The Dryad's Branch (2)
Combat power of a hundred thousand? The last time I checked, it had definitely been ten thousand. Yet simply by picking up a kitchen knife it had shot up tenfold. If this were a game, the balance patch would be complete garbage. After all, my combat power while holding a gun right now sat at 820—only double my original 410. A kitchen knife shouldn't be stronger than a gun, so why the ten times increase?
“Nyaang! Did seeing Mohanya's combat power shock you?”
“Y-yes… how can combat power jump ten times like that?”
“The reason is because I am that skilled with a kitchen knife, nyang! Every weapon has something called proficiency, and the boost to combat power changes depending on how exceptional that proficiency is, nyang!”
“How do you even check proficiency?”
“It would be nice if you could, wouldn’t it? Regrettably, there is no way to confirm it anywhere, nyang.”
True enough. If you could see proficiency on top of combat power, that would be utterly shameless. At least I now understood that the concept existed. My combat power had probably only doubled because I wasn’t used to the pistol yet. It meant that if I were truly skilled with one, a tenfold increase instead of twofold wouldn’t be strange at all.
“And on top of that, combat power cannot be the sole indicator in a fight, nyang.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll show you right now, so shoot at Mohanya, nyang!”
This was clearly a narrow alley. No matter how strong Mohanya was, she had no choice but to approach me in a straight line, and there was zero chance of my gun missing. If I aimed calmly and fired…
“Aaaack!”
You have experienced combat. Your combat power has increased slightly.
Pain flared through my forearm as I looked down. A kitchen knife was buried in it—the very one Mohanya had been holding. Fuck, she threw it? How the hell does a person throw a kitchen knife hard enough to pierce someone’s forearm?
“Flustered, nya? A kitchen knife in your forearm means you can’t do anything, nyang?”
“Flustered my ass—this shit hurts like hell, you know?”
“Does it still hurt?”
“Of course it… Huh? It doesn’t hurt anymore?”
It had definitely hurt a second ago, yet now the pain was gone. When I looked again, the knife had vanished like a dream. My forearm was completely unharmed.
“In Mohanya’s space, no one gets hurt or dies, nyang!”
Was this creature even human? Maybe she was actually the author who created this world and was just tormenting me for fun. But why torment me when I wasn’t even a reader? Still, saying that out loud would make me sound insane, so I kept quiet. Being called crazy by a crazy person like Mohanya would probably break my spirit.
“Yes, that’s truly impressive. Wow, really cool, right?”
“More! Praise me more, nyang!”
What a lunatic.
“But if your combat power is a hundred thousand, you can do things like that? Throwing a knife to interrupt me before I can even aim the gun?”
“Nyaang! That could be done even without a hundred thousand combat power, nyang. Doggie-chan could pull it off easily, nyang.”
How the hell was I supposed to do that? I’m human, you know.
“However, you must know how to use Chegi, nyang.”
“Chegi?”
I had been completely lost on how to learn it, so hearing the word suddenly felt like a blessing. I never imagined I’d be this glad to see a psycho like Mohanya.
“That’s right, nyang. I’ll show you slowly this time, so stick to the wall over there, nyang.”
Since this generous person was teaching me Chegi, I had to listen carefully. I obediently pressed myself against the wall and watched her intently.
“Watch closely, nyang~”
Mohanya gripped the kitchen knife with only her thumb, index, and middle finger, preparing to throw. A change began on the back of her hand. Veins swelled grotesquely, as if trying to burst through the skin. Looking closer, I saw some kind of energy gathering and circulating across the back of her hand like an explosion.
Had she taken drugs? Why was I seeing this?
The moment the question formed, the energy that had been circulating and swelling the veins rushed toward her wrist at blinding speed. When Mohanya snapped her wrist to hurl the knife, the energy flowed all the way to her fingertips in perfect sync.
Whiiiish—thunk!
The sound of tearing air rang out as the kitchen knife embedded itself in the wall. The massive amount of energy that had gathered was now completely gone.
“Did you see it clearly?”
“I did. So you used Chegi to amplify the throwing force for an instant, right?”
“Correct, nyang! If used well, Chegi can increase combat power itself, but it can also be used for momentary amplification like this, nyang. This way it doesn’t even register in your combat power, nyang.”
I see. So that was why you couldn’t judge a fight by combat power alone. It made perfect sense.
“Now then, shall Doggie-chan try it too, nyang?”
Mohanya asked as she handed me the kitchen knife. In exchange, she took the gun.
“This time I’ll shoot the gun, so Doggie-chan, throw the knife and try to stop me, nyang!”
“Since it’s practice, I shouldn’t aim for the throat, right?”
“Nyaang! Even outside of practice, aiming for the throat is not recommended, nyang. Even if a knife is buried in the neck, there’s still enough strength left to pull the trigger, nyang.”
So having your throat pierced didn’t mean instant death. That was new information. I’d have to remember it for real fights.
“Thanks for the excellent advice.”
