The End of the Tail
"Hoo... So you're saying our world will be destroyed too?" Then everything I was doing would lose all meaning.
The possibility is high, but it's not something we can be certain about. Still, that doesn't mean we can simply sit still, does it? Who knows. If it's you—reborn from a human as a skeleton soldier and now walking the path of the King of the Undead—you might yet create a different outcome.
The fact that he even knew I had stepped onto the path of the King of the Undead... Just how much information about me was being shared? And why had such a heavy burden been placed on someone like me? I truly couldn't understand it.
"...... Why in the world was an ability like this given to someone like me..."
The grandfather slowly approached me as I sat there somewhat dejected. He settled onto my shoulder, tapped it lightly, and spoke.
I cannot know by what criteria or to whom they assign a hundred lives. From what I've heard, you weren't exactly someone possessing such remarkable abilities in the first place, correct? Sensory ability users may be rare, but it is not a power that never existed in the world.
"That's true."
But whether you were chosen for a reason or selected at random, what does it matter? Would that change anything? In any case, we simply need to do what we can.
It was such a sound argument that I had nothing more to add.
"...... I understand. What should I do first?"
It looks like there's still quite a bit of turbid energy built up in your body. Why don't you show me the rampage you performed here once more, for old times' sake. This time, however, use the sword.
He had been watching from afar while I thrashed about trying to vent my dark destructive urges. I felt like crawling into a mouse hole in embarrassment.
And while we are in this space, address me as Master. For your information, I never took a single disciple during my lifetime. What do you think?
I could tell what was hidden behind those final words without him saying it outright. The grandfather had a slightly childish side to him.
"Th-thank you. It would be a tremendous honor."
That's the spirit! Hehehe—
I had considered Hyeon Jung-gil and Baek A-rin as my own masters. This would make three now. It felt a little awkward to switch the title of master so casually, but if it could make me stronger, the name itself didn't matter.
"Understood, Master."
I had no idea what kind of incredible skill this orb possessed, or how it would teach me even if it did. Still, I decided to trust in the power of my traits and follow along.
As Master requested, I demonstrated every movement and ability I could perform with the sword. I gave it my all for nearly twenty minutes straight. Only after exhausting every last drop of my magic power did I stand before him again.
Heh heh. Seeing this makes it even clearer.
"What does?"
You, my boy, have a truly pathetic talent for the sword.
"Please soften your words a little. I'm a rather delicate skeleton."
Silence! You mentioned there was someone who told you to repeat a single stance over and over, yes? I think I finally understand why he said that.
"Ha... Because I have no talent."
Yet that may mean there is even more hope.
"Really?"
Indeed. For now, let us begin by forging your fundamentals. To put your full power into the sword, a stable stance must come first. Everything depends on a strong beginning. If any flashy or elegant sword techniques linger in your mind, clear them out completely. I can see you've altered many stances to suit your own taste.
"Mmm... Understood."
In truth, by copying Arin I had thought I was walking a rather stylish path with the sword. But from this orb master's perspective, I must have looked like a child who knew nothing at all. Fortunately, he said there was no need to completely rebuild my posture from scratch. The things I had learned from Hyeon Jung-gil and Baek A-rin were ultimately imitations of the stances used by the skeleton knight who practiced the Forgotten Ancient Swordsmanship.
I repeated several stances I had learned from Hyeon Jung-gil. The grandfather, despite his small size, threw his whole body into correcting my form with vigorous bumps and taps.
Whack—!
Spread your legs wider and lower this part!
Crack—!
If this side opens up, won't your chin be exposed!
Clack—!
When fighting humanoid enemies, never take your eyes off their legs.
Being struck by the orb didn't hurt or break anything, yet every correction brought a strange rush of embarrassment that only made me train harder.
Tsk— You've picked up useless superficial flair. Blindly copying other people's grand techniques without a foundation is pure poison.
"...... So that's how it was."
It's all right. Your fundamentals are so lacking that the corrections will take hold quickly. For now, solidify your stance before we move on to the deeper lessons.
......
It was the process of building a frame from a blank slate. Though the time was short, my posture had clearly grown more stable than before the guidance, and I could channel power more effectively.
Still, I wasn't sure whether this kind of effort would actually help against a monster like the Chaos Residue. When I asked about it, the grandfather scolded me, saying I was trying to fly before I had even learned to walk.
"Mm— I'll just give it a try, then."
Since the world the grandfather came from had a system similar to the one we followed now, he offered occasional advice on growth in between lessons.
Rather than pouring everything into reaction speed, it would be better to develop your strength alongside it for proper balance. That way you will obtain the swiftness you desire. In the end, even if you perceive the attack, it is still your body that must react.
"Ah... Yes, I understand."
It was true that I often knew an attack was coming yet still took the hit. The common wisdom was that agility stats influenced faster movement more than strength, but I had become too obsessed with that alone.
"Thank you. But I really must leave soon."
Less than three minutes remained until my resummons.
