8 Chapter 8 - Me, a Hunter?
{8} - Evans Smith: Me, a Hunter?
Jin Woo screamed as he crashed back. His knives flew from his fingers, and they stabbed into the wall.
Evans gave his arms a quick stretch. "Another round?" He asked.
Jin Woo coughed. "I-I think I'm good." He rasped out, his hands pressed into his stomach. "Your kicks are terrifying, Hyung."
He grinned. "That's just the -Kung Fu- way."
[Sung-Jin-Woo's Lecture [Combat Training]: Success!]
[Evans Smith: -Kung Fu- Level Up]
[Sung-Jin-Woo: +5 Strength, +6 Endurance, +11 Agility, +8 Skill, -Knife Combat Mastery- Level Up]
[Sung-Jin-Woo may now return to his world]
He turned away to hide his grimace. These short [Combat Training] Lectures no longer gave any Stats for him. He'd need to either increase the intensity of his Lectures or finally upgrade the School with a Gymnasium. The former wasn't feasible—Jin Woo wasn't strong enough yet, and he still need quite the sum of Mentor Exp for the latter.
He was fine with it, though. Watching Jin Woo regain his confidence was a Reward on its own.
He helped pull Jin Woo up, and he gave him a glance-over. "I hope my kick didn't hurt that much." He said. "I held back as much as I could."
Jin Woo barked out something between a laugh and a cough. "T-That was you holding back?" Jin Woo asked. He gave a shrug, and Jin Woo paled. "That hurt, Hyung. A lot." His hand hovered over his stomach. He looked at the floor. "And that was just you holding back, huh."
"You've just begun." Evans said, and then smiled. "Besides, you got that -Knife Combat Mastery- now. You'll be a menace sooner or later." He winked. "I promised I'd bring you to the top, didn't I?"
Jin Woo stared for a moment. He smiled. "You did."
See, Evans had picked Jin Woo as his next Student for a reason—he was familiar. Sung-Jin-Woo's story was one he knew intimately, from beginning to end. He knew how powerful he would become in a short time, and how much stronger he would be as he evolved past even the Architect's machinations.
But that Sung-Jin-Woo wasn't the one before him.
Jin Woo was still an E-Rank Hunter, and he would remain as one. The world had called him the 'Weakest Hunter', and without the System he would normally have, he would remain as so. But if Jin Woo is given the chance to grow past that? To have something that allowed him infinite growth?
He would become a monster, with or without the Shadow Monarch's influence.
In a sense, Jin Woo and Izumi were remarkably similar. The world had put them both down, but he knew they could both be strong. They'd learnt to be hopeless, and he needed to be the one to shatter their preconceptions.
He needed to be confident in their success.
"Well, let's end today here." He went over and pulled Jin Woo's knives from the wall. He walked back and dropped them into Jin Woo's hands. "Rest up. Eat healthy. Don't go out looking for Dungeons just yet." He frowned. "Or, if you do, at least keep yourself hidden. No one knows that you can infinitely grow."
Jin Woo nodded. "I'll keep your words in mind, Hyung." His expression fell. "But-, um, how can I go back here?"
He hummed. "After 24 hours have gone by after you return, you should be given the choice to return here. I suggest doing it right before you're about to sleep."
"Ah, okay." Jin Woo smiled. "I'll see you soon then, Hyung."
He smiled back. "Same to you, dongsaeng."
For a moment, the world was bathed in light. Evans shut his eyes, and when he opened them, Jin Woo had disappeared with the light.
............
Two months flew by in a blur.
As he expected, taking in Jin Woo had doubled his workload. It wasn't all terrible—he enjoyed the breaks in monotony. And it wasn't as if there was anything else he could do in this ruined world he lived in.
But that meant he had significantly less time to mindlessly indulge in the media his infinite Library gave him access to.
Izumi and Jin Woo never met during the entire month, and he was glad he did.
As he'd expected, Izumi finally reunited with Bakugou. It was inevitable—they both went to the same university after all. And their meeting had been…explosive. Izumi had brought damning evidence of Bakugou's bullying to UA's principal, and Bakugou was very nearly expelled. It was only by Izumi's insistence that he remained. "It'll be bad if he becomes a villain or something" She'd said once as an afterthought.
Bakugou had, instead, been moved to the General Classes. Which was honestly more humiliating for the hero-obssesed pomeranian than simply being expelled.
That had then spurred her to spill all the misconduct she'd suffered back in her highschool. UA—or just the principal to be exact—had been enraged to see that a school like Aldera dared to even exist. Aldera Middle and High crumbled just sixteen hours after Izumi spilled the beans.
It didn't make Izumi any happier. She was still slaving away at her Iron Suit. She was almost done, or at least she said so, but he could tell the process had been excruciating to her.
