The students ran around the field as if their lives depended on it.
"Hey, what lap are we on now?"
"I don't know.... I gave up counting ages ago!"
"Even active Hunters don't train themselves to death like this!"
Yohan ran beside them and slowly raised the tempo.
"So you have energy to spare, is that it? I'm raising the speed!"
The students who gradually ran out of strength could not keep up with Yohan and began falling farther and farther behind.
Some collapsed onto the ground and retched on empty stomachs.
Jung-han, whose legs could no longer keep up, fell straight onto the field.
"BLEEEGH!"
"I'm not doing this! I can't!"
"What kind of bullshit suffering is this first thing in the morning?!"
Yohan looked at the fallen students and spoke.
"Those who can't even keep up with running will receive additional training! Are you fine with that?"
"I'm asking why I have to do this in the first place!"
"Where did that spirit from earlier go? A three-day resolve? If you don't want to follow, then don't!"
The students twisted their faces and wiped away the stomach acid leaking between their lips.
Then they grabbed their trembling legs and stood up.
"We just have to do it, right?!"
"Good! That's the attitude! Make use of your strengths!"
The students screamed and continued running around the field.
Before standing up and running again, Jung-han spoke to Yohan.
"Just try letting nothing change after all this."
"Fine. When that happens, I will hand the class president position over to you."
At Yohan's words, Jung-han's stubbornness flared, and he forced his legs, which could hardly move, to turn again.
The way they ran was the very image of a ragtag mob, but Yohan was satisfied nonetheless.
Only after the count ended with all one hundred laps completed did he stop in front of the school building.
"Now, the last person to arrive gets ten extra laps."
At Yohan's words, the students began running with all their strength.
Watching them, he examined their tendencies.
"Haah, I barely made it."
"I can't run another lap!"
Among the people staggering in out of breath, there was one student who arrived last.
It was Kang Han-na, the bottom-ranked student of Class F.
‘Kang Han-na. She definitely had Cold Judgment, a Unique Ability characterized by analysis and judgment.’
Yohan looked at Han-na and spoke.
"Go run ten more laps."
Hearing Yohan's words, Han-na silently began running again.
‘She is slow, but she has not rested even once until now. That means she knows her own condition well and can maintain her pace....’
Even while Han-na ran the remaining ten laps, the students' rough breathing did not stop.
The dry field was soaked with the students' sweat.
"Good. First period will now begin! Everyone, enter the school building and take your seats!"
Yohan leisurely struck the ground with his bamboo sword and entered the school building.
"That crazy bastard.... He doesn't look tired at all...."
"Is he even human?"
"He isn't, which is why he made us like this."
The students, who had been sprawled across the field like fallen leaves, slowly rose at the order to enter the school building.
Their legs gave out as they walked, so they entered the school building almost crawling whenever they collapsed.
In Class F's classroom, Instructor Haru, who was in charge of the class, and Yohan, who looked perfectly fine as if nothing had happened, were waiting.
The students walked with all their strength, wanting to sit in their chairs and rest.
And as soon as they sat at their desks, several students seemed relieved and closed their eyes.
SMACK—!
At just the sound of Yohan's bamboo sword, the startled students flinched violently and leaned back in their chairs.
Then, clutching their heavy eyelids, worn down by fatigue, they somehow listened to class.
When lunchtime came, Yohan went outside before anyone else.
The school store was in Class S, and the Class F students had no strength to go all the way to Class S.
"That bastard must have gone to eat alone...."
"Is he telling us to follow him if we want to eat?"
The students had no energy to leave, so they remained with their heads buried on their desks.
Before even five minutes had passed, Yohan came back into the classroom.
"Eat."
His hands were full of bread he had bought from the school store, and there were plenty of drinks as well.
Seeing them, the students looked at Yohan in puzzlement.
"What... is this?"
"A reward for the morning training. Even if it is just warming up, you need to do it while eating."
"You bought all this by yourself? With your AP?"
"That's right."
Only then did the students rise from their desks and begin picking up the bread one by one.
"Right. We are doing this to survive, so we should eat!"
One student held the bread Yohan had bought and muttered quietly, unable to look at him.
"Th-Thanks."
Starting with his words, the students expressed their thanks and took the bread.
The students began wolfing down the bread and drinks Yohan had bought.
In the meantime, Yohan left the classroom again, but everyone was focused on eating, so not a single person paid attention.
Before long, Yohan returned to the classroom.
Only after their empty stomachs had been filled and their backs had grown warm did the students realize Yohan had left and returned.
"Are you all done eating?"
"Thanks to you, we ate well."
"So rewards start from things like this!"
Yohan nodded.
"Yes. From now on, do not worry at all about food or anything needed for daily life. I will handle it, and I will replace the dormitory and the school building as well."
There were students who believed Yohan's words, but there were still some who thought it was impossible for Class F to accomplish that.
"Now, I will ask you. You ate. Then what should you do?"
"Hm.... Digest?"
"Correct. Everyone to the field!"
Yohan's attitude changed from when he had bought bread, and he picked up the bamboo sword again.
At his words, the students fell into despair and went out to the field.
"What is this?"
On the field, thirty large stones had been placed. One of them was much larger than the others.
