Chapter 10
Episode 10: Backseat Coaching? (2)
The first day schedule at the Hunter Training Center was infamous for being more brutal than expected.
Even those who had already become full-fledged hunters would sometimes tremble in their sleep when they dreamed about it.
People who, until yesterday, had been nothing more than ordinary modern civilians were suddenly forced to run around the training grounds for two hours, study about the Black Gate, and even spar.
The terrifying part was that this was only the morning routine.
However, most hunters would say:
That the morning was actually the easy part.
That the truly vicious training was in the afternoon.
At the moment when the trainees, still unaware of what awaited them, were leisurely eating lunch in the cafeteria…
Several instructors had already finished eating and were preparing for the afternoon session.
Unlike other training periods, there were three instructors preparing for the afternoon training:
Shin Jiyeon, Jung Yujin, and Yoon Sangwoo.
Even though there were more instructors than usual, they were busy moving around because they would be late if they didn’t prepare in advance.
Just then, a familiar face passed by them in the hallway.
“Hey? That’s Senior Jihoon.”
“Going to eat?”
“Ooh, how was the sparring?”
It was none other than Kang Jihoon, the instructor in charge of sparring training.
Seeing the three of them, Kang Jihoon scratched his head with an annoyed expression, as if he had run into the worst possible people.
Of all people, I run into these guys…
As his reaction suggested, the trio was quite famous.
They were called the Tracker Trio, members of Ilseong Group, a guild said to be second only to Taebaek Guild, and one of Korea’s four great A-rank guilds.
Their skills were outstanding, and their experience was considerable.
But they had two major flaws.
“So? How was the sparring?”
“Is trainee Lee Dohyun really that good?”
“I heard Ji Yuchan lost. Is that true?”
“Really? The two fought and Yuchan lost?”
“No way.”
The first flaw…
They were extremely noisy.
They were the same age, had grown up together, and even awakened at the same time, so they were incredibly close.
Naturally, talkative people gathered together.
People in Ilseong Guild even said that if you ended up in the same party as those three, your ears would ring all day long.
Kang Jihoon, still looking irritated, thought about what to say, then suddenly remembered Dohyun and clicked his tongue without realizing it.
Just thinking about him again…
That talent was truly absurd.
He remembered how Dohyun had copied his technique the moment he saw it, and spoke to the trio in an annoyed voice.
“Tch. You’ll see for yourselves.”
“Oh? Senior reacting like that?”
“So it’s true?”
“Ooooh, this might actually be interesting.”
Since the trio knew Kang Jihoon as well as he knew them, they didn’t stop him any longer.
Clicking his tongue was proof that he was in a bad mood.
If they pushed further, someone might actually get hurt.
After letting Kang Jihoon go, the three started chatting among themselves with amused expressions.
“Looks like we need to prepare more than we thought.”
“Yeah. If it’s boring, the infamous first day at the training center will end up ordinary.”
“We’ve gotta give them a nightmare they’ll never forget.”
And that was their second flaw.
All three had a bit of a mischievous streak…
Or rather, a rather twisted sense of fun.
Anyway, they all smiled as they hurried off to prepare for the afternoon training.
To make sure the trainees who entered this time would have an unforgettable memory.
* * *
Second day after awakening.
While eating, Dohyun thought to himself:
This is more manageable than I expected.
Maybe it was because of Analysis,
Or maybe it was objectively easy.
He casually glanced at the other team members and saw them trembling even while eating.
They were saying things like:
“Ugh… I’m dead.”
“Seriously…”
“My whole body’s shaking.”
“…This is harder than I thought.”
Seeing their reactions, Dohyun decided to keep his mouth shut.
So it wasn’t objectively easy.
Good thing he hadn’t opened his mouth and asked.
Well, compared to the others, Dohyun’s growth was ridiculous.
He had learned basic magic on the very first day of awakening.
And with Analysis, his stats increased just by a click.
Of course it felt easy to him.
Still, bragging would be awkward, so he decided to stay quiet.
Just then—
“Dohyun, how was it for you?”
“…Huh?”
Was this an assassination attempt?
At Kim Yongchan’s sudden question, Dohyun blinked and looked at him.
Until sparring training, Yongchan had spoken formally, but after Dohyun said it was fine to talk casually, he had dropped the honorifics.
Still, Dohyun never expected an attack like this.
You never know what’s inside people…!
While he was panicking inside, Jung Minwoo scratched his cheek and said,
“Honestly, it was easy for you, right?”
“I saw you doing everything so easily, Dohyun oppa.”
“Seriously, that was amazing. How do you do it so easily?”
