One month after that day, I took the Hunter Qualification Exam.
The despair I'd felt in front of the Seongnam Memorial Monument had been tucked away, at least to some extent.
My anger toward the monsters still burned vividly inside me, but I hadn't spent the passing time so carelessly as to be ruled by that emotion.
"Shall I raise my market value a bit?"
Before, I'd moved with only a single purpose.
Save this world that was doomed to perish. Then I could go home.
Whether I was acknowledged or not didn't matter. I was leaving anyway.
But now, I had two goals.
Smash every Corrosion Source that exists on the surface—and in the process, claim what rightfully should be mine. After all, I had to keep living here.
'I should at least live well.'
To do that, I needed to put on a good show in this ridiculous tournament and achieve solid results.
"Hunter Candidate Yoo Chanseok."
I had become Yoo Chanseok instead of Lee Hyunseok.
Since the body had changed, it was only natural.
"Yes."
I stood up from my seat and, following the guidance, moved to the central arena where everyone was watching.
—Causing fatalities or inflicting injuries beyond a certain threshold is prohibited.
If no clear winner emerges, the outcome will be decided by the guild-affiliated hunters observing you here.
Lives too valuable to waste here, apparently.
I gripped the spear that had been provided.
—Begin.
I flicked the spear up lightly with my toe.
My opponent was also using a spear.
"Come at me!"
As he ran his hand down the shaft of his spear, flames bloomed along the path of his touch.
What a coincidence.
The outward form of my own specialty was actually quite similar. I glanced at his spear, settled into my stance, and took a deep breath.
With that breath, the faint mana that flowed into my lungs was channeled directly into my body and my spear. Seeing me, the guy let out a scoff.
"What is this? I knew I hadn't seen you at the academy, but you're really just trash."
"Oh, I did hear there was some kindergarten that raised kids," I replied.
"I thought about enrolling, but the age didn't match."
"Kindergarten, huh."
He muttered that, then twisted his face into an incredulous expression.
"Try getting beaten up by a kindergartener."
"Don't go crying to the teacher after getting beaten instead."
With that brief exchange of taunts, the fight began.
"What the hell kind of spear—"
Are you really using it like that?
Dodging his straightforward, honest attack, I let out a small sigh, dropped the spear from my hand, and while evading his strikes, drove my fist into his abdomen several times.
"Kgh… huff!"
It was almost embarrassing that he'd been holding a spear at all.
The amount of mana accumulated in my body was about on par with an average squire from my previous world.
But skill and application were another matter entirely.
Fifteen years, was it? Compared to beings who'd done nothing but cling to and refine mana for thousands of years, their utilization was bound to be crude.
"Just think of it as getting hit by a truck."
To make sure he stayed down, I punched his chest and head twice more.
Then, without even looking at the result, I turned my back and left the arena.
The flame in the pipe held by Lee Se-eun had gone completely out.
The embers only stayed alive if she puffed on it regularly, and she hadn't taken a drag for quite some time.
After silently watching the loser coughing on the arena floor, Lee Se-eun flipped through the roster.
"Yoo Chanseok. Applied a month ago, and never went anywhere near the academy."
She flicked the completely extinguished pipe, shaking off the ash, and continued.
"Previous job… logistics company intern? What the hell is this guy?"
Where had a monster like that crawled out from?
"There's barely any mana accumulated in his body. His movements just now were impressive, but—"
At that, Lee Se-eun suddenly reached into her pocket and tossed a piece of taffy at her aide.
Candy meant praise.
Taffy meant a scolding.
The aide shut his mouth the moment he caught it.
"He's deliberately not accumulating mana. No—how is that even possible?"
The word genius flashed through her mind.
Lee Se-eun spoke with conviction.
"I want to see him use a spear."
That guy was holding a spear at the start.
Which means it's his main weapon.
The fact that he subdued his opponent with nothing but his fists means the opponent wasn't even worth making him grip the spear.
"If it's Han Sang-ah—the one Team Leader One showed interest in—wouldn't that kid use a spear too?"
Lee Se-eun shook her head firmly. She had already seen Han Sang-ah's skills.
"Not a chance. That bastard's going to keep throwing punches."
They were on completely different levels.
After a moment of thought, Lee Se-eun stood up, brushed off her seat, and straightened the creases of her rumpled trousers.
"I'd like to see the Association President."
People from other companies were probably furiously tapping away at the calculators in their heads as well.
"While those idiots are still crunching numbers…"
Lee Se-eun was the type who finished her calculations quickly and acted immediately.
"President."
"Oh, Miss Lee Se-eun. What brings you here?"
An older, heavyset man greeted her, removing his fedora. His smile was as bright as his shiny bald head, and at the sight of him, Lee Se-eun spoke.
"I have a favor to ask."
"That depends on what kind of favor it is…"
At the president's words, Lee Se-eun replied as if it were nothing serious.
"The hunter selection tournament currently underway—you see, I'd like to give the final winner a bit of personal instruction."
The president looked at her in mild surprise for a moment, then smiled.
"Sounds like you've taken an interest in a young man named Yoo Chanseok."
