IGOS 10

Chapter: 10

 Backseat Coaching? (2)

The first day at the Hunter Training Center was infamous for being far more brutal than expected.

Even those who had already become full-fledged hunters would sometimes see it in their dreams and shudder.

People who, until just yesterday, had been nothing more than ordinary modern civilians were suddenly required to run around the training grounds for two hours, study about the Black Gate, and even engage in sparring—all in a single day.

The terrifying part?

That was only the morning schedule.

However, most hunters say this:

The afternoon training was the truly dreadful part—so much so that the morning felt easy in comparison.

At the moment when the trainees, still unaware of what awaited them, were leisurely eating lunch in the cafeteria—

Several instructors had already finished their meals and were preparing for the afternoon.

Unlike other training sessions, there were as many as three instructors preparing for the afternoon training: Shin Jiyeon, Jung Yujin, and Yoon Sangwoo.

Even though there were more personnel than usual, they still had to prepare in advance or they’d fall behind, so they were moving busily—

When a familiar face passed by them in the hallway.

“Huh? That’s Senior Jihun.”

“Going to eat?”

“Oh, how was the sparring?”

It was none other than Kang Jihun, the instructor in charge of sparring training.

Seeing the three of them, Kang Jihun scratched his head with an expression that clearly said he’d been caught at the worst possible moment, looking thoroughly annoyed.

Of all people, it had to be them.

As his reaction suggested, the trio was quite famous.

Known as the “Scout Trio,” they belonged to Ilseong Guild—part of the Ilseong Group, said to rival Taebaek Guild—and one of Korea’s top four A-rank guilds.

They were highly skilled and experienced.

But they had two major flaws.

“So, really—how was the sparring?”

“Is trainee Lee Do-hyun actually that good?”

“I heard Ji Yuchan lost. Is that true?”

“Seriously? They fought and Ji Yuchan lost?”

“No way~ that’s impossible.”

The first flaw: they were incredibly noisy.

They were the same age, had known each other since childhood, and even awakened at the same time—so they were extremely close. Naturally, they talked a lot, and when grouped together, it became chaos.

Even within Ilseong Guild, people said that being in the same party as those three would leave your ears ringing all day.

Kang Jihun, clearly annoyed, wondered what to say—

Then he remembered Do-hyun and clicked his tongue without realizing it.

Just thinking about it again… the talent was absurd.

Recalling how Do-hyun had copied his technique the moment he saw it, Kang Jihun spoke to the trio in an irritated tone.

“…Tch. You’ll see for yourselves.”

“That kind of reaction from you, senior?”

“Then it must be true.”

“Ooooh, this is getting interesting.”

Just as Kang Jihun knew them well, they knew him well too, so they didn’t push further.

That tongue click alone meant he was in a bad mood. If they kept poking him, it could actually turn dangerous.

After letting him go, the trio began chatting among themselves with excitement.

“This means we need to prepare even more than we thought.”

“Exactly. If it’s too easy, the infamous first day will end up feeling ordinary.”

“We should give them an unforgettable nightmare.”

And that was their second flaw.

All three had a mischievous streak—no, more like a twisted sense of humor.

Either way, they had rather sadistic tendencies.

Smiling, the trio hurried off to prepare for the afternoon training.

Determined to give the new trainees a truly unforgettable experience.

* * *

Day 2 after awakening.

As Do-hyun ate, he had a thought.

This is easier than I expected?

Was it because of Analysis?

Or was it objectively easy?

Sneaking a glance at his teammates, he saw them trembling even while eating.

“Ugh… I’m dying.”

“Seriously…”

“My whole body is shaking.”

“…It’s harder than I thought.”

Seeing their reactions, Do-hyun decided to keep his mouth shut.

So it wasn’t objectively easy.

Good thing he didn’t say anything.

Well, compared to the others, Do-hyun’s growth was on another level.

He had already learned basic magic on his first day of awakening.

On top of that, with Analysis, his stats increased just by a simple action.

Of course it felt easy for him.

Still, bragging would be in poor taste, so he stayed quiet—

“Do-hyun, how was it for you?”

“…Huh?”

Was this an assassination attempt?

At Kim Yongchan’s sudden question, Do-hyun blinked.

Before sparring training, Yongchan had been using formal speech, but after Do-hyun told him to speak casually, he had relaxed.

But to suddenly attack like this—

You really never know what’s inside people…!

While Do-hyun was internally overreacting, Jung Minwoo scratched his cheek and spoke.

“Honestly, it was pretty easy for you, right, hyung?”

“Yeah, Do-hyun oppa made it look effortless.”

“Seriously, how do you do it so easily?”

“Did you train beforehand or something?”

Faced with their questions, Do-hyun hesitated before giving a vague answer.

“Uh… I just kind of… did it, and it worked?”

Even he thought it sounded annoying.

But instead of reacting negatively, his teammates nodded in admiration.

“Guess it’s talent.”

“You really have to be born with it.”

“If anyone else said that, it’d sound annoying—but when you say it, it just feels natural.”

Even such an outright “talent statement” was accepted without question.

Do-hyun felt a bit bewildered.

