< Chapter 48: The 10 Years of Blank (1) >
The Wednesday morning class was specialized training for each position.
“You are the eyes of the party. Even when the other party members see the monster, you should look at the whole situation as if you are looking down at the earth from the moon. Don’t mix emotions and be objective when you look around.”
Everyone nodded their heads as if they agreed with the archery instructor’s words.
“This random target identification training is to widen your vision.”
We were standing in a state-of-the-art training facility for archers.
Targets are generated randomly in various places of the dome-shaped facility with a diameter of 1km.
The random target identification training is one of the curriculums of this facility.
Red and blue targets are randomly generated, red means enemy, and blue means ally.
The scoring system is simple: hitting a red target increases the score, and hitting a blue target decreases the score.
It consists of 10 levels, and as the level goes up, the speed and frequency of the target appearance increase.
The purpose of the training is to widen your vision, as the instructor said.
It’s not easy to cover the entire 1km dome by yourself and accurately identify the targets.
“Then I need someone to show an example…”
The archery instructor looked around.
“Shin Jia cadet is too excellent to be a model…”
He soon met my eyes.
“Cadet Kang Seo Yul . Come forward.”
I knew it.
“Yes.”
But it doesn’t matter much.
This training can only be done by one person at a time anyway.
There’s no difference between doing it first or later. The attention will be gathered anyway.
Rather, it’s better to do it first in terms of time.
“Any questions?”
“No.”
“Good. Then let’s start right away. I’ll start with a light difficulty level 4.”
As I stood where the instructor pointed, the floor where the other cadets were sitting slid into the surface.
“Oh.”
I wondered how they would do the gallery in this place where the entire 1km radius was the shooting range, but it turned out that they went into the ground.
This way, they won’t interfere.
―Cadet Kang Seo Yul. If you’re ready, I’ll start right away.
I gently held my bow and took my stance.
“I’m ready.”
―Good. Let’s start.
[10, 9, 8]
The hologram count started.
I took a small breath.
[7, 6, 5]
The slight pain from the World Tree tattoo. I felt that the Guardian of the Bow and Wind Arrow was activated.
Come to think of it, this pain.
Is this because my trait hasn’t fully adapted to my body?
The boiling blood of pure blood was always applied, but there was no pain or anything like that in my tattoo.
Now that I think about it, the pain was slightly different depending on which trait I used.
Then this pain can also be used as a signal.
[4, 3, 2]
“Ah.”
I woke up from my thoughts as I saw the decreasing count.
I’ll think about it later.
Now I have to focus on this training only.
I concentrated again.
[Start!]
The next moment.
Swoosh!
I was shooting an arrow.
* * *
[Announcement of the integrated score results by position.]
[Archer position]
[1st place Shin Jia: 4,395 points]
[2nd place Kang Seo Yul: 2,000 points]
After all the classes on Wednesday.
Jia and I were looking at the announcement.
“Wow. I can’t beat Jia as expected.”
Doubled the score.
“Seo… Seo Yul, you got a perfect score on level 5. That’s more amazing.”
She seemed to change her words from saying “senior” just now.
It was an unusual mistake for Jia.
“It’s an honor to be praised by someone who scored almost perfect on level 9.”
I replied jokingly with a smile.
This training had a bonus point system for higher levels.
Of course, Jia’s score was much higher because she completed level 9.
“That’s just a difference in ability.”
Jia smiled bitterly.
“Hey. Wasn’t it really Kang Seo Yul thrill today?”
“What? Kang Seo Yul thrill. Is that a rhyme?”
“…You shouldn’t joke around in front of the instructors. You might get scolded.”
As we walked down the hallway.
I heard my name from the mouths of the cadets passing by.
“See. They’re saying that too.”
I heard that kind of thing more than once today.
Even the school SNS is full of posts praising me.
Of course, there are also as many hate comments.
“Now that I see it, your ability seems to have surpassed E rank. Now you only have to rise and rise, right?”
“I hope so.”
Jia looked at me with a strange eye.
Usually, she would smile brightly and I would see a golden retriever’s ghost behind her,
But today is different.
