Chapter 155. Nothing Cannot Be Accomplished (4)

"Shall we start with the simplest thing first?"

A few minutes ago. Kim Giryeo, having officially started the lesson, gave a theoretical explanation of the blurring phenomenon and demonstrated something. He told Haseong to pay close attention from now on and lightly cast a spell. However, the scene that followed was nothing more than a new obstacle for Haseong.

"How is it? Pretty easy, right?"

"-_-"

"First, just do what I showed you a moment ago. Let's keep it light and just get the basics down for today."

Kim Giryeo, the alien guest instructor, showed off a talent that could easily leave someone stunned right from the start.

"Huh? Why is Jung Haseong reacting like that?"

Giryeo finished casting the spell and briefly reviewed his actions. First, he had activated the ability of the [Pyromancer Necklace] to teach Haseong. Of course, the power was barely at an F-rank level. The manifestation of a fire skill through a magical tool. No matter how he thought about it, there shouldn't have been anything strange...

"Why the tense expression?"

In response, Jung Haseong answered.

"You just cast the skill on the back of your own head while closing your eyes."

"Hmm."

"Furthermore, just as you said, you hit the central tile at the back of your head with the fire."

What's wrong with that? First of all, Jung Haseong had a particularly bad habit. He only used his magic within his field of vision. Of course, it wasn't wrong to designate a range with just his bare eyes, but relying solely on this method always led to various problems.

"I never said you had to hit the tile exactly from the start. It's fine if the position is a little off."

Giryeo tried to build the foundation step by step. But things were already going wrong. One S-rank didn't even think about the demonstration and just opened his mouth slightly.

"Anyway, close your eyes and imagine a small fire appearing on the back of your head."

He urged the primitive in front of him once more. Then, Haseong closed his eyelids and fell silent. After 30 seconds, he spoke in a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just use your skill."

The silence fell again. Seeing Haseong, who was hesitant and holding back words with a restless expression, Giryeo finally understood the situation he was in.

"Ah, so it's getting blocked right here this time."

This is a problem. I have to teach him the four basic operations, but the student is crawling...

"It turns out that our Yoonseung is a genius."

Seeing Haseong's disastrous basic control skills, Giryeo suddenly missed his first apprentice.

But he couldn't give up like this. 3 billion. 3 billion. Well, how could it be easy to take someone else's money?

"I can do this... I can understand him..."

Giryeo tried to calm his mind by thinking about the cost of the epic magic tools he had to buy. What followed was a brief conversation.

"Jung Haseong, come to think of it, I heard this gym provides first aid supplies. Do you happen to know where they are?"

"I know."

"Do the first aid supplies include any antiseptic?"

"I guess so."

"Then bring it."

At this point, Giryeo figured he might as well try some rote learning with Jung Haseong.

"And once you bring the medicine, make sure to disinfect your skin properly and then prick your wrist yourself."

The same method he used on Seonwoo Yeon.

A little while later. There was a small crisis, but fortunately, the first lesson ended safely.

The moment Jung Haseong drew blood from his wrist following the instructions, Giryeo, just like he had done in Ha-dong, interfered with his mana to artificially awaken his senses.

"By the way, was what just happened... something like Hunter Kim's awakening skill?"

Whoosh.

Giryeo washed the blood of an Earthling off in the gym's attached restroom. Despite that, his response was still sincere.

"It's not a skill. You can do it if you practice."

Now, the key is whether or not the effort will bear fruit.

"Anyway, let's go back and get a feel for it."

Giryeo had forcibly awakened the sensation of "the feeling that arises when magic is cast in a location not observed with the eyes" by manipulating Jung Haseong's internal mana.

The surge of energy within the body flowing toward a specific point outside. That peculiar sixth sense was essential for the magic's coordinate targeting.

"That right. You're good!"

Soon, the results came out. Fortunately, the talent the fire wizard possessed was not something that could be described as low level.

No, rather, he wasn't bad enough to be taken as a disciple. Jung Haseong, despite how he appeared, had spent nearly half his life as a model student. Therefore, his ability to learn surpassed the average.

