Hunter Academy’s Battle God

Tang tang-!

Toy soldier heads exploded with each of SiWoo’s shots. Even though he'd shot many times, he hadn't missed a single time.

'This is the seven-year-old me…?'

In Korea, one of the strongest hunter nations, many kids received elite training since they were little and dreamt of becoming hunters, but SiWoo was special, even among them.

His genius was hard to explain with a simple 'product of elite training'.

Ironically, the one who'd noticed SiWoo's potential more than anyone else was his father, Lee SungHwan.

[Calling him a genius is an understatement. He quickly learns anything you teach him. He's different from people who just have good senses.]

SungHwan had met many hunters on his way to the top, but he didn’t think SiWoo was special just because of his shooting ability.

[A shooting genius? No. That's nonsense. That isn't what he's really good at.] SungHwan said, narrowing his eyes and looking at SiHyuk as if he found it funny.

[What he's good at is battle itself…]

SiHyuk made a confused expression.

For SiWoo, who used a gun, shooting was fighting.

[Battle itself…?]

SungHwan clicked his tongue and kept explaining. [Have you ever seen a wild beast? Although they don’t learn it beforehand, they instinctively know everything needed for survival.]

SungHwan sat on a chair and acted as if he were strangling someone. [If a deer and a lion fought, which do you think would win?]

[If it's lucky, the deer might be able to escape, but…]

[Yes. There's no need to even think about it… Then, if we fought with all of our strength, who do you think would win?]

SiHyuk remained silent for a while at SungHwan's sudden question.

[That's…]

[No one can be 100% sure because humans aren't as simple as beasts. We don't use claws but weapons, and we use any means necessary to win… but SiWoo's senses resemble a wild beast’s.] SungHwan said as he placed his gun on the table. A weapon was something that allowed the city guards to defeat villains and monsters. It was their everything.

Tap.

[He instinctively knows how strong an opponent is and if he can win or will lose, but unlike a beast, he’s good enough in strategy to reverse unfavorable situations.]

[That means…?] SungHwan carefully asked.

[In the wild, you don't get a second chance. A mistake means death. That's fighting for him. He won't fight unless he knows he can win. That's why I think highly of him.]

SiHyuk also knew of SiWoo's genius. SiWoo had what most hunters learned through trial and error. He could get an exact result only based on the simulations he ran through his mind.

[Then that's a strength that the city guards need.]

[Yes. Being a hunter doesn’t suit him, from shooting to making strategies. In a hunter’s world, because of his Trait, he's just a normal shooter. Something like my position would suit him better.]

While friends of his age were learning math, SiWoo was shooting in the middle of extreme cold. He learned how to become a spy and thus erase his traces, and he used guns to take monsters’ lives.

The excitement he first felt when he grabbed a gun had disappeared, and shooting became what he hated the most.

'10 years…'

SiWoo looked at his gun. During the International Competition, he thought he’d picked up a gun again because he had no choice. He’d thought it wasn’t fun for him anymore.

But that wasn't the case.

'As expected, I…'

SiWoo smiled at the gun, and Amy couldn't help but feel chills.

'I'm smiling while looking at the toy soldiers’ destroyed heads…'

Amy wasn't sure up until that moment, but that was enough for her to be sure.

'SiWoo is scary! He's crazy!'

Due to how much he was doing for them, she couldn't say anything. Unlike Amy's misunderstanding, SiWoo was remembering something he'd experienced with Sakura.

[How about today we do 500 meters? The one who loses has to fulfill the winner's wish~ Okay?]

At first, he was only conscious of Sakura, but he eventually had fun with her. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked spending time with her.

[Is using a gun hard?]

[Why? Do you want to learn?]

[I was just wondering. Huh? Hngh~ Why? Do you want to teach me?]

[Then you… Teach me how to use a bow.]

Just like the first day he grabbed a gun, it was a constant excitement.

[Nyam.]

It was good.

[You dummy~ You have food on your face~]

SiWoo's bad memories of guns were overwritten with good ones.

'It's probably thanks to Sakura.'

Although embarrassment caused him to struggle to express his emotions, SiWoo noticed he was starting to change, and that it was thanks to Sakura.

"Shooting a gun is fun…" SiWoo said to himself.

Amy started to tear up. 'While looking at the remnants of the soldiers… Scary…'

SiWoo's talk with himself didn't stop. He felt the fog blocking his view had moved away, and everything became clear.

"I'm strong…"

"Ah, yes… You… You're strong…"

"I'm not going to be shaken anymore. I can hit everything." Little SiWoo said while clenching his fists.

Amy agreed with him. "Yes, yes. You can do everything… You can hit everything! You're really strong!"

She copied what SiWoo was saying with a fearful voice. As they walked out of the forest, SiWoo let out a sigh.

"This much should be enough."

SiWoo and Amy were standing between the block castle and the forest.

Even though they had to move to the next area to meet up with people, SiWoo wasn't moving.

"Hmm? H-here? But there isn't anything here. Hmm. Shouldn't we cross to meet up with others?" Amy couldn't understand the situation.

SiWoo slowly shook his head. "That's also what I thought at first, but why do you think I've gotten rid of everyone following us?"

Swoosh.

As SiWoo began explaining, Amy finally looked into his shining eyes. His Clairvoyance could look at places far away.

What could he see that she couldn't?

Tap.

SiWoo removed something from his Pocket.

"Huh?"

What appeared before Amy was a homemade bomb.

"I've seen the truth of this world. Think about it. How did the opponent know our exact starting point in the forest?"

