Ch.5555. Training Camp

Baek Jin-hyuk, one of the executives of the Goigeop Group, contacted Eun Se-rin.

“You haven’t betrayed us, have you? Even if Dokgo Jun is watching, the White Dragon Guild itself has backed off now. If you keep ignoring our calls like this, you’ll regret it.”

[I don’t particularly recall regretting anything? And Dokgo Jun may not appear in front of me, but he’s assigned surveillance. If I do anything suspicious, I’ll get caught. Can’t you think of that?]

“You’re really afraid of Dokgo Jun, aren’t you? Are his underlings scary too? Our plan being distorted is what matters.”

[That’s why you should have been careful. You barged in recklessly, and that’s what happened.]

At her nonchalant response, Baek Jin-hyuk shouted.

“Are you playing games? Your only value is your research and your body! And you’re not helping with either? Does that make any sense? You were the one who instigated the Sung Min-woo incident in the first place. We’ve been sacrificing all along. You need to help us now. Whether with your body or something else.”

[Men… You say such filthy things under the guise of anger, and that’s why you’re despised. How nice would it be if you could say something foolish but pleasant like that boy.]

“What?”

The voice coming through the phone was difficult to understand.

“Show us your loyalty. How long are you going to avoid our Goigeop Group using Dokgo Jun as an excuse?”

[You’re persistent. Fine, shall I tell you about a good target for an attack? This time, we’re having a training camp with the lower-ranked class.]

“Oh. So we can proceed with the Academy attack plan again?”

Baek Jin-hyuk was intrigued. The plan to attack the Academy and create chaos by revealing the existence of ‘monsters’ had already fallen through. But it seems possible in another way.

[But if the White Dragon Guild shows up, that plan will easily crumble too. So I want to shake off the White Dragon Guild’s surveillance ‘officially’ while I’m at it.]

“Is that possible?”

To the puzzled Baek Jin-hyuk, a sneering laugh came through.

[You lack imagination. Anyway, wait. There’s a kid named Do Jong-hyun coming to this camp who, like me, has White Dragon Guild surveillance on him. You need to assess the situation.]

“So we identify the personnel and strike at the right time?”

[Of course. The camp lasts 10 days, so you have plenty of time. You’ll work in shifts, right? And then you kill the one who looks weakest. That way, the connection with the White Dragon Guild will disappear for that day.]

This would allow them to run wild. It suited Baek Jin-hyuk’s desire to shock everyone by turning people into monsters.

‘But shaking off the White Dragon Guild’s surveillance? This is just temporary. How does she plan to officially drive away the White Dragon Guild?’

Whatever the means, an opportunity had presented itself.

“We’ll slaughter them all.”

Baek Jin-hyuk left, delighted.

*

The training camp naturally takes place in a different setting. We went to a mountain where there aren’t many people around.

It reminds me of the mountain running training at the old Taereung Athletic Village, but the actual training content was different.

“What you need to do is not about technique or forced perseverance. It’s all about skill. Going back to basics and building up properly. With thoroughly verified theory!”

Instructor Oh Ju-hwan’s voice rings in our ears.

We started our first training under the natural shade that blocks the heat.

Right now, we’re all sitting in meditation to practice the most basic mana circulation.

Even I, known to have no summoning spirit, am doing it.

For reference, even without a summoning spirit, mana exists.

That’s why I passed the Jaeger aptitude test.

The problem is that without a summoning spirit, you can’t grow properly.

“Hoo.”

I check the flow of mana while meditating. Like how a shock to still water creates ripples in all directions, mana works the same way.

It’s about disturbing the mana in the body to make it circulate.

The basic goal of this class is to make that circulation faster and more efficient.

Before my regression, no matter how much I wanted to increase my mana, it wouldn’t grow beyond a certain point.

Without a summoning spirit, having mana is meaningless. It’s as if the summoning spirit grows by using mana as payment.

But after regression, I have a summoning spirit. Objectively speaking, I can now circulate and grow mana just like everyone else.

Still, becoming stronger in human form is just a dream.

My mana doesn’t seem to be growing much despite having a summoning spirit.

