How to Live as a Fencing Genius Hunter - Chapter 8

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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How to Live as a Fencing Genius Hunter
Chapter 8
Position (3)
The Awakeners murmured among themselves.
“Wow, wow!”
“Did he hit position six just now?”
“He blocks the right shoulder and counterattacks, so yes. Position six. Parry Sixte Riposte.”
“That last one was the left leg. Septième. The numbering’s pretty similar to English, isn’t it.”
“As long as we match the movements and positions, it works. Five’s the head, six’s upper right, four’s upper left…….”
Watching me work Kim Gang-o over, several of them dropped their jaws.
“Holy. Damn. He’s insane.”
I caught a glimpse of Lee Hae-il covering her mouth with her own hand, drawing a sharp breath.
Now, if that wasn’t a woman, that would’ve been even worse.
“Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha! Jeong Jae-ha!”
Someone was chanting my name over and over.
“Everyone—stop cheering and just watch!”
I fought down the smile tugging at the corner of my mouth and continued the instruction.
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes!”
“We watched so well!”
“Long live Parry whatever-it-is Riposte!”
By the time I’d demonstrated all six defensive positions thoroughly, Kim Gang-o had taken on the appearance of ground meat, writhing on the floor.
He was in no state to continue fighting.
Still, I felt the loss.
Not because Kim Gang-o was hurt, but because I couldn’t keep fighting an opponent who came at me with everything they had, genuinely trying to beat me.
I picked up the training sword with a wry smile.
Then I drove my knee hard into his body to drop him flat.
“Ugh!”
Kim Gang-o cried out and collapsed face-first.
His handmade sword fell from his grip.
I kicked it far away, then pinned his throat firmly with my training sword, subduing him completely.
“Kim Gang-o.”
I continued in a voice so soft and low only he could hear it.
“Do I owe you something? Why are you throwing a tantrum because I didn’t teach you?”
“Hack, hack—”
“You’re not even better with a blade than I am, are you?”
Part of me wanted him to get back up and come at me again; another part hoped he’d disappear and never show his face before me again.
“If you want something from me, you need to be either more principled than I am or stronger than I am. One or the other.”
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you for sure!”
Kim Gang-o snarled.
“Kill me?”
A scornful laugh escaped me.
“You only had the nerve to come here because you thought I wouldn’t kill you. That’s right. I won’t kill you. I have too much to lose.”
I know it from experience.
At that small murmur, Kim Gang-o flinched.
“But I can beat you senseless just like I did today. If you come back again, or if I hear you’ve laid a hand on any of these people here training under me, you’ll get beaten again. Right in front of everyone.”
I fixed him with a hard stare.
“……!”
Kim Gang-o trembled, then dropped his gaze.
“He attempted to craft a handmade sword and attack a fellow trainee with it. I request severe punishment.”
I called over an instructor, handed Kim Gang-o off to him, and resumed the lesson.
Everyone was so eager to learn that we all lost track of time as we continued practicing.
Working with each person one by one put such a strain on my right leg that I felt the wear.
From that fatigue, I learned something else.
Even without exerting my full power, accumulated exhaustion brings a physical response.
I need to hunt monsters soon.
Meanwhile, a few Awakeners stayed after and wanted to keep practicing.
“Huff, huff. Damn, damn it. Wow. Instructor. Damn, I mean. Really, thank you so much. I learned a ton.”
“You worked hard.”
One of them was Lee Hae-il.
“You did well.”
His swordwork showed promise.
The footwork and rhythm were solid, and the way he closed distance without hesitation made me think he might benefit from learning sabre technique as well.
It was strange that he wore men’s clothing when there were female inmates available.
I couldn’t fathom how he’d made it through detention and all the way to the prison undetected, and truthfully, I didn’t care to know.
But Kim Gang-o’s odd behavior earlier had caught my attention.
Surely even someone with anger management issues wouldn’t go so far as to forge a Handmade Sword and hunt me down just because I wouldn’t teach him swordplay?
And here was someone who’d dismissed fencing as mere chopstick-poking, now wanting to learn from me?
