Alone in Another World
Chapter 11 - Thirin was alone when she fell into another world.
Gordo’s trembling pupils finally regained focus. Slowly, he raised a gauntleted fist. The metallic clink of steel plates rang out ominously.
“I am Gordo! For Heres’s revenge and the tarnished honor of our mercenary band, I will fight!”
Thirin watched with her arms crossed and snorted. Honor my ass.
“Thirin,” she said simply.
“That’s it?” Gordo’s eyebrows twitched, but Thirin only shrugged.
“That’s more than enough. With that tiny brain of yours, you’d forget anything longer anyway.”
“Kwaaaaaah!”
Gordo charged straight at her. It was a simple, bull-headed rush that perfectly matched his straightforward nature. The only thing that mattered was smashing the enemy before him.
Bjorn, who had been watching the charge, suddenly looked puzzled. Something felt off. The Gordo he knew was obsessed with both gods and superstitions. When the Goddess’s Scales refused to judge that woman, Gordo might have given up the duel entirely. Yet the look in his eyes now was completely different. Pure rage and fighting spirit burned there, as if the goddess’s blessing meant nothing to him.
Had a few words from that beggar bitch—no, from Thirin—really changed him this much?
…Is she really a witch?
Bjorn had faced people called witches several times during his service in the Imperial Army. They whispered curses that gnawed at the mind, shattered formations with clever illusions, or secretly spread plagues in the night. Sinister, wicked beings.
But Thirin was different. Instead of curses, she spouted sophistry. Instead of illusions, she used shameless provocation and bizarre antics to steal people’s souls… and yet she had rekindled Gordo’s fighting spirit. That wasn’t something a witch would do. A real witch would have toyed with him until the end.
Why?
That woman wasn’t so much a witch as something incomprehensible. A being unlike any witch he knew—unpredictable.
What is she thinking? Does she have some goal?
Contrary to Bjorn’s high evaluation, Thirin wasn’t thinking about anything that deep. Her only concern was how to cook Gordo in a way that let her gain Physical Realization with the least amount of pain possible.
With her sharp eyes, Thirin lightly dodged Gordo’s first charge and clicked her tongue. What a brainless, muscle-headed moron.
Thirin hated pain. Just because she wouldn’t die didn’t mean she was immune to suffering. The sensation of being stabbed by Heres’s blade had been utterly horrible. And the way the pain scrambled her brain-to-tongue connection again was even worse than the pain itself.
Still, she couldn’t dodge forever. To survive in this barbaric fantasy land, she needed martial arts. Above all, she needed to achieve Rebirth.
If I’m going to get hit anyway, better to take the strongest blow in one go and be done with it.
Taking half-assed attacks multiple times was both a waste of time and a waste of agony. Better to eat one ultimate move quickly, recover fast, smash that idiot’s stupid head in, and end it.
True to her Korean roots, Thirin preferred a fast build-up.
She should actually count herself lucky she’d fallen into a fantasy world. If she’d landed in a proper murim world, she would’ve one hundred percent dabbled in forbidden demonic arts and died from Qi Deviation.
Honestly, the fact that she was already being called a witch proved her natural talent as a demonic head was more than sufficient—it was overflowing.
“Gordo! Stop being so pathetic!” Thirin shouted. “Use the greatest thing you’ve got! Bring out your ultimate move, damn it!”
In response to her provocation, Gordo showed her with action instead of words.
“Kwaaaaaaaaah!”
Gordo roared, kicking off the ground and surging forward. A faint blue energy seemed to swirl around his gauntleted fist.
Gordo knew nothing of divine blessings, knightly aura, military techniques, or barbarian tribal sorcery. All he had was the monstrous strength he’d been born with—an overwhelming power that defied common sense. If one had to classify it, it could be called a kind of mystery.
It wasn’t a skill that needed polishing; it simply manifested. Gordo was someone born with that kind of mystical talent.
Perhaps because he couldn’t clearly understand the source of his own power, he had come to rely on other invisible forces in the world—talismans, superstitions, and the like. And since there was no one in this fantasy land capable of giving Gordo psychological counseling, his obsession with superstition would only grow stronger, never weaker.
Gordo’s fist missed Thirin and slammed into a rock beside her.
—Kwaaaang!
With a heavy crunch, the rock shattered into pieces, spraying fragments everywhere. Thick dust billowed up.
“Crazy…”
Thirin was genuinely horrified.
