Chapter 327
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 327.
The protagonist of Heroes Road is not just Yoo Baek-jun alone.
There are multiple protagonists, and players can choose the one they prefer to enjoy the game.
'I' had cleared all the routes of the protagonists in this game.
"If I do it like this... then..."
By playing as various characters, he had gained all sorts of knowledge.
Yoo Baek-jun set the direction for the skill he wanted to create and recalled the necessary elements for it.
'To create the skill I have in mind, I need a magical element...'
Yoo Baek-jun closed his eyes.
The first thing that came to mind was Yoon Song-ha.
A hunter with immense magical power due to her unique ability, Dragon's Heart.
That heart gifted her not only magic but also exceptional talent in magic.
'Should I try it like Yoon Song-ha did?'
She had utilized magical knowledge to create a unique swordsmanship.
When playing as another character, he had learnt magic from her before.
Yoo Baek-jun recalled that knowledge.
'Create a form.'
He drew up his magical power.
The magical power flowing from him condensed, taking the shape of a sphere.
He focused his mind again.
'And then... shape it.'
He slowly carved it out.
The round sphere was gradually whittled down, transforming into the shape of a hand.
"Is this supposed to be a hand or what?"
It was so crudely formed that one could barely recognize it as a hand.
Yoo Baek-jun stared intently at the hand, trying to recall a suitable form.
"Should I try applying Aura techniques?"
More precisely, he thought of a skill included within it—Aura Install.
Yoo Baek-jun concentrated his mind and began reshaping the crude hand.
Though it was his first time attempting such a task, surprisingly, it wasn’t too difficult.
'Is it because of my traits?'
Heavenly Martial Body.
And the Blood of the Battle Demon.
His innate sense for manipulating magic made the task feel much easier.
"......"
The crude, hand-shaped mass of magical power gradually began to change.
It took the form of a thick gauntlet, as if forged from pure white metal.
The shape of an Aura Gauntlet.
"Hmm, the form should be good enough."
The Aura Gauntlet hovered in the air right before Yoo Baek-jun’s eyes.
Clang!
He swung his sword to test its durability—it was quite sturdy.
"Now, the remaining problem is..."
How to move it.
Yoo Baek-jun scratched the back of his head.
'Like using Aura Orbs? No.'
It was different from shaping magic into a sphere and firing it.
To create the skill he envisioned, he needed to control the gauntlet—and its fingers—as if they were his own.
As if they were part of his body.
"Ugh, grrr..."
Yoo Baek-jun focused his mind to the utmost, attempting to manipulate the gauntlet.
The gauntlet moved haphazardly.
But that was all.
"Can... this really be done?"
Moving the gauntlet itself was easy.
Since it was essentially a mass of magical power, moving it wasn’t the hard part. The real challenge was controlling its fingers.
'It’ll take practice.'
As he recalled his skills, one came to mind that might help.
Plum Blossom Fragrance Across Ten Thousand miles.
Plum blossom petals swirled around him, transforming into sharp, pink blades.
Swish!
The blades moved erratically, and Yoo Baek-jun tried to control them.
This skill was a form of Flying Sword Technique. Practicing with it would help him get a feel for handling the gauntlet.
'Repeat and master it.'
It was a tedious and exhausting process, but it was familiar to him.
He spent a long time striving to master Plum Blossom Fragrance Across Ten Thousand miles.
And now, he applied what he learned to controlling the gauntlet.
'How much time has passed?'
Inside the Tower of the Martial God, it was hard to gauge the flow of time.
Yoo Baek-jun lost track of time as he immersed himself in practice.
And eventually, the results showed.
"Phew..."
Yoo Baek-jun gazed intently at the gauntlet floating before him.
Around him, countless plum blossom swords hovered in the air.
Sssss...
A faint haze of magic flowed from him as he concentrated.
Recalling how he handled Plum Blossom Fragrance Across Ten Thousand miles, he expanded his senses.
Then, he closed his eyes.
"......"
He sensed the gauntlet.
Using his magical power, Yoo Baek-jun connected his senses to the gauntlet.
He felt his perception expand beyond the confines of his physical body.
'Like moving my own body.'
It seemed impossible, but his talent made it achievable.
Click!
The gauntlet’s fingers twitched.
It wasn’t a grand movement, but the fact that it moved at all was significant.
Yoo Baek-jun’s expression brightened.
'Just a little more.'
At first, all he could manage was a slight twitch of the fingers.
But as time passed, he gained the ability to move them freely.
One finger, then another, and another—gradually, his control expanded.
"...Got it."
He could now move the gauntlet’s fingers freely.
Yoo Baek-jun manipulated the gauntlet to grab a sword floating in the air.
"It actually works?"
He couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
The Heavenly Martial Body was said to be a divine gift for martial arts.
He thought he understood the extent of this trait, but perhaps there was still more to uncover.
"Now, using this..."
Yoo Baek-jun began executing simple skills with the gauntlet.
At first, it was awkward, but he quickly grew accustomed, his movements becoming smoother.
"Moon Cleaver."
The gauntlet spun in a wide arc, swinging the sword.
A crescent-shaped sword aura split the air.
"Nine Dragons Fangs."
A spatial monster spat out Thunder Spear, and the gauntlet caught it.
Then, Nine Dragons Dangs unfolded.
Nine powerful thrusts generated a fierce gust of wind.
"If I get a little more skilled, I might be able to increase the number."
Yoo Baek-jun moved the gauntlet freely, devising new methods.
And then—
Ding!
A deflating sound rang out.
A chime-like notification, followed by a message appearing right before his eyes.
―You have created a new technique. What will you name it?
"A name?"
A prompt to name the skill.
