Chapter:8

"Come on! Can't you even hit a single target?" Bella's mocking voice boomed.

BANG!

The bullet missed the target by a huge difference, the dummy hanging with a rope swung left and right, and gradually lost its pace of movement.

"D*mn it!" Han Ji muttered under his breath.

The movements of the dummy seemed as if it was trying to mock fun at him.

"Come on, Asian boy! That's how you do it!" Her voice boomed followed by the gunshot.

BANG!

The bullet hit right in the middle of the 'X' mark on the forehead of the dummy.

"Heok!"Han Ji gasped in astonishment.

Even though the movement of the dummy had slowed down, and her rifle had a scope attached to it.

Hitting the target with such precision, and taking almost no time to aim was a commendable feat.

Han Ji sweatdropped and looked at her with a surprised look.

"Don't you feel embarrassed that there is a girl who is better at shooting than you?" she commented.

Even though Han Ji didn't know that the motive behind the words was to rile him up so he can try better, he replied.

"Eh...I don't believe in the idea of girls being weak and unskilled."

Bella raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hmm, now you have gained a little respect in my eyes," she said and patted him on his shoulder.

It wasn't about the fact that he saw women as equal or not.

But the fact he was able to keep his head cool and reply calmly.

But then she snapped her fingers, Chad who stood at a distance rushed to the dummy and gave it one hard push, as it started to swing hard again.

"But don't expect me to be easy on you!" she yelled and slapped his back.

"Ah!" He exclaimed at the sudden change in tone.

"Come on boy! Those Quiddities will not wait for you to aim! 3-2-1! Shoot!"

BANG!

'This woman...'

***

Now he no longer had to rethink to make his decision.

"Hey...guys... I know I am in no position to ask but I want to become a Tracer like you all!"

...

Silence.

An awkward silence filled up the atmosphere,

They all looked at him with a surprised expression, except for Chad who just continued to munch on his food.

The trio exchanged glances with each other.

Now even Han Ji started to get worried over what he had just said.

'Did I say something wrong?'

But then Leo started.

"Um... you sure, Copain?" He said and looked at Han Ji with a raised eyebrow.

Han Ji nodded.

"I mean there might be a fate worse than death out there." it was DRC

"and didn't you quote about having a better job?" Bella commented.

Han Ji looked at them, he didn't know exactly what they exactly meant by 'fate worse than death.'

But he knew one thing right now.

"..If I do one of those jobs, I guess I might also get bored to insanity."

He said with a smirk of confidence.

'They are probably gonna be impressed now.'

He thought.

'They are gonna smile at me and compliment me, right?'

But it was the opposite, their reactions didn't have the slightest difference.

All of them exchanged gazes and raise their eyebrows as if they were trying to have a conversation without using actual words

But then they all nodded at once.

"Even if he didn't have bullets if he penetrated, the Achilles tendon of the Skin stealer' he would have gotten some time to escape, So..... I'll assume his aim sucks," Bella said bluntly.

"Huh?" He exclaimed at the sudden insult.

'What's the meaning of sudden ranting on my skills?'

"About that, To me, his legs look a little weak."

DRC commented.

CRACK.

Han Ji heard the sound of his hopes and dreams being crushed

'I get it so it's a meeting to discuss whatever I lack and they want me to know why can't join, them..' he thought and looked down

"And also does not have any knowledge about Quiddities and other things," Leo added.

'What is that supposed to mean? Yes, I don't but it is because I am a newbie, Isn't it natural?'

Han Jo was now convinced that they are going to reject him.

"Hmm, Han Ji after noticing a thing or two about you we have decided, you need some training."

'Just as I thought they can't ta- wait?!'

"Eh?"

And that's how he ended up here getting trained by his new friends who seemed to be enjoying their time TRAINING him.

Currently, he was in another empty huge room, it looked almost half the size of the first base.

"What job you used to do back in the normal world?" DRC asked.

"Um... A cashier at a cafeteria, and sometimes a delivery boy too."

"Hmm.. do you used to do any exercise?" DRC asked while rubbing his chin.

In reply Han Ji just shook his head.

