055 – When Three Nymphs Gather, Nothing Is Impossible! # 3
The second day.
Serious training began.
Inoi, Coris, and Illinois stood in front of the dormitory, wearing combat vests.
“This Inoi…! I feel like I’ve become the protagonist from Mechanical Snail 2…!”
Inoi seemed in high spirits.
Wasn’t he someone who disliked people in military or police uniforms? It seemed he enjoyed wearing one himself.
At that moment, Illinois spoke up.
“Is this water bottle an antique…? The Yankees who fought the Apache Tribe must have used better bottles than this one…! Please call a lawyer…!”
The water bottle was indeed old.
If he drank from it, it would probably be contaminated.
Coris took a sip from the bottle and said.
“I’m glad this Coris has evolved into an Ice Water Nymph…! If I hadn’t evolved, I would have surely become a Muddy Water Nymph by drinking from this bottle…!”
What on earth is a Muddy Water Nymph?
As I pondered, the instructor, Jo Kyohee, seemed curious as well.
“What is a Muddy Water Nymph?”
Jo Kyohee.
She appeared to like Nymphs.
Even though the Nymphs were noisy and causing trouble, she never got angry or raised her voice.
Was she interested in Nymphs?
Soon, Inoi answered.
“A Muddy Water Nymph is a Nymph that often evolves from misbehaving Nymphs…! They are the villains who commit a lot of mischief…!”
Isn’t that Illinois?
When I looked at Illinois, she frowned.
“Why is the House Master looking at this Illinois like that…? This Illinois is a drug Nymph…! I learned to create mystical potions from the Indians…! I’m a very kind organic Nymph…!”
The world of Nymphs is rather confusing the more you learn.
It’s something to be felt with the heart rather than understood with the head.
Anyway, the water bottle just became a decoration.
If Inoi accidentally drank from it and evolved into that Muddy Water Nymph, it would cause a headache.
Thus began the training.
On the sunny day, the subject was crawling through a muddy field under a barbed wire or jumping over obstacles, and the Nymphs followed along quite well.
“Nymph Crawling, just crawling around…!”
No, they did it better than expected.
Instructor Jo Kyohee was even impressed, saying, “You are doing very well!”
In particular, the Nymphs did not need separate training for survival skills.
“This is a poisonous mushroom…! This is a non-poisonous mushroom…! And this is a raspberry you can eat…!”
Wild edible plants growing in cracks.
They categorized them very well.
These kids might actually not need any training at all.
“It’s too easy…!”
Well, since even the elderly and children receive training, it was natural that anyone could do well once they grasped the tips.
The purpose of the training itself was to ensure everyone could perform well in challenging situations.
Instructor Jo Kyohee said.
“Then will you be able to score high in the actual crack survival test at the end? We are giving out various prizes to those who record high scores.”
“This Coris is curious about whether we’re getting water purifiers…!”
“There are no water purifiers.”
“Then I’m not that interested…! Well, it’s free time, Inoi, Illinois…! Let’s hurry and play…!”
The Nymphs jumped into the muddy water pool.
The muddy water was made by pouring muddy water into a trench for the purpose of making it dirty. However, as Coris, Inoi, and Illinois jumped in and splashed, the situation changed.
“Nymph Splash, splash around!”
Splash, splash, splash—.
The Nymphs splashed, and soon the muddy water pool became clear.
Inoi proudly puffed out her chest and shoulders.
“Our Nymphs have the skill to clear dirty water…!”
No.
That water shouldn’t be made clear.
# # #
“I feel like I can now fight and win against the invasive species…!”
“We will show the terror of our Nymph sisters…!”
After dinner, during break time.
Inoi and Coris looked quite cheerful.
It seemed they were happy with their good performances from the course they had run around in today.
There’s only one day of training left now.
Tomorrow, they said they would go into the ‘actual crack’ for evaluation?
An actual crack, huh.
Was there one in Nonsan?
Upon searching, I found out that about three years ago, a crack near the training camp was fixed by the military for training purposes.
An F rank crack with low magical intensity.
They said it was set up in an environment that ordinary people could withstand for half a day without much difficulty.
“Is it really safe?”
