28 – Is Teamwork Really Good?
Virtual Gate Simulation Field.
At the moment, the Academy’s 4th to 11th-class branch evaluations were in full swing.
The people sitting in the audience all had their mouths wide open, as if they had made some kind of promise together.
But it seemed like their mouths were not open to speak, as not a single person among the hundreds made a sound.
A silence so profound it was frightening, and with it, a heavy atmosphere settling in.
Just moments ago, in less than five minutes, something incredible had unfolded on the field.
People who couldn’t believe their own eyes blinked in astonishment, their mouths hanging open.
Hiller, running forward like a bull, and the swordsman who effortlessly cut down all the goblins running at her from the front, sides, and behind.
Most of them failed to even track his movements with their eyes.
Like three-dimensional virtual monsters, could his movements be something presented through computer graphics?
Wasn’t his speed and fluidity too abnormal to be human movement?
These were the people right in front of them, but even though they saw it with their own eyes, they couldn’t believe it.
“Class 11?”
Someone finally, very reluctantly, broke the silence.
“What the…?”
“What did I just witness?”
Like a spreading contagion, murmurs and whispers filled the audience.
“What was that just now?”
“I don’t know… some kind of skill?”
“I didn’t sense any magic power.”
“No, I felt it faintly once in a while.”
Jihun, who had run ahead and cleared the path for her by eliminating all the goblins rushing at her from all directions.
He had literally wiped out over 200 goblins, each coming from different angles.
Jihun drew a large circle with swimming as the center and cast spells, making virtual goblins fall repeatedly in every space he touched.
“Ji… Jihun…”
“Yeah?”
Swimming called out but couldn’t utter a word.
What could you possibly say?
Did you do this?
Wasn’t that a rather foolish question?
Swimming struggled to keep the words that had almost slipped out of her mouth while Jihun looked around.
The remaining goblins still rush towards them from all directions.
“Do you remember what you said earlier?”
“Uh…yeah?”
Swimming, unable to even react like a crazy person.
“I told you that you just need to use your skill whenever I ask you to heal. Wake up!”
“Huh…huh? Oh right! Yeah, I got it!”
The exam is not yet over. Can’t you see that just by looking at the charging goblin horde?
Swimming, who is just data, feels fear as she watches the goblins rushing towards them with fierce momentum.
Swimming gathers herself and maximizes her body’s magic power.
She finishes her preparations so that she can cast the healing skill at any time.
Jihun smirks when he sees that Swimming has regained her focus.
“So, shall we begin?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Jihun’s new body next to them disappears like smoke.
“Heal!!”
Jihun’s voice is heard from a distance away from the goblin horde.
“Huh…huh?”
She barely manages to shift her gaze quickly enough to cast the healing skill towards him.
“Heal!!”
How did he end up behind me?
As she turns her body to the back, she sees Jihun amidst the collapsing goblin horde.
Swimming sends another heal.
“Heal!!”
To the left.
“Heal!!”
To the right.
Swimming frantically turns her body in various directions, following Jihun’s voice, and continues to cast the skill.
She simply throws the skill in the direction where the sound is coming from, without even thinking.
Beep-
Before long, the remaining goblins come to a sudden halt.
Again, Suyeong turned her head to look at the large screen without thinking about it.
Elapsed time: 08 minutes 51 seconds
King Goblin: 0/1
Goblin: 37/500
Seeing Jihun, who stopped in mid-air after swinging his sword and looking at the state of the goblins, Suyeong asked, puzzled.
“Why…why is this happening? Did an error occur?”
Looking at Jihun walking towards her, Suyeong asked.
“Well…it’s almost over, why did it stop?”
Jihun also had a puzzled expression, questioning the same thing.
That’s when it happened.
The speakers made a buzzing sound and the in-room broadcast began.
“Team Kang Jihun clears. Clear time: 08 minutes 51 seconds.”
Jihun’s sword, which had been slashing the goblins ruthlessly, sliced through the neck of the King Goblin in one stroke, and the exam ended just like that.
In the stands of the field, only a calm silence filled the air, just like a few moments ago.
Those who were talking fervently lost their words in less than 5 minutes.
“Oh…is it over? I guess he took down the boss monster, the bigger and faster one, and it ended.”
“You took down the King Goblin in one shot too?”
“Well…it was similar to the others. If I knew it would be like this, I would have targeted that one first.”
How can regular goblins and the King Goblin be similar?
Suyeong looked at Jihun’s nonchalant expression and saw the corpse of the King Goblin far away.
