Chapter 41: Hitting Stick around

“Then, top student Kim Yu-won, please come forward.”

This was all Jin Baek-ryong’s fault.

Why did he have to lose to me after collecting more than half the tokens? And honestly, it was absurd that Ha-yeon happened to be watching at that moment.

My Savior of the World trait, which was supposed to help me in everything I do, hadn’t been working as intended lately.

Or was all of this actually helping me in some way?

“Understood.”

Whether I blamed luck or the Savior of the World, the fact remained that I had to go forward.

I sighed softly and rose from my seat, heading to the front.

Standing at the front, Instructor Oh Dong-seok was even larger than I’d thought.

I was quite tall at around 185cm, but he was about a handspan taller.

He must have been around 193cm.

“I watched your match with Jin Baek-ryong during the entrance exam. All the other students watched it too, right?”

“”Yes!””

The voices rang out in unison.

The thought that everyone had seen me thrash Jin Baek-ryong made me incredibly embarrassed.

I hadn’t expected anyone to be watching.

“Your fighting then was perfect. Based on your abundant practical experience, you exploited all of Jin Baek-ryong’s weaknesses, who was still unfamiliar with actual combat, easily defeated him, and smashed his head in. Honestly, I couldn’t have done it like that.”

As the instructor for Practical Combat Training in Class A, which only consisted of top-ranking students, Oh Dong-seok possessed combat power around the mid-to-low S-rank level.

And with the instructor praising me, saying he couldn’t have done what I did, some students’ eyes filled with admiration, while others looked at me with envy.

I had experienced such gazes at the Demonic Arts Academy, so this was less embarrassing.

It wasn’t strange for them to look at someone ahead of them with admiration or envy.

However, only those who didn’t get caught up in those feelings and instead set their sights on that person as a goal, striving to move forward, could truly improve.

I sincerely hoped these students would do the same.

‘You need to become stronger so I can retire and relax.’

The more skilled Hunters there were, the safer the world would be, and my retirement life would be much more comfortable.

To that end, cheering them on was a small price to pay.

“You flatter me. Other students will be able to do the same if they learn from the instructor.”

Humbling myself while praising the instructor and the other students. I was the very image of a well-mannered student with excellent character.

But the instructor shook his head and spoke.

“I’m saying this because I’m not good at lying, but even if other students experience and learn practical combat for three years, it would be impossible for them to reach your level. Remember that excessive humility can be poisonous.”

‘Hey, what am I supposed to be if you say it like that?’

He subtly made me out to be someone who had reached a realm unattainable by other students even after three years of effort.

Of course, no one would actually catch up to me, but shouldn’t the instructor be more careful with his words?

“Still! If you can even reach half of Kim Yu-won’s level, you’ll rarely be seriously injured or die in Gates or dungeons. This instructor can guarantee that.”

If half of me was at that level, then what level was I at? I wanted to give the instructor a knuckle sandwich for endlessly raising the bar of my perceived abilities.

“And some people saw yesterday’s match, while others didn’t.”

There would have been an alarm about the ranking match, but that didn’t mean everyone had to watch it.

Still, unless they were extremely tired, I figured most would have watched.

‘How could anyone resist watching a fight?’

“Although there was an incident midway, the process of the match up until that point remains. To describe Kim Yu-won’s performance until then… it was simply overwhelming.”

Overwhelming.

Everyone nodded at that description.

“From the beginning to the end of the match, there wasn’t a single moment where Wang Wei could make a move. No matter what methods he used, Wang Wei wouldn’t have been able to defeat Kim Yu-won. And that’s Wang Wei, who possesses high A-rank power.”

‘Stop!’

My head spun from the endless praise.

“I thought his main focus was unarmed combat, but he was also skilled in spear techniques. Especially that spear technique, which hinted at boundless potential, contained an overwhelming aura just from watching.”

He was talking about the Universal Spear Technique.

The miraculous product of a man who had wielded a spear his entire life in another world, sparring with every spearman and gathering the essence of all spear techniques.

It contained an unfathomable depth that even I struggled to fully comprehend.

