You Didn't Tell Me the Start of My Transmigration Was a Gate

Chapter 40 Part 1: Unconvinced

“Da-jung-Noona! Kim Tae Byung-Ssi!”

“Seo-ha, did we really meet in real life? Huh…heuk..huhu! When I saw you being sworn in as the First Place Admission, I thought I was hallucinating…”

Song Da-jung hugged me tightly. No, wait a second. The body that was even harder than the one she had at the gate crushed me. “No, wait Noona..” Kim Tae-byung couldn’t bear to hug me, but he stomped his feet beside me and talked about this and that.

“I searched so hard for you after the gate was cleared, but I couldn’t find you! I wondered if the student ID that you showed me last time was a fake? I’ve searched every academy in the world, and I’ve never heard of the name Han Seo-Ha!”

‘Because I didn’t attend the academy.’

And I was probably in the hospital at that time… I had the answer to her rumblings, but Song Da-jung was still hugging me tightly, so I couldn’t speak.

“What? Answer me!”

“I thought I’d never see you again! You’re alive, you said after we leave the gate, we’d meet again outside, huhu… Heuk.., But you just disappeared like that!”

There was a scramble to the left and right. My head felt like it was spinning. Then, a cold voice rang in my ears.

“Imagine getting First Place because of result manipulation!”

“You should be ashamed of yourself.”

The words were clearly spoken with malice. Song Da-jung and Kim Tae-byung, who were excited, stopped dead in their tracks. “Hey, what did you just say?” Song Dae-jung was about to reprimand them.

“Everyone, what are you doing!”

A stern voice crackled.

“Sit quietly in rows of five. Enforce!”

“Yes…!”

“Go, hurry!”

The man, clad in armor from head to toe, exuded a sense of authority in his own right. His sharp eyes glinted fiercely through his helmet, and his aura made Song Da-jung and Kim Tae-byung growl as if they were backing down very reluctantly.

‘I don’t really like to deal with arguments like that, and… that guy looks like a tank specialist to me.’

The people standing five rows in front of me were all the same people I had thought of as more of a defense class earlier. So me and the rest of the One-Hit class were confused as to what was going on.

“Today we will be holding a joint class with the defense specialization class. I will be leading both classes today, so please follow along.”

As soon as he said that, we started to stand in five rows.

“Range and tanks are like spears and shields. One-Hits are meant to pierce and tanks are meant to block. Today, we’re going to duel using those characteristics.”

A duel on the first day, with a tight schedule. It was a very simple matchup. We’re not melee dealers, so we can’t go head-to-head, but we have to stay a certain distance away and keep the tank distracted for a certain amount of time.

“The criteria is simple, you must get the tanker disoriented. Their knees, back, or head must touch the ground.”

And then, out of the blue, he said.

“We’ll start with a demonstration, Hunter Han Seo-ha. Please come forward.”

I looked at him, hoping it wasn’t me, but he was looking at me all too clearly. This. The timing was too exquisite to be a coincidence.

“Please come out.”

Even the chief can’t do this. I stepped forward, careful not to let my expression show too much.

“What’s your weapon?”

“A gun.”

“Take the weapon out.”

With that, I took Noir out in one hand. At the same time, he pulled the shield from his back and thrust it in front of me. He set it gently on the ground, and it made a heavy thud. It didn’t look like a normal weight to me at all. I can’t believe he was even carrying it on his back.

“Hunter Han Seo Ha. You have thirty seconds to shoot at my shield.”

“Yes.”

Bang!

“If I say start, you shoot!”

“Oh. Sorry.”

I thought I was going to shoot right away. I nudged the back of my neck for good measure. Behind him, Song Da-jung and Kim Tae-byung were still smiling.

“Go!”

I fired two light shots in quick succession, but the man stood firm. With his body completely hidden behind the shield, he looked very solid.

‘The criteria was to get the tanker’s knees, back, and head touching the ground.’

So with a snap, I turned sideways and ran. After sensing a signal, the shield immediately spun, but I was a little faster. Bang! Ting, the shield barely blocks it. I was caught off guard, and the recoil wobbled my body a bit, but that’s about as good as it gets. I took advantage of the disorientation and ran forward.

“Hop!”

I tried to climb onto the shield, but it pushes me off and tries to throw me away. I landed on the ground for a moment, then lightly teased myself and spun around in midair, my high kick bringing my opponent’s head into view.

‘Can I shoot?’

The thought flashed through my mind, and instead of aiming for the head out of habit, I twisted slightly and aimed for the shoulder. The hasty raising of the shield caused his entire center of gravity to collapse. So the bullet was blocked, but his lower body was exposed at the same time. I landed on the ground, rolled across the floor once, then re-positioned myself and aimed for his belly. My opponent noticed and was about to slam his shield back down on the ground. But I was sure that through this gap, the bullet would definitely penetrate it. I was about to take my finger off the trigger.

Beep, beep, beep!

But the alarm went off. Thirty seconds had elapsed.

“Good work.”

He greeted me, while dusting off the clothes that littered the floor with his hands. Too bad. One more second and I’d have been able to shoot him. Judging by the fact that my opponent is a current Hunter, my senses must have been revitalized by the stats I gained against Beelzebub and the Queen Ant.