Chapter 5 : Lee Hyun's Identity Uncovered
The second day of MT.
Morning came; along with a bunch of bizarre sounds came from the tents.
"Kkeueung, kkeung."
"Heuheoheoheoheok!"
"Ma...my thigh."
Pain resulted from the aftermath of yesterday's running.
Even with the pain occurring during the event, it was nothing comparable to the muscle ache of the following day!
"All rise. It's morning!"
The professors each went around the tents to wake everyone up.
With eyes so narrowed due to the sleepiness, they moved to wash their faces and hurried to prepare breakfast.
Each group nodded their heads grandly at their meals.
Due to the troubles of yesterday, they simply had ramen because they didn't have the will to cook the materials otherwise; today, there was a wide range of food.
Chigeulchigeul. (sizzles)
Grilling pork, and also opened a bottle of cider.
"Can I drink the Soju?"
Some students asked the professors with hoarse breath.
Drinking in the morning is not condoned during an MT!
The professors delightfully allowed.
"Go ahead! Drink and see if you can withstand today's training of hell!"
They withered and returned the Soju back to the box once again.
In Lee Hyun's group, he used the leftover materials to boil stew; along with a side dish of seasoned premature leaf mustard kimchi.
He steamed the rice in a sotdanji until thick smoke evaporated, till the rice seemingly burnt, then they were allowed to eat. (???it's like a flat kettle of a pan.)
"Hyeong, this food is really is the best!"
Choi Sang-jung gave it two thumbs up.
Min Sura also slurped down the meal and asked.
"Where did you learn to cook like this?"
It has long been settled that the ideal men are those that can make appealing dishes.
If you can cook day by day particularly for a woman, she can't be helped but fall in love with you.
So from that standpoint, learning how to cook is a virtue of a man!
"My cooking skill rises over the years at home. It has been more than a decade already."
"So you cooked since childhood? And the qualities are so high."
"There are circumstances. And I learned more specific dishes in Royal Road."
In Royal Road, there was a separate cooking skill. But simply relying on that could not lead to a finished dish from beginning to end.
In reality, even with just the improper adjustment of water in the rice cooker, the damage is enormous. At that point it's either to turn into porridge or throw it away completely.
Practicing in Royal Road helped reduce these mistakes and even acted as flavor analysis.
Thus, in order copy the taste properly, it required accurately finding the increments in the recipe exactly.
Lee Hyun studied such recipes for days.
Given that the various parts in the recipe in virtual reality did not transliterate precisely out in the real world.
After having finished breakfast, the hell's training started again!
"Group lunges. Just 300 meters worth."
"Uoooooooooooooo."
After the professor's words, the students' grievances were enormous.
With cramps in their legs at one point or another, they forcibly lunged for 300 meters.
In fact, the length of it wasn't that long so it ended quickly.
"Today wasn't bad. Didn't even take more than 20 mins."
"The professors also have consciences, huh."
"I want to go back to sleeping more soundly."
The students' conversations were a bit relaxed.
Then as if to instilled more resentment, a professor spoke.
"Is the warm up exercise done?"
Since they overly abused their muscles during yesterday's run, this warm up was to release the pent up tension in their muscles!
The real hell on this training schedule was the coming boat ride.
Eight people riding at once on the wooden boat.
"The rule is simple. One lap around the island paddling your boat."
Since the professors won't be able to keep an eye on everyone, they all were enclosed in life vests.
They also rented fishing boats to hover around, to watch out for any accidents that could occur.
Lee Hyun examined the detail of the boat.
'The boat's pretty old. Think it's about 10 years old or so. I don't have any experience on boats, let's give it a try.'
Lee Hyun tried to reach for the oars and Choi Sang-jung grabbed hold of them first.
"Hyeong, let me do this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yea, you get some rest. You can take over once I'm weary."
Choi Sang-jung was feeling sorry about having left Lee Hyun to endure alone until now.
While the other groups suffered, it was all thanks to Lee Hyun that their current lifestyle was comfortable.
