Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Swordsmanship
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'My movements have definitely changed.'
Even just walking made the difference starkly apparent.
The knowledge hammered into my brain spread throughout my body, transforming it.
With every step, the angle at which my foot hit the ground, the force, the contact area—it all gradually shifted. My center of gravity and the movements of my entire body felt like they were being optimized.
Is this what it means to live in a world of martial artists?
It was only at level 2, but the changes from 'Form Swordsmanship' far exceeded my expectations.
'And the zombies' movements seem easier to read now.'
What was it like?
You know in games how sometimes the system highlights enemy weak points?
My gaze was automatically drawn to those exact spots on the zombies.
As if telling me I could neutralize them in one strike by targeting there.
And every spot my eyes locked onto was a human vital point or the neck.
"Grraaaargh..."
"Grrraaah...!"
The zombies that noticed me started turning toward me one by one.
Countless gazes fixed on me.
They had no intelligence, but it almost felt like bloodlust emanating from them.
'Hunger-born appetite could be seen as a form of killing intent... huh...?'
That thought flickered through my mind, but it cut off as the zombies charged.
The first to reach me was the young male zombie with the most intact limbs.
Apart from a missing ear, he was practically normal.
"Kyaaaack!!"
'To the left.'
Following the word that flashed in my head, I tilted my machete-holding right hand to the left.
My legs rooted firmly to the ground, my waist flexed flexibly, and every muscle in my body optimized for that single motion.
"Hup!"
Shwaaack—!
The moment I sensed the opening, I twisted my body from left to right.
The machete's blade followed the textbook horizontal slash path.
And it perfectly aligned with the zombie's neck.
Sslash—
A clean cross-section severed the zombie's head from its body.
A horizontal slash at the pinnacle of perfection.
I ignored the headless zombie spraying blood in front of me and quickly reviewed what had just happened.
The angle and path of the swing.
The body movements that produced it.
All of it reorganized in my mind, the skill reshaping it into the optimal form for my body.
That wasn't even the best it could be.
'This... is what swordsmanship is?'
The rush filling my head was even more intense than when using magic.
Magic was like math—just channel mana through fixed formulas to form a circle and activate.
Swordsmanship was entirely different.
Like science infused with liberal arts sensibility... or something. My vocabulary failed me beyond that.
The forms were defined, but varied endlessly by body and yielded endless results.
Structured yet unstructured. Fascinating.
'But that's that. A man's dreams are his dreams.'
Still, my core fantasy was ranged attacks, so magic pulled me more inevitably.
I was a fashion STEM guy who only liked math anyway.
"Kyaaaack!!"
'Oh, right—I'm in the middle of a fight?'
The omnipotence from my massively boosted stats and the new skill had me spacing out.
A new zombie was already right in my face.
I took a small step back and swung the machete.
Shwaaack—!
This time, a diagonal slash from lower left to upper right.
Sslash—With one swing, the zombie's upper body was cleaved diagonally.
Clean cross-section again.
Nothing like my old brute-force hacks that tore flesh ragged.
The skill had fully settled into my body now. It leaned forward automatically toward the dozens of approaching zombies.
'A sword doesn't hack—it slashes.'
Reciting the phrase in my head, I charged the zombies and moved the machete.
Wish I had a proper sword instead of this machete.
If the blade were just 2.3 times longer, I could exploit this skill even better.
Sslash—
"Grrraaaargh...!!"
"Kyaaack!!"
The sensation of cutting flesh and bone transmitted through my hand gripping the machete.
Chilling, perhaps, but after killing humans already, this was nothing.
Another blood fountain erupted from the fresh zombie corpse.
I grimaced at the blackish liquid—devoid of red like corpse blood—and dodged back to avoid splatter.
Even as I did, I swung the machete to split an approaching zombie's head from behind.
'This escalating melee is actually perfect right now.'
I thought that as I gripped the extended machete reverse-style and swung wide.
As zombies crowded closer, the space for sword movement shrank, and my vulnerable spots multiplied.
But overwhelming stats and sharp technique covered that flaw.
In the swing and recovery, at least two zombies crumpled each time.
'Whoa, close call.'
Sslash—!
A zombie hidden in the blind spot behind the charging pack lunged.
Reflexively, I swung to separate its upper and lower halves.
Even surrounded by dozens, I felt at ease.
"Step it up, you zombie bastards."
Shwaaack—!!
Sslash—
"Kyaaaack...!!"
The skill guided me to weak points, and precise slashes carved clean paths through the zombies at high speed.
I slipped past a reaching hand with a body twist, then beheaded the zombie lunging face-first beside it.
On the recovery stroke, I drew another arc to bisect the upper body of the one that had reached for me.
The thing split left and right, spraying blood as it fell.
I'd seen this scene dozens of times already—eyes flicked away instantly to slice more charging zombies.
"Tch... something's off."
How many had I massacred?
Stopped counting after 30, but an insane number for sure.
'They're starting to resist the cuts.'
Continuous use was visibly dulling the machete's edge.
No matter the skill or strength, a blunt blade was just swinging a thin stick.
I unhesitatingly tossed the machete and decided to pull a new one from inventory.
To cover the gap, I raised my left hand to form a spell.
'Weird—why are so few spells available?'
Lower magic: Fireball, which conjures a flaming orb.
Beginner magic: Fire, which just makes flames.
Nothing else I could cast.
Sure, beginner and lower tiers had tons of spells.
But aside from Fireball and Fire, they were all blurred like under a blind debuff, or just vaguely outlined.
The hidden ones felt intuitively non-fire attributes, so magic affinities made sense.
But the blinded fire ones? Unknowable, despite being fire-aligned.
'Probably unknown conditions or skill proficiency locking them...'
The question arose, but no time or way to solve it now, so I resorted to the familiar spell again.
Started forming Fireball the instant I ditched the machete.
It completed before I even fully drew the new one from inventory.
Flames gathered atop the spell circle in my hand.
"Fireball."
Kaboom—!!
Detonated almost under 3 meters away—exploded on launch.
Zombies reeled from the blast, buying me time to grab the new machete.
The zombies staggered back from the impact.
Not missing the opening the skill urged, I charged again.
With overflowing stamina and strength, I massacred zombies for a while longer.
About 50 minutes later, I'd cleared them all without a single scratch.
'Earned 95 points.'
Checked the points from the fight via system, then headed back to where Hyejin was hiding.
She'd obediently locked the building door tight and stayed put.
"Hyejin, let's go."
"Yesss...!!"
She seemed even more loyal somehow.