Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿

For the following week, every single day, I truly devoted myself to training. They say that when something is hard enough, you stop thinking entirely, and that was exactly how it felt. If it weren’t for the stats the system had forcibly assigned to me, I probably would’ve passed out several times along the way. It was the first time since being born as Jeong Daon that I’d done such excessive physical activity, and even after going home, all I could do was wash up and go straight to sleep. Because of that, Leo, now bored, would trail after Jeong Dajeong every morning with a sulky expression, but that couldn’t be helped.

Still, all that focus paid off. For something that was basically cramming, the results of training were visibly apparent day by day.

“Figures. Smart people pick up how to use their bodies quickly, too.”

“That sounds like provocation.”

“Partly? Ah, there, you need to thrust a bit faster and shorter.” Yu Hanul gave advice as he watched me swing my sword. “Your goal is just to create distance, right? Don’t go any deeper than that.”

I’ll admit it went more smoothly thanks to Yu Hanul’s help every other day. No matter how realistic the VR program was, there was a qualitative difference between that and swinging a sword while listening to Yu Hanul’s guidance.

If someone’s willing to help, you squeeze out everything you can while you have the chance.

If I had to learn this at least once before the dungeon raid anyway, it was far more efficient to learn from the best possible teacher. And in fact, thanks to absorbing Yu Hanul’s lessons so quickly, the rapier I was holding was already becoming familiar in my hands.

As for why I was practicing with a rapier—

If I were a typical swordsman, a versatile longsword would’ve been the obvious choice. But considering my physical abilities and disposition, Yu Hanul had recommended a rapier instead. He must’ve seen how obvious it was that I had no intention of significantly increasing my strength. Since all I really needed was to buy time until I could cast my magic, I had no complaints.

“Alright, watch me. Like this. Don’t hesitate when you thrust… got it?”

It was the kind of explanation that might as well end with See? Easy.

Despite using a bastard sword himself, Yu Hanul had considerable expertise with the rapier as well. I took a moment to steady my breathing and adjusted my stance, following his example.

Doing this reminded me of learning court swordsmanship in my previous life. Even though I retained the memories, I’d lived so far removed from exercise since being born as Jeong Daon that it still felt like learning from scratch.

"Like this?"

Whoosh! The rapier pierced the intended spot precisely.

Compared to him, my movement was a bit shakier and slower, but that couldn’t be helped. In any case, it wasn’t like I’d need more than this in a C-rank dungeon.

Yu Hanul nodded, looking satisfied. “Yeah, that’s right. Accurate.”

“Okay, then that’s enough.”

As soon as I said that, I collapsed onto the floor.

A few days ago, out of wounded pride, I hadn’t sprawled out in front of Yu Hanul even when training, but after several days of physical training, I quickly realized that kind of pride was a luxury. With the VR program, I could at least rest when I hit pause. Yu Hanul offered no such mercy.

Yu Hanul laughed at the sight of me lying on the floor, then asked, “Daon, have you used a rapier before?”

“You just showed me.”

“If you can copy me after just that, maybe you should be a swordsman instead of a mage.”

“Don’t say something so horrifying.”

“Rested up?”

“Not at all—hey!”

Whoosh! Yu Hanul swung a blunt wooden practice sword down at me while I was lying there, and I barely managed to roll away in time. It didn’t look like he’d put much force into it, yet the floor was gouged.

This wasn’t wood; it was concrete.

Yu Hanul smiled in satisfaction as he looked at me, having avoided the sudden attack. “What I like most is how sharp your ability to sense killing intent is. Honestly, that’s the most important skill in real combat.”

Well, sure. Probably because in my previous life, I’d spent every day being hounded and chased by enemies. Becoming the “Destroyer of Worlds” also meant having the entire world as your enemy. If you weren’t sensitive to killing intent directed at you, it was hard to survive for long.

…Of course, I didn’t survive in the end anyway.

“Should we call it a day here?”

“Yeah—uh, wai—!”

Thwack!

Even as he said that, Yu Hanul brought the wooden practice sword down one more time, and I almost got hit for real. The sword missed me by a hair’s breadth, and just seeing it pass made a chill run down my spine.

Is this guy insane? It looked like he wanted to see how I’d react when I let my guard down.

Only after I rolled away once more did Yu Hanul finally grin. “Wow, you’re seriously not bad.”

Is that supposed to be a compliment?

I really want to hit him just once…

I’d expected the training to be brutal, given that he’d reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, but this was downright relentless. Over the past week, I’d definitely learned how to use my body better, but at the same time, my irritation and anger toward the hero had been steadily piling up.

The system requests User Jeong Daon to assist with the “SAVE THE WORLD” quest.

The system had been displaying that message nonstop all week. It probably thought that if I stuck close to the hero for a full week, I might start feeling some camaraderie and help him out.

I’ll get my revenge someday. I swear.

A complete backfire. I’ll use you as a meat shield in front of monsters, you bastard.

“Sorry, sorry. Let’s really stop now. Here, I’ll help you up.”

“I’m fine.”

Holding back the urge to tell him to get lost, I refused Yu Hanul’s hand and stood up on my own. Still, I did accept the towel he handed me to wipe off the sweat.

“Don’t you do any magic training? Ever thought about learning magic?”

“I get what you’re trying to say, but I’ve got no talent for magic. Moving according to formulas that pre-calculate mana; no matter how much I hear about it, I have no idea what it means.”

Well, controlling mana and moving it delicately wasn’t exactly something a brute swordsman could manage. That thought eased my mood a little, but when I saw Yu Hanul smiling like he understood, I got annoyed again, like that was his intention all along.

