CHAPTER 71: CHAPTER 70: ONE STUBBORN HERO

Sleep wasn’t in Zaen’s fate. He had barely touched the bed when a sudden alarm killed his sleep. It wasn’t just him, everyone else in the dorms woke up and began fidgeting with their uniforms.

As for the uniforms, they were nothing but white formal shirts and black formal pants. It was similar to the suits the agents wore, minus the suit, tie, and every other accessory.

"If it weren’t for Senior Sister’s warning, I’d be cooked," Zaen mumbled as he slipped into his uniform.

Ben Cho looked at him with surprise. Since he had arrived late like Zaen, he probably didn’t know about the schedule. They were supposed to wake up sharp at three and report at the training ground.

After that, they could either head back to the dorms to catch ten minutes of sleep or have breakfast before reporting back for classes.

It’s the same schedule as the military...

"Brother-in-law, could you—?"

"No," Zaen cut him off without listening to his request.

Just like the rest of the group, Zaen ran towards the ground, leaving the young master behind. Still, the fatty didn’t hold it against Zaen. If anything, he was more mesmerized by his actions.

He quickly took out a notebook and wrote something in it.

"Duties above anything! The first requirement is met!" Ben smiled, looking proud. "I knew my eyes didn’t betray me. This person has to become my brother-in-law!"

As he said that, he left the room only to see hundreds of people running downstairs. But looking at them turned his face grim. They were all fast, too fast.

"I’m going to be the last person there... am I not?"

***

Meanwhile, Zaen was running towards the ground with his stick propped on his back. It was a special case that Eira gave him along with the uniform. Thanks to that, he could ’see’ while keeping his hands free.

"Calling her senior sister was worth it."

Thanks to his agility, Zaen was the first one to arrive there, at least among the students. He saw Rhino standing there, wearing a tracksuit instead of his uniform.

"Slept well?" he asked.

"Well enough, sir!"

"You don’t need to be so formal with me."

"As you wish, sir!"

Rhino scratched his chin when he understood why Zaen was doing it.

"Seriously? All because of that prank?"

"You misunderstand, sir!"

Rhino sighed. He hadn’t expected Zaen to be so stubborn and to hold a grudge. On the contrary, Zaen was just having fun.

Eira had already told him the instructors there weren’t much older than the students. After all, the average life expectancy of a usual hunter or officer was twenty-eight years.

Though Rhino looked like he was in his mid-thirties with his beard and all the wrinkles, he had just turned twenty-three.

Not to mention, most of the faculty members, apart from the combat faculty, were there because they were a cowardly bunch. Although they had awakened abilities, they couldn’t face anomalies.

Hence, they dedicated their lives to researching the anomalies and helping the organization in a different way. However, most of them only acted in that part.

To someone who couldn’t even fight an anomaly, even looking at an anomaly’s corpse was too much, let alone dissecting it for research.

Before long, everyone knew that even the most excellent full-time instructors were merely talking on paper within their comfort zones, lacking a true understanding of anomalous entities.

Instead, they mostly worked on creating man-made anomalies to do most of the dissection and observational work for them. They merely drew obvious conclusions from the observations.

It was a technique developed by Zaen’s father, saving a few talented individuals from certain death by being forced to fight anomalies. Even in the games, they are assigned teams to protect them. They are just that useless in the practical ’hunter’ world.

While he thought about their discussion yesterday, more recruits arrived there. Rhino had dropped his friendly persona and kept his eyes focused on the stopwatch in his hand.

The ground had barely started to fill when Rhino waved his hand. A few people’s faces fell, but some were laughing. Zaen didn’t get what was happening until the air around them turned static.

A barrier...

Sure enough, everyone who came hurrying in slammed headfirst against the barrier, unable to enter. Obviously, Ben Cho was one of them.

"It has already been three days," Rhino said, walking up to those on the other side of the barrier. "What’s so difficult to understand?"

No one dared to speak.

"If you hear the alarm, you’ve got three minutes to report here."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir, my ass! Ten laps, each of you."

Other than the blowing wind, there was no sound as everyone began running around the barrier.

That’s a clever method of increasing their stats naturally.

The training ground was a kilometer away from the dorms. It would be impossible for most to run that length in three minutes. The fact that nearly half of them could already show their superhuman nature.

But that wasn’t what Zaen was referring to. The run was the perfect way to improve their agility as they kept pushing their limits. Even the punishment they got was designed for a similar purpose, but instead of agility, it targeted their stamina.

While the latecomers ran the perimeter, the rest just stood there. Rhino didn’t instruct them to do anything. It only confirmed the theory in Zaen’s mind.

Those who had reached there on time didn’t need to train their agility or stamina anymore. Hence, they just idled until the others were done running. Two hours later, Ben was done running and joined the line.

"Alright, everyone," Rhino clapped once, addressing them. "Today, until the next round of the hunter games, the instructors will prepare you for the next round."

He continued, "As long as you follow the instructions, you won’t have a difficult time clearing the first official round."

His eyes shifted to Zaen before saying his next words.

"That is, if no one tries to be the hero like Aurelia here."