TRPM 328

chapter 328

I wondered if the two of them had become friends too quickly, but after watching them for a while, I thought I understood why.

First of all, it was their personalities.

‘Woo Ji-min is extroverted, and Chloe is introverted.’

Woo Ji-min was pushing forward, eager to become friends, and Chloe couldn’t bring herself to reject her. Moreover, ever since Chloe’s awakening, she had been targeted by many people with sinister intentions, so she had few people she could confide in. I knew that’s why she didn’t resist Woo Ji-min, who genuinely wanted to get close.

‘And… the biggest reason is probably that Chloe doesn’t see Woo Ji-min as a romantic interest, so she doesn’t feel the need to be wary of her.’

She even said she would support my relationship, which meant Chloe had already recognized Woo Ji-min as being on her side.

“Hehe… so simple.”

Watching Chloe like that, Director Shin Han-ji muttered to himself.

‘… There’s so much I want to say…’

Before I could even open my mouth, Woo Ji-min approached me and began a shooting lecture.

“Let’s start practicing rapid fire!”

According to the curriculum I’d been told about in advance, it was a bit early to practice rapid fire. But I quickly realized why she wanted to start now.

‘She wants to show me how she teaches cadets.’

Even though Woo Ji-min is currently just a trainee instructor herself.

“When doing rapid fire, controlling the recoil is important. A non-awakened person might not understand, but for us Awakened, controlling recoil is possible.”

“……”

Last time, didn’t she say not to forcefully endure the recoil? I wanted to say that for a moment, but decided to let it go. I trusted that Woo Ji-min wouldn’t just say something casually.

“Oh, by the way, I’m not saying to endure the recoil. It’s all about control. So…”

Woo Ji-min raised the pistol and aimed at the target to demonstrate. However, to me, it looked like she was aiming slightly above the center. Then…

Bang!

I saw the muzzle dip slightly just before she fired. The lowered muzzle was perfectly aligned with the target, and…

Bang!

Another shot erupted from almost the exact same spot.

‘… I see.’

Watching her, I finally understood what she meant by controlling recoil. It was clearly not about enduring it. Before the first shot, Woo Ji-min relaxed her arm, letting the gun move naturally with gravity. That’s why the muzzle dipped.

‘And then…’

When the first shot fired, the gun was pushed back. At that moment, Woo Ji-min released tension from her hands to control the recoil. If I were to explain it in detail, I’d say she distributed the recoil that her arms would normally have to absorb.

‘This is similar to using a sword.’

When striking with a sword, relaxing your hands reduces the force on your hands, even though the sword still carries power. Of course, doing so risks dropping the sword and is only done if you’re okay with a potential disadvantage against an opponent. But guns are different.

‘A gun is a weapon for unilateral attack. There’s no clash with the enemy’s weapon.’

It’s not entirely impossible to block with a gun, but when firing at an enemy, there’s essentially no collision. So relaxing your hands while pulling the trigger, or immediately after, is fine—as long as you maintain enough grip not to drop the gun.

‘However…’

Woo Ji-min couldn’t explain this process or principle. It was probably practical knowledge gained through experience. Honestly, even I wouldn’t be confident explaining why it works this way. But…

Bang! Bang!

Even if I couldn’t explain it, that didn’t mean I couldn’t replicate it.

“???”

Chloe tilted her head, clearly confused by what she was seeing.

“Um, Director?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Is this how a lecture normally goes? The instructor just demonstrates, and the cadet immediately follows…”
“No way.”

Director Shin Han-ji shook his head at Chloe’s words.

“They’re just abnormal.”

Normally, you would finish the theory lesson before moving on to practice; it’s rare to just imitate blindly like this.

“Oh, I thought so! I almost told the cadets to use mental magic to copy it.”
“Mental magic isn’t the kind you can just imitate, so a theory lesson is naturally essential.”

Naturally, Woo Ji-min and I were the abnormal ones, but I didn’t deny it.

‘Shooting itself doesn’t really require much theory.’

