Chapter 3 - Running Through Blades

"Aren't we going to study?"

"We are."

The natural man, no sorry, the tutor was adamant.

I frowned.

Seeing this, the tutor asked.

"Did you awaken yet?"

"Yeah."

"Have you done any experiments yet?"

What kind of experiments is the tutor talking about?

Of course it would be about tests on my own immortal body.

And I have done a few beforehand.

For one, I cut a deep wound on my forearm with a utility knife.

The cut was healed in a matter of minutes.

"Do you know about the principle of healing when there is a wound on our body?"

Nope, why would I.

I awakened and learned that I was a immortal just yesterday thanks to my dad's confession.

The tutor then drew something with a branch on the dirt floor.

I think he tried to draw a body being injured with cuts?

Key word is tried to.

Even if a 4-year-old child came and drew the same thing, I think their drawing would be better than this abomination.

So it was only right to ignore the drawing.

"Healing a wound is a part of our healing power. The first thing that the power is based on is stamina."

"Yes, of course, stamina."

I reflexively showed him my side of an honor student.

After all, he stimulated the desire to teach with his sparkling eyes.

So I had to look like a eager student.

I am very interested!

When you speak, I will understand it perfectly!

While expressing these emotions with my eyes, the tutor spits out the words

"The second thing the power is based on is your senses."

The tutor then briefly explained the principle of wound healing through physical strength and senses.

The higher your stamina was, the faster you heal.

If your senses are sensitive, you will feel a lot of pain. But you can't dull them else if you might not feel your bones being dislocated.

Immortals needed to realign their bones to fight properly after all.

It was simple to learn and digest.

But what does learning this have to do with this situation?

We're in the middle of the mountains and all I heard from this tutor are pretty simple concepts.

Naturally, I had to be a good student, but I was also curious.

Why did my dad send me here?

"Well if you understood everything, start running."

"Where?"

"Here."

Dad, Yoo Yeon-ho, are you sure you sent your son to the right place?

I turned to look around myself.

If this place was flat, it would be enough to think of it as just as running training.*

But it's a different story when there were a lot of sharp blades on the ground where I was supposed to run.*

"That looks way too much for a foot acupuncture"

"Are your soles made of steel? Why would this be a acupuncture session?"

Well, fuck.

You clearly want me to run through this torture course.

Is this tutor insane?

"Why do I have to run here?"

I was serious, in what world do I have be tutored by running through blades?

"You said you were going to take the test."

So, for what the test was actually about, I didn't get any further explanation.

Wasn't a civil service exam supposed to be mental aptitude?

"Yeon ho-hyung didn't say anything did he."

Yeah he fucking didn't.

Why do I have such a insincere dad.

First it was him confessing that I was a immortal in a grocery store, then downplaying the awakening pain, and now?

"You're going to be applying for a company that houses immortals"

If I hadn't awakened to transformation and immortality, I would've been hiccupping by now.

Sometimes I have to be grateful to my parents for this amazing body.

"Why?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

No, what kind of company? What is it?

"Don't you know about the Immortal Special Forces?"

Nope, that's the first time I've heard of them.

My face scrunches up with a quizzical look.

“It’s like the military yeah?”

I give a lame response.

I said I wanted to go to UDT, so why am I here?

Is this really a civil service exam?

"Are you going to do it? If you don't want to, go."

Well I can't do that, the last thing I want to do to compromise again with my parents.

It won't end as well as last time.

But still these blades give me the shivers.

So I ask

"But why am I running here?"

You are asking too many questions, the tutor says with his face.

However, he did not hesitate to explain.

"To train and help your handling of your immortal body."

"Oh, okay."

Well this is a situation I can't run away from.

Once I pass this exam, whatever it is, I can do what I wanted to do.

Nothing has changed.

It's just that the kind of test I thought of and the one my dad said were a little different.

Maybe a little bit too different.

"Starting running, I'm going to lose my voice at this point."

So I start running.

Immortal physical training tradition, blade running.*

You put blades on the floor and start running on them.

"Agh"

This hurts, like a lot.

My foot was stabbed by the first blade, and my sole already felt like they were on the pits of hell.

