Chapter 2: The Second Year Cadet Jeong Woo (2)
The Second Year Cadet Jeong Woo (2)
“It’s different.”
Lim Seong-Hyun muttered while cleaning up the list of cadets.
He had seen many talented cadets jumping into cracks and dying as hunters, consumed by personal grudges, unable to bloom that talent.
It was tragic whenever that happened.
Those students did not have to die.
Those talents deserved better use. Those lives didn’t have to end in vain.
However, Sung-Hyun Lim had seen that Jung Si-woo was special.
His insights surpassed even some of the professors, and the hunters themselves admired his creative yet accurate suggestions.
He was beyond the level of a second-grade student.
It wasn’t long before Lim Sung-Hyun started searching for information on Jung Si-woo. He found that Jung Si-woo was a ‘hunting man’ whose parents were slaughtered by a monster when he was young.
It was a pity.
He wondered whether a student who had talents that could bring great hope to humanity would, once more, be lost to the cracks.
That is why he searched for him and spoke to him.
To somehow persuade him not to let his talents rot and be wasted.
He was wrong.
In-person, Jung Si-woo was entirely different from what he thought.
Although Lim Sung-Hyun spoke sharply to make Jung Si-woo realize the reality, his gaze remained firm, without a trace of doubt.
It was as if he already knew of what was coming.
“Let’s give it a thought.”
Even as he said it, Seong-Hyun Lim already knew the answer.
Jung Si-woo will never give up his path as a hunter. Nothing can break his will.
However, Lim Seong-Hyun was not disappointed.
“Jung Si-woo’s cadet will be the best whether he is an analyst or a hunter.”
Lim Seong-Hyun looked down and looked at the documents placed on the desk.
There was a photograph of Jeong Si-woo staring at the camera with a blank face.
“… I wonder why the other teachers still haven’t noticed. ”
Lim Seong-Hyun stared at the photo for a long time before closing the file with the name of the three letters on his chest.
* * *
An educational institution designed to cultivate superhumans as its name suggests.
The Academy was a state-of-the-art facility, where anything required for ‘growth’ existed thanks to the generous funding from the government.
It boasted a wide array of resources, from expensive elixir created by alchemists to skill-books, which were difficult to obtain, even for a hefty price.
The Academy owned material that was guaranteed masterpieces, with information on the monsters and the fundamental values that a hunter must possess.
The Academy was the perfect place for anyone who wanted to be a hunter; rather, it was the ideal place for anyone who was dreaming of anything ‘superhuman’.
Of course, I dropped out before I graduated since I was scouted by a government agency. Still, perhaps with a little talent, this place would have bolstered my growth.
“Is that young man training properly this time?”
It was my first training in the second grade, so I guess I could have been noticed.
“… Well, even if you had talent, it would have been difficult to focus on growth in this environment, in your sensitive adolescence.”
“Well, if you are ashamed, why don’t you work harder on grasping your subject?”
Regret.
I pulled out the notebook from my bag, ignoring the chatter around me.
Honestly, I wasn’t so immature to respond to their words, and above all, I didn’t have time to care about those things.
-The first plague, the prophecy of the sage …
As I organized my coming events in my notebook, the other students turned to different topics of conversation, probably losing interest in me as I ignored them.
They were talking about how their close friends in the first grade were assigned to the same class, how difficult this professor was, and how frustrating the second-grade life would be and so on.
No one was interested in me in the back of the room and scribbling on a notebook as I tried to sort out my schedule until the training began.
“Hey, Jung Si-woo, you have to change your gym suit. What are you doing?”
“… already?”
Unless the training start time was earlier than I thought.
“You used to be smart in the first grade. Now you’re like me. ”
I looked up to meet the friendly voice and saw a familiar face.
The student who came to my room and brought me to the classroom was telling me that training was going to begin.
“… Oh, thank you. ”
During my time at the Academy, he was the only person remotely close to a ‘friend’.
He was more talented than me, though.
“Change quickly.”
Unfortunately, he was not talented enough. He lost his life in a crack two years after passing the Hunter exam.
Jinwoo Lee was standing in front of me, beaming.
* * *
“Nice to meet you all!”
A voice boomed out on the training grounds of the Academy.
“Some people know me… but since this is the first time we meet in second grade, let’s start with a brief introduction.”
The booming voice belonged to a man who seemed so strong that just looking at him was overwhelming.
