A Man Uses His Fists
I finally arrived at Genesis Academy.
The educational institution established to stop the monsters and villains pouring out of gates. It was founded with the noble goal of gathering talented individuals from around the world to learn and fight together. But at some point, conflicts between nations had turned into brawls between classes. A jungle-like place where different races frequently committed acts that were basically terrorism against students from enemy countries.
The protagonist was attending as a human student, and he would often clash with numerous students of other races. In this game, you ended up fighting your fellow students just as much as the villains and monsters.
Anyway! Setting that aside.
Redanis had already used a broker to create a fake identity for me. The area where this academy was located was a strictly neutral zone, so there was no risk of being caught now. I just needed to walk in with confidence, so why was the guard making such a sour face at the sight of me?
“Just what are those bloodstains and the bits of flesh stuck to your clothes…?”
“Ah! I ran into some villains on my way here! So I subjugated them all!”
“Is… that so…?”
I explained with a bright smile, but the suspicion never left his eyes. I was telling the truth, though. And why was he only acting like this with me when he’d let the others through without issue?
“F-for now, I’ll permit your entry. However, you must absolutely not cause any trouble…”
“Ufufu, do I look like a troublemaker to you?”
Swish.
Amused by the guard’s continued anxious expression, I slowly stepped closer.
“Huk?!”
“Do I still not look like a model student now?”
I added an innocent, harmless smile for good measure.
“Gulp…”
But the guard simply broke out in a cold sweat as he stared at the madwoman before him. He swallowed hard at the sight of my fair skin and beautiful features, at the mysterious allure of my squinty eyes and my rather voluptuous figure.
Yet he knew. He knew that getting on the wrong side of a woman like this would mean being chewed up and swallowed whole, bones and all. The shameless outfit that made calling me a “student” feel embarrassing, along with those obscene curves, were nothing more than bait to lure in prey.
“Hiiik?!”
“How boring.”
Having lost interest in the terrified guard, I walked past him through the main gate with a disinterested expression.
“What the hell is with that woman?”
“S-she’s a total slut!!”
“Oh my, how embarrassing.”
...That one actually stung a little.
The grand welcome I received the moment I stepped into the academy was nothing but insults about how lewd and slutty I was.
Well… it’s not exactly wrong…
“Want to get hit?”
The tiny fairy who chimed in without reading the room earned herself a glare. Honestly, I thought Ryushia’s outfit was perfectly modest. Some other characters literally just covered their naked bodies with light. At least I had all the important parts covered.
Ahem.
Besides, the overall vibe of this game was pretty abnormal to begin with.
“Exactly. What kind of insane school lets its female students walk around in swimsuits?”
While having this trivial conversation with Labi, I arrived at my destination.
“You’re saying he already entered the gate?”
“...I’m not sure who you’re looking for, but a male student has already entered the practical training gate inside. Something about needing to fill his score… Tsk tsk. A failing student should know when to preserve himself.”
The masked female professor guarding the gate clicked her tongue as she muttered.
This was bad. That area was one where it was easy to get a game over if you weren’t careful. You couldn’t underestimate the academy’s practical training gate just because it was labeled as a tutorial. A full seventy percent of newbies were wiped out there.
No matter how much players complained, the game company’s stance was that anyone who couldn’t clear a dungeon of this difficulty didn’t deserve to play the game.
Because of that, all the newbies who had rushed in after watching Ryushia’s PvP videos ended up getting their heads smashed and fleeing.
...Anyway, it was all the damned devs’ fault. On top of that, the protagonist was already on the verge of dropping out. If he went in there unprepared, it would be extremely dangerous.
> AAAAAAHH!! L-late! The protagonist’s HP linked to me has dropped below 30%!!!
“What?!”
The situation was even worse than I thought. If the protagonist died here, this world and my dream world would both get shut down…!!
“No way! My super-convenient prime real estate!!!!”
“W-wait?! Student! Entry is forbidden without permission!”
“No time to explain!”
At this point, it was time to use force.
“Hah!!”
I slammed a kick into the jaw of the professor who was rushing over with a flustered expression to stop me.
BAM!!
“Kuhuk!”
My leg, perfectly split in an I-shape, delivered the kick. The professor was launched into the air, and I followed up with a finishing blow.
Moon Flash
Slice!
I’m sorry, Professor.
But I did hit you with the flat of the blade. I’m a good student, so please overlook the fact that I got expelled on my first day of admission.
