There Is No World For ■■

* * *

Kim Mansoo was the instructor in-charge of training new recruits for the Sonjuk Mercenary Group.

However, neither Kim Mansoo himself nor did any of the other instructors think of him as an ‘actual’ instructor.

It was understandable. After all, who would even believe that a man who was the Vice Captain of the mercenary group just a week ago was now acting as an instructor?

And he didn’t become an instructor because he was eager to train new recruits or wanted to teach someone.

He was demoted to this position because he beat up a city council member’s son who was behaving rudely and even knocked out a reporter filming the incident in the process.

In short, he had become an instructor due to the disciplinary action taken against him.

To appease the council member who came to the mercenary group to file the complaint, the Captain personally demoted him from Vice Captain to instructor.

However, everyone in the mercenary group knew that this disciplinary action was merely a formality.

Knowing this, Kim Mansoo endured the dull days without much complaint.

Yes, dull days. Today, yesterday, and probably tomorrow, as well.

Avoiding the eyes of the staff who were behaving cautiously around him, Kim Mansoo left his office and lit a cigarette by a window.

The weather in Kaesong, seen through the window, was the same as always. It was neither particularly good nor bad.

The Dimensional Portal, visible in the distance, was, as usual, bustling with people and containers moving in and out without a break.

He did see the occasional fools trying to take the entrance test for the mercenary group, but most weren’t able to endure the test and ran away with their tails between their legs.

However, at least a few capable ones had managed to pass the test, and they were already following the instructor down the building's hallway.

Of course, none of them piqued Kim Mansoo’s interest.

I know that the mercenary field is lacking manpower these days, but the new recruits are just….

As he was killing time with such thoughts, someone caught his eye.

A guy in a neat casual suit, probably chosen by his girlfriend, dragging a large suitcase.

Was he a lost journalist or a new public official? Deciding there was nothing worth seeing anymore, Kim Mansoo turned his gaze away. Or rather, he was about to.

However, just as he was about to look away, that young guy started walking towards the Sonjuk Mercenary Group building.

…Is he here to take the test?

Only then did he squint and observe the guy attentively. After enhancing his vision with mana, the guy's appearance became clear.

He looks like a dandy boy.

The guy dragging the suitcase had quite a handsome face.

His eyes shone golden, probably due to colored lenses, and his appearance seemed more suited for an idol than a mercenary.

And while he appeared to be somewhere between a boy and a young man, it was hard to determine his exact age.

Unexpectedly… he seems pretty decent.

Upon closer inspection, the guy’s aura was quite impressive.

His walk reminded Kim Mansoo of a finely honed blade, and the tension visible in his movements was so intense that he seemed ready to throw a punch at any moment.

He wasn’t just some ordinary pretty face; he was definitely someone who had undergone rigorous training.

An aspiring Superhuman... Given the timing, he must be a failed academy applicant.

An aspiring Superhuman.

It was a term commonly used for those who consumed elixirs and began training from a young age to become Superhumans.

Although most were children from wealthy families who could afford the elixirs, sometimes poor families would also gamble on raising their children in this manner.

Of course, if simply consuming elixirs could make one a Superhuman, nurturing Superhumans would have become a national project.

And among the aspiring Superhumans, only a select few could sense mana, and even fewer could actually control it to truly become Superhumans.

Although some would apply to the Superhuman Academy to increase their chances of becoming a Superhuman even by a little… the Superhuman Academy, as the name suggested, literally existed solely for Superhumans.

Only those who were already Superhumans or on the verge of becoming one could enter.

Therefore, every year during the academy entrance season, many young people would become disheartened by reality and their lack of talent.

Wealthy kids might just think of it as maintaining their health with elixirs, but children from poor families would often drop out of school to join the mercenary group to repay the elixir debts.

Judging by his gait and aura, it seemed like that guy was one of those cases.

I guess I'll have to oversee his entrance test personally.

Kim Mansoo smoked his last cigarette down to the butt before descending the building's stairs.

As expected, the guy he saw from the window was talking with the lobby staff.

"Hey, Park Youngsoo."

"Yes, Vice Captain. May I help you?"

"You punk, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm no longer the Vice Captain? Anyway, you see that guy over there?"

Kim Mansoo grabbed another instructor passing through the lobby and pointed to the guy dragging the suitcase.

"I'll oversee his entrance test personally."

"You, Vice... I mean, Mansoo hyung-nim will handle it personally?"

"Yeah, that kid's got a promising vibe; I can feel it."

"...I don't feel anything, though."

"Hey, do you really think we're the same?"

As he glared, the instructor grumbled as he walked over to the lobby counter.

The instructor approached the lobby staff and started talking. A moment later, the guy with the suitcase pulled out a piece of paper.

What was that? As Kim Mansoo squinted to check it out, the instructor returned empty-handed.

"What's going on? Why did you return empty-handed?"

"He said he’s not here to take the entrance test."

"What? Why? Do we also recruit office workers?"

"No, he said that he's already been accepted. He brought an acceptance letter."

Kim Mansoo’s brow furrowed. An acceptance letter?

"Since when did our mercenary group start issuing those?"

