Vroom.
The SUV took the lead, followed by the express bus.
Standing right behind the bus driver was the angler with the highest mana, smoking cigarette after cigarette with a bitter look on his face.
“Good grief, Instructor Park. No matter how frustrated you are, how can you smoke like that on the bus? This isn’t Jaeger Camp, it’s the outside world, the outside!”
The driver grumbled, glancing back, and the man called Instructor Park, a stout fellow, grinned, showing his teeth.
“Hey, Mr. Hong. Hasn’t it been ten years since we first worked together at the Jaeger Cadet Entrance Ceremony? But, have we ever lost a cadet with no backup plan like today? Never, right? That’s why I’m going crazy with frustration.”
“If you’re frustrated, why are you smiling like that? You look completely unhinged.”
“Oh, that? I’m happy. Happy! Finally, someone clever enough to entertain me, Park Munho, has shown up.”
“C-clever?”
“That’s right, clever. How many hotshots have passed through Jaeger Camp over the years? But out of all of them, only one ever caught my interest.”
Park Munho, instructor of Jaeger Camp, plopped down in the seat behind the driver and started telling old stories.
Park Munho.
He’d already been working as an instructor at the camp, training Jaeger cadets, for twelve years.
In that time, nearly 200 Jaeger cadets had passed through his hands.
Since they only took in about ten cadets every two years, the number wasn’t massive.
Anyway, for Park Munho, teaching Jaeger cadets was as easy and natural as breathing.
No Jaeger cadet had ever acted outside of Park Munho’s palm, always moving within his expected range of actions.
But there had been one cadet who had truly impressed Park Munho.
Eight years ago, a young man aged twenty-two came to Jaeger Camp.
Yoon Hyundo—that was the only one who ever acted beyond Park Munho’s predictions, completing a month of special training with top scores.
At Jaeger Camp, Yoon Hyundo had become something of a legend.
‘Yoon Hyundo? He must be making a name for himself as a Jaeger agent by now.’
Kim Seojun made sure to remember the name Yoon Hyundo.
Another ten minutes passed, and the bus arrived at the Sukryongsan Valley Amusement Park Public Parking Lot.
The amusing thing was that the parking lot entrance was blocked by barricades, and you could only enter after a strict security check.
The bus stopped.
“Since we came up empty today, everyone just head home.”
At Park Munho’s words, smacking his lips, the hunters on the bus replied weakly with a “Yes,” then filed out.
Even the bus driver got off, leaving only Park Munho behind. As he stepped down one of the bus stairs, he suddenly spoke toward the inside of the bus.
“The test is over, so you can come out now. I’ll leave the door open.”
Park Munho knew Kim Seojun was still inside the bus.
It was just that he couldn’t physically track him down, so he decided to let it slide.
As Park Munho finished his words and was just stepping outside—
“So, where should I go now?”
Kim Seojun, standing right by the door, asked with a look that screamed ‘I don’t know anything.’
Park Munho was startled.
“When did you…?”
“I was the first one off the bus.”
“…What?”
Park Munho looked genuinely surprised at Kim Seojun’s movement, which he hadn’t even noticed.
“Haha. Well, look at that. The cadet’s got one over on me. Anyway, congratulations on making it into the camp. We’ll be seeing each other often.”
Park Munho’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Kim Seojun, then pointed to one side of the amusement park.
There stood a shabby platform with ten chairs arranged before it.
Seven of the chairs were already occupied.
Four men and three women.
Kim Seojun found it a bit unexpected that the female ratio was higher than he thought.
It wasn’t that there was any difference in abilities.
But usually, most women preferred the more stable job of a Hunter Police Officer over the risky, life-on-the-line work of a Jaeger agent.
As Kim Seojun approached the group, who all seemed to be fellow Jaeger cadets, he carefully activated the Mystic Eye.
And when he saw the results, Kim Seojun couldn’t help but go ‘Oh’ inside.
[218/Special]
[225/Elite]
[241/Elite]
[279/Special]
[253/Elite]
[288/Elite]
[262/Elite]
They all had incredible specs.
It was only fitting to call them Jaeger cadets—there wasn’t a single ordinary one in the bunch.
And the mana traits revealed by the Mystic Eye were equally astonishing.
Among the seven, only two had regular mana, four had white mana, and one possessed super mana.
‘This is getting interesting.’
Kim Seojun began observing the two people wrapped in the blue glow of regular mana.
‘But…is she mixed race?’
A girl, arms folded and eyes quietly closed, was petite and had yellow hair.
No matter how he looked at it, it wasn’t dyed—it was her natural color.
She was also the only one who possessed super mana.
Kim Seojun tilted his head, then sat in the seat next to the yellow-haired girl.
It wasn’t because he was especially interested in her; her seat just happened to be the one furthest in the corner.
As Kim Seojun sat down beside her, the girl opened her eyes.
Her irises were blue.
Anyone could tell she was Western, but there was a subtle sense of Korean blood mixed in.
“What do you want?”
She asked, sounding quite prickly.
“Me? I’m a cadet.”
“I’m asking why you keep staring at me like that?”
“Oh, that? Well, it’s because you’re pretty. You could be a model—why bother going through all this trouble?”
At Kim Seojun’s casual words, the girl’s face showed a hint of surprise.
Maybe her cheeks even turned a little red.
“What are you even saying…”
“I’m Kim Seojun. I’m nineteen.”
Before she could stammer out a flustered reply, Kim Seojun gave her something else to focus on. The girl immediately regained her composure, cleared her throat, and spoke.
“I’m Irina. Same age as you.”
“Same age? I thought you were at least two years younger than me. You look young—did you inherit baby-faced genes from your parents?”
