I Want to Get Stronger
The next day arrived. While washing up, I noticed that the top of my head had turned red.
"No memory of dyeing it."
Was it because of the Jade Legged Blood Hand's inner core? In my previous previous life, Madric Blood had taken that inner core. If that was the case, her hair was red to begin with, so even if there had been a change, it was no wonder I hadn't noticed.
"Or maybe... because of the Blood Cycle?"
Either way, it wasn't an important issue, so I just let it be.
After finishing up, I headed to the company cafeteria and ran into a burly man.
"It's you. Kim Jeongha, right?"
"Gwak Do-cheol?"
It was Gwak Do-cheol.
"I meant to visit you yesterday, but I had other matters."
I'd planned to see him after meeting the department head if time allowed, but it hadn't worked out. My whole body was still aching all over.
"Hahaha. No need to worry. Truth be told, it was I who should have come to you."
"More importantly, you've changed into a suit."
"Dobok suits me better, but what can I do? Company rules or whatever demand it."
Hunter Stock Company employees were supposed to wear suits as standard. In other words, anyone occasionally showing up in dobok, robes, or casual clothes was a newbie.
Gwak Do-cheol continued.
"Any requests? I owe you my life, so just say the word."
Martial artists were all like that—crystal clear about debts of gratitude and grudges. I quite liked that trait. Of course, only when it was gratitude, not a grudge.
My eyes drifted to his waist. Specifically, to the sword sheath at his side.
"I noticed yesterday—you must be a swordsman."
"Hm? Interested in swords?"
"Truth is, I used a sword myself before coming here."
"Oh ho."
It was true. I'd held a sword in my hand right up until the day the demon king killed me. Though I'd never properly learned any swordsmanship. No one had ever taught me.
"But my skills are lacking, so if possible, I'd like to learn the sword."
"Hmmm..."
Gwak Do-cheol tapped the sword hilt engraved with the characters for Black Moon Gate and spoke.
"Then, would you care to learn the swordsmanship of my Black Moon Gate?"
"Black Moon Gate?"
I tilted my head. Gwak Do-cheol grinned, lifting the corner of his mouth.
"The foremost sect among the Eight Demonic Gates renowned across the entire murim. I learned the sword directly from my master, the Sword Demon Sa Jong-hyeok of the Black Moon Gate."
"Hmm..."
I got the gist—something about Eight Demonic Gates. But I couldn't help being a bit skeptical. Sure, demonic sect, fine. But the foremost among the eight? How was I supposed to believe that? Plus, in my first and second lives, Gwak Do-cheol had died on Underground Floor 10.
One thing was certain, though. Whatever he taught me would be better than nothing.
"Mind if I get a little demonstration first?"
Gwak Do-cheol swung his index finger through the air.
"Very well. Follow me after breakfast. I'll show you a bit of my sword."
"Sounds good."
And so, I spent the morning with Gwak Do-cheol.
"So, how long have you wielded the sword?"
About twenty years.
"Not that long, honestly."
"But where's your sword?"
"It broke before I joined Hunter Stock Company. The world I came from was caught up in the current war situation..."
I patched together a suitably(?) edited excuse.
"I see."
Gwak Do-cheol nodded.
"But is it alright to teach me your sect's swordsmanship?"
"Hohoho. No issue there."
"Why's that?"
"The Black Moon Gate doesn't exist here."
His tone was utterly serious as he said it.
"This Hunter Stock Company place is different from my world. So here, I am the gate lord of the Black Moon Gate and a grandmaster of my generation. I can teach the sword to whomever I please."
"I see."
He was the complete opposite of Madric Blood in mindset. She had that air of a noble from a prestigious lineage obsessed with tradition, while Gwak Do-cheol was all "as long as I'm the best, who cares?" Pure demonic sect thinking. Good for me, though.
"Food's done—shall we head to the training grounds?"
"Let's."
