Only after passing through the massive steel main gate and walking for quite a while could they finally enter the training ground proper. The electronic display board was broadcasting the words ‘Rescue1 Team Mock Training’ along with today’s date.
“Alright, let’s go in and warm up.”
“Yeoul, stay up there with unnie and watch!”
The Esper team members waved their hands and disappeared to the end of the corridor. Yeoul followed Guide Lee Bora, who was leading him, heading to the very top floor.
As soon as they got off the elevator and opened the visible door, a waiting room appeared with a structure like spectator seats from which the view below was completely visible. It was much higher than expected, dizzying even.
“We’ll stay here, and if there’s an emergency call in the middle, we’ll go down to guide them.”
“Yes, understood.”
As he sat waiting with an excited, pounding heart, finally a person appeared on the vast ground. The silhouette was far enough away to appear slightly smaller than the length of a finger, making it difficult to immediately identify who it was.
“Look, I knew this would happen so I prepared one for Yeoul too.”
“Oh, thank you!”
“Yeah. It’ll probably never happen, but still, you never know, right? We need to watch carefully too and rush down right away if it seems dangerous.”
“Yes, I’ll watch closely.”
What Lee Bora handed over was binoculars. When he brought them to his eyes and looked through the lens, Esper Hyun Junho’s face was clearly visible. His face was full of leisure as he lightly stretched in place, warming up his body.
Though he’d attacked numerous gates together with Esper Hyun Junho, he was mainly the close-range attack type, so rather than going to the front and striking first, he was the type to protect Guides and civilians in the rear while covering team members. At the thought of being able to properly see his abilities, curiosity and interest rose together.
“But, may I ask how the training is conducted…?”
He was curious about what kind of training it was that everyone treated mock training day like a holiday, and how they could be so relaxed even before training. Did they just do exercises like sit-ups or push-ups like basic physical training? If so, he was also curious why the training ground was necessarily this large-scale.
He’d tried searching a few days ago wanting to know about mock training, but couldn’t find any particular information. While civilians filmed and uploaded videos of actual field situations, the contents of such official training were strictly controlled due to security issues.
“Mock training? It’s incredibly tough.”
“Is that so…?”
“Listening to the kids talk, it seems like nothing, right? That’s because they’re them.”
Guide Lee Bora chuckled and gestured with her chin toward Hyun Junho, who was the size of an ant.
“Among Espers from other teams, there are a lot who are scared of mock training. When mock training season comes around, the Esper counseling center appointments get completely booked. For trauma treatment.”
“Ah…”
“You’ll probably understand when you see it.”
Thinking about it, originally Yeoul was Hyeseong’s dedicated Guide, so unless it was an emergency situation in the field or attacking a high-grade gate, there was no occasion to guide other Espers.
Nevertheless, coming to the training ground together today to prepare for emergencies meant that the risk level of the mock training that Espers conducted was that high.
As soon as her explanation ended, a loud siren began broadcasting an announcement voice within the training ground.
―We will begin mock training and evaluation for Major Hyun Junho belonging to Rescue1 Team. Stage 1 training will begin in 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8…
Listening to the numbers decrease by one second, Yeoul’s heart pounded. He clenched and unclenched his hands that were getting cold for no reason. Even though he was the one watching and getting nervous, the expression of Hyun Junho that he observed through the binoculars didn’t look at all like someone facing difficult training.
―3… 2… 1. Begin.
As soon as the announcement ended, the doors on the walls that surrounded the training ground in a circle began to open. Watching four hidden spaces being revealed, Yeoul’s eyes widened.
And then, from one of them, a tremendously huge sphere suddenly shot out.
“Eek…!”
Startled, Yeoul jumped up from his seat without realizing it. The sphere that suddenly popped out was as huge as a decent low-rise apartment building. It was intimidating just by its size alone, but the speed at which it flew toward Hyun Junho standing in the middle of the ground was as threatening as a shell.
“How can they shoot something like that…!”
At a person, even if they’re an Esper…? Yeoul’s face turned pale.
“It’s not a rock or iron ball, so don’t worry too much. Should I call it a bouncy ball? It’s like a really huge rubber ball.”
“B-but still…”
Unlike Guide Lee Bora who seemed endlessly relaxed, sweat was dampening Yeoul’s hands. Talk about a bouncy ball and rubber ball, but at that size, it absolutely couldn’t be said to suit such cute words. If it were him, he would probably be seized by panic the moment he encountered something like that.
Just then, Yeoul gasped and swallowed. Hyun Junho had suddenly leaped up with all his might from where he stood.
