Has My Vision Turned Into a Microscope?
"Has my vision turned into a microscope?"
Bukjin didn't hesitate for a single second. He lunged forward again, unleashing the signature move of his three-form sword style: Big Dipper Descent.
Clang—! Cl-cl-cl-clang!
The sound of clashing steel rang out six times in rapid succession. Sim Bi’s reaction was incredibly swift. He deployed a wall of sword light once more, parrying all six of the Big Dipper Descent’s phantasmal strikes.
In truth, Sim Bi was reeling with internal shock. The strike he had landed earlier carried enough weight to snap a massive ancient tree in half. His intention had been to shatter Bukjin’s ribs and leave him incapacitated. By all logic, Bukjin should have been sprawled on the ground, his combat capability erased.
Instead, Bukjin had stood up as if nothing had happened and launched another high-speed assault. Furthermore, the power behind Bukjin’s blade hadn't diminished in the slightest. While Sim Bi was lost in his bewilderment, a seventh phantasmal strike shot toward him.
'W-what is this?!'
Sim Bi’s eyes widened. The sword shadows, which he thought numbered six, had suddenly become seven. 'What kind of sword style is this?'
The six strikes Bukjin had unleashed earlier were already formidable in their own right. But now, there was a seventh. This was a variable Sim Bi had never anticipated. 'Was this delinquent hiding his true strength from the very beginning?'
Driven by desperation, Sim Bi immediately executed the Ghostly Phantom Step to evade the sword light. Simultaneously, he exploded with a burst of starlight-like energy, weaving a net of sword light to envelop the approaching Bukjin.
"Nebula Sword Style!"
It was a 1-star technique, but one of the most exceptional within its grade. When wielded by a talent like Sim Bi, its destructive power was beyond imagination. A gale of sword qi howled, and shadows of the blade embroidered the very air.
Bukjin’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he retreated. Even as he fell back, he swung his longsword violently, desperately countering Sim Bi’s barrage. At that moment, a strange power surged from deep within Bukjin’s body. An unknown sensation awakened, sharpening his mind to a razor's edge.
It felt strangely familiar. He had experienced something similar during his fight with Do Man-seong. However, back then, perhaps because Do Man-seong lacked sufficient skill, the pressure hadn't reached a critical point, and the awakening had flickered out as quickly as it appeared.
But Sim Bi’s current onslaught was providing a sense of crisis ten times more potent than anything Do Man-seong had offered. Bukjin’s longsword and Sim Bi’s blade continued to collide, sparks flying between them. The blade of the Virtue Sword vibrated violently, and a powerful energy surged through the metal like a tidal wave, flowing into Bukjin’s body. That energy shook his bones and muscles from the inside out.
Bukjin felt exactly as he did when he practiced the Peerless Sword Body through his app. At the same time, the mental strain of focusing every nerve to parry Sim Bi’s strikes reached its zenith. As he read the trajectories of the sword and reacted, he was treading toward a new realm.
It was a bizarre sensation. Bukjin felt as though something old and broken within him was crumbling away, and in its place, something new was taking root. A massive wave of enlightenment washed over him.
Conversely, Sim Bi’s Nebula Sword Style was becoming increasingly frantic. His face was a mask of growing horror. The two had exchanged over twenty blows in the blink of an eye, but the more Sim Bi fought, the more his confidence in a quick victory evaporated.
To Sim Bi, Bukjin was like a roly-poly toy. He would spot an opening and strike with full confidence—strikes that would have shattered the bones of any normal person and left them too mangled to move. Yet, Bukjin inexplicably continued his offensive as if he were entirely unaffected.
'Could it be that this bastard has been hiding his strength all along?' Sim Bi couldn't bring himself to believe it.
Watching Bukjin’s relentless assault, Do Man-seong and Yi Do both realized that they would have already been defeated if they were in Sim Bi's place. 'Was this delinquent, whom we all looked down on, actually more talented than the twin geniuses of the National Imperial Junior Academy?'
The surrounding students were in a state of total shock. When Bukjin first provoked Sim Bi, they thought it was a mere puppy barking at a tiger. But now, Bukjin refused to fall. Like a tireless Jiangshi, he kept rising, standing toe-to-toe with Sim Bi.
It wasn't that Sim Bi was weak. Any other student there would have crumbled after three exchanges. Yet Bukjin, the man known as the world's greatest trash, stood firm before Sim Bi with terrifying stability, refusing to let the battle end.
