Chapter 27

Gaon Academy’s training room…

The students were training with all of their strength with the state-of-the-art equipment.

“Your physical strength rank is still D?”

“Hey, it takes more than just a day or two for physical abilities to level up, okay?”

Some students honed their physical abilities.

“Water Dragon Blast!”

And others trained their skills using dummy robots. The training room was bustling.

But as the door to the room opened and Shin YuSung entered the room…

Vmm!

Everyone’s gazes turned to the door as if they had rehearsed it.

“Oh, it’s Shin YuSung.”

“…The competition was yesterday, and he’s immediately training?”

“Competition?”

“Didn’t you hear about the double raid yesterday?”

The students started gossiping about Shin YuSung, who had become the center of attention. The D Class students were the ones who showed the strongest reaction to him.

“…That’s Shin YuSung, right?”

The class president of D Class.

As Park* HaWon asked this, Kang MinSu nodded his head.

“You know, the guy who destroyed Ju HaJin with one strike.”

Park HaWon fiddled with her glasses as she stared at Shin YuSung.

“Yeah. Even though he’s an idiot and his personality is the worst, he isn’t half bad at fighting…”

“So I’m saying it’ll be a stupid move to fight Shin YuSung head-on.”

At Kang MinSu’s words, Park HaWon scrunched up her expression out of nervousness.

“Haah…! And we were all excited about fighting F Class, too! If we get last place in the intramurals, we won’t even be able to do our extracurriculars!”

Jin MinAh, who had been listening to their conversation up to that point, carefully spoke up.

“Um, still… we’ll win as long as we stop Shin YuSung in some way, right?”

Sung IkHyun snorted as if belittling Jin MinAh.

“How?” he asked, an expression on his face suggesting that he had heard nonsense.

Park HaWon, the class president.

The second-strongest member of D Class, Kang MinSu.

And all of the other D Class members who had been in the training room, including Jin MinAh, were silent.

This was, of course, due to Shin YuSung’s strength. No one in D Class had ever defeated a rank 4 boss monster before. But Shin YuSung had done so three times: the crystal golem, the lich, and the Dullahan.

On top of that, Shin YuSung had yet to lose a single time in a fight.

Only he knew the extent of his full power. He was on a completely different level when compared to the D Class students.

Sung IkHyun, who had a fairly good head on his shoulders, began giving advice to the class president.

“Prez, ignore what she’s saying. The best thing we can do is just avoid him as much as possible. You know the rules for the intramurals, right? It’s to destroy the other team using numbers. We need to win against them using that.”

“Hm…”

Lost in thought, Park HaWon quickly threw a glance at Shin YuSung. She could see him on the other side of the glass between them, she could also see the electronic billboard in the Image Room which was displaying a shockingly difficulty level.

[Difficulty 4-3]

Shin YuSung had chosen 4-3, which was where you had to fight three rank 4 monsters.

Park HaWon began to mumble in a listless manner.

“…An F Class student doing 4-3. Haa, this is insane.”

She continued to speak while adjusting her glasses, settling her mind.

“…You’re right. We definitely can’t win against something like that.”

To the D Class students, Shin YuSung was too strong of an opponent for them. What they needed was a plan that could overcome his oppressive combat abilities.

* * * *

Shin YuSung, who had entered the Image Room, raised the difficulty to 4-3.  The students were gawking at him in wonder. Of course, this was not the first time that he had been observed like this, but it was for a different reason.

The reason why the students had been watching Shin YuSung until now was because he was the disciple of the Fist King, a man who had hidden himself from the public view.

But things had changed.

Shin YuSung had become the center of attention entirely through his own skills and achievements.

Some people admired him for his incredible skills, despite having an F-rank Trait, and others were kept in check with their fear of him. Some students even had the desire to try and win against him.

‘…How interesting.’

A pleased smile grew on Shin YuSung’s face.

Because of his F-rank Trait, he had been abandoned by his family when he was five years old. And—while the Fist King deeply cared for Shin YuSung—he was a tough love kind of person.

