Chapter 13

Mad Swordsman of the Shadow World (13)

He first caught his eye by chance.

‘I-I think I’m going to die...!’

It had already been six years since he was dragged to this nameless place, but he still had not gotten used to it.

Training that pushed his mental strength to the limit every single day.

Whenever he began to adapt, even harsher training followed.

If not for proper meals and the breaks given between training sessions, he might have gone insane.

But...

“...”

Harganto’s gaze settled on one boy.

Idiot Theron.

It was a nickname given to him because of his small build and because there was nothing in particular he was good at.

But at some point, the boy changed.

Even during that brutal training, he endured steadfastly without complaining even once.

He even stayed on the training ground longer than anyone else after training ended, doing who knew what.

‘But...’

Was it merely because of that?

He did not know the reason, but Harganto was able to look calmly at the situation unfolding before him.

“If we fail to place in the top three and my arms get cut off, I swear on everything I have that I’ll kill all of you. So before that happens, either kill me here... or follow me.”

A direct threat.

Theron had challenged every trainee in this place head-on.

His physique and presence were both different from when he had first arrived.

Harganto felt strangely drawn to him.

That was why he decided to follow him.

“I, Harganto, will follow Theron. Of course, I still have doubts. But thanks to this bastard, one thing has become certain.”

As if the hellish training here were not enough, the instructors’ beatings made him want to die day after day.

There had even been several who took their own lives.

The fact that those beatings had disappeared was enough for him to want to place his bet on Theron.

And as a result.

“I’ll... follow him too.”

“I’ll follow him too.”

“Me too.”

Every trainee in Section 5 began following Theron.

Even Palcote and Balk, who had been beaten by him.

And from that day onward, the atmosphere of the training ground changed.

“Rowen. Try to hold on a little longer. Isn’t suffering now still much better than getting beaten by the instructors later?”

“Huh? Ah, y-yeah.”

At Theron’s words, Rowen, who had collapsed to the ground, put strength into his trembling legs and bit his lip tightly.

He took the horse stance again, slowly lifted one foot, and tried to balance himself.

Seeing him wobble, Theron lightly held his arm and said.

“Your balance is collapsing this way. Try consciously putting more strength into this side.”

“Huh...? It works! It works!”

At Theron’s words, Rowen shouted in amazement.

Because a movement he had never been able to do before suddenly worked after just one piece of advice from Theron.

Theron said.

“Your left-right balance isn’t good. From now on, I think you should focus on training that corrects your body’s balance.”

“Th-Thanks!”

Besides that, Theron watched the trainees train and advised them on the areas where they were lacking.

Strangely enough, things that had never worked until now fell into place as if by magic.

And seeing that.

“...Why does that bastard seem more like an instructor than the actual instructors?”

“He doesn’t even feel like another trainee anymore.”

At Perka’s question, Tioren nodded and spoke.

The first exam.

Ever since he entered and came back out of the Shadow Forest, it felt as though Theron had risen to a completely different level from everyone else.

But what was even more amazing was.

“Hey, Theron. Aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll stay a little longer before going in. You go ahead.”

The sight of him staying behind alone after training ended to train even more was enough to make the other trainees click their tongues in disbelief.

But that day, something was different.

Rowen, who had been heading back toward the dormitory, hesitated before cautiously approaching Theron.

“...Theron.”

“What?”

“Could I... train with you too?”

“...?!”

“What did you say?”

The ones surprised by Rowen’s words were the other trainees nearby.

He was already exhausted to the point where he could barely control his body, and now he wanted to train even more?

But at Rowen’s words, a small smile appeared on Theron’s lips.

“Of course. I’ll teach you training that helps with balance. Let’s do it together.”

“Thanks!”

Rowen smiled brightly and moved to Theron’s side.

Seeing that, the other trainees looked somewhat hesitant, but.

“Damn it, what additional training? I’m already dying...”

“I can’t do it. What we did today was already too hard.”

Palcote and his group frowned slightly and turned away.

They had submitted, but they still did not believe this hellish place could truly change.

But it was changing.

The training camp on Hell Island.

Section 5 was changing.

A month had already passed since Theron made that outrageous declaration.

The chief instructor of Hell Island.

Berton had recently been receiving reports about the changes in Section 5 and summoned Bengle.

“I heard you made an interesting wager?”

“...That’s right.”

He had never seen a trainee dare to make a wager with an instructor before.

To them, instructors were nothing but objects of fear.

Beating and trampling the trainees while driving them even harder was simply how this place operated.

But for the past month, none of that had happened in Section 5.

There had even been reports that at some point, trainees began doing additional training after finishing their already grueling sessions, and some of them had even begun to smile.

“Of course, it isn’t my place to interfere with your training methods. As long as you produce good results, it doesn’t matter how you train them.”

Berton put down the book he had been reading and raised his gaze.

The moment Bengle’s eyes met Berton’s, he felt as though he could not breathe.

Like a frog before a snake.

He could do nothing before the absolute strength of a predator.

Berton looked at the frozen Bengle and spoke.

“However, I trust you won’t cross the line because of greed, Instructor Bengle.”

“O-Of course not.”

“The task for the next exam will be announced soon. I hope you obtain a good result.”

