Nam Dayun (1)
Nam Dayun (1)
South Korea, the United States, and China. These three countries are the superpowers leading global hegemony.
Korea, a nation overflowing with all sorts of magical resources after forming an alliance with the Fairy Race that came through the Gates early on and planting the World Tree in the collapsed North Korea, and possessing the most outstanding asymmetric military power known as 'Heroes'.
The United States, which overwhelms most of Korea and China but lacks labor force and hero power.
And China, which boasts the world's most outstanding labor force by forming an alliance with the Void Race.
Void Race.
A race living in the Void, sometimes called the Spirit Race by some. This is because they possess translucent bodies.
They are a race skilled in black magic that commands the undead, and they possess a unique trait of desiring mental fulfillment over material gain. The black magic they possess is different from the general perception. This is because it is bound by legitimate contracts.
Contracts are made on the condition of receiving monthly support from the state to live reasonably well until death, and serving the state for eternity after death. Or, before dying, they sign a contract in exchange for a massive sum of money for their family.
'Honestly speaking, it's a mystery why they aren't ranked 1st.'
Xiao-mei thought.
Undead workers boasting an absurd number of 600 million. Because undead workers are undead, they don't need to rest. Because they are undead, they can work 24 hours a day.
Of course, since they are basically undead, they use holy relics once every three days to wash away the Death Energy, but the time and cost are ridiculously cheap.
Click.
"Is that the hero who saved the world?"
A delicate boy's voice was heard. A slightly devious-looking smile. A boy who looked to be around 160cm tall with black braided hair hanging down. The boy was holding a phone, taking a selfie with his brother in the background while making a confident expression.
She sighed while looking at her younger brother, Tao. She had been lost in thought for a moment, and he was already messing around.
Xiao-mei turned her head. A white statue came into view. A face full of dignity. A statue overflowing with intensity, as if it were about to rush forward while swinging a sword.
Shin Yu-jin.
A hero famous as a Regressor and the hero who saved the world. An unparalleled genius born in Korea.
Looking around, she saw nearby pedestrians and foreigners taking pictures, laying down flowers, or offering silent prayers.
Her younger brother, Tao, was also looking at the statue with eyes full of admiration.
"Tao."
"Why, Noona?"
"You know why we came today, right?"
"Of course I know. It's because of Sword Mistress-nim. I know how important this is."
Sword Mistress.
Master of the sword.
A hero certain to enter the Highest Rank, and the person who rose to High Rank in the shortest amount of time. She hates villains, is the most active among High Rank heroes in exterminating villains, and is someone who cannot tolerate injustice.
Basically, she was born in Korea and is active in Korea, but her popularity is higher than most of the heroes in our own country, as she receives all sorts of love calls from China and occasionally performs there, more so than in the small land of Korea.
A female swordsman who handles Sword Control and is enjoying sensational popularity in China as well. If she is called Sword Mistress in Korea, she is called Sword Empress in China.
Today, their purpose was to make a request to the Sword Mistress.
The goal was the extermination of a villain.
Originally, with the power of her family, they could solve it without any issues, but...
'Fucking bastards.'
A huge accident occurred in the family.
While the current Clan Leader and the elite guard force were away on a mission, the captured Demon-human had escaped. The reason was that the son of one of the family elders had gotten drunk, caused a ruckus in the prison while wielding a Demonic Sword, and the Demon-human had seized that opportunity to escape.
'Do you know how much trouble we went through to catch that bastard?'
Astronomical amounts of money and manpower were poured in. About 500 of the family's skeleton soldiers were smashed, and quite a lot of expensive consumables like magic scrolls and potions were used, along with treatments for injured heroes and internal injury medicine, etc.
For now, they were placed under disciplinary action, and they would receive punishment once the Clan Leader and the armed force returned to the family. However, that villain had to be caught. The family had already announced long ago that they had caught the villain. While they could hide it to some extent with the family's power, it would be dangerous if the villain started running wild outside properly.
Because of such political issues, they came to make a request to the Sword Empress... Originally, this was also a job the elder should have done, but because other elders could not move in order to prevent a potential rebellion by the elder, only they could come here.
"Noona, look at that guy."
"Who?"
Tao whispered in admiration and pointed with his hand. Xiao-mei shifted her gaze following Tao's hand.
"His energy is considerable, isn't it? And yet he's hiding it quite well. You might not feel it on the surface, but his physique isn't bad either."
There was a boy. Half-curly hair and confident eyes. Skin as white and milky as if it were glowing. Unlike his youthful face, his body was sturdy.
'Who is that?'
He is an extraordinary boy. His appearance is extraordinary, but the atmosphere surrounding him was even more so. Should I say he bewitches his surroundings? The boy had that kind of atmosphere.
Above all, Tao reacted. Her younger brother, who is excellent at grasping an opponent's combat power with his wild intuition, reacted. It means he is a person of interest.
Xiao-mei also looked at the boy intently. It was because his face looked familiar from somewhere.
However, she tried to think of students who were excellent in combat power, but she couldn't recall anyone.
"Hey."
"......?"
When Tao asked, the boy tilted his head.
"Are you perhaps a hero aspirant?"
"Yeah, but why? Are you here on a trip?"
"That's right. I came from China. My name is Tao. Li Tao. By the way, this is amazing. As expected of Korea. Someone trained to this extent is just an aspirant. Are you attending the Hero Academy?"
"Yeah."
Tao nodded, nodding with a satisfied expression.
"Are you perhaps a first-year?"
"Yeah, but why?"
"I just took a guess, but I'm glad. If it's you, you must be the first-year top student, right?"
