6. A Needle in a Haystack
Han Ji-woong stared at Han Seol even more piercingly than before.
The ankle that had been struck by Han Seol earlier throbbed, but it was still bearable for now.
‘He’s coming!’
Pat!
Han Ji-woong carefully timed his attack while staring at Han Seol approaching from the front again.
Then at one point, when Han Seol entered the charging range, this time Han Ji-woong took half a step back first to distance himself.
It was a subtle difference.
With his speed, he might not notice that half-step difference.
If he didn’t notice and lowered his body like before, he would be able to see through where he was moving…
Swish!
‘Ah…!’
It was a miscalculation.
Han Seol’s instincts were leaping far beyond his thoughts.
In reality, Han Seol’s body was also leaping over Han Ji-woong.
The moment he lowered his body, when Han Ji-woong took half a step back, Han Seol’s movement of turning to the sides was visible, but… It was as if he had made space for himself to jump upward.
If Han Seol’s speed had been a bit slower, Han Ji-woong would have immediately reacted with a charge, but Han Seol’s movements were too fast for that.
Han Seol, who instantly mounted Han Ji-woong’s shoulder, firmly locked his body with both legs and applied a choke by crossing his legs.
“Ugh…!”
Han Ji-woong’s breath was constricted and his face turned blue in an instant. He tried to untangle Han Seol’s legs while even throwing away his shield, but it was in vain.
No matter how much stronger his strength was compared to adults, it was impossible to overcome Han Seol’s trained leg strength.
In the end…
“Stop! That’s it!”
Only when the instructor as the referee ended the match did Han Seol loosen his legs and release Han Ji-woong.
“Ugh…!”
Han Ji-woong collapsed on the spot and vomited dryly while gasping for breath.
It was a result no one expected, including the instructors and students.
The level of this match was so high that even the instructors conducting tests on other arenas stopped their matches and had them spectate the match between the two.
“As you all saw, the tactic that guy used is the textbook for attackers. An attacker must constantly think. They must endlessly devise ways to bring down the enemy faster, more efficiently, without taking damage. Weapons are just tools to assist with that. If that guy named Han Seol had relied on his training sword instead of his legs in that final situation, Han Ji-woong might have had a chance to endure and turn the tables. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes! Instructor!”
“If you understand, we’ll resume the mock battles! Put your all into it!”
Thanks to the duel between Han Seol and Han Ji-woong, the atmosphere in the arena heated up like a furnace.
The fact that there were guys with skills incomparable to their own in the same year subtly sparked their competitive spirit.
Han Seol was the first to extend his hand to Han Ji-woong, who had caught his breath.
“That was a useful skill.”
“If any other guy had said the same thing, I would have punched them.”
Han Ji-woong grabbed Han Seol’s extended hand and stood up, letting out a chuckle at Han Seol’s evaluation of him.
That’s how overwhelming Han Seol’s skills were.
“If you hadn’t taken that half-step back then, the match would have lasted longer.”
“I know. But if I hadn’t, my defeat would have been the same. I would have never found a way to counter you in that situation. In the end, I had no choice but to gamble, but… Well, as the result proves, your skills were superior to mine. But next time, I won’t lose.”
The two lightly shook hands and returned to their respective classes.
Then, as if a hero had returned, the students on both sides applauded and chattered excitedly, but Han Seol completely ignored them, and Han Ji-woong scratched his head with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
The instructor calmed the excited children and continued the matches.
As a result of the ongoing matches, only the 1st place of each class remained, and a tournament was held to determine the 1st place in the 1:1 mock battle.
The 1st place of Class 1 was, of course, Han Seol, no matter what anyone said.
Until just yesterday, his presence was comparable to air, but now he was virtually the star of Class 1 in name and reality.
And unfortunately, although the 1st place students of other classes were also outstanding in skill, there was no one who surpassed Han Seol.
In the first place, the guys who faced Han Seol all did so with the resolve to learn a thing or two from him, so that was that.
In this way, Han Seol demonstrated an overwhelming difference in skill and seized 1st place in the 1:1 individual mock battle.
* * *
The next day.
Today was the day for the 3:3 group mock battle.
“If you checked your individual skills and identified your shortcomings in the individual mock battle yesterday, today’s group mock battle will evaluate your teamwork and execution of tactics. A hunter is all about teamwork, no matter what anyone says. Even if individual skills are lacking, if the completeness of teamwork is high, you can smoothly clear difficult missions to that extent. On the contrary, no matter how outstanding individual skills are, if the understanding of teamplay is lacking, you may stumble in unexpected places.”
Usually, a stable 3-person team consists of one attacker, one dealer, and one tanker each.
The tanker receives attacks from enemies at the front and focuses their attention on themselves.
The long-range attacker, the dealer, intensively attacks and kills the enemies whose attention is focused on such a tanker.
And the attacker actively moves between the tanker and dealer to confront the enemies.
Usually, they handle enemies approaching the dealer, but if the dealer’s safety is secured, they either slaughter enemies at the front with the tanker or play a supporting role as a sub-tanker to assist the main tanker.
Today, there were two points of interest for the instructors and students.
One was how outstanding skills Han Seol would display as an attacker, and the other was how much Han Ji-woong could contribute to the team as a tanker.
However…
“What? That Han Seol guy…”
“His equipment seems a bit strange?”
“Don’t tell me he’s going to play as a tanker in this match? Wasn’t he an attacker?”
The students’ murmurs made sense.
