Chapter 65: Summer Break Trip (2)

That evening, the group was dumped on a barren mountainside, their spirits crushed.

“Ugh, this is awful! I was sleeping on a silk bed just yesterday!”

“Hmm, I wanted a romantic getaway, but not like this.”

Jegal Tan, like the dejected Mo Yong So-hye and Baek Ri-seol, felt a throbbing headache.

‘Trusting the instructor… what a huge mistake.’

Their instructor was notorious for his lack of planning.

He wanted to kill his past self for blindly following him after hearing the word “picnic.”

However, one person remained unfazed.

“Should we set up camp before the instructor returns?”

As the instructor disappeared with a wicked grin, Namgung Yun-ho set down his backpack.

“I’m glad I brought this, just in case.”

He unpacked his bag and began laying out its contents.

A large pot, dried meat, white rice, and vegetables emerged.

Jegal Tan, watching him arrange various spice containers, asked, “Yun-ho, did you know the instructor would do this?”

“No. He’s kind, but he’s not exactly the type to explain things in detail.”

Then what was all this preparation for?

As if reading his unspoken question, Namgung Yun-ho replied casually, “I’ve been carrying this around for a while. So I can camp anywhere.”

Why would he camp when he had a perfectly good home?

He was puzzled, but his attention was drawn to his friend’s practiced movements.

He struck a flint to start a fire, hung the pot, washed the rice, and set up the tent with a natural grace that could only be described as masterful.

“Should we have smoked meat for dinner?”

“It’s a bit bland, so we should season it with soy sauce.”

“Ah, where did I put the dried seafood for the broth?”

The barren clearing had transformed into a cozy campsite in the blink of an eye.

Baek Ri-seol, her eyes sparkling with admiration, clasped her hands together.

“It must have been the instructor! He’s so thoughtful!”

“Sister, there’s no way that heartless man would be this considerate.”

“Don’t say that! Maybe he’s secretly a softie…”

Just then…

“Namgung, what are you doing?”

The instructor appeared, his hands full of wriggling caterpillars.

The caterpillar family, kidnapped in the dead of night, was desperately trying to escape from his grasp.

“You said you were going to find food for dinner.”

“Of course he did.”

The two girls, their illusions shattered, turned away in disgust.

Namgung Yun-ho, stirring the bubbling rice porridge, chuckled dryly.

“You know I can’t go back to my clan after what happened.”

“Oh my.”

Three pairs of cold eyes turned to the instructor.

“What? Why? What?!”

The three students whispered amongst themselves.

“What did you do to him?”

“I guess the family meeting turned into a family feud.”

“That’s too much, Instructor.”

Namgung Yun-ho continued, his voice slow and steady, “It was my decision to leave the clan. In fact, I should thank the instructor for helping me make up my mind. But I had nowhere to go after I left home, so I’ve been living in a tent on the training ground.”

The three students quickly changed their tune.

“We knew you wouldn’t do anything to hurt him!”

“Of course you wouldn’t break up a family!”

“I always knew you were a good person at heart!”

They tried to backpedal, but the instructor was clearly annoyed.

“Hey, Jegal.”

The honorific title of “Assistant” was gone.

‘This is bad.’

Jegal Tan quickly replied, “Yes, esteemed Instructor?”

“According to the Murim trivia you told me about, what do experienced assistants use to start a fire?”

“Well, they use flint…”

**Bang!**

The flint next to Namgung Yun-ho exploded.

‘This is not good.’

Cold sweat trickled down Jegal Tan’s back.

“What if there’s no flint?”

“W-well…”

“Isn’t it common knowledge in the Murim to start a fire by rubbing sticks together?”

“Isn’t that a bit primitive?”

“I’m a primitive guy, got a problem with that?”

Jegal Tan shut his mouth.

He had memorized countless strategies and tactics, but none of them covered how to deal with a grumpy instructor.

All those years of studying had been a waste.

“I’ve been thinking, and I think I’ve been too soft on you.”

It was better to give them a proper experience, now that they were here.

The instructor’s voice was chilling.

“I’m going to teach you how to survive in hell.”

Goosebumps erupted on Jegal Tan’s arms.

***

The next day…

The group had to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, instead of using flint.

It was hard work.

They learned that sticks covered in morning dew were useless.

After much trial and error, they finally managed to create a spark.

**Whoosh!**

“We did it! We did it!”

“It’s so warm!”

“My fingernails are all torn up!”

They were overjoyed, like cavemen who had discovered fire.

On the second day…

Starting a fire was no longer a problem.

They had become quite proficient at it, albeit with much effort.

But there was a new problem.

“Oh no… my iron pot…”

Their sturdy iron pot was riddled with holes.

‘How did he even do that?’

They stared at the smooth, finger-shaped holes in the pot, then turned to the instructor.

“Zzz… zzz…”

He was snoring loudly.

They knew who the culprit was.

But they couldn’t accuse him.

They had learned how to start a fire in the wilderness, and now they were learning how to shape stones into tools.

They were also learning that sometimes, survival required turning a blind eye to the truth.

The next day, their bag of dried meat disappeared.

The day after that, their dried vegetables and spices vanished. Their tent was also destroyed.

“Really? I don’t know anything about that.”

The instructor, feigning innocence, munched on something.

There were crumbs of dried meat on his lips, and his pockets were bulging with something that smelled delicious.

But they decided to believe him.

