The Boss Is Too Weak (8)
The Boss Is Too Weak (8)
The thought crossed my mind that it would be pretty damn funny if I regressed because my grip gave out while learning the sword here, but that didn't happen.
Because Choi Ji-won simply let me watch while I held the sword.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Slowly, with precise form, Choi Ji-won swung her sword.
After repeating a motion a few times, she'd look at me and ask, "Got it?"
Each time, I'd give a small nod.
When I nodded, she'd show me the next movement without hesitation.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
This was the first time I wasn't showing my own swordsmanship and getting corrected—instead, I was learning by observing Choi Ji-won's.
"This is a useful stance when you lose your balance."
Choi Ji-won's swordsmanship wasn't flashy.
How to put more power into the blade. How to keep a stable stance. How to respond effectively to an opponent's movements.
I'm no expert in swordsmanship, but the feeling it gave off was intensely focused on the fundamentals.
It was less like witnessing a legendary Mount Hua Sect martial art form and more like reading 'The Principles of Swordsmanship [Basics Edition].'
Then again, expecting flashy moves from modern swordsmanship is probably unreasonable. I found it more amazing that Choi Ji-won even knew how to handle a real sword in the first place.
About an hour had passed since Choi Ji-won started swinging her sword.
-[You have acquired a Trait.]
-Swordsmanship [F]
"Hoo..."
Choi Ji-won caught her breath.
I decided to tell her the good news.
"I got a trait."
"...Really? What rank?"
"...F."
I'd finally acquired the Swordsmanship Trait.
All that time I'd been struggling to learn swordsmanship, and my skill had at last reached F-rank.
Actually, wasn't this the normal way to get traits? Getting them from emotions was the abnormal way.
"About the sword... I think I've shown you everything I can. From here, you'll just have to get used to it slowly through repeated regressions. Or pick up some flashy new sword art."
Choi Ji-won wiped a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead with her arm.
The sword movements had been infinitely slow, but she must have concentrated fiercely to maintain perfect form.
"Why are you teaching me swordsmanship, anyway?"
"...Because I want to help."
"Well, even if you say that... uh."
I stopped mid-sentence and shut my mouth.
Choi Ji-won suddenly, and slowly, bent deeply at the waist.
Choi Ji-won bowing at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
"...What are you doing."
"I'm sorry."
"..."
"Because my mental training was lacking... I made things hard for you. I'm sorry."
I understood what she was talking about right away.
The past stories I'd unloaded earlier had included Choi Ji-won's 'slash' dozens of times.
"First... straighten up. Let's talk sitting down. It's not like you did it in this cycle."
Honestly, from Choi Ji-won's perspective, it wasn't something she had done. There wasn't a single 'slash' in this cycle.
She was apologizing purely based on what I'd told her.
Receiving such a formal apology made me uncomfortable too.
"...Okay."
She smoothly straightened up and sat in front of me.
"Hoo..."
My feelings were so complicated that they were extremely hard to put into words.
I like Choi Ji-won.
That noble desire to protect the weak, her sense of justice, her strength—I like it all.
But at the same time, I fucking hate Choi Ji-won. She seems like a crazy bitch.
She slices the bridge of my nose with her sword just because I asked what college she went to.
She knocks me unconscious because she finds my lying suspicious.
She mistakes me for a pervert on a whim and kicks me.
"What is wrong with you? Why do your fists fly first?"
She's a woman so savage it's hard to believe she came from the modern world.
Then again, the era isn't really the problem.
No matter how brutal the Stone Age was, if someone had acted like that, there would've been a cave painting somewhere saying 'Choi Ji-won is a crazy bitch.'
"That's... ngh..."
Choi Ji-won's face flushed red, a truly rare sight.
After agonizing for a long moment, she detached the scabbard from her hip and placed it on the ground.
"It's this guy's fault."
"...What?"
Come on. Even if there's nothing else to blame, can you really blame the sword?
I've seen plenty of people blame their parents or the world, but it's my first time seeing someone blame their own sword.
But dismissing it as a joke was... Choi Ji-won's expression was too serious.
She gently stroked the sword lying on the ground.
"Among my traits... I have one called Sword-Body Unity. Looking at the Status Window, it says this."
She traced letters into the dirt with a fingertip.
-Sword-Body Unity [SSS]
-A state where the person becomes the sword and the sword becomes the person. To the person, the sharpness and strength of the sword; to the sword, the wisdom of the human.
"...I don't get it even after reading that. This description is way too vague."
"Basically, it's a Trait that brings Boongboong-yi and me closer to each other's essence. Oh, for reference, Boongboong-yi is this sword's name."
"..."
Boongboong-yi, huh. That's a hella cute name for a sword.
