Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Difference (3)
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Park near the Infinite Guild.
Click—
Hong Sua swept the hair behind her ear and crouched down to pry open the lid of a canned food tin.
Meow—
At the sound, a stray mother cat and her kittens emerged from the bushes with low meows.
"…Hmph."
Enchanted by their cuteness, Hong Sua set the can down.
The mother cat approached haughtily and wound once around Hong Sua's ankle, while the kittens crowded the tin, chomping away noisily.
"How can cats be so adorable?"
Hong Sua murmured, her face saying all her work fatigue had vanished in an instant.
Im Taehyeon, watching her, nearly blurted out unconsciously,
"More than cats… Ah."
He barely caught himself.
'The team leader is more…' had almost slipped from his lips.
As Im Taehyeon halted mid-sentence, Hong Sua shot him a puzzled look.
"Why'd you stop?"
"…No, I just prefer dogs over cats."
Hiding his fluster, Im Taehyeon scrambled for an excuse.
"Hmm, why hesitate on something so simple? Even if I look like this, I'm the kind of boss who respects her subordinates' tastes."
Hong Sua replied nonchalantly, then filled the empty tin with water and set it before the cats.
Im Taehyeon calmed his pounding heart and swiftly changed the subject.
"Did you hear? The Sword Saint entered the country."
Hong Sua propped her chin on both hands, gazing adoringly at the cats as she replied.
"Yeah, I heard. But the Sword Saint's always wandering, so it's not that surprising, right?"
She had a point.
The Sword Saint Jin Wei's wanderlust was world-famous.
And the reason—his unique trait and the multitude of swords he carried—was a story so well-known it bordered on cliché.
The world's only one who could hear the voices of swords, Jin Wei saw it as his mission to deliver them to their true masters.
"True. But they say he headed straight for the Hero Guild."
"What…?"
Meow—
Hong Sua shot to her feet from her crouch, startling the cat into hunching and meowing in fear.
"The Hero Guild? The Sword Saint?"
Hong Sua's voice brimmed with shock.
It was that unexpected.
Others might not know, but thanks to her grandfather Hong Gyuhyeon, she knew better than most about the strained ties between White Flame and the Sword Saint.
Im Taehyeon, unaware of the backstory, tilted his head at her reaction and continued.
"Probably looking for Kim Gunja? He's the only swordsman who's blown up in the last month."
Kim Gunja's name muddled Hong Sua's thoughts once more.
Considering the Sword Saint's personality, it did make sense.
'Well… no reason for him to suddenly visit White Flame. But…'
As her worries deepened, Im Taehyeon ventured cautiously,
"Speaking of which, team leader. You've been in touch with Kim Gunja a lot lately, right?"
"Huh? Oh, just polite chit-chat. But the guy's got manners—thanks me every time he clears a market gate."
"Uh…, ahem. Just managing one hunter… on that level, yeah?"
Hong Sua cocked her head at Im Taehyeon's words.
"What else would it be?"
"Haha, nothing."
Relief washed over his face, but as he reached to pet a cat, claws raked his hand and he winced.
Watching him, Hong Sua recalled Kim Gunja's loaded question from yesterday—one she couldn't share with Im Taehyeon.
—What do you think of the Hero Guild?
A deeply negative, even risky query.
She itched to call it the root of corruption, the moldy limbs of a rotten dictator—but she held her tongue.
The asker was a guild member, after all.
'I knew he never thought much of the Hero Guild from the start…'
Still, airing her true feelings on a hunch was too dangerous; the Hero Guild and White Flame wielded overwhelming power.
So she'd probed gently.
—Not sure what you're getting at. Hasn't your recent exploits boosted the guild's stock even more?
Unlike her, Kim Gunja had fired back bluntly.
—The higher you soar, the harder it is to take flight again after a fall.
So direct even she was momentarily speechless.
Sensing her position, Kim Gunja kept it light, chatted a bit more, then ended the call.
As if nothing had happened.
'What the…'
What gave him the confidence to toss out words like that so casually?
Did he figure the Infinite Guild's frequent losses to the Hero Guild meant no real worry?
'Just from that multiple gate mess? Or… Hmm. No clue. Doesn't seem sloppy from what he does, but he's so bold… Tough to pin down his type.'
Gazing at Im Taehyeon playing with the kitten despite his scratched hand, Hong Sua sank deeper into thought.
About Kim Gunja's true intentions.
Hero Guild lobby.
Always buzzing with hunters and managers, now it was pin-drop silent.
No surprise.
Single Numbers.
Two of the world's rarest top-tier powerhouses in one spot—who'd dare make noise?
Hunters parted as Baek Jincheon emerged from the elevator.
Spotting Jin Wei, he spoke.
"Still playing sword detective? Same old."
Fluent Chinese flowed from Baek Jincheon's lips.
Sword detective.
A jab at Jin Wei's quest to find swords' true owners.
To insult the Sword Saint to his face.
But his old comrade brushed it off gravely.
He'd anticipated it since announcing his visit.
Jin Wei replied evenly.
"You've changed."
"Everything does."
"Not me."
"That's what they call obsolete."