Hehehe— There is nothing better than the union of man and woman for purging turbid energy from the body. How unfortunate. Why did you have to be reborn in the body of a skeleton?
The grandfather was nothing more than a sphere with no eyes to speak of. Yet somehow it felt as if he were clicking his tongue while staring at my lower half.
"......"
A gaze filled with pity. To think I had reached a point where even a bead felt sorry for me...
'The union of man and woman...'
I chose not to mention that it might soon become possible for me. And judging by the lack of any information on the matter, he clearly had no knowledge of what I did after being summoned outside this place.
When I bowed at the waist in farewell, the grandfather spun once around my body before drifting leisurely back in the direction he had come from.
(Is it over? It looked super fun! Can I try too? Yap yap! Like this!)
The small tree had been quietly watching me train the entire time. The moment the orb vanished, it swung its little branches and spoke with bright cheer.
"Your posture is better than mine. If you keep practicing that, it might keep you from getting bored."
At my words the tree's branches drooped sharply. It shuffled over on its roots, looked up at me, and said.
(...... You're leaving? You'll come back, right? You'll keep practicing here, right? I hope you do! Just watching you move is fun!)
"I will. Sorry, but I really have to go now. See you later."
(Okay! Bye-bye!)
I bumped fists with the small tree that was trying its best to sound cheerful, then walked toward the giant door. A moment later my body was sucked away somewhere in an instant, as if swallowed by a vacuum cleaner, and soon vanished into the enormous doorway.
* * *
Three hunters lay side by side on the bed in a hotel room—the trio who had once been Cha Jin-hyeok's comrades. After drinking the Evolution Water they had felt major changes in their bodies and returned straight to the room to sleep. There was nothing better than sleep for fully absorbing the power.
"They did say you'd get really sleepy. Don't you actually feel refreshed?"
At Jiyeon's slightly venomous remark, Eunbi answered.
"Definitely... I've never had such deep sleep before. And my magic power has clearly grown. Just one glass produced this much effect? It's incredible, isn't it?"
"They said they'd finished years of biological experiments. We're simply reaping the benefits."
"It's still a bit unsettling that they put something inside our bodies. But since they had the same thing in their own, it should be fine, right?"
Seongwoong stared quietly at the fist that had struck Cha Jin-hyeok's face earlier, then changed the subject.
"Anyway... I let it slide earlier because my body felt too awful. What are we going to do about that Lee Yeonhee bitch?"
Surprisingly, they had noticed that Lee Yeonhee had been tailing them. Their physical abilities had plummeted, so they hadn't responded, but their senses had developed far beyond normal, allowing them to detect her.
"Well, she didn't come inside the hotel. If she'd followed us all the way here, I would've killed her even if I had to force it. She got lucky."
"She wouldn't be waiting for us outside, would she?"
"Puhahaha—" At Eunbi's words the other two burst into loud laughter.
"No way."
"If she's still out there when we step outside, we'll have to make her pay the price."
"Just in case, get ready to contact those guys too. Tell them we'll be using that building."
"Got it, oppa."
A short while later they reappeared outside the hotel. Watching them from a café across the street, Lee Yeonhee fell deep into thought.
Ilwol's resummons is in thirty minutes... What should I do?
Despite her uncertain thoughts, her body had already begun following them. She made sure to keep a much greater distance than before, just in case.
The trio wandered for several minutes before turning into a narrow alley. As she cautiously followed, a half-finished four-story building came into view. It seemed the three had gone inside.
Construction sites abandoned because of dungeon breaks could be seen anywhere in the city, but the uniquely desolate atmosphere made Lee Yeonhee instinctively retreat a step.
At that moment—
Tap—!
"?!"
Someone placed a hand on Lee Yeonhee's shoulder. She instinctively moved to activate her summons. Having reached level 60, all her abilities had been enhanced and she had gained several new ones. One of them was the preset function—the ability to pre-designate combinations of up to thirty summons and call them all forth in an instant.
But just as she tried to trigger it, she stopped dead, stunned. A familiar presence had touched her senses.
(Jin-hyeok... ssi?)
(Shh—)
Fortunately, the one who had stopped her was the gravity manipulator Cha Jin-hyeok.
(We need to get out of here.)
Those were the first words Cha Jin-hyeok whispered, his face deadly serious.
Several hours earlier, Cha Jin-hyeok had happened to be heading in the same direction as Lee Yeonhee when she left the school. He had followed at a suitable distance. When he saw her suddenly begin tailing the trio on the opposite side, worry drove him to trail her carefully.
From his perspective, however, Lee Yeonhee's tailing skills were not particularly outstanding beyond hiding her presence. In the end he had set aside even his visit to the children and followed all the way here. He had intended to watch over her until she reached safety, but the trio's movements now seemed different from before, so he had summoned the courage to stop her.
Lee Yeonhee easily guessed the meaning behind Cha Jin-hyeok's words. The fact that a hunter far superior to her was sending a danger signal made it trustworthy.
In the end, Cha Jin-hyeok and Lee Yeonhee began slipping back out of the alley while suppressing their presence to the utmost.