Volume 1, Episode 10
010
Kim Seungmin, team leader of the Hunter Management Division at the Hunter Association.
As he watched the tutorial through the monitor screen, he could not control his constantly pounding heart.
Thump.
Kim Seungmin had been fixing his gaze on one particular spot for some time now.
Where his gleaming eyes were locked.
"Impressive."
It was Yoon Hyeongi, the youngest son of the Tyrion Guild Master.
"Tyrion."
The balance of the Three Great Guilds was already shaky as it was.
Unlike the Association, they were expanding their influence by every means possible, making it difficult for the Association to handle them alone.
And yet.
"Do they intend to advance even further?"
Tyrion seemed to have no intention of settling for the present, continuing to grow larger instead.
Because the youngest son, Yoon Hyeongi's skills were far greater than he had anticipated.
Swish.
The gaze that had been fixed on Yoon Hyeongi for a while shifted.
'Even though Kim Seungyeon has many issues, his skills are undeniable.'
Where his gaze was directed was this tutorial batch's instructor, Kim Seungyeon.
If it weren't for his abysmal personality, he was a powerhouse who wouldn't have been out of place in any of the Three Great Guilds.
Thanks to that abysmal personality, the Association had ended up possessing a B-Rank Hunter as a tutorial instructor, but that was that.
And….
"Hmm?"
Kim Seungmin furrowed his brow.
"That bastard again…."
He had thought he'd quieted down lately.
-What's your name?
Once again, Kim Seungyeon's old habits were showing.
"Is that bastard still like that these days?"
Kim Seungmin said, staring coldly at Kim Seungyeon with a frosty tone.
"No! From what I know, he's come to his senses lately, unlike before…."
It was a question directed at the staff member beside him, Jo Yujin.
"Then?"
Kim Seungmin said, his face twisting slightly.
"Is he pulling another 'lesson' or whatever right now?"
That might be acceptable for Yoon Hyeongi, the youngest of Tyrion.
But the sight of him calling out yet another hunter afterward looked like nothing more than an attempt to soothe his wounded pride in front of the massive name that was Tyrion.
Just then.
-Lee Seojun.
A single name came through the speaker.
Lee Seojun.
The moment he heard that name.
Thud! Bang!
Kim Seungmin's heart began to lurch.
His animal instincts were reacting.
"Shall we stop this immediately?"
Knowing that if Kim Seungyeon caused an incident, it would affect Kim Seungmin as well, Jo Yujin tried to dissuade the situation and was about to signal the Association's hunters.
"Leave… leave him be."
Kim Seungmin stopped her.
Grit.
His heart was racing, and to hide it, Kim Seungmin bit his lip.
"Leave him be?"
Jo Yujin looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Yeah. Leave him. And."
The look in Kim Seungmin's eyes as he watched the screen changed.
"When this tutorial ends, cut that bastard loose. I'll take responsibility."
"Understood."
Something.
'There is something.'
Kim Seungmin observed the man on the screen intently and thought.
And the scene that followed.
"W-wow, who is that?"
It was quite astonishing.
-Kugh!
Kim Seungyeon's swinging arm had been caught by Lee Seojun.
"He's completely insane?"
Jo Yujin's voice was filled with excitement.
"To think there was another noteworthy figure in this batch besides Yoon Hyeongi."
Jo Yujin's eyes sparkled as she spoke again.
But even at Jo Yujin's words, Kim Seungmin showed no reaction at all.
"……."
He merely watched the screen with narrowed eyes.
Just then.
"Huh?"
Seeing the display Lee Seojun showed in the following training, Jo Yujin's expression stiffened.
The heated atmosphere gradually cooled.
-Clang!
Kim Seungyeon thrusting his sword into an obvious opening, and Lee Seojun barely, precariously blocking it.
And then soon….
-Shing!
Lee Seojun's sword clashed with Kim Seungyeon's swung blade and flew right out of his hands, and.
-Thwack!
The tip of Kim Seungyeon's sword pierced Lee Seojun's chest area, sending him flying.
"…….."
Jo Yujin, who had been watching the screen, soon closed her mouth.
She looked completely deflated.
"Could that hunter be one of those occasional cases that happen to hunters?"
After awakening, all senses become hypersensitive, allowing one to wield explosive power in an instant.
"I think that must be it. Because otherwise, him catching Instructor Kim Seungyeon's arm wouldn't make sense."
Jo Yujin spoke as if convinced.
'Jo Yujin isn't wrong.'
Judging by what that hunter had shown, it seemed Jo Yujin was correct.
Because the display he had shown after catching Kim Seungyeon's arm was nothing but disappointing.
Anyone who saw this scene would have had the exact same reaction Jo Yujin had shown just moments ago.
"Still, he certainly seems to have some potential."
However, Kim Seungmin was different.
He couldn't fool his own eyes, if not others'.
"The majority of hunters go their entire lives without experiencing such a case."
"T-that's true."
Hearing his voice, Jo Yujin spoke with a flustered tone.
'She's not wrong.'
Kim Seungmin was right.
As he said, the majority of hunters never experienced such a case.
'Potential, you say?'
But she couldn't agree with Kim Seungmin's words that he had potential.
What potential could he possibly have with such pathetic skills?