"Kkeungcha!" (exerting force)
Choi Sang-jung rowed.
Kkulreong.
"Huh?"
Kkulreongkkulreong.
With each row, the boat staggered aimlessly. Fortunately, the boat was surprisingly sturdier than it looked.
"Left, go left!"
"Ah! The waves are coming this way!"
The waves were pushing against them at the opposite flow instead of their intended one lap around the island.
Every time the waves came, it rocked the boat back and forth and slowing their speed to a crawl.
Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo alternately rowed the boat for more than 40 minutes.
Suddenly, their backs were drenched in sweats.
"Wanna switch to me?"
"Yes, hyeong."
Park Sunjo got up from the seat and switched to Lee Hyun.
Lee Hyun gripped the oar in both hands tightly. And stirred.
Kkulreong!
The distortion between the forces he exerted and that of Choi Sang-jung was too much!
The boat skewed for a bit before realigned itself.
It was difficult due to the fact one had to take into account of the incoming waves as they row.
'Not easy.'
Lee Hyun relaxed himself.
He figured it'd cost more power if he had try to force against the flow. He adjusted his strength accordingly so he wouldn't get tired quickly.
After all, the paddle was simply an extension of the arms.
'It's like brandishing the sword to a flow. No point to go against that.'
Lee Hyun rowed the oar as he felt the pushing force against the water.
He accepted the oncoming waves fully and allowed it to slip by.
After which he once again puts reasonable force into each paddle.
Seureureureureureong.
While not a too overwhelming row, the ship moved forward with ease.
Without distorting the boat, it wasn't being pushed back.
It was nothing comparable to the experienced fishermen, but the boat's advancement was in a different dimension comparing to when Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo did it.
Choi Sang-Jung curiously asked.
"Hyeong, have you done sailing before?"
Of course, Lee Hyun had never been on another boat before. They were something beyond his reach.
Though there is a possibility if it was a shrimping boat. Though it's kind of like the worse case scenario of a job.
"I have the feel of the paddle."
"Huh?"
To Lee Hyun it was an easy answer; but since that philosophical sentence was built off of his numerous experiences as he suffered, it wasn't for others.
If you don't endure physical labor then you'll suffer when experiencing it.
Such as working hard shoveling. After a period of tremendous effort, it becomes easier as one get well accustom to it.
The boat moved along soothingly whenever Lee Hyun paddled.
This island of unspoiled nature and wide blue sea!
While doing the lap, they were able to take in the scenery Silmido had to offer.
Afterward, it was lunch. Then followed by the sport competition.
The students were still tired and exhausted, but the heat from the sun remained strong.
Due to the view of the sea and the taste of fresh air, unexpected vitality arose from within all the students.
A gift from nature.
Lee Hyun too, played without regret.
Football(soccer), wrestling, and log boxing.
Even at the moderate level with the subtracted power, the totaled score represented his overwhelming vitality.
Thanks to his performance, it naturally attracted the attention of others.
A female student, Park Sumin, seemed to have realized something and clapped.
"That's right! I'm sure I've seen him somewhere."
Lee Hyun heard from corner of his ear ad his heart thumped.
'Is it the fact that I'm Weed?'
Until now it was unlikely that they could recognize him.
His face wasn't exposed from Continent of Magic back in the day, and the time he was Karichwi the Orc was when he was an Orc.
No matter how good or keen eyes anyone had, there was no way for any of them to call Lee Hyun out from the Orc.
Then the dragon hunt was also not possible.
In this case he was a skeleton. Only showed a skeleton body and a face without flesh.
The truth was never publicized.
Recently KMC Media started a program named 'Weed.'
But it was never disclosed whether it was Jeonshin Weed of CoM or not.
It was due to the judgment of the broadcasters to deliberately conceal his identity.
The content of the Kingdom of Vampires Todeum was a major broadcast.
An emerging hero of Versailles continent, Weed, to challenge the incomprehensible.
To intentionally keeping the mystery of Weed, they edited parts of him out or excluded him as a whole.
And Weed the Sculptor did not have that extent of popularity!