It didn’t add up.
The real issue wasn’t swordwork—it made more sense that he was concerned about situations that might slip beyond his own sight.
“…….”
I had no interest in whatever lay between Lee Hae-il’s legs.
“Lee Hae-il.”
“Ah, yes! Sir!”
But if I’d taught someone for even just two hours and they showed decent talent and genuine passion, as a swordsman I owed them my attention.
“This might be overstepping, but I used to have a friend who trained fencing with me back then.”
“Yes. Oh, and please speak comfortably with me. Sir.”
“Thanks. Well, this friend trained incredibly hard, and I could tell he genuinely loved fencing, but his natural talent just wasn’t there. He never did make it to the world stage.”
“I see.”
“But because he kept at it so relentlessly, he got good at teaching. In the end, he landed work as an instructor at one of the big fencing clubs in Gangnam.”
I realized I was being a bit roundabout with it.
“Teaching wealthy housewives and company presidents, he made far more than most gold medalists ever did. I don’t know where he is now, but either way, he outlasted me in the industry by a long shot.”
So I just said it outright.
“Walk with me. You can do this. Maybe not today, but don’t ever lose that will to rise. Understand?”
Lee Hae-il stared at me for a moment, then nodded slowly and deeply.
“Yes. Sir.”
* * *
Hong Si-yu kept her word.
“Early graduation, then?”
Kim Gang-o was discharged early—whether as punishment or by other means, I couldn’t say.
“Yes. That’s what Director Si-yu arranged.”
“So where is Kim Gang-o being sent?”
“The Black Guild took thirty recruits last session and they all died within a month, so their business participation got cut this time. That’s where he went.”
The two weeks left until the Tutorial flew by.
We kept studying swordwork, marksmanship, hunting theory, and first aid.
All six training sessions were held as scheduled.
Then the day arrived.
Nearly a thousand Awakeners gathered again in the grand hall where we’d first assembled.
“Well! A month has already passed.”
Hong Si-yu took the microphone at the podium, speaking with bright energy.
“The final exam—the Tutorial—is tomorrow. You’ll enter a Gate and fight Monsters directly.”
This time, no one chattered or caused a disturbance.
Everyone knew how formidable a Hunter and Awakener she was.
“Now, before I explain the rules of the Pumpkin Forest Gate where this Tutorial will be held, let me give you the midterm score tally. The top scorer before the final practical is……!”
She drew out the announcement with some drama, but no one was in suspense.
“……Yes! Participant Jeong!”
Hundreds of eyes turned toward me as if it were obvious.
“We’ll see.”
Kim Gang-o’s faction, sitting huddled in a corner without their leader, gritted their teeth, while Lee Hae-il beside me nodded approvingly.
“Sir! Congratulations!”
“Thanks.”
Lee Hae-il had completely severed ties with that faction.
During classes she stayed at my side, and we ate together.
In first aid and marksmanship training, I even received help from her.
‘Sir, let me practice what we learned today later.’
Thanks to that, I’d even earned bonus points in first aid class.
Over the past two weeks, with additional conduct marks and midterm scores tallied, my points had crossed sixty.
Even bombing the practical would land me at a major corporation or government agency.
Of course, I was headed to the Saetbyeol Guild.
“Participant Jeong. Come on up.”
That was when Hong Si-yu called out to me.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“What’s she giving him?”
The Awakeners stirred, eyes fixed on me.
I rose from my seat and climbed onto the dais.
Hong Si-yu opened a velvet box.
Inside lay an ivory-colored ring.
“This is a prize for placing first in the Tutorial. Though I should mention—don’t get your hopes up just yet. Simply put it on your left middle finger.”
Half-certain, I slipped the ring on.
Hum—
My vision tilted for a moment, then righted itself.
+
[Name: (Unregistered)]
[Awakening Ability: Physical Enhancement]
[Unique Skills: (Display restricted to protect wearer’s personal information)]
[Lunge]
[Retreat]
[Advance]
[Ballestra]
[Parry Sixte Riposte]
[Fleche]
.