It seemed that if I pushed my foot down a bit further, I could see the tip of the blade going through my foot.

"Don't rest!"

The tutor yelled from behind.

"The enemy is chasing you from behind. Do you want to stop because it hurts? Are you okay? Are you just begging me to kill you?"

What kind of enemy is even chasing me.

Having said that though, I still ran.

Running 50m still felt like walking on a pilgrimage to hell.

However thanks to my transformer body, I reflexively avoid getting major injuries.

Once I finished the sprint, the tutor comes over and stares at my torn and cut shins, calves, and feet.

"Your healing power is amazing."

I could see my flesh rapidly regenerating before my very eyes.

And then he added.

"Don't avoid the blades, step on it more, and make your wounds bigger this time."

What kind of crazy bastard are you?

I'm still feel like I'm about to die, what kind of bullsh-

"The more injuries you get, the faster you regenerate."

Yeah, but still, isn't this a bit off-putting? I'm terribly sick to my stomach right now.

"Don't be shy."

The tutor said.

I feel like I'm about to die. Seriously, it hurts a lot.

But the tutor insisted without even blinking an eye.

"Start running again."

Deliberately making deeper cuts on my legs felt nothing like self-harm.

In fact, it felt even worse.

"You have good senses, you've been avoiding the blades that the other immortals can't. That's right, step on it purposely and amputate your leg."

The tutor got a bench from somewhere and sat on it while encouraging me.

You bastard, you crazy bastard.

Why are you just leisurely watching me struggle?

Get off that bench now you bastard.

"Hey, you're immortal you know, you won't die from that. You're a guy who can survive even if his heart bursts."

You call that advice?

"How long am I doing this for?"

"Well, I'm waiting until you undergo shock, and then you have to overcome it..."

The tutor blurred the end of his response and then asked.

"But why aren't you in shock?"

***

Immortals have great regenerative power and sensitive five senses, but they aren't physically strong.

So the first immortals put a lot of effort into training their body.

"Experiencing shock."

It is a training that raises the threshold of pain by experiencing it once.

So the first thing that came about was the blade sprint.

As you run on the blade, one will experience shock and faint.

Such training causes a immortal to not immediately panic or faint when subjected to immense pain.

***

"You, why, uh. I mean, doesn't it hurt?"

Well no shit.

Seriously speaking, I'm in immense pain right now.

Words aren't enough to explain how much it hurts, my own mouth is salivating from the pain.

"Yeah it hurts."

"But how come you're not experiencing any shock?"

Ah, I realized after hearing the purpose of the training from the tutor.

It's probably because of my body.

Transformer's bodies are very strong.

So since my awakening at the age of 18, I haven't even experienced mild anemia.

Transformers don't even catch a cold. And even if I was to be poisoned by any kind of poison, my body can detoxify it in no time.

Because of this, transformers are said to have the strongest bodies out of all special species.

So what is shock for transformers?

Shock from losing blood?

Shock doesn't phase them.

In fact, they'll run down to a butcher shop to eat chicken even after losing bowls of blood.

"Isn't there any other criteria to pass this other than that?"

"Well, how many seconds can you run 50m?"

Good question.

I had never ran seriously.

In school, I moderately controlled my speed and ended up running 50m in just about 6 seconds.

Of course, my school's PE teacher ended up chasing me for a month.

"You were simply born for athletics! Run, Kwangik, that's the reason for your life! Conquer the world with me!"

I'm not doing it!

You don't conquer the world by running!

"About six seconds."

Well, even if I did run seriously here, I don't think I would reach the 5 second range.

The world record is mid-five seconds.

De Novan Meili's 5.56.

I know this because after that running incident, I had to search in advance to avoid breaking the world record and causing more attention to be put on me.

"The other condition for passing this test is to pass the blade section at full speed."

Oh okay, that's easy enough.

I took off my clothes and shoes fearing that the blades would damage them and only wore the tattered shorts my tutor gave me.

I rolled up those shorts and folded them. exposing my strong thigh muscles.

"Then it's easy."

It hurts, but it doesn't mean I'll die.

"yap."

