Chapter 13

Chapter 13

HISSSSS—

A herd of massive monsters.

At least twenty of them.

The Golden Moles twitched their noses, probing for prey.

The students still wore dazed expressions, not yet grasping the situation.

Sahyeon leaned against a large boulder and spoke with casual indifference.

"First one to score gets bonus points."

"!"

Euno's ears perked up.

"That one's mine!"

He quickly scanned for a target and dropped into stance.

[Wind Blade (AA+) skill has been activated!]

A bow drawn from thin air.

He pulled back his arm as if drawing a bowstring, then released.

A razor-sharp wind sliced through the air.

SCREEEE—!

The Golden Mole howled in agony.

Blood spraying from its nape.

Before it could recover, Euno had already vaulted onto its back.

SLASH—!

Back, wrist, waist...... sharp, precise strikes followed in rapid succession.

And moments later.

THUD—!

The first monster went down.

Simultaneously, a system chime rang.

[Monster Kill Count]

Tae Euno — 1

Yeom Sahyeon — 0

.......

The score updated.

"First place!!"

Euno steadied his breathing and thrust both hands into the air.

Sahyeon recalled the student records Haeseong had recited.

"He said he was athletic before Awakening."

The agility characteristic of a wind trait.

Even with stats halved like everyone else's, the kid was still nimble. Focus and accuracy weren't bad either.

The wasted movement, though — too many unnecessary micro-actions burning through stamina.

Sahyeon made a brief assessment and turned his attention to the other two.

"Last place takes a retest."

"WHAT?!"

"No way...!"

Gyeol and Jaeyun, who had been spectating Euno's fight, protested in horror.

"Don't like it, you can be the professor."

Sahyeon tilted his chin.

"Ugh...!"

Gyeol squeezed his eyes shut and raked his hands through his hair.

Only Euno flashed a carefree grin.

"Do your best, guys~"

His attitude radiated absolute confidence that last place would never be his.

"I absolutely cannot fail this test...!"

Jaeyun was particularly frantic.

Just then—

HISSSSS—

One Golden Mole locked onto his voice.

A massive body charged straight at Jaeyun.

Jaeyun swallowed, as if steeling himself.

He planted both feet deep into the sand.

CRAAASH—!

He caught the monster's charge with both arms.

An impact like a car crash.

The force of deflecting the Golden Mole launched Jaeyun high into the air.

Against the blazing desert sun, his silhouette shrank to a dark speck.

Then — a rapidly descending figure.

BOOOOOOM—!

A crater opened in the sand, as if struck by a meteorite.

The Golden Mole, crushed flat beneath him.

DING—

The system chime sounded.

[Monster Kill Count]

Tae Euno — 1

Ha Jaeyun — 1

.......

'That one shows potential with more training.'

A method of absorbing an enemy's impact and adding his own strength for an explosive release.

Sahyeon shifted his attention toward where the fighting was loudest.

The moment Jaeyun scored—

Euno was mid-hunt on his second target.

The monster was already on its last legs.

Just before the finishing blow—

"This one's mine."

"?!"

Gyeol appeared out of nowhere and landed lightly atop the monster.

Before Euno could react, he drove his dagger deep into the Golden Mole's nape.

"Ugh, blood. Sticky."

Gyeol flicked the blood off his hand with composure.

DING—

[Monster Kill Count]

Go Gyeol — 1

Ha Jaeyun — 1

Tae Euno — 1

.......

The point went to Gyeol.

"Come on~! How is sniping at the last second even fair?!"

Euno let out a breath of pure disbelief.

"Hey, Teach! Is that allowed?!"

When Euno protested loudly, Sahyeon raised an eyebrow with perfect calm.

Making good use of that stealth trait.

"There are no rules in a real fight."

Gyeol let out a gratified laugh.

"What he said."

"...Ugh!"

Euno hissed with frustration and ground his teeth.

He switched targets to a Golden Mole well away from Gyeol.

Even then, at any sign of Gyeol approaching, he'd snarl and keep his guard up.

[Monster Kill Count]

Go Gyeol — 1

Ha Jaeyun — 1

Tae Euno — 1

.......

And so, one point apiece — a perfectly even split.

Sahyeon crouched and watched the three fight.

Or rather, he wasn't merely watching.

"You charge in at that timing?"

"You're basically serving yourself up as bait."

"What are they even teaching at this Academy......"

