This Overpowered Footwork Is Now Mine (2)
The salamander sprinted in a frantic dash.
His fleeing footsteps, the moment he regained his senses, spun right back toward Hwimin.
It wasn’t for Hwimin’s sake.
The salamander was the guide of beginners. His mission was to ensure newcomers faced the proper trials. For him to run away? To abandon a vengeful spirit left behind in the temple due to his own negligence—not even a scheduled trial? It was unthinkable.
That was why he turned back despite trembling with fear.
There was something even more terrifying than a level-999 vengeful spirit, but that was beside the point. The salamander raced forward at full speed. He knew that even if he arrived, he’d be nothing more than a lowest-tier spirit whose elemental core would pop like a firecracker in a battle between spirit kings. Still, he didn’t stop.
Thanks to that, he soon reached the scene again…
“Great One!! I… huh?”
The moment he saw what was happening, he froze solid. The sight before him was utterly incomprehensible.
The vengeful spirit and Hwimin. Their bodies were intertwined in a dance. Their movements were so graceful they looked like two butterflies fluttering in perfect harmony. Even Hwimin felt the same way.
Whoosh.
Hwimin’s eyes traced the vengeful spirit. She was moving while swinging her sword. At first glance it looked like she was pressing an attack, yet—
Every time he dodged her strikes, Hwimin’s own movements were slowly mirroring hers. The vengeful spirit herself was guiding him, as if deliberately showing the correct way.
Hwimin let out a silent cheer. Footwork taught directly by a level-999 entity—this was a heavenly opportunity no amount of money could buy. And the effects hit him in real time.
His swordsmanship had reached the extreme, but his footwork had always been painfully average. Now that he was copying the vengeful spirit, though? His body felt as light and free as a butterfly. He could control the distance between them at will. It was like his godlike swordplay had suddenly grown wings.
Hwimin was growing stronger with every passing second.
After a quick glance to gauge her reaction, Hwimin took two steps back. Then—
Whoosh!
He thrust his hand forward. The ring on his finger flashed.
“Trait Enhancement Swap—Sword God.”
Trait Enhancement Complete: Sword God
Your trait has been strengthened. Five senses greatly amplified.
He was already a quick study. Adding trait enhancement on top of that produced immediate results.
Taat—!
Hwimin charged in again, circling the vengeful spirit. His footwork was now every bit as refined as hers. No—perhaps even superior.
The vengeful spirit’s eyes flew wide open.
The man who had moved so awkwardly before—like someone who had never fought on foot in his life—was now copying her footwork perfectly. She hadn’t even taught him the proper formulas. She had simply found his humble desire to learn endearing and decided to show him a few basics of light movement arts. Yet he had learned it all from observation alone. And not only that—he had already surpassed her.
In just a few minutes of sparring.
“Hup.”
Paht—!
The vengeful spirit sprang backward. The speed felt like short-range teleportation; the distance between them opened instantly. Hwimin could have chased her if he wanted, but he didn’t bother.
Thud.
“Is it over already?”
Hwimin lowered his sword and called out. His face openly showed disappointment.
If she knew what he was really thinking, she would have clicked her tongue at the shameless thief who had stolen her entire footwork style and still wanted more. But the vengeful spirit had no idea. In her eyes, Hwimin was already an unmatched genius who stood above the world. It was hard to imagine someone like that getting greedy over a few techniques.
“To achieve mastery of light footwork in less than one tea time! Truly remarkable!”
“Uh… thanks?”
“Having witnessed such a great hero, this girl wishes to request a lesson from you.”
She politely cupped her fist, then raised her sword. The strongest person Hwimin had met so far was acknowledging him—and even calling herself a “girl” in the process.
Of course, Hwimin didn’t understand a word of the nuance.
“You wanna keep going?”
A smile spread across his face. His eyes sparkled with pure excitement. Thrilled at the prospect of learning even more, he quickly raised his sword again.
What followed was a spar on an entirely different level.
Clang!!
“Here I come!!”
The vengeful spirit charged forward at roughly fifty percent greater speed than before. Convinced she couldn’t win even at her best, she unleashed every ounce of her power.
