Chapter 101
The Merciless Tyrant (3)
After the glamorous entrance ceremony ended, two days of boring theoretical education followed.
Dungeons and monsters.
All kinds of weapons and the famous ability users who handle them.
At first glance, it might seem useful, but for most trainees who had already studied better quality materials through the internet, it wasn’t a particularly meaningful time.
“Today, we will be educating you on handling weapons.”
And on the third day.
Finally, the long-awaited practical training began.
Kang Hyeon, who came to work after a long time, picked up a longsword from the many cold weapons placed in front of him.
“The longsword is the weapon most often chosen by ability users. It’s just versatile. It might feel a bit difficult at first, but as you use it, you’ll find nothing as versatile as this.”
Kang Hyeon lightly swung the sword.
The sound of the sword cutting through the air echoed through the auditorium with a whoosh.
“You’re not going to gain any amazing sword skills by training here for just a few days. Just approach it with the mindset of getting a feel for each weapon.”
“...”
“Any questions?”
A man raised his hand.
“Is there any way to quickly improve weapon handling skills?”
“No. It’s talent.”
“Pardon?”
“I said it’s talent. What someone without talent learns in 10 hours of swinging, those with talent learn in just a few swings.”
The man made a bewildered expression at Kang Hyeon’s words.
“Then is there no need to practice?”
“If you want to be an ability user without talent, you have to practice like hell. When the talented ones finish dungeon raids and go out for beer together, those without talent have to go back into the dungeon and work their asses off. You can trust me on this, it’s from experience.”
“...”
“But most of those without talent end up dying while working that hard. Or they just remain as third-rate ability users.”
With Kang Hyeon’s words that not only crushed their spirits but threw them to the ground and stomped on them, the auditorium’s atmosphere turned into that of a funeral.
“I’ll be different! I’m sure I’m born with tremendous ability. I’ll become an ability user better than anyone else! There are probably quite a few people here thinking like this, but it’ll be too late to regret when you’re being torn apart by monsters.”
“Um... Instructor.”
“Yes?”
“Perhaps you should tone down your language a bit...”
Only when Jeong Jong-ho stepped in to intervene did Kang Hyeon stop his attack.
“I’ve gone on a tangent, but let’s see. I may not have talent, but I’m damn good at recognizing those who do. Everyone, start practicing on your own.”
At Kang Hyeon’s words, the trainees each picked up weapons and started swinging.
Kang Hyeon couldn’t help but smile as he was somehow reminded of when he was being trained a year ago.
‘There are some quite sensible ones.’
However, unlike then, Kang Hyeon was now observing them all from the position of an educator.
There were certainly a few individuals who stood out, unlike before.
‘I guess there are talented people wherever you go... But they don’t seem to be at the level to compete with someone like An Yu-seong.’
While he was absentmindedly watching the trainees like that, it happened.
“Wow...”
“Sister! You’re so cool!”
“Instructor. How did you just do that?!”
Suddenly, one side of the training hall started to get noisy.
There, Shin Seong-a could be seen continuously swinging her weapon.
“Haap!”
The dagger thrown by Shin Seong-a from quite a distance stuck precisely in the center of the target.
‘She was always playing that game with An Yu-seong in the guild office... So this is how she’s using it.’
Kang Hyeon chuckled, recalling how Shin Seong-a would have dagger throwing contests with An Yu-seong whenever she had the chance.
“How is that possible? Is she even human?”
“Can all ability users do that like the instructor?”
“Hmm... Not all, but some skilled ability users can.”
“Wow! Sister, can I touch your muscles just once?!”
“Of course...”
In the midst of it all, Shin Seong-a could be seen repeatedly rubbing the bridge of her nose with her cheeks flushed red.
It was the happiest she had looked since meeting her.
“That attention seeker. How did she manage to hold back until now. Tsk tsk.”
Contrary to his harsh words, Kang Hyeon also watched the scene with quite a bit of satisfaction.
“Excuse me. Can you take a look at my posture?”
At that moment, a somewhat familiar voice was heard. When he turned his head, he saw Choi Yeon-hwa smiling brightly with her group.
“Yes... Go ahead and show me.”
Kang Hyeon nodded with a somewhat disgruntled expression.
‘What am I going to do with this girl.’
On the first day of training, Kang Hyeon had unintentionally gotten into a fight and tried to use that opportunity to shock Choi Yeon-hwa into leaving.
However, that attempt not only failed miserably but had the opposite effect.
Choi Yeon-hwa, more excited after seeing Kang Hyeon, approached the training even more passionately.
She never once showed the arrogant attitude or self-centered behavior often depicted by rich daughters in dramas.
“How is it? Is this the right way to swing?”
Moreover, she was even talented.
Even now, her posture was noticeably more stable than other trainees.
‘Do rich kids all have innate talent too...’
Han Se-yeon, An Yu-seong, Choi Yeon-hwa.
He couldn’t help but think this way when all the rich kids around him were like this.