Constant commentary.

"You're supposed to ambush when the enemy's at its weakest, obviously."

Gyeol, who had been holding it in, finally snapped.

"Oh, right! Who doesn't know that?!"

Sahyeon propped his chin on one hand and spoke evenly.

"Seemed like you didn't."

"I swear to— I really—"

Gyeol threw his head back, on the verge of erupting.

Then one of his eyebrows creased.

'When is a Golden Mole at its weakest?'

Half-skeptical, he readjusted his grip on his weapon.

A Golden Mole that had just burst through the sand.

Gyeol rushed in and sliced deep across its nape.

Unlike before, the monster crumpled without a counterattack.

"...Ah."

Is that what he meant?

A gasp of realization escaped Gyeol.

Golden Moles lived in dark underground tunnels.

They were adapted to cool subterranean temperatures and darkness.

Meaning the moment they were most vulnerable was when they were exposed to the hot, blinding desert sunlight.

'How did I not think to apply that?'

He'd memorized it all during theory lectures, for crying out loud.

He gripped and ungripped his weapon with a stunned expression.

Another charging Golden Mole soon forced him back into focus.

Sahyeon smirked and swept his gaze across the field.

Each of them was managing their own small roles, more or less.

And one person was performing unexpectedly well.

"Two just went underground! Watch your step, everyone!"

"Euno! Golden Moles have a keen sense of smell — adjusting the wind direction to confuse them would help!"

Solid guidance.

Come to think of it, that guy said he was in the Education division.

Teaching might be his calling. Maybe I should just train him up and hand him my spot.

'...Not bad.'

I was about to get moving anyway.

This is a good chance to give him some hands-on teaching practice.

Sahyeon, impressed by his own idea, spoke to Haeseong.

"Looks like you've got this covered without me."

"?? What? What do you mean?"

Haeseong turned to him in confusion.

Sahyeon patted his shoulder a couple of times, said what he wanted to say, and nothing more.

"Good luck."

"Wai—"

Before Haeseong could respond, Sahyeon waved, left an afterimage, and vanished.

"—MR. SAHYEON!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

Haeseong's wail scattered into empty air.

***

Several hours earlier.

A high school somewhere in Suwon.

A large perimeter of barricade tape surrounded the school.

The campus was eerie, everyone having been evacuated.

In the center of the field, a Gate the size of a gymnasium sat pulsing.

BUZZZZZZ—

Then—

The Gate began to vibrate powerfully.

The Gate, which had been spitting unstable blue-black light—

Went dark, as if a switch had been flipped.

A moment later.

HUMMM—

A man emerged through the Gate.

His white hair caught the moonlight, glowing pale.

"...Quiet."

The platinum-haired man let out a sigh tinged with relief, then gave his blood-dripping sword a wide swing through the air.

Red droplets scattered.

He flicked the blood clean and slotted the sword into the equipment belt at his hip.

The blade vanished in an instant.

HUMMM—

Meanwhile, another figure emerged from the Gate.

"Eight hours, fifty-eight minutes, thirty-five seconds. A new record for an A-rank Gate."

An exotic-looking woman.

A girl with short, light-blue hair, eyes fixed on her smartphone, spoke in a flat voice.

HUMMM—

Another face appeared in succession from the Gate.

"—Come on, Guild Master. Can't we take it a little slower?"

A short boy with a youthful face trailed behind, grumbling.

Once all three had exited, the Gate warped like a black hole, then vanished in an instant.

The field stood empty, as if nothing had ever been there.

The boy looked back at the Gate with eyes full of regret. "What a waste. The Mana Crystals we left in there alone are worth a fortune."

"Senior, I believe you've already collected enough to buy a building in Gangnam......"

The woman murmured quietly, eyes still on her phone.

The boy protested, his face indignant.

"If we'd had just a little more time, I could've bought not one but five!"

"It's an emergency. We can't afford something going wrong while we're in there — we needed to get out as fast as possible."

The platinum-haired man answered, brushing blood droplets off his white shirt.

"What, are you the only one allowed to do Korean Gates, Guild Master?"

At the boy's surly retort, the woman replied with her gaze still fixed on her phone.

"At present, that's more or less the case. Without Iwon-seonbae, there are virtually no hunters capable of clearing an S-rank Gate."

"...Right."

The platinum-haired man said with a bittersweet smile.