Is something wrong?
“By the way…”
We chatted nonsense as we headed for the school gate.
“Senior.”
As soon as she confirmed that there was no one around, her address changed immediately.
“Do you have time today or tomorrow?”
She had a serious look in her eyes.
It must be something important.
“I have an appointment today. How about after class tomorrow?”
Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement today. This is also quite an important one.
“Okay. Then after class tomorrow… Um. Where should we meet?”
I’m worried that scouts will flock if we meet outside.
It’s too far to go to Jia’s house on weekdays.
“How about just in my room if anywhere is fine? It’s scary to go outside these days.”
“The scouts haven’t given up yet, huh? They should give up after being rejected so much.”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
I sighed.
“Then should I go to your room around 7 o’clock after class tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’ll be waiting at 7 o’clock.”
“Yes.”
When we arrived at the school gate, Jia’s secretary Kim Tae-Jin was waiting as usual.
“Then see you tomorrow, Seo Yul.”
It’s amazing how her address and tone change so quickly.
“Yeah. Be careful on your way home.”
As I watched the limousine fade away, I waved my hand.
At the same time, I sighed with relief.
“I’m glad. They didn’t cross paths.”
It was a sigh of relief as I thought of the person who would come soon.
Sure enough, as soon as the limousine disappeared, a sports car came up to me smoothly.
“Nyaa!”
The door opened automatically, and a golden furball flew at me.
“Whoa!”
I caught that golden furball.
Goldie, and hugged him in my arms.
“How can you be so happy?”
Yu Hwa, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, lowered her sunglasses slightly and looked at me casually.
“Just get in quickly.”
She had a sulky face.
I got in the car with Goldie in my arms.
“Nyanyang.”
Goldie tapped my chest with his two front paws. He’s so cute.
“…You know how much I’ve done for you.”
She pouted her lips as she looked at Goldie and me. Aha. She’s jealous of me. I smiled playfully.
“How is it? Are you making progress on making Goldie follow you more in a month?”
“…You and your pet are the same. So mean. Really.”
She grumbled and suddenly stepped on the accelerator.
“He came faster than I thought, so we have to hurry up.”
“Oh. He’s already here?”
There seems to be an hour left until the appointment time.
“Do you really want to register Goldie at the Tamer Association?”
“Yes. I do.”
I have an appointment with an executive of the Korean Tamer Association Evaluation Committee today.
The purpose is obvious: to register Goldie officially.
“It’s surprising that Goldie is a monster… Do you really need to register Goldie as a guardian? He won’t be able to fight well anyway.”
Yu Hwa glanced at Goldie, who was rolling around in my lap and said.
“Hey? Are you ignoring our Goldie right now? Our Goldie is very good at fighting.”
He’s so strong that he can beat an A-rank superhuman with one punch and three colds in a 1:1 fight.
“Nyang!”
Goldie looked at Yu Hwa and raised his head arrogantly.
It was a fatal cuteness that could strain the heart.
“…Some superhumans might be invincible against him. …Like me.”
Yu Hwa looked at Goldie with a face that said she was dying of cuteness.
She even took her hand off the wheel and petted Goldie.
“Focus on driving.”
“It’s okay. It switches to autonomous driving when I take my hand off the wheel.”
“…Ah.”
Was this an autonomous-driving car?
Then what?
Why were you driving yourself?
Just turn on the autonomous driving.
“Anyway, since you’re registering him. You have to pass properly, you know?”
“Of course.”
If the association judges that he is not well trained, Goldie’s life will be in danger.
“But what’s the problem with him being so tame? Right, Goldie~?”
Yu Hwa made eye contact with Goldie and whispered softly.
I’m not worried.
Goldie follows me perfectly and even listens to Yu Hwa’s words to listen to me well.
Passing is a matter of course.
“But why did you have to make the appointment place our guild training room?”
“I thought we needed a spacious place.”
“…Really?”
That’s the main reason.
To fully adapt the dragon clan’s trait [Guardian] to my body, I need to communicate with Goldie as much as possible.
