Chapter 29. Skipped Grade Kim Song-cheol (2)

Even the Special Tactical Education Center has weekends.

Under current law, Hunters are not classified as laborers, but their holidays are guaranteed.

Unless there was a special change in schedule, they did not enter Dungeons on holidays.

Chirp, chirp.

As expected, Kim Song-cheol woke up not to an alarm, but to the sound of birds chirping.

The soft feel of the blanket.

The scent of fabric softener.

A refreshed feeling.

The warm sunlight.

It was a morning equipped with everything a holiday should have.

‘What time is it…’

He checked his phone, squinting against the pouring sunlight.

8:10 AM.

He had slept an hour longer than usual.

Kim Song-cheol scratched his head as he got up and drank a glass of water from the kitchen purifier.

Once the lukewarm water entered his stomach, he felt a bit more awake.

Holding the water glass, Kim Song-cheol walked to the living room window and threw open the curtains.

The first thing he saw was the empty playground.

On weekdays, the Swordsman Trainees were always out on the playground.

They run in the morning, swing something at lunch, and run while swinging again in the evening.

The more he saw it, the more he realized that being a Swordsman was a fascinating thing.

Kim Song-cheol stood in the sunlight for a moment, then took out a rolled-up mat and spread it in the living room.

It was for his morning stretching.

Even though he woke up a bit late, he couldn’t skip his routine.

This wasn’t training; it was something Kim Song-cheol did because he wanted to.

It had become a habit since his mid-twenties, and now his body felt stiff if he didn’t do it.

Kim Song-cheol loosened up his body by bending, spreading, holding, and stretching on the mat.

A routine of exactly 20 minutes.

Now, he could finish right at the 20-minute mark without even watching YouTube.

As soon as he finished stretching, his phone chimed.

It was a text message saying his breakfast had been delivered.

Wearing only his underwear, he opened the front door and brought in the tray containing his breakfast.

The menu was ordinary Korean food.

The Training Academy also provided standard meals for those who had trouble choosing a menu.

Kim Song-cheol had ordered various things at first, but now he had settled on the standard meal.

It was a process many Trainees went through.

After eating breakfast, Kim Song-cheol washed up and headed outside.

His destination was the first floor of the dormitory.

There was a cafe there.

***

Kim Song-cheol headed outside holding his usual Americano.

The weekend spring sunlight was out.

It was worth basking in.

As he walked toward the inner part of the Training Academy with his Americano, he saw Swordsmen flocking to the playground, unable to hold back even for a moment.

They didn’t seem to be training. It was because they had a ball.

‘Ah, they’re playing soccer.’

Kim Song-cheol watched the playground for a moment from under the shade of a tree.

A Swordsman bounced the ball lightly with his toes, trapping it before kicking it into the sky.

That “Boom!” sound was on a completely different level from the sound heard at a normal soccer field.

The ball itself was specially made for the Training Academy.

He heard that they started special production after bursting 11 ordinary balls during the early days of the Training Academy’s opening.

It was a ball that was certainly heavier and sturdier than a normal soccer ball.

Soon after, a 7-on-7 soccer match began.

One might think it was a small number, but at the Training Academy, even that was a lot.

This was because their radius of activity was enormous.

‘It’s practically Shaolin soccer.’

When they head the ball, they jump three or four meters, and when they swing their arms during a physical struggle, people fly away.

But the person who flew away also stands up laughing perfectly fine.

After seeing something like that once, even famous soccer leagues become boring child’s play.

‘It would be fun to play soccer with a body like that.’

Whack!

A Trainee who leaped into the air kicked the ball accurately toward the goal with an overhead kick from four meters high.

The ball, which moved at a speed almost impossible to track with the eye, was surprisingly blocked by the goalkeeper’s hand.

The goalkeeper was leisurely holding out one hand, and Aura flickered around his hand.

The ball stayed as if stuck to his hand, spinning fiercely for a long time before dropping to the ground with a thud.

“Ah, I told you we shouldn’t let that guy be the goalkeeper! How can you make a graduate student the goalkeeper!”

The Trainee who kicked the ball tore at his hair.

It seemed there were balance issues because the difference in physical ability was severe depending on the level of Swordsmanship.

“That’s youth.”

Leaving behind the Swordsmen who were arguing as if they were about to fight, Kim Song-cheol continued his walk.