"Is this the right way to do it?"

"That's right. You just used the skill with your eyes closed."

The absorption ability is quite good. Giryeo nodded, pushing aside the fatigue that had accumulated from manipulating someone else's magic. He was a little worried at first because the start was slow, but with that kind of understanding and sincerity, there wouldn't be any problems in the future schedule.

"It's going smoothly!"

The problem was solved surprisingly easily.

"-"

At that moment, the black-haired hunter, who had received knowledge from another world, wore a strange expression from one corner of the gym.

***

Would you believe that simply solving the given problem became a crisis in itself?

Whoosh.

As the first lesson was coming to an end, the man, who had been reviewing the skill techniques he had learned from Giryeo, slowly lifted his eyelids.

"It's true... I can now use the skill without even having to confirm it with my eyes."

Honestly, it was ridiculous.

"So simple."

Self-learning the awakening ability. The hunter in question hadn't clung to such an inefficient method without reason. There were circumstances behind Haseong's low estimation of his own potential for correction.

After all, wasn't mana a new substance that had only been discovered 7 years ago? Well, since another spring has passed, it's now in its eighth year. Still, in any case, there was no disagreement among scholars that the awakened ones of this world were still in the very early stages, just learning to walk.

Some of them were naturally talented and could handle their abilities more flexibly than others, but even they were not yet good enough to be teachers to others. That was why, despite having so much money, he had not received even a proper lesson in this capitalist society.

"Huh..."

This is on a completely different level compared to the cheap courses of fraudsters circulating on the internet! Kim Giryeo had just performed a spell that could easily be called a miracle. Like raising a lump of blood that could not walk on its own legs, he grabbed hold of someone else's magical power and injected his senses.

"What on earth is this..."

The situation where the skill, which had never been triggered despite all the practice, was suddenly activated successfully. Until now, he had been angry at his own incompetence every time. There were even times when he had cried, seeing the reality that wouldn't change no matter how much he tried.

"My problem was solved so easily?"

Haseong felt a faint sense of joy. It was the unique feeling of positive accomplishment that came when solving a difficult problem. How could he not be happy? The current situation was the realization of the dream that the fire wizard, who had suffered from an unwanted awakening, had prayed for every time. There was hope.

"I could get better, too."

Haseong completely reevaluated the value of Kim Giryeo. He realized that Giryeo shouldn't be treated merely as a potential future teammate, but as the guide to the path of life he had been searching for. Giryeo's teaching was shockingly exceptional. In that moment, Haseong was certain that if he followed the words of this S-rank hunter, even conquering the massive inferno wouldn't be impossible.

"If only I had proper help like this, I could improve too..."

But the problem is. As you know, the pyromancer here is not mentally strong enough to have received help from modern medicine.

Swish.

"Wait a minute, I almost got the priorities mixed up. Come to think of it, this isn't just about hearing the secret."

"That hunter gave me the opportunity to work as part of a team."

Haseong's gaze then turned in one direction. An archmage was currently letting out a small yawn, and in the midst of that peaceful scene, Haseong was lost in thought.

"Even now, it's like this—if I were to actually work alongside someone like that, just how much more could I learn?"

He set the wrong goal without even knowing that he was being deceived. He was determined to firmly establish the techniques he had learned and achieve great results. With that, he fervently wished to gain recognition from Korea's fourth S-rank hunter and officially join his team.

Unlike Ahn Yoonseung, whose reaction was relatively measured, Jung Haseong's attitude shifted dramatically the moment he experienced Giryeo's skills. He began to obsess over his connection with this hunter, while also feeling an unimaginable pressure about the future.

"If I can't keep up with the lessons properly, the promise to collaborate with me will be canceled too..."

If it were to be revealed that the team proposal was completely empty talk, things would definitely go wrong. However, the alien in question had yet to regain the magic needed to read others' thoughts.

"What should I eat for dinner after class?"