Yoo Baek-jun fell into thought.
'Does it need a cool name?'
He brainstormed various names, but none satisfied him.
To begin with, 'I' wasn’t particularly good at naming things.
"......"
After much deliberation, he settled on a decent-enough name.
"Heteromorphic Hand."
It wasn’t a perfect fit, but nothing else came to mind.
Yoo Baek-jun registered the name, and the message began to glow brilliantly.
New text appeared.
―Conditions met.
―Acknowledging the uniqueness of the technique you created, 'Heteromorphic Hand' has been registered as a unique ability.
"Huh?"
This was unexpected.
Yoo Baek-jun’s status window opened on its own, and the unique ability slot lit up.
Then, text engraved itself.
[Yoo Baek-jun]
Strength: S+ (7/100)
Agility: S+ (8/100)
Stamina: S+ (9/100)
Magic Power: S+ (10/100)
[Unique Abilities: Successor of the Martial God, Heteromorphic Hand (EX, 1★)]
The words 'Heteromorphic Hand' appeared.
Yoo Baek-jun stared blankly at his status window.
'Was this even possible?'
Unique abilities were powers exclusive to a single hunter.
Though there were many cases where similar abilities existed with slight variations, there were always differences, making every unique ability distinct.
'Can I... create unique abilities?'
This was his first time even attempting to create a technique.
Given the circumstances, this was the first he’d heard of such a thing being possible.
'Can others do it too?'
He didn’t know.
But the likelihood was low.
―Conditions met. Unique ability.
That line bothered him.
Conditions. He had no idea what those conditions were, but Yoo Baek-jun had met them, allowing him to register a unique ability.
[Heteromorphic Hand (EX, 1★)]
―Summons a Heteromorphic Hand that moves according to the user’s will.
The description was extremely simple.
But it was enough. A satisfied smile crept onto Yoo Baek-jun’s lips.
He’d think about the details later.
"First, let’s practice a bit more."
He had to defeat that person with this.
The one who had hidden his appearance before Yoo Baek-jun began training—the one who still hadn’t shown himself.
To defeat the young Martial God.
* * *
"It seems I’ve given you enough time."
Around the time Yoo Baek-jun had grown somewhat accustomed to his new unique ability, the young Martial God revealed himself.
"Do you need more time?"
"No, this should be enough."
"Hmm..."
Yoo Baek-jun shook his head, and the Martial God observed him closely.
Then, he smirked.
"That’s a confident expression. It seems you’ve realized something."
The Martial God slowly took his stance.
Gripping the sword at his waist, he prepared to draw it at any moment.
A murderous aura radiated from him.
"I hope this time will be different!"
With those words signaling the start of the battle, the Martial God kicked off the ground and charged.
A powerful shockwave followed in his wake.
In an instant, he closed the distance, his blade aiming for Yoo Baek-jun’s entire body.
Clang-clang-clang!
With a single swing, countless blades assaulted Yoo Baek-jun.
But it was an attack he’d experienced before.
Just as he had done many times, Yoo Baek-jun blocked the Martial God’s strikes.
Boom!
At first, their duel seemed evenly matched.
But that only lasted briefly—as time passed, the scales tipped heavily in one direction.
Toward the Martial God.
'Just blocking won’t let me win.'
Yoo Baek-jun desperately defended against the Martial God’s relentless onslaught.
The Martial God pressed him fiercely, utilizing every martial art at his disposal.
"Yoo Baek-jun! I thought you’d realized something, but was I mistaken?"
The Martial God’s Heavenly Destruction slammed into Yoo Baek-jun’s abdomen. Then, his sword rose to slash the hand gripping White Sword.
Yoo Baek-jun lost his grip on the sword for a moment.
"Disappointing. This is the end."
The Martial God spun his body, aiming his sword at Yoo Baek-jun’s neck.
The blade hurtled toward his throat.
'I can’t block it.'
Yoo Baek-jun had lost his sword, and his left hand was occupied blocking Heavenly Destruction.
The sword should have cleaved his defenseless neck.
Clang!
"......!"
That’s what would have happened—
if not for the gauntlet, the Heteromorphic Hand, that appeared right before his neck.
"This is...!"
Two gauntlets intercepted the blade.
The Martial God froze in surprise, and Yoo Baek-jun seized the moment to shove him back.
The distance between them widened.
Whoosh!
The Subspace spat out a sword.
Demonic Sword Grandal.
The Heteromorphic Hand snatched it and immediately unleashed Moonlight.
Countless sword auras rained down on the Martial God.
"Sword techniques...?!"
But that wasn’t all.
Another Heteromorphic Hand, gripping Thunder Spear, began attacking the Martial God.
Dragon Fang Strike erupted from its fingertips.
"......!"
The Martial God was startled but calmly tried to parry the attacks.
Fighting multiple enemies wasn’t new to him. If he treated it like that—
"Guh!"
A condensed shockwave exploded, violently repelling the Martial God’s body.
Aura Burst.
Yoo Baek-jun, now with gauntlets on both arms, closed the distance and attacked.
"You’ve learned something bizarre!"
"Isn’t this what you wanted?"
Yoo Baek-jun pressed in relentlessly, unleashing Heavenly Destruction Fist Technique.
While the Martial God blocked, the Heteromorphic Hands retreated.
And then—
"With this..."
Before the Martial God could react—
"I think I can win."
The Heteromorphic Hands executed their techniques.
One unleashed a roaring thunder dragon, while the other performed the ultimate strike, Heaven-Destruction.
"This is...!"
From the split heavens, countless swords poured down like rain.
And alongside them, the thunder dragon surged toward the Martial God.
The Martial God grinned fiercely.
"This won’t be easy."