"This training is to determine if you have what it takes to kill demons and upgrade, and this training determines if you can do impossible things."
The man continued, again his eyes landed on Lee-Min at the last words but Lee-Min was quick enough to avert his eyes, the intensity of that stare making his skin crawl.
"A lot of you don't know anything about being a hunter, because it wasn't taught as part of your curriculum in school or the university but here, you will go through the Hunter's university which only takes two weeks. Because in hunting, we deal more in practical than theory. You will all be divided into ten groups, each group consisting of five to six members and you will work together as a team…"
Baek Hyun-Chai stopped, now stepping down from the podium, looking at him now, Lee-Min knew he looked like an ant under him, his presence reminded him of that bastard who snatched his girlfriend away from him and for a moment, he felt anger consume him. He was so lost in thoughts that he didn't know when the speaker approached him and he didn't know everyone had made way for him and now, he was the only one in the center, in the space.
The crowd had parted like the Red Sea, leaving him exposed under Hyun-Chai's penetrating gaze. Lee-Min's hands clenched into fists at his sides, the familiar rage bubbling up from somewhere deep in his chest. Why was this man singling him out? What had he done wrong?
"Never allow your anger to consume you, if not, you will be dead in here before the demons out there consume you."
The man said, his words breaking him out of his thoughts as he felt his body freeze for a second before they slowly relaxed. The words hit him like a physical blow, cutting through his anger with surgical precision.
Hyun-Chai stepped back and continued his words, he was an A level hunter, worked in the Hunter's guild for twelve years and the young man reminded him of someone, someone who had saved his life twelve years ago but today he was just their instructor.
Ji-Hun pushed him the task of introducing the newbies when he should be out there, trying to destroy an S level demon, no matter what it takes but yet, for some reason, he was glad to be here, to see him, Joon-Ho's son. The resemblance was intriguing - the same stubborn jawline, the same fire in his eyes that refused to be blown out even when the world tried to break him.
"Today, I'm going to give you Info 101 about being a hunter. Never go on a raid with emotion, never you dare participate in a raid with negative emotion seething inside you. No one needs to teach you that, ninety percent of the demons out there work on emotions, negative emotions to be precise, anger, fear, greed, selfishness, etc, that's why you see the demons keep growing everyday."
He continued, now seeing as everyone was getting interested in his conversation, he wanted to make this short, quick and brief but he had a whole lot to cover, but seeing they would be given a manual, he would make it brief then.
The room had grown completely silent, the weight of his words settling over the group like a heavy blanket.
Lee-Min felt his stomach clench as he realized how close he'd just come to failing before he'd even begun. His anger, his constant companion for so many years, was apparently his greatest weakness here.
"Demons are everywhere, but they don't exist yet until one's negative emotions grow to a level which we call the Corruption Point."
A huge projector appeared in front of them, and on the screen was written Hunter's Guide 101 and then five demons appeared on the screen, they looked so real, something more like 3-D demon prototypes that made few of them back away but Lee-Min stood there, watching the scenario.
The demons on screen were nightmarish - twisted amalgamations of shadow and flesh, with eyes that seemed to burn with malevolent intelligence. One looked like a massive spider with human faces embedded in its abdomen, another resembled a wolf but with too many teeth and arms where its legs should be. Lee-Min's throat went dry, but he forced himself to keep watching.
"These Demons come into existence when you reach this Corruption Point and it doesn't care where you are, whether you are in public or whether you are alone, it will consume anybody it sees but most importantly, its goal is to consume you and when it does that, it moves on to another demon but that's when we come in."
Hyun-Chai knew this was going to be the moment where people tend to quit or not. He'd seen it happen dozens of times - the moment reality hit and people realized what they were truly signing up for.
"Hunters destroy these demons but that's not our main job, we go into what we call gates to kill these demons before they gain access to our world. And each demon has their grades or levels. And that you will learn in the practical aspect. So when I say, you will learn to tame your emotions and not fight with them so you don't get yourself killed, take it seriously."
He looked at the crowd and he could hear the whisperings and the murmurings. Some people were already backing toward the exits, their faces pale with fear. Lee-Min noticed the couple from the elevator looking less confident now, the boyfriend's earlier bravado completely evaporated.
"A device will be used to scan your face. There you will be directed on what next you shall do."
Hyun-Chai said, dropping the mic and without looking back, he walked out, but not before giving Lee-Min one last meaningful glance that made him wonder if there was more to this than just random selection and a contract he knew of.
Lee-Min stared at his retreating figure as the man stepped out and for some reason, he wanted to approach him but he didn't know if he had the guts to, the man's aura was just like…what was his name again? Ryo. That same overwhelming presence that made him feel small and insignificant.
"Now everyone, you are required to proceed to the front room and start your first test."
A voice said coming from the speakers which were placed around the room and everyone started forming five single lines as they scanned themselves and when it was Lee-Min's turn, he faced the scanner, its sharp light cutting across his face in precise geometric patterns, mapping every feature with mechanical precision. The beam swept from left to right, then back again, before finally settling on his eyes for what felt like an eternity.
Then the scanner made a sound and he was asked to place his thumb on the fingerprint device which he did and his information came out. Right now, he was termed to be a human, just like everyone else present, no powers, no level, nothing special and then his bio data appeared in front of him and next were his team members.
His eyes widened when he saw who were his team members, these people were fucking with him, he thought, at least they could have given him someone new. The universe really had a sense of humor, throwing him together with the same people he'd been trying to avoid.
As he walked to the room where they had said his team members were, the door closed behind him and he was faced with five people.
Four men and a single woman.
"Aha, who do we have here? If not the man who doesn't want to say a word to us."
One of them said, smacking his hands together in laughter like he had won a lottery but Lee-Min rolled his eyes, wondering what was so exciting about him being part of their crew.
"My name is Min-Ho and this is my girlfriend Hana-Min but we call her Hana."
He said, Lee-Min could remember, he was the one who told him that he should back off from his girlfriend, why was he appearing to be nice now? The change in attitude was so sudden it felt almost suspicious.
"You heard what Mr. Hyun said, no emotions. So Min-Ho is trying to be nice here. Let's say we are just starting over again."
Hana-Min said, smiling at him and stretching her hands toward him and for the first time, she was talking. He bowed down a little as he shook her hands which were quite soft.
"Ahaaa that's it, my name is Sung, I'm their friend."
Their second friend said, and I nodded, feeling slightly more at ease despite myself.
"I'm Seong Lee-Min," I said, for the first time, giving them a smile. The words felt strange on my tongue, like speaking a foreign language after years of silence.
The other two men in the room looked shocked at our procedures but when they decided to introduce themselves, a sound came from the speaker in the room.
"Ah, I'm Jae-Won," one of them said quickly, a tall guy with nervous energy.
"And I'm Tae-Hyung," the last one added, shorter but stockier, with rough hands that spoke of hard labor.
Just as they were settling into introductions, the speaker crackled to life again.
"You all are to proceed now to the hospital, a nurse is waiting for you by the door, we are going to the next step of testing a proper way of initiating you into the system."
Everyone stared at each other, not understanding what they meant by the proper way of initiating them into the system but they all nodded and walked out, each wondering what the future had for them. Lee-Min's hand instinctively went to his father's ring, seeking comfort from the familiar weight of it.
Whatever came next, he had a feeling it would hurt.