Chapter 70: Winner Takes All

It was only complicated the first time; from the second hunt onward, everything proceeded smoothly.

Riding the momentum from finding five Magic Stones in their first battle with the gnomes, the cadets immediately launched into the second fight.

Their target was a massive goblin settlement formed along a cliff, one kilometer away.

This time, they didn’t bother setting traps; all the cadets charged into battle at once.

Nearly four hundred goblins lived in the caves.

But these creatures were cowardly; no matter how many there were, once their momentum was broken, they couldn’t rally again.

At first, the goblins attacked fiercely, but as soon as their kin began to fall in droves, they scattered and fled.

That was the beginning of a long chase.

To catch the goblins fleeing in every direction, the cadets split up.

Only after four long hours did the cadets finally regroup.

The cadets gathered in front of the cave entrance to the goblin village.

Choi Cheolmin, who was as good as their leader, looked at the eleven Magic Stones in his palm and couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

“Our first objective… we’ve already finished it?”

“Seriously. I can’t tell if we’re lucky, or if the drop rate is just always this good.”

With his face covered in blood, Ahn Jiun tilted his head in confusion.

“So, what now? The sun’s set, so should we find a place to sleep for tonight, then hunt for one more day tomorrow? Or should we just head straight for the boss room in the morning?”

“Let’s hunt for one more day.”

The answer came from Yang Hwi.

If they hunted for one more day and got a similar number of Magic Stones, it would be a huge gain.

Even if they only got orange-grade stones, getting two per person meant they could raise their Mana by at least 5 to 10 points.

That was Mana that ordinary Hunters would need more than half a year to accumulate—achieved in just two days. Who could resist being greedy for that?

“Any other opinions?”

“I agree.”

“So do I.”

“Hell, let’s just tough it out for one more day.”

Everyone seemed to agree with Yang Hwi.

“All right. Let’s look for a place to rest, then.”

With that, the cadets left the goblin village and headed further up the mountain.

Once they found a suitable spot, the cadets leveled the ground and gathered grass to make a soft place to sleep.

There, using what little food remained, they filled their empty stomachs.

Because their camp had been attacked, they’d lost a day’s worth of rations and couldn’t eat their fill.

Thanks to Kim Seojun, Lim Heeju, and Irina—who had each brought more food than they should have—the group was at least able to stave off the worst of their hunger.

The cadets were deeply grateful to the three of them.

That night, Kim Seojun was able to enjoy a sound sleep, since he wasn’t on watch.

While the other cadets took turns standing guard, one per hour, Kim Seojun was excluded from the rotation.

No one had any complaints about this arrangement.

Thus, the first day inside the Rift came to an end.

“Narrow the formation!”

Even while fighting a horde of orcs, Choi Cheolmin kept an eye on the spacing between cadets.

Today’s prey was orcs.

Fortunately, they were just regular blue orcs. If they had been the combat-skilled red orcs, it wouldn’t have been surprising if someone had gotten hurt—the orcs’ resistance was fierce.

“Don’t worry about the ones who ran off into the gorge! Let’s take care of the ones left here first!”

“Yang Hwi! Three of them are escaping your way!”

“Ahn Jiun! I told you, watch your back while you fight!”

“Shin Taeyang! Don’t go off alone—work with Park Haeseong!”

Choi Cheolmin was busy.

Even though he was fighting orcs himself, he was perfectly aware of what was happening around him.

Kim Seojun watched Choi Cheolmin and thought to himself.

‘He’s really skilled at leading a team. Even if he is the brother of a Hunter-Detective, this is practically veteran Hunter level.’

Choi Cheolmin wasn’t just experienced—he seemed like a professional hunter who roamed from Rift to Rift, hunting monsters and joining raids.

His Mystic, Space Jump, wasn’t just powerful for attacking; it was perfect for zipping around the battlefield and filling gaps wherever they appeared.

Whenever he could, he’d jump ten meters into the air to survey the field and then dive right back into the fray—his unique tactic left the orcs dazed and reeling.

Kim Seojun glanced over the cadets, who had now defeated more than a hundred orcs.

So far, nothing especially dangerous had happened, and everyone seemed relaxed.

The two-meter-tall orcs showed off their brute strength, but the fruits of the cadets’ training easily outmatched these blue orcs, whose only strength was their muscle.

It was like a fight between adults and children.

With each swing of their Mana-infused, razor-sharp weapons, orc arms and legs were severed, and heads went flying.

