*
Kim Si-young Hunter lightly walked, checking each of the students she would be in charge of.
'This generation is said to be exceptional. Looks like there are already a few standouts.'
Park Hye-ji, known as Choi Tae-soo's granddaughter, already holding a position among the top three, so her skills are beyond reproach at this level.
It's not that there are no areas for improvement, but speaking at the student level, there was nothing to point out.
The issues that could be considered problems are actually too high to demand from a student.
If there's a downside, it's that her pride is a bit strong, but well, I think some of that is necessary.
It's just that she feels a bit underrated, buried by Yoon Seo-ah and Lee Da-eun, but she's definitely a top-tier student.
'Next is... Kim Si-woo.'
A student whose skills are as outstanding as his excessively handsome looks.
There was a time when I was briefly interested when I heard that a student with Kim Tae-hwan's abilities had appeared.
One of the Hunters who rose almost vertically from the bottom ranks as soon as he awakened, as everyone acknowledges.
Frankly, rumors tend to be exaggerated, but seeing him like this in person, I felt he was actually underrated.
He's just a student, but he seems to be controlling his power, and he's not at all lacking compared to active Hunters.
'Did Choi Tae-soo-nim mention him for a reason?'
Honestly, I thought there was a strong tendency to promote him as if to fill Kim Tae-hwan's void, but with that growth rate, Kim Si-woo could be included in the next S-Rank Hunter candidates.
Well, it's not like being a candidate automatically makes you an S-Rank.
Because overcoming that wall is not as easy as you think.
'And next is... Kang Ju-won.'
A swordsman pursuing extreme speed, his growth rate is also fast, and his skills are decent.
It's just that there are too many monsters in this generation, so he's being compared, but looking at his skills alone, it wouldn't be strange to evaluate him as top-tier.
The other guys are abnormally strong, but in fact, in other generations, Kang Ju-won would be a top-tier Hunter.
Well, he's not getting much attention right now, but seeing that his growth rate isn't decreasing, I predict he'll climb to a pretty high position.
It's not that there aren't other students who look good among the remaining members, but if I had to pick out the most outstanding ones, it would be those three.
Well, looking at the rankings right now, there are students who seem stronger, but it feels like they've grown to their limit.
'Hooh. Look at this guy?'
Since it's the first day, I had them lightly hit the scarecrows to loosen up their bodies after the vacation, and there was one student who particularly stood out.
'Student Kim Si-woo.'
In fact, hitting the scarecrow is a simple repetitive motion, so it's not easy to stand out like this, but Kim Si-woo was different from the other guys.
The other guys tend to take the basics lightly, thinking they've reached a certain level.
It feels like they're doing it reluctantly because they're told to, whereas Kim Si-woo was seriously striking the scarecrow with his wooden sword, maintaining a high level of concentration.
'It's closer to a dummy doll than a scarecrow, but well, that's not the important thing.'
Kim Si-woo accurately striking the highlighted hitting points.
Anyone here could strike with a simply clean motion.
But, can they maintain the same speed and power while repeating the motion?
They might succeed once or twice, but repeating it continuously without stopping is not an easy task.
Moreover, even in the next training where they have to hit the hitting points in order after the monotonous motion, he struck the hitting points with the same speed and power.
Usually, only swordsmen who have swung their swords for a long time can do that, so considering Kim Si-woo's age, it's surprising.
"Student Kim Si-woo?"
"Yes! Instructor-nim."
"This training doesn't seem very necessary for you. You can rest if you want."
"It's okay."
Watching Kim Si-woo continue to swing his sword after answering like that, the corners of my mouth naturally went up.
He's skilled and diligent, and Kim Si-young Hunter liked diligent students.
"Um, Instructor-nim!"
"What's the matter?"
"I don't think it's necessary for me either. Can I do a different training?"
"Haa..."
To object to my class, I unknowingly got angry, but I am an instructor at the Academy.
I can't act like I used to when I was active.
"Okay. What's the student's name?"
"Kang Man-seok, sir!"
"Okay. Student Man-seok. Why do you think so?"
The attention naturally focused on Kang Man-seok and Kim Si-young Hunter, and the students who had been silently striking the scarecrows also stopped swinging their swords and looked at Kim Si-young Hunter.
They didn't say it, but there were a few students who had similar thoughts to Kang Man-seok.
"Instructor-nim might think I'm being arrogant, but I think I received enough of this basic training in the first year!"