During the twelve years he spent on Martial Spirits’ Mountain, Shin YuSung had always thought that his skills would never be good enough and had wanted to find a way to prove his own worth.

The Shin-oh family that had abandoned him,

The Fist King who had believed in his potential,

And those in despair due to Traits—he wanted to prove himself to them all. It was what had motivated Shin YuSung, even when he was just a young boy.

Now, it felt like he had gotten one step closer to that goal. He had finally climbed onto the path that would lead him to becoming the strongest hunter.

[Practice monsters. Difficulty: Rank 4, 3 Lesser Demons setting.]

The holographic projector spewed light at the same time as the announcement rang out.

Ssh!

A short demon wielding a weapon.

A large, muscular demon.

A tall, willowy demon.

As the various demons stared him down, another announcement rang throughout the Image Room.

[Demons are beings with intelligence. The challenger can set their A.I. level]

Shin YuSung looked at the demons and clenched his fist. In order to attain his goal, there was only one thing he had to do.

‘I have to become stronger.’

[How advanced would you like to set their A.I.?]

Shin YuSung did not have a choice in the matter.

“As advanced as possible.”

As soon as he gave his answer, the intelligence of the demons increased, and they began to get into formation, synchronized. Seeing them do so, Shin YuSung got into a stance as well.

‘Let’s begin.’

Shin YuSung had gotten used to the Academy’s training methods.

* * *

* * *

Three minutes. That was how long it had taken Shin YuSung to clear Difficulty 4-3 after entering the Image Room.

“He… he’s insane.”

“He beat up those rank 4s with just his fists…”

The higher rank students stared at Shin YuSung with a shocked look in their eyes. The way he fought was different from what they were used to.

Unlike the other hunters who relied on the strength of their Traits, Shin YuSung used martial arts that completely relied on his physical strength.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen this…”

“D-don’t you think he might be stronger than Adela?”

His physique was born from the nine blocked yin pathways and abundance of heavenly yang.

His fighting style was learned from the greatest martial artist, the Fist King. It was understandable why the other students would be in an uproar about it.

Vnn.

The door opened, and Shin YuSung stepped out of the Image Room. As he did so, the armband-shaped Pocket on his wrist began to display a hologram.

[New record attained for Difficulty 4-3!]

[Name: Shin YuSung]

[Clear Record: 3 minutes 11 seconds]

Shin YuSung’s clear record for 4-3 was the fastest in Gaon Academy.

He observed the changes in his body.

‘My body feels light.’

Hunters grew stronger with experience.

In particular instances, like Sumire’s, one could further awaken their Trait and receive a new Skill.

But Shin YuSung had recently fought and defeated 3 boss monsters. His various experiences had unlocked a higher level of his physical capabilities.

‘Nothing beats actual combat experience.’

When he was about to make his way out of the training room, his Pocket began to vibrate.

Someone had sent him a message.

[Headmaster Jin ByungCheol: Student Shin YuSung… Sorry to bother you when you’re busy… but can you… come to the headmaster’s office right now? ^ ^]

Jin ByungCheol’s text was even more polite than ever. It was like his disrespectful attitude from when he had first met Shin YuSung had never existed in the first place. The boy had become the academy’s VIP.

[Headmaster Jin ByungCheol: PS. Take your time coming here. And would you like to drink anything? ^ ^]

As proof, Jin ByungCheol—one of the people with the most authority in the Academy—was offering him a drink, something he only did for VIPs.

‘He really is a kind man.’

Taking Jin ByungCheol’s snobbish goodwill at face value, Shin YuSung gave a pleased smile.

* * * *

The headmaster’s office of Gaon Academy.

Jin ByungCheol sat upon a luxurious chair and gave a business-like smile to Shin YuSung, who returned it with his own.

“You called for me?”

“Haha, come in, come in!”

The headmaster’s kindness towards Shin YuSung was a given.

‘It’ll be a huge loss if this golden goose ever transfers to another school.’

Jin ByungCheol constantly acted nice towards the boy.

