The Swordsman From Another World

First-rate?

It was a classification I'd never seen before.

Well, no — not never. I'd come across it plenty of times in novels and webtoons.

Back in my academy days, any of my friends who could handle a weapon at all would joke around, calling each other "peak master" this and "grandmaster" that.

Right… as a joke. But the system doesn't joke, which meant that realm designation had to be real.

Which meant the man standing there really was a martial artist of the Murim, just as he looked.

I'd heard rumors of people like him operating out of China, but that seemed to have nothing to do with what was in front of me now.

So there was only one conclusion left.

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

Cheonmugye — was that truly the name of another world?

When a name unlike anything on Earth had popped up, the thought had crossed my mind. Still, I never imagined it would actually be a different world…

It felt like being clubbed over the back of the head with a hammer. My mind went numb.

While I stood there dazed, the man moved.

Shing—

Jin Muhyeok drew the sword at his waist and slowly swept his gaze across his surroundings.

"Quiet, for a bandit's den."

Without loosening his guard for a moment, he pressed forward.

He wandered the interior for a long while, yet encountered not a single enemy — let alone a trap.

"Nothing but a maze. There's nothing here at all."

Jin Muhyeok scowled.

"A den that's already been looted, is it?"

Just as he was wondering whether this was a waste of time and whether he should turn back now—

Kyak!

A goblin appeared from around the corner.

Jin Muhyeok's eyes met the goblin's, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Then this wasn't a wasted trip after all."

The goblin shrieked and lunged.

Jin Muhyeok didn't dodge. Instead, he took a single step forward and swung his sword in a slanting arc.

In that instant, the tip of the blade blurred.

It was one movement — a single motion — yet three sword gashes carved themselves across the goblin's body simultaneously.

Thud.

The goblin, its breath cut short, crumpled straight to the floor.

"Insane…"

Even watching, I was left speechless for a moment.

What was that just now?

It had looked like nothing more than a single, simple swing of the sword.

So that's martial arts.

At that moment, a new line of text appeared at the edge of my vision.

Now what was this supposed to mean?

The "analysis" figure raised a question of its own.

What happens once the analysis is finished? Would it show me some kind of weakness, maybe?

"Hmm."

There was no way I'd figure it out just by sitting and thinking. I'd have to find out for myself.

I checked the remaining goblins.

Four of them. If I'd known this was coming, I should have brought more.

Setting regret aside, I sent one goblin shuffling toward Jin Muhyeok — just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one, for now.

And this time, no attacking.

Dodge as much as possible.

The command went through, and the goblin's movements changed.

Kyak!

Far from lunging at Jin Muhyeok, the goblin he'd spotted kept its distance, circling around him.

"…?"

Jin Muhyeok's eyes narrowed.

"Its movements are different from that one a moment ago."

The goblin feinted a few times, as if probing for an opening, then pulled back each time without striking.

In the end, Jin Muhyeok moved first.

His sword flicked once more, and a gash opened across the goblin's body.

"Hmph."

When Jin Muhyeok shifted into a different stance, his sword path changed with it, surging forward in a rush.

The goblin, unable to react, was cleaved into four pieces and sent tumbling across the floor.

The number jumped.

So the gauge rose by different amounts depending on the technique he used.

Three goblins left. What should I do?

Sending one at a time or sending them all together — both were risky. He'd already adapted twice to fighting them one-on-one; there was little chance another evasion-focused command would work. But if I threw them all at him at once, I didn't know what cards he was still holding back, so rather than raising the analysis, I could end up losing them in a single stroke.

The gap in power was simply too wide. If only I'd had sheer numbers to work with.

The analysis only climbed when he used his martial arts. Which meant I had to send monsters at him — engineer a situation where he had no choice but to swing that sword.

"……"

Even as I agonized, the man kept moving.

Think. There has to be another way.

Dungeon… dungeon… traps?

Did I have traps? Traps were inseparable from dungeons — the very first thing anyone thought of.

I hurriedly checked the dungeon, and sure enough, there were a few. I found a crossbow lying around as well.

"If it's this…"

Meanwhile, Jin Muhyeok's guard had loosened somewhat.

Goblins are all there is?

Seemed like a worthless little den — or one that had already been swept clean by someone else. Once again, any clue capable of breaking through the wall looked hopelessly out of reach.

Well, since he'd come this far, he might as well see it through to the—

Fwish—!

An arrow whizzed past his ear.

"……!"

And then—

Clack-clack!

The sound of something engaging echoed one after another from all directions.

"This…"

Arrows came spilling from holes hidden in the walls.

Jin Muhyeok swung his sword with blinding speed.

Ka-ga-gang!

The incoming arrows struck his blade and ricocheted in every direction.

"Good."

It was climbing, just as I'd hoped. I immediately gave the order to the goblins waiting nearby.

Now.

The two goblins I'd been holding back burst out of both corridors at the same time.

Kyaaak!

One charged straight at Jin Muhyeok. The other ran right onto a pressure plate lying on the floor.

Click!

Jin Muhyeok's brow twitched.