Jin Wei sighed faintly at Baek Jincheon's icy tone.
The passionate, devoted man from the tales was gone.
Only the cold, arrogant monster remained.
Regret tinged Jin Wei's words.
"I'm always grateful for your sacrifice that day…"
His sentence cut short.
Whoosh—
White flames erupted right before his face.
Pop—bang!
The intruding fireball burst loudly in Jin Wei's domain.
Clash of fierce flames and aura.
Heat so intense nearby hunters recoiled in alarm.
The room's temperature spiked, then plunged.
"……."
"What the hell…!"
A man nearby bristled, but Jin Wei stopped him with a headshake.
Then to Baek Jincheon:
"Mistake. Apologize."
A nod that dredging up the past served no purpose between estranged allies.
"Wrap your business quick and go."
Baek Jincheon eyed Jin Wei's swords at "business."
Prior notice had tipped him: Jin Wei was here to test Kim Gunja.
"One of yours?"
Jin Wei nodded.
All his swords: Legendary grade or above.
He always claimed readiness to yield any to a sword's acknowledged master.
Yet none ever had.
Why his arsenal swelled endlessly.
Baek Jincheon's gaze shifted to Kim Gunja.
'Eye of the storm.'
Events, people—all swirled around him lately.
This visit too.
Without Kim Gunja's name, no Sword Saint.
He'd never have known such a swordsman existed.
'Let's see.'
Curious enough.
Could Kim Gunja earn a sword's recognition?
If yes, free Legendary artifact.
Sword Saint delivery of an envy-inducing prize.
Contingent on acknowledgment, of course.
Spectating appealed, but lingering on Jin Wei didn't, so passing him:
"Hope that's the last we meet."
Finish before I return.
"Won't happen."
Glances exchanged, Baek Jincheon departed with the branch chief.
His exit thawed the lobby's frigid air.
Jin Wei fixed on Kim Gunja.
"You Kim Gunja?"
The woman beside began interpreting.
"Yes. First time meeting. Kim Gunja."
"As you know, Jin Wei. Sword Saint, for lack of better. Spare some time?"
Kim Gunja nodded readily.
"Training appointment soon. Wait a bit? Happy to."
Nearby hunters panicked harder.
"Gasp…!"
"Cough…."
"No way…."
Prior commitment to the mighty Sword Saint?
Guts or idiocy?
Jin Wei, detached from titles, shrugged it off.
"Take your time."
Truthfully curious too.
What training vaulted his skill so abruptly?
China footage predated a month; that Kim Gunja was raw, flawed.
Now wielding domain? Irresistible intrigue.
"Right this way…."
"Hm."
Kim Gunja led casually, like a neighbor uncle.
Hero Guild hunters shook their heads at his back.
Sure is a wild one.
Hero Guild underground training hall.
"Huff, huff."
"No way, cough… Kim Gunja's got eyes in back too?"
"Dunno about that… Can't… go on."
"Ugh. Me neither."
Team 6 sprawled flat; leader Kim Jiyong glanced at the watching Sword Saint, then to Kim Gunja.
"That's enough. Good work."
"Thanks for your efforts."
Slightly winded but upright, Kim Gunja stood firm.
Watching his session, Jin Wei was stunned.
Not the power.
The growth rate defied logic.
'…Hard to believe it's the same guy from the video. Suspected at domain use, but…'
Reawakening boosted specs, not sword mastery.
Swordsmanship demanded personal grind.
Kim Gunja? Beyond meteoric.
'Secret sword savant mentor? No. Even then, impossible.'
Jin Wei was certain.
Kim Gunja harbored an "essential difference" beyond ordinary Awakeners.
Ignorant of the Customizing Room, its source eluded him.
Approaching the catching-his-breath Kim Gunja, interpreter in tow.
"Splendid."
"Thank you. And for your patience."
Jin Wei smiled at the gracious Kim Gunja.
Questions aplenty: trait name, sword style, mentor, Dual Stream origins.
But he who heard swords' voices and memories had a swifter path.
From his waist, a weathered sword unsheathed.
Of his six, the one tied to a style closest to Kim Gunja's.
"Red Moon, they call it."
Just hand it over.
Enough.
The sword would reveal acceptance or rejection—he could hear.
Kim Gunja took it two-handed, spotting the scabbard inscription.
'Sword… Demon…? No way….'
Coincidence, probably.
Jin Wei nodded at his gaze.
Draw it.
Kim Gunja eased it free right-handed.
Faint crimson glow unveiled, the blade hummed softly.
Hum—
Hummm—
Mere resonance to others.
Not to Jin Wei.
"……!"
First time.
A sword's voice so desperately yearning, heartrending.
Crystal clear to him.
Red Moon's joy, grief, rapturous cry.
Hum—
Hummm—
Red Moon wailed.
Why leave me alone?
Why forsake me for ages?
And why… only now return?
Hummm—
Resentment and reunion intertwined; Jin Wei's eyes welled red in empathy.
His lips parted slowly.
"Red Moon… has found its master at last."
The Sword Saint Jin Wei's first handover to a sword's true owner.
The Sword Demon's blade passed to Kim Gunja.