Chapter 9-8
Hye Yeon went into the Kumdo dojang .
Inside the dojang, there were hundreds of trainees swinging swords . Men who seriously focused on swinging wooden swords while proudly wearing the dojang uniform .
She came during afternoon, while it was sword skill training time .
Usually, they would show a casual side of themselves, but when holding a wooden sword, they would become as serious as if they had met a life threatening enemy . They were people who dedicated their lives to the sword .
Choe Jongbeom who was teaching trainees saw Hye Yeon and approached .
"Come on in . But your brother already left, after finishing his morning training . "
"I'm not here to meet my brother . "
"Then why?"
"I have something to discuss . "
"Really? I'll listen . Wait in the lounge . I'll go as soon as their training ends . "
"Sure . "
Hye Yeon headed to the lounge where guests could wait . Immediately after, Jeong Ilhun, who only has his strength to trust, dropped his wooden sword .
"Master . "
"What?"
"I don't feel good today so . . . "
" . . . . . . . . "
"Can I rest in the lounge for a bit?"
As if he's dizzy, Jeong Ilhun held his forehead .
It had never happened before . Then, other trainees started to speak up .
"Ah, nowadays I feel like crying just from watching a leaf fall . "
"Since even a gust of wind can shake this body, the sword cannot find its path . Master, can't we rest for a bit?"
"I think I now understand what the sword is trying to tell me . In order to listen to its story, I want to rest my head inside the lounge for a bit . "
"Actually my body's a bit weak . . . "
Their eyes burned with passion!
The trainees made excuses, wanting to get to the lounge no matter how!
Hye Yeon would be surrounded by 500 males in a moment .
In the end, Choe Jongbeom personally brought Hye Yeon to the instructor's room .
Jeong Illhun prepared tea for her .
"Here . "
"Thank you . "
In the instructor's room, other than Hye Yeon and Jeong Illhun, three other instructors and 20 trainees have gathered .
Because the trainees liked Hye Yeon like their own little sister, they didn't want to be left out .
Hye Yeon finished the tea .
"The tea's very tasty . "
"A former student of mine sent me this . Before that, you had something to say?"
"Yes . "
"Could it be about Lee Hyun?"
Jeong Ilhun asked sharply .
Ahn Hyun-do was thinking of taking Lee Hyun in as a disciple .
Then, next after Jeong Ilhun, Lee Hyun would become the youngest disciple .
But, since it would mean they would become like family, he was sensitive towards it .
Hye Yeon nodded .
"That's right . "
"What happened?"
"It's because of brother's birthday . "
"Birthday?"
"Yes . Brother's birthday is only a month away . I want to hold a birthday party for him . "
" . . . . . . . . "
Hye Yeon was planning her brother's birthday party and came to the dojang to get assistance .
Lee Hyun never cared for his birthday before . With their difficult life, remembering his birthday itself was a luxury . But his sister and grandmother never forgot his birthday and even prepared a small gift .
This time, Hye Yeon wanted to prepare a surprise birthday party for Lee Hyun .
Jeong Ilhun, Choe Jongbeom and Ma Sangbeom's eyes became huge .
"Birthday party? Like the ones on television?"
"Don't you just celebrate your birthday by eating Seeweed soup?"
"After I became eight, I never did anything special on my birthday . "
"Birthday is, when the insurance company makes a thank you call . . . . "
Those who dedicated their life to the sword!
They almost never have spent their birthday in a proper manner .
Even Jeong Ilhun, who looks after members as the eldest, was being pessimistic as well .
"Celebrating birthdays doesn't suit us . "
Choe Jongbeom agreed .
"True . Rather than a birthday, victory in a sword skill competition is a better reason to celebrate . "
Ma Sangbeom nodded .
"Winning a competition is more important than one's birthday . Since you can show off the sword skills you trained by yourself to the whole world . "
Everyone spoke their opposition .
Although Hye Yeon, whom they liked like their own sister, was making the request, celebrating an occasion like that didn't fit them .
It was an example as for why they weren't popular with girls .
Like this, it seemed the birthday party plan would end as nothing .
But after Hye Yeon´s next sentence, everything changed .
"I will introduce you to my Unni´s when I get into college . "
"A F-Female college student?"
"Yes . I'll introduce pretty Unni´s . How about a blind date?"
"Blind date . The ones you can see in a drama?"
Jeong Ilhun gritted his teeth . Then, he looked around his companions .
Choe Jongbeom firmly nodded his approval .
"Instructors, let's throw a birthday party! Can't we do at least that much for Lee Hyun?"
