Chapter 14: ■■■ (1)
As superhumans got stronger, they earned a body better suited for survival. Their height reached an ideal level and their bodies became thicker and during this process, most people underwent a change in their appearance.
Thus, high-level superhumans were mostly handsome or pretty, and that was the same for the cadets gathered here. But even then, Yeorum stood out the most.
“Iya… that redhead is so pretty.”
“Like, wow. How is she like that? She looks insane.”
“The people near her look like squids.”
“Who? Where?”
Gasps of admiration connected like waves and Yu Jitae’s ears picked up words spoken by other guardians.
Yeorum appeared like a source of light. Because of a fierce light strong enough to darken the surroundings, she gathered eyes but gave off a feeling that deterred others from staring for a long time.
“Wake up mate. Did we come here to watch others’ faces?”
“Ah, uh. Right.”
Yu Jitae who was thinking of just seeing Wei Yan’s face after a long time had no choice but to take a seat. It was because he was curious why she had come, and after all, he was officially a guardian.
“Please begin.”
When Wei Yan waved his hand, the interviewers all moved to their seats and soon began the interview.
The interview seemed to be a prac examination followed by an oral interview and individual skill was an important element taken into account.
Contents of the interview differed depending on the branch that had been applied for. Yeorum had applied for ‘Interpersonal battle’. In front of the two octagon-shaped rings placed at the centre, around sixty cadets including Yeorum were sitting down waiting for their turns.
“Number 124 and Number 7. Enter.”
After a few spars the assistant referee called out two numbers, with one of them being Yeorum – Number 124. Yeorum who had entered the stage was given a sparring wooden sword while the mestizo boy opponent held a sparring rod.
“Ready, start.”
As soon as the gong rang, Yeorum dashed in. Her strike that approached from a blind angle made the opponent’s rod drop in the blink of an eye while simultaneously smacking the head. The opponent flew off until being stuck on the surrounding wall.
It was a strike with not a shred of mercy.
Voices going wahh- could be heard.
“Wow, that was on point.”
“But who’s that redhead? She’s super strong.”
The interview continued. Since there wasn’t a planned list of matches, the interviewer just called random numbers and at the start, it was evenly distributed but after a certain point, Yeorum’s number was visibly being called out more often.
During duels, Yeorum did not leave mercy in her hands. There was no such thing as assessing each other’s skills, nor a staring contest. Every moment the gong rang, she would run in and her opponent would fly off in one or two hits, or be pushed back helplessly even if they blocked.
“Like, who is that girl? What is that?”
“Ah. I have a profile of all the interviewees. Let’s see… Yu Yeorum. She’s from Korea, aged 18.”
“Eighteen? How’s she like that? She’s not a graduate, more like she hasn’t even been admissioned into the school yet and yet she fights like that?”
By regulations, skills and magic spells couldn’t be used. Within that octagon where pure physical abilities and fighting instinct decided victors, Yeorum was overwhelming.
This was a natural turn of events and he apathetically watched over it. But the surroundings were making more of a fuss. Before long, more cameras were placed behind Yu Jitae’s back and there were increasingly more gazes focusing on the unconventional spars of Yeorum.
After she defeated four opponents, her fifth sparring partner walked up. It was a French girl who was on her third consecutive winning strike.
“Hey. She looks a bit familiar. Who is that?”
“She’s one of the minor rookies from France. A black belt in NDT apparently but I don’t know the details.”
“She looks a bit strong. It feels like we can finally see a proper spar.”
Soon, the spar began and the opponent was definitely a league above the previous ones.
The wooden swords clashed several times midair and it was different from other duels that lasted three swings at most.
But that was it. When the opponent kneeled down with one knee after being kicked on her stomach, Yeorum’s wooden sword stabbed the solar plexus and smacked the unguarded head several times.
It was a lightning-fast turn of events.
When the referee ordered and proclaimed a stop to the spar, the opponent was on the floor, suffering from a pain in her stomach. Soon, her guardian from France ran up and observed the girl with a startled expression. There was a trail of blood falling down her smacked forehead.
“Oi, you cadet over there. Isn’t this too much?”
