Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Baek Seolhwa (2)

Three days since starting the training with Baek Seolhwa.

Her condition showed no sign of improving whatsoever.

"Let's stop here for today and rest."

"...Okay."

Baek Seolhwa sank down where she stood.

I considered offering comfort, then decided against it.

She must be furious.

But me soothing her anger would be meaningless.

Baek Seolhwa needed to learn how to control her emotions on her own.

I bought two cans of coffee from the vending machine and handed one over.

The other was for me.

"Drink up."

"Thank you."

Baek Seolhwa took a small sip of the canned coffee.

She rolled the coffee around in her mouth and said,

"It's too bitter."

"That's what makes it good."

"Reality's bitter enough as it is."

Baek Seolhwa made a strangely unsettling remark.

It seemed to speak to just how mentally cornered she was.

Baek Seolhwa pulled a Macho from her pocket.

"I'm going to smoke one and come back."

"Sure."

PHOOO--

Baek Seolhwa lit the Macho and took a drag.

Her hand, pinching the Macho between her index and middle finger, looked well-practiced.

The puffs of smoke rising in soft clouds had a pleasant scent.

In this world, the main reason Machos had completely replaced cigarettes was that distinctive aroma, which set them apart from the acrid smell of tobacco.

The scent of a Macho differed from person to person.

Some said it was the scent of that person's mana. There was no basis for it, but the sentiment was appealing enough that it became a well-known saying.

Baek Seolhwa's Macho smoke carried a strong floral fragrance.

"Haaah......"

Baek Seolhwa finished her Macho in the corner, came back, and gripped her sword again.

"Let's begin."

Another round of training began -- she'd lost count how many by now.

Baek Seolhwa opened with the attack.

She delivered five consecutive sword strikes, then pulled back once.

SLASH-SLASH-SLASH--!

Five more consecutive strikes.

And pulled back again.

"Clever little trick."

It was a strategic hit-and-run.

She lacked the confidence to stay in control once she was fully immersed in combat.

So she kept withdrawing before that threshold.

As a workaround, it wasn't bad.

It could serve as a stopgap, but a stopgap was all it was.

If the opponent read her intent clearly, she'd be dismantled with ease.

Like this, for example.

WHOOSH--!

I closed in and went on the aggressive.

Baek Seolhwa began retreating.

But I had no intention of letting her go. I pursued to the end.

When the pursuer and the one fleeing clashed, the advantage overwhelmingly belonged to the former.

My direction of movement was the same as my attack direction, so I could easily put weight behind my strikes, but for Baek Seolhwa it was the opposite -- she couldn't put her full strength toward me.

Losing ground with every exchange, Baek Seolhwa eventually stood her ground and fought.

The 3 seconds inside the small circle passed quickly, and the match was decided.

Still, she'd set a personal best of sorts.

"Congratulations on the new record."

"How long was it?"

"30 seconds."

"Haaah......"

Baek Seolhwa sighed.

At this rate, it was understandable to feel hopeless about ever reaching 10 minutes.

Still, I'd found one piece of advice to give.

"Did you know, Seolhwa? Your record is always the best right after a break."

"Is that so?"

"When you go consecutively, the aftereffects of the previous round carry over into the next."

Baek Seolhwa nodded.

She'd probably sensed something similar herself up to this point.

"Do you know what a routine is?"

Some Heroes had routines.

For example, during his active days, Jo Seongung reportedly always tapped his sword handle twice with his left hand before entering a dungeon.

He believed it would bring good luck -- a superstition -- but what mattered was the psychological sense of stability it provided.

"Human emotions are surprisingly simple. Through conditioning, a certain degree of control is possible. Seolhwa, you smoke Machos during your breaks, right? So let's build a routine around that."

"Like Pavlov's dog, you mean?"

"Exactly. Every time your emotions flare up, make the hand motion of holding a cigarette. It should help you rein in your emotions."

"Ah... yes!"

Her voice as she answered was unusually bright, as if she'd seen possibility in my words.

