Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Heavenly Mechanism Calculation Method (3)
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Imprinting it directly on my body?
AlphaGo's words were hard to grasp intuitively.
"Receive it."
At that moment, to my puzzled self, AlphaGo retracted her extended finger, clenched it into a fist, and thrust it straight out.
It might've looked like nothing much, but a strike from someone who'd claimed a seat among the Martial Gods was utterly impossible to dodge.
"Euk!"
I took it straight to the chin and crumpled.
"Why'd you hit me?!"
"Why couldn't you dodge?"
I shot right back up in indignation and yelled, but AlphaGo just tilted her head like I was the weird one.
Why couldn't I dodge?
"How was I supposed to dodge that?! It came flying out of nowhere..."
"Came flying suddenly, so you couldn't dodge? Then if it doesn't come suddenly, that means you can block or dodge it?"
"Huh?"
"Same result."
No time for questions.
As I floundered in confusion, AlphaGo threw another fist my way.
It was ridiculous, but on pure reflex, I stumbled back and dodged it.
"Dodged."
"No kidding! Who'd just eat that?!"
"How'd you dodge?"
"You wound up the exact same way, telegraphing it like crazy!"
"Exactly."
In stark contrast to my heated shouting, AlphaGo replied in her flat, mechanical tone.
"Sudden incoming attacks can't be dodged. But if you know the path and method it'll take, you can dodge them. In other words, defense hinges on information. Got it so far?"
"Uh..."
She had a point.
Assuming the opponent's power level was something I could handle, if I knew where and how the attack was coming, only an idiot wouldn't block it.
But that was the problem—it made no sense in practice.
"Okay, but how do you even know that? No enemy's gonna politely announce when, where, and how they're attacking."
I sure as hell wouldn't pick a straight-up fight with those mutants.
This wasn't some 3v3 Pokémon ranked battle where we flashed our full teams upfront before throwing down.
Hell, even in 3v3 Pokémon ranked, players grit their teeth and twist their avatars just to hide their movesets and abilities.
"Of course enemies won't tell you. But there are ways to figure it out."
AlphaGo extended both hands.
Orbs of starlight materialized around her, orbiting in formation.
"Any attack's final destination is you. No matter what the opponent throws, if it never reaches you, that's perfect defense. Erect your domain and prepare countermeasures for every possibility entering it—no need to read the opponent's moves. That's why I'll engrave those possibilities directly onto your body."
So no question of how even crossed my mind. Or rather, it bubbled up and died in my throat. Simple reason: the starlight orbs orbiting AlphaGo began rising, radiating a vicious aura.
"No way, right?"
"No way, yes."
Whirr-whirr-whirr—
The starlight orbs spun, encircling me from every direction.
"Get hit by every possibility, and you'll react to every possibility. Engrave it straight into your unconscious."
It was like the sight itself was saying:
—Just take the hits. Questions later.
The real martial arts training kicked off.
Or rather, "training" meant getting relentlessly pounded from sunrise to sunset, no breaks.
"Waist."
"Guh!"
"Head."
"Ugh!"
"Arm."
"Guk!"
"Gut."
"Euk!"
AlphaGo mechanically directed the orbs in their attacks. Slack off for a second, and one flew right at my face. Dodge it, and another whipped in from a blind spot. She never demanded flawless evasion or blocks—just that I somehow managed to block or dodge, and that was good enough. We repeated it sunrise to sunset. What I learned? This sparring field's time flow was nothing like reality.
I had no idea what the Martial God Gallery had in mind when they built it, but with up to 30x time dilation, one day outside equaled a month in here. Dropping a time-space bomb like that without warning felt off, but then I'd see gallery posts where gallers bragged about battling Chilju or fighting nonstop for ten days and nights. In their time scale, it kinda made sense.
But none of that mattered.
The real kicker? I'd been beaten black and blue countless times during all that extra time.
"Kuhhh... Th-this gonna kill me?"
"No worries. I can calibrate the force not to kill. And even if you die, the system revives you outside the field."
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, season one's Black Sky and Anger Control Expert—first-time sparring users—had capped their Song of Ice and Fire duel with a spectacular team wipe. They'd personally demoed what a life-risking strike looked like, convincing every other galler of the field's safety. Me and AlphaGo included.
"So keep taking it."
Bam-bam-bam!!
"Kraaak!"
Time dragged on as I ate hit after hit.
About ten days in, maybe?
Another perk hit me: no need for food or nutrition here—survival was fine. That's when AlphaGo finally spoke up.
"Question."
"What... kuh! Hit... euk! No, pause the orbs when you... euk!"
Still pummeling me with light orbs nonstop, she dropped her question.
"Situation repeats endlessly. No resentment?"
"No... euk! Resent... ugh!! Why... whew! Ask now?!"
