Chapter 11: School Life is Sick! (6)

“Those punks are acting out.”

I’m not the least bit scared of those brats. What are they gonna do? Think they’ll stab me with a knife? A hero is, by definition, a hero. From what I’ve looked up online, superhumans who commit heinous crimes are treated as villains.

What’s important for a hero?

Character. Those who resort to violence and insults on a whim can’t possibly remain in the academy for long.

“Damn it.”

Looking back, the ruckus during the entrance ceremony might have been beneficial. After all, it helped me get familiar with the president, which means I could rush to her if I ever get into trouble.

President Heukyacha, judging by her personality, seems like someone who wouldn’t tolerate such violence. I’m certain of it. And it doesn’t seem like she’d deny the request of a student she’s beaten down herself. I can still see the bruises she gave me.

Anyway.

“Let’s see.”

I walked up to the kiosk in the training ground and tapped on the power sign displayed at the center of the screen.

Then.

-Clank-

The door locked, and lights lit up above. Ah, I guess I didn’t activate it earlier, so there wasn’t a “In Use” indicator. That’s why those guys got in.

[Loading…]

As I waited for it to load, the screen soon displayed:

-Ding!-

“Hell yeah!!!”

Finally, the shop’s been unlocked! Joy floods in, my heart racing. How do I use this? Since I’ve booked the entire training ground, I should take a moment to check.

“How do I open this? Shop. Shop window.”

Upon saying that.

-Ding-

A familiar hologram-like window appears before me.

[Shop]

[Purchase]

Simple in design.

Without hesitation, I tapped on ‘Purchase’ and was greeted by:

Rows upon rows of question marks.

“What the… why are there only question marks?”

If this was all gacha, I would’ve been furious. I tried clicking on them, but nothing happened.

So it wasn’t a gacha system.

I quickly scrolled through the hologram window. Almost every slot was filled with a [?]. Are these unlockable items? Like, they’ll become available as I progress further? They must be. Otherwise, the shop makes no sense.

[Stats]

“Ooh.”

The stats section appears.

Does this mean I can use coins to improve my weak stats? If so, that’s a huge win. Without hesitation, I tapped it, revealing:

“This is ridiculous.”

These greedy schemers standardized the prices?

Moreover, they were all three thousand coins. I needed to collect five hundred more to do anything. Looks like I’ll have to gather coins diligently from now on. But considering I’ve only been at the academy for a short while and already accumulated this many coins, perhaps they’re being generous?

“Ryu Chun-hwi.”

The two thousand coins were what I earned after the fight with him. The rest were trivial. So, does that mean Ryu Chun-hwi is a coin machine? I can guess, but there’s no certainty.

From the beginning, I’ve been considering exposing Ryu Chun-hwi’s schemes… However, if he really is a coin machine, maybe it’d be smarter to get on his good side.

Regardless, if I collect enough coins, I too can become stronger. Therefore, I should diligently save up. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can skip on my training. Especially since I’m unaware of the average stats of these hero trainees. I have to give everything I’ve got to catch up.

Training and exercise are crucial, after all.

Ping.

Without hesitation, I closed the shop window and checked the kiosk again.

[Do you wish to start training?]

“Yes.”

Upon selection, a prompt appeared asking for my ID and password… “Do I have to create an account?” I thought, but then remembered my student card. When I logged in with it, my name appeared clearly.

So, with just the student card, I can do all this. Quite convenient. I skimmed through my profile and pressed the start training button.

[Please choose a training type]

“Oh, there are different kinds?”

Quite detailed.

A list appeared.

There were other options, but I only have a sword and the Aura Blade skill, so I chose this.

The variety is intriguing. I carefully read the descriptions. “Bullet Dodge Training”? A description popped up.

-Whether monsters or foes, some love long-range attacks. Dodging or defending against their attacks is one of the most essential skills for a hero.

-Dodge projectiles fired by monsters. Depending on where you’re hit, you’ll lose HP. If your HP reaches 0, the training ends and your score is assessed.

“Thanks for the detailed explanation.”

It seemed like a training to dodge baseballs. From the demo video, it looked intense. The others included a one-on-one hologram monster battle and a wave-style defense game where monsters kept appearing.

