Wednesday’s first class, ’anti-personnel training.’
This two-hour-long class simply had two cadets form a pair and spar each other. Spars were done with training weapons, making the fight less painful and easier to grade. In this class, Kim Suho paired with Yi Yeonghan, and Shin Jonghak paired with Kim Horak.
“Uwoooh.”
“Rank 934 Kim Hajin, get up!”
“I, I can’t.”
As for me, I was scuffling with the anti-personnel combat instructor rather than a cadet.
It was because there wasn’t a gun for training. Since a real gun couldn’t be used in sparring for fear of unintentional injuries, I was stuck fighting the instructor.
“What do you mean you can’t!?”
The female instructor ordered me to give my all.
Exactly one minute later, it was the instructor who was giving her all. It seemed my ‘Gift’ was more threatening than she had anticipated.
“Get up!”
Seeing my bullet slightly scratch her forearm, she got angry and grabbed me by the collar.
Now that things had come to this, I regretted spending my first two weeks in this world loafing around. I should’ve spent the time working out.
“I can’t continue.”
“Yes, you can!”
“My body won’t move.”
“It will!”
The instructor forcefully pulled me up.
“Put up your guard and do something!”
She was telling me to do something, but the handgun in my hand felt heavy. I pulled the trigger half-heartedly. The instructor blocked the bullet with her hand. Then, she tackled me. Unable to resist, I stumbled and fell. An electrifying feeling coursed through my body.
“I give up, I give up.”
“You didn’t move after shooting. I said do something!”
Chak! She slapped my face.
“GET UP!”
Chak! I was starting to get annoyed. Come to think of it, isn’t this woman younger than me?
“I said, GET UP!”
I refused to take it a third time. I grabbed her arm just barely, then...
“You fucker.”
I bit the instructor’s hair with my teeth.
“Ah! What are you doing!? 934... Ak! Let go! Let go! Let go!”
Gnashing on her hair, I pulled back as though my life depended on it.
My strange actions turned the surroundings silent, but I didn’t have the time to pay attention to something like that.
“T-This is a warning! Let go! I said, LET GO!”
This hair, I’ll bite it off. I swear I’ll bite it off.
“Y-You...!”
I could see the instructor’s fist in front of my eyes.
I had no memories of what happened next.
But since I managed to gain 40 SP out of it, it didn’t feel like such a bad trade.
**
Cube had ’clubs’.
The head instructor Kim Soohyuk told us we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our youths, but I didn’t set Cube to be such a horrible place. While it was normal to be covered in monsters’ blood or to kill Djinns from time to time, Cube encouraged cadets to enjoy their hobbies for their mental health. Being in a relationship was technically prohibited, but it was tacitly allowed by all of the faculty.
Cube’s clubs were no different than college circles. Club promotions happened in the second week after first-year cadets came in.
I set the number of clubs in my novel to be about a hundred, but considering there were only 5000 cadets in the whole school, it might not have been the most realistic. In any case, there was a club for pretty much any topic. There were hobby-like clubs like bowling, pool, and VR, while there were also academic clubs like studying, martial arts, and training.
I planned to join more than one club.
Obviously, the purpose to stay close to the main characters.
I already knew who was in which club.
Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were in traveling, Chae Nayun was in traveling and hunting, Yoo Yeonha was in traveling and academics, Shin Jonghak wasn’t in any, and Rachel was in reading.
Clearly, traveling club was an obvious choice. Next, I had to choose from the hunting club, reading club, and the academics club.
As students could join multiple clubs, I could join all four if I wanted to.
But that was too difficult realistically. I only had one body to work with.
Among these, the easiest club to gain SP from seemed to be the academic club. And of the academic clubs, the academic circle called Veritas had an antagonist that played an important role early in the story.
“VR club, Folklore Village... Interesting.”
Suddenly, I got a strange feeling.
Sitting on a bench in Cube’s Hero Park, I looked around. Likely because all classes had ended, the park was bustling with people.
It all felt too mysterious. The setting I had scribbled down had taken a life of its own, filling up missing holes and creating this world. There were many things that were new to me. The VR club I mentioned was one of them, and so was that couple secretly making out behind the bushes.
“Ehew, that’s a bit...”
Seeing them starting to get touchy, I got up with a frown.
Afterward, I ran around busily, collecting club application forms from the park. Four forms. I didn’t get a favorable look when I received them, but I had succeeded nonetheless.
“I’ll need to join the traveling club for sure.”
Four leading characters were in the traveling club. It was the result of me wanting to tie them together for major and minor events.
But compared to the club’s importance in the storyline, it wasn’t popular among students. It only had 20 people from all three grades, and third years were mostly busy interviewing with guilds and internship missions. Realistically, the club only had about 14 people.