Of course, if I dedicated myself to spear training, I might understand it and reach a new realm of spear mastery, but I had no intention of doing so.

‘I’m already dying from honing what I’m already good at, where would I find the time to train in spear techniques?’

Well, it was true that the spear was my second best weapon. If I could use other weapon techniques at the beginning level of the Transformation Realm, then my spear skills were at the fully developed level of the Transformation Realm.

Anyway, there wasn’t a weapon I couldn’t handle.

“His physical abilities have already surpassed student levels. Wang Wei, whose Strength stat seemed to be around 70, even reinforced his body with energy, but Yu-won overpowered him with pure strength.”

As expected of an instructor, he’d caught that detail. He’d noticed that I was overpowering Wang Wei without even using energy.

“Well, everyone already knows how amazing Kim Yu-won is, so I don’t need to say more…”

‘You just gave a passionate speech about it, and now you’re saying that?’

It was too much, trying to quietly back down after portraying me as some kind of monstrous prodigy.

“I’ll be taking requests from anyone who wants to spar with Kim Yu-won. It’ll be a very valuable experience.”

I had the honor of taking the first sparring match of the first class. I really wanted to quit being the top student. Watching the hands go up, I sighed.

Every single student in Class A wanted to spar with me. They were all raising their hands and looking at me.

‘This isn’t how I wanted to be popular…’

All 29 of them wanted to fight me.

“Since everyone raised their hands, I’ll randomly choose one person.”

He took out his phone and spun a roulette wheel numbered from 2 to 30. The number that came up was 6.

“Rank 6. Yoo Seung-ah has been chosen. We can’t spar in this classroom, so let’s all move to the training grounds.”

If we sparred in the classroom, it would definitely be destroyed.

The students all rose from their seats and followed the instructor to the training grounds.

“We met in the classroom today because it was the first class, but for my future classes, come directly to the training grounds. Got it?”

“”Yes.””

After everyone responded, the instructor spoke again.

“Then, Kim Yu-won and Yoo Seung-ah, please face each other in the center of the training grounds.”

It was time.

We separated from the other students and faced each other in the center of the training grounds.

Both of us were in our school uniforms, so it didn’t look like we were about to spar.

‘Well, the academy uniform doesn’t hinder sparring at all.’

With its auto-repair function, it was much better to spar in the uniform than in other clothes.

“It says Yoo Seung-ah uses a staff.”

He took out a metal staff from among the training weapons and handed it to Seung-ah.

“Kim Yu-won… it says you use everything. What weapon will you be using?”

I actually wrote “everything” because it was true, but someone might think it was a joke.

“I’ll also use a staff.”

Actually, fighting bare-handed was best, but if the weapon I clashed with shattered because I wasn’t using one, it would be a disaster.

Especially since this wasn’t a virtual space, I’d have to compensate for any weapons I broke.

“Oh… You know how to use a staff too?”

I’d seen and stolen a few techniques from that old man, Gaegeolgae Mupung.

It was a fairly famous staff technique called the Beggar’s Staff.

As I’d said, I could use it at the beginning level of the Transformation Realm.

Seung-ah and I, having received our weapons, both equipped our mana bracers.

The same ones we’d worn during the match with Wang Wei.

The match would end if we took too many hits exceeding a certain impact threshold.

“Good luck, Yu-won.”

“Same to you.”

We faced each other, staffs in hand.

Come to think of it, this was the first time sparring with her since revealing my true strength.

One of my goals was for Seung-ah to break free from her limitations.

For that, I needed to teach her rigorously.

I swung the staff around to get used to the feel.

Since it had been a long time since I’d held a staff, I needed to familiarize myself with it.

‘Ah. This is how it’s done.’

I remembered the Beggar’s Staff technique.

[Skill: Beggar’s Staff acquired.]

‘It’s not really mine, but I’ll use it well.’

The Demonic Sect’s techniques were mine, and the Righteous Sect’s techniques were mine too.

Seung-ah’s techniques were closer to the Righteous Sect’s, so this would be more helpful.

“Then, begin.”

The moment the instructor declared the start, we charged at each other, staffs raised.