Chapter 34: First Training (2)
Imdiately after Jin-ho entered the Gourd Yoo jin was holding.
“Since he has Demonic Energy, he won’t die.”
Despite his serious voice, Yoo jin scratched his cheek.
“...Probably?”
***
“Uwaaaaaah!”
A situation that occurred too suddenly.
The feeling of being sucked into the Gourd held in Teacher Yoo jin’s hand.
No, Jin-ho was certain that he had been sucked in.
That is why he scread.
But.
When he suddenly ca to his senses.
“Ugh...”
Only pain, so severe it extinguished his scream, was covering his entire body.
He didn't have the ti to check where this place was.
Or what the surroundings looked like.
Because he couldn't even breathe, let alone stand.
He vividly felt his body, flesh, bones, and cells.
Dying.
It felt like being pricked with a syringe.
Or like being crushed by a rock whose size couldn't be estimated with the eyes.
Pain he had never felt before.
The only thing he strangely and clearly understood was.
That this pain seed endless.
If a strong object struck his body, he would explode, et death, and the pain would disappear.
But this place was not like that.
The unbearable pain persisted, yet he was not dying.
He should die from this level of pain.
Even if it was pain he hadn’t experienced, as a human.
He instinctively knew.
It was as if soone was deliberately preventing him from dying.
“Uh...”
A sound that was neither a groan nor a scream flowed out of his mouth again.
Even as he uttered it, Jin-ho couldn't draw another breath.
His mind was fading.
He couldn't even tell if he was standing, sitting, or lying down.
A voice echoed in his head.
‘You just have to survive.’
The last voice he heard from his teacher.
You can beco stronger than you think.
Enough for a D-class to defeat an A-class.
I can do it, even if others can’t.
The teacher’s voice filled his head, like an indelible mark, even as his mind grew faint.
‘Endure.’
His consciousness blinked on and off, repeating the cycle of appearing and disappearing like a flickering light bulb.
During that mont, the pain crushing his entire body persisted.
However, as ti passed.
The inexplicable pain left questions and stirred up anger.
But there was nothing he could do.
His thoughts spun around and around countless tis, and eventually, he gave up.
No, he beca unable to think.
Like suffering from dentia.
He couldn't even know where he was.
Or why he was here.
A long ti.
It felt like eternity.
One hour?
One day?
One year?
I don't know.
It felt like he had been suffering for a longer ti than all the days he had lived until now.
How much ti passed like that.
Jin-ho couldn’t even recall who he was.
Then.
A figure appeared in Jin-ho's blurred sight.
Faintly visible, like it was covered in a mist.
A silhouette drawing closer and closer.
And in Jin-ho’s sight, the image of a man with the exact sa face as his own appeared.
Himself, wearing magnificent clothes.
No, soone who looked a little older than he was now.
The mont he confird that face.
Jin-ho’s sight, which had been enduring the pain for a long ti, was swallowed by light.
***
Pop!
The light that had filled his sight disappeared.
And his vision returned.
Jin-ho’s eyes slowly opened.
“Uh...”
He could breathe.
“How was it? Your first training?”
At the man’s voice filling his vision, Jin-ho felt his shattered mind being pieced back together.
I see.
He ca back, safely.
Yoo jin was standing in front of Jin-ho.
“I almost died...”
“Today was just a taste.”
“Today...?”
It was strange.
He was clearly not in his right mind.
But he rembered one thing.
A long ti.
The fact that he had suffered for longer than all the years he had lived.
But.
Today?
“You got the feeling, right? If you adapt to that place and endure for a little longer, you’ll naturally beco stronger.”
“Is that... all there is?”
“All there is? What else is there besides that. And you know best. How different that place you were sucked into is from here.”
That’s right.
It was different.
He couldn’t breathe comfortably like this.
And the pain that rushed in, as if to kill him even when he stood still, was there.
“Yes. If you endure well in there for a month without dying, you’ll be strong enough to land a solid hit on Tae-wook. Hmm... In terms of ti, one hour? Yes. If you can stand in there for just one hour.”
“……”
Jin-ho’s expression vanished.
“One hour...? Just one hour? I feel like I was in there for several years...”
