The Exchange
It had been a while since the sound slicing through the air came from my sword, rather than the whoosh of it swinging.
The click of the sheath sliding home now felt perfectly natural to my ear.
At the moment, these were nothing more than meaningless questions.
In the Deep Sea, thoughts like these never quite reached full clarity—they simply sank beneath the surface.
“Huff… huff…”
The place where my thoughts lingered now burned with a single, urgent craving: air.
As long as oxygen was present, thinking was possible. Right now, with so little of it, thoughts were irrelevant.
Draw-Sword Technique: As expected, you’ve grown the most among my disciples. Rest now.
“Uuu…”
The Master’s permission granted, I let out a groan and collapsed onto the sand.
The sticky, clinging sensation of sand glued to my sweat was anything but pleasant.
A rest so sweet it felt like breathing in oxygen itself.
My eyes, free of any thoughts, simply scrolled through the comments in the gallery.
Truth Scholar: It’s satisfying to see you grow. Hahaha.
Treats Are Violence: You know you have to do the broadcast every day, right?
Cuckoo: I’ve been too busy lately to come… but your body’s gotten better, huh?
Draw-Sword Master: Stand up. It’s time for real training now.
I stared at the comments with dead, Cyclops-like eyes, then forced myself to rise after reading the Master’s words.
Honestly, it felt like death, but I wanted to confirm my growth properly.
“Uuuugh…”
As I stood, groaning, something approached from behind.
Whoosh.
“Ah, the scanner?”
Sol’s hand—spinning on its infinite axis—held the scanner as it floated toward me.
With the warmth spreading through my body, I caught the scanner.
I clipped it securely to my waist so it wouldn’t fall.
Then I turned my steps toward the city of the Cyclops.
Sol waved goodbye from behind, the way one might bid farewell to a friend.
…Of course, the black egg followed me.
Thud, thud.
When I first walked here, the city had filled me with dread.
But now my heart no longer pounded so fiercely.
My eyes scanned the place where the Cyclops existed, and my steps never faltered.
Truth Scholar: You move like a true professional.
Education Master: Do you have talent for exploration too?
My steps, which had been rushing forward without pause, finally stopped in place.
There was no longer any reason to go further.
Chiric. Chiric.
The eyes of two pupils locked onto me.
But it wasn’t enough.
Srring.
I drew my sword.
This wasn’t the Draw-Sword Technique. To put it properly…
Yes, it was like the Antenna.
An antenna to draw in the Cyclops.
“Huuu…”
After a deep breath.
I poured mana into the blade.
Chiiik!
Mana surged, and the sword’s edge glowed white-hot.
At the same time.
Whoosh!
Two, no—more than two slashes came flying at me.
My body easily dodged the slashes.
But.
Swoosh.
A slash aimed straight for my head.
A slash aimed for my ducked face.
Boom!
Rolling across the ground, I dodged again.
Dodge, dodge, dodge.
A storm of slashes came from every direction.
There was no ordinary way to win against this.
Slashing like spiderwebs, wrapping around me.
It felt as unpleasant as being attacked by a swarm of hornets.
Flap!
The slash brushed my collar, sending a sharp spark through my senses.
Clack.
When the slashes began to fill my entire vision, I drew my sword.
Now it was time to cut the spider.
Heizen style, first form.
Flashlight Cross-Cut.
A vertical draw-sword technique that severed the slash storm.
Behind the split slashes, six red targets appeared.
For a moment, the clear view of the Cyclops disappeared.
Soon the sight was covered by the slash swarm.
But it didn’t matter.
The targets had already been decided.
With the heavy feel of the sheath in my palm.
Path, mana, target—all the most basic elements were complete.
I advanced.
Whoosh!
Like a bullet, the background stretched behind me.
Following the sword’s path, the slashes split cleanly.
Splat.
Of course, the Cyclops did the same.
Its upper and lower bodies separated and collapsed.
As if enraged by the sight, the slash swarm crashed down like a wild tide.
In the past, my body would have been ground into minced meat.
In the past.
With my reinforced body and sharpened senses, the slashes felt slow.
In that slowed world, the sword moved.
Heizen style, second form.
Chain Slash.
Clack.
A small sound.
Boom!
A massive storm.
The slash tide vanished the instant I drew the sword.
Mana dissipation provided defense while laying the foundation for chaining…
“Hoo…”
This swordsmanship was beyond even the Master’s dreams.
If my mana had been low, I would have never learned it even after dying and reviving.
But now, it didn’t matter.
I used it only because it helped my survival.
The five Cyclopses were in a powerless state.
Their massive pupils trembled, unable to look me in the eye.
I intuitively understood.
Now was the time to end it.
Thud.
A hand covered in calluses rose above the sword hilt.
Continuing the action I had repeated hundreds of times.
Screech.
A sound that looked too small to be the product of countless drills.
But the aftershock was anything but small.
Five chunks of flesh fell.
Five chains broke.
Five foundations collapsed.
Looking at the chunks of flesh lined up near me, I realized one thing.
Finally, I had become one step above the Cyclopses.
***
It was only a few minutes after I had slain the Cyclops swarm.
I stood near the Cyclops bodies, lost in thought.
Actually, I could have just gone back to the submarine, but…
“This is annoying…”
I had caught Cyclopses before, but never multiple at once.
…In the past, I used to convert the meat into water or something.
Now, though, the meat comes from the exchange, and water I can make from the shower…
Truth Scholar: Handling is difficult?