This guy…

Maybe he noticed the sharp look in my eyes, because Yu Hanul waved his hand. “No, I’m serious. Han Jaeyeong tried to teach me a few times, but they gave up.”

"Han Jaeyeong?"

“Yeah. They said it’d be useful to at least learn simple stuff like basic vision magic or water purification. Though honestly, it felt like they were just trying to save their own mana.”

Fair enough. Even if you’re a swordsman, knowing a few basic spells would make things easier for the mage supporting you. Since usable mana is limited, no mage wants to waste it on trivial spells, that part was universal.

“So is this training really over today, then? You’re entering a dungeon tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

It had been the longest week of my life.

On the large computer monitor, bold letters appeared: Magic-Use VR Program — Completed

I’d met the minimum requirements Han Jaeyeong had set. Honestly, compared to the private lessons with Yu Hanul, completing that program felt easy, so much so that partway through, it barely felt challenging at all.

“Good luck in there. As for learning something from Han Jaeyeong… well, I’m not sure how much there really is to learn.”

“Seriously, you’re not even going to give me one hint?”

"Ahaha."

The “hint” I was asking for was about what kind of mage Han Jaeyeong actually was, something Yu Hanul had stubbornly refused to answer.

Even among mages, what kind of magic they primarily use makes them entirely different beings. If you divide magic by difficulty into circles, the schools themselves can broadly be split into physical and non-physical. Elemental and healing magic fall under physical magic, while mental-type spells—like the “Self Exploration” spell I used before, or Choi Miyeon’s Animal Affinity—are classified as non-physical. And that’s without even getting into the countless sub-schools that are hard to enumerate.

As for me, being an unparalleled genius of the age, I’m well-versed in every type of magic without discrimination, but for most mages, the higher their level, the more narrowly defined their specialty becomes.

“Given how often they run dungeon raids, they’re probably in the physical school, right? They must use offensive magic a lot.”

It seemed likely that Han Jaeyeong was a combat mage specialized in offense, someone who sacrificed finesse in spellcraft to drastically shorten casting time, focusing everything on attacking.

At my guess, Yu Hanul gave an ambiguous smile. “You’ll find out soon enough when you see it for yourself. It’s awkward for me to say much. Revealing another Hunter’s combat capabilities is a sensitive issue.”

Since an S-rank Hunter’s strength is essentially a national asset, details about it aren’t widely known. Even though Hunters basically deal only with monsters…

As Lee Arin said, there’s still a real chance of human-to-human combat.

Han Jaeyeong, for one, had already considered the possibility that another country’s guild, or even a nation, might be targeting me. A Hunter strong enough to be rated S-rank can become a strategic weapon for a country. That’s why the finer points of their abilities are inevitably treated as classified. Of course, someone like Yu Hanul, who had cut down an S-rank monster with a sword in front of hundreds of cameras, was an exception.

Still, I didn’t give up and pressed on. “Since I’m going to find out soon anyway, isn’t it kind of silly to hide it?”

“No matter how much you ask, I’m not answering, Daon.”

“…That’s cheap.”

Fine. Be that way. I’m not joining a quest with such a stupid name even if I die.

The system analyzes that User Jeong Daon’s response is “childish.”

What did you just say?

***

After taking a quick shower in the guild’s attached facilities, I headed to the director’s office where Han Jaeyeong was.

“What’s this? Why did the two of you come together?”

“More precisely, he followed me,” I said about Yu Hanul, who could have just gone home but came along anyway.

“Since I came all this way, it felt wrong to leave without saying hello to Hunter Han Jaeyeong.”

“That’s oddly considerate of you. Why, are you here to give a warning before tomorrow’s dungeon raid?” As if they could see right through Yu Hanul, Han Jaeyeong smiled faintly. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of our country’s new S-rank mage and raise her properly. Now run along home. Shoo~”

“Who are you ‘raising’? That’s annoying.”

“It’s just an expression, Hunter Jeong Daon. Oh, and congratulations on completing the VR program. You finished it in record time.”

As it turned out, the program Han Jaeyeong had told me to finish in a week actually had a three-week curriculum. To pass, you had to face at least five B-rank monsters in succession and maintain an evasion rate of over 60%. Three weeks was barely enough for that.

And they’d told me to clear it in one week. That was basically the same as giving me an impossible quest.

“Were you planning to enter the dungeon without me?”

“Oh, come on. Of course not. I knew you could manage at least this much. I just didn’t expect Yu Hanul to help as well.”

Resting their chin on one hand, Han Jaeyeong looked back and forth between Yu Hanul and me. The gaze made me uncomfortable; it was so easy to tell that they were calculating something.

“It’s just a C-rank dungeon. I don’t know why you’re all so worked up. Right?”

“Well, the fact that Han Jaeyeong is personally participating in a mere C-rank raid is noteworthy in itself.”

“I haven’t told anyone that I’m joining directly—except you, Yu Hanul.”

“Well.” Yu Hanul added shortly, “I visited the Central Management Office today.”

“Right, right. You met the investigator and the victims. You mentioned it on the phone earlier, didn’t you?”

“While I was there, a Hunter from the Office, someone whose face I recognize, asked me something in passing. Why Hunter Han Jaeyeong was heading to a low-rank dungeon.”

At that, Han Jaeyeong’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing again, their playful demeanor fading. “Not the HP Guild, but HunterHan Jaeyeong by name?”

“Yes. That’s exactly how they put it.”

“I haven’t even submitted this raid roster to the government yet. And you heard that from the Office? Who was it?”

“That’s not what matters. What matters is the implication.” Leaving those words behind, Yu Hanul stood up. “I don’t know what the two of you are planning, but the Central Management Office is watching. Keep that in mind.”