“...Is this what youth looks like!!”
CRASH!!
As the female professor flew away with a single tear streaming down her face, I immediately activated my movement skill and charged into the dungeon.
Moon Step
BOOM!!!
The soft moonlight wrapping around my legs glowed without pause. It was a skill that greatly increased the user’s movement speed and dealt minor damage to any enemies it collided with.
> Hey…! That skill is still only level 1! Your mana is going to run out immediately!
“It’s fine!!”
Labi tried to stop me in a panic, but there was no other choice. From here on, I had to run at maximum speed if I wanted to save him.
BANG!!
BAAAAANG!!!
I kicked off the air, scattering moonlight through the dark cave passage as I leaped forward like a madwoman.
“Kiiiieeeeek!!”
“Krrk?!”
Of course, there were monsters trying to stop my charge.
“Do not stand before a king!”
Slaaaaaash!
I used my momentum to slice them all down the instant I got close.
“Krrraaaaaaaaagh!!”
The goblins’ screams, chunks of flesh, and sprays of blood filled the air, but I had no time to care about any of it.
“Faster…!!”
I poured everything into speed alone. My mana was running dangerously low, but that didn’t matter.
“Haa… huff… huff…”
“Kihihihihihi…”
Lee Jinwoo, an ordinary twenty-year-old young man, had somehow gotten dragged into a game and was now dying. His head had been smashed by a club, his sword had broken, and his entire body was covered in burning wounds and bruises. All because of the horde of monsters in front of him…
“Huk, this… no way…!!”
Drip…
Blood was flowing. He couldn’t even tell where it was coming from anymore.
“What kind of trash game is this? Why is the early-game difficulty so ridiculous…?”
He had received help from the mascot called Labi, but it still wasn’t enough to clear this insane difficulty. There was almost nothing he could do alone, and every attempt he made ended in failure. That was how he had ended up here.
“Khuk… I don’t want to die…”
“Grrrrr…”
This was unfair.
It was bad enough being possessed by a game he was playing for the first time, but that game was infamous for being a newbie grinder.
“...Is this the end?”
He could no longer feel any strength in his arms or legs. His weapon was broken, and he was completely surrounded by countless goblins.
“I wanted to at least try dating someone…”
Shing!
As one goblin raised its dagger, he slowly closed his eyes in resignation…
KWAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!
“?!”
A deafening roar suddenly exploded before his eyes along with a silver flash.
“Krrraaaaaaaaagh!!”
“What the…?”
Just moments ago he had been ready to give up, but something glowing had flown in, and the monster had burst apart.
“Whew. Are you the newbie who sent out the help request?”
Whooooosh.
From within the thick cloud of rising dust, a slender silhouette emerged.
However, the power radiating from that silhouette was anything but ordinary.
Swish.
“...”
The black-haired girl turned around and looked at him.
Her hair, disheveled by the wind. The pure white skin revealed at the side of her face. The bloodstains on her blade. A black jacket draped over her shoulders, and a leotard that rode high on her hips. She was a sensual woman.
“Gulp…”
He could only swallow hard as he witnessed her figure standing before him.
“You’ve worked hard. Leave the rest to me.”
For some reason, despite her fierce appearance, the kind and reliable voice made all the tension leave his body.
“Grrrrrk!!”
Soon, the pack of hobgoblins that had grown furious at having their hunt interrupted were met with the mysterious woman’s cold declaration as she chewed on her rage.
“I won’t leave a single one of you alive.”
Shing!
The moment she drew her blade from its sheath, moonlight poured out even though there was no moon in sight. Her previously squinted eyes opened slightly, and her red irises glowed with a bewitching light.
That sight was… brutal, yet beautiful.
Of course, my mana reserves were already running on fumes and would drain instantly every time I used a skill, but it was more than enough to wipe out these goblins.
“Then, I’ll clean them up.”
Whooooosh!!!
I kicked off the ground and leaped powerfully toward the enemy lines.
“Krrk?!”
The instant I reached them, the monsters’ eyes shot wide open at the sight of the girl radiating murderous intent.
They tried to swing their clubs belatedly, but… it was already too late.
STAB!!!
“Krrraaaaaaaaagh!!!”
I drove my sword straight through a monster’s eye and out the back of its skull. Ignoring the brain matter leaking out, I yanked the blade free and swung it wide at the surrounding enemies.
Whoooosh!
“Kaaagh…!!”
