LV.7 Sword Expert Lee Mi-ri — [1]

Lee Bok-dong was in a fine mood as he walked through the city inside the game. Gaon strode along at the center of it all, and Lee Bok-dong trailed in his wake, soaking up the stares and murmurs that poured over the two of them from every side.

A player who spotted Gaon called out, half joking:

"Make way, Mr. Chairman!"

Gaon had paid out exactly what he'd promised the players who'd joined the last battle — paid it with the raw force of real-world cash. The result had been several hundred more troops recruited, and that was how they'd won. The players who'd answered the call had walked away with their wages and a haul of loot besides, making a tidy fortune.

The story that Gaon had been ready to drop two billion won just to hire skeletons had become an anecdote circulating through the entire city.

This was a game packed with people who played to make money. To players that obsessed with cash, being rich was, in and of itself, a reason to be respected.

And so Gaon was being hailed as the Chairman. A great Chairman, no less — the kind of man who would drop a fortune even on things that brought him no personal gain.

Trailing after a Chairman that magnificent, Lee Bok-dong felt like a celebrity by association.

Well, honestly, just being friends with a celebrity is enough to feel superior... and last time we even agreed to drop the formal speech...

Gaon, for his part, was in just as good a mood. The last battle had netted him five whole levels, and being praised like this was, for him, a thoroughly delightful experience.

Being treated as a hero. He could get addicted to this.

In reality, he had missed his chance to become one. In the game, though, that was not the case.

A little later, Gaon and Lee Bok-dong parted ways with matching grins.

"Heading off to sword practice like usual?"

"Yeah. And I told you to drop the formal stuff."

He walked into the swordsmanship school, same as always. The instructor greeted him with a smile.

"You really do work hard, my lord. Now I understand where that skill of yours comes from."

Gaon smiled back and took up his sword. The training began again.

It went on like this for days. Gaon logged in earlier than anyone and logged out later than anyone, and he spent the vast majority of that time on sword practice.

The ARMA members seemed to look kindly on that passion. Besides, Gaon had gotten friendly with them ever since he'd hired them with money last time.

The ARMA member who logged in after Gaon struck up a conversation.

"Oh, Gaon. Always at it, huh? Trying to become a Swordmaster to live up to the name?"

"Well, who knows?"

He was cheerfully chatting with the other ARMA members as they logged in one after another when, last of all, a woman among them appeared.

Her face had grown familiar by now. This time, Gaon spoke first.

"Hey hey, Miss Lee Mi-ri!"

The greeting was ignored. Lee Mi-ri did not so much as glance his way as she started reaching for a sword.

Gaon gave an awkward laugh, and the ARMA president spoke up.

"Miri here's always been kind of a brat, so cut her some slack. I think her pride took a hit when she tried to hit on you last time and you turned her down."

Lee Mi-ri shot a glare in their direction, but she did not bother to explain herself. She simply swung her sword.

Everyone swung their swords, and as they swung, they logged out one by one.

After that, the one who stayed the longest among the ARMA members was Lee Mi-ri. Gaon tried speaking to her, all friendly.

"Heading out now? You've been working hard."

Lee Mi-ri ignored him this time as well. She did not return the greeting. She logged out and vanished.

Gaon, for the life of him, could not figure out what that woman's problem was.

At any rate, he kept at it, the only one left, swinging his sword with fierce intensity.

Lee Bok-dong came looking for him.

"Did you see the post that went up online?"

"Drop the formal speech. What post?"

"Uh, well. You know the White Skull Unit. They're explaining why they lost..."

Lee Bok-dong laid it out.

The White Skull Unit had posted online that they had withdrawn because unexpected casualties had cropped up at a completely unexpected moment. Once they received the damage report, they had judged that the situation was not a normal one.

"They thought a Swordmaster had shown up?"

"Yeah. That special NPC who randomly crashes the battlefield whenever Earth factions fight each other... they thought Lord Hyungtun had appeared. That's why they pulled out."

In other words, they were claiming they had not been pushed back in a fight — they had withdrawn because of a fluke.

It was not a particularly pleasant explanation to hear.

For Gaon, it was a blow to his pride, and an unsettling one besides. If they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pinned the reason for their defeat on something other than actual fighting strength, what was to stop them from coming back for another round?

If I posted online saying we won because I fought well, just to refute them — would that look pathetic? Or would it not? He was seriously turning the question over when Lee Bok-dong made a suggestion.

"Hey, so I recorded a video of that battle... want me to upload it? So people can see why they took so much damage. That'd pretty much shoot their explanation down, right?"

Lee Bok-dong asked it as if he had no particular stake in the matter, but inwardly he was praying the suggestion would be accepted.

He appeared in that incredible footage too, after all. And for Lee Bok-dong, who wanted to make it as a pro gamer, advertising himself was a matter of enormous importance.

Gaon answered as if he could not have cared less, while inwardly cheering at the prospect of his own performance going public.

"Sure, whatever."

Lee Bok-dong jumped on it.

"Then I'll put it up today. Upload it to YouTube and drop the link on the White Skull Unit's post, yeah?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Do what you want."

And then it was the next day.

Ever since the battle with the White Skull Unit, Jijonmussang had not once nagged him to go make money. Gaon had no idea why, but as far as he was concerned it was a welcome development. It meant he could stay at the swordsmanship school in peace.

Today, too, he threw himself into training and waited for the other ARMA members to log in. He had expectations of them.

He hoped the ARMA members had seen his performance online.

They would have thought Gaon was just another ordinary swordsmanship trainee like themselves — and then they would see the astonishing skill of a man batting bullets aside with a blade, and they would be amazed. The moment they logged in they would come flocking over to praise him.