And so she was irritable, and a little bit snarky. She wasn't like that with him, but for the first few minutes of her arrival, that was how she acted.
It took him a moment to realize that she was emulating Tony Stark. Her snark was the same. Her grin was the same. Hell, even the way she walked was similar. It was uncanny.
But at least she mellowed out when they were together. She didn't gain much from his Lectures anymore, and he wasn't willing to up the intensity with how stressed she was. He would, eventually. Just not now.
Most of their 'Lectures' were just them watching movies together. It was relaxing, and it even helped Level Up Izumi's -Analysis-. A win all around.
That aside,
Two months had gone by. Every day, Jin Woo would appear. Unlike with Izumi, most of the Lectures Evans held with Jin Woo were [Combat Training] and [Battle Analysis]. It was the best choice—Izumi had UA to help her on her path to Herohood, Jin Woo did not.
And, again, Evans found himself in awe at Jin Woo's progress.
His growth was terrifying. In a good way. His mastery over knives grew by leaps and bounds with every Lecture he attended, and his speed rose in blinding waves. In just a week, Evans was forced to stop holding back, lest he find himself losing ground against Jin Woo.
Was it just a protagonist thing? Izumi's growth was similarly monstrous. Do protagonists just have SSS Growth Rates or something? What about Antagonists then? Or just minor characters that his System to pick up on?
Whatever. He was glad to see Jin Woo's growth. Every Lecture he took seemed to imbue some of the life he'd lost after his harrowing survival from that Double Dungeon. His confidence slowly grew back, and with it came a determination to become the strongest Hunter there ever was.
Jin Woo began to change physically too. His body gained more mass, the muscles in his limbs more visible, and he even grew. It wasn't as drastic as the major change Jin Woo underwent in canon, but to see the boyish Jin Woo grow into a man in just a month was…fascinating.
Because to see Jin Woo change day by day meant that the changes he experienced in canon wasn't because of the System. That it was how Jin Woo was supposed to be. He is a young adult after all, and yet in the beginning of the story he looked more like a young boy.
Something had interfered with Jin Woo's growth. Kept him small, young, weak.
"Hyung?"
"Hmm?" He reclined back, stared at the rolling credits of a movie and hummed, as if he didn't just blank out for the last several minutes. "What's wrong?"
Jin Woo looked at the red sands outside. "You mentioned something about a [Portal]?"
He blinked. "I did." He smiled as brought a floating panel into reality and turned it around. "At a price, I can bring myself to your world."
[Portal]
[Allows the Scorned One to travel to the worlds of their Students. Current available worlds:]
-MHA | 2000 Mentor Exp-
-Solo Leveling | 5000 Mentor Exp-
"Solo Leveling?" Jin Woo read, eyes creased in confusion. "Is that the name of my world?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. All these names were given by the System." He lied. There was no reason to speak of his meta knowledge just yet.
Jin Woo leaned back as he jugged his knives. "Hyung, do you want to come visit my world?" He asked, more polite than Evans had ever heard.
He hummed. "To your world?" He hummed. "Are you finally going to start diving into Dungeons again?"
Jin Woo nodded. "I'm running out of money." He explained. He grit his teeth. "I need to pay for Jin Ah and mom's treatment."
And for a moment, Evans dared to consider how expensive 5000 Mentor Exp. It was a week of Lectures, and he'd once again be pulled away from getting that damned Gymnasium.
He banished the thought. "I won't mind." He said and smiled. "When should we go?"
A sheepish smile came onto Jin Woo's face. "May we go now?"
Evans huffed. "Of course." He winked. "Let's go."
[5000 Mentor Exp has been spent. Beginning transfer to -Solo Leveling-...]
A bright light filled the classroom, and a sense of weightlessness took him as he closed his eyes.
When his eyes opened, he found himself standing in the suburban alleyways of South Korea. The skies above are dark. He stared at the barely visible stars for quite a while.
"We're here, Hyung." He heard Jin Woo say, and he realized that he wasn't alone. "My house isn't too far from here."
He laughed. "Sorry, it's been a long time since I saw the stars."
Jin Woo smiled back. "Well, we can-"
They're interrupted when the ground suddenly shook, and a bright blue light shot into the sky from a distance. Shrieks of panic rang, followed by a beastial roar.
[A Special Event has occurred!]
[A Dungeon Break has occurred not too far away! A horde of monsters has broken into reality, and now threatens the populace. Stop the horde and shut down the portal before an important Character is killed!]
[Completion Reward: Random Skill Card (Uncommon), Potential New Student]
"...Well then." Evans turned to Jin Woo and smiled. "Ready to see how much you've grown?"
Jin Woo blinked, and then grinned.
They ran towards the commotion.