“It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to talk to student Shin YuSung about…  no! That title sounds much too distant, considering our relationship!”

Jin ByungChoel did not hesitate to bring up the Fist King’s name.

“Yes! The Fist King is my senior and someone like a mentor to me. Our YuSung is the disciple of my senior. Aren’t we more like fellow students under him?”

Jin ByungCheol used his own weapon, his silver tongue, to appeal to Shin YuSung. The one being appealed to nodded his head as if he had been convinced.

“Mhm!”

“YuSung-ah, even if I can’t show you any favoritism at this Academy for the sake of equal treatment of all students, what we have is unique.”

“Thank you, headmaster!” said Shin YuSung, as he replied with a bright grin on his face.

Jin ByungCheol smiled pleasantly and switched topics.

“It’s nothing, really, but… The president of the Association contacted me.”

“The president, you mean…”

Kang YuChan.

He was the president of the Hutner Association, as well as one of the strongest hunters in Korea alongside the Fist King.

That legendary figure had personally contacted the Academy. This was why Jin ByungCheol, the headmaster, had called for Shin YuSung.

He handed over a piece of paper over the table to Shin YuSung in a proud manner.

“Here! This is the invitation that the Association has sent to you and Adela.”

[Academy National Representative Selection]

[Venue: Busan]

[Requirements: First year, one of the Sevens]

[Candidate 1: Adela Ortensia]

[Candidate 2: Shin YuSung]

The selection for the national representative who would compete in the International Competition… As an event that decided the overall status of nations in the international sphere through the first years attending academies, the International Competition was both a sign of friendly competition and an event of great honor.

To Jin ByungCheol, the International Competition was a golden opportunity to raise the value of Gaon Academy.

“Many students will participate in the selection, but the representative has to come from our Gaon Academy, don’t you think? Your score in the competition isn’t everything in these selections.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I know. Votes matter too, right?”

At Shin YuSung’s reply, the headmaster nodded his head. The Internation Competition was an event where the one student who participated in it was the representative of an entire nation. Even though the representative had to create a party to participate in the competition with them, they were still considered the face of the nation.

That was why the representative was chosen through both the score they achieved in the selections as well as the votes that they had received.

“If you want to be the representative, you’ll need a high level of prominence.”

“Prominence…”

“Well, you’ve been on K Channel news before, so I’m not too worried about that. Still, the reason why it’s so important for students to do their extracurricular activities is because it’s important for  a hunter to be popular.”

The voting rule was, if one looked at it a certain way, both advantageous and disadvantageous for Shin YuSung.

Shin YuSung was someone of great note for the performance he had shown in the double raid and due to being the disciple of the Fist King. However, he had participated in very few extracurriculars and therefore had low popularity.

It was a given that the students who had left the confines of their school to directly help society would receive the support of the citizens.

If left unchecked, it was completely possible for someone to perform well in the selections but still lose by the votes.

Click.

Shin YuSung kept thinking about it after leaving the office.

‘…Prominence and popularity. This is hard.’

Shin YuSung, who had lived on the Martial Spirits’ Mountain for 12 years, couldn’t think of a good answer to this problem. In the Academy, some of the students had been building their popularity through extracurriculars from a young age. Among them, some had used their Trait to appear in advertisements, like Adela with her ice Trait for a refrigerator commercial.

[The Shinsung group’s refrigerator that even the ice barrier hunter, Adela, recommends!]

Even though it was a fairly simple advertisement, the video of it showing Adela raising a thumbs up with her expressionless face had garnered over a million views. Shin YuSung had to defeat celebrities like Adela and claim first place.

‘…Hm, before that, I’ll definitely have to take care of the intramurals, right?’

Finishing his musings, Shin YuSung turned towards the direction of F Class, where Sumire and Lee SiWoo were. If he didn’t want to be stopped from participating in extracurricular activities, he had to prevent F Class from losing in the first round. Thankfully, this was something that Shin YuSung was good at.

* The author inexplicably changes So HaWon (first introduced in chapter 20)’s last name in this chapter, and it stays changed throughout the rest of the novel.