53 – Field Experience Learning (2)
The method of conducting the experience was as follows.
A meticulously calculated course.
Taking into consideration the level of the first-year students, they would only face monsters that they could handle. Managing the number of monsters to make sure they encounter them.
And the teachers, hiding their presence, would follow behind them. Maintaining an appropriate distance that would not disrupt the experience, but also preparing for any potential danger.
The number of teachers who came together, including Yeoul, was five, which was the same as the number of groups that could be accommodated for one round of the experience.
That’s why Yeoul was also assigned to manage one path.
“Start!”
With Su-young’s shout, the first chapter of the experience began.
Simultaneously, five groups, twenty-five students in total, moved forward.
A dense forest path where the touch of human hands is barely felt.
Whether it was a sword, an axe, or fists, students advanced, wielding various weapons while drawing upon their magic.
In the distance, the presence of a monster could be sensed along the forest path, still beyond their sight.
Suddenly, students blocking the path confronted a single monster.
Resembling a wild boar, it wasn’t an overwhelmingly powerful creature, either in size or magical strength. Slightly stronger than a typical wild boar.
However…
“….”
These students were encountering a monster for the first time. The creature’s vague vitality, present in everything it carried, made the students’ bodies stiffen.
Perhaps due to the large number of opponents, the monster, too, stood still, seemingly exhaling as if contemplating exploration.
During the standoff, not benefiting either side.
Gradually, a faint sense of fear spread like a snowball among the students.
Until now, their training had involved practicing against scarecrows or sparring among students with no intention of causing harm.
Perhaps because of this, they were excessively intimidated by the monster, which, even when combined, seemed insurmountable.
The monster, seemingly sensing their hesitation due to the large number, slowly began to approach.
As the threat intensified, they became even more frozen.
At that moment, when it seemed unbearable,
“It’s okay…! We can do it if we just follow our training…!”
One student stepped forward, breaking the prolonged silence with a loud declaration. The other students from the same group were surprised by the sudden disruption but were also somewhat relieved as the overwhelming fear diminished.
-Yeah, it’s nothing special…!
-The teacher said he would watch us from behind…!
-Who are we?
-Students from the Korean Superhuman Specialized High School.
Though their bodies still trembled with tension, they rallied together and rushed towards the monster, shouting in unison.
The ensuing scene, honestly, couldn’t be considered an impressive fight.
There were students swinging swords with closed eyes and others hesitant to throw punches as if reluctant to inflict harm. Some students were thrown far away after receiving a blow from the wild boar-like monster.
However, against the overwhelming size and numbers, there was no way to resist.
The monster resembling a large wild boar was beaten this way and that by the students until it finally succumbed, losing its life on the ground.
Even after the monster’s death, the students, seemingly unaware of it, continued their merciless violence for a while, but as soon as they confirmed the creature’s stillness, they collectively sheathed their weapons.
“Did we make it…?”
“You idiot, saying that even a dead person will come back to life…!”
“No, if it was this bad, I should’ve died….”
Cough, cough…
With rough breaths and a body filled with energy.
As a precaution, they confirmed the killings until the end.
Exhausted, the students remained seated right where they were.
Their arms and legs trembled as if their veins had gone limp due to prolonged tension.
A bit. No, they were quite sloppy.
For the first time in their lives.
A successful conclusion to the demon hunting.
With adrenaline surging and a sense of achievement filling their heads, they embraced each other and cheered.
“Damn, we did it…!”
Yeoul, who had been watching them from a distance, handed out the evaluation paper that Sunyeong had brought.
Although it wasn’t made known to the students, their scores would be determined based on how they dealt with the crisis situation. It was supposed to be a experiential learning, but in reality, it was more like a practical assessment.
Yeoul awarded extra points to the student who, as the first one, relieved the tension of the team by shouting.
* * *
The first experiential activity ended relatively smoothly.
Even after encountering several more demons after the wild boar, the students of that team became more skilled at facing the demons, possibly due to successfully buttoning up the first one.
By the end, they were able to easily defeat demons that were even stronger than the wild boar.
After leading them back to the training ground.
In that manner, Yeoul continued to supervise the other teams.