Seeing Jin-ho’s face, which was flushed with emotion, Yoo jin let his expression sink.
“Want to tell you sothing chilling?”
Even before Yoo jin’s voice flowed out, goosebumps began to rise on Jin-ho’s body.
“You were only in there for one minute.”
***
Thump.
As soon as he heard Yoo jin’s words, Jin-ho collapsed as if he had fainted.
Ye-na, surprised by the sight, rushed to Jin-ho.
“It’s just a backlash. He’ll be fine after a little sleep.”
It probably wasn't just due to a backlash.
One minute.
He couldn't believe that fact.
The process of unilaterally awakening the Demonic Energy sleeping inside his body.
He was thrown into the heart of a place with highly concentrated Demonic Energy.
Since Jin-ho couldn’t even control Demonic Energy, he naturally couldn’t even breathe.
It must have been even more painful than throwing a person who can’t swim into the deep sea.
It was the process of making his body aware of the Demonic Energy inside, and simultaneously reassembling his physique so that it could withstand the Demonic Energy.
“It reminds of the old days, when I was trapped inside the cauldron.”
Yoo jin, who suddenly recalled an incident from the Otherworld, smiled gently.
Despite his expression, it was a painful mory.
Yoo jin’s gaze turned toward Jin-ho lying on the ground.
“Endure well. If my eyes are accurate, you will be able to do it.”
A flicker of light crossed Yoo jin’s eyes.
Clap clap!
“Alright! Leave Jin-ho as he is for now. Co here, it’s your turn now.”
Ye-na shivered at Yoo jin’s voice.
Her face was pale.
“Don’t worry, I won’t eat you.”
“Will I beco like Jin-ho too?”
“You don’t have to worry. Your training is completely different. You won’t beco like that.”
Ye-na, who let out an exhale of relief, approached Yoo jin.
“Alright! Then, before the main training, I’ll explain why I chose this training thod for you, and what your goal-orientation for the training should be. Because training with understanding and training without it is a world of difference.”
“Yes!”
Yoo jin raised one finger.
“First, we’ll postpone practical things like combat techniques or ways to kill an enemy. Because there’s sothing we need to do first.”
“Sothing to do first?”
“Shall I give you an easy example? Do you know what the scariest thing is in boxing? The most powerful attack, shall we say?”
“Hmm... A punch that carries the body weight?”
“Oh? That’s a surprisingly good answer.”
“Is that the right answer?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not the right answer.”
“Aww...”
“You don’t have to be discouraged. It was a more sensible answer than I expected.”
Even if he asked ten people on the street, less than half would give the answer that ca from Ye-na’s mouth.
Interest in boxing, a sport that died out as the Awakening Era began, had dwindled, and initially, very few ordinary people seriously considered attacking others.
Even if she’s a kid, is it because she's an Awakened one?
Yoo jin smiled and gave the answer.
“The right answer is the punch you don’t see.”
“A punch you don’t see?”
“Yes, to be precise, the punch you don’t perceive. Whether it’s a blind spot, or you didn’t anticipate it. If you are hit by a punch you haven’t prepared for, ten out of ten people are knocked out.”
“Ah...”
Ye-na’s eyes widened.
“In that sense, your Unique Skill, which even I couldn’t accurately perceive, is like a cheat key that can always land a punch you don’t see.”
“Cheat key...”
“As you know, once you beco a Hunter, you have to risk your life every day. Because there are no protected square rings like in sports.”
Her soft face, still retaining her baby fat.
A serious expression appeared on her young face, which had only been cheerful.
Clench.
Ye-na’s hands were clenched.
“I already knew that since I enrolled in school.”
“Whew!”
Yoo jin whistled and smiled.
“That’s good guts. Then, considering everything I’ve said so far, do you need to be physically strong?”
“No.”
A firm answer ca back.
“Although there is a slight difference, I don’t think I need to be strong. If I follow your words, I win not by fighting, but by killing the enemy without them even knowing a fight occurred.”
Snap!
Yoo jin snapped his fingers.
Behind the clear, crisp sound, Yoo jin gave a thumbs-up.