Fast question, and she's still going full throttle even now—but surprisingly, after ten days, I'd gotten used to it.
Block what I could block, dodge what I could dodge, tank the rest, and answer.
"No resentment...! None...! At all!"
"For real?"
"Totally...! Yes...!"
"...Masochist?"
"Am I?!"
I didn't have any weird tastes about getting pummeled.
But what can I say.
It was definitely helping me.
Not like I had some prodigious martial arts talent or anything.
'The other gallers are watching quietly.'
Gallers silently spectating my beatdown for ten straight days already.
One thing I'd learned from gallery lurking: weirdos to a one, but not a single villain among them.
'Sure, the high realms breed massive egos, stubbornness, and self-righteous clownery—but nobody gets off on tormenting others.'
Not even Anger Control Expert.
So if those gallers were just watching, didn't that prove this was something I needed?
"They...! Must have...! Reasons...!"
AlphaGo, who'd been eyeing me impassively as I dodged, blocked, and tanked my thoughts across, finally nodded.
"Correct. This process is all necessary for you."
First words from her in ten days of beatings.
"You haven't reached Flesh Tempering yet. Put another way: incomplete, so full of potential for anything. Something must be engraved within that for you."
"What... kuh! Is it?!"
Mid-sentence, a heavy straight crashed into my gut.
I endured the pain and asked; AlphaGo, emitting an eerie aurora around her body, replied.
"Sensory expansion. Unconscious unlocking for it."
Sen... what now?
"Why I haven't taught you martial arts. Most are conscious domain techniques. Learning one carves a conscious path, fixing it in place. So I deliberately withhold answers. Cognition's conscious too—outside the domain. Necessary to draw answers from the unconscious."
"But what the hell even... is that..."
"Don't get it?"
"Obviously..."
"Then take more."
Puk!
"Kheuuk!"
About twenty days subjective time passed.
My routine hadn't changed a bit.
One shocking thing: every galler had watched the whole ordeal without missing a beat.
'Don't they ever get bored?'
Right around that thought—
"Eek!"
I ducked a side attack incoming.
Simultaneously rolled right to evade the orb targeting my left ankle.
Not total blind spots, but stuff I couldn't have reacted to before—I somehow did, dodging every one.
Problem was, that was my limit. Soon as I stood, a side orb nailed me for a reverse shot.
"Kheuuk!"
"Congrats. Still no blind-spot reactions, but personal best. 31 straight dodges."
Even that earned a congrats from AlphaGo.
"Kuh, say stuff like that... after pausing?!"
"Can talk. Means leeway. Speed doubled."
AlphaGo never made empty talk.
She acted on her words—and sure enough, orb speed doubled right then.
"Uwaaak!"
I let out a raw scream.
Yeah, training with AlphaGo was pretty much this vibe.
She hounded me mercilessly; just when I'd adapt, she'd nudge to the next stage, making adaptation a joke.
Pushed me to the absolute brink nonstop, except sleep and eats—then it was nonstop beatings or chases from those orbs.
Still, I was getting better.
Things I couldn't even perceive before? Now I dodged or blocked somehow.
Maybe that's why.
At some point, I got lost in it.
Forgot about dodging. Forgot about blocking.
In those moments, I just moved with total focus, giving my absolute best.
Dull thuds, shattering crunches, ripping tears, clashing booms.
Forgot them all. Sunk purely into the motion.
Hell, maybe I even forgot sinking into it.
Forgot time's flow. Forgot thinking.
Forgot everything—just kept the body moving.
Then, some point, a bizarre sensation washed over me.
'Eh?'
Behind my head.
The occiput, or maybe above—pop, like it burst open, unlocking new senses.
Clearly invisible spot.
Perfect blind angle.
Yet I sensed something incoming from there.
Srrrr—
Next up, the 132nd orb—I flicked my hand at a slant toward it.
Ting!
Slapped the soft-ball-strength orb aside from the side.
'Ah, this is it!'
Realization hit without me realizing it hit.
A sense I hadn't been born with.
But... what sense? Did I even have senses? Me?
What. Was I? Right now?
Thoughts tangled, scrambled—
"Wub?"
That instant, something slipped into my mouth.
Melted and vanished the second it hit my tongue, then swept through my body once.
Twisted, inverted inside-out perceptions snapped back to normal.
"...Kuhuk!"
I exhaled the breath I'd held too late.
"Huk...! Heuk... Huk..."
Ragged breaths poured out.
Only then did my burning lungs register.
Gulping cool air to soothe them, I finally clocked what I'd been doing right before.
'Insane. Haven't even breathed till now...'
I realized I'd gone seriously off-kilter when—
"How was it?"
AlphaGo's mechanical congrats rang out.
"Experience dipping into the No-Self Realm?"