An incredible transformation, enough to drive one mad, but I didn’t have the luxury to admire it.
I raised myself up. My body felt unusually heavy. The vague familiarity I had felt simply because this was my world transformed into even greater anxiety, enveloping my entire body.
But perhaps thanks to my increased endurance, my legs were heading not toward the bed, but to the physical training room.
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For the Sake of Growth (1)
The Tower of Heroes, located in the heart of Seoul.
On the 103rd floor of that place, which could be called the Hero Association’s headquarters, Yun Seung-a was unauthorizedly reviewing the records of a recent incident. The footage Yun Seung-a was focusing on was from the museum’s internal cameras where a Mine had appeared.
The cause of this act—which would earn her a bit(?) of a scolding if caught—was a meaningful remark added by an association agent just yesterday while transporting evidence.
“—Traces of light-attribute mana were discovered, however faint they may have been.”
Light mana. Not only was it rare, but it was also exceptionally valuable. Those with the light attribute usually played a leading role in Mine suppression, because most Mines were of the dark attribute.
However, the fact that light energy had been detected inside the museum meant that one of the three cadets who had defeated the Mine possessed that attribute.
Yoon Seung-ah, who emphasized the importance of attributes more than anyone else whether on broadcasts or at the lectern, desperately wanted to know the owner of that rare mana.
“Then again, there is one very noticeable man…”
A man who could only be described as ordinary, from physique to face. In the footage, he talked with Kim Su-ho as if they were colleagues, but when the Mine appeared, he quietly slipped to the back and simply observed.
However, as the situation gradually turned unfavorable, he seemed flustered and hid his body, beginning some strange behavior. Specifically, he suddenly removed the gun’s magazine, left only one bullet, and tapped on empty air with his finger.
He did that for about a minute.
Soon, he loaded only a single bullet into the pistol and stepped onto the battlefield.
What happened next was even more amazing.
At the same time as the shot, the pistol exploded, and the surroundings were dyed in brilliant white light. The camera went dead for three seconds due to the flood of light. When the screen returned to normal, everything was already over.
“…Hmmm.”
Most people predicted this attack to be Kim Su-ho’s doing. But Yun Seung-a was suspicious. No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like that man’s work. Hadn’t Kim Su-ho also testified that “Kim Ha-jin provided covering fire—”?
“Kim Ha-jin. Now I remember. The cadet who chose a pistol back then… Could the reason he chose the pistol be…”
Bang!
Just then, the record room door burst open. Yun Seung-a jumped in surprise and looked over.
Eilin, an executive of the association, was standing there.
A very small and petite frame. Although her height was only 153 centimeters, her substance was no less than that of a giant over ten meters tall. Such was Eilin, glaring at Yun Seung-a with a terrifying gaze. Yun Seung-a was scared to the point her face turned blue.
“U-uh, U-Unni?”
“I knew you’d be here. Come out.”
“Ah, wait, Unni. I can still explain this. There are parts that can be explained…”
“Shut up and follow me right now.”
Yun Seung-a would rather die than follow her. However, her body moved on its own. This was the power of the talent, ‘Word of Command,’ possessed by Eilin, a legendary hero. Of course, the magical risk was equally great, and an underdeveloped body was the price, but…
“Ah, Unni, I’m a hero too, so cut me some slack!”
No matter how she thought about it, it was too unfair.
“This is a place only association-affiliated heroes can enter. Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ah, okay, I get it. I’ll go on my own two feet, so let go of this!”
“Before I throw you out the window.”
In the end, Yun Seung-a had to leave the record room as if possessed by something.
“You’re dead today. Choose whether you want to be disciplined or help me with my work.”
“Ah, sorry. Please let me off just this once. I don’t want to do either!”
In the empty space, only the camera footage played on desolately.
“Have mercy—!”
* * *
[Tuesday’s Field Training: Labyrinth Exploration.]
This place was inside a sinister cave created by the Cube. Facing the chilly wind, Team 5, consisting of me and Yu Yeon-ha, was in the middle of field training.
“Mr. Ho-seung, Ms. Hazuki. Can you see anything?”
Yu Yeon-ha asked with her brows deeply furrowed.
