NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
Chapter 5. Provocation
Up until now, Yoo Ji-han had never had the experience of playing a dealer in Kim Hyun-tae’s party.
He had prepared to take on the dealer role at any moment due to potential emergencies, but mistakes could happen when entering the real deal.
‘I wonder if I can perform like Kim Hyun-tae.’
Kim Hyun-tae, the leader of the Keroes guild, was quite an ideal figure as the main dealer who wielded a gigantic two-handed sword, which was hard for two to three adults to lift, as if it were an extension of his own body.
Among the various reasons why Kim Hyun-tae’s party gained attention in Korea, the presence of the hero Kim Hyun-tae held the most weight.
From the time Yoo Ji-han was active in Keroes until his expulsion, he hadn’t resisted Kim Hyun-tae’s somewhat oppressive attitude due to respect for his skills as the main dealer.
‘…I have to give it a shot somehow.’
Yoo Ji-han shook his head, dispelling the distracting thoughts.
He had already secured a stake in Kkuljaem through a contract.
He was no longer just a simple guild member or party member; he had become the owner of the guild.
He didn’t want to become a vague and floating presence in the party like before.
“There’s a public training center near the office that we sometimes use.”
“Let’s head there.”
Yoo Ji-han exited Kkuljaem’s office with Kim Si-hu and moved to the public training center established by the Hero Department.
The public training center was a space where one could use a variety of systems by paying a small fee.
“Keroes uses a private training center, right?”
“Yeah. The whole basement from level 2 to 5 of the guild building was a training center.”
“Indeed, you need a lot of money…”
For large guilds, private training centers are built for the exclusive use of that guild’s parties.
However, smaller guilds like Kkuljaem had no choice but to use public training centers.
Though there were places that rented out private training centers for a fee, they were generally more expensive than public ones.
As the two approached the entrance of the public training center, a staff member came over to them.
“Which guild are you from?”
“Kkuljaem.”
“Kkuljaem?”
“Yes.”
“I haven’t heard of it… Please wait a moment.”
The staff member pulled out their mobile phone with a confused expression.
It was to search for the unfamiliar guild name.
This was one of the tribulations faced by lesser-known small guilds.
“Si-hu, why is our guild named Kkuljaem?”
“Kkuljaem. Honey jam. It means it’s very fun and it also refers to jam made from honey.”
“So why is that the guild name?”
“Because it’s cute.”
“Oh, I see…”
As Yoo Ji-han expected, Kkuljaem did not have a grandiose meaning behind its name.
The upside was that it was short and easy to remember, so once heard, it wouldn’t be easily forgotten.
‘Honestly, it’s a hundred times better than Keroes.’
Much better than a guild name that’s just full of pretense and flash.
As he thought this, Yoo Ji-han silently cursed Keroes.
The staff member successfully found their guild information and confirmed their identities.
“The usage fee is 50,000 won per person per hour. When there are two or more people, there’s an additional 30,000 won per person.”
“Do we get a guild discount?”
“Yes. If you’re from the same guild, there’s an additional 20,000 won per hour, and if you’re from the same party in the same guild, it’s an additional 10,000 won per hour for the maximum discount.”
“Since we’re in the same party, that makes 60,000 won per hour, right?”
“Correct.”
“I’ll pay for 5 hours in advance.”
Since the fee for one hour was 60,000 won, the usage fee for 5 hours was 300,000 won.
Yoo Ji-han pulled out a card from his wallet and handed it to him.
Just then, Kim Si-hu, who was also getting his wallet out, was taken aback and said,
“Huh? Why are you paying for the training fees?! I should be paying as the guild master!”
“It’s not that much, so it’s fine. And I also have guild stakes.”
“But still…”
“Money? I can always earn more.”
Yoo Ji-han said it as if it were nothing.
With a dissatisfied expression, Kim Si-hu put his wallet back in his pocket.
‘Thirty thousand won is a very small investment.’
Yoo Ji-han had no intention of saving money when it came to his growth as a hero.
He always believed that there was more to gain than what he invested.
He couldn’t exactly call himself rich, but he wasn’t the sort of person to get stingy over spending a few tens of thousands.
After a short while, they entered the public training center following the guidance of the staff member.
The ceiling was high, and the space was very wide.
Various training machines awaited the heroes.
“There are quite a few people here.”
Those in similar situations to Kkuljaem were already utilizing the public training center.
As Kim Si-hu glanced around, he asked,
“What should we try first?”
“Hold on a sec.”
Yoo Ji-han slightly lifted his coat.
The Sylph he had summoned earlier was still nestled there.
‘If I’m discovered, it might get a bit noisy.’
The fact that he had formed a contract with a spirit would eventually become public knowledge over time anyway.
But he didn’t want to draw people’s attention at the training center right now.
It would interfere with the paid training.
“Sylph, you can go back now.”
Drrr!
The green orb flickered slightly in discontent and then vanished.
The spirit returned to the spirit world, where it would wait until summoned again.
‘It’s so easy to un-summon…’
Kim Si-hu felt a bit impressed with Yoo Ji-han.
The fact that a Spirit Master could summon and un-summon a spirit without a single mistake on the day of the contract was something he had never heard of before.
It was said that at the beginning of a contract, managing a spirit was like raising a child that refuses to listen.
‘Is the Sylph special?’
The wind spirit had formed a contract with Kim Si-hu’s mother before making a contract with Yoo Ji-han.
