The Invisible Blade

"Who the hell are you?"

I threw off my shattered motorcycle helmet.

Surprise washed over the man's face.

"A goblin?!"

The fact that he saw me as a goblin instead of a human meant...

"Are you a Player?"

"A Player? Are you from Maetan?"

Answering my question with another question, the man shifted into a combat stance.

CC's warning flashed in the corner of my vision.

So it was a sword after all.

But I couldn't see it. Well, occasionally the moonlight would catch it, revealing a faint white outline.

But unless I paid close attention, the blade was completely invisible.

"What do you mean?"

I knew that much without her telling me.

"What's your problem? Attacking me out of nowhere."

"Heh, you're the one with no manners, laying your hands on my prey first."

"Prey?"

I glanced at the old man inside the car.

"Yeah. You were after the artifact too, weren't you?"

The man in the tracksuit had the same goal as me.

The artifact the old man possessed.

"I thought it was strange that Maetan's tiger was moving so busily, but to think even a goblin would be after the artifact. Too bad, but back off. I'm taking this."

He kept mentioning Maetan...

"Are you not a Player from Maetan?"

"You don't know who I am?!"

Was I supposed to?

"No clue."

"...Are you a rookie? I guess I still have a long way to go. Fine. Listen closely and remember it well. I am the Absolute Sword of Intra-Asan, Kang—"

Bang!

"Ugh!"

I fired my Tokarev from the hip without any telegraphing motion, but the man twisted his waist and dodged the bullet.

"You son of a bitch, shooting while I'm talking..."

"Rich words coming from a guy who just tried to ambush me from behind."

"Fine! If you want to go, I'll show you what I'm made of! I, the Absolute Sword of Intra-Asan, Kang—!"

Bang!

"Hup!"

Ping! Clang!

Puffs of dust kicked up behind both sides of the tracksuit-wearing man.

I was genuinely surprised.

I had aimed right between his eyes, but the bullet had been sliced clean in half, ricocheting to either side.

"Guns don't work on me."

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

"Maybe when they're fired one at a time."

Bang, bang! Bang!

I quickly adjusted my stance and fired a three-round burst.

Two to the chest, one to the head.

The man rolled to the side, evading them.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to slice those too?"

"Urgh...!"

Rolling along the ground, the man quickly recovered his footing.

"Go ahead, shoot as much as you want."

I reached inside my coat.

My hand wrapped around another Tokarev that CC had materialized.

The moment I drew it and aimed at him—

"Haaah!"

The man leaped high into the air, swinging his sword.

I raised the gun I was about to shoot, intending to block the trajectory of the blade.

In that split second, a chilling sensation of impending death shot up my spine. Reflexively, I bent my knees and threw myself backward.

Slash!

The bulletproof glass of the car, which hadn't even chipped after multiple gunshots, was sliced clean in half.

"Good instincts. If you had tried to block that with your gun, your head would have rolled."

"You... acted like you could deflect bullets..."

"Me? Did I? When?"

I stood up and inspected the bulletproof glass he had cut.

It was definitely cut, but there was only an invisible line running through it; it didn't budge at all.

"Did it fuse back together...?"

"Indeed. That is the power of my skill, Absolute Sword."

"A skill?"

A term I had never heard before.

CC highlighted the invisible sword at the tip of the tracksuit man's hand in my HUD.

"A single-molecule cutter?"

What the hell was that?

"Ho, you noticed? You're definitely not ordinary."

The tracksuit man smiled with satisfaction.

"That's right. My skill, Absolute Sword, generates a carbon-based single-molecule blade. Have you ever imagined a blade only a single molecule thick? It literally severs the chemical bonds of matter. It means there is absolutely nothing in this world I cannot cut."

"Something like that is possible?!"

"That is the difference between you and me. A difference in class that turns the impossible into reality! Now, if you beg for forgiveness even now—"

Bang!

Clang!

Once again, the bullet was split in half.

It wasn't just the Single-Molecule Cutter; his reflexes were incredibly threatening.

"You interrupted me again."

The tracksuit man lowered his voice.

"I was going to let you off by just severing your arms and legs, but I won't hold back anymore. Before my Absolute Sword—"

"You seem really proud of that Absolute Sword skill... but isn't it just a really sharp knife?"

"What?"

"Knives have always been lethal if they cut you."

Vrrr—!

Light gathered in both of my hands. The light quickly took the shape of pistols, and two Tokarevs materialized in my grip.

"Matter creation? You must have a pretty high-grade processing capacity...!"

Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang! Bang-bang-bang!

"Hup!"

I unleashed a barrage of bullets from the Tokarevs at the tracksuit man.

Instead of trying to slice the rain of bullets, the man bolted to the side.

I kept firing, tracking his movements.

When the right gun ran out of ammo, I fired with the left. When the left ran out, I materialized a fresh Tokarev in my right hand and kept shooting.

"Urgh... if you keep materializing things like that, you'll hit your processing limit in no time...!"

The tracksuit man circled the bulletproof sedan, looking for an opening, but I wasn't just standing still. I maintained a constant distance, circling him while pouring down a relentless stream of lead.

"Combat is all about firepower. Swords are just anachronistic toys."

"What?! Urgh, damn it...!"

I threw out taunts to provoke him, but he didn't take the bait. Or rather, he couldn't afford to.

He was desperately dodging the bullets, waiting for my processing power to deplete.