Lee Indo moved his butt as if he was about to get up in excitement .
"Of course . Since it's his first birthday party, shouldn't we do it properly?"
Enthusiastic agreement from the instructors . And there's nothing to be said about the trainees .
"To think I'd have a blind date with a college student during my life . "
"I don't even need for it to go well . If I can just date for a day like others . . . "
The trainees were struggling with loneliness .
Since they trained in sword fighting, apart from their passion, they lived a life far from women .
Even sharing a word with girls was awkward and uncomfortable .
Rather, fighting yakuza was much more comfortable .
Others may be used to dating a girl and separating, but to them, those were moments that will remain with them for the rest of their lives .
Hye Yeon promised .
"If you help me with the birthday party, I will set up a group blind date . "
"Ohhhhh!"
Trainees cheered . Then they started to plan for Lee Hyun's birthday party one month later .
Absolutely in their own style!
* * *
"Welcome . "
"We welcome all newcomers . "
In front of the front gate of the Korean University, there were clubs that were trying to have newcomers join them .
With his head lowered, Lee Hyun quietly headed towards the front door .
'No time for things like clubs . The time I use for school life is a waste in itself . '
After going to school, the time he can invest in Royal Road decreases accordingly .
So, even if he's a college student now, he can't do club activities like others .
The job of sculptor showed many good points as time went by, but it needed more time investment .
Lee Hyun was set on never joining a club, even if he goes to a university .
Tadadadak .
With his heart set, Lee Hyun quickly walked by .
But no one stopped him .
Most newcomers got caught by the seniors, but no one approached Lee Hyun .
'Phew! Thank god . '
Lee Hyun walked towards the main build, where a briefing for newcomers was to be held .
There he overheard a conversation .
"Unni, should we catch that person?"
"Leave him . Can't you tell from his face? He's probably a reject . "
* * *
At Korea University a briefing session for newcomers was held to explain the basics before entering the university .
Since it was still two months away most newbies did not attend .
But Lee Hyun took his time to come here .
'I need to tell Hye Yeon about this . '
Like parents worrying about their child's education, it was purely for his sister .
The briefing took place in something like an auditorium .
A bit countryish style man seated himself next to Lee Hyun .
He talked to him first .
"Nice to meet you . Are you a newcomer?"
Lee Hyun nodded and turned to face him .
"Yes . "
"Korea University is so nice . I came from the countryside to visit the school . I'm Bak SoonJo from virtual reality major . "
"Is that so . My name is Lee Hyun . I choose virtual reality major as well . Since we're in same major, let's speak casually to each other . "
"Is that ok? You seem older than me . "
Bak SoonJo carefully asked Lee Hyun .
Lee Hyun shook his head .
"No way . I'm 20 too . "
"Your face doesn't look like . . . . "
"Hmm Hmm!"
Lee Hyun cleared his throat to show that he was uncomfortable .
Thanks to it, he could move on without much trouble .
"Yes, well . Lee Hyun! Let's get along . "
Bak SoonJo lightly beat Lee Hyun's shoulder as he said that .
Almost at the same time, people started approaching Bak SoonJo and Lee Hyun .
"I'm also virtual reality major . My name is Lee Yu Jeong . Nice to meet you . "
"Me too . I'm Min Sura . "
"I'm Choi Sang Jun . Nice to meet you . "
Lee Hyun and Bak SoonJo shared light greetings with friends of the same major .
Afterwards they listened to the briefing together .
On the first day, after attending the briefing session, they formed a "family" .
During the briefing's break time, there was a hot debate among the friends .
"The virtual reality motion system used in Royal Road allows different level of physical movement depending on the user's level . "
"Not only the basic five senses, but to be able to use potential above it . It must've used studies on brains as research basis . "
"To save such an enormous amount of data . . . "
Lee Hyun didn't get involved in their conversation .
'It's a simple problem if you look at it . '
Before he started Royal Road, he read various research papers about virtual reality .
There were many words he didn't know, but he memorized everything in its entirety .
As such, Lee Hyun's knowledge about virtual reality was over normal students .
When Royal Road was first made consideration for safety was very high .
Lee Hyun was very considerate on this point as well .
It's fine for something to go wrong with him, but his family would have a hard time .
Therefore, he studied about virtual reality .
"But Sura, what job do you have?"
"Me? I'm enchanter . I am in charge of wind and electricity . "
"Whoa! That's a rare job . "
Enchanter is a job that gives strength to an object or a lifeform .
It's basic is similar to a priest's blessing magic, but it's better in a sense because the given strength doesn't disappear afterwards .