While it had only been two weeks since it started.
Being at the bottom ratings, there was a positive spin that the mysteriousness was kept.
Because Weed the Sculptor wasn't a completely unknown being.
The Lord of Morata, the Earl of Morata!
Scouts from guilds had constantly made offers to the one known as the best Sculptor of the Versailles continent.
Lee Hyun knew he once again became famous through his sculptures.
But while the Sculptor's popularity was nowhere near that of the Jeonshin Weed, only few knew that the two were one and the same in Royal Road.
All in all, in reality, there were very few people that can make the correlation between Lee Hyun and them.
Park Sumin pointed her finger toward Lee Hyun.
"I've seen him before! Once 2 years ago!"
All the faculty members presented and the students all focused their gaze at no one else but him!
Lee Hyun face contorted.
"2 years ago?"
He rocked his head to one side but nothing came to mind.
"What, where did you see me?"
"Don't you remember the event long ago?"
Everyone pondered in search for the reason why Park Sumin spoke with such confident tone.
"Princess Knight, right?"
Princess Knight.
He visited his sister and attended three events at the school.
Among them was one event called the 'Princess Set.'
Then, Park Sumin tried to recollect the video she came across on the internet and recited it to see who else also remembered.
During that time, Lee Hyun's movements were very incredible.
He dashed across the obstacles in a flurry, and defeated the water balloons using his fists and legs. Then used a leap and jumped past the wall.
Due to the fact that the event attracted a lot of participants because of the prize money, the video widespread further on the internet as there were a lot of viewers.
"Pr..Princess Knight?"
"Ah, then you're that person from the festival."
From Park Sumin recollection of the story, people began to recall such event.
Lee Hyun face frowned. To him, having a nickname as the 'Princess Knight' was nothing flattering at all.
"You have the wrong guy. I'm not that person at all."
A lie!
But Park Sumin nodded her head.
"Of course you're the Princess Knight. Although the video was just a clip, you still have the same face, now and then."
"Well, don't be too sure."
"The countenance you used to deny that wasn't trustworthy at all."
"......"
At this point, Lee Hyun was dubbed as the Princess Knight and engraved in steel.
"Come, take a drink. Princess Knight!"
"Yes, Senior."
At the end of the athletic event resulted to a drink party.
This could be considered as pretty much the last event of the MT.
Lee Hyun' popularity essentially skyrocketed as a resulted from that. Along with the professors called him to come around, many students also visited him several times.
"So you're Lee Hyun huh. You have been very unexpected at every tasks......anyway, you did a good job in the MT. Now, take this drink here."
"Yes, professor."
Lee Hyun went around the professors and drank the offered alcohol without leaving a single drop.
Doing so to earn the credits from the professors to be able to make his college life more favorable.
Flattery through drinking spirit!
To the strong the weak, and to the weak be strong! (I think it means...the weak sucks up to the strong, while the strong takes care of the weak.)
There was something wrong with this old saying.
But it's a reasonable law for people to live by.
"Lee Hyun Oppa. Please help me here."
"What is it."
"Please light this fire here."
There was a motive behind them to substantially changed the way the addressed him. Most of them, including the returning students, cautiously changed the way they addressed him to Oppa.
But with Lee Hyun lack of sensibility, he did not budge. He spat his words out as dry as the desert.
"Use a lighter."
Lee Hyun built a cheeky facial expression. Nevertheless, the students did not give up.
"I want to see you make the fire using woods."
Those who acted cold toward him before also showed their interest.
"Come here."
"We owe you a drink."
With motives of getting along with the Lee Hyun, the seniors called him over for a few words.
Especially with the female seniors, as he felt their intensity in their stares.
The focused eyes of strong stallions!
With their forcefulness and sizable groups, he had no choice but to quietly go to where the voices beckoned.
"The seniority isn't that important, ok?"
"Look at those leg muscles. So solid. Hohoho."
Lee Hyun had not grown accustomed to this.
From here and there, other freshmen and seniors chatted up amid laughter along with drinks in hands.