“Crazy, crazy, crazy! The guy just smashed a rock with his bare hands! You inhuman son of a bitch!”
“Stop dodging, witch!”
Gordo swung his fist again.
—Kwaang!
Thirin barely managed to leap out of the way. Although she had acquired martial arts through the system, she didn’t truly understand or control them yet. The only reason she’d been able to dodge Gordo’s attacks so far was pure reflexive instinct. So-called stat power.
The five-hundred-percent experience boost from Coward Mode had been inflating her stats in real time like crazy. But since she didn’t know any techniques, she couldn’t deflect or redirect the force of Gordo’s insane punches. Her only choices were to dodge or get hit.
—Kwaaaaang!
To think she had to take that primitive power head-on. Facing such strength directly was unbecoming of a civilized person.
Thirin decided to try solving it like a civilized person first—through dialogue. Negotiation and compromise were the hallmarks of higher intellect, weren’t they?
“Gordo, can’t you hit a little softer? Or how about we just call it a draw? It’d be good for both of us.”
“Witch! I won’t fall for your tongue anymore!”
“No, I’m serious!”
Gordo answered with another punch instead.
—Kwaang!
Another rock exploded with a deafening crash, sending up more dust. Thirin’s shock finally gave way to rising fury.
“Hey, Gordo!” she shouted sharply. “Which one of your parents was it?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“……”
Thirin grew twice as angry. She was mad at Gordo for not even understanding the insult, and even madder at his parents for bringing such an idiot into the world.
This brain-dead moron who can’t even understand basic trash talk.
“I’m asking which one of your parents fucked a cow! Otherwise how the hell can a human being smash rocks with his fists!”
Thirin was truly a martial arts genius. Without any realization, she had used Dual Intent Heart Technique—cursing Gordo in her mind while verbally insulting his parents.
Unfortunately, her Dual Core ran out of steam quickly due to lack of enlightenment and shut down.
“Does it make sense for a human body to shatter rocks with bare fists?! That’s something only a monster would do! Did your mom roll around with a bull or did your dad mount a cow?! Otherwise how could something wearing human skin do such monstrous shit!”
“Do not insult my parents!”
Gordo roared in fury, but Thirin only grew angrier.
“Your very existence is an insult to your parents! It means one of them fucked a monster! You byproduct of infidelity, you piece of shit!”
“Kwaaaaaah!”
Gordo could no longer hold back and charged at Thirin once more.
Bjorn, watching from the side, was dumbfounded. Hadn’t that woman just spouted the insane line “Your mother is my mother” a moment ago? And now she was casually insulting Gordo’s parents by calling them cows.
But Thirin was fine with it. Thirin had fallen into this world alone. Thirin’s mother did not exist in this world. Just as the dead don’t count, patricide or matricide against a nonexistent mother was ruled invalid. Therefore, whether she called these barbarians’ mothers cows or accused them of fucking cows, it caused Thirin no problems whatsoever.
Of course, Bjorn had no way of knowing Thirin’s twisted logic, nor the mental bandwidth to guess it. He was too busy being shocked by something else.
Thanks to the woman’s endless stream of insults, Gordo was throwing every ounce of his strength into each punch. But his breathing had grown ragged, and the motion of his swinging gauntlets was noticeably duller than before. Gordo’s movements were clearly slowing down.
Witch… So this is what she was aiming for!
Bjorn frowned. That woman wasn’t simply crazy. She was deliberately using those bizarre words to exhaust Gordo until he collapsed on his own.
Even Gordo, who had thrown so many missed punches, finally realized his arms felt heavy.
“Witch! Stop dodging and face me with honor!”
At Gordo’s shout, Thirin burst into laughter.
“Why do you keep talking about honor? What honor could someone like you possibly have? What honor does a bastard like you have when you’re trying to avenge a guy who got his ass kicked to death after beating up women? What? You beat women too?”
Gordo, unable to endure Thirin’s agitation and fabrication any longer, bellowed.
“I have never hit a woman!”
Thirin nodded.
“You didn’t hit them? Oh, right. Heres was your lover.”
Gordo’s face flushed bright red again.
—Kwaang!
His fist once again sliced through the air and struck a rock. Cracks spread across it like a spiderweb. Thirin, who had dodged by a hair’s breadth, looked at the rock and cackled.
“Then don’t hit men either. Wait, can you hit men?”
No, that’s not right.
That was a sexist way of thinking. Thirin had been thoroughly brainwashed with gender equality values.
