Genius Martial Arts Trainer

A fitness training room located in one corner of the Hunter Association building.

A space created as a welfare facility for hunters affiliated with the Association and Association employees.

Several people had gathered there.

Retired hunters who had come after being contacted by the Association President.

They were going to receive rehabilitation treatment.

It was fairly positive news, but the expressions of those waiting were not particularly bright.

“We came because the Association President told us to, but will this really work?”

“Tsk. Well, we have nothing to lose.”

It was something they had never heard of before.

They did not completely believe in something called qi treatment either.

Just then, two people began approaching from the hallway beyond the glass door.

The Association President, who had summoned them.

And a massively built man they did not recognize.

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that the hunter who appeared on the news? What did they call him, the trench-coat man?”

“Th-the news called him the Barbarian, at least.”

“But he is properly dressed today?”

“I heard he only takes his clothes off when he fights monsters?”

“....... Isn’t that even stranger?”

While the retired hunters chatted among themselves, the Association President and Choi Kanghyuk entered the training room.

“Thank you very much for accepting my unreasonable request for cooperation, hunters.”

The Association President willingly bowed his head toward the hunters, who were younger than him.

He did not know whether they were overflowing with a sense of justice.

Perhaps they merely wanted to return to hunting and earn money again.

But that alone was enough.

Whatever their reasons, they were prepared to return to the battlefield.

In truth, the Association President had contacted far more retired hunters.

Among them, not many had shown any interest in rehabilitation.

'They nearly died once already, so it cannot be helped. Their anxiety must have grown even worse after the recent abnormal gate incident.'

That was why he was grateful simply that these people had come for rehabilitation.

“Hunter Choi Kanghyuk here will be responsible for your rehabilitation treatment.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Choi Kanghyuk, owner of Strongest Gym.”

The hunters looked puzzled.

“Strongest Gym?”

“Ah. You were a gym owner?”

“Yes. I am still a gym owner.”

One hunter asked with an uneasy expression.

“Then when you said rehabilitation treatment, did you mean actual rehabilitation treatment? The kind where you fix people through exercise?”

The hunter turned his head and looked around.

The training room.

Naturally, various pieces of exercise equipment were arranged throughout it.

Disappointment appeared on the faces of the other hunters as well.

Physical therapy, rehabilitation treatment, and so on.

They had already undergone every treatment offered at hospitals.

Choi Kanghyuk spoke calmly, regardless of their reaction.

“We will combine exercise therapy and qi treatment. Ah. And a diet plan as well.”

The hunters’ expressions darkened even further.

They had been told this was rehabilitation intended to restore their awakened abilities.

Why in the world would a diet be necessary?

And qi treatment on top of that.

'Isn’t this guy a complete fraud?'

Just as the hunters’ doubts were about to grow, the Association President stepped forward.

“I understand that this may be difficult for you to believe. For now, would you be willing to try it just once, trusting this Association President’s word?”

“.......”

An awkward silence lingered for a moment.

Then a man who appeared to be in his mid-to-late thirties stepped forward.

“I will try it first.”

His name was Na Taeju.

He was a former A-rank hunter.

In truth, he had been skeptical about returning as a hunter.

He had developed PTSD because of what he had experienced when he was injured.

But after hearing someone’s story, his thoughts had changed slightly.

—Senior! It really works!!

It was Park Gyuchul’s story.

'Gyuchul mentioned it back then too, I think. That I would need to follow a diet'.

About a month earlier.

The day he met Park Gyuchul at a pork-belly restaurant.

Just as they were about to have a glass of soju, Park Gyuchul had suddenly rushed out, saying that he needed to follow his diet.

They had continued contacting each other from time to time afterward.

Then, several days ago, they met at a café.

—Senior. I went into a gate yesterday for the first time in ages. I went with Senior Jicheol and the gym owner.

Park Gyuchul had told him what happened that day like a child excitedly recounting a heroic adventure.

—Wow. I thought Senior Jicheol was incredible, but the Gym Owner is a real man. A real man. Man, he just beat a monster this huge to death with his bare hands!

Why was that?

As Na Taeju listened to the story, memories from the past came back to him.

Memories of going in and out of gates with Park Gyuchul, Kim Jicheol, and the other hunters he had been close to.

As though he had been waiting for that very moment.

Park Gyuchul, who had been talking excitedly, added something else.

—Right. I heard they are recruiting more hunters for rehabilitation treatment through the Association President. Did you not hear about it, Senior?

He had been contacted.

And he had refused without a second thought.

—You should try it too, Senior. I think it would be fun to go through gates with you again after so long.

But as he listened to Park Gyuchul, his hands and feet somehow began itching.

That night.

After agonizing over it, Na Taeju sent a text message to the Association President.

—I would like to receive rehabilitation treatment.

In truth, even at this very moment, he remained uncertain about returning as a hunter.

'Right. I am only recovering. Just recovering. Even if I do not return as a hunter, there is no reason I have to keep living like a patient, is there?'

While Na Taeju repeated those thoughts to himself, Choi Kanghyuk looked around at the other hunters and spoke.

“Are there perhaps two more people who would like to receive treatment? Qi treatment cannot be performed without limit, so I intend to divide you into groups of three per day.”

Six hunters had come to the training room.

Of the remaining five, who were watching one another, two eventually stepped forward.

“I will try it.”

Once three volunteers had emerged, Choi Kanghyuk nodded and spoke.

“Then I will treat the remaining three the day after tomorrow. Same time. We will meet here.”