"Whew. No kidding. Rowing the boat was really hard, y'kno."
"But thanks to senior that we finished the MT well."
More familiarity!
Though they've reached the extreme of their fatigue; by overcoming such hardship and adversity, the freshman and the seniors formed a mutual respect for each other.
Whether it's the talent show or the training of hell, in several hours or so, they would all leave those behind and nothing will remain except for their happy memories.
So they all shared drinks as the night draped over.
At 11 PM, one by one, they all fell to sleep in exhaustion.
* * *
"Huaa."
Lee Hyun woke up and soaked in the fresh air.
Although last night he seemed to have drunk too much till having a hangover, there was no change in his morning schedule.
'And now, we're going to return.'
He was a little disappointed, but it seemed he accomplished the motives he came with.
The fact was as soon as he returned home; he'd reconnect to Royal Road.
During the three days and two nights of absent, he was certain that things had developed somehow.
He'll once again slipped into the shadows in the subversive activities of a dark gamer by making money through quests and items with his ambitious colleagues; and this will become nothing more than just a dream.
It was a fierce battleground rather than just a game!
Lee Hyun needed to return to that world.
'Today, I may have a bit of time to go to the Dojang. Need to do a bit of morning exercise.'
Lee Hyun removed himself out of the temporary residence.
He loosened his rigid muscles by moving around and had intended to run.
But just as yesterday, he spotted Seoyoon sitting on the rock.
'When did that happen?'
Lee Hyun approached her and spoke.
"Hi."
"......"
"Why are you up early?"
"......"
Still no reply. Lee Hyun quietly took a seat beside her, and that was all as he remains seated.
Once Lee Hyun sat down on the rock.
His mind was still troubled as he thought about being unable to exercise, so he didn't want to just silently sitting there.
Lee Hyun no longer spoke, while Seoyoon was still hesitantly trying to find what to say.
Even though she really wanted to share a lot, she did not know where to start or how long the wait in between each reply should be.
30 minutes in silence.
Cheosseokcheosseok!
The sound of the waves in their current vicinity could be heard, along with the cries of the seagulls.
The rise in Lee Hyun's anxiety was directly proportional to the rise in Seoyoon's feeling of comfort.
As the greeting breeze blew, the day was becoming brighter.
They watched the sun rising over at the faraway horizon!
Suddenly, there was a gentle touch on Lee Hyun's shoulder. It was the unable to win against the drowsiness Seoyoon's head leaning on it.
It was due to being the second day already that she could not sleep well, along with the fact that she was tired from the out of the norm alcoholic drinks.
And here it was, her trusted friend Lee Hyun, presented comfort from the built up tension and knocked her to sleep spontaneously.
Segeunsegeun.
Seoyoon's breathing rhythm sounded in Lee Hyun's ear.
With each exhale, Lee Hyun could feel his own heart reacted to it as the beats increased in strain.
In this place, it was just Lee Hyun and Seoyoon.
Although the students were still sleeping on the sandy beach, they were at a distance away.
Moreover, Seoyoon had already drifted to dreamland in a seemingly drunken slumber due to the hearty drinks from the previous day.
In other words, it was an opportunity given by the heavens!
There was no other way but to say Seoyoon was defenseless in this state before Lee Hyun.
Lee Hyun's eyes filled with murderous intentions.
'You treat me like fodder, huh. And during my cold you jammed that food-to-kill porridge down my throat!'
It was a golden opportunity to take revenge.
As it seemed she was deeply in her doze, he could have picked her up and tossed her into the sea.
Holding grudges infinitely!
However, Lee Hyun's mind soon wandered off from the thought. Though vengeance would be thrilling, he was afraid of the troubles to come in the future.
'I don't know how she will manage after I throw her into the sea!'
Still, in his internal rampage he paid careful attention to not wake up Seoyoon. Then a thought hit.
'Let me adjust a bit to have you sleep more comfortably.'
Lee Hyun gently lifted up Seoyoon's head and placed it on his lap. After which, he observed Seoyoon's face in detail.