“What, did you train before?”
Dohyun hesitated, then gave a vague answer.
“Well… I just did it, and it worked.”
Even to his own ears, it sounded arrogant.
But the team members just nodded in admiration, like people in the early stages of a crush.
“Must be talent.”
“You have to be born with it.”
“If someone else said that, it’d sound annoying, but when you say it, it just feels natural.”
Even with such blatant talent talk, everyone accepted it.
Dohyun was actually a bit confused.
Usually people would say things like
“No way~”
“You’re joking~”
“You must have a trick~”
But not here.
Then Minwoo said the final line.
“Honestly, you look like someone born to be a hunter, hyung.”
“Agreed!”
“If Dohyun oppa doesn’t become a hunter, who would?”
“Someone born for hunting.”
“…Th-that’s a bit much…”
Even when Dohyun denied it, no one listened.
After the praise went on for a while, Minwoo suddenly spoke again.
“But… is Ji Yuchan okay? He looks fine, but…”
Everyone glanced at Team 2’s table.
Yuchan had lost to Dohyun, but after Instructor Choi Pil treated him, he returned to training.
He didn’t look upset.
If anything, he looked more relaxed than before.
Dohyun used Analysis out of habit.
And saw Yuchan’s status.
『Ji Yuchan』
Trait: Platinum Sword King [S]
Skills:
Swordsmanship [A]
Sword King’s Instinct [A]
Stats:
Strength: 7
Agility: 6 → 7
Stamina: 7 → 8
Mana: 10 → 12
Wow… his stats went up that much already.
Others had grown too, but only by one point or so.
Yuchan’s increase was on another level.
As expected of an S-rank trait.
Dohyun checked his own.
『Lee Dohyun』
Trait: Analysis [EX]
Skills:
Sword King’s Instinct [A]
Pressure [B]
Muscle Healing [C]
Ambush [D]
Stealth [E]
Dagger [E]↑
Fire [F]
Mana Control [F]
Stats:
Strength: 5 → 7
Agility: 7 → 14
Stamina: 5 → 7
Mana: 8 → 12
Points:
P: 100
AP: 350
If Yuchan was amazing…
What was Dohyun?
Remembering Kang Jihoon’s words — “crazy monster bastard” —
Dohyun quietly closed the status window.
Yeah… I should stay quiet.
If anyone else could see this…
It wouldn’t end with just jealousy.
He stopped paying attention to Yuchan.
But then something felt strange.
Wait.
Strength and stamina increasing made sense…
But why did his mana increase?
He hadn’t learned mana cultivation yet.
Dohyun wondered, but since his own had increased too, he let it go.
If he had kept watching longer, Analysis would have told him.
But it didn’t seem important, so he finished eating and returned to the dorm to rest before afternoon training.
Then he remembered his goal.
Oh right… I still need to check Instructor Hwang Hana’s status…
Should I save AP first?
1000 AP still felt very far away.
* * *
Lunch after extra physical training tasted incredible.
But Team 2 looked gloomy.
They hadn’t beaten Team 1 even once.
Was this what defeat felt like?
Everyone ate silently.
Only Yuchan looked calm.
…This feels strangely comfortable.
He had challenged Dohyun confidently,
and lost miserably.
It should have been humiliating,
but strangely… he felt relieved.
He had always needed to prove himself.
Always needed to be perfect.
But after being crushed by someone like an endless wall…
his mind felt lighter.
Something… is flowing inside me.
Something he hadn’t felt before.
It was slowly seeping into his body… growing.
He didn’t know what it was,
but his instincts told him —
It was mana.
He didn’t know that Dohyun’s Ambush had opened his mana.
Normally that wouldn’t happen.
It was simply his absurd talent.
So he thought calmly.
Train more. Next time, I’ll win.
He accepted defeat for now.
But he would grow stronger.
Then suddenly—
“Damn it… this is pathetic.”
Everyone froze at Park Dongwook’s sudden outburst.
“What?”
“O-oppa?”
“Why?”
Dongwook clenched his teeth.
“Seriously… this is embarrassing.
Next time we do it properly.
Yuchan too. Got it?”
Yuchan frowned.
So did the others.
The mood turned dangerous.
No one argued.
Because they felt the same.
Only Yuchan sensed something was wrong.
Then afternoon training began.
Three instructors stood in front of them with playful smiles.
“Afternoon training is practical combat!”
“You must kill the goblins and escape the maze!”
“And of course — the team that escapes first wins!”
With Team 2 already in a bad mood…
A joint combat mission.
Yuchan frowned.
This was the worst possible situation.