I began to feel slightly worried.
A crack isn’t necessarily a good thing for the human world.
It’s a disaster that we need to be cautious of.
“Stay quiet, you all.”
I left the dormitory while leaving the Nymphs and Trump cards behind.
I went to check on the crack being controlled by the training center.
Walking along the road, I saw a group sitting in front of the crack. They were young boys and girls, and among them was a familiar face.
“Oh, senior! What brings you here? Are you perhaps here to see the F rank recruits I mentioned before?”
It was Yu Ara.
At the mention of F rank recruits, my eyes moved again.
Five people sitting in front of the crack.
So they were F rank after all.
“You all, greet him. Here is Haildo-senpai, who is known as the first additional Awakened from the first class. He’s very skilled, you know?”
Is Ari trying to boost me up in front of the juniors?
However, the kids looked disinterested.
“Who’s Haildo?”
“Who knows.”
Average age of the F rank was 17.
I was active before these kids even entered elementary school. While I was quite famous, these kids probably didn’t even know how to add and subtract, so their reactions were understandable.
What would these kids know!
Feeling embarrassed by their dull response, Ari added.
“Hey, if you do well, you might have him as your instructor. It would be good to score points ahead of time, right? The Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi is popular these days, isn’t he? He’s Haildo-senpai’s partner!”
“Kkungkkungi?”
“Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi?”
“Is that true?”
“Then is that person the Kkungkkungi launcher?”
Do they know Kkungkkungi but not Haildo?
What’s with this ‘Kkungkkungi launcher’?
It seemed like a strangely plausible statement, and I felt a bit offended.
These kids today come up with strange phrases unlike when I was young.
–Kkungkkungi…!
Soon, Kkungkkungi popped out of my pocket.
Kkungkkungi scampered down my body and approached the kids, who forgot their caution and pet him as they cooed at him.
“Cute!”
“Warm! Soft!”
“I want to raise one too!”
Kkungkkungi is quite popular, it seems.
Ari, watching their delight, spoke.
“See, isn’t Haildo-senpai amazing?”
Swipe-.
At that moment, someone raised their hand.
“Training No. 51, Bae Hu-seong?”
A tall boy stood up in response to Ari’s question.
He seemed around my height.
Looks like a high school student?
“He’s amazing, but isn’t Kkungkkungi the real deal? I want to learn from the best, like Instructor Yu Ara. I want to be S rank!”
Ohh─.
The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement.
Ari narrowed her eyes.
“Really? If I faced off against the senior, my chances would be 50-50. By the way, you’re currently C rank.”
“C rank against B rank would be a 50-50?”
“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”
The kids seemed surprised.
It would be hard to believe that a 50-50 chance existed between a C rank and a B rank. Of course, Ari’s words had a touch of exaggeration.
In reality, it would probably be more like 30-70.
Unless they were a chick that used to be F rank, how could I stand a chance against a huge chicken like Yu Ara?
Soon, Yu Ara asked.
“Would you like to teach the juniors a lesson, senpai? These kids won’t believe unless they see with their own eyes.”
“Really?”
The budding sprouts, children who must live on to take charge of the world.
This might be an opportunity.
An opportunity to leave a good impression on the juniors.
If they spread rumors about me, I would become famous again in no time.
“Okay, all five of you come at me. I won’t use magic, and I won’t use Kkungkkungi. I’ll do it barehanded. If one of you lands a touch on me, you win.”
“Heard that? If you touch the senior even once, I’ll tell Instructor Kim Cheol-woo to exempt you from tomorrow’s training.”
Ohh—.
The kids’ morale skyrocketed.
Exemption from training is a great bait, now and then.
I remembered that Ari had learned this tactic from me.
Swipe-.
I finally stood among the five kids.
Each kid held special weapons with unique paints that left yellow marks when they touched the opponent’s body.
Some were even loading paintballs.
Then, the large junior Bae Hu-seong asked.
“Don’t go complaining later that it’s unfair. You’re really not going to use magic? If so, then you’re hardly different from a regular person even at C rank, right?”
“Will you ask the crack or the monsters inside to fight fairly? Battles are inherently unfair.”