In truth, the hand motion itself was meaningless.

If something like that actually worked, everyone in the world would do it, and nobody would struggle with emotional control.

What mattered was the mindset.

There's an old tale about a renowned physician who gave his patients honey water, telling them it was a tonic that would make their bodies healthy -- and the patients recovered from their illnesses.

The patients believed the honey water was medicine, and their bodies got better on their own.

A routine worked on the same principle.

The more Baek Seolhwa trusted me, the calmer she'd feel each time she made that hand motion.

"Then try again, keeping what I said in mind."

"Yes!"

Baek Seolhwa showed slight improvement in the next round of training.

Every time too much force crept in, she fidgeted with her fingers, and each time, she became aware of her feet.

But that state didn't last long.

Around the 20-second mark, her control failed and Eruption activated.

Once again she crossed into the circle, and 3 seconds passed.

"That's it."

"Ah......"

Baek Seolhwa let out a sigh of regret.

"How many seconds?"

Still, her expression wasn't too bad.

She probably thought she'd lasted a long time.

She hadn't lasted that long, but emotional control was heavily influenced by psychological state.

So I lied.

"35 seconds. A new record."

"Really?"

Baek Seolhwa smiled faintly.

After that, the training sailed forward as smoothly as a ship with the wind at its back.

Baek Seolhwa showed increasingly stable form.

The first 35 seconds had been a lie, but afterward she truly reached 35 seconds.

Eventually, Baek Seolhwa managed to reach 1 minute.

"How about that? I've got more talent than you expected, right?"

"Yeah. You're doing well."

"Hehe."

Baek Seolhwa grinned from ear to ear.

For Baek Seolhwa, who was clumsy with expressing emotions, that was roughly the equivalent of a normal girl jumping up and down with joy.

I wanted to share in her happiness.

But I wasn't quite satisfied.

The routine had been more effective than expected.

The problem was it was too effective.

What I'd wanted was for her to hover just below the threshold -- a state where Baek Seolhwa's wildness and reason coexisted in balance.

But with the routine, Baek Seolhwa became so calm that her sharp edge dulled.

This wasn't good.

Killing Baek Seolhwa's effectiveness just so she could command the party was putting the cart before the horse.

"Let's call it here for today's training. Get home safe."

"Okay. You too, Professor."

Baek Seolhwa's steps as she headed back to the dorm were unusually light.

She seemed satisfied with her current state.

But this wouldn't do.

Baek Seolhwa was like a beast.

That fierce wildness was a weapon that made the beast even stronger.

Was stripping that away and putting her on a leash really the path for Baek Seolhwa's sake?

Wanting to sort out my complicated thoughts, I sat on a nearby bench and let the cold night air wash over me.

"Professor, what are you doing out here?"

A voice called to me.

It was Park Seohu, who had just come out of the Training Hall.

"Finished training?"

"Yes. You too, Professor?"

"I was watching Seolhwa's training."

Why couldn't Baek Seolhwa do what Park Seohu did?

There were many reasons, but the most fundamental one was singular.

The difference in talent.

Some said that to become a first-rate swordsman, you needed the Eruption talent.

That was true to an extent.

But to reach the pinnacle, that alone wasn't enough.

Talent of the Sword Saint.

Park Seohu's master, Jo Seongung, was called the Sword Saint.

It was a title given to skilled swordsmen.

But that was merely a name people called him -- he couldn't truly be called a Sword Saint.

A true Sword Saint meant an absolute who had grasped the very essence of the sword.

A realm of martial divinity that transcended humanity.

In his active days, Jo Seongung had been an excellent swordsman, but he wasn't a Hero who could set foot in the realm of the Sword Saint.

To become a Sword Saint, one needed the Talent of the Sword Saint.

"Seohu, what do you think about Eruption?"

"Eruption?"

Park Seohu thought for a moment, then answered.

"Hmm, honestly, it used to weigh on my mind a lot. They say you need Eruption to become a first-rate swordsman."

"What kind of worries?"