The archmage's soul was occupied with idle thoughts, wasting time on pointless worries until the lesson was over.

***

"Don't you have any hobbies or anything?"

"Hobbies?"

"Reading or playing games. Anyway, what do you usually do in your free time?"

That afternoon, two people were having a conversation in a quiet restaurant.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really have what you'd call free time..."

This was a barbecue restaurant located in Seoul. To be honest, the top-ranked hunter wasn't particularly fond of food and found dining out like this to be a hassle.

"No, why wouldn't you have free time? Are you still working too hard these days?"

He had agreed to the meal simply because it was suggested by Kim Giryeo. If it were a private occasion, he thought he might have a chance to talk with the other person, even if just a little.

By the way, even though they're face-to-face like this, he still really doesn't get it.

"What has he been doing up until now?"

Where did Kim Giryeo, this hunter, come from? That had always been a question in Jung Haseong's mind.

Dungeon Shock. The appearance of the Kraken in Busan. And so on.

The hunter in front of him had never appeared in any major incidents. He seemed like a hunter who had just dropped dead from the sky. Judging by his actions, no matter how much he thought about it, it seemed like someone who had been awakened for quite some time.

"From the announcement the association made, he seems like someone related to the government."

"It seems plausible."

But in the end, all these thoughts were just speculation. The only thing that was certain at this moment was that the hunter in front of him was quite nice.

"Haseong-ah, take it easy."

Giryeo placed some grilled meat onto Haseong's plate and spoke.

"But by the way, do you actually eat properly on a regular basis? You're not just stuffing in random nutrients because you're busy with work, are you?"

Then Haseong's chopsticks stopped moving. He couldn't deny that since he often ate things like vacuum-packed chicken breast.

At this moment, the man across from Haseong, who had been watching him, showed a rare reaction. He furrowed one eyebrow and made a displeased expression.

"I knew this would happen."

Unlike the past when he only took on artificially perfect forms, he now expressed his emotions quite naturally.

"Anyway, what's with you? Your way of living is so much like my old self. It's kind of pathetic."

"Yes?"

"Nevermind. Just eat the meat quickly."

Seeing that, Haseong felt a new sense of emotion.

"If you don't want to die young, start taking care of your meals from now on. Also, get enough sleep."

"Yes."

In fact, such nagging was unfamiliar to an S-rank hunter. Jung Haseong suddenly recalled memories from the past—peaceful days when he used to have dinner with his only family.

Looking back, his mother would always scold him to eat properly. And yet, to hear such trivial scolding again, even after becoming an S-rank "monster"...

"-_-"

He had never had siblings, but at this moment, he felt an inexplicable longing. Lost in thought, Haseong lingered on the sentiment with a contemplative expression.

And just as the extra order of soybean paste stew was placed on the table,

"Excuse me."

The young hero hesitated and began to speak.

"Hunter Kim Giryeo, now that I think about it, it seems like we'll be seeing each other quite often from now on..."

"Hmm."

"But doesn't it feel a bit odd to keep using "Hunter" as a title between fellow hunters all the time? So, how about..."

The introduction was long because of the repetition, but in short, it was a simple request.

"If it's not rude, can I call you Hyung from now on?"

However, the man across the table flatly rejected this offer.

"No. You can't."

"Ah, yes."

So he can't. Haseong awkwardly shut his mouth, leaving the words unspoken. An uncomfortable silence settled between them, the only sound that filled the table was the sizzling of the pork belly grilling before them.

Ssssh.

How long had he been listening to the sound of fat burning? The blond man, who had been holding the tongs, finally broke the silence as he cut the now perfectly grilled meat. He clearly stated the reason why he couldn't call him Hyung.

"You're two years older than me."

Ssssh.

Haseong quietly nodded at the flowing tone of his voice. And soon after, he placed the pork skin he had received as a courtesy on the grill. It wasn't until this moment that the dark-haired awakened person showed a slightly delayed reaction.

"...Excuse me, but what did you just say?"

With S-grade physical abilities, there should be no way for a person to mishear anything.