"What else? This is the gift I am giving you after your meal. Everyone, stand in front of one stone each!"
The students watched one another's reactions and stood before the stones.
"Now, prepare horse stance!"
Following his order, the students bent their knees in awkward stances.
Yohan placed one stone on each of their knees.
Then he also took a horse stance and shouldered the largest stone.
"Anyone who drops before I do will run one lap around the field and come back to take the stance again. Understood?!"
The students, who thought they absolutely could not run again, groaned as they endured.
***
At that time, Jong-pal headed to the Class F school building in order to put his plan into action.
From far away, he could hear the sounds of the students dying.
"What is that sound?"
Wondering whether something had happened to the students, Jong-pal hastened his steps with his cane.
The sight of the students carrying stones while covered in dirt and dust in their uniforms was something to behold.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Jong-pal shouted and approached the students.
Yohan, who had continued shouldering the largest stone, finally put it down.
When Yohan tossed the stone aside, the students put their stones down as if dropping them.
"Welcome, Instructor."
"What is going on here? Which instructor ordered this?"
"It was not another instructor. I ordered it."
"You did?"
Jong-pal looked at Yohan, who stood before him and stared at him upright.
He frowned and spoke to Yohan.
"Who are you to do something like this?"
"I am the class president of Class F."
"Class president? That is not what class presidents are for!"
"A class president is someone who leads the class. I am leading the class in my own way. What is the problem with that?"
Jong-pal was flustered as he looked at Yohan, who had a bolder personality than what he had investigated.
In his school record from middle school, he had clearly been written down only as a passive and powerless student.
Just as Jong-pal was about to say something to Yohan, the class bell rang.
At that, the students' attention focused on Jong-pal, and he cleared his throat before speaking.
"Let us move. My class is held in the Image Training Room."
"Understood."
Yohan looked at the students who were catching their breath and shouted.
"Everyone! Follow the instructor and move to the Image Training Room!"
Jong-pal watched the students move in perfect order according to Yohan's words and thought.
‘If I just deal with that bastard....’
Jong-pal and the Class F students entered the Image Training Room.
After seeing only old-fashioned buildings over and over, the students let out admiration as they looked at the cutting-edge building and technology.
"Are we really allowed to use this?"
Jong-pal answered the words one student muttered without thinking.
"Of course. However, please keep in mind that because you are Class F, you need permission unless it is during my class."
Then Jong-pal operated his device.
WHIRR.
The elevator activated.
When Jong-pal and the students boarded, the elevator began heading underground.
"In the Image Training Room, classes are conducted by sparring against actual magic beasts, so they are held underground like this."
While Jong-pal's explanation continued, the elevator descended endlessly.
DING.
When the elevator arrived, Jong-pal stepped out first.
"This is the training ground."
The students admired the training ground, which looked like a vast underground bunker.
Watching those students, Jong-pal continued explaining.
"In the control room you can see on the left, we will decide the environment and magic beasts. When that happens, light will emerge from the mana stones installed in the training ground and realize the location and magic beasts."
Unlike the overbearing Yohan, Jong-pal's gentlemanly manner of speech moved the students.
"I will explain magic beasts. First, magic beasts are divided from F-grade to S-grade, just like Hunters."
"What is the reason for classifying them that way?"
"Because magic beasts range from ordinary animals that obtained mana to grotesque forms. They are classified according to the abilities of the Hunters capable of dealing with them."
Jong-pal took the students into the control room.
"In the training ground, you will face hologram magic beasts. Their power and the condition of the magic beasts are no different from the real thing."
"At that level, well."
"They are not real magic beasts, so surely we won't die?"
He joked to the students who were relaxing.
"That is correct. You will not die, but it will hurt enough to feel like death."
At those words, the students, whose tension had eased, let out hollow laughs.
"Before today's training, you will first form groups. Please form groups with people you are comfortable with."
Because it was finally a situation where a proper class was being conducted, the students noisily talked and formed groups.
"Class President.... Which group will you join?"
At one student's question, the other students' attention focused on Yohan.
"I will do it alone. As for the rest of you, the intensity of your training will be determined according to today's results, so form your groups carefully."
At Yohan's words, the students grew tense again and carefully formed groups.
Jong-pal thought that sight was a good opportunity.
‘He is going alone? All the better. To think he would set the board for me himself.’
Even so, Jong-pal hid it as much as possible and looked at Yohan.
"Very well. Student Yohan, try this class alone."
"Yes. Thank you for your consideration."
"Is that so? In that case, as a penalty, you will only face one magic beast."
"That is fine. This is the path I chose, so I should not be different from the others. Please give me the same conditions as the other students."
"So that is what you want. Then we will proceed directly into mock training. Each group must defeat three E-grade Mad Dogs. That is all."
At the words "E-grade magic beasts," the students thought the difficulty was easier than Pluton's exam.
"Group One, forward."
At Jong-pal's call, Group One left the control room and went out to the training ground.
The students excluding Group One watched Group One from the control room.
Beep, beep.
When Jong-pal operated the control room machine, a voice came from the speaker.
[Environment Condition: Grassland.]
[3 E-grade Mad Dogs summoned.]
The students of Group One grew extremely tense as they saw the three Mad Dogs summoned before them.