"Hmm. That's…" Amy fell into thought.

"What does the Tower need to hinder us when there are so many participants on the 10th floor?"

"That's…" There was no way she'd be able to answer.

SiWoo, the one who'd seen the truth, answered. "It needs to separate us. Us not being able to meet each other would be the best thing for the Tower. For example, making us start in different worlds."

Amy shook her head at SiWoo's words. "But that's cheating…"

"I was just making a comparison. I don't think the opponent has such power. Still, isn't it weird? This chocolate river, a forest made of cookies… There's no way such a world exists. If it does… it was probably made by someone, right?"

SiWoo was saying that someone had made the toylike world. Amy was finally starting to understand what he was talking about.

"Then, to find our party members…"

"We have to break the creators of this world."

Pang!

As SiWoo finished talking, the bomb exploded. He grabbed Amy and used a shield barrier he'd prepared beforehand.

FWOOSH!

A hole appeared in the floor, and they began to fall.

"AHH! WE'RE FALLING-!"

Clouds surrounded them no matter how much they fell, but slowly and surely, a new world began to appear below them.

* * *

* * *

5 minutes, 32 seconds…

That was how long it took YuSung to destroy the toy castle.

"Oh…"

Adela opened her little mouth and looked around in surprise.

The head of a block golem was rolling on the ground next to her, and the bodies of the toy soldiers were completely ruined.

YuSung was someone who broke the balance there.

"So the block monsters can still move even if their heads are separated. Adela, these guys… have to be completely destroyed. Okay?"

Adela nodded at YuSung. "Okay…"

Although she was quieter, Adela was close to YuSung and listened attentively to his words. That wasn't a good sign. It meant SYuSung and Adela were being assimilated into their childlike bodies.

They had to escape the Toy World as quickly as possible, but Adela pointed somewhere. "A shooting star…"

YuSung turned his head at Adela's unexpected words. What was falling from the sky wasn't a shooting star. Rather, it was SiWoo and Amy.

"KYAA! How do we stop this?!"

"Don't worry. I've prepared an anti-shock barrier. If we fall correctly, we will break one or two bones. That's it." It seemed like SiWoo was prepared to get hurt the moment he made the bomb explode.

Amy's eyes widened, and she shouted, "Save me!"

After realizing what was happening, YuSung shouted for Adela’s help in catching them.

"Adela, foothold!"

Although she'd become younger, Adela's abilities were still impressive. After finishing the calculations quickly, Adela created footholds underneath YuSung.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The moment he stepped on the footholds, YuSung kept jumping. As the distance between him and his targets closed, YuSung used mana on both legs.

Tap!

Shadowed Moon Steps…

YuSung leaped forward from the icy foothold and managed to catch SiWoo and Amy in each of his arms.

* * * *

Within the cave holding the prisoners, EunAh, who was still inside the orca's mouth, seemed bored.

"Sumire. I also want to get out and fight…"

"We could fight if we got out of this prison…"

As Sumire patted Kim EunAh, for some reason, she regained energy.

"Yes! For example… What if the cave suddenly collapsed and the ceiling broke? If that happened, I could really bzzt!"

It seemed like EunAh had gotten over her fear of using her Trait after Sumire was kidnapped.

If it was to protect Sumire and her partners, even if she was scared of it, EunAh was willing to use it.

"It would be great if YuSung came to save us."

"He's going to come."

"Really? I guess so~ But Sumire, aren't you cold? I'll let you hug the orca!"

As EunAh flapped the orca's fin and showed some generosity, Sumire found herself unable to turn her away.

"Th-then… Should I hug it for a moment?"

"Of course. But other people can't, okay? It's just you."

Sumire ended up hugging the orca, and she could feel EunAh moving inside as she did so.

'This feels so refreshing…'

Sumire liked cute things, so the sensation of the comfy orca and the young EunAh was a good combination. It felt like the tiredness from doing the Tower's subjugation was melting down, but at that moment…

BOOM!!

The cave ceiling broke, and familiar faces became visible.

"See? They were here." SiWoo's eyes were shining.

"Haha. Everyone's been trapped. Then I'm the winner because I survived, right?" Amy was making a V with her fingers.

"Cute doll…" Adela seemed interested in the orca. All of the party members were gathered.

* * * *

The Toy King was feeling good.

Area one…

Area two…

Area three…

'I can deal with them easily after putting two in each territory.'

Since EunAh and Sumire were trapped, the Toy King just had to defeat the remaining four to win.

'Yes. I have a goal. I'm not going to collapse here.'

Most of the bosses weren't aware of the challengers, but the Toy King knew about the Tower's existence and the challengers. That was thanks to his Trait, which could move his consciousness through objects.

Although the Toy King was just a rank 3 boss, he had his previous world's memories and knowledge of the Tower, just like Laplace.

It was a special case in the Tower, and thanks to that knowledge, the Toy King made the situation favorable to him.

'Should I check where the others are?'

He couldn't see SiWoo and Amy on the monitor for area one.

'Huh?'

He also couldn't see YuSung and Adela in area two.

'Huh?!'

Only after changing the screen to area three did the Toy King hit the table with his fist made of blocks.

"What's going on…?"

YuSung was twisting the neck of a toy soldier, Amy was using her whip, and EunAh was using the orca as a weapon.

Adela moved her hands and froze the opponents, SiWoo was making a mountain from the remnants of the soldiers, and Sumire was cheering after summoning skeletons.

Among the many opponents the Toy King had faced…

'How can I win this?'

Shin YuSung's party was the strongest.