The goblins’ scrawny limbs were severed. Some had their eyes sliced open. Others were cut clean in half at the torso.
“Krrruuuuugh!!!”
A goblin warrior leaped at me from behind and swung its club with all its might, but—
“Hup!”
“Krrk!?”
I quickly arched my back, dodging by a hair’s breadth. Ignoring the way my rather bouncy chest jiggled from the motion, I smashed the hilt of my sword into its face.
CRUNCH!!
“...?!?”
The solid iron-like teeth protruding from the goblin’s mouth shattered. As blood spurted and it staggered, I drove my blade into its solar plexus.
SHIIIIIIING!!!
“Seven left now.”
“Krrraaaaaaaaaaagh!!!”
After I instantly swept away a bunch of them, the enraged survivors all charged at me at once.
“Hoo…”
I pressed my back against the wall to prepare for my next skill. I didn’t have enough mana or charge time for Full-Moon Slash, so the only thing I could use right now was…
Half-Moon Slash
Unique Skill — Stage 1 Charge.
“Krrrrk?!”
SLAAAAAASH!!!
The instant the moonlight flashed, five of them were bisected in a single stroke.
“Krrraaaaaaaaaagh!!!!”
“Hehe, you fell for it.”
Unlike Full-Moon Slash, which attacked in a full 360 degrees, Half-Moon Slash had an honest 180-degree range. Although the area was somewhat narrow, using it with my back to the wall against a group of charging enemies produced efficiency similar to the other skill.
“Krrruu…”
The two survivors seemed to be terrified and were trying to sneak away, but—
“I won’t let you.”
I had no intention of letting the ones who had ganged up on a newbie escape.
“Hah!!”
With a sharp shout, I hurled the sword in my hand at one of them.
STAB!!!
“Krrreeee…”
It pierced straight through its heart, killing it instantly. And then the last one.
“Kiiiiik?!”
The surviving goblin, frozen in terror, turned to flee, but—
“Where do you think you’re going?”
KWAAAAAANG!!!
I grabbed the back of its head and slammed its face straight into the stone floor.
“Ki… iiik…!!”
“Die.”
Ignoring its twitching, I began pouring strength into the hand gripping its skull.
CRACK.
...Trash mob cleanup complete.
“Whew. Are you hurt anywhere?”
After finishing off every last monster, I approached the man who had collapsed powerlessly to the floor.
“Uhh…?”
When the beautiful female swordsman approached him, Jinwoo flinched without realizing it. Her overwhelming combat prowess and toughness were completely at odds with those slender shoulders and lovely appearance, creating a sense of dissonance.
“...Yes.”
His eyes grew hazy as he answered, seemingly entranced by the woman before him.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
“?!”
“Don’t tell me there are still more?”
Even though I had defeated every monster in sight, an ominous vibration echoed through the area.
BOOOOM!!
“Kraaaaa!!!!!”
“...An ogre.”
What emerged from the darkness was a creature on a completely different scale from mere goblins. Its muscles, thick as telephone poles, writhed powerfully. Its murderous eyes glared at us. In its massive hand, it dragged a stone pillar the size of a grown man.
> This is bad! Why is that thing here?! And your mana is almost completely gone!
“Well, yeah.”
> “Well, yeah” isn’t the right response!! This situation is clearly abnormal! Did it get drawn here by the aura of the strong…?
It was natural for Labi to react this way. The ogre’s level was 50. The goblins from earlier had mostly been level 20 trash mobs. But this ogre was stronger than a level 40 executive from Redanis.
KWAAAAAAAAANG!!
“Oh my?”
While I was watching it, the ogre suddenly hurled something without any warning.
CLAAAAAANG!!!!
“Ouch.”
My sword, which I had raised to block the sling projectile, was knocked away. It spun through the air before embedding itself in the ground.
> Our weapon!!!
As I smiled nonchalantly and giggled, the fairy clutched her head in panic.
> At this rate we’ll be annihilated by that monster!!
“Gruaaaaaa!!!!”
THUD THUD THUD THUD!!!
The greenskin warrior charged toward us like a mad bull.
“This is getting interesting.”
Thud.
Even though she had lost her sword, she clenched her fists and took a stance instead.
“Bare-handed combat, huh… Not bad. You’d better come at me prepared to die.”
““...?””
When Ryushia raised both fists and declared this boldly, the fairy, the human, and the ogre all had question marks floating above their heads.
> Aren’t you a swordsman?
“A real man uses his fists.”