As he passed near the gym via the playground, he saw Trainees playing badminton through the window.

There were five or six female Trainees.

They were Mages.

Having lived as a Trainee for a while, their faces were now familiar, so even if he didn’t know their names, he could tell if they were Swordsmen or Mages.

When one Trainee served with an awkward posture, the Trainee on the other side hesitated before swinging her racket fiercely.

However, the racket passed through as if it were moving through the shuttlecock. The shuttlecock hit the Trainee’s forehead directly.

“Crazy! Look at her!”

“So funny.”

The surrounding Trainees burst into laughter, and Kim Song-cheol also gave a slight smile.

Being a Mage didn’t necessarily mean one lacked athletic nerves, but there were bound to be people who were exceptionally lacking.

“Do it again!”

The Trainee who was rubbing her forehead served the ball herself.

This time, there were a few rallies.

Then, when one side came too far forward, the other side hit the shuttlecock very far away.

It was a fairly slow speed, but it was too far to reach.

At that moment, a Magic Circle appeared in the air and Light gathered on the Trainee’s finger.

Then, the shuttlecock stopped dead in the air before flying back to the other side with a whoosh.

It was the 3rd Circle Magic, Telekinesis.

“Crazy! Magic is cheating!”

“I said let’s play fair and square!”

“You use Magic too then!”

“If we’re going to do that, I’ll just block everything with a barrier!”

The Trainees argued playfully.

Kim Song-cheol watched them for a moment longer before moving to a bench and sitting down.

The branches of a cherry blossom tree standing behind the bench were hanging down.

Cherry blossoms were in full bloom on every joint of the branches. Every time the wind blew, cherry blossom petals poured down like heavy snow.

‘It’s pretty.’

Kim Song-cheol sipped his coffee while being hit by the rain of petals.

It was a relaxing weekend morning.

***

Kim Song-cheol headed toward the gym.

The weekend was over, and it was now Monday.

A new class would begin today.

It was anti-personnel combat training.

“Hello.”

While he was walking, Ser Gang-jin suddenly poked his head out from behind.

“Oh, hey!”

“It’s anti-personnel combat training, right?”

“Yeah. I guess we’re taking a class together for the first time.”

“I guess so. Of all things, it had to be anti-personnel combat training.”

Ser Gang-jin did not seem very pleased about taking a class with Kim Song-cheol.

But he wasn’t being hateful.

It was because he pouted his lips humorously as usual.

Kim Song-cheol just laughed and patted Ser Gang-jin on the shoulder.

In fact, anti-personnel combat training is quite a serious training.

The purpose of the class was to prepare for battles with Hunters that could occur in Dungeons.

And that battle, in the end, was mostly a case where one had no choice but to stake their life.

Most countries, including the Republic of Korea, deal with multi-dimensional Hunters based on ‘active defense.’

A preemptive strike is an act that, in the end, has more losses than gains.

Therefore, they were responding in a way that eliminated the threat by any means only when it was judged to be a threat.

For that response, anti-personnel combat training was essential.

When they entered the gym, there were already many Trainees.

About ten people.

It belonged to a fairly large-scale class in the Training Academy.

“Is it that? That thing.”

“Ah, it looks like it.”

When Kim Song-cheol pointed to one side of the gym, Ser Gang-jin nodded.

There was a large machine and a strangely shaped suit of armor, and the armor and the machine were connected by wires.

In anti-personnel combat training, special protective gear is worn.

That machine was the main body of that protective gear.

“You’re here?”

Oh Song-hui’s voice was heard. Looking around, he saw her sitting with Mun Gi-jeong on one side of the gym.

A class where the entire Team 25A participates.

Meeting in a class instead of a Dungeon felt strange.

“Uncle, are you taking this class too?”

As Kim Song-cheol approached, Oh Song-hui also spoke in a displeased voice.

“Yeah. But why does everyone look so displeased? I’m happy we’re taking class together.”

Kim Song-cheol added a few words with a slightly disappointed heart.

“No, this and that are different. I also like taking classes together, but the levels don’t match. I’ve watched from the side. How you fight, Uncle.”

In fact, it was Team 25A who knew Kim Song-cheol’s combat power best.

There was no reason to fight within the Training Academy, but inside Dungeons, they had to fight day in and day out.

