Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - Chapter 3
“Everyone probably remembers evacuating when the Break crisis happened in our childhood. In the beginning we knew far too little about Gates, so Breaks occurred all at once everywhere. Can anyone explain what a Gate Break is?”
“If a Gate is not cleared within the set time by the set number of people, monsters pour out like a pack.”
“Like a pack of dogs… I cannot say that is the wrong expression.”
A trainee sitting in front answered, and Professor Lee Mu-yeol let out a small laugh, loosening the stiff mood of the classroom a little.
“That is correct. A Gate connects to a world completely different from Earth. If you do not clear the Gate within the time limit, a Break occurs and for a certain period hundreds or thousands of monsters surge in. Unfortunately, even if you clear it, the Gate does not disappear but remains, and after some time monsters are generated again, so it must be cleared periodically.”
The professor took a breath and continued.
“Information about Gate Breaks, which is now common knowledge, did not exist back then, and electronic devices became useless inside Gates, which made even harder. Firearms had some effect in low-level Gates, but against high-level monsters they were useless.”
Professor Lee went on.
“In the end, with the sacrifices of modern armed forces and Awakened, we barely managed to block the monsters that poured out, but the damage continues to this day. That is why preventing a Break beforehand became the top priority. For that purpose, the current Hunter system and the Academy were established.”
I already knew all of this, but I sat quietly and listened.
The trainees also listened intently to Professor Lee in a solemn atmosphere. People had a rough idea and learned some of it in regular schools, but since this included precise statistics and firsthand accounts from Awakened, everyone focused.
After two hours of lecture, the bell rang.
“We will continue tomorrow. Enjoy your meal.”
I went to the cafeteria and filled my tray with food.
I found an empty table in the corner and sat alone. I had no particular intention of getting close to anyone, and since factions had already formed to some extent, no one showed any interest in me.
I normally eat a lot, but I forced down even more on purpose. The afternoon training would demand more stamina.
After the meal, everyone gathered on a training field several times larger than an ordinary school ground.
At the instructors’ order we stood in the same positions as at the entrance ceremony.
“Do you know what is most needed in a Gate?”
the instructor asked everyone.
“Skills!”
“Items!”
“Stats.”
Answers burst out from all over.
“All correct, but the most important thing is stamina. It can rise when you level up depending on your class, and it is one of the few attributes you can raise through exercise. A difference of one or two can be the line between life and death, so it is both basic and essential. Put on the pack in front of you.”
Next to the instructor was a long row of rucksacks labeled with trainees’ names.
I went out and found mine.
When I slung it over my shoulders, the weight was heavier than a military field pack. It felt like carrying a person.
“This is the weight you will have to carry in a Gate. Regardless of class or age or gender, without these you will not survive. Ah, those in warrior-type tracks for whom stamina is important have been given extra weight.”
Of course, some teams use porters, but assuming there are none, each person must carry their own load.
Trainees picked up the packs and groaned at how much heavier they were than expected.
“From now on we begin stamina training, and the instructors will play the role of monsters. If you fall behind, be prepared to be attacked. Do not worry, healers who will treat injuries are on standby.”
The trainees began to murmur.
“Then move out. The instructors will depart in 30 seconds.”
The instructor said this and simply watched us.
I, along with a few others, started running immediately.
“Twenty seconds left.”
“Run!”
When the instructor spoke again, most of the trainees shouted and hurriedly broke into a run.
The weight was tremendous, and with the straps biting into my shoulders, running was not easy.
My legs were already getting heavy and my pace slowing, but I gritted my teeth and pushed power into my legs.
I was giving it everything, but the warrior-track trainees and the non-warriors with good stats kept passing me.
On the other hand, even some trainees who clearly had better stats than me began to fall behind, simply because they were not used to this kind of training.
Then an instructor kicked the last trainee in line hard enough to make a thudding sound.
“Do you think you can run away from a monster like that?”
the instructor shouted at the fallen trainee.
A healer strolled over and checked the writhing trainee’s condition on the ground.
Seeing that, the trainees in the rear started to sprint in desperation. Naturally, and unfortunately, they were not faster than the instructors. The instructors attacked from behind with kicks or by throwing dull daggers, non-lethal but painful enough.
Those who had been whining were already getting taken down by the instructors.
One instructor stuck to my back. I kept running with clenched teeth, but with my miserable stats I was caught quickly.
From behind, the instructor kicked my thigh. Pain like a bone snapping shot through me and my body lifted off the ground, then crashed down.
The instructor who kicked me did not even look back and went after the next target.
A healer approached me as I lay on the ground.
“I am fine. You do not need to heal me.”
