Kim Inho put on protective gear for sparring. He wore headgear, slipped on his gloves, and bit down on a mouthpiece.
“Maybe it’s better to start by warming up your body first?”
“I’m fine. I ran on the way here!”
Kim Inho was full of fighting spirit.
Kim Taeyang, who was sitting in a chair, had been murmuring a prayer since earlier and was now tracing the sign of Divine Protection.
‘Still, seeing me do this, he should regain some strength.’
Kim Inho and Lee Hyunbin stood on the ring.
“First, let’s see how much your one-on-one combat has improved.”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
Kim Inho fixed his stance and charged at Hyunbin.
He threw a one-two jab at Hyunbin, who easily swayed to dodge. Kim Inho pressed forward more aggressively, initiating infighting.
He attacked again, but Hyunbin lightly parried Kim Inho’s jab.
“Your endurance is good, and your reactions are sharp. You’ve been training diligently.”
Kim Inho landed an effective hit on Hyunbin’s face, but the sensation on his fist felt hollow.
“However, your power is too lacking. Your balance is definitely good, but even if you land a hit, it’s hard to cause real damage. Of course, it’s different if you use a weapon.”
While casually chatting, Hyunbin suddenly rushed Kim Inho’s body.
Crack!
Something passed through. Despite wearing headgear, the hit felt like being struck by a hammer.
“You need to build your muscular strength first.”
Smack! Crack!
Kim Inho blinked as he got hit repeatedly by jabs.
“Did you… use a skill?”
A probing jab wouldn’t be this heavy. Kim Inho suspected a skill, even though he didn’t want to believe it.
“Why would I use a skill?”
Only then did Kim Inho realize what kind of mood Kim Taeyang was in.
“Uh, I just felt like I got hit by a car.”
“Ah, come on, don’t exaggerate just because you got hit with a low kick. You need to strengthen your lower body too.”
Another punch flew toward Kim Inho’s face.
Kim Inho read the attack in advance and dodged.
At that moment, a memory flashed through his mind.
Middle school gym class.
It was the day they played dodgeball, and a girl with short hair who always threw the ball at him came to mind.
- Why does she only throw the ball at me? There are other people, too.
Kim Inho wondered if he had done something wrong and asked her.
From the girl’s stoic lips came a deflating sound.
- You fool. Don’t you know why?
Back then, he didn’t understand.
Now that he thought about it, the girl might have been expressing her own embarrassed feelings that way.
Now he knew.
“Uh, are you okay? Was that too hard?”
Hyunbin asked Kim Inho with a look of concern. Kim Inho, bleeding from his nose, gave a bitter smile.
“Thanks to you, Team Leader, I’ve solved the mystery of my first love. Turns out she liked me all along.”
“Uh, wait. I’ll call a healer… No, don’t move. You probably hit your head badly just now…!”
Kim Inho ended up having to explain to Hyunbin for a while that he was fine.
Kim Inho stepped off the ring to rest, and it was Kim Taeyang’s turn to spar.
“Ugh!”
“Hahaha. Our Taeyang Hunter’s endurance has really improved, huh?”
“Gah!”
“Oh no! Your punches are much sharper now too?”
“You’re a devil! A devil!”
“Hahaha. Definitely our Taeyang Hunter packs a punch. Thanks to his Regeneration Ability, he recovers quickly.”
“Just kill me already!”
“Kill you? Hey now. Don’t say things like that. It’s all out of love. This training is so you don’t die, so you can’t be asking to be killed.”
“Sniff… uhgg…”
Aggressive and relentless, Kim Taeyang was thoroughly beaten by Hyunbin.
After the one-sided beating—well, sparring—Hyunbin sat the two down. His face oddly looked relieved of stress.
It feels refreshing both physically and mentally to spar after such a long time.
Honestly, I thought Kim Taeyang would be fine since he’s trained with me before. But Kim Inho is a surprise. Even after being hit badly enough to nearly pass out, he’s showing no sign of wanting to run away.
He should hold up.
We have to do at least three sparring sets from now on.
To be honest, there’s no better training than sparring. You have to get hit a lot and hit a lot to not flinch in real fights.
Most Hunters aren’t just monster hunters who kill beasts.
There are also criminals who hunt Hunters. I myself got ambushed by the Vigilante Guild.
An ordinary Hunter would have been helpless.
“For now, both of them have talent. As long as we strengthen their fundamentals at the start and get going.”
“Team Leader, I’ve already trained before…”
“Hey now, no one’s exempt. You have to get back into shape. I heard you couldn’t even get out of the dungeon at the Hwarang Guild and just took a break? I also heard you were just lazing around and drinking.”
I had already investigated Kim Taeyang. He put in effort when training with me but slackened off quickly after joining Hwarang Guild.
“Well, that’s because I…”
“Then why do you hit people?”
“Isn’t that something you shouldn’t say to me, Team Leader…?”
It was time to get back on the ring.
Seeing my reaction, Kim Taeyang quickly apologized.
“No matter the reason, hitting is always wrong. Unless you’re training with the hope that all our team members do well.”
“……”
“Yes!”
Kim Inho sat upright, eyes shining at my words, while Kim Taeyang looked at me with dead eyes.
The two have completely different dispositions. How are they even friends?
