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“Next, any group that wants to spar? If not, I’ll randomly select one.”

“Me!”

“We’ll do it!”

“Our group wants to do it!”

The students of Class 12D seemed to be fired up after watching Lee Ha-yoon and Kim Chang-sik’s sparring, their blood boiling.

In the first round, the students were hesitant, but in the second round, they started raising their hands.

Of course, Jeong Gyeoul wasn’t about to be left behind and quickly raised her hand.

She was the fastest among the students.

She had been slow in the first round, but in the second round, she raised her hand the fastest, so it was only natural that her turn would come next.

“Then, Jeong Gyeoul and Kim Min-ji, please come forward…”

Just as Instructor Yoo Soo-gap was about to call Jeong Gyeoul’s group.

“Stop raising your hand! We’ll do it later!”

“Ah… we’re doing it later again?”

“Wait, I’ll tell you when to raise your hand.”

Jeong Gyeoul’s challenge was thwarted once again.

When on earth do they plan to spar? Kim Min-ji kept pulling Jeong Gyeoul’s hand down.

‘Is it some kind of protagonist syndrome…’

Jeong Gyeoul was frustrated with Kim Min-ji, who kept delaying something that would be over quickly.

But Kim Min-ji had her reasons.

She had delayed the first sparring to see how far Instructor Yoo Soo-gap would allow.

After all, she firmly believed she would win.

She planned to beat Jeong Gyeoul mercilessly once the sparring started.

But what if Instructor Yoo Soo-gap intervened, saying it was too much?

It was clear that her image would be tarnished for beating a classmate, especially a child, so harshly, and she might even get penalized.

Until then, she hadn’t worried about Jeong Gyeoul’s skills.

So she decided to wait and see, and she found her answer.

From Lee Ha-yoon and Kim Chang-sik’s sparring, she got a rough idea of how far Instructor Yoo Soo-gap would allow.

Basically, as long as no one dies, it’s fine.

But then another problem arose.

‘Lee Ha-yoon was much stronger than I imagined.’

She thought Lee Ha-yoon, being of the Magic Category, would perform poorly in this sparring since she couldn’t use magic.

But against all expectations, Lee Ha-yoon showed an incredible performance and overwhelmed Kim Chang-sik.

‘Lee Ha-yoon said she learned from Jeong Ha-yul after awakening… but Jeong Gyeoul? Even if she started learning when she awakened, it’s already been 7 years.’

A feeling of unease began to grow in Kim Min-ji’s heart, who had been excited about what wish she would make after defeating Jeong Gyeoul.

If Jeong Gyeoul’s skills were even close to Lee Ha-yoon’s, her chances of winning were close to zero.

‘No! She’s just a C-Class who awakened with the same blood as the Demon King, there’s no way I can lose to such a weakling.’

She tried to shake off the unease and composed herself.

“Hey, raise your hand next time.”

“…Are we finally doing it?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you, so just raise your hand.”

“Okay.”

The second sparring ended quite blandly.

There were no flashy techniques or heart-pounding exchanges.

“Pushing the arm behind the back and twisting it, a simple yet effective arrest technique. Do you have a police officer among your acquaintances? The way you pressed down on the waist with your knee made it seem like you’d pull out handcuffs and recite the Miranda rights right there.”

“Ah, yes! My brother is a police officer…”

“I thought so, even if they’re not awakened, the techniques and skills ingrained in the body can’t be ignored. You should learn a lot from your brother.”

“Okay!”

This time, the sparring went as Instructor Yoo Soo-gap had expected.

Typical of first-year students, it was more of a brawl than proper combat.

But amidst that, they used techniques they had seen somewhere, even if roughly, to subdue each other.

‘This is what first-years are like.’

This was average… no, slightly above average.

Recalling Lee Ha-yoon and Kim Chang-sik’s sparring, which was so good it could be mistaken for active heroes, Instructor Yoo Soo-gap shook his head and opened his mouth to pick the next group.

“Next group!”

“Me!”

“We’ll do it!”

“Us!”

“Jeong Gyeoul, you’re quite consistent in raising your hand. Did you discuss it with your group this time?”

“Yes! I got permission to raise my hand!”

“Good. Then come up.”

At Instructor Yoo Soo-gap’s call, Jeong Gyeoul and Kim Min-ji moved.

But Kim Min-ji felt something strange as she walked towards the mat.

‘Jeong Gyeoul, who I thought was just a fox riding on the backs of Jeong Ha-yul, Park Seol-hwa, the Clock Tower, the Association, and her strong friend Lee Ha-yoon… why is she so confident now?’

Why did it take so long to realize?

The unease she had been trying to ignore resurfaced.

Beyond confident, she looked a bit excited.

Her slightly flushed face showed that Jeong Gyeoul was in an excited state.

She sensed something was wrong.

“Kim Min-ji?”

“Ah, yes, I’m coming.”

“Where are you going? You’re already in position. Just raise your hand.”

“Ah, okay…”

“Pfft, is she nervous?”

“After all that confidence earlier… she’s chickened out after all!”