Yeorum was walking down the ring when a young trainer from France spoke to her with a scowl on his face.
“What?”
“It is a spar meant to be like an actual battle but did you have to go that far? You’re both women.”
“Is that my business? What do you want me to do?”
“You need to have more manners. Did your guardian not even teach you that?”
“Why do you ask me? If you’re so curious, go ask my guardian! Should I tell you his number?”
Yu Jitae, who was amplifying his listening, made a hearty laugh.
“You, you…”
“And I did it like that because it’s a spar. If it was an actual battle, that kid over there would be dead already. You know that?”
Then, she left the stage while saying “Random f*ck” to herself. The guardian of the other student quivered in anger but remained silent.
Due to her frank expression and tone, discontent voices flowed from Yu Jitae’s surroundings.
“Dude, look what she’s saying.”
“Her words are right but saying that to their faces is a bit… It’s even making me upset.”
“Why? I think it’s good that she’s honest. Her words are not wrong.”
“Bloody rude to the extreme. Does she think she’s someone important? Is her guardian not with her?”
“Yeah. It says her training guardian is absent – she must’ve come by herself. Personally, I like that way of thinking though.”
Although Yu Jitae was listening to all that, he didn’t react in any manner. For him, it didn’t really matter whether Yeorum, with her messed up personality was getting sworn at or not. If that was how she was, he didn’t intend to bother touching it.
Around that point in time, Wei Yan who was overlooking all the interviews from a distance became interested in the interpersonal battle section as well. With his personal assistant, he carried a chair and chimed in between the interpersonal battle interviewers to give some orders.
Soon, it was time for the next spar.
“Number 124 and Number 39. Enter.”
A voice going, “Oh, they’re finally fighting” could be heard. After Yeorum entered the ring, a caucasian with a buoyant, light brown hair followed suit. Yeorum was holding the same wooden sword.
Yu Yeorum, five wins and zero losses from the first ring and a female cadet from the second ring who similarly had zero losses but had seven wins. It was their fight.
“Ah, Number 39. Sophia Vorkova!”
“Awesome. Sophia also dislocated her opponent’s leg in her spar just then. It’s going to be quite the match.”
“Sophia Vorkova and the redhead. Who do you guys think will win?”
“Of course Sophia. Before being a cadet, she was already a part of RIL.”
RIL.
Even Yu Jitae remembered that name – it was the name of the Russian Hunter Special Forces Group, Airborne (SFGA). It was a group that had quite the merit during the Great War and was classified as the top hunter organisation within Russia. The place was famous for having a ridiculous training method.
For example, they would sear their bodies with fire to gain resistance to pain or would repeatedly slice their body thinly and heal.
“But she was a member for media exposure. Although her skills weren’t up to par, they just wanted to take a picture of a pretty girl to publicise and so gave her the title right?”
“Aye mate. RIL is still RIL and same with their fame. Who here doesn’t know Sophia? Just her face alone wouldn’t be enough to build a fame like that. My guess is that the redhead would lose this fight.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Wearing only a pair of training gloves in her bare hands, Sophia entered the stage. As soon as the gong rang, the two shortened the distance and ran in as several bouts were shared in the blink of an eye. Sophia calmly readjusted the trail of Yeorum’s sword with the back of her palms and arms, before striking forward with her fists. Yeorum, who always pushed forward, was forced to stand on the spot for the first time as they shared initiatives.
“Oi, oi, look! Remember what I said?”
“You were wrong though? They are on a stalemate.”
In Yu Jitae’s eyes, it was one-sided. Yeorum’s movements were filled with leisure while Sophia was desperate. At a glance, it seemed like they were on equal footing but he could feel Yeorum playing around. It was like a fearless child teasing a small animal.
After a few more clashes, the situation flowed in a visibly different manner. With a thud, the wooden sword struck Sophia’s ribs. Sophia returned a back roundhouse kick to push Yeorum away but Yeorum did not fall back. The wooden sword stabbed Sophia’s chest as she couldn’t dodge the strikes that were getting increasingly faster.
Sophia was pushed a few steps back, but soon gripped a tight fist and ran back in towards Yeorum with a fiery light in her eyes. Afterwards, Yeorum’s sword pushed Sophia back and struck her like a sandbag and despite being forced back, Sophia endured it.
