Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Hardworking Pay-to-Win Knight
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There, a Sword Master stood.
As my…… enemy.
“Who are you!”
“An orc! It’s an orc!”
“Wolf King!”
Steelstone and Hundred burst out of the lord’s castle late, followed by swarming soldiers who raised their weapons and entered combat stance.
“Hmm. Not that the likes of you could do anything to me anyway.”
Khan Slasher grinned at the sight.
“But still, being surrounded isn’t ideal, is it?”
“……No!”
I cried out in horror, but it was too late to block his sword.
Ping.
A light whoosh of wind. A single line slashed through the air.
Crack!
“……Huh? A line on my chest.”
“B-breath…… breath…… grrrk…….”
The approaching shield soldiers were sliced apart shield and all. Their thick leather shields reinforced with iron plates offered solid defense, but they meant nothing against sword qi.
Crunch.
My muscles twisted throughout my body. I planted my left foot firmly and pulled back the arm holding the bone longsword until it nearly touched the ground.
Then, I threw it.
Boom…… crash!
A roar echoed. Khan Slasher, who had been smirking confidently, was pushed back about five meters.
His face, gripping his sword, was full of bewilderment.
“What…… the hell? Did you just throw it? Your sword?”
Rumble!
Around then, the shield soldiers—now separated at the torso—collapsed. Over thirty elite soldiers dead in one swing.
Squeeze!
I wrung out my muscles. Because I knew.
‘Get too close…… and I die!’
A Sword Master who wielded sword qi was a close-range specialist. A living weapon of slaughter.
On Earth, they dismissed it as ‘Sword qi’s useless anyway once you’re in a Giggas.’ But assuming everyone had just a single weapon, martial artists held top-tier combat prowess among all ability users.
Clang!
Khan Slasher, lunging at me, deflected the bone longsword but was shoved back.
He’d managed to parry it with sword qi and incredible reflexes, but even he couldn’t nullify the monstrous physical force behind it.
‘Good! He can’t dodge it!’
The speed of my thrown bone longsword was too fast to dismiss as a mere toss.
Sure, a Sword Master could dodge bullets, but that worked because bullets were point attacks. Something like a bone longsword sweeping a wide arc? Impossible to evade.
No Sword Master could move their entire body at supersonic speeds.
“Don’t approach! Keep your distance and stick to ranged attacks!”
I shouted, downing a potion.
“Log out.”
Back on Earth. I slowly sipped the potion I’d held in my mouth and massaged my arm.
This time, my left arm. Not just that—my back muscles felt like every vein had burst and fibers torn. They twitched even at rest, shocked as they were.
“Ah, Sword Master. What do I do about the Sword Master…….”
My all-out throw had gained a little ground, but I’d dealt zero damage to Khan Slasher so far.
Meanwhile, I was wrecked from the attack. Without log out, I’d have been toyed with and killed.
“Heal!”
I switched classes, cast healing magic, and lay in bed for a bit. Luckily, the songpyeon buff lingered, slowly mending my body.
“Ah, I should’ve eaten the rare-grade songpyeon!”
Too late now.
In Ardenia, the gap between Khan Slasher and me was just 50 meters.
A Sword Master out to kill me, right there—and me eating 17 songpyeons?
Suicide.
Click. Click.
I picked up songpyeons while resting to recover stamina and heal my arms and back.
By the time my blackened arms turned a healthy bluish hue, a character approached me.
RabbitDdu: Hey! Hey!
KilliansThree: Yes?
RabbitDdu: Why are you picking up songpyeons? Even running the game 24 hours, you can only eat six plates max anyway.
A perfectly reasonable question.
Revenge ran on auto-hunt for everything, so no one cared. In a game where people played manually, passersby would’ve swarmed with questions.
Picking up consumables you couldn’t use for hours? Anyone would think it weird.
“Hmm. Brushing it off isn’t good…… They might report me or kill me if annoyed.”
So I calmly typed in chat. In these cases, bullshit beat logic.
KilliansThree: Cleaning up trash.
RabbitDdu: ?
KilliansThree: Environmental protection. That’s my fate……
RabbitDdu: ……What is this? What concept?
Luckily, they lost interest and left.
And.
“Log in.”
Boom!
“No…… This make sense? How can you swing a sword that fast?”
Khan Slasher, kicking off to leap, slid back again. He glared in disbelief, then smirked.
“Some kind of special technique, huh…… Let’s see how far you can go.”
He lowered his stance, unleashing a fierce aura.
Whoooosh……
Just leather pants on him. A single tachi in hand.
But when he got serious…… I and the hundreds of elite soldiers couldn’t even breathe under the pressure.
He’d mastered sword intent.
A Sword Master.
‘Damn it.’
I realized it. The sharpest precognition of my life stabbed my mind.
‘It’ll miss this time.’
I hadn’t thrown yet, but I knew.
This throw would miss.
He’d dodge the bone longsword and close in like lightning, dragging me into his [range].
And.
‘I die.’
I needed to talk.
“Wait, why come all the way from 100km away for what purpose—”
But Khan Slasher kicked off the ground.
“Die!”
I threw the bone longsword.
“You bastard!”
Boom!
With the roar, Khan Slasher’s body slid back.
His face twisted like a wrathful demon.
“Coward! How dare you target my friend!?”
“Grrr!”
I broke into cold sweat facing the two beasts radiating killing intent.
‘Lucky.’
If Khan Slasher hadn’t cared about the Wolf King, I’d have paid with my neck for the wrong choice.
