NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
Chapter 20. Rank 4 (4)
This sparring was the first one Yoo Ji-han had after signing a contract with the Sylph.
‘My body feels light?’
The Sylph wasn’t summoned yet.
Nonetheless, Yoo Ji-han thought that his strength and speed were better than before.
He rushed in with the intent to knock down the examiner right from the start.
Surprisingly, he was performing even better than he had anticipated.
Compared to the Guild’s Heroes, Bang Yoon-sik, who ranked as a Rank 3, was taken aback by his skills.
Thwack! Thwack!
Still, Bang Yoon-sik, being the seasoned examiner, managed to block the attacks effectively.
However, unfortunately for him, he wasn’t facing just one opponent.
Whoosh!
From a considerably higher position, one of the Wind Arrows shot down quickly toward Bang Yoon-sik.
He took a big step back to dodge the arrow.
Yet, as if anticipating that, the arrow didn’t embed itself into the ground but instead stopped mid-air and angled itself to target him again.
Thwack!
He had no choice but to swat the arrow away with his wooden sword.
At that moment, more arrows came raining down!
‘They’re aiming for the wooden sword.’
Bang Yoon-sik checked the spot on the sword where the arrows had struck.
There were scratches all over due to the repeated impacts.
There was even a small dent inside.
Before the sparring started, he had told Yoo Ji-han to attack as if it were a real battle, yet Kim Si-hu’s magic was targeting the wooden sword and not his body.
The reason was likely to ensure the opponent’s safety.
‘How embarrassing to be looked down upon by a rookie…!’
The problem was that despite that, the magic was quite threatening.
The arrows moved freely, likely to hit his body if he didn’t deflect or dodge them!
Continuously blocking them wasn’t a viable option either.
An ordinary wooden sword wasn’t suitable for blocking magical skills, given how difficult it was to contain magical power.
A moment’s negligence could easily lead to a broken wooden sword instead of proper defense.
‘This guy is at a distance I can’t close in on.’
As he turned his gaze toward Kim Si-hu, Yoo Ji-han was again sticking close like a leech.
He tried to approach the nonchalant mage, but he couldn’t get through due to the constant blocking from this guy.
At this point, Bang Yoon-sik’s speed in swinging his sword wasn’t decreasing at all, as if he weren’t getting tired.
Suddenly, in a fit of irritation, Bang Yoon-sik swung his wooden sword at Yoo Ji-han.
And then—
‘Uh-oh!’
He realized he had made a huge mistake just before their swords crossed.
Clang!
At the moment the two wooden swords met, Bang Yoon-sik’s sword broke in half with a loud sound.
Yoo Ji-han had struck the dent created by the arrows perfectly.
Thud.
Half of the broken wooden sword hung on the tip of the other for a moment before finally dropping to the ground.
Bang Yoon-sik, holding the half-sword, looked down at the wooden pieces lying on the ground.
He then let go of the handle he was holding.
“I surrender! I concede.”
Bang Yoon-sik raised his arms to shoulder height, declaring his defeat.
Yoo Ji-han let his sword drop down.
“Phew… Thank you for your hard work.”
“Isn’t it tiring? You’ve been attacking without a break.”
“I’m still fine.”
“Must be because you’re young, you’re quite sturdy.”
Bang Yoon-sik rotated his right shoulder, still feeling the impact from blocking the attacks in his shoulder and arm.
“Mr. Yoo Ji-han from Sweet Fun. And it’s Mr. Kim Si-hu, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you really a Rank 5 Party?”
“…Well, that’s why we’re here, I guess?”
“No, I’ve been overseeing Rank 4 sparring examinations for almost two years now, and this is the first time I’ve seen a party with such skills. I’m genuinely surprised.”
Bang Yoon-sik’s attitude had completely changed from when he dismissed them at first.
It was understandable because, over the last two years, he had fought against over 200 Rank 5 parties.
Among them, he had declared defeat against a handful of sparring parties that he genuinely recognized.
And today, that count had just increased.
This was the first time against a duo.
“The sparring examination is passed. You both were truly amazing.”
“Thank you.”