I couldn’t explain why. That was just how I set it because having more people seemed troublesome.
In any case, traveling club was confirmed. After thinking about the others, I decided to join just two more. Setting the reading club aside, I chose the hunting club and the academics club.
Clubs began after all classes ended, and these three clubs didn’t overlap at all. The academic club met on Tuesdays, hunting on Thursdays, and traveling was either Saturday or Sunday.
Rachel ended up being left out, but she was an untouchable existence for now anyways.
“Okay.”
Thwack.
After flicking the application papers with my fingers, I stood up. Now, it was time to receive even more obscure gazes from club leaders.
**
The capital of Korea, Seoul, was filled with guilds that vied for the world’s top position. Distinguished guilds such as ‘Essence of the Strait’, ‘Desolate Moon’, and ‘Frost Sanctuary’ were located in the collectively established guild district in Seoul, making it the center for Djinn and monster subjugation requests, technological advances, and businesses.
“The guild visit is set for the Friday two weeks later.”
Seoul’s guild district was filled with skyscrapers. But one especially brilliant building wasn’t so tall. The geometric design of this building grabbed any passerby’s attention. It was the building belonging to the guild ’Creator’s Sacred Grace’.
With cutting-edge magic engineering technology, the inside of the building was twice as large as it looked from the outside, while its mana density was always maintained above grade 3.
“Mm, understood.”
In this environment optimal for even Heroes, the vice-leader Yun Seung-Ah took her secretary’s report.
Currently, Yun Seung-Ah’s attention was solely devoted to finding ’promising talents’.
It was a widely acknowledged fact that Cube’s freshman this year were exceptional. It was said that some had Gifts that could alter the guilds’ rankings. If she were to let her competitors steal them, the first place position she’d worked so hard to get would be jeopardized.
Consequently, Yun Seung-Ah’s eyes were glued to the guild’s intranet database, which contained videos from Cube’s 1st combat training.
“Kim Suho really is something.”
Currently on her screen was the combat training’s 1st place finisher, Kim Suho.
Fighting against a monster, his sword qi stood sharply. But his sword qi wasn’t the only awe-striking scene. His sword’s fluid movements made it look like his sword was water. His swordsmanship didn’t resemble anyone else’s, almost like a formless sword technique. With this technique, he seemed to tear apart space along with his target monster.
“Yes, he doesn’t seem close to any guilds either. He is first on our priority.”
“I want to bring him in no matter what... Oh? Someone’s using a gun?”
Kim Suho’s video ended, and Yun Seung-Ah’s eyes scanning the remaining list shined in curiosity.
“Yes. There were talks about it in the guild community.”
“Was there? Sorry, I’ve been too busy lately.”
"It was uploaded from the Cube community. He was in Yoo Yeonha’s team, which was why it gathered so many views in the first place. According to inside information, he’s quite the strange one.”
“Mm... strange one, huh?”
Curious about this unique individual, Yun Seung-Ah played the video.
[Team 5]
[Jin Hoseung, Hazuki, Yoo Yeonha, Kim Hajin]
Though not to the point of awe, the 10-minute video most certainly drew her attention.
“He wasn’t using an automatic rifle and still managed to fire 60 shots in 2.78 seconds?”
It was physically impossible. Even if you were quick enough to pull the trigger 60 times, the gun wouldn’t be able to endure it. In other words, a trans-physical power was at play.
“Yes. It seems he changed his weapon from a sword to a gun as soon as he entered Cube.”
“...Enlightenment.”
“I think so too.”
Enlightenment at just 17 years old... Leaning back, Yun Seung-Ah fell in deep contemplation.
Changing one’s weapon after going through enlightenment.
Though rare, it happened.
Gifts presented cadets with individuality, but before enlightenment, it was impossible to know exactly what one’s Gift was. In cases like this, where one has to change to an unfamiliar weapon, one needed three years to catch back up.
This was also why Cube’s lower academy, the Agent Military Academy, encouraged cadets to use a variety of weapons. Knowing how to wield several weapons made it easier to transition from one weapon to another weapon should it be necessary.
“He experienced enlightenment early, but if using a gun is all his Gift can do, I can’t say it’s too desirable.”
“Right, if his Gift could be used with a bow, he would have chosen a bow.”
Yun Seung-Ah agreed, but being enlightened at the age of 17 was still a rare occurrence.
“We should at least keep an eye on him. Is there a free recruiter?”
“No. Because of how exceptional this year’s cadets are, everyone is at their limit.”
Yun Seung-Ah hesitated. Nowadays, recruiters were expensive. Even if she hired a new recruiter, without attachment to the guild, they could simply run away to another guild with the guild’s information.
“...Then let him be. If he really is special, I’m sure he’ll stand out again.”
At that decision, her secretary nodded without objection.