And then, she looked around and saw the corpses of the other goblins.
“Oh…they are similar.”
Clean-cut incisions.
The corpses of the goblins and the corpse of the King Goblin had the same clean-cut incisions.
“So it was a one-strike kill?”
“Yeah. Let’s go. First phase went pretty well, right?”
“Uh…yeah.”
Following Jihun as he walked towards the field exit, Suyeong followed with a bewildered expression.
Even after they left the field and went outside, the silence continued for a while.
The students and professors couldn’t believe what had just happened.
However, the officials dispatched from the guild to observe the quarterly evaluation quietly watched for a while and then hastily left their seats.
***
“Is that… the friend Professor Jin mentioned?”
VIP room located on the top floor with a clear view of the field.
Chairman Song Yoo-Kyung, who had been observing the quarterly evaluation, asks quietly beside Jin Seok-Hyun.
“Yes… that’s right.”
“Did Professor Jin… know about it?”
“Yes… that’s why I requested Chairman to observe the quarterly evaluation.”
Professor Jin felt a little embarrassed inside, but he could speak confidently.
He wasn’t sure to what extent, but he had definitely noticed that something had changed.
It was he who had proposed that Chairman observe the quarterly evaluation.
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The Chairman couldn’t deny that he had fulfilled his role as a professor.
“If it’s to that extent… shouldn’t it have been reported earlier and more accurately?”
Song Yoo-Kyung’s stern gaze.
“A bit more… verification was needed.”
“Verification… about verification… that friend doesn’t seem to hide himself or care about others’ attention, does he?”
“That… before, he was just causing trouble-“
“All the files related to Kang Ji-Hoon, bring them to the Chairman’s office personally by the end of the day. I mean it.”
“Yes, understood…”
“Oh, and”
Song Yoo-Kyung stops Professor Jin, who was about to leave again.
“What do you think of the evaluation for that healer friend?”
“Pardon?”
“That healer, I mean.”
“Of course… we should give the highest score for the 1st evaluation. Both team and individual scores. He used healing skills precisely at the right times to maximize combat efficiency.”
“…Understood. You may leave now.”
Chairman Song Yoo-Kyung watches the back of Jin Seok-Hyun as he closes the door and leaves.
A little while ago, she was able to see it clearly during the exam.
How Ji-Hoon, like a madman, was cutting down goblins, allowing the goblins to attack him once each time he killed exactly 10 of them.
At first, it was just a slight cut on his left arm.
Next, the right leg lightly…
He was the one who barely grazed every attack.
It was as if they were creating work for the healer.
“Is it right to say that teamwork was good?…”
With Song Yoo-kyung’s eyes lowering, she falls into deep contemplation.
It was a situation where it was difficult to simply like it or judge it as a problem.
For now, it was important to find out about this person named Kang Ji-hoon.
***
“I’m Hera Guild’s Seong Han-yeong team leader. Can we talk for a moment-“
“I’m Jeonga Guild’s Kim Taek-hoon team leader. Let me give you my business card first- Ah, forget it”
“–Guild’s…Hey, what kind of market edition is this? Follow the order!!”
Ji-hoon and Su-yeong, who had long since left the field and were moving outside of the building, found themselves in a situation where they couldn’t move due to the approaching guild representatives offering their business cards.
“Since when did Hera become interested in Class 11!!”
“Can you sit down and listen! You’re the one in the Class 11 team, so I didn’t need to see you since you went out to smoke!”
“Well, what does it matter when I smoke!”
The guild representatives pushed their business cards in vigorously, then began fighting loudly amongst themselves.
“Oh…sirs…please step aside, we need to go eat…”
Ji-hoon awkwardly tried to push them away and grabbed Su-yeong.
“No, please just take the business card…if you contact us here…”
“Just for a momennnt!!!”
A resounding voice from behind caught the attention of the guild representatives.
“Everyone back away.”
Ares Guild’s Yoo Hong-man team leader. He approached Ji-hoon in a friendly manner and acted as if he knew him.
“Hunter Kang Ji-hoon. The representative sent you a precious tea from their business trip to China. They wanted to cheer you on for the exam today anyway…”
“No, why would a representative from a major guild come to cheer me on for the quarterly evaluation!! And stop sending me tea. I’m already overwhelmed!”
Team leader Yoo Hong-man chuckled and handed over the tea. In his empty hands, the plaque from earlier was neatly rolled up.
A B-rank hunter came to set up a plaque at the academy? Some local handyman?
To quickly escape this ridiculous situation, Ji-hoon deployed his aerokinesis.