And for that interaction, we need to go through a lot of things together.
Fighting and hunting and everything will help with the interaction.
Goldie is a beast after all.
That’s why I’m trying to register Goldie as a guardian.
I can’t run around the field without registering him.
“Well, you must have a reason for doing everything.”
Yu Hwa stopped playing with Goldie and said indifferently.
There are two main reasons why I decided to register Goldie officially.
The first one.
To act freely with Goldie.
If I don’t register him, I can’t take him anywhere where people can see him.
This is a big loss in terms of power.
And the second one.
This is the main reason.
To fully adapt the dragon clan’s trait [Guardian] to my body.
I didn’t want to register Goldie until yesterday.
The reason is simple.
I don’t want to attract more attention.
The frame that is put on me now is [a promising candidate with low ability but unprecedented growth potential].
The free use of attribute magic and qi made me like that.
If I add a monster with the power of an A-rank superhuman as a guardian on top of that, what will happen?
It goes without saying.
It will be very annoying.
They will think that I have the ability to tame monsters in addition to the free use of attribute magic and qi.
That’s why I wanted to register Goldie as a guardian later.
But the situation changed a bit after I learned the truth about the tattoos on my body.
To adapt the dragon clan’s trait [Guardian] to my body, I have no choice but to communicate with Goldie as much as possible.
And for that communication, we need to go through a lot of things together.
Fighting and hunting and everything will help with communication.
Goldie is a beast after all.
That’s why I’m trying to register Goldie as a guardian.
I can’t run around the field without registering him.
* * *
A small room that fits the word ‘cozy’ best.
In it, Maestro was kneeling on one knee and bowing his head.
In the direction where he was bowing his head, there was a man.
He was crossing his legs and looking at the carrier with an emotionless expression.
The carrier that contained the root of the world.
It was the carrier that Hermit handed over to Maestro.
“David.”
“Yes. Boss.”
Code name ‘Unknown’
The boss of the Saviors of Truth called Maestro.
“Do you know about the 10 years of blank?”
“The 10 years of… blank? I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of it.”
“I see. You wouldn’t.”
Unknown suddenly burst into laughter. Maestro’s eyes widened at the sight of Boss’s smile for the first time.
“It happened about ten thousand years ago.”
“Ten thousand years ago, then…”
“It’s when the other races are estimated to have completely disappeared from this world.”
Unknown’s smile grew thicker.
“Isn’t it amazing? Why did all those powerful other races disappear from this world at the same time?”
“…That is.”
It was true.
Dragons, angels, demons, etc.
How could such a thing happen that those powerful other races that were hard to reach by human power disappeared at the same time?
“David. I was curious, curious that I couldn’t stand it.”
Unknown’s eyes sparkled.
“I searched through all the books and collected information by mobilizing all the manpower and financial resources of the organization.”
He must have been immersed in ancient books at some point.
“And I finally found it. The ‘10 years of blank’ that was not recorded anywhere.”
Unknown’s eyes were filled with madness.
“It was thrilling. The feeling of being the only one who realized the truth of the world!”
But his expression soon changed 180 degrees and became cold.
“But at the same time, I despaired. I couldn’t find anything more about the 10 years of blank anywhere.”
Would I not be able to satisfy my curiosity? Would I not be able to reveal the truth?
“But God didn’t abandon me.”
It was just when he was about to give up.
“A demon appeared for the first time in ten thousand years! That incident was a beacon of hope for me!”
He found a clue.
The only clue to reveal the 10 years of blank.
“…So that’s why you were so obsessed with that incident.”
“And this time, another clue came up.”
“Another… clue?”
Unknown tapped the carrier with a fierce expression.
“The magic power of the root of the world was empty.”
“…!”
“The magic power that should have been accumulated thickly for ten thousand years. David. What do you think this means?”
“…That is.”
Unknown smiled as if he was having fun.
“There is a living elf.”
“An… elf?”
“Yes.”
Unknown’s eyes were red with bloodlust.
“There is still a grateful being who can satisfy my curiosity in this world.”
Unknown’s smile became very deep.
Please support me…