Baek Iwon — current Ranking 1st among South Korea's hunters, and Guild Master of Goyeo Guild.

This was precisely why he'd pushed to clear the Gate as quickly as possible, even at the cost of strain.

The vacancy left by Ranking 2nd Hunter Lee Haje was immense.

"Who doesn't know that? If it were urgent, the Association would've contacted us ages ago!"

The boy eyed the woman with displeasure. Then he glanced at the phone screen she was focused on.

"River, there you go again — the second you step out of a Gate, you're on hunter forums?"

"It's the most efficient way to get a read on other guilds' movements."

The woman called River answered with a serious face.

"...You never change."

The boy was shaking his head in resignation when—

BEEEEP—

BEEEEP—

BEEEEP—!

All three phones went off simultaneously, as if on cue.

River spoke in a flat tone, eyes locked on her screen.

"Gate alerts."

The alert messages that hadn't come through while they were inside the Gate had arrived all at once.

"When is our Hammer uncle going to invent an item that gets emergency texts inside Gates~"

"It would be incredibly expensive......"

While the two chatted, Iwon checked the message with a furrowed brow.

[14:32 — A-rank Creature Falcon emergence at Seocho intersection: Citizens in the vicinity are advised to evacuate immediately to designated shelters—]

Creature Falcon?

Iwon's expression turned grave. The boy's jaw dropped.

"A Creature Falcon?! This is insane. Is Seocho completely screwed?"

"Han Bisu."

Iwon said the boy's name, a gentle warning in his tone. Bisu jutted his lip out in displeasure but obediently shut his mouth.

BEEEEP—

A follow-up alert chimed.

River raised an eyebrow and spoke.

"It seems it was suppressed quickly."

[14:59 — Seocho intersection situation resolved: Civilian access restrictions will remain in effect until 22:00 today. We apologize for the inconvenience—]

"Huh. But......"

Bisu tilted his head.

"By who?"

"That's exactly what everyone's talking about."

River shrugged and held her phone screen out toward Iwon.

— 30 min falcon kill for real??

└Has to be S-rank right?? New S-rank Awakened??

└Insane, rankings gonna shift or what

└└yeah right lol hasn't budged in 2 years

└└Haje's gone now, isn't it time for a generational shift??

.......

Everyone was speculating about the person who had taken down the Creature Falcon.

— but seriously there's zero info lmao if an S-rank showed up the Association or media would've been bragging their asses off, why's it so quiet?

Bisu, peering over Iwon's shoulder at the screen, spoke in bewilderment.

"That's what I'm saying! Plus, if someone's that skilled, there's no way we wouldn't know about them."

"...Definitely strange."

Iwon murmured quietly, his eyes narrowing.

Every upper-tier hunter in the country had been dispatched to Gates.

That was precisely why Iwon had rushed his own Gate clear.

Among the hunters on standby outside, there had been no one capable of handling a Creature Falcon. And yet it was dealt with this quickly?

"Well then, I'll be heading off to rest, seonbaes. Good work today."

River, as if her job were done, took her phone back.

She gave a polite bow and walked away at an unhurried pace.

Before long, her silhouette melted into the darkness.

Iwon watched her go in silence, then collected his thoughts and turned to Bisu.

"Han Bisu, could you open a portal for me?"

I need to check something.

"Again?"

Bisu shifted his weight to one leg with visible displeasure.

"Look, Guild Master. I'd appreciate it if you stopped using my skill like a taxi."

"Moving one person barely takes any effort for you."

Iwon said with a warm smile, and Bisu let out a disbelieving laugh.

"Just use your own skill to get there!"

"I don't think I should be using spatial skills today."

"Why?"

Did he get hit with a skill-restriction debuff while fighting the boss?

Bisu blinked.

Iwon shrugged casually.

"My horoscope app said to hold off. Apparently the energy flow is unbalanced today."

"...I can feel a headache coming on."

That damn horoscope app again.

Bisu pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

Ranking 1st and Guild Master of South Korea's top guild, Goyeo.

Does the public know that his morning routine is checking a hunter horoscope app?

'Is our Goyeo Guild...... going to be okay?'

Just as Bisu was sinking into doubt—

"One check."

At Iwon's words, Bisu's eyes snapped open.

Iwon added with a smile.

"How about it?"

Bisu beamed.

"I'll get you there safely, sir."

Obviously it's fine, then.

Nothing beats a rich guild master.