Dark Fantasy Genius Demon Hunter

In this field, the instructor’s judgment wasn’t bad.

No, it was actually quite solid.

If the exposed opponent panicked and fled, it would showcase the instructor’s sharpness to the students, which was a good outcome.

And even if the opponent accepted the duel, defeating them would instill trust in the students, making it another acceptable result.

This, of course, would only apply if Gaon had been an agent sent by a competitor, as the instructor suspected.

But Gaon was neither a saboteur from a rival dojo nor someone the instructor could defeat with ease.

“…I suppose this is the quickest way to settle things.”

With a dry laugh, Gaon drew his sword.

Sring!

The blade, freshly purchased from the blacksmith, gleamed with a sharp edge.

“Hiyah!”

The duel began with the instructor’s first strike.

And ended at the same moment.

The instructor, moving faster than he had charged, was sent flying backward, rolling across the ground with a series of loud thuds.

“What… just happened?”

“What was that?”

The students stared blankly at Gaon, unable to comprehend what they had just witnessed.

Meanwhile, Gaon was slowly lowering the foot he had raised.

Though he had drawn his sword in response to the instructor’s challenge, he hesitated to swing it, worried that his unpolished technique might seriously harm the man.

So instead of using the blade, Gaon opted to deliver a precise kick to the instructor’s abdomen.

The result was equally devastating, if not more so.

…At least this is better than slicing something off, Gaon thought, justifying his failure to hold back as a form of mercy.

After sheathing his sword, Gaon turned away, unfazed by the students’ stunned gazes as he walked out.

The misunderstanding that had led to the duel ended in a single-sided display of overwhelming power.

Somehow, Gaon had ended up in a duel.

But his daily life didn’t change much.

Having realized the first dojo was nothing more than a scam preying on the naive with the allure of becoming beast hunters, he simply moved on to the next, hoping to find a genuine place worthy of the title “dojo.”

However, it didn’t take long for Gaon to discover that this world, like his previous one, was quick to replicate and exploit bad practices.

By the time he realized that the second and third dojos were no different from the first, Gaon decided to stop visiting dojos altogether in his search for proper combat training.

It wasn’t a problem he could solve just by pounding the pavement.

That didn’t mean Gaon gave up on learning structured combat techniques.

He simply put it on hold, knowing it would take a considerable amount of time to find a legitimate dojo.

If he ever found out where one was, he was fully prepared to go and seek instruction immediately.

For now, he chose a different approach to growth—one he believed was the next best option.

This decision led Gaon back to the blacksmith’s forge, not to upgrade his equipment but to commission dumbbells and barbells.

Of course, such equipment was unheard of in this world, so Gaon had to provide detailed explanations of their design and use.

The blacksmith, puzzled about their practicality, questioned their purpose, but Gaon didn’t bother explaining.

Instead, he encouraged the smith’s enthusiasm by hinting at the possibility of additional orders depending on the quality of the finished products.

This wasn’t an empty promise.

If the equipment met Gaon’s expectations, he fully intended to order more.

The only drawback was the steep cost.

In this world, where metal was expensive, commissioning such items required a significant amount of money.

“So much for thinking I had plenty of cash,” Gaon muttered.

Thanks to the high price he’d fetched for the remains of the tentacle spider, Gaon had thought he had a decent amount of funds. But one large order wiped out a substantial chunk of it.

Still, he didn’t feel it was a waste.

He would have spent just as much on dojo fees anyway.

And with his new workout equipment, his previously gradual growth curve was once again steepening.

His muscles, once lean and well-defined, began to resemble the explosive physique of a bodybuilder.

With proper nutrition to support his training, even his height was steadily increasing.

“At this rate, there’s no reason not to invest more.”

Gaon nodded in satisfaction.

From his perspective, the changes were worthwhile, but to others, his transformation was shockingly dynamic—perhaps too dynamic.

“Gaon? Wait, is that really you?”

Broker Ren, spotting Gaon entering his shop, leapt to his feet in disbelief, his eyes wide.

“I knew you had potential, but this… What the hell is this?”

Ren couldn’t stop gawking, his gaze darting up and down as he took in Gaon’s new physique.

Eventually, realizing how obvious he was being, Ren coughed awkwardly and tried to regain his composure.

“Ah, sorry. I was a bit too blatant, wasn’t I? Have a seat.”

Ren gestured toward a chair, and Gaon sat down without a word, unbothered by Ren’s reaction.

Given his unique constitution, Gaon expected his body to continue changing fluidly, and he didn’t see the point in being annoyed by others’ astonishment—it would only be exhausting.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Why else would a beast hunter come to a broker?”

Gaon placed a pouch filled with materials harvested from the beast he had hunted onto the table.

“Hunting?”

Gaon nodded silently.

Ren, on the other hand, tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Usually, people only go hunting when they’ve run out of money. I’d imagine you still have plenty left from selling that tentacle spider.”

“…”

“Oh! Don’t take that the wrong way—I wasn’t expecting an answer,” Ren said lightly, raising a finger in an upbeat tone.

He never forced his clients to answer questions they didn’t want to. This principle was practically a golden rule for him as a broker.

To smooth over the moment, Ren quickly shifted the conversation to another topic.

“By the way, I hear you’ve been going around smashing dojos lately?”

“Smashing dojos? Is that really the rumor going around?”

Gaon’s brows furrowed slightly.

He couldn’t fathom how his actions—visiting dojos simply to learn combat techniques—had morphed into something as sensationalized as dojo-smashing.

“Why would they call it that? Ugh, there’s so much I could say about this, but let’s set it aside for now. What I really don’t get is how rumors about me started in the first place. I never even introduced myself anywhere.”

