Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Ability User Cultivation School (3)

After that, the man who had filed a complaint quietly withdrew. Although he was somewhat talented, having passed up to the third stage of the tutorial, Kim Yi-hyeon was merciless.

After the noisy morning theory class ended, practical training began following lunch.

“You will spend most of your training time mastering the cold weapons you see in front of you. While guns can be used in actual dungeons, you will not be issued firearms.”

Kim Yi-hyeon said this while picking up a longsword.

“It’s not just a matter of safety. So why do we force you to wield these swords instead of providing powerful firearms?”

– Whoosh!

As Kim Yi-hyeon took a stance and swung the sword, the sound of cutting wind echoed.

“It’s because we expect that as monsters become stronger and ability users’ powers increase, these swords will prove more powerful than simple firearms.”

The first group to clear a dungeon was the military.

A special forces unit composed of ability users.

Using firearms, they were able to clear dungeons fairly quickly and reliably.

However, the level of their ability users hardly grew.

Rather, the government observed that civilians who started exploring dungeons much later were leveling up at a much faster rate. They predicted that hunting with firearms would eventually reach its limits.

“I can’t give you all the details, but if you trust and follow along, you can all become powerful ability users.”

Kim Yi-hyeon handed the sword to a nearby assistant and began the main training.

“Due to the current shortage of weapons and assistants, we will conduct training in rotations of 40 people at a time.”

After the explanation, people chose their desired weapons. Most chose longswords.

Although spears, blunt weapons, and ranged weapons were all available, everyone seemed to share a similar romance with swords.

Once weapon selection was complete, actual practice began.

“Hah!”

“Yah!”

People swinging blades and spears with all their might.

But handling cold weapons wasn’t as easy as they thought.

In their minds, everyone imagined themselves as movie protagonists swinging swords, but the reality didn’t even match up to that of an extra.

‘Even considering their lack of experience, is it this bad?’

Even to Kang Hyeon, who had never formally learned swordsmanship, there were so many problems that he didn’t know where to start pointing them out.

In fact, when Kang Hyeon first swung a sword, he was much worse than these people, but he had already forgotten those early days.

“You should hold your hands like this and spread your legs a bit more for stability.”

Kim Yi-hyeon approached a woman and corrected her posture. The woman’s face noticeably flushed.

“Hey, isn’t that guy pretty good?”

“More than just good. He looks smart, seems to have good manners, and even has a sexy voice.”

“Plus, he’s clearly capable.”

The whispers of some people who had already become friendly could be heard.

“Tsk. What a mess.”

Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue as he watched the scene.

Although it was a newly established system, the education seemed too haphazard.

‘I’m just going to waste a week here.’

What bothered him most was that it wasn’t of any help to him.

“Hey, hey! Watch out!”

“Oops. Sorry. Hehe.”

At that moment, a commotion arose nearby.

Kang Hyeon looked towards the source of the sound.

‘That’s... An Yu-seong, wasn’t it?’

He saw the man who had introduced himself as An Yu-seong dangerously swinging his sword.

“Please take this seriously. Although the training swords aren’t sharpened, you can still get hurt.”

“Yes, sorry.”

Eventually, an assistant stepped in to give a warning, but An Yu-seong just grinned and nodded slightly.

‘As I thought, that guy isn’t normal either.’

“Aren’t you going to practice?”

An assistant who had approached while Kang Hyeon was looking around spoke to him.

“Yes, I will.”

Kang Hyeon answered and took his stance.

– Whoosh!

The posture was visibly well-formed at a glance. As the sound of wind being cut by the accurately swung sword rang out, several people exclaimed in admiration.

“Oh, that guy seems to know how to use a sword?”

“For all his flashiness, he seems to have some skill.”

The assistant who had been watching the reactions around him approached Kang Hyeon. He then began to correct Kang Hyeon’s posture.

“Hmm, there’s no need to do it like that in this situation. It seems like mere superficial flair. That stance is not efficient at all.”

‘What is this idiot saying?’

The stance Kang Hyeon had just used involved swinging the sword slightly upward from below.