Mostly, it was job that takes necklaces, earrings, rings, etc and uses magic on them .
Even if it's hard to raise the level in the beginning, it's a job that brings in lots of money when successful .
"What about you?"
"I'm just a normal warrior . Level is 216 . "
"That's not normal at all . The level's really high . I'm still only 140 . "
"It can't be helped since enchanter isn't really a job for battling . But let's go hunting together later on . "
"Yes . OK . "
After the girls revealed their level and jobs, boys started to reveal theirs as well .
Choi Sang Joon spoke first .
"I'm a warrior too . Thanks to hunting with a guild, I'm 278 . "
"Which guild?"
"Black Lion . "
"Wow! The most famous guild in Thor Kingdom!"
Lee Yu Jeong didn't hide her surprise .
It was very difficult to join a huge famous guild .
Your activities are limited while in a guild, but everyone still wanted to join a good guild .
It's because of the benefits . Such as entering a guild war to take over a castle or hunting ground and the chance to borrow items easily .
Especially being able to borrow good items was a great advantage .
Not only that, if their activity is beneficial, they can receive some gold for monthly payment .
But even if there weren't such benefits, famous guilds had their own pride .
When going to a field, city, or a castle, everyone will recognize their guild mark .
They get respected and commented by people and they can even get good amounts of giveaway items .
Sometimes, even if someone does a great thing, they may not even get a comment .
Versailles continent is a world where strength rules and the famous guilds were the source of it´s strength .
"It's nothing . My brother is Black Lion guild's founding member . He was one of the first 30 members, so I could join . "
"Then your brother's level must be insane . "
Lee Yu Jeong looked at him as if she was jealous of him .
Choi Sang Joon nodded .
"He doesn't tell me his level, but he should be at least over 340 . I was able to raise my level easily following my brother around . "
"Whoa, really?"
While girls were jealous of him, Lee Hyun thought otherwise .
'He trained his character like all the others . It'll only get harder once he gets further along . '
In Royal Road the skill level was very important .
If he just gathers up exp fast and levels up, he'll only go through hardships later .
Especially if he raised his level tagging behind someone else, then he'll be barely able to do his share of work if a really dangerous hunt began .
Min Sura and Lee Yu Jeong approached Lee Hyun and Bak SoonJo who hadn't revealed their job yet .
"Soon-jo what's your job?"
When Min Sura asked blinking her eyes, Bak SoonJo answered, scratching his head .
"Me? Level 342 and the job is thief . "
" . . . . . . . . "
The level of Bak SoonJo who had a naive appearance caused great ripples .
Royal Road couldn't be understood from it´s cover .
It depends on how many monsters you´ve slayed and how much time one spends in a dungeon .
Although Bak SoonJo looked like the quiet type, because he had competitive nature, he caught monsters while almost living in a dungeon .
Lastly, Min Sura looked at Lee Hyun .
"Lee Hyun, what's your job and level?"
He didn't really want to hide it .
But he didn't want to show off either .
To those who who simply enjoy virtual reality, level may be something to show off, but to dark gamers, it was just exposing their cardsl .
'They wouldn't ask in detail anyway . '
Looking at the experience until now, they probably wouldn't .
Expecting what would happen, Lee Hyun slowly opened his mouth .
"Sculptor . "
"Hm?"
"My job is sculptor . "
"Oh my . "
It was only a split of a second for people's eyes to be full of pity .
Choi SangJoon beat Lee Hyun's shoulder in encouragement .
"Try hard . I heard people choose sculptor a lot nowadays . "
"Yeah . "
Chatting from time to time like this, they listened to the briefing .
Lee Hyun wrote down important details in a notebook he prepared separately .
They were mostly subjects that would be helpful to study before school life, information about study abroad and financial aid .
He parted with studying after dropping out of high school .
Although he passed the GED test, it's impossible to get financial aid in the middle of university life .
Still, he wrote them down just in case .
When the briefing session ended, the friends stood up .
* * *
"Ah, it's over . I'm hungry . "
"Let's go eat something . "
"Yeah . Let's eat at the school cafeteria . "
Lee Hyun followed his friends .
'It wouldn't be so bad to experience what the school cafeteria is like . '
The cafeteria was within the campus .
Korean and Western style food came out depending on the days of the week .
Girls chose Korean and boys chose Western style .
"Looks delicious . "
"Let's eat . "
In case of Korean style, there was rice, soup, and about five types of Banchan .
In case of Western style, there was fried pork or fish with salad and noodle .
Min Sura smiled after trying rice and Banchan .