The last was a challenge mode, where you climb up by defeating monsters one by one.

“I choose Challenge Mode.”

…

“Of course, I’ll start from level 1.”

Beep.

As soon as I touched the screen,

A loud roar!

“Gah!”

Suddenly, the training ground was enveloped in a brilliant blue light.

“What on earth…!”

It felt as if he had been transported into a digital realm! A space where mysterious blue lights streamed down. As he gazed in wonder, the floor beneath him began to open, revealing some sort of pillar.

“What’s this?”

The pillar split open, producing what appeared to be a weapon. Ah, right. They mentioned something about the enemies being projected as holograms. This must be the specialized training weapon they’d given him for that purpose.

He immediately grasped the training blade. Its design looked incredibly futuristic. But its weight? It felt similar to his own sword.

[Monster Challenge Mode Activated]

“Let’s get started. I want to see this ‘monster’.”

Then…

Vroom.

In the distance, something began to form, like how a 3D printer crafts an object. It took on a sky-blue hue, similar to a futuristic hologram… The technological prowess was impressive.

And as he watched with anticipation, a monster soon took shape before him.

“What the? Is that a squid? With legs?”

The creature was oddly shaped, a cylindrical body topped with tentacle-like appendages. At its base, it had a pair of legs resembling fins.

It stood about a meter tall.

The attention to detail was astonishing, giving it a very lifelike appearance.

“Whoa.”

This is a bit nerve-wracking, isn’t it?

At the same time, the excitement was palpable. Here he was, sword in hand, facing a creature he had to defeat. It felt like an incredibly immersive VR action game. Naturally, his motivation surged.

He couldn’t get hurt anyway. Might as well give it a proper go!

[Starting Up]

“Alright, let’s do this!”

He took a step forward, brandishing his blade.

Did they really think he’d lose to something like this? He had even mastered Taekwondo! With a sword in hand, he felt invincible.

Pitter-patter!

The monster Antazora lunged at him with surprising speed using its fin-like legs.

“Squeeeeek!”

“It talks too?”

The creature was downright bizarre. As if that weren’t enough, it started to stretch out its tentacles from atop its body, preparing to strike him. He adjusted his stance in response to its approach.

“Whoa there!”

He swiftly dodged its charge by sidestepping.

“Squawk!”

Click-click-click.

Upon seeing his evasion, the creature slowed down momentarily before redirecting its attention towards him. Although its speed was considerable, it wasn’t too fast for him to evade. Similarly, the creature wasn’t displaying any overtly agile movements either.

This seems manageable.

Is it because it’s an F-rank monster? Put simply, creatures like these were bottom-tier, mere cannon fodder. Hence, someone like him could handle them.

“Dodge and strike. Nice. Come at me again.”

Whoosh!

No sooner had he spoken than the creature lunged at him once more. Predictably, its speed was still something he could easily counter. Seizing the opportunity, he sidestepped its charge yet again.

“Die!”

He dashed forward, fiercely swinging his sword, casting an attack on the creature!

With a crisp impact, glowing blue particles burst out.

The sword’s handle vibrated intensely, as if he was playing some arcade shooting game. The sensation from the hit was amazing.

At that very moment of awe,

“Argh!”

The creature shot tendrils towards my face! I immediately rolled on the ground, narrowly evading them. Wow, I almost died there. It would have been deadly in a real fight.

“This bastard!”

He quickly got up and charged at the creature, swinging his sword again.

My blade lightly slashed through the creature’s torso. And just like that, it was over. The holographic monster dispersed like a mirage.

[Victory]

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”

Overwhelming joy!!!

“I did itttttttttttt!!!”

I got it!

At least someone like me can defeat an F-rank monster! Knowing more about myself and these monsters, I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment!

“Next one, come out!”

This training ground is going to be so fun! No, it’s seriously going to be super fun! It’s practically a hyper-realistic VR action game, isn’t it?

More than anything, continuously engaging in direct combat in the training ground will naturally improve my physique and boost my stats for sure!

“Starting now, I’ll undergo intensive training, Moonlight Sculptor style!”

Just as one would improve stats by beating up dummies, I plan to increase mine by thrashing these training ground monsters!

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