“Oh... It’s good. Have you learned sword before?”
“I’ve been doing kendo since I was little! After the dungeon incident, we even called in ability users to teach me.”
“Ah...”
Indeed, money was the best.
“Isn’t it scary or tiring to swing something so heavy and sharp?”
Kang Hyeon sometimes thinks.
Shin Seong-a is truly a terrifying human. No, a demon.
“Hoo...”
Kang Hyeon sighed and roughly ran his hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry, but it’s not possible. Go back to the dorm.”
“What? Why?”
“Tsk... If you don’t, I’ll have you expelled from the training.”
“Why... There’s no such rule...”
“There it is here. Go back.”
In the end, Kang Hyeon used a forceful method.
If it were other people, he might have sent them back with threats accompanied by violence, but for some reason, he couldn’t do that to Choi Yeon-hwa.
‘If Kang A-hyun had done that, I might have found it a bit cute...’
Kang Hyeon smiled wryly, thinking of Kang A-hyun who was probably spending lavishly with the money he had sent.
***
Ippotranslation
***
That evening.
“Guild Master. Where are you going?”
Han Si-hwan caught Kang Hyeon as he was leaving the guild office.
“Ah, I was just thinking of going out for some beef for dinner.”
“Can I join you?”
“Brother. Me too.”
“Beef?!”
“Guild Master! I want to go too!”
At his casual remark, all the guild members in the office stood up.
Kang Hyeon glared at Han Si-hwan, the cause of this situation.
“Ahem, it’s been hard to see the Guild Master these days, and I think it would be good to have a group dinner on this occasion...”
“Mr. Han Si-hwan.”
“Yes...”
“Your skill at being thick-skinned has improved quite a bit.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Hoo...”
Kang Hyeon sighed and grabbed his wallet.
“Everyone follow me! It’s on me!”
“Yay!”
And so, a total of thirty guild members moved out.
The destination was a nearby regular beef specialty restaurant.
“Tsk, this is going to cost quite a bit...”
Although it wasn’t a place that served very expensive premium Beef, beef is still beef.
At 20,000 won per 100g, a significant expense was expected.
“Don’t eat too much, everyone. Eat moderately!”
“Yes!”
The members included Kang Hyeon, Shin Seong-a, An Yu-seong, Yoon Na-rae, Jo Dong-won, Jo Seong-chan.
And the guild members from Guardian backgrounds who were currently team leaders and deputy leaders of each attack team.
The rest were office workers who had remained in the office.
“Hmm... Mr. Kang Hyeon. Han Jae-moon, the office manager, didn’t come.”
“Ah! Jae-moon?”
For a moment, Kang Hyeon thought of Han Jae-moon who was in the office, but he pretended not to know.
“Well, Han Jae-moon is always busy anyway, so it’s fine.”
“I understand.”
As it was a common occurrence, Shin Seong-a didn’t mention it further.
“Ah, everyone, pay attention for a moment!”
In the middle of inhaling the meat, he suddenly gathered everyone’s attention.
All the guild members put down their chopsticks in unison and looked at Kang Hyeon.
“As you all know, I’m currently temporarily in charge of the training center, right?”
“Yes.”
“With the change in the training process this time, we’ve added a dungeon hunting demonstration.”
As most of them already knew this fact, they nodded silently.
“Originally, it’s done by the instructors there, but I’m thinking of pulling out one attack team to show them. I think we need to show some rough scenes.”
“...”
“It seems most of the attack team leaders are gathered here by chance. Anyone want to volunteer?”
Silence fell at Kang Hyeon’s words.
“What’s this? No one?”
“...”
“Han Si-hwan. Attack Team 1 Leader.”
“Yes...”
When Kang Hyeon called him, Han Si-hwan responded with a gloomy expression.
“Since we’re showing off anyway, wouldn’t it be best for Attack Team 1, the elite team, to move? Absolutely don’t misunderstand that this is revenge for today’s dinner. Really.”
The way he smiled and spoke made it seem like it was absolutely revenge.
“If you don’t want to do it, just say so. I can ask another team. But if you don’t show a satisfactory performance, all team leaders will go dungeon raiding with me. Three B-rank dungeons.”
Currently, among the guild’s attack teams, only Team 1 was going to B-rank dungeons.
Even then, they were only raiding normal cores, excluding the main cores.
“As the executives of the Badass Guild gather here, three B-rank dungeons should be a breeze. I’ll make sure you can’t fail, so keep that in mind. You all know my style well, right?”
The faces of the team leaders who had already seen videos of Kang Hyeon raiding B-rank dungeons turned ashen.
“This isn’t all because of Team Leader Han Sihwan! It’s just something I thought of while we’re out for dinner. Everyone, think of it comfortably. Comfortably! Still, I’d prefer if Team Leader Han Si-hwan stepped up. That would look better.”
“Haa, Team 1 will do it...”
Han Si-hwan said in a half-dead voice.
“Okay!”