I pulled a new bone longsword from inventory and took throwing stance.
“Log out.”
Back on Earth, I tore at my hair.
“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?”
As expected, the combat power gap was huge. He’d taken three throws that could shatter gates and showed no damage.
“Train on Earth first?”
Ridiculous. If Earth training worked, why had past me wandered aimlessly?
Combat power came from pay-to-win, not centuries of Earth training. Skill improved, sure, but core power didn’t grow—useless.
“No! Why climb 100km up here to screw around!”
Gritting teeth, I picked songpyeons. Switched characters to auto-hunt and hopped into the connector.
“How do you beat a Sword Master?”
“What? How could you beat a Sword Master?”
Sohyang looked incredulous.
“If I have ogre-level strength in this state?”
“Even an ogre charging in would get wrecked. Aren’t you underestimating peak masters too much?”
Spot on, which was why I’d avoided my territory for a while.
“But if you had to fight?”
Realizing it was serious, Sohyang answered calmly.
“If you had to…… Ride a Giggas.”
“Come on! Think I’d ask if I had one?”
“Sheesh, picky conditions. Well then…….”
After pondering, Sohyang said.
“At minimum, you need a weapon to withstand sword qi and an ability to block sword qi’s impact.”
I logged out. Sat at my PC, scoured the auction house.
“Ha.”
Groaned.
“What kind of skill price…….”
The skill I searched: Sword Qi Manifestation (Heroic).
“15,000 diamonds…….”
1.5 million won. Enough for 100+ elite soldiers. And sword qi hadn’t been needed in past fights anyway.
‘Swords killed anyway.’
Not now.
To protect gear and block sword qi’s shock, I needed it.
“Ah, prices are insane? I’m buying desperate. Desperate.”
Grumbling, I hit purchase.
[Item already sold.]
“Damn…….”
Bought it for 16,000 diamonds, then picked gear.
Valhalla (Heroic)
Weapon Damage +33
Accuracy +11
All Stats +2
Skill Damage Amp +10%
Material: Adamantium (Damage Resistance)
Not great efficiency. Not the weapon’s fault—reality simulation issue.
‘Accuracy stat.’
Accuracy, evasion, crit, parry—worthless in Ardenia.
Real fights weren’t probabilistic. Hit the body? Accuracy. Neck or head? Crit. Parried? Parry. No RNG stats.
I’d always skipped such gear—obvious.
‘But no choice. Only Heroic-or-below adamantium sword available.’
Gear had [Material] concept.
Wood, bronze, iron, silver, gold, mithril……
Same grade, wildly different prices, repair costs, traits, performance.
Adamantium resisted damage.
“In-game, just resists [Weapon Destruction] from golems or rock spirits. In Ardenia, it’ll play its role properly.”
Adamantium: rare metal used in Giggas. Can’t be cut by sword qi.
Why Giggas shrug off Sword Master attacks even without ether shields.
Obviously.
Still pricey.
“1.2 million won…… Thank God for Chuseok bonus.”
Bought, reinforced to +6 with scrolls. No fails up to +6. +7 starts problems.
“Whew.”
Sat, steadied breath. Recalled pre-logout fight, focused every nerve.
Then.
“Log in.”
Into Ardenia.
Threw. Target: Wolf King again.
Boom!
“You! You bastard!”
Khan Slasher bellowed in rage, but I ignored.
Right after throwing, I’d grabbed two items from inventory.
[Acquired Sword Qi Manifestation (Heroic) skill!]
I gripped Valhalla (Heroic)+6, assumed defense stance. I’d simulated endlessly—everything swift.
From throw to skill acquire to adamantium sword: 0.5 seconds.
But that time.
Chilling.
Enough to die.
“Tch!”
Groaned, snapped waist back. Torso arched faster than an arrow.
His sword qi, meant to sever my neck.
Sliced my neck.
Halfway.
Slash!
Blood sprayed. Mid-fall, I planted left foot firm.
Kicked off with right.
Bang!
“What!?”
Unforeseen—the kick to his gut launched Khan Slasher skyward.
Regret pinched my eyes.
‘Damn, aimed for solar plexus, but he twisted even then!’
Thud!
I fell. Soldiers rushed from all sides.
Adjusted neck muscles to clamp vessels. Stemmed bleeding while potioning from inventory.
Khan Slasher, flung far, charged back with monstrous momentum.
“Protect the lord!”
“Shields up, overwhelm him!”
“Archers, fire!”
Soldiers blocked his path. I opened mouth to shout.
“Gack! Gwehk!”
Just spat blood.
Splash!
Potion I’d drunk sprayed out through severed throat.
Crunch! Slash!
“Argh!”
“Guh!”
“Don’t fall back! Protect the lord!”
“Grr…… kuh! Log out!”
Sword qi shredded a dozen elites—that was my last sight before Earth.
Trembling hands formed mudra.
Absurdly, chakra realm rose amid chaos. Body chakra entered 3rd Gate: Giant Gate!
Options in mind:
1. Recovery.
2. Enhancement.
3. Transformation.
4. Evolution.
5. Body.
Picked urgent Recovery, completed mudra.
“Body. Giant Gate. Open.”
Recovery-focused chakra enveloped me.
Sizzle!
Steam rose from neck. Immobile, I focused hours on treatment. Reconnected vessels, restored muscles and nerves.
Even post-treatment, barely moved. Feared bursting arteries.
But time passed. 7:30 PM.
“Ah…… fuck.”
Cursed, stood.
Real curse slipped out.
“Fuck.”
Time to head to work.