Kim Seojun’s sly friendliness seemed to fluster her again.
“Huh? I’ve never heard of such genes.”
“Your mom’s Korean, right? That must be why you look so young.”
Instead of asking if her father was a foreigner, he complimented her mother as well.
It was a friendlier way to ask, after all.
“That’s right. My dad’s German.”
“But you use a Korean name?”
“I have dual citizenship.”
“What’s your German name?”
“Lina Klein.”
“Ah…I see.”
Kim Seojun widened his eyes, nodding as if truly surprised.
In fact, Kim Seojun was acting a bit differently than usual.
Even if it was just for a month, they’d be living and training as Jaegers together at the camp—no need to create unnecessary tension.
So, as a starting point, he was trying to build a good relationship with Irina.
Thanks to Kim Seojun’s sociability, Irina also relaxed her stiff expression and began chatting comfortably.
Just then, the last two occupants of the remaining seats arrived.
Both looked to be just about twenty.
One of them, instead of arriving by bus, showed up in the SWAT Hunter Team’s SUV.
He even drove the SUV himself, bold as could be.
The two of them possessed the highest mana among all the cadets gathered today.
The tall, slightly gaunt cadet with a pessimistic expression had mana of 324 and was graded as Special.
The other wasn’t tall but was as handsome as Kim Seojun, with a mana of 446, graded as Rare.
The tall cadet had white mana, and the handsome cadet had super mana.
Once they’d taken their seats, a stout, middle-aged man climbed onto the platform.
It was Park Munho.
Tap tap
He tapped the microphone installed on the platform, testing it, then swept his gaze over the crowd, his lips curling into an intrigued smile.
“Greetings, everyone. Starting today, I’ll be living with you for a month and teaching you what it means to live as a Jaeger. I am Instructor Park Munho.”
After briefly introducing himself, Park Munho gave a simple explanation of what training would entail and what rules must be observed at Jaeger Camp.
The rules here were simple.
- Absolute obedience to the instructor’s orders.
- No personal action without the instructor’s permission.
- If disputes arise among cadets, they are resolved through duels in the instructor’s presence.
Just these three.
But if you looked closely, these three rules were broad enough to apply to everything.
Depending on the situation, anything could be managed by adjusting these rules.
Whoever made these up had a truly impressive head on their shoulders.
“…And after a month, a final evaluation will be held. As you know, for this 11th Jaeger class, it was originally planned to select only two numbered Jaeger agents.”
‘Was’—it was in the past tense.
That meant it was no longer just two.
At this, all ten cadets’ eyes sparkled.
Noticing their anticipation, Park Munho’s smile grew wider.
“However, for this class only, we’ve decided to select three numbered Jaeger agents.”
One more numbered agent would be chosen.
Currently, Jaeger numbered agents went from Number One to Number Eleven—a total of eleven.
With three more added, numbers could go up to Fourteen.
All the cadets here were elite candidates, gathered in hopes of earning a number.
So, with the increase, their chances of receiving the associated benefits went up, and everyone’s motivation surged.
“Accordingly, except for the three who receive numbers, the remaining seven will be assigned as regular agents after a month. Our Jaeger treats its regular agents well, so try not to be too disappointed.”
Someone’s voice rose up in protest.
“If I wanted to be a regular agent, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
Park Munho immediately pinpointed the source.
Among the cadets seated in two rows of five, his gaze settled on a well-built young man of twenty-four in the middle of the back row.
“Hm. Cadet Haesung Park? I appreciate that you value Jaeger’s numbered agents so highly…but just know, our regular agents are no slouches either.”
“What did I say? I’m just stating the obvious.”
“Ah, is that so? Your face looked sour, so I thought you were looking down on our regular Jaegers.”
Park Munho was a man with great pride in raising Jaeger agents.
Any slight against regular agents in front of Park Munho was as if to insult him personally.
“I’m not looking down on regular agents. But it’s true that they’re not as skilled as numbered agents, and to make up for that, Jaeger Arms Research Institute developed the ‘Gift,’ didn’t they?”
The cadet named Haesung Park, perhaps unwilling to yield to Park Munho’s presence, tried to rationalize his words.
The Gift he mentioned was a specialized weapon used only by Jaegers, awarded to those who completed a month of training.
Kim Seojun had only a vague idea about the Gift—he didn’t know its form or exact function.
“Oh ho. So, Cadet Haesung Park, are you saying that regular agents’ strength comes from the Gift, not their real skills…something like that?”
“I’m not saying they’re lacking real skill, but it’s true that they get stronger thanks to the Gift, isn’t it?”
Haesung Park answered with a cocky expression, confident in his own abilities. Park Munho curled up one corner of his mouth.
“So, is that why Cadet Haesung Park caused unnecessary friction with the SWAT Hunter Team and failed to arrive on time? Enough to forget your very first mission as a Jaeger cadet?”
“Th-that’s…”
Every cadet here had gone through the same situation as Kim Seojun.
The only difference was their arrival times. On the way to the amusement park, the bus had been taken over by the SWAT Hunter Team, so some cadets failed to arrive on time.
Haesung Park was fifteen minutes late.
“No need for lengthy words. I’ll start by evaluating today’s first mission. The most important factor was punctuality. I announced beforehand that the method wouldn’t be judged. So just keep in mind that evaluation was based on that. First, Cadet Haesung Park and Cadet Heesoo Im.”
The first two names Park Munho called were Haesung Park, twenty-four, and Heesoo Im, an eighteen-year-old high school girl.
The two swallowed nervously, anxious to hear their evaluations.
“These two get a score of 1. Out of 10.”
Out of 10, they scored a 1.
Which basically meant the worst possible score.