Then Minwoo added—

“Honestly, Do-hyun hyung feels like someone born to be a hunter.”

“Agreed!”

“If he doesn’t become a hunter, who would?”

“Someone born for hunting.”

“…I’m not that much…”

Even when Do-hyun tried to deny it, no one listened.

As the praise continued, Minwoo suddenly changed the topic.

“But is Ji Yuchan okay? He looks fine…”

At that, several teammates glanced toward Team 2, sitting at another table.

Though he had been defeated by Do-hyun, Ji Yuchan had been treated by Instructor Choi Pil and returned to training.

Yet he didn’t look shaken at all.

In fact, he looked more relaxed than before.

“You mean after losing to Do-hyun?”

“Yeah. He challenged him first and got crushed. If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face.”

That made sense.

Do-hyun glanced over as well.

Ji Yuchan looked normal—but something felt different.

Out of habit, Do-hyun activated Analysis.

Ji Yuchan
Trait: Platinum Sword King [S]

Skills:

• Swordsmanship [A]
• Sword King’s Intuition [A]

Stats:

• Strength: 7
• Agility: 6 → 7
• Stamina: 7 → 8
• Mana: 10 → 12

Wow… his stats increased that much already.

Other trainees had improved too.

But only slightly—like +1 in stamina or agility.

No one else had gained multiple stats like Ji Yuchan, including mana.

Is that the difference of an S-rank trait?

Do-hyun admired him briefly, then checked his own status.

Lee Do-hyun
Trait: Analysis [EX]

Skills:

• Sword King’s Intuition [A]
• Intimidation [B]
• Muscle Healing [C]
• Ambush [D]
• Stealth [E]
• Dagger Mastery [E] ↑
• Fire [F]
• Mana Control [F]

Stats:

• Strength: 5 → 7
• Agility: 7 → 14
• Stamina: 5 → 7
• Mana: 8 → 12

Points:

• P: 100
• AP: 350

If Ji Yuchan was impressive—

What should Do-hyun be called?

Recalling Kang Jihun’s words—“crazy monster bastard”—Do-hyun quietly closed his status window.

Yeah… I should stay low-key.

If anyone could see his stats, jealousy wouldn’t be the only problem.

Still, after confirming Ji Yuchan seemed fine—both mentally and in stats—Do-hyun stopped worrying.

But then—

Something felt off.

Wait…

Agility and stamina increasing made sense from training.

But—

Why did his mana increase?

They hadn’t even learned mana cultivation yet.

Confused, Do-hyun brushed it off since his own mana had increased too.

Had he looked longer, Analysis would have revealed the reason—

But it wasn’t important enough, so he finished eating and returned to the dorm to rest before afternoon training.

Then suddenly—

He remembered his goal.

Oh right. I need to check Instructor Hwang Hana’s status too… Should I save up AP?

He still had a long way to go before reaching 1000 AP.

* * *

Lunch after intense physical training was incredibly satisfying.

But the expressions of Team 2 were not good.

They hadn’t beaten Team 1 in a single morning session.

Was this what defeat felt like?

While everyone ate in silence, only Ji Yuchan looked relatively calm.

It wasn’t because he had mentally collapsed after losing.

…I actually feel lighter.

He had confidently challenged Do-hyun—and lost miserably.

It should have been humiliating.

Yet paradoxically, Ji Yuchan felt more at ease than ever.

He had always lived under pressure—to prove himself, to be perfect.

But after being crushed by a wall like Do-hyun—

He felt relieved.

And because of that—

I can feel something flowing inside me.

Something strange, something he hadn’t felt before.

It was gradually spreading through his body.

He didn’t know exactly what it was—

But with sharp intuition, he sensed it was mana.

Of course, he didn’t realize that being struck by Do-hyun’s Ambush skill had triggered it.

Normally, even being hit by a mana-based skill wouldn’t awaken mana.

This was simply Ji Yuchan’s absurd talent.

Perhaps that’s why—

With a calm mind, he thought:

I’ll train harder… and win next time.

He cleanly accepted his current defeat.

But he resolved to surpass Do-hyun in the future.

Then suddenly—

Park Dongwook, looking irritated, ground his teeth.

“Damn it… this is pathetic.”

“…Huh?”

“Oppa, what’s wrong?”

“Why are you like this?”

Everyone was startled.

Even Ji Yuchan looked at him strangely.

“What? The more I think about it, the more embarrassing it is. Next time, let’s do it properly. You too, Yuchan, got it?”

Ji Yuchan frowned.

And he wasn’t the only one.

The atmosphere in Team 2 grew tense.

Their excessive competitiveness was creating something dangerous.

Yet no one spoke against it.

Except Ji Yuchan—

Everyone felt the same way as Park Dongwook.

Only Ji Yuchan sensed that this was a bad direction.

Then, as afternoon training approached—

Three instructors stood before them, smiling playfully.

“Afternoon training will be practical combat training!”

“You’ll need to eliminate all goblins and escape the maze!”

“Of course, whichever team escapes first wins!”

Given Team 2’s unstable mood—

A joint combat exercise at this timing…

This is the worst possible situation.

Ji Yuchan frowned.