While Jo Yujin was thinking this.
"Lee Seojun… Find out all the information on him."
Kim Seungmin gave the order.
"If he's useful, we'll have to try recruiting him to our side."
Now that the balance of the Three Great Guilds was on the verge of collapse, the Association had to grow accordingly as well.
However.
Thud! Thud!
He didn't know why his heart was still racing.
Lee Seojun.
Why were his senses reacting just by looking at him?
"Even if it's not the Three Great Guilds, various solution agencies and such are running rampant these days, so the more good hunters, the better."
* * *
The tutorial was already reaching its final stage.
Interest in Lee Seojun had almost completely faded.
But there was one person.
Swish.
He alone still hadn't taken his eyes off Lee Seojun.
'Annoying.'
Lee Seojun felt Yoon Hyeongi's gaze and let out a small sigh.
'What is he?'
Yoon Hyeongi.
He was quite persistent and tenacious.
He was sending an oddly excessive amount of attention toward him.
'I'll have to do something before this tutorial ends.'
Either make him completely lose interest, or put him in a state where he couldn't take an interest at all.
One way or another, he had to do something.
Currently, any form of attention from anyone was far from welcome for him.
No, he mustn't receive it.
'I can't afford to miss even the smallest detail.'
Those guys he was looking for were ones who wielded enormous influence from behind the scenes of the world.
They possessed the power to find anything with even the tiniest piece of information.
And.
'They surely still have it now.'
Their power surely still existed even now.
That was why it was best to be careful of even the smallest things.
Because he couldn't face them with his current body.
While Lee Seungmin was thinking this.
"Ahem."
The instructor, Kim Seungyeon, coughed dryly with a nonchalant expression.
Swish.
And he opened his mouth toward the countless hunters below the podium.
"Unexpected situations occurred, so we've fallen much further behind schedule than usual."
Kim Seungyeon swept his gaze over all the hunters as he spoke.
"I will call you up one by one from now on, so come up to the podium quickly."
At that, Kim Seungyeon's eyes turned sharp.
Gulp.
Seeing this, the atmosphere among the hunters below the podium changed in an instant.
"Kim Seongjun. Step forward."
"Y-yes, sir!"
At Kim Seungyeon's call, a hunter quickly went up to the podium.
The reason he was calling the hunters up one by one.
Clack.
It was to distribute the weapons.
Trudge. Trudge.
And so, numerous hunters went up to the podium one by one and received their weapons.
"Hoo."
Having confirmed this, Kim Seungyeon let out a short breath.
'What a pain.'
With so many of them, handing out weapons was quite the task.
Still.
"Now for the last one."
Kim Seungyeon slowly opened his mouth toward the many hunters holding their weapons.
"You all know what marks the end of the tutorial, don't you?"
"Yes! We know!"
The hunters answered Kim Seungyeon's question in unison.
The end of the tutorial.
That was precisely.
Grin.
Kim Seungyeon smiled and said.
"The Gate."
The Gate.
It was for this that the weapons had been distributed to the hunters.
With only the final process of the tutorial, the Gate, remaining, the hunters' reactions were varied.
'Finally, the end.'
Those who burned with determination to end on a high note with blazing eyes.
'The Gate… I have to enter the Gate. Once I'm inside… what should I do?'
Those whose faces darkened rapidly and trembled with anxiety over events that hadn't even happened yet.
Grin.
And there was one who wore a smile alone.
He was none other than Lee Seojun.
"What a good opportunity."
Just as he had been wanting to shake off the annoying gaze, a good opportunity seemed to have arisen.
* * *
The ground where beings called hunters made their living, and the place that proved their worth.
A place where imaginary creatures called monsters moved alive, and where danger and death were closest.
A prison that confined such creatures, and a place where a resource of new value called magic stones existed, where one could prove oneself.
-That is what a Gate is.
Lee Seojun had heard about Gates from Kim Juwon.
-I have prepared everything you mentioned.
And he had also gathered information through Lee Hyeonu.
'…….'
The Association measured the mana level emitted by a Gate and assigned an appropriate rank accordingly.
And they issued Gate raid permits to hunters with matching ranks.
Thus, the place he had entered was.
'An E-Rank Gate.'
The lowest-ranked E-Rank Gate.
Since this was a tutorial focused on the basics, this was only natural.
'Goblins.'
Therefore, the monsters that appeared here were also goblins, called the weakest of all monsters.
But the majority of the hunters here were beginners who hadn't even mastered the basics.
"You will hunt goblins here and close the Gate."
Kim Seungyeon's voice echoed.
Tremble. Tremble.
But the hunters could not concentrate on that.
They trembled and rolled their eyes this way and that.
'When… when will they appear?'
Goblins, monsters they had never once fought in their entire lives.
They were terrified at the thought of facing them.
They too knew that goblins were the lowest-ranked monsters.
'If I'm not careful… I'll die.'
Still, they couldn't shake off the fear.
Because this was a Gate.
Because they knew that if they weren't careful, they could really die.
"With that, the tutorial ends."
However, no matter how much they trembled in fear, Kim Seungyeon's voice did not stop.
Just then.
A jolt.
Lee Seojun felt something.
The strongest villain in history has returned.