The Dance on the Edge of Perfection

The orc that had hurled its axe at me was now doing far more than simply creating distance—it was sprinting all the way back to the starting point, the fortress. 'Look at him running for his life...' If it had only retreated to an awkward middle distance, I would have killed it immediately. But this one knew exactly what it was doing. It was a proper orc.

Sticky— The orc’s blood clung thickly to my bone armor. Their blood didn’t wipe off easily, so my stealth effect had taken a serious hit. 'Even if they’ve marked my coordinates with the blood, do you really think you can touch a single hair on my body?'

The number of orcs that had entered the range of my senses was still too many to count. I swept my gaze across the endless waves of their signature sky-piercing tusks rippling along the ridgeline, and for a moment it felt as if I were facing the orc legions from my previous life once more. The memory of blood spraying high into the sky, the ceaseless clang of metal against metal echoing in every direction, and the boiling war cries of orcs and hunters colliding—all of it came rushing back.

The faint tension that had lingered on my skin throughout today’s dungeon exploration now mixed with the black emotions of terror and rage I had felt back then. It blazed up like a wildfire inside me, urging me toward the emotion I was supposed to feel.

Kill them. Kill the orcs—kill them all! Drive them into a pit and blow them to pieces!

It was as if someone were whispering directly into my ear. 'The one who decides is me.' Even without such hallucinations, there was no reason to hold back against them, so the meddling was unnecessary.

'Hoo... I need to focus a little.'

As I stared at the vast blue sky—so distinctly different from the outside world—to sharpen my mind, a sudden sidelong glance caught Baek A-rin’s movements in my vision. Her motions, filled with fierce determination, were as sharp and fluid as a raptor’s. Every thrust carried the intense ferocity of a predator. Each time light flashed off her blade, the orcs’ movements faltered wildly. Even amid their savage roars, A-rin showed no sign of shrinking back. Instead, she danced to their rhythm as if in perfect sync.

The entire sequence was incredibly graceful to watch, yet her movements clearly carried an underlying desperation. It urged me, who had been calmly preparing, to hurry once more.

“KRUOOOH!!”

An orc bared its blackened, rotting teeth and charged with a rather menacing aura. 'Ah... right. Should I test this?'

I quickly swapped in the Rune of Levitation that lifted me fourteen millimeters into the air, then activated High-Speed Flight. According to the skill description, since I was already floating, it should trigger. Whoosh— Just as expected, I shot forward toward my target. But the noticeably slower speed than usual made me frown. Still, it was far faster than the orc’s charge, so I instantly took up position behind it.

I swapped the Rune of Levitation for the Rune of Mana Absorption. Rapidly changing runes like this was an irregular technique that even hunters of this grade wouldn’t dare attempt. After all, most mid- to low-tier hunters took several seconds just to equip a rune from their inventory.

Sizzle— 'Ugh...' The stench of burning leather rose thickly. Out of all my senses, smell was the least efficient, yet the odor was foul enough to sour my mood instantly. It was the smell of my soles—crudely covered in Big Boar leather—scraping hard against the ground.

'Tsk... Not very efficient. I’m just dragging across the floor.'

The idea had been good, but combining a mid-grade Rune of Levitation with High-Speed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Flight offered no particular advantage over a variation of Lightning Step. Maybe with a higher-grade rune it would work... 'I’ll have to seal it for the time being.'

I swallowed my regret and slashed hard across the defenseless orc’s torso with my dagger.

Slash—!

“Grrk!”

'Too shallow.' The swing lacked the power to finish off a reinforced low-grade warrior in one blow, so impatience crept into my follow-up. But I quickly steadied my racing mind. Right before the orc reflexively spun and put force into its rotation—

Shunk—!

“Kek—!”

The dagger that had dug into the clumsily sliced flesh drastically shortened the creature’s remaining life. Soon, uncontrollable urine streamed from its lower body. I swiftly slit its throat to end its suffering. It wasn’t a sight befitting a warrior.

'Hmm...'

I quickly reviewed the sequence of actions. My technique was still rough and crude, but it was an improvement in every way compared to last month when I could barely move without creaking. I was growing at an astonishing speed. It was simply that my starting point had been so low that, despite working extremely hard, I was still only D-grade.

The moment I confirmed the results of my ambition and effort, had I been human, adrenaline would have surged. Yet my reason remained coldly submerged, as if I carried a massive block of ice inside me.

“The most important thing is not to lose yourself. You must never lose your composure.”

To maintain a cool head on a battlefield where blood should be boiling... I used to laugh it off as the boastful words of someone who had reached the pinnacle. Now, whether I liked it or not, I had become a being who followed that teaching.

Come to think of it, every word that man had given me during our brief encounter was something I would ponder over and over. 'Did that uncle really take a liking to me...? Maybe his talk of wanting me as a son-in-law wasn’t just empty words...'

Even in the middle of a boss battle, such idle thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. It was proof that I had once been human, but this was problematic. The battlefield was a place of raging storms where autumn leaves swirled in fierce winds and flocks of red birds constantly sought me out to annoy me. Focusing completely in such a place was incredibly difficult.