Thud.

Finally, the last orc fell forward, its chest pierced through.

Many of the orcs had managed to flee into a narrow gorge up ahead, but for now, there were no orcs left standing around the cadets.

“Wow… definitely tougher than yesterday.”

Min Sora, soaked in orc blood, massaged her arms and legs.

Lim Heeju, standing beside her, squeezed an orc’s heart in her hand, making it burst with a grin.

“Still, thanks to your Mystic, you barely have to use your strength at all, right?”

“Hey, Heeju, what can I do if my awakened Mystic is just like that? If you’re jealous, go awaken another one~”

“If it were that easy, I’d have done it already. Tch.”

Min Sora and Lim Heeju had grown close enough to speak freely with each other.

“All right, everyone, gather up. Let’s see how many Magic Stones we got, then head into the gorge.”

At Choi Cheolmin’s words, everyone began searching the orc corpses for Magic Stones.

Amazingly, they found three stones among the hundred orc bodies.

“Wow… what’s with this drop rate? That makes fourteen already.”

Lim Heeju sounded amazed, and Yang Hwi, who had been watching from a little distance, made a casual remark.

“Either way, we only need ten Magic Stones. The extras should be absorbed right away, based on priority.”

“Yang Hwi’s right. No sense saving them. So, how do we decide the priority? Draw lots? Rock-paper-scissors?”

Choi Cheolmin looked around at the cadets, but then Kim Seojun, who rarely voiced his opinion, spoke up.

“How about a footrace to the end of the gorge—without using any Mana? Whoever gets there first wins the Magic Stones.”

Not a bad idea.

But how would they confirm no one was using Mana?

“You’re not seriously suggesting we use MPSP here, are you?”

Irina, reading Kim Seojun’s mind, gave him a startled look.

If they used MPSP, Mana would be locked for five minutes.

But since the orcs weren’t fully dealt with, something dangerous could happen during that time and they wouldn’t be able to respond.

But apparently Shin Taeyang and Yang Hwi weren’t worried. Their eyes sparkled as they immediately agreed.

“I like it. Pure stamina—it’s fair for everyone.”

“Sounds fun. I’m in—it’ll be a thrill.”

The two locked gazes, the atmosphere turning competitive.

Strangely, Shin Taeyang and Yang Hwi never considered Kim Seojun a rival.

Even though Kim Seojun had the highest actual evaluation scores, the two always left him out and just bristled at each other. It was strange.

“A pure stamina contest… not a bad suggestion, but it’s a bit risky. Any other ideas?”

Choi Cheolmin seemed interested in the idea too.

“In five minutes? I doubt anything could go wrong.”

“Right? No way anything happens in five minutes, right?”

“Now that everyone’s about equal in stamina, I say it’s worth trying.”

Before anyone knew it, the plan was set: a race for the Magic Stones.

“All right, let’s do it with four stones up for grabs.”

“Wait, question. Does the first place winner get all four, or do the top four each get one?”

Jo Taeseok’s question was an important one.

Should they go all out for first place, or just try to finish in the top four?

“I say winner takes all, don’t you?”

When Kim Seojun spoke up again, everyone nodded.

“Yeah, that does make it more exciting.”

“I like it.”

“Makes me feel fired up!”

So it was decided: winner takes all. The ten cadets lined up at the entrance to the gorge.

“The gorge isn’t that deep. It’s about two kilometers, so even without Mana, you’ll reach the end well within five minutes. If you run into any orcs on the way, just ignore them. All right, get ready.”

Choi Cheolmin got everyone ready to start.

Then he paused, relaxing his stance.

“Anyone have MPSP set on their Gift?”

Since the Mystics stored in a Gift could be changed every five days, not everyone had the same one set.

In response to Choi Cheolmin’s question, Lim Heeju raised her hand.

“Me. I set it for the last week of training, thought I’d give it a try.”

“Perfect. Heeju, you’re up.”

“Okay, got it.”

The cadets got ready to run again as Lim Heeju placed her hand over the Gift button.

“Ready. I’ll count to three, then activate MPSP. One, two…”

Everyone tensed.

“Three!”

With Lim Heeju’s shout, a surge of Mana waves burst from her Gift.

The wave swallowed the group in an instant.

The moment they were exposed, all Mana was sealed in their bodies.

A wave of emptiness hit them, but the cadets gritted their teeth and charged forward.

