Chapter 04 - The Test (1)

It was a truly damn body.

To be so exhausted from a single punch and a single kick.

After chasing Seo Young-joon away using Choi Ho-joong as my avatar, I had to spend an unscheduled amount of time in the spring.

I didn't even have the strength to walk to the exit of the Abyss right now.

“Don’t talk to me while my eyes are closed.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

To think that I, the strongest on Kalia, would be in such a state on Earth; my situation was a bit comical.

In fact, if Choi Ho-joong hadn't been there, the one who would have had a rough time today might have been me, not Seo Young-joon.

It was highly likely that two attacks wouldn't have been enough to kill that guy, and after that, I would have had no other recourse.

“Hoo.”

Thus, I performed the mana heart technique and fell into a deep meditation for a long while.

As my depleted mana began to fill up, my body started to heal again.

I still couldn't calculate how many more times I would have to repeat this process.

It would have been nice if my initial mana capacity was a bit larger.

A while later, when I opened my eyes, Choi Ho-joong was looking at me.

He immediately avoided my gaze.

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

It was written all over his face that he had something to say, but he insisted it was nothing.

“Then, let me just say one thing I couldn't earlier.”

“Yes, please do.”

“The next time a situation like that happens, don't get hit, dodge.”

“I cannot do that.”

“Why.”

“How am I supposed to dodge an attack that suddenly flies at me from that distance?”

Right.

I suppose I was thinking too much from my own perspective.

“Then, if the same situation arises, immediately pay it back twofold.”

“Against someone from the Haewon Sword Family?”

“If I, your direct superior, am insulted, it doesn't matter who it is. Naturally, I will take responsibility.”

“I understand, Young Master.”

“And don't worry about what happened today. That guy will be too embarrassed to tell anyone anyway.”

“That is true.”

“By the way, besides Seo Young-joon, do the other relatives also hold hostility towards me and my family?”

“It is a well-known fact.”

“What a dysfunctional family.”

“……”

“Why? Do I sound like I’m talking about someone else’s business? Do I look pathetic?”

“N-no, sir!”

Anyway, I would have to sort out this corner of the family at some point.

Of course, that would be after I had regained some of my strength.

“By the way, may I ask just one thing?”

“What is it?”

“That attack from before, the one that knocked out Young Master Seo Young-joon’s teeth. What on earth was that?”

So that was why this guy had been staring at me so intently; he wanted to ask about that all along.

“Why? You still don't believe it?”

“I believe it for now. Since I saw it with my own two eyes.”

Then with whose eyes did he see it last time, I wonder.

“It’s no use telling you. You’re still a long way from being able to do that.”

“……”

“What’s with that expression? Does it sound like I’m joking?”

“No, it’s not that, but logically……”

“There are many things in the world that aren't logical.”

For example, me possessing Seo Ji-han’s body.

“Don’t get distracted by other things, just train your swordsmanship to death. That is, if you’re not a genius. Then one day, the time will come when you can do it too.”

Choi Ho-joong just stared at me with a blank expression, blinking his eyes.

***

A few more days passed.

My daily routine was a repetition of the same thing.

Entering the Abyss every morning and returning home around the time the sun grew dim.

My mother, who had tried to stop me at first, no longer made a fuss about my visits to the Abyss.

My complexion was improving day by day, and my attending physician had also given his opinion that my physical condition was getting better.

Yesterday, for the first time, I also started physical training.

Intense levels were still out of the question, but I had judged that my body could endure a certain amount.

With this pathetic, muscle-less body, there was bound to be a limit to the amount of strength I could exert beyond a certain point.

‘Mana isn't a cure-all for every situation.’

In fact, in my past life, I had also placed great importance on physical training.

Gladiators often focused only on training their swordsmanship and mana, neglecting to build their bodies, but this was the wrong method.

At a decisive moment, a minor difference in physical ability can feel as massive as a mountain.

All my efforts were showing results day by day, and the condition of this damn body was also changing daily.

Of course, it was merely a case of a speck becoming a slightly larger speck, but the fact that I was improving was what was important.

In this process, Choi Ho-joong’s role was, of course, significant.

He had escorted me to the spring in the Abyss every day and waited for me there for a long time.

Thinking about it, I was heavily indebted to the guy.

Choi Ho-joong was only twenty-three. An age where he should be training and developing, yet he was being held back.

He said he was fine, but I couldn't rely on him for my trips to the Abyss forever.

The time had come to slowly prepare to stand on my own.

It was impossible right now, but I felt that I would soon be able to handle the groups of goblins I had to face on the way to the spring in the Abyss.

Well, in fact, the journey didn't need to be perfect.

Even if I received severe injuries from the goblin hordes, as long as I was still breathing, I could immediately heal at the spring in the Abyss.

“Ho-joong.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“To enter the Abyss alone, you need a Hunter License, right?”

“Don’t tell me you want to go alone?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking of doing so soon.”

“You’re trying to worry me to death.”

“No. I’m trying to save you. You’re not planning on spending your whole life just as my escort, are you?”

