Extreme Techniques
Ending Play Session.
Back from the world of Dark Moon, I lay on the floor and stared blankly at the ceiling.
My head was a mess.
It wasn't because the memories and experiences from Dark Moon were flooding in. Those I absorbed naturally, without a single side effect. What I felt was something closer to emptiness — the same hollow comedown you get after sex when your stamina is already shot. Not that this had anything to do with lust.
Talent…
It was a word that dragged a lot of thoughts along with it.
Before I awakened the Play Life ability, talent was the reason everything felt like shit.
In the world of Dark Moon, my talent is overwhelming. Just watching and sensing a spell is enough for me to understand it and cast it myself. Reworking magic however I want is almost trivial. The me inside Dark Moon is growing at a ridiculous pace without anyone teaching him a thing.
My sense for handling mana has already surpassed the real me.
My mood crashed hard. I didn't want to move. Everything felt like a chore.
It's a little rich for someone who awakened a broken ability like Play Life to start whining about talent, but…
I couldn't help thinking it anyway. If I'd had talent from the start, how much stronger would I be by now?
…In the end, it's a pointless fantasy.
I pushed myself up off the floor. Before awakening Play Life, I'd felt this way often enough — and every time, the cure had been good food or a long, sprawling nap.
I'll eat the lunch Yuria packed and go to sleep. By the time I wake up, this mood should have passed.
I sat at the table and pulled the lunchbox out of my inventory. Opening the lid, I was greeted by a still-hot steak. I set out a fork and knife, then flipped on the TV before digging in — anything to kill a little of the emptiness.
An entertainment news segment was on.
"Film actress Kang Nami announced with a bright smile that she will become a man's wife in three months."
"…What?"
I shoved my chair back and shot to my feet, steak juices still on my tongue.
Kang Nami. The actress I'd been crazy about since high school. That beautiful face, that outstanding acting, that pure look that made a hanbok sit on her like it was made for her. She'd set my chest on fire once. I'd even jerked off to edited photos of her.
On screen, Kang Nami was smiling happily through an interview with a reporter.
"What kind of person is Ms. Kang Nami's fiancé?"
"He's a gentle man. He always takes care of me."
"There's a rumor that the groom-to-be is a member of a chaebol family. Is that true?"
"I'm sorry. I'd rather not talk about his personal details."
"It'll all come out in three months, won't it?"
"There's a lot to prepare for until then. It's a little hard, but it's a happiness you only get once in a lifetime. I don't want anyone interrupting this happy time."
"Speaking as someone who's been married, it's not always just happy times."
"Well, I've been happy."
"Everyone's different, of course. In any case, Ms. Kang Nami's male fans are going to be very disappointed."
"I'm in my thirties now. I have to get married. I don't want to die an old maid."
The reporter steered the interview smoothly onward — Kang Nami's recent activities, her next project, and so on. I sat there staring at the TV until the steak had gone completely cold.
Kang Nami was beautiful today, too. The elegant vanilla-colored dress suited her perfectly.
"Who is the lucky man who will become Kang Nami's partner? The answer will be revealed in three months!"
Kang Nami vanished from the screen.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
I let out a raw scream and instinctively grabbed my smartphone.
Write a hypnosis command on the sticker and apply it to a target's skin to place them under Absolute Hypnosis.
◈ Price: 3,000 Points
◈ ⚠ Caution
Depending on the target's mental fortitude, the hypnosis may fail to take hold. Once applied, the hypnosis cannot be lifted by any means other than an Absolute Hypnosis Release Sticker.
You are not limited to writing only a single command. However, if two commands contradict each other, neither will take effect.
Should I? Shouldn't I? Should I? Shouldn't I? Just do it? Should I just do it?
My fingers twitched. With Absolute Hypnosis, I could take Kang Nami without any fallout. But something about that felt too easy.
Raping her and then sticking a hypnosis sticker on her afterward wouldn't be a bad approach either…
There was another option. Watch a creative work she appeared in, then enter it later. Zero fallout, and I'd save the points. The only downside was the wait before I could enter a new work.
"Today's hot new actress! Please welcome Oh Aram!"
"Hello! I'm Oh Aram!"
Still deep in thought, I glanced back at the TV. A young, vibrant actress was beaming with a fresh smile. I'd never seen her before, but she was a beauty who made my heart kick.
…Kang Nami's got a bit of that washed-up vibe now. She's in her thirties, getting married in three months… her pussy's probably already been worn smooth. Not that I'm giving up on her. I'll just bump Kang Nami down the priority list…
My head was getting complicated again.
"And now, an idol group! The girl group that flipped the charts last week! Capitalism idols! ATM!!"
"Hello! We're ATM! Money is everything!"
Five beauties in sexy outfits were smiling on screen. I focused and kept watching. Before I knew it, an hour had passed.
…While I wasn't paying attention, a whole crop of rookies I don't even know has sprung up.
Beauties, all of them. And yet something felt lacking.
Harin's better.
Even in the cutthroat entertainment industry, beauties on Han Harin's level were vanishingly rare.
I should go see Harin.
I stopped by the Yeongcheon Sword Dojo for the first time in a while.
I used to come here often for physical training. But once Jin Seyeong, the acting director, got busier — and once I realized spending Play Life points was more efficient than ordinary body conditioning — I'd stopped showing up.
Today's Jin Seyeong's day off.
To put it bluntly, I'd come to have sex with her after a long dry spell.
And while I'm at it, check my own skill level.