Since they had been watching that from the side, sparring with Kim Song-cheol was something they wanted to avoid.

“Is everyone here!?”

The voice of the anti-personnel combat Instructor echoed through the hall.

A loud and energetic voice.

Turning his head, he saw a large figure entering, matching the voice.

Two assistant instructors followed behind him.

As the Instructor stood in the center of the hall, the Trainees naturally lined up in front of him.

After a brief introduction and greeting.

Instructor Dokgo Yeol took a step toward the protective gear hanging on a mannequin.

“First, I will explain the Magic Armor. As you can see, the chest and major parts are protected, and if you wear the full-face helmet here, even your face will be protected. The impact force will not be significantly reduced, so please keep that in mind.”

The Mana Binding Interference Wave Generator, commonly known as Magic Armor, is a product of modern science.

As Dungeons and Gates appeared, the fact that Mana exists on Earth became known, and research on Mana is ongoing in countries around the world.

This Magic Armor was invented by chance during that research.

The effect was to reduce the power of Magic when it hit.

In particular, attribute Magic could be considered almost ineffective.

On the other hand, the impact force could only be reduced by about 30 percent.

It wasn’t a big problem. This was because they could just add steel plates or something similar.

“First, I will explain the combat patterns between Swordsmen and Mages.”

The Instructor continued his explanation as passionately as his loud voice.

Anti-personnel combat training is divided into three types: Swordsman vs. Mage, Swordsman vs. Swordsman, and Mage vs. Mage.

Among them, the sparring between a Swordsman and a Mage is mainly conducted focusing on breakthrough and suppression.

It ends when a Swordsman breaks through the Mage’s suppression and the sword touches the Mage’s body.

This is because Mages have no way to beat a Swordsman in close combat, to the point where it is considered that the Mage has lost the moment they allow the approach.

“I will provide additional explanations while conducting the sparring. First, Trainee Park Gi-yeon, Trainee Lee So-jin. Step forward.”

Two Trainees were called out.

Park Gi-yeon was a Swordsman.

Lee So-jin was a Mage.

Park Gi-yeon wore the Magic Armor with the help of an assistant instructor, and Lee So-jin also wore ordinary protective gear with help.

The sword Park Gi-yeon held was a practice sword.

It wasn’t even metal, but made of reinforced plastic.

Since it was the first sparring class, it was to reduce the risk of injury.

There was no greater loss than getting injured while training.

Park Gi-yeon and Lee So-jin each went and stood at the positions marked on the gym floor.

A fairly long distance.

It was to the point where the waiting Trainees had to move their heads left and right to see the two of them alternately.

If Park Gi-yeon breaks through the Magic within 20 seconds, approaches, and stabs Lee So-jin with the sword, he wins.

If he fails to reach her within 20 seconds, it is Lee So-jin’s victory.

Park Gi-yeon swung his sword around while organizing the wires coming out of the armor.

Perhaps because it was plastic, there was no great momentum, but it was quite threatening.

“Prepare, start!”

At the Instructor’s signal, Park Gi-yeon ran out at an incredible speed.

At the same time, Lee So-jin responded first with Magic Missile.

The Magic Missile flying through the air hit Park Gi-yeon’s shoulder.

Thwack!

A louder sound than expected occurred, and Park Gi-yeon’s shoulder was jerked back once.

“Ah! That’s more painful than I thought?”

However, Park Gi-yeon’s speed did not drop at all.

“Heave-ho!”

Park Gi-yeon lightly jumped over the barrier that appeared next.

But what was waiting for him was the 2nd Circle Magic, Air Blast.

His body floated into the air again and flew backward.

However, Park Gi-yeon flipped his body in mid-air and landed like a gymnast, then ran out again.

A counterattack did not come out.

The Magic had briefly cut off as an aftermath of using 2nd Circle Magic.

In that gap, Park Gi-yeon closed the 20-meter distance in an instant.

What flew at him was barely a Magic Missile.

Park Gi-yeon took the Magic Missile with his body as he closed the remaining 10 meters, and before the Lightning Spear could be cast, he poked Lee So-jin’s solar plexus with his plastic sword.

It was the Swordsman’s victory.

“That’s it!”

The Swordsmen cheered.

Since it was a sparring class, they had naturally taken sides.