While his mind was panicking like the ultimate underdog, his body moved on pure instinct.
Boom—!
He stomped the ground with tremendous force. Using that mystical footwork, Hwimin instead plunged straight into the attack.
“Hup!!!”
Hwimin swung his sword to meet hers. Even though she had attacked first, he was a beat late. Given that his physical stats were still inferior, it was pure madness—but—
Sword God+ — Post-initiative, Preemptive Strike
His blade traced a bizarre trajectory, moving in the perfect path to completely block her attack. A later strike that seized the initiative. Easy to describe, nearly impossible to execute. Reading the opponent’s sword path perfectly and exploiting the gap with far more efficient movement required a realm of mastery that ordinary differences in level could never bridge.
That was why the vengeful spirit twisted her body in shock.
Swish—!
The sword heading for Hwimin changed direction. The forced evasion ruined her posture, but she chose to protect her weapon. Normally she would have recovered her stance in less than a second, but…
Hwimin’s Dragon Eyes had already seen through it all.
“Hup!!”
Hwimin’s eyes widened. He gripped his sword tightly and swung. The trajectory aimed straight for her neck.
“Hik…!?”
Taat—!
Her body shot backward instantly. The vengeful spirit even rolled across the ground. It was the donkey-roll evasion technique known as Naryeotagon. Normally, unless it was a life-or-death grudge match, no one followed up on an opponent who resorted to such a shameful move, but…
Unfortunately, Hwimin had never heard of that unwritten rule. Even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have cared.
“Haaap!!”
His sword split the air once more, aiming for her neck again. To the vengeful spirit, it felt like the grim reaper swinging his scythe to harvest her life.
“Hiiik!!”
Swish—!!!
She rolled across the ground again. No matter how broken her posture was, her level and stats were still higher than his, so evasion itself wasn’t difficult. The only real problem was—
It was unbelievably humiliating.
The vengeful spirit’s cheeks burned bright red. Long-forgotten memories from her past began to surface.
—Junior sister, you are a talent without equal in this world!!—
She had been a genius. No one could defeat her. Why someone like her had entered the Tower of Beginners and why she had died here—those memories still wouldn’t surface. But one thing was crystal clear.
No matter how much of a genius she had been, compared to Hwimin she was nothing but third-rate at best.
She had merely been a frog in a well. The moment she realized it, her face flushed with shame. And yet… experiencing her first defeat didn’t feel bad at all.
Squeeze.
“This girl admits defeat, Great Hero!!!”
After shouting those words, the vengeful spirit gave up on fleeing and prostrated herself on the ground. Only then did Hwimin lower his sword.
“Oh, it’s really over?”
“Thanks to you, the eyes of this foolish girl have been opened wide. I am grateful.”
“So it’s actually over…?”
Hwimin’s gaze swept over the vengeful spirit. Or rather, what had been a vengeful spirit. Color had returned to her face; at first glance she looked completely human. All her resentment had melted away, leaving only a clear, pure soul. Of course, Hwimin had no way of knowing that. He simply nodded.
He had won the spar, and she no longer seemed interested in harming him. All in all, things had worked out nicely.
“Then… you don’t happen to have any hidden… ahem, anything else for me?”
Without shame, he held out his hand. The silent pressure was obvious: got anything else?
The answer was yes.
“Having witnessed such an extraordinary sword, it is only proper to offer a reward… but it seems all this one has left is this single blade and her soul….”
After hesitating for a long while, the vengeful spirit cupped her hands together. A blue orb appeared between her palms.
“This girl offers herself to the Great Hero.”
“…Thank you?”
Hwimin accepted it without a word. He had no idea what it was for, but he figured he might as well take it first. The orb passed from her hands into his, and—
“Please treat me well…”
Flaaaash—!!!
Before she could finish speaking, the vengeful spirit vanished. All that remained where she had stood was a single sword lying on the floor. Along with the blue orb now in Hwimin’s hand, it was the only proof she had ever been there.
“Hmm.”
Hwimin’s eyes only moved again after the vengeful spirit had completely disappeared.
Ding.
Trait activation confirmed.
Hidden Piece acquired after one week of hardship.
The identities of the sword and orb have been revealed.