“If there are no major issues, I believe you would also pass the interview with flying colors. Good luck!”
Bang Yoon-sik exchanged handshakes with the two from Sweet Fun, smiling.
‘A pretty decent party.’
Bang Yoon-sik acknowledged Sweet Fun in his heart.
If they had fought wearing actual equipment as if it were a real battle—what would that have been like?
‘…That would be tough.’
He was certain that it wouldn’t be an easy fight at all.
They weren’t at a level that could just be disregarded by numbers or ranks.
*
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu returned to the Break Room.
The sofas where the heroes had been sitting were mostly empty.
It seemed other parties had moved for their examinations just like Sweet Fun.
“Ugh.”
Yoo Ji-han sat back down in the waiting area before the exam began.
Then he asked Kim Si-hu.
“Si-hu, why did you do that earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“You targeted the weapon, not the person.”
Kim Si-hu targeting the wooden sword instead of Bang Yoon-sik with his magic was something that had not been agreed upon beforehand.
While Yoo Ji-han had broken the sword, he wanted to know the reason behind it.
“Oh, that? I was worried he would get hurt.”
“Didn’t he tell you not to worry?”
“Still… I keep seeing openings with him! There were opportunities to aim for the heart or head; if I’d done that, he really could’ve been seriously hurt.”
During the battle with Bang Yoon-sik, Kim Si-hu had multiple opportunities to target the heart or head, which are commonly classified as human weaknesses.
Roughly at least three times, he had those chances.
He hadn’t acted on it, though.
Kim Si-hu explained defensively.
“You can use a wooden sword instead of a real sword, but magic is too ambiguous between training and real-life situations. It could cause fatal injuries.”
“But we had a medical team right next to us.”
“Healing magic isn’t omnipotent either, you know?”
During the sparring, a medical team with top-notch doctors and heroes who could use healing magic stood by.
However, healing magic didn’t show dramatic effects.
They couldn’t guarantee they could save someone who had suffered fatal injuries.
“That guy wasn’t that weak of a hero. If he knew he was in danger, he would’ve declared surrender right away.”
“If things weren’t going well for me, I wouldn’t have let it slide. But you were holding up fine by yourself.”
Despite continuously targeting only the wooden sword…
If Yoo Ji-han had faltered, he would have fought without mercy.
Yet Yoo Ji-han stood firm against Bang Yoon-sik on his own.
In fact, he even began to push the opponent back, leaving no choice for the mage, who was at a distance, but to ponder his next moves.
“Uh, well…”
Yoo Ji-han was at a loss for words, scratching his head.
While he didn’t entirely dismiss Kim Si-hu’s approach, he couldn’t quite understand it either.
‘Feels like he’s changed a bit since signing the contract with the Sylph.’
It was a bit surprising even for Yoo Ji-han himself that he was able to push the examiner back so easily.
The cause of this was speculated to be his contract with the Sylph.
It’s said that a Spirit Master grows along with the growth of the spirit they contract with.
While he wasn’t sure, something similar might have happened.
Moreover, just recently, the Sylph absorbed a mysterious gem.
“Now, all that’s left is the interview, right?”
“Right.”
Having passed the sparring examination smoothly, only the interview with the Hero Department’s officials remained.
But what exactly should they say once they entered the interview room?
‘No relevant information available.’
There’s a lot of helpful information on the internet for interviews in regular companies, but not much regarding interviews included in party rank advancement examinations.
Furthermore, Yoo Ji-han had no heroes nearby to seek advice from.
Although he had been part of Kim Hyun-tae’s party for a long time, personal contact with fellow party members was incredibly rare.
He’d exchanged phone numbers with Lee Mi-a at her request, but excluding those times when they met in real life, the last time he had contacted her was three years ago.
What a bare-bones social life.
“I’ve heard of parties where all members wore suits, you know?”
“I saw that too. Should we have prepared a change of clothes…?”
Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu, who had never had such experiences, waited a bit anxiously for the interview to begin.
The interview was different from the sparring order, so they’d have to wait over thirty minutes longer.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you!”
“Th-thank you!”
