You're F-Rank, Right?

On the phone screen, the Sword Saint was still repeating the same motion over and over. He lifted the sword, took a single step, and cut. That was all there was to it.

The problem was that a perfectly healthy mountain peak had been sheared apart by that one swing.

I rewound the video to the beginning. I had lost count of how many times I'd done that already.

The first time I'd watched it, my only thought was that the whole thing was absurd. A mountain cleaved in two by a single sword stroke — and on top of that, the man himself calling it basic swordsmanship.

But things were different now. I knew the video was real.

The Sword Saint. The Archwitch. The Saintess. And even that gallery I'd once assumed was a den of lunatics — all of it.

The video played again. This time, I watched the feet first, not the sword. The moment his foot struck the ground, his ankle rotated almost imperceptibly, and from there the movement flowed naturally through his knee and hip. His shoulders came into motion only after that.

It felt less like swinging a sword and more like his entire body moving as a single unbroken current.

No. Wait. Was it the opposite? Was it not that the body moved the sword, but that the force flowed all the way out through the blade?

"...I don't get it."

When I checked the time, it was already past three in the morning. I'd gotten up out of my chair a few times to try imitating the movements, but my studio apartment simply wasn't big enough to swing a sword in. In the end I'd grabbed a broom, mimicked the stance, nearly clubbed the corner of my desk, and gave up around there. Instead, I watched the video one more time. And then another. Until my eyes closed on their own.

The next day, I was back in a dungeon like always. It was the job I was contracted for, and I needed to make rent. Talking with transcendent beings didn't mean my bank account balance transcended anything.

The problem was this: thirty minutes into the dungeon, and I hadn't seen a single monster.

I slowed to a stop. The man following behind me nearly slammed into my back before hauling himself up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠short.

"Why are we stopping?"

"Hold on."

I raised a hand to hold back the rear, then peered deeper into the cavern. Mana stone lamps were studded sparsely along the walls, and water dripped from the ceiling at steady intervals.

Drip. Drip.

A sound I normally wouldn't have spared a thought for seemed suddenly, disproportionately loud. That was how quiet it was. Too quiet — unnaturally so.

Cave-type dungeons were never this silent. You were supposed to hear goblins squabbling over territory, or cave rats scratching at stone walls, or at the very least the wet squelch of a slime dragging itself across the floor.

Right now there was nothing.

"What is it?" someone behind me asked quietly, but I didn't answer. Instead I strained my ears a little harder. Still nothing. No footsteps. No cries. No sounds of anything fighting anything else.

One of the D-rank hunters up front muttered under his breath. "It's completely empty."

That was exactly it.

This was a D-rank dungeon by the Association's standards. Normally it produced E- and D-rank monsters, and on a bad day maybe a handful of higher-tier individuals mixed in. This was the kind of dungeon I always deliberately chose — the pay was meager, but it was comparatively safe. To be precise, among the places an F-rank like me could even enter, it was the one where I was least likely to die.

"Doyun."

A familiar voice came from beside me. I turned to find a woman with short brown hair tied back, watching me. Seoah. A C-rank hunter — I'd run a couple of sites with her before, and today she was the highest-ranked of our six-person party.

"What is it?"

"Something's been off since a while ago."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"No, not that." Seoah pointed at my waist. "That."

I looked down. A longsword. I'd stopped by the equipment shop on my way back from the training grounds yesterday and bought one. It was nearly bottom-tier even among hunter-grade longswords, and it had still stung my bank account considerably.

"What about the sword?"

"Have you always used one, Doyun?"

"No."

"Then since when?"

"Since yesterday."

Seoah stared at my face for a moment. "...Since yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Who taught you?"

The guy who cuts mountains. Not exactly something I could say out loud.

"Someone I know. A bit."

"You don't know anyone."

What did she take me for? What stung even more was that she wasn't wrong.

When I said nothing, the corner of Seoah's mouth twitched upward for a heartbeat before her gaze swung back to the depths of the cavern. "Let's check a little further in for now. If anything feels wrong, we pull out immediately."

I nodded. Honestly speaking, I already wanted to pull out.

We found the first signs of something wrong not long after. At first it was just a few dark red drops scattered across the floor. But the deeper we went, the more the bloodstains multiplied, until one side of the floor was soaked dark red.

Seoah crouched in front of it, dabbed a fingertip in the blood, and frowned. "Monster blood."

The D-rank hunter beside her scanned the surroundings. "They turned on each other?"

"Could be."

Seoah rose and swept her gaze slowly around us. "But here's the strange part."

"What?"

"There are no corpses."

The moment those words landed, everyone's expression hardened a little. She was right. This much blood meant there should have been at least one body rolling around somewhere. There was nothing. Instead, the floor bore deep gouges in the stone, and a long drag mark — something heavy hauled away — stretched far into the cavern's interior.

I stared at it for a few seconds, then spoke. "I think we should leave."

One of the D-rank hunters snorted. "Already?"

"Already? It's plenty strange already."

"We haven't even seen one monster yet."

"Exactly."

I pointed at the bloodstains on the floor. "There are supposed to be lots of monsters down here, right? But right now there are none, there's this much blood, and no bodies."