Treats Are Violence: What are you gonna do with it? Just throw it away.
Honestly, the Master was right.
Handling was difficult, and there was no suitable use for it right now.
But why…
“I just have this feeling that if I leave it like this, it won’t be good.”
Something kept annoying me, like a lingering itch.
It was like staring at a blue tile trapped in the middle of a pool whose entire floor was white tiles.
After a long time of thinking, I discovered something.
“This was here, right?”
The scanner Sol had given me.
Thinking about it, the scanner should also hold information on the manufacturing machines.
I pulled out the scanner and tapped the screen a few times.
The manufacturing machine registry appeared.
Of course, the items I could make were limited.
Because when I opened the beast registry, it also opened the manufacturing registry.
Right now, I could only make Cyclopses.
Scrolling through a few pages, I looked for something useful.
And.
Mana-Dissipating Rifle
My intuition was spot on.
An obviously useful tool.
A rifle.
In a fantasy world, it might be useless, but in modern times, it was a universal weapon that could kill almost any living thing.
“I found a use!”
Truth Scholar: Oh! What is it?
“A rifle!”
Truth Scholar: …A rifle?
The Truth Scholar looked skeptical.
Why, I wondered.
Treats Are Violence: Isn’t a rifle just a show-off tool for bragging about engineering?
After hearing the rest of the explanation, I realized the rifle didn’t hold the same status as on Earth.
In a fantasy world, it was only natural, but the rifle was made by an engineering company to showcase its technological prowess, like a mechanical clock.
But it didn’t matter to me.
This place was the Deep Sea, after all—technology probably higher than on the surface.
So… the rifle would be similar to Earth’s.
With that expectation, I immediately began searching for materials.
Titanium, mana stones, crystals, and so on.
Well, honestly, it didn’t take long.
I barely walked for a few minutes.
Thus, I returned to the submarine carrying a handful of materials in each hand.
“Uuu…”
…Of course, one of the materials was the Cyclops’ cornea.
That slimy feeling was… ew, disgusting.
Anyway, with those materials gathered, I stuffed them all into the manufacturing machine.
Whoosh.
With the engine hum, the rifle began to form.
After a few minutes.
Thud.
The wall opened, and a “Mana-Dissipating Rifle” shot out.
As the name suggested, it was the size and weight of a K2.
I felt a strangely familiar sensation from the fantasy object painted white.
It was time to test the tool’s performance.
I held the rifle in a familiar stance and stepped outside.
I wasn’t nervous despite the tool—perhaps because it was there.
I walked toward the city for a short time, and soon a target appeared.
Chiric.
The Cyclops’s huge single eye stared at me.
But instead of tension, I felt excitement.
Clack.
A white sight line appeared on the Cyclops’s single eye.
The sharp claws and the rifle began preparing to kill each other.
In the blink of an eye, the Cyclops’s hand and my hand moved at the same time.
Boom!!
The Cyclops, who had been the strong one.
It never reached my attack.
Truth Scholar: …Is this actually possible with simple engineering?
Draw-Sword Master: This… feels almost like official knight strength.
Treats Are Truth: No remains left.
Tick.
A spark rose from the spot where the Cyclops had been.
The mana stream from the rifle swept the area like a disaster.
“Wow…”
Only a gasp escaped my lips.
It had even melted part of the building while piercing the Cyclops.
The chunks of flesh like Cyclops had dense bones inside, so you could imagine the power.
Probably because he thought the same, the Master commented on my broadcast.
Truth Scholar: The performance is really good, but… it looks like the state is bad?
What was that? The rifle’s condition was perfect…
“Eh? Eh?”
I turned my gaze to the rifle, and the barrel looked warped and melting.
Honestly, that was unbelievable.
Even though I hadn’t done any rapid fire, why was the muzzle melting?
The Truth Scholar predicted my reaction and continued explaining.
Truth Scholar: If it’s obvious, it’s obvious. You compressed your mana to fire it…
Draw-Sword Master: Mana overheating? I’ve experienced it a few times too.
Looking at the comments, it seemed my mana was the problem again.
With too much mana packed in, it exceeded the limit and turned into heat…
Draw-Sword Master: Don’t get too disappointed. That’s also a controllable phenomenon.
“Oh, really?”
Draw-Sword Master: Just manipulate the flow of mana artificially.
Treats Are Violence: You can’t even control mana, so you shouldn’t be doing this?
Treats Are Violence snapped at the Master, saying he shouldn’t talk to me.
…There was a bit of my own frustration in it, but I couldn’t refute his comment.
I still couldn’t drain the mana.
Feeling a little down, I turned my steps.
To check the rifle’s durability and blow off some steam.
I wasn’t going to the Cyclops to kill in anger.
After a few steps.
A Cyclops popped out like a combat event.
Chiric.
The moment I saw that huge pupil, I immediately aimed the rifle.
No hesitation, no doubt.
Whoiiing!
The rifle’s motor sound as it absorbed my mana.
The instant the mana intake stopped.
Boom!!
Overwhelming destruction flattened the Deep Sea city.
The Cyclops disappeared without a trace…
Truth Scholar: That’s…
It was a thud, but
What I saw on my eyes was something on the shattered Cyclops flesh.
A dark-gray egg like the ocean’s abyss.
But now it was slightly different.
The spot where the rifle had hit the egg.
From that spot, a yellow crack appeared.
Crunch.
One shake.
One crack.
Crunch. Crunch.
Shake, crack.
The egg began to hatch.