"Good enough . "
Choi SangJoon and Bak SoonJo sliced fried pork and put it in their mouth to savor the taste .
"School lunch isn't bad at all . "
"It'll be fun to go to school . "
When everyone was enjoying it, Lee Hyun alone ate with his expression wrinkled .
'Food materials are terrible . '
It may be obvious, but the fried pork wasn't made there .
Frozen product!
Additionally, because it's been long since it has been cooked, the freshness was very low .
'If it'll be like this, it's better to bring lunch . '
The price was 2500 won, it wasn't very cheap . [$2 . 5]
It'll be much healthier to make lunch with freshly bought ingredients from the street market and bring it with you .
Lee Hyun finished lunch thinking of packing the best lunch .
At that moment, bulky men gathered in the student cafeteria .
They were martial art major students .
The man with great built and sweat came to eat and found Lee Hyun .
Then they bowed .
"We greet hyung-nim!"
When a student in the front bowed, other tens of students bowed as well .
"We greet hyung-nim!"
Lee Hyung sat still with an expressionless face .
He turned his face the other way as well .
He was using ignoring-by-doing-other-stuff skill learned from Seoyoon .
But the martial art major students did not leave and stayed bowed .
Friends next to him were surprised and sat with their mouth dropped open .
A fly could've flew into Choi SangJoon's mouth .
Since martial art major students with healthy body build bowed, they could do nothing else but become confused and surprised .
And although it seemed like Lee Hyun didn't like it, he was taking their bow very naturally .
The four people there were so surprised, they took turns to look at Lee Hyun and then at the martial art students .
Lee Hyun responded to the bow as he sighed .
Lee Hyun and his friends relationship changed . Since an upperclassman bowed to him, he had to be the same age or older . Not 20 like he had claimed .
Finally the martial art students walked away from Lee Hyun .
"SangChual Hyung, who is he? Just who was he, for you to bow like that?"
Truthfully, most of the students bowed without knowing why . Since their senior Han SangChual suddenly bowed, they bowed along with him .
Han SangChual had sweat running down his forehead .
"I told you before . "
"Huh?"
"I told you which dojang I go to right?"
"Yes . Don't you go to that one?"
The one they were talking about was the dojang where Ahn Hyun Do was working as the master .
The famous dojang that produced world swordfight competition winners .
It was a place where monsters that had nothing to be afraid of with a sword gathered . Not counting the official trainees, just the beginner trainees numbered over 5000 .
Han SangChual was one of the beginner trainees .
"He is the place's trainee, no, he´s master's official best disciple . "
"Gasp! The best disciple?"
"Probably . Almost sure . Mostly the instructors teach him, but sometimes he fights against the master, so it should be . "
"But he looks younger or similar to our age, there shouldn't be any need to be as formal as you were, is there?"
The students tilted their heads .
Those who train the martial art have a very strong sense of pride .
Even if someone was higher in status in a dojang, there was no need to bow one's head to him .
Han SangChual shook as if he felt a sudden chill .
"You should've seen it . You think I treated him like this from the beginning? In the beginning I didn't admit his strength . Just one year . It felt very unfair for a person who only learned sword for a year to become master's best disciple . Even I, who went to Kumdo dojang for over 3 years, couldn't become an official trainee . I thought he was an arrogant bastard . "
"Then shouldn't you have beat him up to put some sense into him?"
"I was going to! Seeing how a newcomer was pushing aside all original trainees . But I saw him fighting with a wooden sword . "
"Just what was it like . . . . "
"He fought, fought, and fought . Even in front of the wooden sword that could easily break his bones, he showed no fear . And the sword he swung had life stored inside . "
"Is it that great? Isn't it normal to not be afraid of a sword when swinging and to bet one's life on it?"
"It's great . It's very great . I realized then . Although physical strength could be build up by training, mental strength you have to be born with . Truthfully, just how many would really fight with their life on the line in a world like this?"
" . . . . . . . . "
"A person who can throw one's life away for a belief . A mentally strong person . Leaving physical conditions behind, I then realized that his heart was the strongest in the world . After that, my sword skill became much stronger . "
Han SangChual's freshman finally understood .
A sword swung with sincerity .
If it was a person who could swing such a sword, leaving the time spent for learning aside, they could bow to him .
'A ridiculously strong minded person . '
'Memorize the face and never touch him . '
Han SangChual told the freshman to pledge to him .
"There has been word from the dojang's Sahyung . From now on, if you meet him, bow to him . If you don't, I'll be killed . "
"Yes, sir . "
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