Right, thanks to that, let’s think of it as one more reason to train even harder. Even if his pride was hurt, the best he could do right now was remember those bastards’ faces and characteristics. So that he could definitely recognize them if he ever ran into them. For now, all he could do was engrave those faces in his memory.
Even though he’d been treated like dirt for being an orphan and ignored for having nothing, Park Shinui was never the type to just take it lying down. Even if he couldn’t pay them back in full for what he received, he had the temperament where he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he could at least trip them up once more. The stubborn tenacity ingrained in him for survival in the world was like a byproduct life had given him.
Park Shinui lingered for a while even after the two men left the locker room, and only started moving after some time had passed. Having unintentionally eavesdropped on someone else’s conversation, he arrived at the training room a little later than usual.
He looked around the training room searching for Lee Suchan, but couldn’t see his teacher who should have been waiting.
Where did the teacher go?
As Park Shinui looked around inside, he recalled what those men had been saying earlier, mocking Lee Suchan. Their ridicule about what could an Esper who doesn’t even go into combat teach.
“When the teacher puts so much effort into teaching me, how dare they run their mouths.”
Park Shinui muttered to himself and stood in place, lightly loosening up his arms and legs. Then he rotated his waist and thrust his fist straight forward. His arm extended in a straight line from shoulder to fist, sharply cutting through the air with a swishing sound.
Though it seemed unlikely he’d need to use his body right away, after experiencing today’s incident, he was convinced it wouldn’t hurt to prepare in advance. He wanted to improve his skills as quickly as possible and definitively shut the mouths of those bastards who spoke so carelessly.
Park Shinui corrected his posture and flexibly loosened his wrists and ankles, relaxing his muscles. After catching his breath slightly, he centered his weight on his supporting leg. With his upper body firmly fixed, he lifted one leg bent, then extended it straight forward in a kick. It was a kick that split the air like lightning.
“Just because my body changed doesn’t mean my skills decreased.”
If only my physical grade would improve here.
Park Shinui twisted his body and extended his sharply raised toes horizontally. The unhesitating movements connected smoothly and agilely. Swish, swish. Each time his powerful kicks cut through the air, a cool splitting sound echoed through the training room.
Park Shinui adjusted his stance and once again kicked off the floor forcefully, soaring up. His rotating leg was leaving an elegant trajectory in the air when it happened. Spotting a figure that suddenly appeared in the corner of his vision, Park Shinui panicked, lost his balance, and tumbled to the floor.
“Ahhh, what!”
“That’s my line. What are you doing instead of preparing for training?”
As he tried to get up while frowning, a familiar voice fell from above his head. When he raised his head, Kang Taejun, who had arrived at some unknown time, was looking down at him with his arms crossed, dressed in comfortable training clothes.
Park Shinui was so startled he tried to jump up, then made a groaning sound again, “Ow ow ow.” Why was Kang Taejun here at this time?
“I was… just warming up.”
He glanced behind Kang Taejun, but there was no one there. He’d wondered if Lee Suchan had come with him, but apparently not. Park Shinui quietly let out a sigh.
“Your leg.”
“Pardon?”
“I asked if your leg is okay.”
“Yes… well, it’s just a bit…”
“What the hell is wrong with that body of yours that you get hurt just from dancing around a bit?”
“It’s taekwondo.”
“……”
He demonstrated the basic stance to Kang Taejun, who looked at him as if not understanding what he meant.
“It’s taekwondo.”
“That’s enough, so don’t move and just stay still.”
Kang Taejun, who let out a short sigh as if displeased, strode forward. Then he stopped in front of Park Shinui and without a word, knelt on one knee on the floor. Soon after, his large hand carefully grasped Park Shinui’s leg.
Uh, um… you shouldn’t just touch like that again.
Park Shinui hunched his shoulders and trembled. His eyes squeezed shut without him realizing it.
Sure enough, as soon as Kang Taejun’s touch made contact, the unprincipled guiding began flowing to him as if it had been waiting. The ability that hadn’t yet been refined reacted enthusiastically even to this light contact and ran wild as it pleased.