"I love the sword. So I wanted to become a swordsman from a young age, but everyone around me tried to talk me out of it. They said the sword didn't suit someone without Eruption."

"I see."

This was the first I'd heard of it.

In the game, Park Seohu's backstory only said he'd grown up without hardship in an ordinary household before awakening.

"But I worked hard anyway. And now, by luck, I became the top student at the Academy. Maybe I would've progressed further with Eruption, but I'm satisfied with who I am now."

Park Seohu smiled like the protagonist of a shonen manga who'd overcome talent through effort.

Overcome through effort, my ass.

Park Seohu's Talent of the Sword Saint was just far superior to Eruption.

"Seohu, you're not only exceptional individually, but you also know how to utilize your party members. Most swordsmen with Eruption can't do what you do."

"I imagine that's true."

"If you had the Eruption skill, how do you think you would've run your party?"

Park Seohu answered without a moment's hesitation.

"I probably wouldn't recruit party members the way I do now. Right now, I'm the supporter and the others are the dealers, but if I had the Eruption skill, I'd take on the dealer role and increase the proportion of support."

The most textbook answer there was.

Ask anyone and they'd probably give an answer similar to Park Seohu's.

The dealer, who directly strikes the monster.

The supporter, who assists the dealer to operate as comfortably as possible.

For a warrior with Eruption, the dealer role was the natural fit.

"Right. Understood."

As I'd thought, the approach of suppressing Baek Seolhwa's Eruption wasn't going to work.

Baek Seolhwa didn't simply want to imitate Park Seohu.

Her goal was to surpass Park Seohu.

But in a state where Eruption was suppressed, no matter how well things went, she could never surpass him.

At best, she'd be an inferior copy of Park Seohu.

If that happened, there'd be no place for Baek Seolhwa in my future plans.

I needed to change the approach.

***

The lab I hadn't visited in a while was packed with people.

When I'd first come here, it was just Lee Yeeun and looked spacious, but now it seemed like a bigger lab was in order.

"Everyone doing well?"

"Yes!"

"Professor, could you take a look at this?"

A student with chestnut hair asked for my help.

I'd come here with something to do, but it wasn't urgent, so I was about to help -- but Lee Yeeun stepped forward.

"The Professor's busy right now, so I'll help you."

"Oh, that's... um, okay......"

The chestnut-haired student seemed a little reluctant but couldn't refuse the offer and nodded.

Having Lee Yeeun handle it was more convenient for me too, so I let it be.

Lee Yeeun would teach her well enough.

"TA Cheon, bring that out."

"Right!"

TA Cheon brought out the equipment we'd borrowed from the office.

Fermet Golems.

The same ones used as boss monsters in the last practicum.

TA Cheon asked cautiously.

"Professor, is it really okay to tinker with these?"

"It's fine. We're not breaking them -- we're making them better."

In the past, maybe, but the Fermet Golems weren't enough for my students now.

So I decided to do some modifications.

I'd modified golems a few times in the game too, so it shouldn't be a problem.

CLUNK--!

What made a golem move was the magic circle inscribed on the stone inside.

I altered the formulas to strengthen the golem.

"Bios, Juler -- Daus, Lukimium."

The magic circle, glowing in vivid colors, began to reshape the golem's properties.

I erased unnecessary magic circles and layered new ones on top.

The process repeated several times.

TA Cheon was impressed.

"Wow, isn't modifying a golem's magic circle incredibly difficult? Professor Yun Seongyeop always got new golems rather than modifying existing ones."

"That's actually better. But there's nothing available at the Academy better than Fermet Golems for training purposes."

"I see."

Lee Yeeun, having finished helping the chestnut-haired student, came over.

"Professor, can I help?"

"Sure, can you hold that purple magic circle? I'm going to tighten it together with this one."

"Okay. Is this about right?"

"Tighten it a bit more."

"Like this?"

"Good."

With Lee Yeeun's help, the modification of the "Fermet Golem MK-2" was completed successfully.

This should make for a good match against my students.