Maybe it’s related to how I get stronger regardless of mana after transformation.

“Visualize your summoning spirit’s weapon! Show me how you can utilize it freely!”

Still, if I can improve even a little on my weakness, that wouldn’t be bad.

Since I have a summoning spirit now, with consistent practice, I might surpass the reinforcement suit (D-rank).

As I’m diligently circulating mana, Oh Ju-hwan stands in front of me.

“Hmm?”

Hearing his questioning tone, I immediately stopped circulating mana.

“I felt something there. Do Jong-hyun. If you try a little more, you might connect with your summoning spirit.”

Oh Ju-hwan walks away. So he felt my mana.

Let me say it again, my current setting in others’ eyes is that I’m a loser without even a summoning spirit.

If my mana circulates abnormally high… wouldn’t that raise suspicion?

Oh Ju-hwan’s class excluded theory or sparring.

Using basketball as an example, it’s like practicing handling the ball before learning fancy dribbling.

At school, they just advise us to do this on our own because there are other curricula to cover.

Well, there’s a lot to do in three years. Plus, it’s so basic that they emphasize consistent review rather than directing us to squeeze out mana circulation like this.

“Sigh.”

My concentration momentarily wavers. If I maintain mana circulation and they discover I have a summoning spirit, I’m doomed.

In the end, I spent the time pretending to try and then giving up.

Thanks to that, I completely wasted the day. While the others leave satisfied, I’m just disappointed.

Next comes dinner. At 5:30 PM, we all headed to the rented mountain lodge’s dining hall.

“I thought they’d work us to death on the first day.”

As dinner time approached, we gathered in the kitchen. We’re cooking our own meals.

The menu? Like real men, we all shared ramen with spam cooked in a large pot.

“This feels like camping.”

Kim Cheon-gi from the same lower-ranked class smiles as he eats the steaming ramen.

“It really does. I wonder if we’ll have a campfire after this? Maybe the instructor will treat us to something delicious?”

“Hey, why are there only guys here?”

“It’s because of you, idiot!”

Laughter and chatter fill the air. This is different. A feeling I never experienced before regression.

It feels like my relationships with classmates, which were blocked because of Geum Do-hyun, are being rebuilt.

But amidst this atmosphere, I could feel one intense gaze.

Min Gang-su. He’s here too. We haven’t had any contact since he got injured back then, but it seems he applied for this camp as well.

His eyes are sharp.

Well, there’s no sparring here, just repetitive basic training.

The chance of an accident is zero.

After dinner, we have time to review what we learned today.

“Do Jong-hyun. I saw your mana ripple momentarily. You can do more!”

I diligently acted like an underachiever, making Oh Ju-hwan’s encouragement seem wasted.

It was past 8 PM when the day’s schedule ended. With nothing to do at the lodge, we relaxed by fiddling with our phones.

“We’ll have to take the Jaeger rank test someday. Look at these success stories.”

“I really want to join one of the top three guilds…”

Amidst the various dreams being shared, I got up from my seat.

“Hey, where are you going? They said not to wander around.”

“I’ll just be right behind the lodge.”

Near the lodge, I started circulating mana. I’m doing what I couldn’t do in front of Oh Ju-hwan.

The sensation of mana spreading and enveloping my body. A unique feeling of being submerged in water dominates.

I can imagine it. An endless ocean depth. In that darkness, I see rippling waves, and within those waves, a massive monster…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, I opened my eyes in shock. What did I just see?

I was just concentrating and circulating mana, why am I having such delusions?

As I focused and surrendered to the mana, I felt an immense fear that I don’t even want to think about.

“A monster that massive doesn’t exist.” Not even in the doomed future.

It must be a creation of my imagination. Maybe it’s because I have a monster summoning spirit.

As I tried to concentrate again, suddenly the guys started coming out in droves.

“What? What’s going on?”

Did I do something strange? I looked at them in confusion, only to see them all starting to meditate beside me.

“Why did you all come out?”

“Do Jong-hyun, you bastard. Trying to practice alone again? We won’t let you!”