DRC in return pouted for a second and then sighed.

"Ok dude, I have something for you here.." He said and gave him what he assumed was a bracelet or watch.

To Han Ji the bracelet looked pretty cool it had a metallic strap and a small, dark square that kinda looked like an L.E.D screen.

'Is this a fitness band?'

He remembers that Bella was the one who insulted him for his aim and since she was his instructor for shooting.

DRC who commented on his weak legs should be the one to train his physical prowess.

So a fitness band from him made a lot of sense.

"Thanks!" Han Ji smiled and looked at him.

While DRC just gave him a faint smile.

"Look, Han Ji in here it's normal to get lost on stages, So in such cases, we need to be all set, and so we need weapons, ammo, food, almond water, some tools and lights..."

He said and walked to a pair of tracking backpacks placed behind them.

He lifted them both and gave one to Han Ji and wore himself.

Han Jo lifted it with a little effort.

'It has some weight.'

And placed it on his shoulders.

"..But if we are all set up we'll have some luggage too, and it's not rare to run into a strong or horde of quiddities, in such case all we can do is run which means we need to always be ready to run..."

he said then placed a similar-looking bracelet around his wrist.

But it was larger in size and a little bit different in design too.

The L.E.D screen had a rubber border around it.

"..So we need to train our legs," he said doing some mild stretching but before that, he fiddled with the screen of his bracelet.

BEEP.

The sound of a beep was heard which drew Han Ji's attention, and soon he found the source which was his 'fitness band.'

"Huh?"

He looked at the screen, it was glowing, he expected to see a heart rate monitor, a calorie counter, or a footsteps counter.

But he got to see none, not flat a regular watch.

But he saw a logo of a battery that indicated 98℅

and huge digits with a small text over it,[Distance in meter.]

The digits read.

[01]

'Um... does this counts the amount of distance I ran today?'

He thought and then to his curiosity the latter replied.

"It's a restraint shackle, if you got more than 6 meters away from me you'll get a shock," DRC said with a mischievous smile while he kept stretching.

"What?!" Han Ji yelled.

"Yes.." The latter replied and started doing sit-ups.

The former looked at the latter with a menacing stare.

"Why?"

"Simple the fear of getting shocked will somewhat recreate the environment of getting chased by Quiddities and it will also allow you to push beyond your limit." He said and took a. running posture.

"Hey-hey you can't be serious right? Won't it be too hard for training..?" The former said with a nervous smile.

but the latter smiled even harder.

"No pain no gain," he whispered and lunged forward.

Running at a pretty formidable pace.

"What!? No! Wait!" He yelled and tried to run behind DRC.

***

Han Ji this time was in a smaller room, which had a standing punching bag, a table with a gym sipper and a notebook.

Right now the person who stood in front of him was his saviour himself.

Chad looked silently at him.

The silence was getting pretty awkward.

"Um.. so.. what we're going to do?" he asked.

Chad just handed him the notebook.

"Eh?"

'Hopefully, it will not be another torture device..' he thought and opened the notebook.

The heading on the first page was.

"Hand-to-hand Combat Training...Huh?" he looked at Chad to make sure, he was sure he had read the right thing.

Chad nodded.

'What could be the purpose of Hand-to-hand Combat when these creatures are so strong?' he thought and continued to read.

[The purpose of Hand-to-hand Combat Training is not for fighting against quiddities, but to defend against other corrupt wanderer's groups, there are some cults and other groups that might want to come for your neck.]

"Ah... it all makes sense now..." he muttered. Chad clapped his hands to draw Han Ji's attention.

Even though Han Ji was told that his trainer wasn't a person who likes to talk much.

Han Ji was expecting him to at least talk when while teaching.

He then took a posture and showed Han Ji his palms.

Han Ji was confused, "Huh?"

He looked at his trainer with a raised brow.

Even still Chad's expression remained the same.

Hanji then made a frown.

"What should I do?"

Even though Chad's expressions never changed, Han Ji could swear that he sighed without being noticed or maybe it was just his hyperactive imagination, when Chad used his one hand to do the 'come at me' motion.