“Well, you might not have revealed your identity, but you didn’t exactly go out of your way to hide it either,” Ren said, shrugging.

“When you wreck not just one but three dojos in succession, that’s bound to grab people’s attention, don’t you think? And it’s not like you disappeared from sight after that.”

“…So I’ve been under surveillance, is that it?”

“If there were people curious enough to figure out who you were, they would’ve kept an eye on where you went—even down to the inn you’re staying at. Once they know that much, the rest is easy.”

Ren spread his index finger lightly, as if emphasizing how simple it all was.

“If you’re a long-term guest at a specific place, narrowing down your name wouldn’t be much of a challenge.”

Gaon shook his head, clearly displeased.

“So, why were you visiting dojos in the first place? What reason could you possibly have to go there?”

Gaon hesitated briefly.

The truth could potentially expose a vulnerability.

“To learn combat techniques.”

But Gaon ultimately decided to answer honestly.

Ren had proven himself trustworthy—someone who wouldn’t recklessly share sensitive information. Gaon had been dealing with him for some time now and had come to rely on him. There was even a chance Ren might provide insight into Gaon’s current dilemma.

And that trust proved to be well-placed.

Ren’s eyes widened in surprise as he repeated Gaon’s words.

“Combat techniques? You? The same guy who met a pack of tentacle spiders, slaughtered two of them, and walked away unscathed?”

“Hmm. Let me rephrase. Not just combat techniques—systematic methods like swordsmanship or weapon skills. But the dojos I visited felt more like brokers scamming travelers than actual training grounds.”

“Ahh, hah! I can picture the kind of places you’re talking about. Honestly, they’re not really spaces where you can learn anything worthwhile,” Ren said, nodding in understanding.

“They’re mostly set up to milk the drifters passing through. If you really want to learn something, you’ll have to go into the city.”

“The city?”

Ren nodded again.

“Yeah, the city. Dojos in the outskirts are pretty much all the same as what you’ve experienced so far.”

“I see.”

“But even in the city, it’s probably going to be difficult for you to find a place to learn,” Ren said with a slight shake of his head.

“You know how city folks view people from the outskirts, don’t you?”

“…”

“Just the fact that you’re from the outskirts will be enough for them to ostracize and look down on you.”

Gaon’s expression slightly twisted.

“Well, if you look hard enough, there might be a place that’ll take you in.”

“Really… do you think so?”

“Probably not.”

Ren shook his head as soon as Gaon spoke, quickly denying his own previous words.

“Even if they do accept you, I doubt they’ll treat you seriously. They might end up asking for a lot more money than you expect.”

“If money is the condition, then I’ll manage.”

“What’s with you, Gaon? You know what I’m getting at, right?”

“…”

Gaon remained silent.

He knew exactly what Ren meant, but he had still spoken those words.

That’s how desperate Gaon was for growth.

“You’ll be 100% ripped off. Whatever you pay, the training you get will be worth a fraction of it. No, it’s probably going to be the same for every place. Listen, Gaon.”

Ren paused for a moment and locked eyes with Gaon.

“You don’t need to worry about that. You’re already doing well. You’ve been hunting rank 2 beasts without much trouble. You’ve been improving your combat techniques on your own, and that’s good enough.”

“…You think so?”

“Yeah, you’re already a super rookie in this field!”

“A super rookie?”

“Of course! The tentacle spider isn’t an easy catch. The moment you took that down, you were already being treated as someone on the level of a rank 2.”

Ren shrugged and continued.

“Of course, I don’t know exactly how you fight since you’re just handling the leftovers here, but from what I can tell, I’m confident that someone like you—”

As Ren spoke, he held up three fingers.

“—could easily be considered level 3.”

“Level 3?”

Gaon looked somewhat surprised at Ren’s evaluation.

“Yeah. From the moment you caught that tentacle spider, I’d say you’re already at level 3, though it’s barely scraping by.”

Ren shrugged lightly.

“Well, those types who like to rank people will probably say you’re not level 3 because you didn’t take out every single monster, but it’s fine. It doesn’t really matter. In this world, there’s a concept of levels, but it’s not always easy to categorize. For the under level 4 range, it’s not very useful.”

This was especially true for professions based on physical abilities.

Unlike mages, who have clear stages as they accumulate power, physical classes were much harder to rank.

So, in most cases, the level system was only meaningful starting from level 4.

Level 4 meant awakening the aura, level 5 meant mastering it to a natural degree, and level 6 signified perfect mastery of its use.

However, Gaon couldn’t use aura or many other abilities, so according to this system, his potential max was level 3.

But if he trained his body to its limits and pushed his potential as far as possible, he wondered if he might be able to achieve the same combat ability as a warrior who had just begun using their aura—around level 4.

Gaon had expected his potential to cap at level 4, so Ren’s evaluation of him already being at level 3 was both a surprise and a high compliment.

“I’m flattered by your evaluation.”

“Haha, it’s just what I think. But even at level 3, you’re still far from those who are about to break into level 4, so don’t get too excited. Anyway, levels aren’t something you get measured and officially recognized for, right? So what I’m really trying to say is—”

Ren cleared his throat before continuing.

“—there’s no need to rush. You’re already doing well. If you push too hard and try to speed things up, you might end up in the contamination zone, and that could have a disastrous outcome.”

“Hmm.”

“Especially since you’re doing everything on your own, you need to be extra careful. If you get seriously injured, you won’t be able to do anything in the contamination zone.”

Ren said this in a stern voice, as if trying to create a sense of urgency.

“Keep that in mind.”

Gaon felt a twinge of unease at the mention of getting “seriously injured,” but he simply nodded in response.