The Yeongcheon Sword Dojo hadn't changed a bit.
"You're here?"
Neither had Jin Seyeong. Black ponytail, firm C-cup breasts, an ass that sat high and tight. That solid body of hers was exactly as I remembered. Her face, too — the slightly upturned corners of her eyes gave her a sharp look, but without makeup her features were overall pure and clean.
"Noona…"
The black tank top and leggings clinging to her skin still looked filthy no matter how many times I saw them. I ran my eyes over her body without any subtlety, sending a clear signal.
"You've been well, right? I should check for myself…"
"You're the same as ever. We'll check that later…. There's something important today."
Jin Seyeong was serious. I got serious right along with her. This wasn't the time to mess around. When she was serious, I had to be serious too. That was how you dealt with Jin Seyeong.
"Something important?"
"Extreme Techniques. You know them?"
"I know. They're basically the ultimate techniques of the Yeongcheon Style, right?"
"Similar, but a little different. Call them the Yeongcheon Style's special — and dangerous — techniques. You could also call them secret arts or hidden techniques. We call them Extreme Techniques because you can only use them once you've reached the extreme of the Yeongcheon Style."
"…Don't tell me. You're going to teach me the Extreme Techniques?"
Jin Seyeong smiled and nodded. Joy and doubt hit me at the same time.
"I haven't reached the extreme of the Yeongcheon Style yet."
"But your Awakened ability is lightning. Even if your pure Yeongcheon Style mastery hasn't hit the peak, your skill with Lightning Flash is already at my level — no, at my father's level or higher. Right?"
"I wouldn't go that far…"
"Dad and I can't drop lightning from the sky. And today, looking at you, I was sure. Your physical ability and your skill with mana are A-Class level. You're qualified to learn the Yeongcheon Style's Extreme Techniques."
A small shiver ran through me. Being acknowledged by her felt surprisingly good. I never said it out loud, but she was as good as my first master.
"Noona. Show me. The Extreme Techniques of the Yeongcheon Style."
"Before I show you anything — don't get hung up on the form of an Extreme Technique. A technique forged from the essence of the Yeongcheon Style. That's what an Extreme Technique is. In other words, you can create an Extreme Technique of your own."
"My own Extreme Technique…. So that means you've made one of your own, noona?"
"That's right. Creating a new Extreme Technique of your own is one of the qualifications of a Sect Master."
After becoming A-Class and focusing on hunter work, Jin Seyeong had clearly stepped into a new realm.
I don't know how much stronger she's gotten, but she's definitely stronger than me.
Jin Seyeong explained the Extreme Techniques.
The current Sect Master of the Yeongcheon Style, Jin Useong, was the eleventh. That meant there were at least eleven Extreme Techniques. Some, however, had been lost and survived only in scattered records, and the sword-related Extreme Techniques were unusable for both of us — those required swordsmanship that had truly reached its extreme.
"The Extreme Techniques I'll show you today are three. The third Sect Master's Explosive Thunder, the seventh Sect Master's Sealing Thunder, and the one I created — Scattered Thunder."
"All of them related to Lightning Flash."
"Because they're the techniques that suit you best, with your lightning ability. Or at least, that's what I'd like to say — the truth is, these three are the only Extreme Techniques I've mastered so far."
She gave an awkward smile and held out her palm.
"Watch carefully. First — Explosive Thunder."
Crackle.
A blue current appeared on Jin Seyeong's palm — a small charge, about the level of a stun gun. Then the current detonated. It was a tiny explosion, no real threat at all. But it was unmistakably a physical blast. The wind from it brushed through my hair.
It's small-scale now, but if this were lightning-bolt level… it could casually wipe out a building.
Jin Seyeong dusted off her palm for no particular reason.
"Explosive Thunder. Just like the name — exploding lightning."
"How did you do it?"
"You partially alter the formulas of Yeongcheon-gigong, and you have to pour your will into the Lightning Flash. The latter is the hard part… but you should be able to do it easily."
Her eyes didn't waver as she looked at me. She genuinely believed I would pull it off without trouble. Given that she already thought of me as some once-in-a-century genius, it was a natural reaction. I, on the other hand, still didn't have the faintest feel for it.
"Next is Sealing Thunder. Yujin. Concentrate mana in your left hand."
"Like this?"
Crackle-crackle.
Lightning sparked from my left hand.
"No. Just concentrate the mana. The way you do when you reinforce your body with it."
"…Like this?"
"Yes. Like that. …Give me a moment. Sealing Thunder needs time to focus."
Maybe thirty seconds passed. A single thread of electricity flashed from her index finger and pierced the center of my left palm.
"Ugh!"
I let out a sound before I could stop myself. It wasn't the stinging pain in my palm. The mana I'd been using to reinforce my left hand no longer moved the way I wanted. It felt crushed by something. No — paralyzed.
…The hand itself still moves. I just can't use mana.
Three seconds later, I could use mana again.
"You understand what Sealing Thunder does now?"
"Temporary mana sealing…. That's incredible."
Three seconds. Even that brief a window was more than enough in a world of A-Class and above, where lives turned on single seconds. Three seconds was plenty long.
The problem is… Sealing Thunder needs prep time before you can use it.
"I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it takes too long to use Sealing Thunder, right? That's a mastery issue. Raise your mastery high enough and you can cut the prep time down."
I nodded and spoke.
"…Noona. What about Scattered Thunder, the Extreme Technique you made? I want to see it already."
"Just a second. Scattered Thunder is a technique I only recently created, so it needs some preparation."