Yet relying solely on life-or-death moments to draw out the power within was insufficient. I had to strive and devote myself to elevating myself higher in every single instant.

Thankfully, the orcs kept charging at me as if I were hiding honey from them. I cut them down, sliced them apart, and mowed them over again and again.

'Tsk...'

At this level of slashing, unless I dropped from the sky with all my power behind the strike, quickly killing them would remain a distant goal.

'No. This isn’t it.'

It was swordsmanship that could not satisfy me. Even to someone like me who only knew a single stance, my current self was far closer to imperfection than perfection. I needed to focus on removing the unnecessary from my swings. Keep the stance as small as absolutely necessary. Whoosh—! Make the swing concise. Shing—! Footwork was meant to position me where the least force could produce the greatest effect, wasn’t it?

“HURROO!!”

An orc let out a roar that was nearly a scream and brought down a massive axe—half its blade already chipped—toward my head. I instinctively pulled my upper body back at a sharp diagonal to dodge. Seeing the orc stagger from the missed attack, a selfish desire to completely break it rose within me. This was not about efficiency; it was closer to a private amusement that only I knew. If I broke its stance one more time, I could watch it flail comically before falling over.

'No. Discard such pointless behavior now.'

I corrected my thinking, used the pulled-back stance like a spring for recoil, and thrust toward a single point.

Shunk—! Thud—!

Because of that brief hesitation where I considered using a feint, I ended up taking a hit as well. But since it was a reflexive swing made while receiving damage from me, it couldn’t penetrate my defense. There would be no more mistakes like this.

As soon as I killed it, three or four more charged at me simultaneously. A group of low-grade warriors posed no real threat. Even so, it was better not to let myself be surrounded. Because it felt disgusting.

'Empty your mind. But don’t stop thinking entirely.'

... Was that uncle just messing with me? It sounded like telling me to look right while watching left. I don’t know. I could only try my best. I discarded useless feints and focused on maximizing my strengths. This was the golden advice Master A-rin had given me.

What were my strengths...? A body specialized in evasion, born from high agility stats combined with innate senses. Conversely, that made me excellent at counterattacking. Moreover, I had greatly increased strength from the Rune of Giant and various skills capable of creating variables. Judging from the combination of all these, I concluded there was likely no one in this area stronger than me.

Swing with confidence.

Slice—! Slash—!

My gaze, which had been searching for mid-grade warriors, now fixed solely on enemies within range of my swings. Even after a hundred, two hundred slashes, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rather than exhausting my mind, I grew increasingly exhilarated. A white light flashed, sending a signal. It was working. Something was taking shape.

The waves of my senses naturally gathered around my body, then spread outward again in repetition. I stood with one foot on the delicate boundary between the instinct to explode with power and the reason that demanded composure, dancing there for a long time. The precarious dance that threatened to fall from that fragile line was strangely enjoyable.

By the time I began to lose track of whether I was cutting with my sword or stabbing with the thorns on my body, I had already stepped into a white space.

The vastness of it was enough to make my head spin. 'It’s been a while... this space.'

Soon even that thought faded. This space was slightly different from last time. Unlike when I had entered with only the upper-grade orc warrior, I could clearly sense the presence of others. Far away, A-rin was fighting the orcs at a noticeably slower pace, struggling. Despite her roughened breathing, her face was filled with a bright smile.

Funny. What’s so good about this? I should smile with her. Did A-rin realize? That right now, with her strength drained, she had come closer to the movements of a swordsman at a high realm.

I tried to match her movements from afar. And then I remembered.

I had many things I wanted to do. Among the few I had desperately longed for, one rose to the surface. In my previous life, at some point I had begun to wish that every single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swing would contain everything I had.

When I thought about when it started, it was from the moment I became captivated by the pure beauty contained in the swings of the man I called uncle—Hyeon Jung-gil. After that, I had practiced only that one motion at home every day. The action of raising the sword high into the sky and bringing it down. I think I had even done that stupid practice the morning I was killed by Jo Giman.

The vain hope that if I swung so ignorantly every day, perhaps a cool attack skill would manifest for me too. Yes, at first that had been my mindset. But at some point I became fascinated by its simplicity, and whenever I had nothing to do, I would simply repeat it. It was a desire of a different nature from wanting to become stronger. By then, I was already partying with people so strong that such a desire no longer arose.

I simply wanted that single flash where all my possibilities, body, mind, and spirit united as one to swing the blade. The desire to see once more what I had witnessed. If I could even slightly touch that perfect completeness that could neither be added to nor taken from—even if only in a dream...

... I moved my arm according to the memory. It was a natural motion, as if this was exactly how it should be swung.

Slaaaaaash───!

It was completely different from the swing I had seen before, yet it contained a flash of brilliance. An orc mid-grade warrior stared down at me with disbelief from where my dagger had passed. Craaaaaack— Strangely, the creature split cleanly in half and collapsed to both sides.