The next day, while eating breakfast, I watched a short news segment.
“A group that falsely sold Purified Red Fruits to Awakened has been arrested by the police. In a bizarre development, large quantities of dead batteries were found in the stomachs of every member of the group, causing public shock. The police have urgently transported them to the hospital and are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident.”
What? She really fed them batteries? Ms. Song Guseul was a much more terrifying person than I’d thought.
As I shook my head, Lee Hasol, who had been eating beside me, asked with a pale face, “Kim Daram, are we going there again today?”
Between what happened yesterday and the chilling news coming from the TV, Lee Hasol clearly did not want to run into Song Guseul.
“Yeah. If you’re scared, stay home and rest. I’ll go by myself.”
“I-I’m not scared, though? Not even a little? I want to hurry up and train, though? I’m going to lift 400 kilograms today, though?”
“Sure, got it. Just eat your breakfast.”
A nineteen-year-old boy really was simple.
A little while later, I finished eating and left the house with Lee Hasol.
“I’m heading out, Mom.”
“Have a good day, son. Drive carefully! Don’t come back too late.”
“Yes!”
*****
“Wow! Nice car! So you were a young master after all?”
Song Guseul, who had been loitering in front of the training center, said that when she saw me getting out of the car.
“It’s my mom’s car.”
“Is that so? Be good to your mom. You have to do it while she’s still alive. Unless you want to get older and regret it like me.”
Where had that come from? Still, she wasn’t wrong. Of course I had to be good to her while she was still alive.
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind. But… you don’t look old enough to say something like that. Would it be rude if I asked how old you are? You don’t look that much older than me…”
This was absolutely not flattery. It was purely honest curiosity. Judging only by Song Guseul’s Level and Performance Score, she had to be fairly old. But on the outside, Song Guseul wouldn’t have looked out of place at all if someone said she was in her twenties.
“Oh my, listen to this kid. Young master! I like you.”
Song Guseul smiled brightly at my question. Then Lee Hasol said, “Forty?”
“Yellow Hair, you little bastard, get over here. You’ve been getting cocky since yesterday.”
Hmm. She was definitely not over forty, at least. Either way, she was impressive…
In my previous life, even when I was nearing forty, I had only been in the Level 50s with a Performance Score of 70,000. Song Guseul, standing right in front of me, was a powerhouse from a realm my previous self could never have dared to reach.
Then why had her name never become known to the world? She was already skilled enough to belong among the strongest right now. Twenty years later, fame should have followed her whether she wanted it or not.
Then yesterday’s events suddenly crossed my mind.
Could situations like yesterday have kept repeating until… she was encroached?
There was no way to know. In any case, what mattered to me right now was the fact that I was about to receive instruction from her.
I set aside the thoughts circling in my head for the time being and shouted at the two tangled-up people.
“Oh, stop it already! You’re going to kill him!”
*****
“I heard what Young Master explained to Yellow Hair yesterday. I agree completely. These days, Awakened get so hung up on their Traits that they don’t put in the effort to build their fundamentals properly. But there’s a clear limit to how much you can polish a Trait through training alone. In the end, learning how to use it through real combat and raising your Level is the most efficient method.”
Song Guseul continued.
“That means the training Young Master is trying to do isn’t optional. It’s mandatory. We’re different from ordinary office workers who can let their free time drift away into entertainment and still live without much trouble. For Hunters, how you use the time you’re given changes your chances of survival.”
Lee Hasol, standing beside me, nodded silently. Regardless of his personal feelings about Song Guseul, her words seemed to have hit home.
“That said, I’m not claiming I’ll pass on some incredible technique or hidden secret art to you. I’m just going to help you use the outstanding physical abilities every Awakened possesses more properly and more effectively.”
My clenched fist tightened on its own.
From the beginning, I had planned to internalize as much of the physical ability improved through leveling as I could before the reassembly date. As long as I made proper use of the training methods I had learned in the past, I could at least learn to control the give-and-take of strength smoothly. And in truth, aside from Traits, this was ultimately the only training an Awakened could do.
That was why I was even more excited. Someone at Song Guseul’s level must have already understood everything I was trying to do. Even so, there was something beyond that in her eyes and tone.
“You won’t get a feel for it if I just talk. Young Master, get in the ring. I’ll show you myself.”
Song Guseul stepped into the ring at the center of the training center. That was exactly what I had wanted. I climbed into the ring and faced her.
“What’s your Awakened Level?”
She asked. I hesitated briefly, then simply told her the truth.
“Twenty.”
“Twenty? Didn’t you say it’s been four days since you Awakened? Don’t tell me you raised it that much in the Hunter Selection Assessment Stage.”
“Yes. I got very lucky.”
It wasn’t a lie. I had thought I was dead, only to regress twenty years into the past, so there probably wasn’t anyone in this world luckier than me.
“Hm. That can’t really be explained by ‘a little luck’ alone… Well, I suppose getting your hands on Very Sweet fruit already means you were born with great fortune.”
Song Guseul scratched her cheek and muttered. Then she raised her head as if thinking any further was too much of a hassle.