Just imagining it was a pleasure...

"Hey hey!"

"Hey, Gaon! Let's work hard again today!"

The ARMA members, however, did not appear to have any particular interest in internet posts. As the ones who logged in failed to give him the reaction he had been hoping for, Gaon wilted.

A little time passed, and Gaon was just about ready to give up on praise entirely when one more ARMA member logged in.

It was Lee Mi-ri.

Gaon decided not to greet her this time. She would only ignore him again.

And yet, somehow, today the greeting came from Lee Mi-ri first. And a remarkably warm one at that.

Lee Mi-ri beamed and bowed her head.

"Gaon? Hello!"

An unexpected reaction. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gaon was mildly surprised.

"Oh, so you'll greet me now? When I went first you just ignored me."

"Until yesterday, I didn't think you were worth greeting back."

The unexpected remark left Gaon flustered. Was she actually angry that he had turned her down? But turning someone down once shouldn't make you unworthy of a hello.

"Wait, why?"

"You were logged in for so long! I figured you were some jobless bum."

The words hit Gaon like a slap.

"What's wrong with being unemployed?"

"Absolutely not. I have standards, you know? Pretending to be friends with some unemployed bum? That's a bit much."

"I mean... unemployed people are still people..."

"But I realized I couldn't keep ignoring you. I watched the video that went up."

"Oh... I was pretty sick, huh?"

"Yeah. You were insanely good. So I have a favor to ask... spar with me."

The tenth-anniversary celebration of the Longsword Regime had become news across the entire Earth. A front-page issue. It was something happening in another world, and yet it was nothing anyone could afford to ignore.

The same held true from Korea's position.

"Well, that Charmmahwang fellow really does seem to have lost it. So, Minister? What exactly did he say?"

"That the Chosenjin appear to have forgotten their history, so he will help them remember it... He says he will thrash Korea before he thrashes Japan. Meaning the Korean Peninsula is now included among his targets."

"That bastard's just manufacturing a pretext to attack us, isn't he? The Great Dimensional Gate he's aiming to occupy is in Manchuria, and the Peninsula would make a damn convenient frontline base..."

"Never mind that. The point is, when those bastards start a war, they are clearly not going to leave our country out of it. Now, look at the next page..."

"As you can see, the war may start sooner than we expected."

"I know Swordmasters are a headache, but one extra one shows up and the whole strategy changes? Enough to move up the outbreak of a war?"

"The thing is, once Kashad and Gaon were both added to the mix, the other side had essentially gathered every force they needed... That pointy-eared Gaon returned from the other world in 1957, I believe? By then the Hugin Republic had been steadily taking Anglo-American aid and had already finished modernizing its military. At the very least it was a regional power on the level of today's Israel."

"And that pointy-eared Gaon single-handedly wrecked that modernized army, as I recall."

"Yes. People say Swordmasters are strong, that they're superhuman, but they are still a breed that dies if you shoot them, so they cannot just run wild in a full-scale war. Gaon, however, is a confirmed case of one who can. The US military has developed several anti-superhuman weapons, but even with those, they will not be confident they can take this particular pointy-ears down. And frankly, even with anti-superhuman weapons, the other Swordmasters are not easy to kill either."

"Didn't we take down four of them with World War II equipment?"

"That was because the Swordmasters threw themselves into open battle during World War II. If they only raise hell behind the lines, there is no answer. The Swordmasters were committed to the front in World War II because, from their perspective, they had no choice. They were so badly outmatched that every time a defensive line broke they had to step onto the battlefield themselves and play firefighter. And that is how they died. Now, though, As forces have enough conventional capability to fight a full-scale war, so the Swordmasters will have no reason to fight on the front themselves — which means they will actually be harder to eliminate than they were in World War II..."

"So we are not just supposed to sit here marveling at how strong those Swordmaster bastards are. What are we supposed to do? Is there any countermeasure in the works? New weapons in development, or...?"

"There is something..."

"Oh, there is? What?"

"The training of Sword Experts is currently ongoing."

"Sword Experts? Wait, that is still running? Isn't that the asinine plan where Korea raises its own Swordmaster and has them go toe-to-toe with the enemy's?"

"Why is that asinine? It is about cultivating the same kind of asymmetric force they have."

"Look, if I became a Swordmaster and turned into a superhuman spraying Sword Qi everywhere, I would not take an order to risk my life in a fight. I would be a superhuman welcome anywhere on the planet, so I would bide my time and then just emigrate. I am not a sucker — why would I take orders from the Ministry of National Defense...?"

"Which is why the trainees are being selected, as far ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as possible, on the basis of patriotism."

"You cherry-pick them and a Swordmaster just pops out? You would think they would be short-handed even if they dragged in anyone who can swing a sword and threw support at them. I mean, on As the only human Swordmaster is that Charmmahwang bastard. And the only Earthling who ever became one is that Ban Ji-sung bastard. No matter how I look at it, this really does seem like an asinine plan."

"Fine. Let us say it is an asinine plan. We still have no other choice. Speaking of Ban Ji-sung — let us talk about him, since his name came up. When that lunatic went on a rampage in Seoul, how did we catch him?"

"We could not catch him even after calling in the US military, so we invited a Swordmaster from As and asked them to handle it. In the end Charmmahwang came and took him down... so you are saying that to catch a Swordmaster, you absolutely need a Swordmaster?"

"Yes. And the plan is progressing more steadily than you might think. You said cherry-picking would never work, but we have gathered quite a few candidates who are patriotic, of good character, and talented on top of that. As a sample of the candidates, here we have Miss Lee Mi-ri..."