pipe to empty the ashes and muttered,
“His previous job was... an intern at a logistics company? What the hell is this guy?”
Where did this monster even come from?
“He has almost no mana built up. That movement just now was impressive, but…”
With a flick, Lee Se-eun pulled out a piece of taffy from her pocket and tossed it at her assistant.
Candy meant praise. Taffy meant scolding. The assistant shut their mouth immediately.
“He’s not lacking mana, he’s choosing not to accumulate it. But how is that possible?”
The word genius flashed through her mind. She spoke with conviction.
“I want to see him use a spear.”
He held one at the start, which meant it’s his main weapon. Beating his opponent with fists means that guy wasn’t even worthy of making him draw it.
“If it’s Han Sang-ah, the person Team Leader of team 1 was interested in, won’t that guy use his spear?”
Lee Se-eun shook her head firmly. She’d already seen Han Sang-ah’s skills.
“Not a chance. That guy’s going to keep using his fists.”
They were on completely different levels. After some thought, Lee Se-eun stood up, brushed her pants off, and straightened her clothes.
“I’m going to have to see the Association President.”
The other guilds were probably calculating in their heads right now.
“While they’re still calculating...”
Lee Se-eun preferred quick decisions and immediate action.
“President.”
“Ah, Lee Se-eun. What brings you here?”
An older, round-faced man doffed his fedora upon seeing her, smiling as brightly as his shiny bald head. Lee Se-eun spoke.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Depending on the favor, my answer might change…”
Lee Se-eun replied casually,
“You know the Hunter selection that’s going on? I’d like to personally train the final winner.”
The Association President looked surprised for a moment, then smiled and responded,
“You’re interested in that Yoo Chan-seok fellow, I presume?”
“Yes.”
Of course a man of his position would’ve heard of the sudden appearance of such an unusual candidate.
“Until the duel, our attention was on someone else, though.”
“Well, she’s not useless either, but the comparison isn’t even close between them.”
The President stroked his chin in thought.
“The other companies might have something to say.”
“Screw them. A scout’s job is to act fast.”
If the others were too slow, that was their fault, not Lee Se-eun’s for making a move.
Besides, this bald man wasn’t incompetent enough to be swayed by such petty complaints.
“Understood. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you, I’ll leave it in your hands.”
Her business done, Lee Se-eun turned to leave.\
* * *
One by one, I defeated every opponent I faced.
What on earth were they teaching at the academy?
“Trying to bloom without growing roots.”
Like trying to cook short rib soup when you can’t even boil ramen. It’s sad, really.
They had only just begun to feel and use mana, yet already they relied on it for everything.
“You.”
Finally, only one opponent remained, a young woman with a sword, her eyes filled with a hint of hostility.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“….”
She didn’t respond, but I could see the curiosity in her gaze.
I looked her up and down and clicked my tongue.
“You’ve built up quite a bit of mana.”
I could feel the strong energy stored in her body. She looked young. Could someone that age accumulate so much mana? She replied calmly,
“You, on the other hand, have nothing. You got this far on luck, but luck won’t carry you anymore.”
“My goodness, where did you find such an unoriginal line?”
And for the record, it’s not that I can’t gather mana, I’m choosing not to.
“You haven’t even awakened your unique ability, have you?”
“Unique ability, huh.”
When one’s understanding of mana deepens, they awaken a power rooted in their soul, like breathing fire or teleportation.
I have one too of course. But I only use mana to enhance my body for one simple reason. If I used my real ability, it would cause irreversible consequences.
I’m not some psycho butcher who hunts people down. I’m not about to cripple someone just for being rude you know?
― The match begins now.
At the sound of the signal, she took her stance, one hand on the sheath, the other resting lightly on the hilt.
I frowned.
“Of all sword styles, why Iaido?”
Iaido, or quick-draw slashing. It’s fine for ambushes, but in a head-on duel like this? It’s laughably dumb.
“Hap.”
At the same time she took a breath in, her mana surged into the sheath, sparks of pale electricity crackling.
Lightning. I immediately understood her plan thanks to my combat experience.
“Oh, so that’s what you’re doing.”
She was channeling electricity through the blade and sheath to magnetize them.
Using that, she could add electromagnetic force to her draw, basically like a railgun.
“You must’ve worked hard on that. You’re the best one I’ve seen today.”
It’s a technique born of long thought, no doubt.
“I won’t kill you at least.”
With that, she lunged forward and unleashed a slash like a bolt of lightning.It was fast and powerful.
“What…?!”
But I obviously wasn’t going to be hit. Her blade cut through the air, barely missing my chest.
“You have to use a move that you can actually hit opponents with. And you’re way too overconfident for your skill level.”
She had put everything into that one strike, Mana, body weight, all of it.
When it missed, it left her wide open. She hadn’t even considered that I might dodge.
And for that arrogance, her reward was my fist aimed squarely at her stomach.
“Agh…!”
She barely managed to gather the remaining mana to shield herself, but my punch sent her flying backward.
“But, that was an unavoidable attack.”
“Faster, stronger. That’s what you were aiming for, right?”
I stepped back, bounced lightly on my feet, and clicked my tongue.
“You focused too much on just that.”
She had even laid magnetic rails in the air to further accelerate her draw.
But that only telegraphed her attack path before she even swung. A textbook telegraph punch. Who in their right mind would just stand there and take it?
“...”
She reset her stance, this time not attempting another quick draw.
At least she wasn’t stupid enough to try the same move twice.
“I can beat you with proper swordplay.”
“Is that your dream? Well, in dreams, anything’s possible.”
She charged, slashing rapidly. Her training was evident.
I respected that. My physical stats were far below hers, so I loosened my grip.
I flowed with the rhythm of her strikes, disrupting her balance.
Her blade never touched me, it only sliced through air.
“Aaaaahhh!”
Frustrated, she forced herself to draw on more mana.
Any more fighting would hurt her. It was time to end this.
“...”
I didn’t watch the blade. Instead I focused on her body. The sword only moves when they do. I study when and how the sword will move with their starting movement.
It was now.
I slapped the flat part of her blade with my palm, knocking it upward and exposing her torso.
“If it hurts, raise your left hand.”
Not that it’ll change anything.