Inside the Hero Department’s interview room.
The four heroes belonging to the same party bowed almost 90 degrees toward the interviewers and exited through the door.
Yang Ji-cheol spoke to the three interviewers sitting in a row next to him.
“This party has improved a lot, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, they’re not bad.”
“They must have prepared quite a bit.”
The interviewers who remained jotted down notes on some white papers with their pens.
It was regarding the special aspects of the party that had just finished the interview and their scores.
At that moment, one of the interviewers, who had been watching the door from which the heroes had just exited, spoke.
“Let’s disqualify that party that just left.”
“…What?”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Disqualified.”
At the sudden words of the man, the other interviewers looked at him with confused expressions.
The party that just left was attempting their promotion assessment for the fourth time.
They had scored sufficiently to pass the sparring examination and had shown a pretty decent impression during the interview.
It was enough to qualify for a rank advancement to Rank 4.
Yet the man didn’t bend his will.
“I really dislike seeing a tanker hero responding slowly and looking all fidgety. I don’t want to promote them to Rank 4.”
“That much can be understood as simply each person having a different personality…”
“No. A tanker is the root supporting the party! In battle or daily life, they must never show such a demeanor. If they were like that, they’d just fumble around holding their shield when their party members were attacked.”
Scratch!
The man drew a red line through the guild name written on the document.
That signified they had been failed.
The other interviewers wore skeptical expressions, but eventually accepted his decision and turned the page on the document.
All the notes taken during the interview became utterly useless.
“Tch, I’m not seeing any useful parties around.”
The man who disqualified the party wasn’t an official of the Hero Department.
[Warriors – Lee Dong-ho]
Like the nameplate placed on top of the papers, he was a hero affiliated with the Warriors Guild.
He had been specially dispatched from outside to assist with the Rank 4 promotion assessment.
It was obligatory to have an external judge present during the promotion evaluations due to concerns that relying solely on the opinions of the Hero Department might compromise fairness, and he was there for that purpose today.
One of the interviewers cautiously spoke up.
“Mr. Dong-ho, is something bothering you today…?”
“No? Seeing fresh faces makes me feel great!”
“…”
“I’m definitely not annoyed because an unplanned interview schedule was put together, so don’t worry too much!”
“Ah, yes…”
Lee Dong-ho spoke as if emphasizing each word.
The way he was holding back his anger made the other interviewers internally sigh.
‘Isn’t he being too strict?’
‘The parties being assessed are quite unfortunate.’
‘They really picked the wrong day today.’
The authority of an examiner dispatched from outside was considerable.
Even if all the other interviewers agreed to promote a party, if Lee Dong-ho opposed it, that party would be disqualified.
Yang Ji-cheol absentmindedly tapped the pen on the table with his fingers.
Days like today where the notes written with this pen had no meaning were rare.
‘At this rate, there might not be even three parties promoted this time.’
It might be the lowest record among the promotion assessments conducted recently.
At that moment, as Yang Ji-cheol was worried,
‘Next up is Sweet Fun…’
On the document that Yang Ji-cheol was glancing at, the guild name was Sweet Fun.
It was the party he had personally encouraged to come to the office for a promotion.
Still, couldn’t he expect a slightly different outcome here?
Knock knock.
“Come in!”
Finally, the interview room door opened.
With slightly anxious expressions, Yoo Ji-han and Kim Si-hu entered.
They approached the empty chairs in front of the interviewers and said.
“Hello. We are Sweet Fun…”
“Wait, right there! Take off the hat on your head first.”
Before their greeting could even finish, Lee Dong-ho pointed at Kim Si-hu’s hat.
Kim Si-hu, who looked extremely tense, glanced at Yoo Ji-han beside him.
Exchanging glances, Yoo Ji-han gave a small nod without a word.
“Okay.”
Kim Si-hu answered very briefly and slowly took off his hat.
His grayish, ashen hair hidden beneath the black beanie revealed itself, along with his oddly shaped ears.
Seeing this, Lee Dong-ho chuckled and said.
“What’s this? A half-baked one, huh?”
“…?”
What the heck?