After eating, I went with Gwak Do-cheol to the Safety Planning Department's training grounds. It was stocked with various training weapons.
"Young friend Kim. I'd like to see your swordsmanship first."
"Understood."
I picked up a wooden training sword and swung it around in front of him. Heaven, Earth, Man! The basic horizontal slash, vertical slash, and thrust commonly called the Three Fundamentals Swordsmanship.
"As I said, I've never learned any proper martial arts."
But Gwak Do-cheol stroked his chin, watching intently, then spoke.
"Yet this is no novice swing. It only carries that weight after decades of real combat. You're not that old, so... quite remarkable."
"Is that so?"
I braced for criticism, like with Madric Blood. But that was it. No—if anything, it was praise.
"Good. You've got potential."
"...Pardon?"
I was inwardly flustered and asked again. I'd been trashed by masters my whole life for having no talent. And now potential?
"All I know is the Three Fundamentals."
"All swordsmanship is just variations on thrust and slash. That's the skill of someone who's held a sword for at least twenty years."
"...!"
At that moment, I knew Gwak Do-cheol's insight was no joke.
"Mind if I check your pulse?"
I nodded and extended my arm. He gripped my wrist, closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke.
"Your internal energy is first-rate warrior level. In this place's terms, at least D-rank. Right?"
"Spot on."
Precisely D(60/64). Madric Blood had unblocked some of my meridians. Then, circulating Blood Cycle in my room had pushed my gongryeok nearly to the end of D-rank.
I realized Gwak Do-cheol was no lightweight. So why had this guy died to a mere spiderling in my past lives?
"First, let me show you a bit of the Black Moon Tyrant Sword of the Black Moon Gate."
\Gwak Do-cheol then demonstrated various forms of the \Black Moon Tyrant Sword\. True to its name, it was overwhelmingly **domineering and tyrannical**, with a tremendous, heavy aura at the blade's edge. Each swing scattered inky sword qi into the air.\
"What do you think?"
How was a guy with merely first-rate internal energy supposed to judge high-level swordsmanship?
"Hm... Seems specialized for human combat."
I'd glimpsed things over twenty years, so that was my conclusion.
Gwak Do-cheol nodded.
"Indeed. We boast no one in the entire murim can match our Black Moon Tyrant Sword sword-to-sword. But it's tricky against hordes of small monsters—that's the flaw."
It sounded a bit like an excuse, but I had to nod. From my perspective, I couldn't even imagine facing those strikes.
"What can you do? Martial arts were made for fighting people in the first place."
"Hohoho."
I'd stroked his ego a bit, and he laughed heartily.
"Still, if you're willing, shall I teach you?"
"Please do."
Once you reach a certain realm, such flaws become irrelevant. Whether I could get there was secondary; I didn't mind the drawbacks anyway. Because starting from Underground Floor 11, the Castle of the Vampyre was all about human combat.
Above all, I wasn't in a position to be picky.
* * *
The Black Moon Tyrant Sword consisted of twenty forms total. I learned three: Full Moon Slash, Half Moon Slash, and Black Tyrant Sword Resolve. All variations on horizontal slash, vertical slash, and thrust. Yet each swing felt profoundly more profound than the Three Fundamentals.
Above all, it harmonized incredibly well with Blood Cycle. That was encouraging.
Opened to new power, I immediately got myself a sword. As a full Safety Planning Department employee, getting a basic one was easy. No special abilities, but it fit my hand well enough.
I spent the whole day drilling those three forms.
Finishing training, I emerged into the lobby where a large monitor on the wall played the news.
"Man, the number one department's reputation is in the gutter. Heh heh."
Kim Hansu snickered.
"Yeah. If the top department failed, it must be insanely tough. Good thing casualties were low."
"Mm."
Just as I remembered. The Safety Planning Department had priority on Floor 11 after clearing 10. But the department head wanted to fully assimilate the Jade Legged Blood Hand's inner core first, so we yielded it. In hindsight, smart move. Even a department with a director-level hunter failed. Even if it was just recon.