It was because Han Seol, who everyone naturally thought was an attacker and had proven his skills as such, appeared in the arena with typical tanker attire, equipped with a kite shield and training mace.
“This somehow feels like I’ve become a traitor? Hahaha…”
The reason Yoo Jun-sang was embarrassed when he saw the surprised instructors and students was that he had already taken the test as an attacker on another team.
Yoo Jun-sang, who had achieved good results in the individual mock battle yesterday, was definitely an outstanding attacker.
However, when comparing Yoo Jun-sang and Han Seol as attackers of the same value, the difference was too big, so it wasn’t unreasonable for him to have this reaction.
In fact, he was contemplating whether he should hold the shield himself even now.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I just hold the shield now and you take the attacker role? Even if I’m a bit clumsy as a tanker, you can carry enough. Right?”
“I think that would be better too, but…”
Although Yoo Jun-sang proposed an opinion and Seong Yu-ra agreed, Han Seol firmly shook his head.
“Then the group match would be meaningless. We might be able to get a high rank, but it’s hard to expect good results. A team match is literally about testing how efficiently you can move as a team.”
“But Han Seol, have you practiced as a tanker? For an attacker of that skill level at our age, you probably haven’t even practiced as a tanker, right?”
“…”
To Seong Yu-ra’s reasonable question, Han Seol answered with actions in the match instead of words.
‘This crazy bastard, wasn’t he an attacker? What tanking…!’
Han Seol’s team’s first match.
In a fight between dealer, attacker, and tanker combinations, the first to clash were the tankers.
And the fight between tankers was a battle of spirit to see who could endure longer without breaking their posture.
Naturally, physique and physical strength were very important for this position, and compared to other tankers, Han Seol had a very small build unsuitable for tanking.
Because of that, even the students who were wary of him as an attacker laughed at it as a mistake when he came out as a tanker and didn’t even pay attention to him.
However, that was a big misconception.
In his previous life, Han Seol had also lived his entire life on the battlefield.
Moreover, even after death, he had experienced 999 years of hell chasing after those superior to him in hell.
Student tankers who charged at such Han Seol relying only on physique and physical strength couldn’t even compare to child’s play.
‘Why won’t he budge!’
With the veteran skill of taking a low center of gravity first and concentrating strength on one point with a stable posture, let alone pushing, he was frequently pushed instead.
Moreover, Han Seol was not only skilled at deflecting the opponent’s strength with his shield but also at blocking the opponent dealer’s vision by obscuring the opponent’s sight and controlling their movements.
“Damn it!”
In the end, when the attacker couldn’t hold back and joined to help the pushed tanker, it was over.
“Help me out here!”
Yoo Jun-sang and Seong Yu-ra, who were watching the situation, immediately turned around to eliminate the dealer left alone, and it was over.
“Oh no!”
The attacker, who sensed his own mistake, tried to quickly pull out to help the dealer, but the opponent was Han Seol.
If he hadn’t come from the beginning, it might be different, but once he approached within Han Seol’s range, it was safe to say that the probability of him getting out without Han Seol letting him go was zero.
Rather, due to Han Seol’s skillful use of techniques to steal the timing of the tanker and attacker, even when the two fought together, it created a strange situation where they hindered each other instead.
It showed a great example that defense wasn’t everything for a tanker.
The team that would face Han Seol second watched that match and faced Han Seol’s team with a new strategy.
It was to take a preemptive strike.
Pat!
As soon as the match began, the attacker tried to ambush Seong Yu-ra first by going around Han Seol.
They aimed for the fact that Yoo Jun-sang was very tired from playing duplicate matches and tried to create a 2:2 structure with the dealer and attacker, leaving Han Seol to the tanker.
Of course, they were well aware that their tanker would be pushed back in a 1:1 match with Han Seol.
However, they were confident in dealing with the tired Yoo Jun-sang and taking down Seong Yu-ra before that.
But…
“Ah, seriously! Move out of the way!”
“You think it’s as easy as it sounds? Ugh!”
“What about support fire? Damn it, hurry up and help me!”
It was too naive.
Han Seol toyed with the opponent tanker’s center of gravity and pushed him around at will.
No matter how much the opponent dealer moved to secure a line of sight, it was useless.
By the time the dealer was ready to shoot, Han Seol would unfailingly push the tanker in that direction to block their vision.
In the end, the frustrated dealer started to pour arrows at Han Seol, but that also only had the opposite effect.
Due to Han Seol’s skillful movements and his knack for controlling the opponent tanker, the opponent dealer’s arrows only shredded their own tanker’s back without a single hit on Han Seol.
“Damn it…!”
In the end, even though Yoo Jun-sang was tired, when the situation turned into a 2:1, the opponent attacker couldn’t withstand the combined attack of Yoo Jun-sang and Seong Yu-ra and collapsed. The opposing team declared their surrender before it was too late.
And likewise, Han Seol also declared a forfeit.
It was because Yoo Jun-sang’s stamina couldn’t endure continuing the match any longer.
“I’m sorry. Huff, huff… It would have been better if I had a bit more stamina.”
“It’s unfortunate but can’t be helped. And thank you. For going along with my unreasonable request.”
The glory of 1st place in the group match eventually went to Han Ji-woong’s team, but somehow the person who seemed even more regretful despite winning 1st place was none other than Han Ji-woong.
It was because he wanted to face off against Han Seol again, who had shown tanking abilities superior to his own in a different way.
Of course, it was inevitable that Han Ji-woong’s skills, which had referred to Han Seol’s tanking, would greatly increase later on.