“Good. That’s accurate. Always rember what you just said. You’re not fighting; you’re secretly killing.”
Ye-na’s head moved up and down.
“Well, I made it sound scary. But the target you kill won’t be human. It might be a monster in a Dungeon. Or even if it is human, I expect you to beco strong enough to suppress them without killing them.”
“Yes!”
Yoo jin placed his hand on top of Ye-na’s head, who was wearing a bright expression.
“You’re going to be the Only One, not the Number One.”
“Only One...”
“Not the best, but rather, an irreplaceable person, shall we say. Yes, you’ll beco a Maker yourself.”
“Ooh! Maker Assassin.”
“Yes! Maker Assassin!”
“From today, my dream is to be an Assassin!”
Ye-na raised both hands high, wearing a childlike expression.
And Yoo jin watched this.
Yoo jin’s expression was.
“……”
Sinking.
When he first called her an Assassin, seeing her and Jin-ho get excited, he thought he felt a strange emotion in his heart.
Now Yoo jin realized why he felt that emotion back then.
‘Assassin.’
A sweet 18-year-old.
A good student who is a little clumsy and cannot ignore those who ask for help.
A female student who laughs more than anyone says, ‘My dream is to be an Assassin!’
At this rate, this kid might greet him every day by saying, ‘My dream is to be an Assassin!’
Shiver!
As that image was drawn in Yoo jin’s head, his body trembled with repulsion.
‘Am I going to get complaint calls from education organizations? Or even from Company N.’
He thought he should change the word, even if only for the sake of adult circumstances.
Cutely.
Like a nickna.
Yoo jin opened his lips.
“But now that I think about it, Assassin... Hah... Telling my student to beco an Assassin is a bit much.”
“I just won’t kill people.”
“Ah, but the nuance is still a bit off. Assassin... Assassin... Hmm, is there nothing to replace it with.”
“An Assassin is an Assassin, what is there to replace, Teacher.”
“Wait a minute, it’s almost coming to ...”
“Hmm... I like Assassin, though. It’s cool. It sounds like soone from the underworld.”
“That’s what I an, no! Hah...”
Yoo jin held his head and shook it from side to side.
“First, let’s both think of a nickna for the next training session.”
“Well, if you say so, Teacher.”
Ye-na smiled sweetly.
Seeing that face, Yoo jin was even more.
Afraid of his student greeting him with, ‘From today, my dream is to be an Assassin!’
“Anyway. Then, to the main point! Use your ability now.”
“Right now?”
“What do you an, right now? We need to train now.”
No sooner had Yoo jin finished speaking than Ye-na slowly closed her eyes.
A look of concentration.
And right after.
Swoosh!
Ye-na’s figure disappeared.
“Even knowing she’s right in front of , it’s still amazing. I can’t feel anything.”
If he used the ability tied to his eyes, he could detect her, but only Yoo jin could use that.
From the perspective of other humans or monsters, he thought no one would be able to see through this child’s skill.
Still.
‘As a teacher, I should be able to grasp her ability to so extent, right?’
Yoo jin exhaled deeply and focused his mind.
He circulated the Demonic Energy in his body just slightly.
Then...
Wobble wobble.
The space in front of Yoo jin’s sight shimred, like a heat haze.
‘It doesn’t seem to be completely invisible. Is the principle to rge the body with the surroundings? Like placing a clear sheet of glass?’
He didn't know if it was perfectly correct, but Yoo jin had grasped his student’s ability to so degree.
Then.
“How long can you stay hidden in this state?”
“Uh, uh... About five minutes?”
“Five minutes?”
Yoo jin was surprised by the longer ti than he expected.
It might be a short ti in absolute terms, but five minutes is a long ti in combat.
“I see. Then, move.”
“Pardon? Uh... that is...”
“What are you doing? Move. Let see what kind of quality cos out when you move.”
“I, that is...”
Despite Yoo jin’s voice, Ye-na only repeated the sa words.
“You, surely...”
Tap!
A small sound of footsteps was heard.
Pop!
Ye-na’s figure began to reveal itself in the air.
“Haha... It cancels if I move.”
Assassin, my foot.
She still had a long, long way to go.
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