If you were to study theory, it would cover gun safety, stance, grip, and ballistics. Safety rules, stance, and grip could be learned briefly before practice. As for ballistics…

‘Using a pistol with a short effective range, there’s no need to dive deep into ballistics.’

Thinking that, I emptied all the bullets in the magazine at the target, hitting dead center every time.

“You learn fast.”

Woo Ji-min said, looking pleased with me.

“……”

Chloe’s expression became strange as she watched Woo Ji-min, and…

“Hmm…”

Director Shin Han-ji smiled as if he had a thought.

“How about having Trainee Instructor Chloe Greenwood give a lecture to Student Gun-woo as well?”
“…Me?”
“Yes. Student Gun-woo can use some magic, right?”

Chloe’s expression changed. She knew about my magic skills. Director Shin Han-ji silently signaled her to stay quiet, out of Woo Ji-min’s sight.

‘Seems like Director Shin Han-ji doesn’t want Woo Ji-min to know the truth…’

By truth, I mean the secret that I’m not actually weak—a fact that no one, except maybe Woo Ji-min, would suspect.

“…Yes?”

Chloe seemed confused by the signal—she understood to stay quiet, but not why. She couldn’t have imagined that Woo Ji-min had never encountered information about the Artist since her revival.

“Uh? What’s wrong?”
“No, Ji-min, you should go in and rest. Gun-woo’s shooting training is done for now, right?”
“That’s true, but go in alone? I’m bored… can I observe?”

Chloe couldn’t understand the situation, and Woo Ji-min just wanted to observe out of boredom.

‘What a mess.’

I thought, but Director Shin Han-ji just smiled. He must have anticipated this situation.

“Shall we go to the Mental Magic lecture room?”

The Mental Magic lecture room was in a fairly secluded area of the academy, like the occult practice room we visited to revive Woo Ji-min.

‘Mental magic can negatively affect the surroundings if misused, so being in a secluded area makes sense.’

The facilities weren’t poor, though. Just like the occult room, which had a magically reinforced door and was dust-free, this lecture room was specially prepared. Mental magic requires different facilities, so it wasn’t exactly the same.

“These beds…?”
“Mental magic is so complex that even a small mistake can have major consequences. If a cadet fails, they need to rest here.”
“And these patterns on the wallpaper…”
“They stabilize the mind. They need to be seen directly to be effective.”

Chloe Greenwood, who would be using the lecture room in the future, seemed to be visiting for the first time, asking questions while observing the interior.

“That door leads to the instructor’s office. Once Chloe becomes an instructor, she’ll use it. She also has a room in the instructor dormitory, but in emergencies, she can live here.”

Considering the distance between the dormitory and this building, it made sense to provide a room here. Woo Ji-min, seemingly envious, asked Director Shin Han-ji:

“Hey, Han-ji!”
“Hmm? Why?”
“Where’s the shooting lecture room and instructor’s office I’ll use? I’ve never been.”

Director Shin Han-ji looked surprised.

“What do you mean? You can use the shooting range and the instructor lounge next to it.”
“…Huh?”

Woo Ji-min froze, seemingly shocked by the difference in treatment compared to Chloe. Director Shin Han-ji laughed, saying it was a joke.

“Hah… just kidding. We can’t do shooting lectures here; the range is small and used by cadets for practice. A proper shooting lecture room is under construction, along with a private instructor room for you.”

Only then did Woo Ji-min, who had been tense, show surprise and protest.

‘A lecture room just for shooting…’

It was so different from before my return. Back then, classrooms were overcrowded due to limited space, and multiple lectures ran simultaneously.

‘…Oh, that was because some classrooms were unusable due to past attacks.’

Anyway, seeing the academy progress this way felt strange but satisfying.

“Um… Gun-woo? Is it okay to start the lecture?”
“Yes, please do.”

I sat down in an appropriate spot. Chloe stepped up to the podium, thinking she was about to give a real lecture.

‘Even though she’s publicly known to have awakened mental magic, she actually hasn’t. Can she really teach a proper mental magic lecture?’