With a little cheer, I ran over the blades.

Puck! My feet were continuing to be cut and torn, and the feeling of the blades hitting my bones was terrible.

However I managed ignored the discomfort and finished the 50m.

"Wow."

I put my knees on the floor and looked back, waiting for the pain to ease.

The tutor blinked and asked.

"...what are you?"

The body of an immortal is weak even by the standard of humans if not trained.

But I'm far from weak.

That's probably why my tutor looked so surprised.

"My name is Yoo Kwang-ik."

He wasn't asking for my name, but I really have nothing else to say.

I can't really say to him that my mom is a transformer and managed to mix her blood with an immortal's.

Forbidden love... no, I don't even think relationships between different special species are forbidden.

In any case, it is a a miracle that the love of the two of them created me.

My wounds begin to heal, the soles of my feet regenerate and the dirt dug through them is spat out.

When I got up, the seemingly stunned tutor said.

"Once more."

"What?"

No way.

“Run one more time.”

You crazy bastard.

"But I just passed"

I can't increase my pain tolerance with just shock, so why run again?

Wait, are you asking me to run again because it's strange?

Strange that a mixed-blood managed to ignore pain?

Surely not.

As I was about to ask a question, the teacher took out his smartphone and responded

"I didn't start the timer."

Oh wait, that's right. I didn't think about that.

The passing conditions were easy to begin with, so I just ran again.

"Oh, okay, I'll run one more time."

I wonder if he was in a bad mood.

While thinking about it, I did one more sprint through the blades.

Of course it's easy to pass once more.

"The second exercise is holding your breath."

At first, I thought it was some decent training.

After all, I wanted to do some diving training.

But wait.

"Isn't this just a noose?"

As I headed towards the forest behind the field of blades, I saw a tree with a particularly thick branch.

Hanging on it was a rope in the form of a lasso through which the head could fit easily.

"It's a breath-holding training tool."

the tutor replied.

Is this bastard crazy, or is the physical training of immortals crazy?

The latter would be correct.

So, don't blame this guy.

Blame my predecessors for being batshit insane.

"What are the passing conditions?"

"The best time ever was 8 minutes and 48 seconds."

Immortals do not die from a brief loss of oxygen.

Therefore, this training is not suicide.

Still, to me it looks like suicide.

I feel like I'm learning different methods to commit suicide like the blade sprint earlier.

"Don't worry, the rope is strong and won't break."

The tutor's eyes shone with strange anticipation.

Is there no way to avoid this?

The tutor then kindly explains how to commit suicide.

The key to passing was to endure the choking pressure by resisting against the rope with my neck muscles.

"So now, train your neck muscles with this and hang your neck from it."

In my honest opinion, this training is some dog shit.

"If you pass out from strangulation, it's game over. So you're training to endure it as long as you can."

The tutor then explained the purpose of this training.

So immortals can't be killed by simply cutting off an arm or a leg.

So in order to win against immortals, you had to figure out a way to suppress them; make them unable to ever move.

Such methods included suppressing them through shock or through strangulation.

"The special species civil war was an opportunity for people to learn how to deal with us, but wouldn't it be natural to also have the opposite effect?"

So this is a preparation training against a common method used to suppress immortals.

At least this training shouldn't be as messy as the last one.

"Then I want to start right away."

The teacher's eyes twinkled as I was preparing myself for the noose.

"Yeah, it's a good idea for you to experience it first."

Being athletic and being able to manipulate your own muscles are two different things.

So even though my body was tough, there was nothing I could do about this training.

I didn't want to break the teacher's expectations, but I also didn't want to waste time.

"What are the passing conditions?"

"There isn't any, try lasting as long as you can, but at least surpass 5 minutes."

5 minutes.

My best dive record is unofficially at 19 minutes and 20 seconds.

The lung capacity of transformers is beyond the imagination of immortals.

So how long could I last for in this training then?

"Then I'll start."

I climbed into a chair and hung the noose around my neck.

Even though I knew it was training, I felt dirty.

After all, I looked like I was going to commit suicide.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded.

The tutor nodded his head in reply and kicked the chair under my feet.