“You think you’re the only one who can do extra practice? We’ll join you.”

The guys just misunderstood, thinking I was practicing again.

There’s some misunderstanding here? I’m just doing what I couldn’t do properly during class.

I was bored out of my mind, but these guys are all fired up with competitive spirit.

“So this is how you got so good, by practicing alone all the time?”

“As expected of the top student.”

I was receiving unexpected praise. I’m not as diligent as you think. I’m just doing now what I couldn’t do properly in class.

“So dedicated. Do Jong-hyun! Don’t you ever rest?”

“There’s a reason the advanced class wants to take him.”

Everyone starts using mana around me, creating a lively atmosphere.

What is this?

And Min Gang-su is staring at me with burning eyes.

“Yeah, I can do that much too!”

He’s unnecessarily firing up his pride. No, it’s a misunderstanding.

At that moment, I heard footsteps. We’re all here, so who could it be?

The question was simple. It was Oh Ju-hwan, watching us from a distance with a pleased expression.

“…”

I stopped thinking about it. What matters is that everyone is working hard together, right?

I stopped circulating mana and just spent the time.

*

It was exactly the ninth day. Nearing the end of the camp. We were doing jogging training.

Instead of the harsh training you see in manga during camps, this was a methodical approach to mana circulation while jogging, which we started yesterday.

After getting used to mana circulation while sitting still, we moved to walking, and then running.

The more you can control mana while moving vigorously, the larger the ripples of circulating mana become, and the more easily you can extract mana.

This was also difficult to hide, so I’ve been managing by slightly adjusting and revealing my mana.

Jogging is the final training.

Oh Ju-hwan was leading, and we were following like chicks when suddenly he stopped. Then he shouted loud enough to pierce our eardrums.

“Everyone stop!”

At this point, we couldn’t even grasp what was happening.

We only knew that Oh Ju-hwan’s voice had turned very fierce.

Right at that moment, a powerful pressure spread around us.

As we felt the weight pressing on our bodies, three shadows appeared around Oh Ju-hwan.

“…!”

They were all dressed in black.

I don’t recognize one of them, but I know the other two. Why? Because they’re from the White Dragon Guild.

“No way! Sun Ji-hu and Lee Mi-yeon from the White Dragon Guild? Why are both of them here?”

“Aren’t they here to check on us?”

“Everyone run away! Quickly spread the news! While I hold them off!”

Oh Ju-hwan shouted at us again. You might be confused because it’s the White Dragon Guild, but the atmosphere is definitely strange.

While everyone was trying to understand the situation, I shouted.

“Everyone retreat! We need to tell the adults! Go back!”

“But, but they’re the White Dragon Guild… What are you saying… Ahhh!”

At that moment, mana explosions started occurring around the three figures and Oh Ju-hwan.

This is no joke.

We started fleeing in panic.

Looking back, I saw bewildered faces everywhere.

Of course. We were suddenly attacked.

“What’s happening right now?”

“What is this?”

“We’re under attack! Whatever it is, we’re being attacked. Alert the Academy!”

I shouted, and we headed towards our rented lodge.

Meanwhile, explosions continued where Oh Ju-hwan was.

Will he be okay?

Surely Oh Ju-hwan won’t die…

For now, we need to prioritize contacting nearby guilds by phone.

“What, what do we do now?”

“We have no choice but to keep running. It’s 3 against 1. Even Instructor Oh Ju-hwan is in danger!”

Yes, we’re at a disadvantage. Plus, if we assume the White Dragon Guild members are S-rank, and the unknown person is similar, this is extremely difficult.

We ran outside without even grabbing our belongings.

We can’t just run away like this. I fingered my main card and shouted.

“Scatter!”

“Scatter?”

“If we all run in the same direction, we’re more likely to be chased! We need to scatter and survive as much as possible.”

In this urgent situation, we started dispersing down the slope.

One by one they scattered, and I pretended to run away but then dashed towards where Oh Ju-hwan was.

And there, I met an unknown man.

“Are you Do Jong-hyun?”

I could tell at a glance that he was targeting me.

Without further ado, I pulled out my main card and prepared to fight.