The man shrugged. "Scared?"

"Yes."

"...What?"

"I'm scared."

Now it was his turn to be flustered. I had no intention of hiding it. "Because I don't want to die."

Beside me, Seoah covered her mouth. She seemed to be suppressing a laugh. "You really are something, Doyun."

"What do you mean?"

"You're a coward, but somehow you're so proud of it."

"Cowards live long."

I meant every word. The strong get to plow straight through danger. The weak avoid it. That was how I'd survived until now, and it was how I intended to keep surviving.

Except.

Thoom.

A heavy impact rolled up from deep within the cave. The faces of the very people who'd been laughing a moment ago stiffened all at once.

Thoom.

Again. Closer this time. Rock dust sifted down from the ceiling, and a faint tremor rose through the soles of my boots.

"...What is that?" someone murmured.

Seoah's hand went straight to her weapon. "Combat ready."

Everyone drew at once. I gripped the hilt at my waist too — though I didn't draw. I'd have preferred not to use it today either, if I could manage it.

Thoom.

The instant the third impact sounded, something slowly emerged from the darkness.

The first thing I saw was the horn. Thick. Black. A metallic horn that reflected almost no light, surfacing from the shadows. Behind it came an enormous head. Red eyes. Stiff black fur like steel wire.

A boar. That was what it looked like, anyway — aside from the size. Its back stood well over an adult man's height, and its body stretched longer than a van. Its snout was caked in blood that hadn't even dried yet, and a goblin's arm hung limp between its tusks.

"...An Ironhorn Boar."

Seoah's voice had gone rigid. I recognized it too. How could I not? The thing had posted photos of itself in the gallery just yesterday.

A B-rank monster. The kind of beast my old party had spotted once from far away, confirmed what it was, and immediately turned around. Why something like that was in a D-rank dungeon, I had no idea.

The problem was that it was standing right in front of us.

Seoah took a slow step backward. "Don't provoke it. Retreat exactly like this, quietly."

No one argued. I backed away carefully too.

And in that instant, the boar's foreleg raked the ground.

Grrrrk.

Hard stone floor peeled back like dirt. I knew that posture. I'd seen it once from a distance. The head lowers. The weight shifts forward. No way. —

"RUN!"

The boar slammed into the ground the same moment Seoah screamed. BOOM! That massive body launched forward at a speed I could barely believe.

"Shit!"

I whirled and sprinted, heavy tremors chasing me along the floor behind. I didn't need to look back. It was coming.

CRRAAASH!

"AAAAGH!"

A scream tore out behind me. When I glanced back, the D-rank hunter who'd been at the rear was flying through the air. The boar's head had caught him full-on — his body smashed into the wall.

WHAM!

Rock dust burst outward like an explosion.

"KEEP RUNNING!" Seoah shouted. Stopping was the last thing on my mind.

Thoom!Thoom!Thoom!

The floor shook with every stride the beast took.

"Hah... hah..." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Only a few steps in and my throat was already burning. The real problem was that the footsteps behind us weren't getting any farther away. If anything, they were closing in.

Then the person running ahead yelled. "AHEAD!"

I looked up. The ceiling of the passage dead ahead was collapsing.

Krrrrrumble—

"Unbelievable." Boulders came down in a single torrent, and in the blink of an eye our escape route was sealed. A pile of rock ahead. A B-rank monster behind.

Seoah's eyes darted rapidly around the chamber before she pointed right. "Side passage! Move, NOW!"

The whole party funneled into the narrow fork. I was just about to follow when the side wall bulged out, grotesquely.

What the—

CRRAAASH!

"Ghk!"

The stone wall exploded. A black horn swept past right before my eyes. I threw myself sideways without a moment to think, and shattered rock fragments hammered into my back. I rolled across the floor twice before skidding to a halt.

"Hah...!"

Propping myself up on my elbows, I made it upright just as a sharp sting bloomed across one cheek. When I brushed it with the back of my hand, there was a little blood. But I had no room to worry about that. The thing had come straight through the wall.

Grkk.

Even with its bulk wedged into the narrow passage, the boar didn't stop. Every twist of its body ground away the surrounding walls, and broken stone came cascading down.

"Doyun!"

Seoah shouted my name. I turned. The man who'd been hurled through the air was lying on the floor on my side of the passage. "Save... me..." One of his legs was bent in a direction legs do not bend. He was in no condition to move on his own.

Damn it.

Carrying him while running was impossible — but leaving him behind didn't sit right either. And above all:

Grrrrk.

The boar was raking the floor with its foreleg again. Its red eyes were aimed precisely at us. The rear was blocked. The side passage was narrow. A B-rank dead ahead. By this point, the list of options was getting very short.

"Haaah..."

I drew the sword, slowly.

Shing.

The hunter-grade longsword I'd bought yesterday. It had looked reasonably sturdy in the shop. Standing in front of a boar the size of a van, my assessment had shifted somewhat. It looked like a toothpick.

"...Should've asked for a refund."

Assuming I made it out alive, that was.

The boar hammered the ground.

BOOM!