This was an artificial dungeon replicating a dark labyrinth. The training objective was to break through the writhing undead and ghosts to reach the labyrinth’s center, but the darkness here was probably not something even heroes could easily penetrate. The fog blocking their vision like a blackout curtain was a substance created by the intertwining of mana and malicious energy contained in the atmosphere.
“No. I can’t see anything.”
“Me neither…”
Those were the words of Jin Ho-seung and Hazuki, respectively.
“…Tch.”
Yu Yeon-ha just clicked her tongue and didn’t ask further. I was still a nonentity. Even though I had gifted her a cola.
Shaking my head, I spoke.
“I can see.”
“Huh?”
“Really?”
Jin Ho-seung and Hazuki were surprised. However, Yu Yeon-ha pretended not to hear me.
“I said I can see.”
Annoyed at being completely ignored, I spoke directly at the back of Yu Yeon-ha’s head.
“No, I said I can see?”
In that instant, Yu Yeon-ha whipped around. But the person standing there wasn’t me—it was Jin Ho-seung.
“Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Jin Ho-seung, who had been suddenly cursed at for no reason, was slightly flustered, and I calmly retorted.
“No, I’m saying if you go forward there, you’ll fall.”
“What the hell—kyaak!”
Just then, one of Yu Yeon-ha’s feet stepped on empty air. I grabbed her armpit as she was about to fall. Yu Yeon-ha trembled with both hands as she gripped my shoulder.
“…Ahem.”
Having climbed up using my body as a rope, Yu Yeon-ha dusted off her clothes and cleared her throat as if nothing had happened.
“…You really can see. Why can you see?”
“My eyes are pretty good.”
It was thanks to my talent. The Vision of a Thousand Li was not obstructed by distance alone, but by obstacles as well.
“…I see. A person should at least have something like that. Which way should we go?”
“Just follow me.”
“Ooh, reliable~”
Jin Ho-seung put his hand on my shoulder as if we were close. I shook off his hand and walked forward.
The situation after that wasn’t very difficult.
I just kept walking, avoiding what I could roughly avoid, and reporting to Yu Yeon-ha what I couldn’t.
If the unavoidable opponent was a fluid-body specter, Yu Yeon-ha’s relentless whipping took care of it. In the case of undead, Jin Ho-seung and Hazuki stepped in.
Perhaps thanks to exercising diligently lately, I didn’t have any problems with stamina either. Though, of course, it was because we hadn’t run, I would say it went very smoothly.
And now, the result of that smoothness could be confirmed with my eyes.
In the center of the labyrinth that we had finally found, there were only eight people. Meaning we were at least third place.
“Yu Yeon-ha?”
“Yeah. Jong-hak.”
Shin Jong-hak, who had been sitting on a rock while putting on airs, called Yu Yeon-ha. Yu Yeon-ha approached Shin Jong-hak with a very gentle smile. It was clearly different from the attitude she had shown me.
“I’m here.”
Kim Su-hyeok, who had been waiting in advance, recited the records without even looking at that touching reunion.
“Team 5. 48 minutes 10 seconds. 3rd place.”
At the same time, Jin Ho-seung and Hazuki cheered.
“Hey. It’s all thanks to you. Your eyes are amazing~”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
I sat on the ground with them for now. Yu Yeon-ha had already stuck to Shin Jong-hak’s side long ago, and Kim Su-ho was lying on the floor sleeping, perhaps still suffering from the aftereffects of his ability release.
I just rested comfortably too.
Before even five minutes had passed like that, the next team arrived.
I had somewhat predicted who it would be. Archers usually had good eyes.
“It’s Na-yun.”
Seeing the silhouette beyond the dark cave, Yu Yeon-ha approached first, pretending to be glad.
Chae Na-yun was covered in dust on her head for some reason. She must have fallen into a trap once. Chae Na-yun, who had been walking toward us, stopped briefly when she saw me. Her dagger-like gaze seemed to pierce through me.
“…Na-yun?”
She didn’t answer Yu Yeon-ha’s call. Chae Na-yun ignored Yu Yeon-ha and strode up to me, asking abruptly.
“How many minutes did it take you?”
It was a short question. I answered shortly, too.
“…48 minutes.”