Park Shinui glared at Kang Taejun warily through narrowly opened eyes. He bit his lips tightly because it felt like a moan might escape, but it wasn’t enough to hide his roughening breathing.
Is this him trying to take care of today’s guiding in this way? Why does he keep grabbing my body…!
“Done. Try moving it.”
“What? Oh, yes.”
Kang Taejun removed his hand and tilted his head as if telling him to move. To put his hands on his body without permission and then act so confident about it—Park Shinui was dumbfounded. Could it be he thought the leg was injured and fixed it?
“Uh… yes, it’s fine now.”
It had only been slightly twisted to begin with. It was a minor injury that would have healed quickly even if left alone, but the pain that disappeared in the blink of an eye was somewhat amazing. Park Shinui glanced at Kang Taejun’s face while pretending to check his ankle.
What’s this? Why is he suddenly showing kindness I didn’t even ask for?
“But why are you here…”
“Didn’t I say I’d help with training.”
“You, you did say that.”
Along with saying there was something else he wanted in return. Park Shinui once again recalled Kang Taejun’s mysterious demand that had been plaguing him since yesterday.
“What are you doing.”
“Pardon?”
“Aren’t you going to train? Follow me.”
Kang Taejun got up and began walking ahead. Park Shinui, who had been staring blankly at his back, followed with a lukewarm expression.
The place where Kang Taejun stopped wasn’t the wavelength training room he usually used, but a different area. Park Shinui tilted his head but soon relaxed his expression.
He didn’t know what scheme led Kang Taejun to appear the very next day after saying he’d help, but if he was going to help, Park Shinui could only be grateful. He didn’t know how this scene would be written in the novel, but being with Kang Taejun was the best opportunity there could be to imprint his presence.
“You’ll run from here to there. From now on, do ten laps in 1 minute.”
The place they arrived at was the mobility training area set up in one section of the training room. It was a dome-shaped structure with detection sensors and high-speed cameras densely installed over a black rubber floor. Kang Taejun pointed with his chin and gave a straightforward command. From here to the end there, run unconditionally.
“What are you doing? Not running.”
“What? Oh, yes!”
Park Shinui, who started moving his feet reflexively, became dumbfounded once again. Well, running itself wasn’t difficult, but was making him run so suddenly like this really training? Park Shinui’s face showed disappointment as he’d been expecting something more plausible and special. Running was something he’d always done in reality too, wasn’t it?
“I understand Park Shinui-ssi wants to go into combat with me, but if a guide is weak and pathetic, they’re useless inside a gate. I said ten laps in 1 minute. Run. Don’t slow down.”
Kang Taejun commanded with an expressionless face, only looking down at his wristwatch. Yet he coldly gave instructions as if he could see right through that Park Shinui wasn’t properly picking up speed.
Ten laps in 1 minute—was that someone’s name? But Park Shinui, who was fairly confident in his running, thought this much should be entirely possible. However, not even a few seconds after confidently increasing his speed, Park Shinui’s expression stiffened completely.
He’d just started running because he was told to run, but somehow his legs became heavy as lead right from the start. With his original stamina, he would have had the confidence not to fall behind anywhere, but this body was different. What kind of body was this—after running just a few steps, he was already out of breath.
Huff, huff… what. At this rate, forget ten laps, I won’t even be able to finish three?
“At the very least, you need basic stamina to support you before other training is possible, don’t you think. Your speed is dropping. Run properly.”
“No, it’s not that. This, this body…”
“Instead of making weak excuses, take one more step. Don’t slow down.”
“Huff, huff… I’m saying this body originally…”
“You’ve only done two laps so far. Eight laps still remain.”
“Huff, huff…!”
The distance that had only seemed close when looking at it was dizzyingly far when actually running. The Park Shinui in reality would have laughed at running ten laps around a playground and was the owner of stamina that could easily handle hundreds of jump ropes every day. But the Park Shinui here was not.
What kind of body was this that was already drooping like wilted kimchi. It was enough to make one wonder if it was a body that had never done any exercise in its life except breathing exercises. His vision flickered yellow, and even though he wasn’t on a boat, his stomach churned as if seasick.