However—

In the corner of my vision, CC displayed the number of Tokarevs I had used against the maximum number I could generate.

I could keep shooting like this all night.

"Damn it... you! How long are you going to keep shooting?!"

"Until you get hit."

"You... Haaah!"

Slash!

With a sharp whoosh, the roof of the bulletproof sedan was sliced off like paper.

The cross-section of the incredibly thick armored steel plate was exposed.

"Hah!"

Using the severed steel roof as a shield, the tracksuit man charged at me.

I discarded the Tokarevs and dove to the side. The moment I hit the ground, I executed a Roll—the goblin avatar's unique evasion maneuver that granted a brief window of absolute invincibility.

A sharp gust of wind sliced through the exact spot where I had been standing a millisecond ago.

"What?!"

Unaware of the Roll skill, the tracksuit man was struck with shock as his attack completely missed.

I materialized another Tokarev and poured more bullets into him.

"Aaaaargh!"

The tracksuit man roared, hacking away at the bulletproof sedan.

The car disintegrated into chunks of metal, which he used as makeshift shields to block the incoming bullets.

"H-Hieeeek!"

The old man cowering behind the car shrieked and ducked his head.

"Kyah! Hah! Yah!"

The tracksuit man advanced once more, using a car door as a shield.

Finally, he closed the distance to where his blade could reach my throat.

A sinister smirk spread across his face as he drew back his arm to swing the invisible sword.

Channeling the power of Strong Arm, I threw my left fist straight at the car door.

*Smash!*

My fist completely caved in the metal door, slamming directly into the man hiding behind it.

"Cough...!"

He couldn't even scream as he was sent flying backward, crashing into the mangled wreckage of the sedan.

"Ugh..."

I hadn't escaped unscathed either.

My left hand, which I had used to punch, was completely shattered.

Strong Arm only boosted my offensive power; it didn't grant me a body durable enough to withstand the recoil of that force.

Hiding my ruined left hand behind my back, I pointed my gun at the tracksuit man.

"I told you, combat is all about firepower."

"I have no choice but to admit it... now that I'm in this state..."

Blood trickled from the corner of the tracksuit man's mouth.

"I definitely lost this fight. But..."

The tracksuit man reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe.

*Bang! Clang!*

I shot at the syringe with my Tokarev, but his invisible blade blocked the bullet just in time.

Too late. Before I could stop him, he plunged the syringe straight into his neck—!

"ROOOOOOOOAR!"

A massive roar reverberated across the entire mountain.

A violent tremor ran through my entire body, causing my muscles to seize up.

Regardless of my will to resist, every cell in my body froze in primal terror.

I literally couldn't move a single muscle.

And the same went for the tracksuit man.

He was frozen mid-motion, right as he was about to inject himself.

"A Berserker's Potion? You carry around some troublesome things."

*Flutter.*

The hem of a black overcoat fluttered before my eyes.

A tiger in human form snatched the syringe from the tracksuit man's hand.

"Kwon-su?!"

"Please call me Daenyang."

The tiger beastman stood beside me. Only then did my body finally begin to move again.

"That was my skill, Tiger's Roar. It uses low-frequency sound waves to trigger primal fear, temporarily paralyzing the target."

The tiger grinned, showing a flash of sharp teeth.

A skill? What was that? Why was I the only one without one?

"Very tiger-like, right? Fits me, doesn't it?"

"How did you get here?"

"I couldn't get in touch with you, so I rushed over. But... to think you'd run into a Player from another region. This is way beyond my expectations. And..."

Come to think of it, I had CC's drone running a signal jammer to prevent the old man from making any calls.

"To think your opponent was none other than the Absolute Sword, Kang Seongbeom."

"Do you know him?"

When I asked, Daenyang looked genuinely surprised.

"Didn't he introduce himself? He's practically the poster child for exhibitionism, introducing himself to literally everyone he meets."

"That bastard didn't give me a chance."

At my remark that I hadn't given him the chance to say his name, Daenyang clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.

"Pfft, hahaha! To think there's actually a time when you couldn't state your name."

They seemed to know each other well. And not just as passing acquaintances.

"He's a Player ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠affiliated with Intra-Asan. His name is Kang Seongbeom. As you've experienced firsthand, he's a master of the sword who wields a Single-Molecule Cutter."

"Remember it, goblin."

Standing back up, the tracksuit man crossed his arms and spoke arrogantly.

"Names aren't important. Is he an enemy? We were just fighting for our lives a moment ago."

Daenyang stroked the fur on his chin.

"An enemy... Are you going to keep going, Absolute Sword?"

"No... I lost."

"There you have it. It seems there's no need to fight anymore."

"Is that it?"

"This is how it works between Players from different regions. We do our best when competing. But once a victor is decided, there's no need to take a life. After all, we're all humanity, aren't we?"

"All humanity."

It sounded nice, but it didn't resonate with me.

Especially not to someone like me.

"Now, shall we check the spoils?"

"Hieeeek...! Urgh...!"

As Daenyang approached the completely wrecked armored car, the old man fainted.

Daenyang rummaged through the trunk of the car and pulled out a box about the size of a human head.

Using his tiger claws, he carefully pried the box open.

"Oh, ohh... This is..."

Inside the box lay a golden rod adorned with an exquisitely crafted bird carving.

"It's a Phoenix Ornament Hairpin."

"A hairpin...?"

"It has a pretty good skill attached to it. Want to take a look?"