Chapter 84
Jeon Heeseong, the top student of the enhancement department, stood there in a daze.
All the confidence he'd shown when he first asked his question was long gone.
Riiiiing.
A deafening sound echoed in his ears like the aftermath of an explosion.
His vision shook.
His body refused to move.
And yet, strangely enough, his mind remained perfectly clear.
"What... is this...?"
The scene before him was nothing short of horrific.
With each step the man took, the students' attacks became less like resistance and more like desperate struggles born of fear.
It hadn't even been a full minute since Suhyeok had spoken.
BOOM!
Students were kicked away and sent crashing into the walls.
Jeon Heeseong had suffered the same fate.
His entire body was covered in bruises, and the arms he'd raised to defend himself were beginning to buckle helplessly.
Thud.
He collapsed weakly and lowered his head.
Only seven students were still standing.
Two from each department, with one extra among them.
Of all the department leaders, Kang Rahee was the only one still standing.
The others were all high-ranking students aside from the top and second-ranked students.
Suhyeok stood alone in the middle of the training hall.
He swept his gaze across those hesitating to attack.
"I told you."
"Survive as though you're trying to kill me."
His voice was cold.
"So this is all you're capable of."
Then one student, gripping his sword while breathing heavily, shouted.
"T-This doesn't make any sense!!"
"Who gives a practical test like this?!"
"Look at the people lying over there!"
"This is way too much...!!"
The Constellations' reactions split in two.
Some agreed that Suhyeok had gone too far.
He did go pretty hard. That guy lying over there looks like his arm is broken.
There seem to be quite a few talented kids here, but this is definitely harsh ㅇㅇ
(alone inside a closet, biting his nails) This is far too cruel....
Others thought the exact opposite.
What's with all these bastards pretending to be nice? He's not actually trying to kill them. A real fight should obviously be like this.
This feels satisfying as hell. All those top and second-ranked kids were acting so cocky lol
Agreed. If you're going to fight, you should come at him prepared to kill. After the middle point, everyone except a few was too busy defending.
If our Seong-a hadn't blocked some of those attacks, half the ones still standing would've gone down already.
As expected of Great Seong-a.
[ Hmph. What a pointless mess, nya. You told her not to fight seriously, so she's been doing nothing but blocking attacks this whole time, nya. ]
Leon was right.
During the minute Suhyeok had attacked, if Seong-a hadn't helped, no one would've still been standing.
"...You."
Suhyeok looked at the student who had spoken.
"What's your name?"
"S-Swordsmanship department... Cha Donghwan."
During the previous minute, unlike the top and second-ranked students who had gone down early, Cha Donghwan had kept moving without hesitation.
He had fought fairly well.
Suhyeok turned fully toward him.
"Fine, Cha Donghwan."
"Let me ask you something."
"What is this place?"
"What do people come to the Hero Military Academy to become?"
Cha Donghwan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Heroes, obviously."
His expression seemed to ask why Suhyeok would even bother with such an obvious question.
"Heroes fight villains."
"The people you're supposed to protect are civilians."
"This academy exists to turn you into people capable of doing exactly that."
"Am I wrong?"
"Even so, this is too much!"
Cha Donghwan shouted.
"This test itself is unfair!"
"There's an enormous difference in skill between you and u-"
"So what?"
The words cut him off.
"Do you think the villains you'll fight in the future will fight fairly, like every school exercise you've done until now?"
"W-Well...."
No one could answer.
Because he was right.
Cha Donghwan, who had been arguing so fiercely, closed his mouth.
In the end, their excuses were born from the complacency created by four years of peace.
Meanwhile, Kang Hana was watching everything from beyond the glass wall.
Her expression was grave.
Yesterday afternoon, all the instructors had gathered to discuss today's practical selection test.
Instructor Lee Janghyeok will handle the selection test as planned.
During the preparation period afterward, Instructor Kang Hana will take charge.
Normally, the chief instructor would've handled the selection.
But for some reason, the newly appointed Lee Janghyeok had been given the role.
After the meeting, Kang Hana had asked him directly.
How are you planning to conduct the practical test?
I assume we'll use the same method as before...
No.
I'll select them my way.
He'd said he would do things his own way.
So she'd watched.
But the longer she watched, the more brutal the scene became.
She had been about to open the training hall door and stop him.
Then Suhyeok's words stopped her.
Kang Hana clenched her teeth.
I don't want to admit it...
But he's completely right.
Only four years ago, countless people had died.
To villains, heroes were targets to be killed.
They didn't care about methods.
Her gaze shifted to Suhyeok's back.
The atmosphere around him felt strangely familiar.
It reminded her of that day one year ago.
"...Just who are you really...?"
Roughly two minutes remained in the selection test.
Everyone was visibly exhausted.
White breath spilled from their mouths.
"Haa... haa... I-I can't feel my hand."
"Keugh... haa... m-me neither."
The two swordsmanship students' hands trembled around their weapons.
Kang Rahee, unable to hold back any longer, shouted at them.
"Are you two even trying?!"
"You're the ones slowing everything down...!!"
She glared.
"I knew I shouldn't have teamed up with trash like you."
"What?"
One of them snapped.
"You think you can say whatever you want? Enough already-"
"Enough?"
Kang Rahee shot back.
"Can't you see I'm cleaning up all your messes right now?"
The remaining students were starting to turn on each other.
Messages appeared in the air.
[‘One-Eyed White-Haired Elder’ strokes his beard and clicks his tongue.]
[Constellations of Paradise nod, saying humans truly are born wicked.]
.
.
.
Most of them clearly disliked what they were seeing.
The result of internal division was obvious.
Leon, who had been watching silently, glanced toward Seong-a.
[ At least she's doing what you told her, nya. I thought she'd have a hard time keeping those idiots from fighting each other, nya. ]
About one minute remained.
Leon counted the survivors.
[ Seven left, nya. If this keeps going, they'll all pass, nya. Which one are you eliminating? ]