.
.
+
What is this?
A message glowed blue across my field of vision.
Nearly every fencing technique I knew was laid out in neat rows.
The same information appeared on the PowerPoint screen behind me.
Whether due to the restriction on visibility, several unique skills weren’t showing on that display.
“Wow.”
“What is all that?”
A thousand Awakeners gazed at the screen in wonder.
“Player Jeong. Would you mind demonstrating one of the techniques marked as a Unique Skill?”
At Hong Si-yu’s words, I lightly executed a Lunge.
[Lunge]
Whoosh—
The word “Lunge” flickered translucently across my vision, then vanished. I shot forward more than thirty meters and came to a stop at one end of the dais.
“Oh!”
An indescribable sensation flooded through me.
It was perfect.
After repeating a move hundreds, thousands of times—lost count of how many attempts—that single perfect moment would arrive, maybe once or twice. My absolute best. And here it was.
“You feel it, don’t you?”
Hong Si-yu smiled knowingly.
“This is an artifact called the Status Window Ring, jointly developed by Dr. Seo Na-gyeong of the Saetbyeol Workshop and Saejeong Psionic.”
“The Status Window Ring?”
“It artificially reproduces the Status Window that high-level Natural Awakeners perceive. It’s equipped with motion assistance through Skillification, limited communications, and other functions. For this Tutorial, you’ll all receive them on loan, while first and second place will receive theirs as a gift.”
It was as if she were asking, ‘Impressive, isn’t it?’
I nearly burst out laughing.
“Since it’s an extremely valuable item, please be careful not to misplace it. In a previous cohort, someone tried to steal and sell one—they ended up reassigned to a guild with an eighty percent mortality rate.”
The price wasn’t the issue.
The cruelty was.
Don’t get your hopes up, she’d said.
And then she shows me this.
I understood what this ring—or more precisely, what the Status Window’s ‘Skill’ function—gave me.
My best self.
The way a character in a game always executes the same skill with perfect precision, this let me display my absolute best every single time.
For a swordsman, there was no describing how glorious that was.
“Now then, I shall explain the rules for the Tutorial Gate—Pumpkin Forest.”
I feel it now, moment by moment—that sense of drawing out my absolute best.
Two weeks ago, her promise came back to me. She’d take care of me spectacularly.
I hadn’t expected it to be this spectacular.
I can’t wait to test this in actual combat.
Even waiting for Hong Si-yu’s explanation feels unbearable.
* * *
“Provisional first rank.”
“I had a feeling.”
The silver-haired woman flexed the Artifact Gauntlet in her hands, laughing.
“Of course it’s him. The type who laughs off both the gifted and the diligent alike—he’s the one who simply enjoys himself.”
A reel at the gauntlet’s wrist rotated slowly, drawing in gossamer threads of silver wire.
Before her lay the corpse of a monster severed into dozens, perhaps hundreds of pieces.
Oddly enough, human arms, legs, and a head sprouted from various points on the creature.
“By now he should’ve gotten a Status Window Ring, right? You said Si-yu picked up a few through the association?”
“Didn’t the Director approve the removal?”
“Hm? I have no idea.”
The silver-haired woman puffed out her cheeks in an innocent expression.
“Director Jeong.”
The man in the dark suit extended a large towel, his brow furrowing as if he’d witnessed something he shouldn’t have.
“The Status Window Ring is nice. With that, you can see monster grades, and it displays just about any skill. Does it show names too?”
The silver-haired woman called Director Jeong showed no concern whatsoever and continued puffing her cheeks.
“All registered monster species appear, and personal names can be customized.”
“Then I should change mine. Just in case he sees it.”
“If that were to happen, it would constitute a major incident.”
“I know, I know.”
“But are you truly confident he’ll claim first rank even in the Tutorial? There are a thousand participants. How can we account for every variable?”
The suited man pressed the question.
“Variables?”
Director Jeong released the air from her cheeks and answered seriously.
“Do you know why he was always the best?”
“Sir?”
“Because he was the variable itself.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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