“All right. From now on, I’ll limit my physical ability to Level 20 as well. Come at me with everything you have. But don’t use your Trait.”
No more words were needed. I immediately raised my fists and took my stance. It was the basic stance of mixed martial arts for Awakened that I had learned in my previous life.
Song Guseul saw my stance and gave a small laugh.
“My, our young master is a total model student. You even learned that?”
Then she extended her palm and beckoned with her fingers.
I used that opening to step in. Then, at the maximum speed I could produce, I threw a punch aimed at her face. Even if Song Guseul dodged it, it was a probing strike meant to set up my follow-up movement.
But she had already vanished from my sight. The very instant I felt something touch my chest—
BA-BOOM!
I cut through the air and was launched out of the ring. The impact to my chest was so intense that I couldn’t even break my fall properly and rolled across the floor.
“Guuuuugh.”
Song Guseul leaned against the ring and looked down at me.
“So? Doesn’t the urge to learn just come bubbling up inside you?”
“Yes! Absolutely!”
Lee Hasol answered energetically in my place while I coughed.
*****
According to Lee Hasol, Song Guseul had slipped into my space at an unbelievable speed and struck my chest with her back. That one hit sent me floating straight out of the ring.
Up until the moment I took my first step, Song Guseul had definitely been standing still. But after that, I fell completely behind every single one of her movements.
Naturally, Lee Hasol and I began looking at Song Guseul with eyes shining in anticipation. Song Guseul’s smile deepened.
Before we began training, Song Guseul briefly explained her theory.
Awakened possessed physical abilities several times stronger than ordinary people, sometimes more than ten times stronger. If that tremendous strength could be focused and released at a single point, it could produce force powerful enough to rival a Trait.
My guess was that this theory was closely connected to Song Guseul’s Trait, [Enhancement] Fighting Spirit.
“Then shall we get started properly? If you follow what I tell you for just one week, you’ll be able to do it like me too. Pretty cool, right?”
She said it lightly, as if it were nothing.
But before even half a day had passed, we had to seriously wonder whether we could survive the full week like this.
“Uwegh, Kim Daram, I think I’m dying.”
Lee Hasol lay sprawled on the floor, dry-heaving. His whole body was covered in reddish-purple bruises, all traces left by the muscles beneath his skin tearing and rupturing. Of course, I wasn’t much better.
“You won’t die. Don’t underestimate an Awakened’s recovery. Get up already, Yellow Hair.”
Song Guseul, who had come over at some point, nudged Lee Hasol with the tip of her foot as she spoke.
Sure, we wouldn’t die. But it was hard enough to feel like death.
Even I, who prided myself on having experienced all sorts of things in my previous life, found Song Guseul’s training intensity difficult to handle. She drove us mercilessly, calling it a “crash curriculum that extends a Hunter’s lifespan.”
Song Guseul’s curriculum was relatively simple.
In the morning, we repeatedly lifted maximum-weight loads until our muscles tore. In the afternoon, we wore absurdly heavy steel armor and had to maintain the postures she ordered for hours on end.
That forced march continued for five days. Mom was horrified every time she saw me come home exhausted and bruised blue, but when I told her all this training was so her son could survive longer, she eventually stopped saying anything and quietly served us generous restorative meals every morning and evening.
One morning, an Association agent in a black suit came to the house. He informed us of the reassembly schedule designated by the Hunter Association. He said groups would be divided according to the results of the Hunter Selection Assessment that had already taken place, and each group would gather at the dome in Yeouido on different dates and at different times. Naturally, Lee Hasol and I were in the same group.
*****
“You followed along well until now. They may only be two simple movements, but once you master them, you can apply them in any number of ways, so don’t neglect your training from now on.”
I didn’t even have the strength to open my mouth. Lee Hasol and I were lying on the floor of the ring, only breathing hard. Today was our last day coming to this training center. Only when we reached the end did Lee Hasol and I finally become able to imitate, however roughly, the techniques Song Guseul had taught us.
“Do you know who the greatest Hunter in the world is?”
Song Guseul suddenly brought up something out of nowhere.
“It’s… a Hunter who dies of old age.”
“What’s that supposed to mean…”
Lee Hasol grumbled, but Song Guseul continued, paying him no mind.
“I’ve seen a lot of kids as talented as you die earlier than expected, or get hurt so badly they could never come back. Don’t get arrogant under any circumstances. And if possible, I’d like you to use the techniques I taught you for defense or running away rather than attacking. Understand?”
An indescribable sadness had seeped into her words. Before Lee Hasol could open his mouth, I answered briefly.
“Yes.”
“Good. You’ll do well. I’ll head in first, so clean up and leave when you’re done. If fate allows, we’ll meet again someday.”
Song Guseul tossed the keycard onto the ring and disappeared out the door without looking back.
Maybe Ms. Song Guseul was unexpectedly softhearted, contrary to how she looked.
In any case, tomorrow was the Hunter Association reassembly day. Starting tomorrow, I would officially become a Hunter.
For the second time.