Chae Na-yun gritted her teeth. Usually, archers also played the role of guide. Therefore, Chae Na-yun must have predicted that I had guided them. And she was right.
“Pretty good eyes for someone like you.”
It was clearly a provocation, but I hesitated for a moment. Should I just throw it back at her?
There was a reason I could, no, should do so.
If a hostile character grew stronger, would that be to our side… no, should I say? Right now, Chae Na-yun seemed like a hostile character. Anyway, the supporting cast needed to grow stronger to match the Mines and monsters.
For that to happen, Chae Na-yun needed to abandon her bow quickly. Chae Na-yun was the character with the highest potential in this setting after Kim Su-ho. However, she couldn’t grow properly while holding a bow.
“…I suppose so.”
There didn’t seem to be a need to pick a fight right now.
Negative stimulus and positive stimulus. By setting, Chae Na-yun was the type who was stimulated more by the former, but the ability of the ‘subject’ providing that stimulus was also important. It had to be given by someone capable; if a coward like me showed off, she would hate it even more.
It wasn’t time yet. Furthermore, I was certain that before long, my talent with the bow would surpass even Chae Na-yun’s.
I just had to wait until then.
“Hmph.”
Chae Na-yun snorted as if my retreat was pathetic and went back.
I shook my head.
Then I happened to make eye contact with Yu Yeon-ha. For some reason, unprecedented interest was contained in her pupils.
“Hmph.”
…but it quickly changed into the same snort as Chae Na-yun, looking down on me.
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For the Sake of Growth (2)
The field training had ended.
My whole body was tired, but club activities still remained. After attending the club meeting, I had to exercise, too. The repetition of such days was so exhausting that depression welled up. If I had known it would be like this, I would have raised my endurance more.
…Anyway, right now I was heading toward the academic club’s hideout. Whether the route was originally like this or our personalities were similar, I saw Yu Yeon-ha in front of me again.
Yu Yeon-ha kept walking without noticing me, then stopped briefly in front of the hideout. Then she took out a hand mirror. It was light grooming to check if anything was on her face. But the moment she did that, her eyes met mine exactly.
“We meet again, huh?”
“…”
Yu Yeon-ha ignored me and went inside. I followed her in as well. Yu Yeon-ha took a reasonably sunny spot, while I took a corner seat.
The club president, Yun Hyeok, was already standing at the podium. He wore glasses in a performance of organizing materials.
Not long after, 43 freshmen and 20 seniors—a slightly increased number compared to last week—arrived, and exactly at 7 PM, Yun Hyeok began the first club meeting.
“Welcome, everyone. The weather is slowly…”
Pointless introductory remarks went in one ear and out the other.
“Today we will discuss the ‘weak points’ of monsters. As you all know, weak point targeting is a very important ability when dealing with monsters. You can tell because Senior Seo Yeong-ji, who maximized that ability, is currently ranked 2000th among active heroes.”
On the screen, Seo Yeong-ji’s specs appeared as a hologram.
Hero specs were usually displayed in simplified form as Strength, Agility, Durability, Stamina, Mana, and so on. Here, Seo Yeong-ji had all specs below mid-rank except for Agility, which was at the highest grade. For reference, heroes who received the ‘highest’ tag in Agility numbered only 300 in the entire world.
“Senior Seo Yeong-ji has even slain high-rank monsters alone.”
As those words indicated, Seo Yeong-ji was a special named character even in this world. Though extremely introverted, she was a figure with significant narrative weight, so there would come a day when we would meet.
“However, you mustn’t think of vital points too simply. A monster’s vital points are usually different from a human’s. In other words, the eyes, heart, head, and so on—places that would be vital points for humans—may not be vital points for monsters.”
To add to that, the higher a monster’s rank, the more bizarre its vital points become.
“Then, please take a look at this.”
In the next instant, the hologram of some beast appeared.
It had inherited the appearance and characteristics of the “Mountain Lord,” an object of fear since ancient times, but its overwhelming size, blood-red eyes, savage fangs, and other tyrannical features had been magnified to a far greater extreme.
“This is the mid-to-high-rank monster, the ‘Mountain Tyrant.’ This monster was born at the same time as the Outcall, and its history now spans nearly fifty years, yet its vital point still has not been discovered.”