'There's gotta be an ugly corner somewhere.'
He still had not given up on his childish revenge.
The first time Lee Hyun saw Seoyoon's face was in the instructor's cabin.
But because he noticed the 'murderer' mark during that event that he did not examined her beauty in more detail.
Nevertheless, a fragment of Seoyoon's face remained in his mind that he went to sculpt the Statue of Freya.
The image he had at that time was indeed beautiful.
But he did not know that the beauty exceeded what he had imagined.
The second meeting where he saw her was on the Plains of Despair, where her loveliness shone even more.
Then, during the times they risked their lives in the northern parts, he took peeks at her in his spare time.
But with each and every time he saw her, she continuously exuded attractiveness.
It wasn't because Seoyoon was increasingly becoming more and more beautiful.
She was already beautiful from the beginning. It was because the more closely he got to look at her face, the more beauty he saw in her.
Eyes, nose, eyebrows, forehead, chin and lips.
There was no way to totaled up her features.
While wondering how dreadfully beautiful something was, a new attraction came into play whenever he took a look.
No matter how long he stared at her face, he could not get tired from the sight. With each and every sight to admire, he had no choice but to look!
Lee Hyun wanted to find flaws in Seoyoon's face.
He leaned in so close that he can feel each of her breath, a rare chance to do so since she was still sleeping.
'Skin. Well, it's perfect. Not one crease and I can't even see a single pore. How can human skin have such milk like quality? Facial feature. Great. It's the perfect golden ratio of placements if I was sculpturing. Long eyebrows...how does her hair even have such orderly placements?'
Trying to find any facial flaw in her, even if it was just a tiny ugly part in her, did not work out.
'Fine, I admit the face is too good. What about other places...'
Lee Hyun's eyes ran downward. He could roughly make out the figure through the dress. And here still, he could not find a fault.
Tall and slender, her body was also good.
The calves, thighs, and even the waist line were smooth.
Even the freaking toes exposed from the sandals were also beautiful!
Lee Hyun did not hate women.
He simply wanted to avoid having a relationship with one because there will be money to spend. But this idea has changed quite a bit after watching Seoyoon.
'If it's her then it's prolly ok to treat her to a Kimbap shop. No wait. If I do that then it'll go bad if she develops a habit of wanting to go there. Oh yea, I suppose I could treat her at an udon stall or sumthin!' (??? sushi shop or something, google image sushi, but not sure what else it also encompasses.)
This was a somewhat of a significant change in him.
Lee Hyun was still giving Seoyoon a lap pillow even as the sun fully emerges.
The sunrise from the sea was a spectacular sight to behold.
Due to the fact that yesterday morning was filled with fog that he could not able to see such sunrise; but today, not a single cloud in the sky could be seen in this sunny weather.
From where the sky and the ocean attempting to touch one another, the sun seemingly burned them both as it rose.
"Ahh!"
Lee Hyun's morale also rose.
Anyone looking at such beautiful sunrise can feel their commitment on the rise; Lee Hyun was not an exception.
'This year I have to earn a lot more money!'
The sun had risen completely so there was no way to differentiate anymore.
Lee Hyun returned his gaze onto him lap and focused on the Seoyoon on it.
She somehow became prettier in the given sunlight. Due to the alcoholic facet, the view became slightly enhanced.
At this close distance, she looked as if she was a sleeping baby.
Lee Hyun bent down and picked up a nearby piece of wood. And his arm pulled out a small knife.
Sagaksagak.
He was trying to carve the soundly sleeping Seoyoon.
The handy skill he learned in Royal Road made it easier for him to sculpt.
Making Masterpiece, Classic, or Magnum was not possible, but regardless of the Artistic Values, he could still sculpt as long as he had the cardiovascular control and will.
Though still, in reality, he still didn't have the Zahab carving knife.
Even if he gave it his best shot, in no way can he create exceptional works.
However, due to the innumerable experiences and commitment, the piece was becoming similar to what he wanted to make.
Lee Hyun was carefully carving the sleeping Seoyoon.