episode_0036

I am standing in a large training ground. I am looking around without moving. It is not a very familiar place.

He said that he couldn’t open the training grounds at the academy yet. It might be okay if he got permission from Yoo Soo-ho, but he was somewhere else right now, so he couldn’t ask for help. That’s why he had to go outside, even though it was annoying.

Lee Ji-hye didn’t seem to have any complaints, but I wasn’t.

Honestly, it’s fucking annoying.

More than anything else, training is annoying, but having to move is really annoying. Especially when you come back, you have to walk like this.

I suddenly felt like I was losing energy.

“Why?”

“Nothing.”

His expression seemed to have relaxed. It was clear from what Lee Ji-hye, who had been quiet, asked.

I took a moment to straighten my gun and prepare to train. While doing so, I also pulled up my mana to make sure my body was in good shape.

My physical condition was perfectly normal.

“What kind of training should I do?”

When I ask her a simple question, Lee Ji-hye puts her hand on her chin and falls into thought. It seems like she hasn’t really thought about what kind of training she’ll do.

Since I knew it would be like that anyway, I thought it would be better to just ask for what I thought.

“Then I can decide?”

In response to my question, Lee Ji-hye lowered her head and thought for a while before opening her mouth.

“No, I’ll decide.”

“Yes? Why?”

I’m really curious. I don’t think there’s any need to do that.

“Just because I wanted to.”

At her words, I thought for a moment and then nodded.

“Okay, I understand.”

It didn’t matter to me since I had a lot of free time anyway. So I decided to ignore it. I’ll figure it out somehow.

*

Lee Ji-hye is troubled by how to train. In fact, training alone would be sufficient, but she feels that it is not enough.

If you’re going to train anyway, it’s better to do it properly.

‘But no matter how much I think about it.’

There is no way. I can’t think of a way to properly train Kim Seo-jin. At least if he had a sword like me, the situation would have been a little different, but with a gun, which I’ve barely seen before, I’m at a loss.

To be honest, Lee Ji-hye had no intention of training with Kim Seo-jin today. She had thought that Kim Seo-jin would rest after what happened yesterday, and that she would just stay by his side.

If Kim Seo-jin went to a cafe, I would follow her and have a coffee together while chatting. If she went to a karaoke, I would follow her and sing along and have fun.

That was all I needed to know about Kim Seo-jin.

I wanted to know what his hobbies were and what he was good at. I wanted to find out more about what Kim Seo-jin did.

So I went to the academy once. I asked Lee Ju-hyeok to find out which dorm room he was in, and I worried that I might be a nuisance, so I just stood in front of the door.

She waited, feeling at a loss as to what to do, and then couldn’t help but be happy when the door opened.

Kim Seo-jin was looking at herself with a tired look. When I first saw that look, I felt sorry. That’s why I couldn’t open my mouth at that moment.

Kim Seo-jin seemed to have noticed and greeted me, and only then were we able to continue the conversation.

There was nothing special about what I heard. He just said that he was going to rest. So when I asked if I could stay with him, he suddenly lowered his head.

‘What, what is it?’

What did I do wrong? When you offered me the sword, shouldn’t I have just not accepted it? At that moment, Kim Seo-jin spoke to Lee Ji-hye, who was still flustered.

It’s okay, I just need some training help.

When I heard that, I was a little shocked. Why did the words that he would be with me lead to training? Was there something he didn’t like?

Only after thinking about that did I finally realize something.

‘I didn’t want to show you.’

He wanted to hide his private life as much as possible. That’s why he decided to do something called training where he wouldn’t have to show his private life.

Understanding that made Lee Ji-hye think about it again.

‘They look alike.’

He tries to hide himself like Yoo Soo-ho.

No, at this level, it could be said that it is even worse than Yoo Soo-ho. With that thought in mind, Lee Ji-hye plans to help him train even harder.

Perhaps he might let his guard down and reveal his private side without realizing it.

That’s why Lee Ji-hye is thinking of a way to train him herself. She has to do it properly so that she can see him.

‘So what should we do?’

Lee Ji-hye looked at Kim Seo-jin while thinking. Currently, he was just looking around with a blank expression.

His appearance itself was ambiguous to say that he was handsome. His sharp eyes were his defining feature, and if he had dressed up a bit, he would have looked good enough, but now that his hair was messy, it was difficult to judge. At least in Lee Ji-hye’s opinion, she felt that he was close to being handsome.

There was a strange atmosphere somewhere. Since yesterday, when I started to become aware of it properly, I could feel a strange feeling from Kim Seo-jin. I couldn’t figure out what it was, so I became even more curious.

‘First, let’s try sparring first.’

I opened my mouth with that thought in mind.

“First, I’m going to spar with you to see how skilled you are. Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Okay. Then get ready.”

Lee Ji-hye picked up a small wooden sword in this large training ground. It was something she could do because she knew that Kim Seo-jin wasn’t that strong anyway.

“Oh, wait a minute. Could you please turn on the protection properly this time?”

There is a device made to protect the practitioner during sparring.

Kim Seo-jin was currently asking for that. Lee Ji-hye nodded, as it wasn’t that difficult.

After turning on the device properly, he climbs onto the ring. Kim Seo-jin and Lee Ji-hye face each other from a distance.