I steadied my breathing and focused on the Chegi flowing through my body. I had only observed Mohanya once, but thanks to the effect of my title I could sense it easily.
“Just so you know, Mohanya will shoot without any warning, nyang~ You won’t die, so don’t worry, nyang~”
Since it was Mohanya I wouldn’t die, but in real combat I would have. I treated failure as death and poured every ounce of desperation into the moment.
I drew all the Chegi in my body toward my right arm and expanded it. The veins on the back of my hand swelled until they looked ready to burst. And right then—although Mohanya had said there would be no warning—
Mohanya has raised her gun and is about to fire at you!
I didn’t miss the opening. I hurled the kitchen knife as fast as I could. My plan was to pierce her forearm like she had done to me and make her drop the gun. Of course, there was no way it would actually hit her. As always, she would vanish like mist and dodge.
“Nyaang! Absolutely splendid, nyang! To awaken Chegi in a single try—as expected, Doggie-chan is a genius, nyang!”
Look at that. The kitchen knife was still flying through empty air, but her voice came from behind me.
“Still, I’ll specially refrain from knocking you down this time, nyang. Because Doggie-chan performed so excellently, nyang!”
Why not knock me down? My combat power would have gone up by at least ten. Not that I particularly wanted to be humiliatingly knocked down by a psycho like Mohanya and gain a measly ten points.
“Then this is farewell. The wandering warrior Mohanya, who arrived like the wind, fought like flame, and retreats like cloud, is taking her leave, nyang! Before you meet the seller, make sure to buy a kitchen knife first, nyang!”
—Bye-bye, nyang, Doggie-chan! See you at the fourth lesson, nyang!
“I’d really rather not see you again?”
Even as I spoke, Mohanya had already vanished. She was disgustingly fast. I was seriously curious about her true identity, but there was no way to find out. I still didn’t understand why she was showing me this much interest. Nothing about her was predictable.
“A kitchen knife, huh…”
I searched for the knife that had flown through the air, but it was nowhere to be found. It couldn’t be helped; the moment Mohanya appeared, the space separated from reality.
“A Mohanya cosplay psycho who can create an entirely different space from reality—does that even make sense?”
In case the author who created this world was watching, I muttered the words aloud on purpose. I wanted to demand an explanation. But of course no one would hear me. This world was real to me right now. Thinking of it as fiction would only hurt me. Better to stop the pointless grumbling and buy that kitchen knife.
Since Mohanya had specifically told me to buy one, there had to be a reason. Just like how that Banana Man had carried a gun before.
“Kitchen knives are easy to get, unlike guns.”
Guns required a possession permit and were expensive, so they weren’t easy to obtain. Kitchen knives, however, were used for cooking and could be bought by anyone. For people who couldn’t get a permit or lacked money, they were the perfect accessible weapon. Of course, anyone buying one specifically to throw at a gunman probably wasn’t normal.
“Thank you for your patronage.”
I stopped by a nearby hardware store and purchased a kitchen knife. I prayed that no annoying situations requiring me to throw it would arise.
Ding—
Don’t worry. I hadn’t even gone to the previous spot you sent anyway.
Fortunately, the new location the seller had marked wasn’t far from the hardware store. It did share the common trait of being another shady alley, though.
“This must be it…”
Hoping I wouldn’t hear any more nyaang sounds this time, I stepped into the alley. It was narrower and darker than the previous one. The sun had already set; without a light it would be hard to see anything.
I pulled out my phone to turn on the flashlight. At that exact moment, another notification arrived.
Ding—
The message contained nothing but a single period. What the hell did that mean? While I was still wondering, I heard a rustling sound and a figure emerged from the shadows.
“You’re the buyer, correct?”
It was a woman’s voice. Had she sent the period to confirm I was the buyer through the notification sound? What if I had set my phone to silent?
“Yes, that’s me. Where’s the item?”
It looked extremely suspicious, but I asked politely anyway. I couldn’t afford to tarnish the organization’s image.
“It’s right here…”
The woman spoke in a slightly seductive tone and lifted a wooden stick. The moment I saw it, I finally understood what Yu Jin-ri had been talking about. An image of Mohanya blowing kisses suddenly flashed through my mind. Of course, not the psycho Mohanya—the real one. She was kind of my ideal type, after all.
“It certainly looks genuine. That’s a relief. What price did you have in mind?”
“Price isn’t necessary… Instead, won’t you grant me one small request?”
“A request? What kind?”
“A man with a gun is trying to kill me. Please protect me from him.”
Ah, so was this why Mohanya had given me the third lesson? Was Mohanya some kind of prophet? Or was she actually the author bastard? I couldn’t understand it, but I had no obligation to fight a gunman for a woman I didn’t even know. It could easily be a scam.
“I’ll have to decline. If you’re not willing to sell it for money, that’s unfortunate.”
“H-huh? Why isn’t the seduction working? It should work…”
“Seduction?”
What kind of nonsense was this? Having heard something so offensive, I couldn’t just let it slide.
“Care to explain exactly what kind of bullshit that is? If you don’t want to die, that is.”