"Yes."
A man of his position would never have failed to hear about the strange candidate named Yoo Chanseok, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"There was someone else receiving attention before the sparring matches, you know."
"Well, that kid isn't unusable either. It's just that his comparison point is far too exceptional."
The president stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"I imagine other companies might have something to say about this."
"Let them chew on some taffy. A scout's ass is better the lighter it is."
If anything, it was the fault of those slow-moving fools—not Lee Se-eun, who had come here and made her offer first.
And besides, the bald middle-aged man standing before her wasn't incompetent enough to be swayed by such minor complaints.
"Very well. I'll do what I can."
"I appreciate it."
With her business concluded, Lee Se-eun left.
One by one, I dealt with the opponents placed before me.
What on earth do they teach kids at the academy?
"Trying to make flowers bloom before the roots have even taken hold."
It was like someone who couldn't even boil ramen trying to cook beef rib soup. Painful to watch.
They were kids who had only just begun to sense and wield mana.
And yet, they were already trying to rely on it to solve everything.
"You."
At last, only one opponent remained.
A woman holding a sword, with a hint of hostility in her eyes.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"…"
The swordswoman didn't answer. Still, she couldn't fully hide the curiosity in her gaze.
After scanning her up and down, I clicked my tongue.
"You've accumulated a decent amount of mana."
I could feel the substantial mana built up inside her body. She looked young—was it even possible to gather that much mana at her age? She looked at me and replied calmly.
"Compared to that, you have nothing. You made it this far by luck, but there won't be any more miracles."
"My, my. Where did you pick up such a bland, personality-less line?"
And it's not that I can't accumulate mana.
I choose not to.
"Looks like you haven't awakened your innate trait either."
"Innate trait, huh."
Once one's understanding of mana reaches a certain level, the ability residing in the soul awakens. Breathing fire, teleportation, things like that.
Of course, I have one too.
But the reason I use the mana I take in solely for physical enhancement is simple.
If I go beyond physical reinforcement and use my specialty, things become irreversible.
I'm not some butcher who slaughters people.
Crippling someone just because they were a little rude—that'd make me a psychopath, wouldn't it?
—Then, we will begin.
I immediately understood the trick the girl standing before me was trying to pull.
"Oh. Well, that changes things."
She'd run an electric current through both the scabbard and the blade, giving them magnetic properties.
By exploiting that magnetism, she was adding magnetic force to the act of drawing the sword itself—similar in principle to a railgun.
"That must've taken some work. I'll give you this—you're definitely the best one here."
It was clearly a technique she'd devised after a lot of thought.
"I won't kill you."
With those words, the woman charged at me in a battōjutsu stance.
A lightning-fast slash.
Blindingly quick, overwhelmingly powerful.
"…What?!"
But that blade never struck me. The flash-like strike skimmed past just in front of my chest.
"You need to land attacks that can actually hit your opponent. And for someone with your level of skill, you're way too arrogant."
She'd poured mana into her battōjutsu to the absolute limit—and even thrown her entire body weight into the strike.
Miss once, and you leave an opening.
She hadn't even considered the possibility that I might dodge.
And the price for that honest, arrogant strike was my fist driving straight toward her abdomen.
"Kh—!"
She forcibly scraped together what little mana she had left to reinforce her body, but even so, she was sent skidding backward by the blow.
"That should've been an unavoidable attack."
"Faster. Stronger. That's what you were thinking, right?"
I stepped back slightly, clenched both fists, bounced lightly on my feet a few times, then clicked my tongue.
"You focused too much on just that."
To accelerate the drawn sword even further, she'd laid down a magnetic rail in midair using mana.
Doing that meant she was practically broadcasting the exact trajectory her blade would take before she even swung it.
No matter how fast or powerful the attack was, it was nothing more than a telegraphed punch—one whose path was visible before it was thrown. And who in their right mind would get hit by something like that?
"…"
The woman steadied her stance, sword still in hand.
At least she wasn't stupid enough to sheath the blade again and try another battōjutsu.
"Even fighting head-on, I can subdue you."
"Is that a dream you had? Dreams let you do anything, after all."
She closed in while unleashing a rapid series of slashes. It was clear she'd trained long and consistently.
I could at least acknowledge that.
In terms of raw physical ability, I was far inferior to her.
I loosened the tension in my tightly clenched fists.
My body moved along the flow of her sword swings.
I redirected her attacks, stole her rhythm, shattered her balance. The fierce slashes cut nothing but empty air, never once touching me.
"AAAAAAH!"
With her rhythm broken and not a single effective hit landed, she finally snapped and began forcibly drawing out the mana stored in her body.
If this went on, she'd seriously damage herself.
It was time to end it.
…
I didn't watch the tip of her sword.
I fixed my gaze on her body.
The sword moves because the wielder moves.
Watch the body, and you can tell when—and how—the blade will move.
Now.
I struck upward with my hand, smacking the flat of the blade. The sword flew up, knocked aside, and her torso was left completely open.
"If it hurts, raise your left hand."
Not that it would change anything.