"Oh so...I have to punch your hand, right?"Han Ji asked and received a nod in reply from Chad.

"Um...With everything I got?"

Nod.

Gulps.

Han Ji was not one of the people to get easily nervous because of tests, but right now the case was different.

Because he knew that no matter what he'll try his fist will feel like a soft pat on his monstrous hand.

'I might even end up hurting myself...' He thought but then sighed and then remembered something he saw in one anime.

'The correct posture can even increase the strength of a punch up to twice..'

Han Ji took a deep breath, 'Yes if I correct my posture, my punch might be stronger than what I expect.'

New confidence filled his body.

As he mimicked the posture he saw in the anime

He cocked his arm as further he could behind his back.

'Yes...shift your body weight...'

He raised his front leg slightly in the air

'Now push!'

SLAM!

His feet banged on the floor as he bent his entire back forward while punching.

"Grraahh!"

The hit landed,

Drip.

A tear landed on the ground making a faint sound.

Chad stood there with the same cold expression.

Han Ji bit his lower lip, as a few more tears trickled down his eye,

Every creature is born with a mechanism, that gives them an unpleasant feeling when the body is receiving any damage, so the creature stops doing whatever it is or tries to escape the thing that is harming the body.

This feeling is called 'Pain'.

And Han Ji was understanding the meaning of this feeling very well right now.

"Aah! Ow! Ow! Aargh!" he cried while holding his hand while chad looked at him with his hands on his hips.

Even though he didn't speak anything, anyone could tell he wanted to say"Needs a lot of work.."

***

"So before we get into action you need to gain more knowledge about the Labyrinth," Leo said.

Right now they were in a room that somehow, looked like a small library.

Han Ji nodded.

"So, Copain there are many Quiddities in this messed up place and we have Grades for them,

I would love to teach you about all of them but, right now I'll just teach you about the things you need the most."

Han Ji nodded.

He was happy that there will be fewer things to study about.

Since he never liked memorizing things.

"So the grades you need to know about are, Grade:0, Grade:F, Grade:E, Grade:D, and Grade:C, since other Quiddities are less likely to be encountered at the beginning stages c." He said and reached to one of the shelves and took out a book.

"You have to read this."

'Hmm.. one book should be a piece of cake.'

"Also you need a Stage guide." he then handed over another book to him

'Two are completely fine too.'

"Plus you also need an encyclopedia about items that can be found in the Labyrinth," he said and tossed another book.

'Still alright."

"Ooh also! You need to know about other Labyrinth groups too, so you can Identity them a

before they come for your neck."

Another book joined the bundle.

'Ok this might not be easy, but I'll pull it off."

"And I think you need to know the laws of Labyrinth set by L.A.B."

Toss.

"and about some historical events of the Labyrinth."

Toss.

"Ooh and some basic crafting skills."

Toss.

"I think some legends too!"

"Stop it!" Han Jo yelled.

***

Han Ji sat in the small 4×4 room which had a small bed, an electric lantern that was next to the bed and a coat hanger.

Han Ji hung his jacket on it which contained his gun and knife and his backpack hanging next to the jacket.

Han Ji reached for the bag and took out his notebook.

[Journal Entry:2.]

Even though the last time when he tried, it didn't end well he decided to write an entry in the journal again.

[So...I am writing again, after my previous entry,

I ended up getting attacked by a Hound even though I killed it, I ended up getting lured by a 'Skin stealer' and was almost killed but thanks to Leo and my new friends I am still here alive. They found me when I was almost choked to death by the creature and saved me.

Now I am at Base Alpha, and writing it from a room assigned to me for my residence, There are more people than I expected here and this place even has its economy, people follow different professions here and make their living one of them is being a 'Tracer', Tracers are people who go out to more scary levels to discover new levels and to get items that can be old, and currently I am training with m friends to become a tracer like them.]

Han Ji took a moment to read it.

'Hmm...I guess it's good enough.'

He closed the note and placed it in his backpack.

'My training might just have begun but it's hard, but I am not gonna give up just like that...I need to be stronger, faster and smarter to become the man who shall escape this hell hole.