“First, Kim Taeyang Hunter, change your hair color. Your eyes are sharp enough, but your blond hair makes you look like a delinquent. You can’t just mess with the hair your parents gave you like that…”
“My mother’s foreign…”
“That’s just other people’s opinions. No wonder the color looked so brilliant.”
“You just said it makes me look like a delinquent…”
“Me? No way.”
That was almost a disaster.
Kim Taeyang’s face looks purely Korean. I never guessed he was mixed-race.
Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho make a surprisingly good pair.
Taeyang is playful, Inho is diligent.
Taeyang has power, Inho has balance.
I gave them the fundamental training they needed.
Most Hunters don’t understand the importance of fundamental training. It’s because of the game-like system they benefit from.
They have stats, and based on those stats, all abilities get weighted bonuses.
But numerical stats aren’t everything.
Experienced people like me can show power beyond their stats. It’s not combat relying on stats but reflexive combat ability.
“Every day, we start with a morning jog. The last one has to do a special, secret lesson with me… Hey, don’t kick your legs up!”
We began training by running about five kilometers.
Running is the foundation of all training because it builds stamina and lung capacity.
If you’re already panting after swinging a sword a couple of times, you’ll get hunted, not hunting.
“Oh wow, you’re eating heartily. I bought extra lunchboxes, so eat up. Even my dog eats 15 servings a day. This is nothing. You have to eat a lot to keep up… Ah, don’t worry about it. Just eat.”
“Alright, it’s sparring time, everyone’s been waiting for this. From today, we do three sets. Hey, our Inho Hunter. You’ve got a body that’s perfect for taking hits.”
“Uh, I need to use the restroom.”
“…Inho Hunter, is this the bathroom?”
“Kim Inho Hunter, you have call records to Fighting God Guild…? Can I keep your phone for a while?”
“Hmm, Taeyang Hunter, why did you call 112? Oh, you have a friend in the police and wanted to meet after a long time? I believe you. I believe you. Haha. How much time is left on your phone contract? Oh, I’m going to break it. It’s my job to eliminate the ‘evil’ that stops our Hunters from getting stronger. Hey, no need to cry with emotion.”
Starting at 5 a.m. with a run, three sparring sets, four hours of strength training, and aerobic exercise combined.
They trained without pause except for meals, and I felt satisfied watching the two quickly harden their bodies.
One day, the two complained about being tired of lunchboxes and wanted to eat pork belly. I told them to go, but four hours passed, and they hadn’t come back.
“They’re not answering their phones?”
I trusted them and let them go, but they must be having a great time.
I was debating whether to search through Olivier when I heard the door open.
I thought it might be Kim Taeyang and Kim Inho, but it was Seohyeonji.
It had been quite a while since she showed up.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
It had been about a week since her last appearance.
Honestly, I wasn’t too pleased. Through her manager, I’d gotten updates: CF schedule, variety show schedule backlog, regional business trip. Messages came like reports.
‘S-rank. Definitely impressive.’
As a company, having S-rank Seohyeonji is an irresistible card. It improves corporate image and helps with dungeon bids.
“I heard from your manager that you were searched for a lot?”
Seohyeonji looked down and gave a meaningful smile.
“Maybe they missed me?”
Her face looks normal, but there’s something off in her head.
“What training should I do?”
“You can just run on the treadmill and then go home.”
“Can’t I do something else?”
“Just do that water-slicing thing you did last time.”
She kept looking at me as I responded flatly.
If she wants to remain just a puppet, I won’t drag or force her. No matter the talent. If she has no intention, what’s the point?
“Oh, that? It was pretty easy. I tried it once while bathing, and it just worked.”
She confidently tilted her chin when I asked to show me.
She filled the bathtub and lightly put her hand into the water, slicing vertically.
Lightly, a blue curtain controlled the water’s movement. So simple, so easy.
“How much have you practiced?”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t practiced. It just worked.”
Honestly, I didn’t expect much from Seohyeonji.
I could have taught her the principle or given hints. I thought she wouldn’t do it properly or even try.
‘This is surprising.’
She, who seemed so unmotivated, looked different now.
“Try using an Ability.”
“Should I use Igni like last time?”
I nodded.
The fire spirit, Igni, is easy to use but consumes a lot of mana due to intense magical movement.
For her, lacking both stamina and mana, a few seconds of maintenance is the limit.
Seohyeonji placed her bag on the table and rolled up her sleeves. She muttered softly to herself.
Red patterns split into several lines around her, forming a symbol. It took less than a second.
Flare!
With the sound of fire swallowing the air, Igni was summoned. But it wasn’t the same as last time.
Instead of human-sized, this Igni was only about the size of two palms stacked.
Seohyeonji glanced at me and mumbled as if making excuses.
“The usual summon was too tiring. So I reduced the size instead…”
“Yes, that’s the right answer.”
It was a bit unexpected. The water-slicing training was meant to improve mana sensitivity. Increasing sensitivity reduces unnecessary mana consumption.
I was going to teach her that, but she figured it out herself.
“Well done.”
Burn marks were visible on her fingers. She showed signs of having practiced repeatedly.
“Who said I wanted compliments?”
Seohyeonji grumbled hesitantly.
Kim Taeyang, Kim Inho, and now Seohyeonji—putting them all together, this might turn out to be a decent team.
If only we had a decent healer.