“Whether it’s a man, a woman, a child, or an old person, you shouldn’t hit anyone, Gordo! Not even with a flower! Your lover died after wielding violence!”
“Grrrrrrrrr……!”
“Violence… is wrong…!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
Gordo’s rage finally surpassed its limit and exploded. Having lost all reason, he charged at Thirin. The gauntlet wrapped in blue energy flew toward her mercilessly.
—Paaak!
Thirin didn’t dodge. With a heavy thud, her body was sent flying backward like a sheet of paper. She spun several times in the air before crashing into the ground, sliding through the rising dust cloud.
“Kwaaaaaah!”
Gordo let out a victorious roar. The witch who had been toying with him had finally been knocked down by his fist. He raised his gauntlet high and turned toward his mercenary comrades. Cheers erupted among the mercenaries.
But before the cheers could even die down, Thirin burst out of the thick dust cloud like lightning.
“…!”
Gordo had no time to react.
—Thud!
Something heavy and blunt smashed into Gordo’s solar plexus. It was the pommel of Heres’s sword.
“Kuhuk…!”
Gordo’s massive body couldn’t withstand the impact and toppled backward.
—Thump.
With a heavy sound, Gordo slammed into the ground. He tried to breathe, but the sharp pain of broken ribs prevented air from entering properly. Only ragged gasps leaked out.
“………”
As the dust settled, Thirin slowly approached Gordo. There was no trace of victory or relief on her face—only pure rage.
“Stop! Stop this at once!”
Imperial Guard Commander Roderick stepped forward desperately.
“The outcome has already been decided! Show mercy…!”
Roderick tried frantically to intervene. If that witch got too excited and completely severed Gordo’s windpipe…
But Thirin didn’t even pretend to listen. She raised the sword.
Is this the end?
Roderick squeezed his eyes shut.
—Puhuk!
Instead of the horrifying sound of flesh being sliced, there was only the dull thud of something stabbing into the ground. When Roderick opened his eyes, an incomprehensible scene greeted him.
Thirin’s sword wasn’t buried in Gordo’s neck, but deep in the ground right beside his head. The blade trembled, sending up puffs of dirt.
“…?!”
What on earth was that witch doing…?
The question was answered immediately. Still holding the sword embedded in the ground, Thirin bent down and roughly grabbed a handful of Gordo’s shaggy hair.
“Kugh…!”
Gordo let out a pained groan, but Thirin paid it no mind. She yanked his hair upward and shouted in a voice full of frustration.
“You utterly useless bastard! Did you think I went through all this just to learn some cheap technique that only beggars use?!”
Within his fading consciousness, Gordo couldn’t understand the witch’s furious words. Beggar technique? What the hell was she talking about? Why was the witch pulling his hair and raging instead of killing him…?
Of course Gordo couldn’t understand. Because he couldn’t see Thirin’s system messages.
You comprehend the principles of martial arts through pain and damage!
Through Physical Realization, you have grasped the fundamentals of a new martial art!
You have learned Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms - Gang (Power)!
An advanced martial art of the Beggars’ Sect. A fierce palm technique so powerful it can subdue even a dragon.
Looking at the system message, Thirin couldn’t hold back her anger. If nothing else, she remembered this one thing clearly. In wuxia novels, the Beggars’ Sect was a den of beggars.
So because I acted like a beggar, the system is now making me learn beggar techniques?!
She had been trying to achieve Rebirth to escape this pathetic body and pathetic life, yet the only thing she’d gained was a beggar’s martial art!
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Thirin roared and ripped out Gordo’s hair.
Due to your bizarre act of “Pulling out the defeated enemy’s hair,” the ‘Witch’ title effect has activated!
Your incomprehensible behavior has been recognized as a wicked ritual, greatly amplifying the target’s fear!
The Witch’s notoriety rises even higher!
“The witch cast a curse on Gordo!”
“She’s sucking out his life force!”
The mercenaries once again screamed in panic. But Thirin no longer cared about their nonsense. She focused solely on her rage.
“Krrgh……!”
Finally, a hideous circular bald patch was clearly visible on the crown of Gordo’s head. Seeing his head now resemble that of the Savior Cult priest made Thirin feel a little better.
“Keurghk….”
Only after Gordo finally lost consciousness from the humiliating pain did Thirin release his hair and stand up. She casually shook the strands from her hand and shouted at the terrified mercenaries.
“Next!”