And tomorrow. The Safety Planning Department, reborn under the successfully ascended Vampire Queen Madric Blood, would clear Underground Floor 11 with flair! That was my goal.
Kim Hansu clapped my shoulder.
"But we'll pull it off, right? We've got you, who knows the clear method inside out. Heh heh."
This guy was piling on the pressure.
"Clear methods aren't everything."
The Castle of the Vampyre needed raw combat power alongside strategy. That's why I'd grinded the three Black Moon Tyrant Sword forms to the bone.
I told them both.
"We'll probably go tomorrow. I'll devise the optimal strategy, so prepare thoroughly."
"Mm."
"Got it."
That night, back in my room, I circulated Blood Cycle again. Days for swordsmanship, nights for Blood Cycle—that was my routine. It felt more efficient at night. Plus, I didn't want a single milligram of the inner core's energy wasted in my veins. No slacking on training to absorb it fully.
"My info."
Every time my gongryeok proficiency ticked up, a thrill washed over me. I couldn't waste a single minute. Compared to my early days, when it rose a measly 1 per year, this was envy-inducing.
Then a thought struck me, and I muttered.
"...Could I eat another inner core?"
There was the portion Madric Blood swiped(?) in my first regression. Until I fully absorbed it, maybe stacking was fine? The idea popped up, but pointless now. Unless I regressed again.
Lost in Blood Cycle, I only realized morning had come when the speaker blared the wake-up call.
"Morning has arrived. All company employees, please perform your duties."
I'd barely slept, yet my mind felt clearer than ever. By then, my gongryeok was C(30/128). Mid first-rate warrior. In Hunter Stock Company terms, section chief level.
"Even a rat hole gets sunlight someday."
Felt like a proverb made for me.
Anyway, after washing up and heading to the lobby, word came to the Safety Planning Department employees.
"Jeongha. They say assemble in the conference room after breakfast. Probably for Floor 11."
I nodded at Choi Heejeong's question.
"Likely. Unlike Floor 10, we have stage info this time."
Departments were rivals, so they hated sharing intel. Especially with rewards like spirit beast inner cores from Floor 10. But everyone shared the ultimate goal, so some info leaked: clearing all floors.
Because.
Clear Underground Floor 11.
9 days until the next restructuring.
No one wanted their name on the restructuring list. It meant death.
After breakfast, we filed into the conference room and took seats. Madric Blood naturally claimed the back row head seat. At her nod, the Safety Planning Department's number two, Cherubim the manager, spread his wings and hovered to point at the screen.
"It's Manager Cherubim!! Everyone focus!! Briefing starting!!"
I half-listened since I knew it all, circulating Blood Cycle.
Occasional prickling stares from behind, but I ignored them.
"Section Chief Kim. Congrats on another promotion, but I didn't teach you Blood Cycle to slack off like this."
My gongryeok hitting C had promoted me to section chief.
"I'm listening to the briefing, of course."
"Hmph... If you insist, how about a test?"
"Go ahead."
Test, huh. Questions or whatever, I'd handle it. But spotting my rank rise just by looking? Definitely S-rank now.
Bang bang!
"Everyone got it, right!!"
Soon after Cherubim's briefing ended, Madric Blood stood before me.
"You've memorized everything about Floor 11?"
"Of course."
Unlike the others with just intel, I was a veteran.
I rattled it off from memory.
"Ho. Flows like you've experienced it."
"Image training's my specialty."
"Is it? Now, let's hear Section Chief Kim's plan."
I nodded confidently and spoke.
"I'll take point on Underground Floor 11."
Madric Blood—no, the director's deep red eyebrows twitched.
"What?"
The vanguard entry perk on Floor 11, 'Curse Immunity', had to be mine. Because only then could I claim the Sealed Sword and take the next step.