"IT'S COMING!" someone screamed. I saw it too. I clenched my teeth and threw myself to the left.

CRRAAASH!

The wall exploded right beside me. Flying rock fragments grazed my cheek; I rolled across the floor, scrambled upright, and swung.

KAANG!

"Kgh!"

My wrist twisted violently. The sword nearly flew out of my hand. Fur. I'd barely made contact with its fur and my entire palm stung like I'd smacked a steel plate. Forget cutting — it hadn't left so much as a mark.

"This is insane..."

So this was B-rank.

The boar pulled its horn free of the wall and turned its bulk around slowly. Watching it, the gallery reactions from yesterday flashed through my mind.

Lunatics. Every single one of them. What part of this is cute?

The boar lowered its body again. And then—

BOOM!

It charged again. This time there was even less room to dodge. I twisted away in a hurry but couldn't get fully clear.

WHAM!

"Gahk!"

An impact detonated against my side. My body went airborne, then slammed into the wall.

Thud!

The air left my lungs entirely. "Hah...!" My vision flashed white, then came back. My side was burning hot. I touched it with my hand — blood, but not deep. It hadn't even been a direct hit. The tip of the horn had merely grazed me. And this was the result. If it had connected full force, that would have been the end.

Gritting my teeth, I raised the sword again. My breathing was ragged. My wrist still throbbed, and the palm gripping the hilt was slick with cold sweat. And then, the instant the boar began turning its body once more — last night's endlessly rewound scene flashed across my mind.

A wasteland. A long-haired man. Sword raised. One step forward. And then. Cut.

"...Now? Of all times, NOW?"

But the system couldn't have cared less about my circumstances. The boar raked its foreleg across the ground.

Grrrrk.

And in that moment, my vision sharpened to an almost uncanny degree.

Right foreleg. Shoulder. Neck. Head. The movement that, seconds ago, had registered as nothing more than a massive mass charging at insane speed began to split apart, piece by piece, into something I could actually read. Where it loaded its power. From which direction the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠force came. And — where the openings were.

I started to tighten my grip on the sword — and stopped. There was something that had bothered me since last night. The Sword Saint didn't appear to put any force into his sword at all. And yet the mountain was cut. Why?

Only now did I begin, just barely, to understand. It wasn't that there was no force. It was that power built up somewhere else entirely was flowing, all of it, straight through to the blade.

Starting from the sole of the foot. Knee. Hip. Shoulder. Arm. And finally, the sword. Without a single link in the chain breaking.

BOOM!

The boar launched off the ground. I took one huge breath. "Whoo..."

I was terrified. Of course I was terrified. It was a B-rank monster, and until yesterday I'd been an F-rank who couldn't even properly cut a training dummy. But there was nowhere left to run. Which meant only one option remained.

One strike. Just one was all I needed. The thing was already closing in right in front of me.

"Doyun!" Seoah's voice rang out from somewhere far behind. I stepped forward, straight at it.

The black horn filled my vision. Half a step. To the side.

Whoosh!

The tip of the horn grazed my shoulder. Fabric tore and my skin split open in a flash of heat. It hurt. But it was fine. I was still alive. And then the beast's neck swung into view, right before me.

Foot down. The force born there climbed through the knee and into the hip. My body rotated, shoulders and arm following the motion as if pulled along by it. And finally — the sword.

Shk.

The sound was strangely, almost absurdly small. That was how light it felt. At first, I thought I'd failed. The boar simply kept going, passing right by me. One step. Two steps. Three.

I stood frozen in the exact pose of my swing.

"..."

Nothing happened? The moment that thought formed —

Tap.

A few black hairs drifted to the floor. Then a thin red line appeared along the boar's neck. And the line slowly opened.

FWOOOSH!

Blood erupted.

"...Huh?"

The boar's head tipped sideways. Then, just like that — thud. It hit the ground. The headless body staggered two more steps before—

KRRRAAASH!

—it collapsed with a deafening roar. The cavern shuddered briefly under the impact, and rock dust sifted down from the ceiling.

For a long while, I couldn't move. I looked down at the sword in my hand. Looked at the boar's head lying on the floor. Looked at the sword again. There was a little blood on the edge, that was all. Not broken. Not bent.

A system window floated up before my eyes.

I read the words in a daze. Basic swordsmanship. The Sword Saint had said it, plain as day. Basic.

"..."

Behind me was quiet. Unnaturally quiet. Only then did I turn around. Everyone was staring at me. Some had their mouths hanging open, frozen. Others hadn't moved an inch from their weapon-raised stances. Seoah was the same. She looked at the sword in my hand. Looked at the Ironhorn Boar's head lying on the floor. Looked at me again.

It was a slightly overwhelming kind of gaze.

"What?"

No one answered. A few seconds passed before Seoah finally spoke, slowly. "Doyun."

"Yes."

"You're... F-rank. Right?"

I couldn't answer right away. Instead, I looked one more time at the Ironhorn Boar sprawled on the ground. Its neck had been cut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with remarkable, surgical cleanliness.

Honestly? Even I was starting to have my doubts.

"...I was, until yesterday."