It wasn’t just mindless swinging, but a posture that incorporated what he had learned from his combat experience so far and even complimented his skills.

‘Sigh, let’s just go along with it.’

Not wanting to cause any more problems, Kang Hyeon decided to quietly comply.

“Yes, I understand.”

As Kang Hyeon obediently began to assume the stance the assistant was teaching, Kim Yi-hyeon walked between them.

“Assistant Kim Seong-han. A moment, please.”

An Yu-seong’s opponent was a woman who was now crying on the ground, her sword dropped.

“Sob sob...”

“Things got a bit intense during the sparring.”

“Medical team! Come quickly!”

The woman’s hand was completely crushed, with white bone visible through the skin.

An Yu-seong had easily dodged the sword she swung and brought his mace down on her hand.

“Mr. An Yu-seong. Are you joking right now?”

Kim Yi-hyeon spoke through gritted teeth.

“This was an accident. An accident. I was so startled that I dodged and swung without thinking, and this happened!”

His acting could make drama actors weep. Plus, while there were suspicions, there was no evidence that it was intentional.

“I’d better stay far away from that crazy bastard.”

As Kang Hyeon was muttering and shaking his head, it happened.

– Psssss...

Feeling uneasy, Kang Hyeon looked around.

His eyes caught sharp ice forming above An Yu-seong.

“Hup!”

However, as if he knew it was coming, An Yu-seong moved naturally to avoid it without even looking.

“What’s going on here...?”

It was clearly a skill, and magic at that.

A few people, including Kang Hyeon and Kim Yi-hyeon, noticed it, but no one seemed inclined to make a bigger fuss about it.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Aaaaaargh!”

Kang Hyeon screamed after returning to the dormitory when training ended.

His shout echoed through the building, drawing people’s attention, but once they realized it was Kang Hyeon, they quietly turned away.

“I’m going crazy from frustration!”

For over three months, Kang Hyeon had fought every single day until he was on the brink of death.

On the day the tutorial ended.

It’s true that he was happy at the thought of not having to do such things anymore.

But less than a week had passed before his mind changed.

“Haa... Have I really become a madman?”

He missed combat.

The thrill of slicing flesh with a blade and crushing bones kept circling in his mind.

He had been in denial, but now he had no choice but to admit it.

“...”

In fact, even watching An Yu-seong’s actions earlier in the day had given Kang Hyeon a strange sense of pleasure.

Somehow, he felt the tension of battle. And beyond that, he wanted to step in and smash everything himself.

“Damn it! I’m not a psycho!”

At Kang Hyeon’s shout, his roommates quietly slipped away.

‘If Kang A-hyun were here, she’d be cursing and telling me to shut up...’

He was so bored that he even missed his usually annoying sister’s swearing.

“This won’t do.”

Muttering to himself, Kang Hyeon got up and left the dormitory.

After passing through a dark corridor, he arrived at a room where light was leaking out.

Raising his hand slightly, he knocked.

– Knock, knock

“Come in.”

With permission granted, Kang Hyeon opened the door.

“What’s the matter?”

Kim Yi-hyeon, who had been organizing documents while sipping coffee, looked at Kang Hyeon.

“Let’s have a duel. With real swords.”

“Why should I do that?”

Kim Yi-hyeon continued flipping through documents without even looking at Kang Hyeon. He was turning pages so quickly that it seemed he wasn’t reading them, just flipping.

“You’re bored with this childish play too, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

At Kim Yi-hyeon’s words, Kang Hyeon leaned in close.

“Don’t lie. It’s written all over your face.”

“...”

Kang Hyeon spoke informally, but Kim Yi-hyeon just kept staring at his documents.

“You’re making me uncomfortable. Please step back.”

“Shall we be honest?”

“I’m already being honest.”

“Then why won’t you look me in the eye?”

At Kang Hyeon’s persistent words, Kim Yi-hyeon raised his head to face him.

His eyes were not the emptiness he had shown to others until now, but fierce flames burning.

“With eyes like that, there’s no way you find staring at these stupid documents interesting, right?”

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