“Uh, uh? What’s happening all of a sudden? Isn’t she getting hit too much though?”
“Is she not going to give up? It looks painful.”
“Did Russia nurture a zombie or something?”
A strong swing once again smashed Sophia’s stomach and she, who could not block it properly, rolled on the ground. But she rose back up like nothing happened and once again postured herself by raising her arms up.
Yu Jitae found it odd. The strikes were overbearing and more than six ribs were already broken. Her pain should be considerable and yet there were no signs of her being in pain, let alone collapsing.
In his knowledge, there were two types of people like that. One was a type that forgot pain once over-excited, with the other being a type whose excitement was great enough to overwhelm pain. He could see insanity in Sophia’s eyes and she seemed to be the latter.
At this point, it might be better to stop the spar but Sophia did not forfeit and her guardian was likewise still. Yeorum’s jab once again smacked Sophia’s collarbone and in Yu Jitae’s eyes, something was definitely broken. Her small body rolled on the ground.
But even then, Sophia did not blink an eye.
“Spar ended.” The referee quickly stood between the two and proclaimed the end of the fight. At least that’s what everyone thought until Sophia rose back up with a tight grip. It seemed like even her guardian was persuading her to stop at this point but ignoring that, she approached the referee and argued.
“Who decided to end the spar? It hasn’t been three minutes yet.”
“The strikes were critical. Don’t you feel any broken bones?”
“I don’t. Please, go out. Don’t waste time.”
“Sophia. I think we should stop here.”
“No, I didn’t lose, I didn’t forfeit and my body’s fine so why stop? Just go out please.”
Yu Jitae observed Yeorum’s eyes. He thought she would be enjoying it, but she had the usual discontent look on her face, as if she was tired of it. While the referee and Sophia were arguing, Yeorum added a word.
“Hey unni stop there. If you continue like that, you might die.”
“…Are you talking to me?”
“It’s already broken right? A few bones here and there.”
“Bullshit. It’s just a bit stiff okay? Ah! Please! Just go out! I’m not going to forfeit.”
The referee looked at Wei Yan, who returned a leisurous smile and a gesture. Soon, the referee walked off as Sophia postured herself with her fists trembling in rage.
Bam.
It was one hit. Sophia who yet again allowed a strike to her stomach collapsed on the ground and the referee ran in to block Yeorum. “Spar ended!” This time, his shout was louder than before and blood was about to leave Sophia’s trampled wound.
Sophia attempted to lift herself back up, but was held down by her guardian’s hand.
“Let go! I haven’t lost yet!”
“Wake up. The spar has ended, Sophia!”
“I haven’t lost yet!”
But there was no way for her to escape from the guardian. It seemed like Sophia with her lowered shoulders could finally feel the pain seeping in and formed a frown.
A storm had gone past. With an annoyed expression, Yeorum left the stage and she was obviously the victor.
The moment the referee’s voice claiming the victor of the spar echoed within the interview hall, Sophia, who had been following her guardian with a sorrowful expression, unsheathed a self-protective dagger from her guardian’s waist. Then, she turned around like she had a seizure and dashed forward. She soon jumped over the caged wall and approached Yeorum.
That all happened while everyone was slow on understanding what was happening.
A long wound was formed next to Yeorum’s eyes as she had dodged the surprise attack half a second too late. Blood oozed out.
“Die, you slut!”
The attack just then had mana embedded within. It was clearly an ambush with intention to murder.
“Ah, this crazy bitch! Do you want to die!”
Likewise, Yu Yeorum also lost control of herself. Without a single sign of bafflement, with only brutal annoyance filling her face, Yeorum grabbed Sophia’s neck and threw her towards the wall. Her power was enough to demolish the cage around the octagon.
Yeorum did not stop and ran in towards Sophia who was on the ground and squashed her down, before throwing her fists nonstop.
“Oi! What are you doing! Stop her!”
“Calm down! Get, get rid of the sword first!”
It was as if the entire area had been bombarded. Referees, interviewers and guardians all ran in in groups and started tearing them apart.