55 – Field Experience Learning (4)
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Even though it was where the most talented superhumans in Korea gathered, is this the level they’re at?
The students who belonged to the same group as her. Seeing them struggle just because of one weak opponent made her sigh uncontrollably.
Maybe unless they had special circumstances like herself, the others would be similar.
Unable to contain her disappointment, she left the empty lot where they were boasting about defeating that weak opponent and entered the secluded forest.
She walked for a while and ventured quite deep into the forest.
After confirming that there was no one around, she took out her smartphone and opened the gallery app.
The video that started playing was a motion picture.
Intense shaking angles and excessive noise.
Beyond those, barely visible.
A large, black opponent, and compared to it, a truly small person.
At the end of the brief confrontation, a momentary moment captured in the video frame, the opponent’s body was exposed.
Watching the opponent split in half and fly away into the distance, she muttered to herself, “This is strength.”
An incident that occurred a few months ago.
The day when a third-class dimensional gate appeared in middle school.
The video that was uploaded to the internet that day.
The protagonist of the video, shot at an angle that seemed to be inside the school, was none other than her.
The overwhelming strength that she became conscious of, only after succumbing to the rising sense of powerlessness and bracing herself for death.
The reason why she, who used to live like a vagabond, started to pursue strength.
The reason why she, who enjoyed the taste of defeating with her fists, started wielding a sword.
The reason why she accepted the inconvenience of using a sword even though it was uncomfortable.
They all started from the desire to resemble that person in the video, their overwhelming strength.
After shooting the video.
Whether she was happy, sad, or angry, she always watched that video.
It was an act that calmed her heart, like a ritual, looking at her powerless self and the person who was endlessly strong.
Like that.
Dozens of times a day, every day, she replayed that day in her mind.
The admiration that had initially started in longing grew and accumulated, ultimately turning into worship.
The person who had saved her, who could easily kill the monster that had taken countless lives, the person who had saved her from the fate of certain death.
As herself, she couldn’t help but worship him.
Even now.
She stared at his indifference, trying to control her rising unnecessary anger and tame her own arrogance, and marveled at his humility.
Like someone obsessed with a cult, she endlessly watched the video.
What woke her from that state was a sudden loud noise.
Bang! Startled by the gunshot that echoed through the forest, she immediately hid in the dense foliage and looked around.
There shouldn’t be anyone here since she had been walking for a while in an open field.
Surely that should have been the case.
Turning her head towards the direction where the gunshot came from, she saw a man with long hair.
Was it Teacher Soryeo?
She didn’t want to admit it, but he was someone she remembered because of his handsome appearance.
Was it him who fired the gun? She watched him.
In the spot where he stood and on the ground around him, two bodies with visible organs were scattered.
She couldn’t help but be taken aback.
Just when she thought she heard a gunshot, she ended up seeing the sight of someone dead unexpectedly.
She was confused because she couldn’t grasp the situation at all.
Continuous gunshots heard in the midst of the chaos.
Teacher Soryeo’s hand swiftly moved, and bullets fell to the ground. Before she knew it, he held a sword in his hand.
What’s going on?
Were they under attack?
In the midst of the still unclear situation.
However, in Soryeo’s movements, she felt a strange unease.
She couldn’t explain it exactly, but it was a familiar feeling. The way he held the sword, the invisible speed…
At that moment, several people suddenly sprang out from behind the trees and ran towards Teacher Song Yeoul.
They were thugs who rushed at him with an extraordinary speed that even the girl, who was also a student, couldn’t help but be amazed by.
Regardless of her skill in manipulating magic or her level of physical enhancement, they were undoubtedly much stronger than her, who was already exceptionally strong among the students.
Such extraordinary individuals.
In an instant, in the blink of an eye.
They turned into a handful of blood splatters, scattered in all directions.
Even though she instinctively covered her mouth at the horrifying sight, she felt a sense of familiarity and overwhelming strength as if she had seen it before.
The impression of a character from numerous videos she had seen.
A man with long hair who wields a sword and has an average height.
Exactly matching the appearance of Teacher Song Yeoul.
Perhaps.
The thought of “perhaps” crossed her mind.
The sight of him beheading the last remaining thug.
His extreme restraint, combined with the unbelievably graceful sword technique, transformed her uncertainty into absolute conviction.
A sacred path, known as the way of the sword, that she had witnessed hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of times.
Unfathomable strength and charisma encompassing his entire being.
Although others may not have recognized it, she was able to because it was only her.
She could be confident because she truly admired and served the character in the videos.
The one who had been impossible to identify no matter how hard she tried to find out, he had been so close to her all along.
She felt like a young lamb meeting a god.
Her head was dizzy with overflowing emotions of awe, admiration, and reverence.
An attack from an unidentified thug?
That he had killed people with cruel hands?
None of that mattered.
In her heart, there was only him.
She was amazed that she could deeply worship a person like this, but she was thankful that she could finally meet him.
Has the situation ended? Teacher Song Yeoul slowly approached this side.
Her body was itching with anticipation.
She wanted to jump out.
She wanted to see him up close.
“I want to hear your voice.
I want to have a conversation.
I want to be certain that we are in the same space.
I couldn’t bear the overwhelming desire any longer.
When I realized it, I had already jumped out of the hidden bushes.
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Suddenly appearing and blocking the path in front of Yeoul, the female student.
It was a face he remembered. A student who couldn’t handle a sword well, but could easily cut down enemies with sheer strength.
But.
Why is she here?
Could it be that she saw him killing the villains?
If that’s the case.
How should he explain it to her?
As he ponders these thoughts, he realizes that the gaze of the female student looking at him is unusual.
It was a look that seemed to emit light from her pupils and was filled with utmost respect.
With doubts about it, the female student opens her mouth first.
“Um, hello…?”
The words that came out were unexpectedly ordinary greetings.
It was a tone filled with politeness that didn’t match her tough appearance at all.
However, Yeoul had no intention of responding to the greeting.
“Did you see it?”
“Yes, yes…?”
“I asked if you saw it.”
“Uh, yes…? I-I saw it, but….”
“Where did you see it from?”
“Um, from when those strange people shot at the teacher…?”
In essence, her words meant that she saw it from the beginning.
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As he ponders where to start and how to explain, and what words to use to convince her.
“Oh, no…! Actually, I-I didn’t see anything at all!”
“Didn’t you just see it?”
“Did, did I…?”
“….”
She suddenly changes the subject.
I couldn’t understand why she was doing that, but…
“Do you really mean that you didn’t see anything?”
“Yes, yes! I really didn’t see anything!”
Even if she had said she saw it, it wouldn’t have mattered much.
For some reason, it seemed like she was pretending not to see, even though she had seen.
“Alright.”
Deciding not to bother explaining by opening her mouth, Yeoul decided to go along with her clumsy lie.
“But why is a student out so far?”
“Well…? Uh, there, well…”
She looked uncomfortable.
It seemed like she had done something that couldn’t be said.
“It could be dangerous, so you shouldn’t do that next time.”
Although I couldn’t know what she had been doing.
Since she also closed her eyes, Yeoul decided not to pry into what she had been doing.
“Follow me. Let’s go back.”
“Yes…!”
Even so.
For whatever reason, it was clear that she had seen the scene of him committing murder.
Later, Yeoul thought that it would be necessary to have a further conversation with her, leading her towards the open field.
From behind him.
Without realizing the strange look in her eyes as she watched him.
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