"Okay. Student Kang Man-seok? It's good to see you boldly expressing your opinion. Very good."
It's been a while since I've seen a student speak so boldly in front of me, it's been quite some time since I entered the Academy, so there may be students who don't know me from my active days.
"Okay. Can I borrow your sword for a moment?"
"Here it is!"
__Ppudeudeudeuk.
"Ah. I couldn't control my strength. Can you bring me a new one?"
"...Ah.. Yes!"
A wooden sword made for training, its durability enhanced through enchantments, so breaking it with mere grip strength is absolutely not an easy task, but the wooden sword couldn't withstand Kim Si-young Hunter's strength.
I tried to hold back as much as possible, but it was difficult to hide my emotions.
'Hmm. To not be able to control my emotions in front of this brat. Tsk.'
Kim Si-young Hunter, having received the wooden sword back from Kang Man-seok, who had lost some of his momentum, stood in front of the dummy doll.
"There's something I didn't tell you."
As Kim Si-young Hunter began to operate her smart watch, a hologram appeared next to the dummy doll in front of her.
"This doll is evaluating all of your strikes."
Kim Si-young Hunter said that and began to attack the red-stained hitting points with the wooden sword, just like the students had done.
As she said, the numerical values appeared on the hologram as they were, the accuracy, power, and even the time of the attack were all displayed on the hologram next to her as she lightly swung her sword.
[ Accuracy: 100% ]
[ Power: 100 ]
[ Time until strike refresh: 2.00 seconds ]
The values that were newly updated with each repetitive motion maintained perfectly identical values from beginning to end.
"Accuracy, power, and even time are all being measured. So, Student Kang Man-seok? Why don't you give it a try."
"Ah... I understand!"
"You said it wasn't necessary with your own mouth. You can do this much, right?"
"..."
Kang Man-seok stood in front of the dummy doll with a very nervous face, swinging the wooden sword as Kim Si-young Hunter had done, but the results were different.
The values changed every time he struck the sword, but he was still moving within a certain margin of error, perhaps because he wasn't unskilled, but the same values didn't continue to appear as Kim Si-young Hunter had done.
"Not bad, but for someone who said it was unnecessary, you're terrible."
"I'm... I'm sorry."
"Well, then, Student Kim Si-woo?"
"Yes!"
"Why don't you give it a try."
The attention naturally focused on Kim Si-woo, and usually, when attention is focused like this, people tend to get nervous, but that couldn't be found in Kim Si-woo.
Kim Si-woo came forward as if nothing was wrong, took a stance, and struck the sword.
As Kim Si-woo swung his sword, the values began to appear on the hologram.
[ Accuracy: 100% ]
[ Power: 100 ]
[ Time until strike refresh: 2.00 seconds ]
Values that were perfectly identical to what Kim Si-young Hunter had done. The people around him exclaimed softly at the values that remained perfectly the same even when he continued to strike.
'Look at this guy?'
Where did this monster come from, how far can he grow?
Kim Si-young Hunter unconsciously smacked her lips like a beast in front of its prey.
"Hmm. Good work, Student Kim Si-woo. Then, I'll display it for the rest of you, so practice again."
The students returned to their places, and after striking without much motivation at first, they all focused as soon as they started seeing the values.
Isn't it human nature to focus more when you see direct results like this?
'We didn't even have this back in the day.'
If I had this when I was learning, I could have had more fun. Well, what can I do? It's my fault for being born earlier.
Now that the other students can see the values with their own eyes, they seem to have realized how difficult what Kim Si-woo showed was.
They're not going to fight each other, but for now, they're all competitors.
Everyone started to be wary of Kim Si-woo, but the person in question didn't seem to care much and continued to strike the scarecrow with his sword.
A swordsman must maintain composure in any situation.
'The more I look at him, the more I like him.'
Kim Si-young Hunter looked at Kim Si-woo with a very pleased expression.
'Well. I shouldn't show favoritism, though.'
Kim Si-young Hunter came to her senses and turned her gaze to the other students, perhaps because they were all somewhat capable.
With a goal in mind and the values visible, their improvement started to become noticeable.
It's still difficult to reach Kim Si-woo's level, but at that rate, they might catch up soon.
Indeed, the talented ones are talented.
'Park Hye-ji seems like she'll get there soon, and Kang Ju-won also looks like he can do it...'
Kim Si-young Hunter's lips curled up at the thought that this year's students would be fun to teach.