Boulders came crashing down from the ceiling above — and at the same instant, the goblin lunged.

"Vermin like this…"

For the first time, a flicker of irritation crossed his face.

"So it's using petty tricks, is it?"

Jin Muhyeok's sword swept downward — and in that instant, his entire stance changed.

Here it comes.

An aura wholly unlike anything he'd shown before.

The next moment, his blade carved a half-moon through the air and came crashing down.

The falling boulders split apart, and every incoming arrow was knocked aside.

The two goblins were flung skyward along with the debris.

"Wow."

The admiration slipped out of me on its own. So that was martial arts.

A big technique meant a big jump in the gauge. But there was no time to celebrate.

Both goblins had been slammed into the ground and weren't moving.

The last remaining goblin turned tail and bolted.

Jin Muhyeok let out a dry laugh.

"Running now, is it?"

He gave chase — and just as he raised his sword to swing, the goblin snatched up something it had planted on the ground in advance.

And hurled it with all its might at Jin Muhyeok.

The moment the dark object came flying, his blade flashed out on reflex.

"!"

Swish!

The object, cleaved cleanly in two, fell to either side of him — it was the corpse of the very first goblin, the one he'd killed at the start.

The little thing had dragged it all the way around the maze-like corridors to set this up.

Jin Muhyeok's expression hardened.

"The audacity."

The goblin was already far away, fleeing for its life. Blood crept into Jin Muhyeok's brow.

"How dare it."

BOOM!

The floor caved in.

As if to make clear that he'd been chasing at a leisurely pace all this time, Jin Muhyeok closed the distance in the blink of an eye and brought his sword down.

A single arc of sword light lanced across the corridor.

The goblin's body was pierced clean through.

Lightfoot technique… was it?

For a moment, no words would come.

It was over. Every last goblin was dead.

I still had things prepared, but those only worked if at least one was alive.

Five percent of the analysis left. "Ah…"

I groaned. I really should have brought just one more.

Oblivious to my despair, Jin Muhyeok set off walking again. Only one room remained ahead of him now.

"So this is the end, is it."

The reward chamber. Once he stepped inside, it was over.

I'm finished.

Just as I was about to give up—

Fwish—!

"Kgh!"

Jin Muhyeok's body lurched violently. An arrow had buried itself in his shoulder.

Startled, I turned to look as well.

The goblin I'd assumed had been run through and killed was leaning against the wall, a small crossbow — my contingency, prepared for exactly this moment — clutched in its hands.

Jin Muhyeok slowly turned his head.

And then his face twisted into something savage.

"You… you wretched vermin!"

His sword swept wide.

KWAAANG!

Sword light scoured the corridor, and the goblin vanished without a trace.

And at the same moment—

"Got it."

My fist clenched all on its own.

Meanwhile, Jin Muhyeok stepped into the final room.

A small pedestal stood at the center, and atop it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rested a single turquoise fruit.

Jin Muhyeok's eyes narrowed. He approached cautiously and picked up the fruit.

"This energy…"

His expression hardened.

"A spirit fruit?"

While he gathered his reward, my attention had already gone somewhere else entirely.

The instant I registered it, an unfamiliar sensation flooded into my mind.

The placement of my feet. The rotation of my hips. The angle at which the sword extends.

Every movement Jin Muhyeok had shown just moments ago etched itself into my head, one by one.

"Ugh!"

The sheer volume of information pouring in wrenched a pained sound out of me.

In the meantime, Jin Muhyeok was turning the Cheongryeong Fruit over in his hands, examining it from every angle.

"A spirit fruit brimming with spiritual energy of this caliber… in a den like this?"

Muttering in disbelief, he finally tucked the fruit into his robes.

The window crowded my vision, but I couldn't have cared less.

I shot up from my seat. My gaze turned, as if pulled by a string, toward one corner of the room.

A sword, propped against the wall. For three years, the only thing it had gathered was dust.

"……"

I picked it up.

When I stepped outside, the cool night air greeted me.

"Whew…"

How long had it been since I last held a sword?

My hands trembled, for no reason at all.

The pitiful talent that had forced me to give up no matter how hard I tried. The hopeless gift that showed no improvement, no matter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how many hundreds, thousands of times I swung.

Cheongpung Sword Technique.

One step.

My hips turned, my arm followed naturally, and the tip of the sword traced a soft arc through the empty air.

I didn't stop.

Two. Three.

The sword path Jin Muhyeok had unfolded moments ago flowed through me without a single break.

It felt as natural as if it had been carved into my own body — as if I had known it and drilled it for years.

Before I knew it, I was performing the final form of the six-stance technique.

The blade split the air, and a tree branch standing ahead of me slid apart, cleanly severed.

Tap.

I stared blankly at the branch lying on the ground.

"…It works."

I looked down at the sword again. My fingertips trembled, just a little.

Me too… if it's this, then even I…

"I can do it."

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

And every bit of this was being watched by someone.

"Hoh? I'd thought he'd given up on everything… when did he learn to do that."

Chuckle.

"Good. Very good. I have a feeling the contest for succession is about to get a great deal more interesting."