The watching students made comments as they saw Kim Min-ji’s state.

‘Damn… how embarrassing!’

Trying to ignore the comments, she looked forward and saw Jeong Gyeoul already raising her hand.

She was even standing on her tiptoes, trying to raise her hand higher, which looked quite amusing.

‘Ha, to be intimidated by someone like that even for a moment is shameful. Act like a B-Class, Min-ji.’

After taking a deep breath, Kim Min-ji raised one hand.

Both sparring partners were ready.

Then there was no need to delay.

“Alright then… start!”

Whoosh—

“…?”

“What’s that?”

“Is that the so-called ‘bam!’ and ‘ugh!’ and then falling down?”

“…That’s not it.”

As soon as the start signal was given, Jeong Gyeoul charged at full speed and knocked Kim Min-ji down.

Most of the students didn’t even see how Kim Min-ji fell.

“So that’s how it’s done.”

Ignoring the fallen Kim Min-ji, Jeong Gyeoul fiddled with her Achilles tendon and calf, nodding in satisfaction.

Instructor Yoo Soo-gap’s mouth dropped open at the sight.

‘Crazy… did she just catch that after seeing it once? No, this isn’t catching, it’s copying.’

Plyometrics.

A training method that improves the elasticity of muscles, tendons, and ligaments to enable explosive movements.

It’s already a mainstream exercise for sports stars abroad.

Recently, it’s been introduced domestically, and more athletes are doing plyometric training.

Awakened Ones are no different.

With physical enhancements from magic, they have much stronger tendons and ligaments than ordinary people.

There’s a separate routine only Awakened Ones can do, and it’s incredibly efficient.

‘It would take years of such routines to develop that kind of elasticity…’

It was different from just using muscle strength to push through.

If it were just muscle strength, it would feel heavy and forceful.

You wouldn’t see such smooth, elastic movements.

While Jeong Gyeoul checked her legs, the students whispered, and Instructor Yoo Soo-gap’s eyes sparkled.

The bewildered Kim Min-ji got up.

‘What just happened?’

Something caught the back of her legs and pushed her torso forward.

The only person who could do that here was Jeong Gyeoul.

‘…Does that mean I didn’t even see it?’

As soon as Kim Min-ji got up, she felt a cool breeze from somewhere.

Whoosh—

“Ugh!”

This time, it was from behind.

Something caught the front of her legs, and her back was pushed, causing her to fall face-first.

Even though it was a mat, it couldn’t completely absorb the impact.

Enduring the pain, Kim Min-ji quickly got up, preparing for the next attack.

Drip—

Her nose was bleeding.

“Pfft, she’s got a nosebleed.”

“Wow, isn’t she already defeated? She should just surrender.”

“With Kim Min-ji’s pride, will she really surrender?”

“If she doesn’t, what then? Jeong Gyeoul is beyond expectations.”

“…I didn’t expect her to be this strong, she seems stronger than Lee Ha-yoon.”

“Who knows, but it would be fun to see them fight.”

Jeong Gyeoul didn’t seem to want to end it quickly.

She gave Kim Min-ji time to get up, even speaking to her.

“Hey, your nose is bleeding…”

“So what!”

“…You should wipe it.”

“Shut up! I’ll handle it myself!”

“…What kind of personality is that.”

Despite her goodwill, she was met with curses.

Jeong Gyeoul frowned and moved again.

Whoosh—

She went behind Kim Min-ji and knocked her down again.

“Ugh!”

Kim Min-ji’s nose was hit twice in a row, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“This, this is!”

Every time she barely got up, she was knocked down again.

Kim Min-ji couldn’t even lay a finger on Jeong Gyeoul.

By the tenth or eleventh time, Kim Min-ji was like a roly-poly, getting up again.

The mat was stained with Kim Min-ji’s nosebleed.

Seeing this, Instructor Yoo Soo-gap stepped in.

“Maybe we should stop the sparring here…”

But Kim Min-ji wasn’t in a groggy state.

And Jeong Gyeoul wasn’t indiscriminately beating her.

Since Kim Min-ji showed the will to get up every time she fell, he couldn’t just end the match.

He just suggested stopping.

Jeong Gyeoul shrugged and looked at Instructor Yoo Soo-gap.

“Should we?”

Even though Kim Min-ji had called her a pig and her usual behavior wasn’t great.

She had already vented a lot of stress.

If she continued, she might become Kim Min-ji’s PTSD.

She was about to accept Instructor Yoo Soo-gap’s suggestion when…

“No! I can do it!”

No one expected Kim Min-ji to refuse.

‘I’ll land at least one punch on that face!’

When faced with a high wall, people show three reactions.

One is to look at the wall and despair.

Another is to find a way around the wall.

And the other is…

To try to break through the wall.

The second case can easily get past the wall, but that’s their limit.

If the next wall is wider and higher, they’ll despair just like the first case.

But the third case is different.

People who have practiced breaking through walls when faced with an insurmountable one.

They have the potential to break through any wall.

It’s a different realm from talent.

It’s mental strength.

Surprisingly, Kim Min-ji had indomitable mental strength.

 

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