3-Star

Day broke.

After finishing morning training with Ryu Jia and taking another shower, Lee Dojin headed to combat class 1.

As soon as he opened the door, countless gazes shot towards him.

It had been like this for the month since academy life began, but today the gazes were particularly persistent.

The reason was clear.

It was because of the power he showed in yesterday’s mock dungeon exam.

Until now, the attention had been due to his position as freshman representative, but now it was attention accompanied by a real reason.

Envy and jealousy from many.

And awe from a few.

Lee Dojin calmly received those gazes.

And there was just one completely innocent gaze.

“Friend! Thanks to you, our group got 7th place in the mock dungeon exam. Though it looks like I’ll be taking all the points except for the group members’.”

It was Park Seong-gu.

Lee Dojin said in a low voice.

“That’s good.”

“Yeah! I’ll remember this in my head. As a benefactor I have to help out at least once no matter what.”

“Just buy me a meal sometime.”

“Come on, it’s disappointing if I just repay with a meal.”

Park Seong-gu passed by, and Lee Dojin was about to sit down, but another man blocked his way.

The man who was Lee Dojin’s final opponent in the last hour of person-to-person combat.

It was Kang Chan-hyung, son of the Fist King, one of the Ten Existences.

“Hey, I learned a lot. Yesterday. We’ll probably fight again soon.”

“If you want.”

Despite Lee Dojin’s answer lacking any particular emotion, Kang Chan-hyung didn’t seem to mind and just smiled as he passed by.

Today was the day to attend the class of the instructor in charge.

Lee Dojin headed to Sword Empress Yoo Seol-ah’s villa with Baek Hwayeon.

“Congratulations on getting first place in the mock dungeon exam, Student Lee Dojin.”

Sword Empress Yoo Seol-ah said as she hugged Baek Hwayeon from behind.

“Why, why are you hugging me? I got second place!”

The red-haired Yoo Seol-ah gently stroked Baek Hwayeon’s light pink hair.

“If I develop a habit of hugging grown men, I might end up on the front page of hunter news someday. But there’s no problem with hugging my disciple.”

After finishing her words, Yoo Seol-ah let go of Baek Hwayeon and went into the villa’s storage room to bring out something.

It was a small circular mechanical device.

Yoo Seol-ah handed that object to Lee Dojin.

“What is this?”

“It’s a battle suit. But with nanotechnology added.”

“Nanotechnology?”

“Try wearing it once.”

Following Yoo Seol-ah’s words, Lee Dojin attached the small circular device to the center of his chest.

Click-!

A soft blue light flowed from the core of the circular device.

Black armor began to cover his entire body.

It looked extremely solid on the outside, and accordingly, it seemed like it would naturally be very heavy, but whether due to magical engineering lightening, it weighed no different from ordinary leather.

“It even has a function to detect incoming damage and concentrate defense.”

Lee Dojin really liked this battle suit that wrapped around and properly secured his prayer beads.

At this level, it seemed like the prayer beads wouldn’t come off unless the battle suit itself became useless.

“It also has a function to greatly enhance strength for a short time.”

Lee Dojin no longer had time to marvel.

He could only affirm one thing.

“…It must be expensive.”

Very much so.

Yoo Seol-ah smiled brightly at Lee Dojin’s words as if it was nothing.

“It’s a gift. First place in the mock dungeon exam. Since you completed the mock dungeon so perfectly, there would be no problem if you were deployed to a dungeon right now. You’ll probably be able to wear that suit for several years. Because it’s considered the best among the best.”

Lee Dojin bowed deeply.

All he could do was express his gratitude.

Yoo Seol-ah waved her hand.

“Oh my, there’s no need for such formality.”

Yoo Seol-ah’s face became quite serious.

“Student Lee Dojin is someone who should become a hero in the future. It’s just support that I should provide as a senior in the hunter world.”

“Aren’t hunters heroes?”

“Well. If we’re being generous, I suppose so.”

Some kind of aura flowed from Yoo Seol-ah’s body. To Lee Dojin, it seemed not like anger towards any individual, but like an emotion that had built up deeply over a long time being revealed.

“There are few people who can be called heroes.”

“I see.”

Lee Dojin had no intention of applying his own standards to Yoo Seol-ah’s words.

Yoo Seol-ah had held a sword longer.

Yoo Seol-ah had seen more of the human landscape in the hunter world.

“Let’s stop the heavy talk here. Shall we start training?”

**

As always, after finishing the mock training, Lee Dojin sat in a proper posture.

Using the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique mental method here was the most comfortable.

Because there were reliable people beside him.

Darkness invaded his mind.

The complete blackout he felt during the mock dungeon exam once again enveloped his entire body.

And Ryu Jia’s sword dance that broke through that blackout unfolded in his mind.

Ryu Jia was a swordswoman who had overcome the fatal limitation of not being able to see in front of her, and reached beyond the limits of common sense.

A swordswoman worthy of respect.

One who had overcome even greater adversity than himself who could only use wooden swords.

‘In the end.’

That’s what martial arts is.