‘You won’t surrender this time, will you?’

It just occurred to me for some reason.

*

The battle wasn’t anything special.

Lee Ji-hye, who was worried that she might lose if she let her guard down, moved properly from the beginning. Thanks to that, she was able to easily defeat Kim Seo-jin.

That doesn’t mean it was easy. He aimed for exactly where he was going, and he couldn’t rush straight ahead. So Lee Ji-hye wrapped her body in mana and moved quickly and sharply. If she ran in a straight line, she would easily get hit, so she moved around as much as possible.

Victory was a given.

Even though she’s in her 20s, she’s still an S-class hunter. It’s even more absurd that she, who’s in the top ranks of hunters, feels a sense of crisis.

So the result was natural.

But Kim Seo-jin’s reaction was a little different. If I had to say, while a normal person would collapse from exhaustion, Kim Seo-jin kept mumbling something.

“Of course, you have to predict and shoot in advance. And it might help if you know about the weapon you’re up against.”

He was digging into his own shortcomings on his own. He was thinking to himself that what was wrong was wrong and that it would be okay if it was like this.

“Can I ask you one more time?”

Kim Seo-jin asked lightly.

‘this.’

In the end, it turned out that I couldn’t even help him properly with training, let alone his personal appearance.

“Okay.”

But I have no choice so I just follow.

*

“Ugh, uh, what the fuck.”

I’m tired. Seriously, I felt like I was going to collapse from exhaustion.

No, I’ve already fallen. In fact, I’m holding on because I feel like tomorrow morning will come even if I just close my eyes.

‘I got excited for nothing.’

Once again, I got so excited about using my mana that I kept using it. I used it so hard yesterday and today I almost ran out.

What the fuck, you fucking retard.

Think about it before you write, damn it.

“Are you okay?”

I spoke to Lee Ji-hye lightly. I didn’t want to talk because I was tired, but I thought it would be rude, so I answered.

“Oh, yes. I’m really tired.”

This sucks.

I almost said that, but I held back. It was something I said I would do anyway, so what can I do? The moment I complain here, I will literally become an idiot.

So I’m enduring it. It’s driving me crazy.

“Well, you worked hard. Even this much is amazing for an ordinary person.”

At that moment, I was praised by Lee Ji-hye. I guess she thought I looked great. Well, it’s ridiculous for a normal person, and a high school student, to do something like that.

But considering that I am a grown man who has even served in the military, is that really a compliment?

It’s confusing, but I think it’s probably not that bad. It’s probably just average.

My mental strength itself is probably average, as seen anywhere. It’s just that I feel like I’ve become a little stronger due to the events I’ve experienced before.

Anyway, in the end, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even properly receive praise for doing a good job.

“Whew, haaah. Fuck.”

Every time I do something like this, I think:

Why was I possessed? There were many readers who had affection for the work, other than me. To be exact, there were several readers who had affection as much as I did. Those who always commented with the same nickname.

If it were them, they would have sent me a worse note than I did.

You must have sent a 5,700 character note, so why did it have to be me?

No, I didn’t even swear!

I jumped up from my seat, anger welling up in me. No matter what, I wanted to meet that writer.

If I ever meet you, I will kill you no matter what.

“Sigh.”

I relaxed my body.

It was a necessary action to get moving again.

“Are you going to continue?”

I could answer that question right away.

“Of course. But before that, can you tell me what you felt when you were sparring with me?”

“What do you feel? Hmm.”

I guess I don’t really know.

I said it because there was no need to force myself to listen.

“If you just practice for a day, you’ll figure it out somehow. Let’s just get started.”

“Huh? Are you done resting already?”

“Yes. So, is Ms. Lee Ji-hye okay?”

“Okay. Then let’s get started.”

I think I’ll just be with Lee Ji-hye all day today.

*

The next morning.

Now is the time for real classes. So, it would be best to prepare thoroughly.

I went out with a magazine and a gun.

After walking like that for a few dozen minutes, I was able to arrive at the classroom.

As soon as I entered, I saw the students who had arrived earlier talking. They suddenly started whispering as if they remembered what I had said on Friday.

Everyone is concerned about me.

That’s also really fucked up.

I could hear some speculations and most of it was nonsense so all I could do was ignore it. There was nothing I could do about it.

I sat down and waited for class to start.

After the viewing time is over.

It was finally the first period class I had been waiting for. I felt nervous for a moment because I knew that this was when the real thing would begin.

But, contrary to expectations, my condition was normal. If I had to say, there were so many big events that I could easily overlook this.

“Okay! Everyone knows this, but today is a practical lesson! You will be running around with your body, and of course you can’t quit just because it’s hard! Do you understand?”

Lee Joo-hyuk came in and shouted loudly. It felt a little awkward because he looked brighter than when he was talking to me.

Of course, that’s what he looked like in the original, but it’s still awkward because I often see him in a serious manner in real life.

“Then I thought about what classes I should take. The conclusion is this! I will start this morning with all the gate clear classes!”

This is something I knew from the beginning.

Gate clear class.

This is a class where the goal is to clear the gates created by the academy in groups of four. Naturally, monsters will appear inside, and scores are measured based on who gets out first. As a side note, there are bound to be places where you can’t clear them.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t a big problem since I already knew the information.