Yi Do and Do Man-seong exchanged a look. They felt as if they were trapped in a dream. Do Man-seong, in particular, remembered how he had pressured Bukjin earlier. Seeing the martial prowess Bukjin was displaying now, he realized that he was the one who should have been beaten to a pulp. 'Has this damn guy been playing weak this whole time? Why? Why would he hide his strength to this extent?'
Time ticked away. The situation was spiraling in a direction no one could have predicted. Sim Bi finally reached his limit; he could no longer tolerate this stalemate.
"Nine Heavens Starfall!"
As Sim Bi roared the name of the technique, the Hyeongi within him began to circulate in a unique, rapid pattern. He was unleashing the secret killing move of the Nebula Sword Style. He intended to end this farce in a single strike.
A crimson radiance erupted from the Tae-a Precious Sword in his hand. The air around Sim Bi began to fluctuate violently as a scorching heat radiated outward. The atmosphere surrounding the blade rippled like a disturbed pond. Sim Bi’s sword sliced through space, descending with crushing force.
Bukjin felt as though he were being bound by an invisible force. He couldn't dodge; he couldn't retreat. Every escape route and angle was sealed. His only option was to take it head-on.
'Is this the power of a Star-rank sword style?'
Gritting his teeth, Bukjin gripped the Virtue Sword tighter and met the incoming sword qi. The energy erupting from Sim Bi’s blade was like a raging inferno. The two swords crossed.
For a moment, everything seemed to stop. A brief silence hung in the air.
Then—BOOM!
A massive sonic boom exploded in the space between them. Hyeongi surged out like a wave, sweeping across the area and sending sand flying in every direction. A massive cloud of dust rose, and within it, the two figures stood still. No more strikes were exchanged.
As the dust slowly settled, Sim Bi was seen stepping back, sheathing his sword. Bukjin remained standing exactly where he had been, his sword still held in a parrying stance. His hair and eyebrows were slightly singed, and his leather cuirass bore the blackened marks of the intense heat. Standing perfectly still, he looked like a tree that had been licked by flames.
Seeing this, the students assumed the match was decided. Expressions of "as expected" appeared on the faces of Yi Do and Do Man-seong. Oh So-bang, whose face was still swollen and bruised, and Mok Sim-wol, who had been watching from the shadows, felt a mix of relief at Sim Bi’s victory and a chilling sense of awe.
'Is this the true strength of a genius like Sim Bi?'
The strike Sim Bi had just shown was not only a masterpiece of sword theory, but his cultivation was high enough to manifest Hyeongi externally as a flame-like effect. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was already at the level of a Martial Warrior. At the very least, he was at the 8th Grade Warrior Rank. They realized they had been big fish in a small pond within the 3rd Academy.
'So this is the level of those called true geniuses in Unmong City!'
Oh So-bang had briefly thought Bukjin was a miracle or a monster when he showed his sudden growth. But compared to Sim Bi, Bukjin now seemed pitiful and insignificant. To learn excellence, one had to be among the excellent. Both students felt that they could only grow by aiming for the peak where geniuses like Sim Bi resided.
'Compared to him... Im Bukjin is nothing!'
"Senior Bukjin...!"
Ak Hong-hyang, who had been watching in horror, rushed forward to support him.
"Don't move."
Bukjin’s voice cut through the air. "I'm not dead. Just stay back and watch."
Ak Hong-hyang froze in confusion. Then—
Crack! Cr-crack!
A sound like charred bark crumbling off a burnt tree began to emanate from Bukjin’s body. It sounded as if an invisible force were snapping his bones piece by piece. Bukjin’s joints began to move slowly, like a wooden puppet on strings.
Splat—!
A large amount of dark blood erupted from Bukjin’s mouth. Terrified, Ak Hong-hyang tried to run to him again, but Im Jin grabbed her shoulder, her voice cold.
"Don't move. Just watch."
The moment she finished speaking, a powerful aura exploded from Bukjin’s body. The surrounding grains of sand were tossed about by an invisible current, forming small whirlpools.
'Did I... break through?'
Bukjin looked at his palms in shock. When he vomited that blood, he felt as if a lifetime of impurities had been purged from his system. His entire body felt incredibly light and comfortable, as if he had undergone a Marrow Cleansing. A power he had never felt before was surging through him.
The Hyeongi that had previously felt like a thin thread was now a steady stream flowing through his meridians. A much larger volume of energy was circulating, strengthening his vessels and his physical form. His mystic energy had undergone a qualitative transformation.
The world around him felt clearer and more precise than ever before. As Bukjin focused his mind, his surroundings became vivid. He could see the individual crystals and colors of every grain of sand on the ground, the direction they were shifting, and even the microscopic gaps between them.
'No way! Has my vision turned into a microscope?'