It was a speed that didn’t seem humanly possible. He jumped as if flying through the sky and lightly dodged the sphere that was flying head-on toward him.
Hyun Junho, airborne, immediately took a landing position. The sphere that hit the training ground wall, which bounced back impacts like a spring, began flying in the opposite direction. Hyun Junho’s body was rapidly falling toward it.
Yeoul urgently turned his head toward Guide Lee Bora.
“Is… is it okay for him to do that? He’s just falling…”
“It’s fine, so relax, Yeoul. He’s basically just playing a game.”
Guide Lee Bora giggled and gestured with her chin toward Hyun Junho. With a dumbfounded expression, Yeoul picked up the binoculars and watched him with an anxious heart.
Hyun Junho jerked his shoulders back and clenched his fist tightly. Could it be, he was going to punch the sphere…? While half-doubting, he yelled “Euryeot-cha-cha-cha-!” with a battle cry loud enough to make the training ground resound.
“Euhaha! He’s really gone crazy.”
Lee Bora pointed at him while snickering. While Yeoul was stunned, Hyun Junho swung his fist at the rubber ball.
The moment the fist and sphere collided, a flash of light seemed to flicker, then BOOM—! A tremendous sound filled the training ground resoundingly. It was such a loud sound that for a moment, a light ringing occurred in his ears with a beep-.
“…Good heavens.”
Rubber fragments flew here and there like shells and stuck to the walls. Even seeing with his own eyes how he could face such tremendous internal pressure with his body and still survive unscathed, he couldn’t believe it.
Even if he was an A-rank Esper, to burst a rubber ball of that size with bare hands…?
‘So that’s a physical enhancement ability user. He’s really crazy…’
When Yeoul unknowingly put down the binoculars and clapped, Guide Lee Bora laughed heartily as if finding it cute. His chest swelled with enough pride to be on the same team as such an amazing person.
“Really… he seems amazing. How can he do that… wow.”
“This is just the beginning. Watch carefully.”
As soon as Guide Lee Bora’s words fell, a sphere shot out from another entrance. As soon as Hyun Junho jumped hard to dodge one, this time another one flew from a different direction. The speed was noticeably faster than before.
Hyun Junho, who had flown up nimbly, landed on the rubber ball that popped out and struck down hard with his heel. Along with the white light he’d seen before, another rubber ball burst. While quickly throwing his body into the air to avoid the tremendous internal pressure of the sphere, Hyun Junho jumped again and moved onto a newly generated sphere.
He seemed to understand why mock training was no different from playing a game for him. On the face of Esper Hyun Junho, who dodged the attacking spheres, made small holes to pierce them, or burst them with a boom, not even a trace of emotions like tension or fear could be read. The way he moved even more nimbly as the speed of the shooting spheres increased was exactly like a fish in water.
“Um… excuse me, but he seems very… excited.”
“Exactly that. You’re right on.”
Guide Lee Bora added that even though he looked that happy, he was using his abilities full force, so he’d need to receive guiding from the support team later. Just then, a beep- siren briefly rang through the training ground.
―This concludes Esper Hyun Junho’s Stage 1 mock training. Stage 2 training will begin in 20 minutes.
After the announcement ended, Esper Hyun Junho, who had lightly landed on the ground, walked into the waiting room. Shortly after, an excavator and bulldozer that emerged from another entrance busily cleaned up the sphere debris while traversing the training ground.
“Is Stage 2 perhaps even more tremendous…?”
“Um, I guess? Since it’s dealing with creatures, everyone does find it burdensome.”
“Gasp… creatures?!”
“Yeah. Why, when gates open, the field disposal team captures a few immature specimens, right? Those are usually used as test subjects or raised and released during mock training.”
It was an unexpected scale. Even so, to bring living monstrous life forms for training. Yeoul nodded repeatedly in amazement.
Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and the arena that had been full of sphere fragments was now neatly cleaned. Along with the announcement broadcast that Stage 2 training would soon begin, Esper Hyun Junho, who had been waiting, sauntered back out into the training ground. They said what kind of creature would appear was completely random.
“Will it be okay…?”
“That’s what we do every day. Relax and watch comfortably.”
―Stage 2 training for Esper Hyun Junho will begin in 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8…
As soon as the countdown ended, a different place from where the spheres had popped out opened. This time the entrance size was a bit larger, so he couldn’t help but get tense.
While holding his breath and looking into the pitch-black entrance, suddenly something popped out with a “Sshhaaeek—!” sound.
“Aaaah!”
Yeoul, who had been looking at the entrance through the binoculars, screamed in shock and backed away. The creature that was disgusting even to look at… had an appearance similar to a giant centipede.