After finishing the arrangements, Choi Kanghyuk looked at the Association President.

His expression asked whether he intended to remain.

“Ahem. I will merely observe quietly.”

The Association President was curious as well.

About what qi treatment actually was.

Although he had arranged all of this, the Association President had never personally seen qi treatment before.

At that, the remaining three hunters said something similar.

“We would also like to stay and observe.”

There was no particular reason to refuse, so Choi Kanghyuk accepted their request.

“Yes. Then I will begin the session.”

The session proceeded step by step, beginning with stretching.

“We will start with a warm-up. After loosening your bodies lightly, we will correct the muscles damaged by your injuries.”

The expressions of the three hunters receiving the session were not particularly good.

It was certainly a systematic lesson.

The exercises themselves were somewhat difficult, but after completing each movement, they could feel their stiff bodies gradually loosening, even if only slightly.

However, there was one minor problem.

'How is this any different from physical therapy or personal training at a gym?'

They had already received treatment like this before.

Naturally, it had not produced any major results.

The other three hunters who had requested to observe were thinking the same thing.

As their dissatisfaction gradually built, fifty minutes passed.

“Now, your bodies have been sufficiently loosened, so we will proceed with qi treatment.”

The three hunters lay down on the mats.

The first person Choi Kanghyuk approached among them was Na Taeju.

There was no particular intention behind it.

He had simply approached the person who volunteered first.

“It will hurt somewhat.”

Choi Kanghyuk’s finger touched Na Taeju’s Jianjing acupoint.

A forgotten memory surfaced in Na Taeju’s mind.

—Ah, right. Senior. That qi treatment feels refreshing, but at first it hurts like hell.

—Come on. I nearly died to a monster. How painful could it possibly be?

—I heard this from someone named Yang Hyeonsu, but apparently even Senior Jicheol screamed when he first received qi treatment.

—....... Jicheol did?

At that very moment, Choi Kanghyuk’s internal energy flowed from his dantian and seeped into Na Taeju’s Jianjing acupoint.

Then the pure internal energy of Buddhism began burning away and dissolving the turbid energy that filled the acupoint.

“Aaaaaaaaagh!!”

A horrific pain came over him, as though his shoulder were literally being seared with fire.

“!?”

The two hunters lying beside him and waiting bolted upright in shock.

The Association President and the three hunters who were observing were equally startled.

“Is-is that really all right?”

“What in the world did you do to him!?”

But then, strangely enough, Na Taeju, who had screamed, let out a bizarre moan this time.

“Haaaaaaaah.”

A tiny opening had formed as the turbid energy dissolved.

Blocked energy flowed through that opening, and a refreshing sensation swept through him.

Choi Kanghyuk spoke to Na Taeju.

“Then I will continue.”

“Ah, yes.”

After the left Jianjing acupoint came the right Jianjing acupoint.

Then came further acupoint pushing and blood-channel clearing, focused primarily on the shoulders, neck, and upper body.

Each time, screams and moans alternated.

“Aaaaaaaaagh.”

“Haaaaaaaah.”

After several rounds of acupoint pushing and blood-channel clearing ended.

Na Taeju sat up with an extremely refreshed expression, as though he had just finished a sauna.

His face had even turned flushed.

“Thank you, Gym Owner! This really works incredibly well!”

His awakened ability had not recovered yet.

But he could clearly feel something flowing through his body.

At Na Taeju’s reaction, all the other hunters wore uncertain expressions.

Ignoring them, Choi Kanghyuk rose and approached the person beside him.

“I will proceed with the next person.”

Once again, screams and moans alternated throughout the training room.

“Kyaaaaaaaaagh!”

“Haaaaaaaah.”

The noises were so loud that they echoed beyond the training room.

“Didn’t they say some kind of rehabilitation treatment was taking place in the training room today?”

“At that level, isn’t it torture rather than rehabilitation?”

***

Around the time strange rumors about rehabilitation treatment began spreading throughout the Korean Hunter Association.

The Chinese Hunter Association, located in Beijing, the capital of China.

Like Korea, China also used the term hunter instead of hero.

The word hero was dangerous.

It might have been different if the Chairman and the Communist Party’s upper ranks were all awakened people.

But as long as they were ordinary people, calling awakened individuals heroes posed a threat to the Communist Party.

Naturally, rather than guaranteeing the hunters’ freedom, they devoted greater effort to controlling them.

An official document arrived at that Chinese Hunter Association.

A document sent by the Korean Hunter Association.

“Association President. Korea has requested cooperation regarding Shaolin.”

“Shaolin?”

The Association President spoke with an incredulous expression.

“Is the Korean Association planning to tour Shaolin for this year’s workshop?”

It was an extremely common occurrence in China as well.

Going sightseeing around the world with taxpayers’ money under the name of official business.

However, the Chinese Association President’s guess missed the mark completely.

“Th-they say they want information about Shaolin’s qi treatment.”

“Qi treatment?”

“Yes. They say it can treat hunters who became unable to use their awakened abilities because of injuries.”

Dozens of question marks appeared in the Chinese Association President’s mind.

He wondered whether the Korean Association President had finally gone senile.

“Tell the Korean side that we know nothing about it.”

“Understood.”

However, he could not simply dismiss the man as a demented old fool.

“And prepare the Public Security Bureau. It seems I will have to visit Shaolin personally.”

There was no way they would have sent such an official request without a reason.

'If it is real, then we can put those crippled hunters back to use!'

If he used it well, he might even be able to secretly create a special unit of his own.