“Maybe an eagle or a crow took it.”

“What bad luck. It can’t be helped.”

“We’ll have to find more food…”

They accepted their fate with stoicism.

They had learned the harsh realities of survival in the Murim.

As time went on, they became increasingly destitute.

Losing their modern tools was frustrating, but they could endure it.

What they couldn’t endure was…

“You failed to hunt anything? It can’t be helped.”

The instructor returned from one of his mysterious disappearances, carrying a rotten log.

He dropped the log on the ground.

Insects and centipedes crawled out of the decaying wood.

The instructor pointed to the bugs and said, “These are quite edible.”

“They taste like chicken that’s been rotting for ten years if you grill them.”

“Do you want to know how to eat poisonous mushrooms without dying?”

No, they didn’t.

They didn’t want to know.

But for some reason, the instructor’s horrifying knowledge was imprinted on their minds.

They could even remember the wrinkles on the insects’ bodies.

They say bad memories become good stories, but they suspected that the instructor’s lessons would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives.

After they had mastered the art of surviving as cavemen, the instructor taught them something new.

“This is how you track prey.”

“The first thing you need to do is find their tracks.”

“I’ll teach you how to track and set traps.”

It sounded like valuable survival knowledge.

The problem was that they had to bury their noses in the dirt and touch animal droppings.

Why were they doing this?

“You can figure out where they live by analyzing their droppings.”

“Fresh droppings are a good sign. It means the prey is nearby.”

“You can use tracking techniques to avoid being tracked?”

It was disgusting, but it was useful.

In fact, it was so practical that it was almost insulting.

But after they had acquired this new knowledge, they encountered a new problem. All their weapons had disappeared.

“A bear took them.”

They didn’t understand why a bear would steal their swords and gloves, but they accepted it.

They had learned that in the instructor’s world, bears could wear clothes, walk on two legs, fly, and shoot energy blasts.

“This is true survival.”

“You’re right, Sister. You can’t always rely on having weapons.”

“Let’s brainstorm some solutions.”

“I’m going to make a stone knife…”

They were surprisingly optimistic, happy to have evolved from cavemen to hunter-gatherers.

They had learned to appreciate the little things in life.

They would have been even happier if the instructor hadn’t kept disappearing and reappearing with delicious-smelling food, but they were managing.

Twenty days passed.

***

Baek Ri-seol crouched low, her senses on high alert.

She could hear her target moving through the bushes.

“Inhale… exhale…”

She focused her breathing, sharpening her senses.

**Caw! Caw!**

She heard a bird call, and she sprang into action.

She leaped over the bushes, her hands outstretched.

**Whoosh!**

She flung a handful of wooden chips at the boar, which had been rooting around in the dirt.

**Thud! Thud! Thud!**

Direct hits.

She had mastered the art of imbuing small objects with Qi and throwing them with precision.

“Squeal!”

But she hadn’t killed it instantly.

She was weak from hunger and from eating a poisonous mushroom the day before.

“Squeal! Squeal! Squeal!”

The boar, pierced by the wooden chips, thrashed around, spraying blood everywhere.

It glared at her, snorting angrily.

But Baek Ri-seol was already preparing her next move.

“Now!”

This way.

She taunted the boar, and it pawed the ground, charging towards her.

The wild boar, the size of a calf, was a dangerous opponent, but she had anticipated its attack.

**Whoosh!**

She scattered wooden chips around the boar’s feet.

“Squeal?”

The boar, sensing something was wrong, tried to charge, but it just spun around in circles.

A formation.

It was Jegal Tan’s technique. He had finally mastered the art of creating simple formations with hidden weapons.

“Hyaaa!”

Mo Yong So-hye jumped down from a tree and landed on the boar’s back.

**Thud! Thud!**

She rained down punches on the boar’s head, and it bucked wildly.

“Die! Die!”

**Thud! Thud! Thud!**

She had mastered the art of hand-to-hand combat, even against animals, and the boar’s skull cracked.

**Crack!**

The boar collapsed, its head caved in, its legs twitching in the air.

They had succeeded in hunting it.

“Huff… huff…”

Mo Yong So-hye, her fists dripping with blood, caught her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Hehe, we won!”

She smiled brightly, but the bloodstains on her forehead made her look terrifying.

“My turn.”

Namgung Yun-ho appeared, holding a stone knife he had made by chipping away at a rock.

The instructor had taught them how to make stone knives, calling them “paleolithic tools.”

He didn’t know what that meant, but…

“Haha, we’ll eat well tonight.”

He expertly skinned the boar and butchered it with his crude stone knife.

It was as if the meat was shedding its clothes. His skill with the knife was almost artistic.

“Let’s pack up and move. We need to reach our destination before nightfall.”

“Alright. The other animals will feast tonight.”

He carefully selected the best cuts of meat and placed them in a pouch made from woven bamboo leaves. He tucked his stone knife away and stood up.

“Let’s go. The sun is still high, but we don’t have time to waste.”

“Baek Ri-seol and I will check for traps along the way.”

Finding their way to the instructor’s designated location without a map was challenging enough, but the worst part was the traps.

They didn’t want to fall into a pitfall or get caught in a snare.

The four students shuddered at the memory.

“I hope we make it through today without any incidents.”

“Me too. I can’t stand his lectures.”

“Let’s go.”

The hunter-gatherers, now accustomed to the wilderness, set off, navigating by instinct.