Most of the teams followed a similar pattern to the first team. They were tense at first, but once the tension eased, they were successful in the hunt with ease.
However, there were a few teams that were different.
Some teams couldn’t control their fear from the very first encounter with a demon, so in the end, Yeoul had to step in and deal with it.
Teasing them away as they cried and clung onto her, Yeoul judged that they couldn’t continue the activity and led them back to the original training ground.
Naturally, those teams didn’t receive good scores.
While there were teams like that, there were also teams that skillfully faced the demons without any trace of tension.
Among those teams, there were students who seemed familiar with the demons. When one student could handle them skillfully, the others were able to succeed in the hunt as well.
There was one student who stood out among them.
She was a female student who exuded a somewhat delinquent atmosphere.
Honestly, she was on a different level from the average first-year students.
It seemed as if she had experienced battling demons before; she showed no fear or tension but rather seemed to feel exhilaration at the thought of being able to kill her opponent.
Her skills were unquestionable.
It seemed as though she wielded her sword as a weapon, and with each swing, the demon’s neck would be swiftly severed.
Although her sword seemed to lack any discernible technique, she still managed to tear demons to pieces with her brute strength alone.
As a result, the other members of her team could only watch in awe of her authority.
After the impressive student’s team finished their experience,
they prepared to face the next team.
Suddenly, a familiar face came into view.
Coincidentally, Ryeoun’s team had been assigned to his supervising route.
Ryeoul exchanged glances with her younger brother, smiled as she acknowledged his greetings, but for some reason, her expression seemed stiff.
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Up until then, they had assumed it was due to nervousness.
The experiential learning began, and Ryeoul hid her body and followed behind their team.
They encountered a demon face to face.
However, an unexpected situation arose.
“Uh, uh…?”
“Ryeoun?”
Without any hesitation or reluctance, Ryeoun immediately ran towards the demon as soon as she saw it.
Her teammates were taken aback by her impulsive actions and tried to stop her, but she was already far ahead, standing in front of the demon.
She firmly planted both feet on the ground. Then, she rotated her body and gathered all her strength from her waist, torso, shoulders, and arms into her fist.
Kwaaang!
With one punch, her fist caved in the demon’s skull.
The demon clearly seemed to have died instantly, but she did not stop there.
As if possessed, she mercilessly pummeled the demon from all sides, above, below, left, and right, until there was no part of the demon’s body untouched by her fists.
The other team members watched in shock as they witnessed this brutal scene, feeling a mixture of pity and horror for the demon.
Her actions towards the next demons they encountered were the same.
As soon as they came into sight, she leaped forward.
And in an instant, she completely destroyed the demons with her fists.
Her ability to turn demons into mincemeat with just her fists was undoubtedly overwhelming, but her body was filled with an excessive amount of strength.
Something seemed to be causing intense emotions to lead to action.
Like lava boiling and overflowing, that emotion was–
Hatred, perhaps.
That was all that was reflected in Yeoru’s eyes as she watched it.
Then why did she harbor such strong hatred towards Ma-su? Why could she not control her emotions and show a completely different side from usual?
Even her older brother couldn’t understand.
He could only speculate about what might have happened in the past ten years.
He recalled what he had heard Yeoru say a few days ago. Seeing her unknown younger sister, it definitely felt like there was a lack of conversation.
And so, the activity ended.
Yeoru’s robes were stained with blood, while the other team members were perfectly clean, their breaths not even slightly rough.
And Yeoru, as if coming back to her senses at that moment, scratched her head with a bewildered expression as she looked at her teammates.
“Um… Did I go a bit overboard?”
According to her gestures, the blood that had been on her hands also stuck to her hair. Now Yeoru was completely covered in blood.
“Oh, no…”
“Yeoru, you’re really strong…”
“You’re cool…”
In response to her excessive actions, the teammates who were supposed to instill fear in Ma-su rather than her awkwardly laughed and matched her pace.
In her bright smile, there were heavy emotions that couldn’t be shown on the surface, like droplets hanging on the corners of her mouth.
Yeoru, looking at the folded handkerchief of emotions that seemed to fall at a touch, tried hard to calm her throbbing chest more than ever.