“I’m Park Hyun-suk. I will be in charge of all subjects related to training for the next year.”
Park Hyun-suk.
I couldn’t remember him, even after hearing his name.
Either way, training was annoying, so I always missed it.
I haven’t met a first-grade training instructor, and I couldn’t remember a second-grade training instructor.
Thankfully, Park Hyun-suk continued with his introduction.
“I’m a retired second-class hunter, and my main position was a tanker. I was an active hunter for over 10 years, and with that experience, I became an instructor at Hwayeon Choin Academy. ”
“… ”
Electricity flowed from everywhere.
“I wish people gave more thought to Class 2 rather than Class 1. Still, I can say that there are many magazines because I rolled for quite a long time, so I hope you have a good year. ”
Park Hyun-suk threw was an obvious joke to ease the atmosphere.
I laughed a little at his comments.
Which cadet would ignore second grade?
Some people thought that hunters were divided into 3 levels, so very few people thought about level 2 hunters.
‘Because I am a tier two, I am a hunter in the top one percent.’
There were fewer than 100 first-class hunters in the world.
He was wearing the title ‘Level 2’, which meant that he was in the top from among five-thousand superhumans.
“Did you hear that? He’s a second-class hunter. Level 2 Hunter …”
Next to me, Lee Jin-woo mumbled, shaking his head.
The reactions of the other children were no different.
“Now, now. Keep it quiet. ”
Park Hyun-suk shook his hand and boomed out.
The students stared at him, shocked and awed.
“Since this is your first class in second grade, let’s start with a simple test. It will be your first step in checking your level and monitoring your progress in the future.”
His smile widened as he spoke.
“First, take out all the personal equipment you prepared.”
* * *
For hunters, equipment was everything.
There was not much difference in reality as the appearance of the game characters, based on the items worn by the character, was completely reversed.
There was no gap between talent and heaven and earth, most could be covered with equipment.
Of course, even if I was as talented, it would be useless.
“What, are you new?”
“My dad bought me a second-grader. He said it was pretty good …”
“Hey, it’s made of ‘red steel’… I only once… ”
Even among hunters, there were many differences from the start. Some had a head start.
And in second grade, it was that guy,
“Red steel? That’s damn bad. ”
He was born with a gold spoon in his mouth.
Besides, he was a gifted man.
“Ah…, Hyun-Cheol. ”
Hyun-Cheol Kim.
One of the three guilds, the youngest son of , was at the front of the starting line.
“Wow, I envy you. Mine is the same as first grade. ”
Jinwoo Lee looked at the old iron sword in his hand and scratched his head.
Compared to the equipment they were discussing, the iron sword seemed a trivial thing.
It was being traded on the market very cheaply. It was merely a sharp bit of a scrap metal.
‘I should buy one to use later.’
I didn’t like that.
This time, if I decided to walk the path as a hunter, I will have to continue attending Choin Academy. If so, I would see my friend more often.
‘This time, I’m going to help, so he doesn’t die in vain.’
It wasn’t pleasant having to find a funeral home for a man who was a friend.
This time things were different.
I will save everything without losing anything.
As I was getting lost in my thoughts, I heard a voice directed at us.
“Is that a beggar duo taken out as personal equipment?”
Kim Hyun-Cheol said this with a laugh as if he wanted to show how cheap we were.
“… Hey, keep talking about yourself. Some money … ”
Lee Jin-woo retorted, though a bit sulky with his iron sword.
“Well.”
I stepped forward at Jinwoo’s words.
I didn’t intend to respond to their words, but I didn’t intend to stay still while my friend was angry and cursing.
I held my head high as I looked at the sword held by Kim Hyun-Cheol and opened my mouth.
“Isn’t that the new statue of Bastard Sword made in the blue forge?”
“Oh, the beggar has a good eye. I haven’t had anything to squeeze in my whole life, so I guess I’ve been looking a lot. ”
“uh. I have some eyes to see. ”
Based on my memory, there was no gold spoon higher than Kim Hyun-Cheol from on all the 2nd graders.
“But you don’t see much.”
Only
Tuk.
As I approached him, I abruptly reached out and touched the handle of his bastard sword.
“That’s damn bad.”
But what do you do?
I’m biting a revolving spoon above the gold spoon.
I don’t know if it was the old days, but now I am not at the front of the starting line.
It wasn’t the starting line, but I fell from the last point ‘a few steps before’ and got the chance to stand up again.
“This is it.”
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