Chapter 4. Synchronization (1) (1/2)

Eight students were gathered in a big room on the highest floor of dorm 1. They were all sitting in an arrogant delinquent-like manner, laughing loudly at even the smallest things. Occasionally, they stole stealthy glances at the one who called them over. But the person in question remained silent as though he couldn’t care less.

“Oh right, Jonghak, isn’t there a gun user in your class?”

One man asked him. He was a generic good-looking guy with an amiable smile. Shin Jonghak opened his eyes narrowly and stared back at him.

“… Um, I just heard it from somewhere. Did I hear wrong?”

“I don’t know. I’m not interested in trash.”

“R-Right. I’m not really interested either, but I was just curious who the fool was, haha.”

“Hanjun, you sure are curious about the strangest things~”

A captivating voice cut through. Jin Hanjun turned his head and saw a long-haired girl smiling charmingly. It was Yoo Yeonha. Feeling his heart beating, the flustered Jin Hanjun blurted out.

“O-Oh, Yeonha. Y-You know, I was always like that.”

“What was his name? Chundong? Chunbun? It was a pretty old-fashioned name. Anyways, don’t pay too much attention to him.”

“But he sure was pathetic. Why did that son of a bitch come all the way to Cube if he was going to choose a gun?”

The foul language came from Kim Horak. Bulky muscles, an intimidating expression, and a large physique. Even with just one glance, it was easy to see that he specialized in close ranged combat.

Jin Hanjun asked Kim Horak, “You know him?”

“I’m in Jonghak’s class, idiot. I’m going to destroy him in combat training. I’ll disable him and chase him out.”

Everyone knew Cube’s schedule. There were classes five days a week and combat training three days a week.

Classes referred to comprehensive magic power training and physical training, while combat training referred to battles, monster hunts, rescue missions, and more.

“I’ll destroy that son of a…”

“Don’t waste your time.”

With a single sentence, Shin Jonghak cut down the coarse locker room talk. Kim Horak, who was growling just a moment ago, fell silent.

“Even if you win against someone so low rank, you’ll be the one losing points. It’s better to challenge higher ranked cadets who you can win against for sure. For example…”

“Chae Nayun, try fighting her. I’m sure you’ll win.”

Yoo Yeonha cut in. Shin Jonghak narrowed his eyes and glared at her, but Yoo Yeonha continued unfazed.

“Fist against bow. It’s easy.”

“… Huh? Ah, yeah, I can win. But…”

Challenging her was difficult.

However, he swallowed his words, wanting to look good in front of Yoo Yeonha.

“But?”

“… It would be too pitiful. You know, my opponents often end up half-dead.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“… Huh?”

“Stop.”

Shin Jonghak stopped their conversation.

Though Yoo Yeonha was displeased, she feigned indifference. She quietly suppressed the unpleasant feeling rising from the corner of her heart.

‘Shin Jonghak liked Chae Nayun. I’m not so stupid as to be jealous. I just found the situation funny.’ Yoo Yeonha consoled herself.

“I’m leaving now. It’s almost ten.”

At Cube, male and female students were only allowed to interact until 22:00. After giving a bright smile to mask her hurt feelings, Yoo Yeonha stood up.

“Oh, good night.”

“Good night, Yeonha!”

“See you later!”

All the male cadets other than Shin Jonghak saw her off to the door.

**

Five minutes away from dorm 1 was a training facility called the ‘Novice Fitness Center.’ This 1000 square meter facility was filled with magical devices and equipment for exercise and training. The amount of money needed to construct such an environment would be well over a hundred million won, but there was barely anyone using the facility.

But just because the training facility was empty, it didn’t mean the future of Heroes was bleak.

While cadets were would-be Heroes that would come to receive the admiration and envy of billions of people, they were still teenagers. Simply put, there weren’t many high schoolers willing to go out of their way to train on the first day.

“I knew you’d be here.”

But an exception always existed. Even Hero Academy had a pervert who enjoyed training from the first day. Kim Suho, who was drenched in sweat and wrestling with an exercise equipment, widened his eyes at the sudden voice.

“Chae Nayun? You’re also here to train?”

“Yeah, but I won’t be as barbaric as you.”

With a wry smile, Chae Nayun pointed at the gravitation room. Seeing the terrifying cylindrical room, Kim Suho frowned.

“That’s a tough one. I can never last long in there.”

Kim Suho wiped his sweat with a towel he brought.

“It’s not like you can’t, you just don’t need to. I’m an archer, so I need to train in there. Plus, it’s not that hard. I’ve been doing it since I was 8.”

“8 years old?”

“Yep. I have one in my house.”

“… Aha.”

Setting up a gravitation room cost several hundreds of millions of won at least. From what Chae Nayun said, it could be inferred that she came from a very wealthy background.

Just like Shin Jonghak, Chae Nayun was a fourth generation chaebol. But rather than a twisted superiority complex, she carried a righteous sense of rivalry. She believed she could surpass her rivals through hard-work and self-cultivation. But in front of the monster standing in front of her, her belief always seemed to waver.

“…Oh, right. There’s another sharpshooter in our class now.”