Infinitely and endlessly breaking through one’s own limits.

He seemed to faintly hear Sword Emperor Dan Cheonwoo’s voice.

-Don’t stop. Whether it’s your body, sword, or thoughts.

-If you don’t stop, you’ll head somewhere.

A streak of light that fell like lightning split the darkness of his mind.

Colorless heat surged from Lee Dojin’s body as he sat still.

Yoo Seol-ah’s mouth curved into an arc.

“And I haven’t even given him the elixir yet.”

It was the appearance of a martial artist breaking through a wall.

The inner power in his dantian expanded. Colorless energy glided through his entire body.

His martial meridians widened.

The inner power of Reverse Heaven took root one more handful.

Lee Dojin opened his eyes.

He had reached 3-star in the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique.

“Congratulations.”

Yoo Seol-ah was smiling brightly in front of him.

She had immediately noticed the achievement.

“Thank you.”

“Next week, it seems we’ll need to go out. To give you the elixir, and there’s also someone I want Student Lee Dojin to meet.”

Lee Dojin nodded readily at Yoo Seol-ah’s words.

“I understand.”

And he recalled something.

“I think we agreed to fight when I reached 3-star, Sword Empress.”

“…Pfft!”

The Sword Empress puffed her cheeks and started laughing at Lee Dojin’s words, then burst into full-blown laughter.

“Really, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve seen someone as consistent as Student Lee Dojin.”

Yoo Seol-ah barely stopped laughing and opened her mouth again.

“Do you think you can fight Ten-Existence Sword Emperor So Dae-cheol?”

Lee Dojin felt that Yoo Seol-ah’s doubt stemmed from what he had asked before.

Lee Dojin slowly nodded.

He had told none other than the Ten-Existence Sword Emperor to wait quietly. If So Yu-eun had relayed those words exactly, he would inevitably fight Sword Emperor So Dae-cheol.

“Yes, probably.”

“When do you think it will be?”

“Probably during summer vacation.”

Yoo Seol-ah blinked her eyes.

And then she smiled seductively.

“Oh ho, that’s not far away! First, defeat Sword Emperor So Dae-cheol. Then we’ll think about our match next.”

“Climb the stairs, is that what you mean?”

“Hmm, I suppose you could say that.”

Lee Dojin had no intention of arguing with those words. Just thinking about what he had received from the Sword Empress so far, she was no different from a benefactor.

“Alright. I’ll defeat the Sword Emperor first and come back.”

The Sword Empress smiled freshly.

Excluding the Four Superhumans, saying he would defeat one of the top ten strongest hunters didn’t sound like an empty boast.

**

Lee Dojin, who had returned to Iroaz Academy, was heading straight to the dormitory.

But his phone rang.

Lee Dojin checked the caller’s name.

It said Senior Yeon Si-mun.

-Junior, where are you?

“I’m in the academy.”

-Have you had dinner?

“I haven’t eaten yet.”

-That’s good. Come to Deundeun.

The conversation progressed very quickly.

Lee Dojin was a bit dumbfounded, but it was true that he hadn’t eaten dinner, and he didn’t dislike soup rice, so he said okay.

Deundeun was the name of a soup rice restaurant.

He was at the door.

A woman with neat silver long hair was visible.

“Let’s go in.”

Yeon Si-mun opened the door.

After ordering food, Yeon Si-mun stared intently at Lee Dojin.

“I heard you got overwhelming first place in the mock dungeon exam. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Yeon Si-mun got straight to the point this time as well.

“Are you free on the weekend?”

“The weekend? Yes, I don’t have any particular plans.”

“There’s an undiscovered dungeon. There’s one spot open. We need a usable close-range dealer.”

Yeon Si-mun’s face looked quite serious, which was rare.

Lee Dojin tilted his head.

“But I don’t have a hunter license yet.”

Yeon Si-mun also tilted her head, as if wondering why he was worrying about such a thing.

“It’s undiscovered, so. You don’t need one.”

She meant that since the Hunter Management Bureau didn’t know about undiscovered dungeons, there was no need to follow official procedures.

Lee Dojin was dumbfounded looking at the student council vice president boldly talking about breaking the law.

“…Weren’t you the academy’s student council vice president?”

“It’s enough to follow the law well just inside the academy.”

It was such a flexible statement that there was nothing to refute.

“I’ll make sure you get some benefit one way or another. Whether it’s money or items. And it will be experience for you too.”

He did want to experience a real dungeon as soon as possible.

“Your food is here. Enjoy your meal.”

Yeon Si-mun’s eyes lit up.

“It’s blood sausage soup rice I’m eating after a long time.”

Yeon Si-mun added salted shrimp with a solemn expression.

“Mmm…”

Only after inhaling three or four spoonfuls did Yeon Si-mun look at Lee Dojin.

“Ah, about the proposal just now. What do you think?”

Lee Dojin grinned.

“I’ll do it. Contact me when the date is confirmed.”

“Yeah, you eat too.”

Yeon Si-mun started to focus on the blood sausage soup rice again.