“Oh, do you have a healing skill?”
“Yes. Something similar.”
Gasping for breath, I got up again. The bone in my leg had actually cracked, but I gritted my teeth and started running once more. Regeneration had already begun.
Since the instructors did not push beyond a certain pace, the lead group did not bother to run faster. From here on it was an endurance drill.
I kept running while injured, but there were trainees who just lay there after falling once. When that happened, whichever instructor caught up stomped them or kicked them without mercy.
“Gyaaah! I quit! I cannot do this!”
The first dropout appeared. He threw his pack and walked off the field.
It seemed to be a common occurrence, and the instructors did not even look back.
He too had probably wanted to become a top Hunter and live large, but he had not imagined that basic training would be this hard.
Seeing him, a few more peeled off, but not many. If you do not pass the Academy, you cannot enter Gates, and then you can forget about success.
Even as my mouth filled with a bitter taste and the pain in my legs made my mind go hazy, I kept my legs moving.
Still, I could not avoid being caught. A wooden dagger struck me, and an instructor who seemed to fly about kicked my torso without mercy.
In my previous life I had been kicked many times, but I did not give up. No, I could not. There was too much at stake.
That said, I also did not run myself to the point my breath would stop. I accepted a healer’s help and took breaks when needed. That was my “best” back then.
But now I know better. How much further I can push. When I fell, I clenched my teeth until they would crack and forced my body up again.
Pain is already familiar. I am not numb to it, but after days steeped in pain, I can endure it better.
When I kept getting up without being healed, one instructor latched onto me as his personal target. He wore a faint smile as he kicked trainees, looking less like he was trying to improve us and more like he was enjoying the abuse, but whatever.
Even as I was kicked again and again, I stood back up and smiled at him.
Maybe my smile rubbed him the wrong way, because after circling around once more and catching up to me again, he kicked with a different level of force.
I raised my arms reflexively to block the incoming kick, but my arms and body bent like a bow and I flew several meters.
“Instructor Heo O-seong!”
The senior instructor who commanded the others shouted at the one who had kicked me.
“What do you think you are doing? Can you not control your strength? Healer!”
My arm broke, ribs broke, and one pierced a lung. Flesh split on my arm and chest and blood flowed, and a mouthful of blood surged up my throat.
I could see the instructor and healer running toward me from afar.
At that moment, an alert window popped up with a chime in front of the people coming my way.
[Your level has increased.]
[Regeneration skill level has risen from F to E.]
“Kh… kh khk… khkhk….”
Seeing the alert window, I laughed without meaning to.
What took me five years in my last life, I gained in a single day thanks to that crazy instructor. I had thought it could not be raised in the Academy, and now I felt like buying him a gift later.
My skills and stats can rise through training or by injuring myself, but that takes a long time.
However, when my life is in danger or I feel killing intent, the growth speed multiplies by dozens.
Which means that damn instructor had ill intent and used an attack that could have killed me. I leveled up, and compared to my past life this is nothing to get heated over, but I also know that if I let someone who bears malice toward me go unchecked, they will keep looking down on me. I cannot do anything now that I am at the bottom, but I will remember.
“H-healer! What is wrong with him? Did he get hit in the head?”
The senior instructor went pale at the sight of my blood-smeared, grinning face and asked the healer.
“There is no wound on the head…”
The healer cast a heal on me and spoke.
“Oh? Did your skill level go up? Your recovery is incredibly fast.”
As my wounds visibly closed, the senior instructor asked the healer,
“No, this trainee’s skill is regeneration. That is probably why.”
“I am… fine now.”
As my body recovered to a certain point and I tried to stand, the senior instructor grabbed my shoulder.
“No, rest. Knowing when to rest while injured is also part of a Hunter’s job.”
I wanted to run again, but judging from his face, he did not seem likely to attack me for being slow now, so I nodded.
“The rest of you keep running. Move.”
Sitting me on a bench, the senior instructor shouted to everyone again, and feet that had stopped began to move busily once more.
“Status window.”
—
Name: Lee Jiseok
Class: Unemployed
Level: 2
Strength 6, Stamina 7, Agility 5, Intelligence 7, Vitality 70, Mana 35
Skill: Regeneration E
An Awakener’s level rises through experience, whether combat or crafting.
Even getting beaten counted as experience just now.
Thanks to that, my level went up by 1, and my regeneration skill rank also rose.
Strength, Stamina, and Agility each went up by 2, Intelligence by 1, for a total of 7 stat points gained.
Considering that most Awakened gain 1 to 4 points when leveling up, this was exceptional.
This time I opened the detailed description of the regeneration skill.