Swipe-.
Ari put a whistle in her mouth.
Peep─!
“Waah, I’m going first!”
As soon as Yu Ara blew the whistle, a girl charged at me.
I grabbed her arm and used her as a shield to block the paintball.
“One down.”
Bang, bang—.
“Ugh! That hurts!”
“Hey! You’re blocking all my shots!”
I threw the girl I had used as a shield down to the ground and lunged at the kids reloading their guns.
“Uh, wait!”
“Two.”
Smack—!
The kids flinched at my move, and one of them became limp.
A boy pulled the trigger of a paintball gun in panic while looking at me.
“Ah, I dropped a bullet! There should have been one more left!”
“Always keep track of your ammunition. That’s your countdown to death.”
Smack—!
Another kid fell unconscious.
Two were remaining.
“My exemption is mine!”
A girl with a dull sword charged at me. Whoosh, whoosh—!
Her swinging form was wild, but perhaps because she was an Awakened, her power seemed strong.
It could probably smash through bricks.
Now that I had subdued the ones with guns, I just needed to create some distance.
I quickly stepped back and added a few words.
“No matter how strong your technique is, if you don’t hit, it’s useless. This applies to monsters too, so remember it. It’s also a word that can save your lives from powerful monsters.”
Soon, the girl wielding the sword collapsed, exhausted.
“I-I surrender.”
“Then there are four left. Just one remains.”
Now only the tall boy named Bae Hu-seong was left.
I thought he would charge in too, but he was just watching this chaos.
“51, good thinking. It’s wise not to fight against someone much stronger. If I were an instructor, I would award extra points for survival. Do you want to surrender too?”
“I’m not surrendering; I wanted to fight alone from the start. I waited for the others to fall first.”
Swipe-.
The boy clenched his fists.
“Wahhh!”
He yelled and charged at me.
Is he trying to raise his fighting spirit?
“Are you announcing your attack?”
I lifted my foot towards the boy charging at me.
“Spartan Kick!”
Bang—!
With a kick to his abdomen, the boy flew away.
I didn’t use magic, and he was wearing protective gear, so he probably wouldn’t be hurt.
Clap, clap—.
Finally, Yu Ara applauded.
“In less than 30 seconds, you took down five of them. Senpai, you’re still amazing! You guys, these are A class students!”
Are these A class students?
Isn’t A class for honor students?
I felt like an adult bullying little kids and was slightly disappointed.
When I was their age…
Well, what good would it do to say that?
Yu Ara yelled towards the ground.
“You guys, your teamwork is a complete mess. Even if the numbers are in your favor, you need to plan calmly and charge together. Having numbers at such a time turned into a burden, did it not?”
That’s true.
She articulated exactly what I wanted to say.
Is this what they call the torch being passed?
Soon, junior Bae Hu-seong stood up, rubbing his abdomen.
“Is fighting between people that important? We are trained to fight against monsters. Was that really meaningful?”
I simply answered that.
“Of course it is. Monsters in human form share both strengths and weaknesses with humans. I still don’t understand why the government got rid of the human combat classes. It’s truly fundamental. Were they trying to prevent kids from fighting each other?”
When the cracks first opened and the world was in chaos, nobody talked about human rights or anything. That’s why I was allowed into the crack even though I was a minor.
But now, as society stabilized again, human rights activists started to gain influence.
“…I still can’t accept it. It can’t be that someone like this isn’t an A rank instructor! Isn’t it said that instructors must be at least B rank?”
That was a valid point.
Even if my skills were good, the teaching part would be a different matter entirely.
There’s no guarantee that an excellent scholar can also make an excellent teacher.
To begin with, being an instructor was not a sure thing, but a thought suddenly popped into my head.
“Then how about we settle this tomorrow? Let’s see whether the three Nymphs I taught can pass through this crack faster or if your five F ranks can get through it quicker? But if I win the bet, you must post something about it online.”
Three peculiar Nymphs.
And five F rank Awakened ones.
The conditions might actually put me at a disadvantage, but I was confident.
Now, I should also raise my name value above Kkungkkungi’s.
Teenagers are sensitive to trends and information spreads quickly!