Bam-bam-bam-bam!

All at once, the cadets sprinted toward the gorge.

At first, there was little difference between them, but as they entered the narrow gorge, a ranking quickly formed.

The cadet in the lead was Shin Taeyang.

Right behind him was Yang Hwi, and surprisingly, Jo Taeseok was in third.

Kim Seojun was fourth, and Lim Heeju was fifth.

The other five quickly fell behind.

Kim Seojun intentionally maintained fourth place.

His Mana was sealed, but he still had Inner Strength, and just a touch of it would easily let him leap to first.

Of course, even without using Inner Strength, his physical abilities were the best among them, so he could pull ahead at any time if he wanted.

Even so, he stayed right behind Jo Taeseok.

Jo Taeseok was gaining on Yang Hwi, who was in second.

As the son of a martial artist, Jo Taeseok had been in terrible shape when he first arrived at camp.

But now, even with his Mana sealed, he was nearly on par with Yang Hwi.

Yang Hwi was surprised; as Jo Taeseok closed in, Yang Hwi pushed himself harder.

But it was no use.

Jo Taeseok naturally passed Yang Hwi and almost caught up to Shin Taeyang.

Shin Taeyang and Jo Taeseok fought for first and second.

The cadets quickly ran over a kilometer into the gorge.

Even with Mana sealed, their speed was incredible.

That was because their basic physical abilities as Awakened were still in effect.

After about three minutes, the dead end of the gorge came into view.

There was a huge cave there, and the orcs who had fled earlier were clustered at the entrance. When they saw the cadets running toward them, they panicked.

“Gwaaargh!”

“Uaargh!”

The startled orcs dashed into the cave.

Meanwhile, Shin Taeyang and Jo Taeseok were about to reach the end. Then—

Wham!

Lim Heeju, in fifth place, kicked off the ground and leapt forward.

She ran up the steep cliff face at the side of the gorge and in one move surged ahead of everyone.

It was a last-minute burst no one had expected.

Lim Heeju, who had always lagged in stamina, was finally overcoming her hardships and taking first place.

Her face was filled with joy.

Passing all those formidable cadets and reaching the finish first sent a shiver of excitement through her.

One more step and first place would be hers.

Lim Heeju pushed off for her final stride. But at that exact moment—

Whoosh!

Someone flashed past Lim Heeju like lightning, arriving at the finish just a hair before her.

It was Kim Seojun.

He’d been running in fourth the whole time, but at some point, had overtaken everyone to reach the goal first.

Lim Heeju arrived second, then Shin Taeyang, and Jo Taeseok.

One by one, the others arrived behind them.

They had witnessed everything from behind.

Lim Heeju suddenly flying up, scaling the cliff to charge ahead—

And then Kim Seojun, shadowing her and then overtaking at the very last second.

Kim Seojun’s pass had been so smooth and natural, it made people wonder if he’d been deliberately holding back the whole time.

It had been a short sprint, but the cadets were out of breath, hands on knees.

But the top four showed no sign of fatigue.

Even Yang Hwi, who usually fought for first and second in stamina, was standing upright and gasping for air—but Kim Seojun, Shin Taeyang, Jo Taeseok, and Lim Heeju were breathing steady and calm.

Lim Heeju glanced at Kim Seojun, who had beaten her by a single step, with a slightly sulky look.

Her eyes seemed to say, “Couldn’t you have just let me win for once?”

Kim Seojun gave her a faint smile.

“Sorry. My competitive streak just won’t leave me alone.”

“Sigh. Well, it can’t be helped. It’s my fault for not being good enough…”

“More than that, Heeju, you’ve been working hard, haven’t you?”

“I didn’t want to be looked down on anymore. I even sacrificed sleep to train.”

“Special training, huh… I see. Well, you’ve really proven yourself this time. Same goes for you, Jo Taeseok.”

Kim Seojun gave praise to both Lim Heeju and Jo Taeseok.

“Kim Seojun, can’t you show a little respect for guys two years older than you? You keep speaking informally—it hurts our feelings.”

Jo Taeseok joked with a grin, and Kim Seojun laughed along.

“I would, if you acted like an older brother. Like Cheolmin does.”

“So you’re saying I’m not doing my part? Well, aren’t you something, little brother.”

“That’s just how life is.”

Kim Seojun looked at Jo Taeseok with an inscrutable expression, not quite joking and not quite serious.