"Nope."
"...What, you're not the top student? Ah, I see. Are you being cautious? There's no way someone with your skills wouldn't be the top student. Someone like you, although weaker than me, would have no rivals in China either. If you try a little harder, you'll be the runner-up."
"No, I'm really not."
"Hehe. There's no need to deny it like that. You might be the representative of the first-year Hero Academy students in Korea, but it's just that your opponent is me. It's the opponent's fault. It's just a natural thing, like clothes getting wet when it rains."
"......."
What the hell is this guy doing? He just came up, blabbered on his own for a while, and finished by acting all high and mighty. Judging by his accent and name, he seems like a student who enrolled in a Chinese academy. Li Tao? I've never heard of him. He's probably a student attending a Chinese academy.
I let out a soft sigh and looked at the woman coming this way.
A woman with long straight hair wearing a black cheongsam with golden patterns that are hard to see in Korea.
Li Xiao-mei.
Seeing that face, it came to me.
It was Xiao-mei, called the Black Hand in the upper circles. She was a female supporting character excellent at business. In the game, she receives help from Yoon Seung-ha, and if she goes to China after being impressed by Yoon Seung-ha, she plays the role of helping or procuring necessary items. In other words, she's a sponsor.
But was there a reason for the Li family to come to Korea at this timing?
I rack my brain, but I can't remember. It must be because it wasn't covered in the game.
Before going to Nam Da-yoon's house, I stopped by a nearby department store. I felt like I should buy something. She said I could just come as I am, but looking at her expression when she received macarons last time, it would be better to buy something.
Come to think of it, what does she like?
What I know about Nam Da-yoon is that she hates villains and a few incidents regarding that. There was also the fact that she cherished her younger brother terribly. But since only that much was covered, I don't really know. She also almost always died in the middle.
Buying food again felt a bit off. But Nam Da-yoon is a promising candidate looking at becoming a top-tier hero, so other gifts probably wouldn't mean much either.
For now, let's go to the department store and pick something out.
When I arrived at the entrance, people's gazes were drawn to me. Should I have worn a hat? I looked around a bit, put on a hat, searched nearby, and found a perfume shop. Perfume should be fine, right? I got a rosemary scent recommended by the staff and bought it. Then I headed to Nam Da-yoon's house.
"You're here, Siwoo? It's been a while."
'It's only been a week since we met.'
As soon as I rang the bell, Nam Da-yoon popped out as if she had been waiting. A blue bob cut resembling the sea. A white crop top with black stripes on black leggings. It was an outfit that was a feast for the eyes.
"Yes, it's been a while. Have you been doing well, Noona?"
When I answered appropriately, Nam Da-yoon smiled brightly and nodded. Her blue bobbed hair swayed.
"Yeah. I've been doing well. Come to think of it, Siwoo, are you hurt anywhere? I heard a Demon-human attacked yesterday?"
"...Has that already been made known?"
"Everyone is keeping it hush-hush, but these days, this has developed, right?"
She said, sliding her phone up.
"Academy officials are desperately trying to block it, so the public probably doesn't know, but industry insiders probably all know. By the way."
Her blue eyes curved like half-moons.
"Our Siwoo, did you awaken your unique ability?"
"Yes, I was lucky. I picked up and ate something interesting."
"Seeing that you've undergone a physical transformation, is it related to your body?"
"The physical transformation is secondary... if I had to distinguish it, it's an ability related to the mind."
"The mind?"
I briefly explained The Only One and the Yin-Yang Body.
"Wow......"
Nam Da-yoon looked at me with her mouth open.
"That's not just a matter of luck? At that level, it seems like a spiritual medicine that the state would treat with the utmost gravity at the very least."
"Is it to that extent?"
Actually, I know. There was a time when a spiritual medicine similar to the Yin-Yang Pill was discovered, and a war between nations almost broke out because of that one thing. And the protagonist accidentally consumes that spiritual medicine and grows one step further.
"Yeah. Oh, oops, I was so distracted that I kept you standing. Come on in."
Guided by her, I entered the house. We immediately headed to the practice room in the basement.
The basement practice room was spacious even when looking at it again. As Nam Da-yoon tried to pick up a wooden sword hanging on one side of the practice room, I said.
"Um, I'd like to learn some dagger arts today, is that possible?"
"Dagger arts?"
She looked at me with wide eyes. More accurately, it's throwing dagger arts.
"Yes. Somehow, it seems better to use it together with dagger arts rather than just using one sword."
"Dagger arts are very difficult, will you be okay?"
Nam Da-yoon frowned.
"Dagger arts might look cool, but the reach is short, so it's not great. Because it's easy to carry, it's a weapon used only by assassins. You can increase the length using Sword Qi, but in that case, it's better to just increase the length with a sword from the start."
Nam Da-yoon said while holding a wooden dagger.
"Still, if I were to count the advantages of dagger arts, I guess it would be portability and unpredictability? How much do you know about dagger arts?"
"I've only referred to videos."
"......Ah, is that so?"
For a moment, Nam Da-yoon's expression changed strangely.
"By any chance, did you only watch videos for sword arts too?"
"No. Besides videos, also sword arts written in martial arts manuals..."
"......."
What is it? For some reason, Nam Da-yoon's expression changed to one that looked like she had seen something unpleasant for a moment. I must have seen it wrong.
"...F-first, let's start with a sparring match. I need to check how strong you've become to know your skill level."
Nam Da-yoon said while holding a wooden sword.
"Shall we see how strong our Siwoo has become, and check your skills?"