"It's been about 10 years, Vice Captain."

"..."

The instructor shook his head, sighed, pulled out a pen and paper, wrote something down, and then handed it to Kim Mansoo.

"That guy is to be specifically assigned to Team 3 later and then deployed immediately."

"Team 3? That new recruit is heading to Manchuria?"

“He seems like a pretty impressive person from his employment application. If you think he's a good fit, why don’t you go down and check him out yourself?”

With those words, Instructor Park Youngsoo left. Kim Mansoo squinted at the note he was given.

"Name: Cheon Yeomyeong. Specialty… Good at everything?"

It seemed like this one was a crazy bastard. Kim Mansoo sneered as he crumpled the note.

* * *

After verifying the acceptance letter, the lobby staff guided him to the basement.

It wasn't some simple basement accessible by an elevator.

They had to pass through a thick iron door and descend to a deep underground bunker-like place.

After walking for a while, Yeomyeong detected a faint smell of blood.

Though the smell was slightly different from human blood.

Yeomyeong frowned and focused his mana on his sense of smell. Although he still couldn’t identify the exact nature of the blood from its scent, he could now smell oil and gunpowder mingled with it.

...It's not just some simple blood scent.

The deeper he went as he followed the staff, the stronger the smell became.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Yeomyeong discovered the source of the blood scent.

...A monster?

What greeted him was a huge concrete space resembling an underground parking lot, with a massive, monstrous creature tied up in the middle.

The monster vaguely resembled a wolf—A two-headed, six-legged wolf.

"Who... Oh, damn. You are not the new recruit, right?"

The man sharpening a large knife in front of the wolf monster turned his head to look at Yeomyeong and the staff.

The man, with a long scar running across his face, had an intimidating aura.

The staff who had brought Yeomyeong seemed accustomed to this atmosphere. Without giving any explanation, he simply took out some papers from his hand and handed them to the man.

The scarred man glanced at the papers briefly, raising an eyebrow.

"Speak of the devil, turns out he’s really a new recruit. And there’s only a day left until deployment... Tsk, alright I've checked it.”

As soon as the man said that, the staff bowed and left the bunker, clearly uninterested in staying back any longer.

In that short span of silence, only the sound of the staff’s footsteps and the monster's panting could be heard.

Once the footsteps could no longer be heard, the scarred man, still holding the knife, approached Yeomyeong.

"The name is Man Seokcheol. No need to remember it as we won't meet again after today."

"I'm Cheon Yeomyeong."

"Cheon Yeomyeong, you listed a very impressive specialty. Is that a bluff or are you that confident?"

Yeomyeong thought about the specialty Seti had written in his resume and smiled wryly.

- Good at everything

It could easily be seen as arrogance to anyone else. Did Seti write that to mess with him? Probably not.

Given her nature, it was likely that she genuinely viewed him in that manner.

After considering how to respond for a moment, Yeomyeong decided to trust Seti’s judgment.

Pushing his humility aside, he replied to Man Seokcheol confidently.

"I wrote it because I am confident."

"Oh, the spirit of youth. Not bad."

It was unclear if his tone was of mockery or admiration, but he handed the knife he was holding to Yeomyeong.

It was a large, sharp knife, the kind used for cutting tuna.

As soon as Yeomyeong took the knife, Man Seokcheol turned and pointed at the monster tied up in the open space.

"Cheon Yeomyeong, do you see that monster?"

"Yes, I see it clearly."

"We managed to capture that bastard from the Manchurian Rift. We had to go to great lengths to capture it alive. So, why do you think we brought it all the way here?"

"...For experiments?"

"Close, but no cigar. We didn’t bring it for an experiment but for a test¹."

"...A test?"

What test could they possibly use a dying, tied-up monster for? As Yeomyeong tilted his head in confusion, Man Seokcheol laughed ominously.

"Cheon Yeomyeong, what do you think is the most important factor when capturing a monster?"

"Isn't it a weapon?"

"Yes, weapons are important. Even a monster like that can be turned into a rag using a single magazine from an automatic rifle... but, that's the wrong answer."

He paused for a moment and then continued while looking at Yeomyeong's hand.

"To catch a monster, humans are more important than weapons. No matter how good the weapon you possess is, if you get scared in front of a monster, it's all for nothing."

Is that so? Yeomyeong tilted his head in confusion.

"It doesn’t look like you agree. Anyway, you’ll pass without a doubt."

"What kind of test is this, exactly?"

"It's a test to weed out the cowards."

After saying that, Man Seokcheol took a step back from Yeomyeong.

"Don't move from that spot."

He took a small button that gave an ominous feeling from his pocket.

Click. As soon as Man Seokcheol pressed the button, the chains binding the monster lost their tension and went slack.

- Grrr...!

Almost immediately, the six eyes of the wolf monster glowed as they focused on Yeomyeong.

As the now freed monster lowered its hind legs, preparing to pounce, Man Seokcheol's gaze on Yeomyeong turned cold.

"The monster still has chains around its neck, so don't be too scared. As long as you don't move a single step from that sp—"

Before he could finish his explanation, Yeomyeong moved first, ahead of the /genesisforsaken