Having spoken that far, Yun Hyeok paused and smiled meaningfully.
“……Officially, that is. In truth, even if there were people or guilds who knew this monster’s vital point, they would not have revealed that information. They may not have been able to reveal it, either.”
He was right. In this world, information had become an industry of its own. On the large scale, there were guilds that dealt exclusively in information and companies that collected and researched monster data; on the small scale, private detectives and detective agencies had formed a vast family of their own. Because of that, even verbally leaking information was punished with extreme severity.
Of course, sharing all monsters’ vital points with everyone would serve the public interest, but the logic of capital had swallowed up all such discussion.
“Then, where do you think this Mountain Tyrant’s vital point is?”
Yun Hyeok cast a deep gaze toward Yu Yeonha. But as for the Mountain Tyrant’s vital point, Yu Yeonha probably didn’t know. I had only set it up and never made use of it. The protagonist never had any reason to go around hunting tigers.
“……”
As expected, she seemed not to know. The way she was touching various parts of her own body, and even had beads of cold sweat forming on the nape of her neck, made it seem as though she was ashamed of not knowing.
“Would anyone like to make a guess, at least?”
Naturally, I knew. It was a chance to become an attention seeker, but I didn’t bother raising my hand. That Yun Hyeok bastard kept acting like he knew everything. That strangely generous yet obnoxious face, as if he alone had all the answers. Whatever he was scheming, for now it was right to keep watching his antics.
“Um……”
Just then, a girl raised her hand. I was startled. Who the hell is she?
“Could it be… the nose?”
Her face was flushed red as she said that.
She was just Extra No. 1 who had fallen for Yun Hyeok.
*
The lecture continued for a full two hours. Contrary to my expectations, it was quite a useful time. I learned in great detail even about things I had only roughly set up, such as monsters’ vital points, the correlations between attributes, and the differences between magic and techniques. I also got to watch the cadets’ rather cute discussions.
“There will be an after-party at a nearby restaurant! We’d be happy if you attended!”
In any case, after all the scheduled events ended, Yun Hyeok shouted that there would be an after-party at a nearby Cube restaurant.
For some reason, however, Yu Yeonha seemed to be showing signs that she intended to attend. Feeling a slight sense of unease, I followed after her. Yu Yeonha was absolutely not the type to attend an after-party like this.
“You’re going too?”
I sidled up and asked.
But there was no reaction.
Thinking perhaps my tone had been wrong, I asked again.
“Are you going too?”
Even so, she completely ignored me.
This time, I asked with far more courtesy and dignity.
“Will you be attending as well?”
Only then did Yu Yeonha faintly nod.
“Why? Don’t you have no time for this?”
“……Tch.”
Thoughtless fool.
Yu Yeonha’s eyes were saying exactly that.
“I’m asking why.”
“Aren’t you even curious about the Mountain Tyrant’s vital point?”
“…Mm?”
Ah, now I understood.
Information related to the Mountain Tyrant was rare. To begin with, there was no monster whose habitat was as uncertain and whose spectrum of strength was as wide as the Mountain Tyrant’s. Its hide was tremendously expensive, but when you didn’t know whether you needed four people, five people, or even ten people to go after it, organized poaching was not easy.
And Yu Yeonha was someone destined to become the heir to a guild.
There had definitely been a reason Yun Hyeok had pretended to know the Mountain Tyrant’s weakness. I hadn’t written the story from Yu Yeonha’s perspective, so I couldn’t know for sure, but the hint he used to lure her out had indeed been the “guild.”
Yu Yeonha’s family was a guild lineage. A family that had surged forward all at once fifty years ago during the Outcall, thanks to one outstanding ancestor.
Even now, that bloodline had continued intact and become a shining heroic family, but Yu Yeonha still harbored an inferiority complex. It was the sense of defeat that, compared to true noble families, they were somehow lacking. That was why she had initially come to hold favorable feelings toward Sin Jonghak, and it was also why she was obsessed with face and appearances beyond necessity.
“……The Mountain Tyrant’s vital point?”
Suddenly, the thought occurred to me that I might try making a worthwhile investment. Maintaining an appropriately friendly relationship with Yu Yeonha