After her death, the contract was forcibly released, but the Sylph might still remember the commands it learned back then.
If that were the case, it would be very good news.
Since Kim Si-hu had memorized all the spirit magic his mother used, he would be able to pass it all on to Yoo Ji-han.
“Let’s warm up by trying that.”
Yoo Ji-han pointed to the AR training area set up on one side of the training center.
It was a training where special goggles could be worn to superimpose holographic images onto reality.
“There’s a team waiting in front.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
The AR training area was already in use by others.
In a public training center with many users, it felt like one had to wait, similar to an amusement park.
As Yoo Ji-han waited for his turn, he watched the training of the person ahead.
“Huff! Huff! Hah!”
In a space surrounded by magically reinforced glass, a man wearing black goggles was shouting as he dashed around.
If someone unfamiliar with AR training saw it, they might think he was crazy.
However, only when viewed on prepared monitors could one understand that scene.
The man on the screen was standing on a vast grassland under the sun shining overhead.
Whoosh!
Whoosh—!
From a distance, wooden arrows were cascading down towards the man.
This was training to avoid incoming attacks.
Training to prepare for enemies that make ranged attacks like arrows or magic.
“Huff, huff…!”
The man in goggles was sweating profusely as he dodged the arrows.
Though they were fake arrows created through the system, he participated in the training assuming they were real arrows.
‘The Keroes training center was better than this.’
The latest training centers use technology that projects holograms over reality without needing special glasses or goggles.
Here, the system at the public training center was relatively old-school.
But it wouldn’t be a problem even if the dodging training was old-fashioned.
‘He can’t dodge that.’
While waiting and closely watching the arrows flying towards the man on screen, Yoo Ji-han thought.
An arrow was coming from behind the man, who was so focused on the front arrow.
A hit to his blind spot at a moment when he was exhausted.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to dodge that.
“Ugh!”
The man let out a short whimper and turned around.
As Yoo Ji-han expected, he got hit in the back by the arrow.
[GAME OVER]
As the arrow struck him, the training ended.
This was hell mode where the training would end immediately if one was hit even once.
There would be no pain, but the man showed a great deal of disappointment on his face.
“I could’ve lasted a bit longer…!”
“You lasted much longer than before.”
The man wearing the goggles exited the training area.
A teammate beside him consoled him.
“Just one more time!”
With fiery determination, he stood behind Kim Si-hu.
He was trying to challenge the training again.
“What should I do…?”
Now that it was Yoo Ji-han’s turn, he looked over the program list prepared at the AR training area.
In addition to the dodging training shown by the previous man, there were also widely known mock battles with monsters and scenarios for surviving extreme situations where allies perished.
While he pondered over what to choose, the man behind him spoke.
“Are you here to do dodging training as well?”
“Not specifically.”
“Why don’t you give it a try?”
“Um…”
“Well, I mean, you probably wouldn’t do as well as I would.”
With a grinning face, he provoked Yoo Ji-han.
His comment was laced with the implication that he looked down on Yoo Ji-han’s skills.
‘Is that so?’
Yoo Ji-han elevated one corner of his mouth as he looked at the man.
He already knew what the man was up to.
The dodging training had a good chance of ending sooner than other trainings, so if Yoo Ji-han finished quickly, it would make the man’s turn come around faster as well.
“Alright. Let’s do it once.”
[Dodging Training]
Yoo Ji-han selected the dodging training from the list.
With such a cute provocation, he couldn’t refuse.
Kim Si-hu handed Yoo Ji-han the goggles and asked, “Hyung, are you good at this?”
“To some extent.”
Yoo Ji-han put the goggles on his head.
[Please select the difficulty level]
[Easy / Normal / Hard / Hell]
The options visible through the goggles.
Yoo Ji-han naturally chose hell difficulty.
Then the man who had provoked him outside the training area laughed loudly.
“Haha! You’re bold!”
A hologram began to materialize before his eyes.
It gradually took the shape of the green grassland he had just seen on screen.
As Yoo Ji-han lightly warmed up, the countdown to initiate the attack began.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Start!]
As training began, a stone about the size of a fist flew straight at Yoo Ji-han.
True to hell difficulty, it was at a speed that would be difficult for beginners to dodge.
Swish.
He evaded the stone simply by twisting his waist without even lifting his feet off the ground.
The next stone that flew towards him, and then the even larger stone after that.
He dodged them all just by bending and twisting his waist.
“…Is this guy good?”
The man watching him on the screen muttered lowly.
It was an unexpectedly impressive skill.
But that was just the beginning.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
After the stone pattern concluded, silver shuriken appeared.
Reflecting the light, they swiftly flew toward Yoo Ji-han’s body.
However, the shuriken never grazed his body.
His feet still hadn’t left the ground.
‘Is that even possible?!’
The expression of the man who had provoked Yoo Ji-han began to freeze in real-time.
Even he found it hard to attempt such a move easily.
But Yoo Ji-han made it possible.
<—If you twist your waist to the left, probability of dodging that shuriken>
<20%>
<—If you lean your head back, probability of dodging that shuriken>
<90%>
<—If you completely bend your upper body, probability of dodging that shuriken>
<98%>
It was because he was constantly sampling various actions to determine the best option against the incoming attacks.
It was a familiar practice for him to gauge the various actions he could take in moments requiring choices and to optimize his selection.
Having experienced all sorts of dangerous battles in the Kim Hyun-tae party, dodging such obvious attacks wasn’t much of a challenge for him.