“W-well, that’s true, but!”

“Don’t you need to do some personal training too? At your level, if you get kicked out of the Haewon Sword Family, you won't even be able to make a living.”

“Hey! Young Master, I’m not that bad, you know.”

“Anyway, I need to get the license. Prepare the necessary things.”

Choi Ho-joong asked me again and again if I was serious.

He's been with me for a few days, so he should have a faint idea of my level, but he's a dense one.

Yet, it was also strange that his swordsmanship was decent despite this dull sense of his.

“The license exam is held only once per quarter. I just checked the schedule on my phone, and this quarter’s exam is not far off. So it would be better to aim for the next quarter……”

“No. There is no ‘next’ in my dictionary.”

Though it was because of that conviction that I had also died to the dragon.

“Impossible. It’s impossible.”

“This is your problem. You set your limits too easily.”

“The exam is in three days, though?”

“So what?”

“You won’t even make it to the practical exam; you’ll be cut right at the written test.”

What did this guy take me for?

Back when I was Johan Raven, I wasn't just some brute who was good at fighting.

I was a genius in all aspects.

In literature, and in martial arts.

I never forgot anything I saw and understood once.

My aptitude was on that level, which was why I became the strongest in Kalia at such a young age, but this guy didn't know that.

“Then I’ll just have to prepare focusing on the written part for three whole days.”

“No matter how I look at it, it’s impossible. For swordsmen who have built a wall against studying, it’s an exam that’s only possible after studying diligently for at least three months.”

“It seems you studied for three months, Ho-joong.”

“To be honest, I studied for five months.”

“You don’t have to so honestly certify that you’re not smart.”

The expression on Choi Ho-joong’s face right now seemed to be saying, “Do you think you’d be any different, Young Master?”

“Starting today until the exam day, we’ll take a break from the Abyss. Get things set up so I can start studying right away.”

“I will prepare it for you. It will be a good experience for the next opportunity.”

“This guy is being a wet blanket again.”

“First, I will hire a tutor for the written exam.”

“There’s not much time left, so why do I need a teacher? Just get me the necessary books right away.”

“It’s not like that. Even if you study on your own, you need to at least know the direction of how to prepare. As it happens, there is a suitable person in our Sword Family.”

“Hmm. I’m not particularly keen on it.”

“She is a very smart person.”

“It’s a woman?”

“How did you know?”

“Your expression just now went all goofy thinking about her.”

“Don’t slander me! When was I ever goofy!!”

“Your reaction is amusing. I was just testing the waters.”

“It’s not like that!”

Seeing this guy even raise his voice made him even more suspicious.

***

“My name is Shin Ah-yeon.”

Seeing her face in person, I thought it was understandable that Ho-joong would harbor such feelings.

I had already received a basic profile from Choi Ho-joong.

Her age was twenty-three, same as Choi Ho-joong.

They were alumni from the same high school, and she was clearly no ordinary person, as she had always been at the top of her school academically even while walking the path of a gladiator.

It had been four months since she joined the Haewon Sword Family. She was said to be a promising prospect.

“Sorry for taking up your time, but I’ll need you to help me out for just today. Did you say you were close with Ho-joong?”

“This is the first time we’ve spoken because of this matter.”

“……Really?”

I was suddenly getting a hunch.

This guy, Choi Ho-joong, despite his mountain-like build, had never been able to speak to her privately until now.

A pathetic story of him barely managing to break the ice using me as an excuse was starting to form in my mind.

“I’m not the type to live in debt, so if I pass this exam, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

“If you pass…… you say?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry. We’re short on time, shall we start right away?”

“I understand.”

Shin Ah-yeon first handed me the printouts she had prepared.

“These are materials I made when I was preparing for the license exam a while back.”

The materials were neatly summarized by category. In the hand-drawn pictures interspersed throughout, I could almost feel the breath of a master craftsman.

The tiny letters were supplementary explanations to aid understanding; just looking at these study materials revealed Shin Ah-yeon’s personality perfectly.

“This is amazing.”

“There is one reason why hunters find the written exam difficult. There are too many and too varied survival skills to know inside a dungeon. As many as the types of dungeons that have existed so far.”

“Do I have to memorize everything?”

“If you don’t memorize it, you won’t be able to write the answers. Since you have no field experience, Young Master. Well, you could improvise and make up a story, but there's a high probability it would be wrong, right?”

“So having practical experience is an advantage.”

“That’s true, but there’s a limit to the amount an individual can experience, so for the written exam, there’s no choice but to memorize various cases.”

This was not bad news for me.

I just didn’t have experience on Earth; I had already been through thick and thin in every corner of the Kalia Continent.

I didn't know how many various dungeon cases there were, but my experience should be able to cover a significant portion.

Besides, memorization was a field I was confident in.

I flipped through the printouts, gauging the amount of material I had to learn.

“Three days will be more than enough time.”

“……Pardon?”

A gentle ripple formed on her calm face.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said three days is enough.”

I was a man whose charm lay not just in my swordsmanship, but also in my brain.