“...Thank you.”

Bengle bowed his head and soon left Berton’s office.

“Hoo...”

For a moment, that boy’s face appeared before his eyes.

Theron, who had provoked him into accepting that ridiculous wager.

‘But...’

Over the past month.

Even Bengle, the instructor in charge of Section 5, had to admit that many things had changed so drastically that the word incredible came to mind.

Even after finishing this grueling training, the trainees stayed on the training ground and continued practicing.

Of course, Theron stood at the center of it all.

‘Just what...’

Wasn’t the stick always the best way to tame disobedient bastards?

But seeing the recent changes among the Section 5 trainees, Bengle felt the values he had always held beginning to waver little by little.

‘Perhaps...’

Bengle shook his head.

No. If merely working hard for one month could change everything, who wouldn’t do it?

Section 5 had remained near the bottom in every metric until now.

That was why he had pushed them harder, beaten them, and driven them with the whip...

As he walked back toward his office.

Bengle’s thoughts became tangled and complicated.

_______________

The second exam was decided.

The exam category was always determined by Chief Instructor Berton, but this time, Bengle could not help wondering whether he had taken something into consideration.

“...Of all exams, why this one now?”

Bengle muttered quietly after seeing the exam category.

It was called Token Defense.

They simply had to enter a vast forest and protect the token they possessed for a designated period of time.

In one sense, it was far easier than gathering Moltir Flowers during the previous first exam.

The only things in the forest itself that threatened the trainees were wild beasts.

As long as they avoided those, there was no reason to lose their tokens.

However, that was not the real problem with this exam.

“You unlucky bastard.”

The Token Defense exam involved trainees from as many as five sections participating together.

Because of that, in order to receive a high score, they had to steal the tokens possessed by trainees from other sections.

In the end, the team with the highest combined score from their own tokens and the tokens they stole would win.

Their own token was worth 3 points.

A stolen token was worth 1 point.

It was an exam where competition was unavoidable.

And...

“Of all sections, we ended up in the same group as Section 3...”

Among all the sections on Hell Island, Section 3 overwhelmingly possessed the highest results thanks to its superior ability.

Naturally, they had also placed first in the previous Shadow Forest exam to gather Moltir Flowers.

They had also suffered the fewest casualties.

Moreover, there was no way the other instructors were unaware of what had recently happened within Section 5.

They would surely tell their trainees and further encourage the competition.

‘Looks like my hopes were pointless.’

He had entertained a faint hope, but Bengle quickly gave up on it.

Wasn’t he already used to hoping for something only to be disappointed?

He merely felt sorry for the boy whose arms would be cut off.

Bengle simply stared bitterly at the paper in his hand.

______________

All of the Section 5 trainees gathered in one place.

They were there to hear the announcement regarding the second exam.

But...

“...Token Defense?”

After hearing the exam category, Theron narrowed his eyes and muttered.

The exam he remembered should have been one where they climbed a rock wall.

The fact that the exam category had changed meant...

‘Should I assume this is because of my actions...?’

His outrageous proposal.

The statement that he would raise Section 5, which ranked near the bottom, to third place or higher.

But Instructor Bengle’s words did not end there.

“And unfortunately, among the sections assigned to the same group as us is Section 3.”

“G-Gasp!”

“Section 3?”

All the other trainees looked shocked.

Because everyone knew that Section 3 always received high evaluations thanks to its overwhelming ability.

It was even said that the instructors of Section 3 barely interfered with them because of how capable they were.

Moreover, there was the monster who ruled Section 3.

“...We won’t run into them, right?”

“They said it’s a competition. How could we not?”

“No, we could just each hold onto our tokens and leave.”

“...Yeah, fucking right.”

Shadows fell across the trainees’ faces.

And the ones wearing the most worried expressions were Theron’s roommates.

Perka, Renil, and Tioren.

Perka spoke.

“Theron, can we really place in the top three?”

“Fuck... why did we have to get mixed up with those Section 3 bastards? No, more importantly, how can they make us compete against other sections during an exam?”

Renil cursed and scowled.

If they failed to place in the top three in this exam, Theron’s arms would be cut off.

But despite the worries of his surrounding comrades, Theron’s expression remained calm.

He was puzzled that the exam category had suddenly changed, but.

‘This decision was definitely made by Chief Instructor Berton...’

He already knew Berton was watching him.

He simply had not expected him to change the exam category like this in order to test something.

But none of that mattered.

Section 3.

It was true that their abilities overwhelmingly surpassed those of every other section on Hell Island.

And the one who ruled that place.

‘...Isaac.’

In his previous life.

One of the few who had followed him most faithfully and whom he could trust enough to turn his back on.

Last time, when they swallowed the Death Sigil, everything had been too chaotic for him to get a proper look at Isaac, but...

Heh.

Just thinking about him unconsciously brought a smile to Theron’s lips.

Of course, in this exam.

He could not deny that having to compete against the Section 3 trainees put them in a difficult situation.

But more importantly, if it was Isaac...

“It’s fine. We can do it. No...”

Perhaps...

“I think we might even take first place.”

“...What?”

At Theron’s words, the others could only stare at him with shocked expressions.