More than that, I couldn't quite grasp what a trait that unites a person and a sword actually meant.
"I think you need to explain a bit more?"
"Simply put... my body has become stronger, like a sword. My strength increased, my senses grew sharper... anyway, you could say my overall physical abilities have improved."
"...Aha."
"The reason I'm always swinging my sword in the clearing is to adjust to these improved physical abilities. Not to find some hidden piece, as you were thinking."
I see.
I'd thought she was aiming for something like 'Hidden Achievement: Swing your sword 10,000 times in the Tutorial.'
Seems she had a legitimate reason after all.
"But... what does that have to do with hitting me?"
The explanation was still lacking, though.
What did needing to adjust to better physical abilities have to do with her suddenly flying off the handle and beating the shit out of me every time?
Shaking her head with her face still flushed, Choi Ji-won continued.
"...I wasn't the only one who needed to adjust."
"...What?"
"Boongboong-yi... gained an ego thanks to the trait. He shares memories and thoughts with me. He can even move my body if he wants. Because we are one."
"..."
Sword-Body Unity. A state where human and sword become one.
So Choi Ji-won and Boongboong-yi had effectively become one.
To put it another way, it was like two personalities cooperating and coexisting in one body.
Scratching the back of her head as if embarrassed, Choi Ji-won went on.
"Boongboong-yi's mind is still extremely young... so he's very immature when it comes to controlling his emotions. When he feels anger, his fist flies first. When he feels suspicion, he subdues first and looks later."
"Uh... hmm..."
"Usually, my will blocks Boongboong-yi's actions... but when I also get excited or suspicious, I find it hard to stop his fist from flying. Actually, I knocked two people unconscious even before teaming up with you..."
"..."
I was so speechless that my mouth just hung open like an idiot.
A shocking truth: the one who'd been beating me up all this time was actually a sword called 'Boongboong-yi.'
Age: 7 days. Not 7 years. 7 days.
Now that I thought about it, Choi Ji-won had always been muttering to herself.
I'd dismissed it because I also mutter to myself like a web novel protagonist, but it occurred to me that she might actually have been talking to her own sword.
"...But you said you can read each other's thoughts. You don't really need to say it out loud, right?"
"...I was just organizing my thoughts by saying them out loud..."
"Aha."
Whatever the case, the truth was now revealed: the 'crazy bitch' side of Choi Ji-won, where her blade was faster than her words, was actually the doing of a young sword that had only recently gained an ego.
That meant Choi Ji-won was closer to a bystander, or a passive accomplice.
Of course, that didn't suddenly make me like Choi Ji-won.
Hey, Choi Ji-won, you also went along with Boongboong-yi's emotions and let your fist fly, didn't you? You said you can stop it when your thoughts differ.
In the end... Choi Ji-won seemed to have a hot temper too. And it's a fact that she's basically lacking in manners.
The only difference is that Choi Ji-won has the self-control to stop the fist, and Boongboong-yi doesn't.
"I should get an apology."
I folded my arms like an arrogant boss and stared at Choi Ji-won.
"Right, if my apology isn't enough, then I'll..."
"No. I need an apology from the person responsible. Tell Boongboong-yi to come out."
I'd already received an apology from Choi Ji-won. This was a matter to discuss with the one directly involved.
"...Just a moment."
Closing her eyes, Choi Ji-won entered a heated debate with Boongboong-yi.
Some time passed.
Choi Ji-won's face, which had been deeply furrowed, suddenly went completely expressionless.
Her usual face was blank too, but this was something else entirely.
It was slightly unpleasant to look at.
"...I hear you want an apology."
A human voice naturally has highs and lows, inflections, but right now, Choi Ji-won's voice had none of that.
"...Are you Boongboong-yi?"
"Yes."
Speaking with a perfectly blank expression—Choi Ji-won, no, Boongboong-yi.
It seemed Boongboong-yi wasn't used to acting human. He'd need to learn to make facial expressions.
It was very alien. Something... was just off.
"Kim Jun-ho. I'm sorry."
Expressionless, Boongboong-yi spat out the words of apology.
"But apart from being sorry, it's not my fault. I never tried to kill you. I only ever subdued you. It's less my fault and more that your trait is strange."
"..."
I asked for an apology, and Boongboong-yi gave me excuses. But he's partly right.
"Hey! You gonna keep acting like that?"
This time, Choi Ji-won's personality popped out and snapped at Boongboong-yi in irritation.
"Hoo... I'll talk some sense into him and make him apologize again..."
"No. It's fine. He's not wrong."
Let me say it again: that being is a personality born 7 days ago.
Expecting a mature apology from it seemed excessive. I should just take meaning from the fact that I heard the words 'I'm sorry.'
And since it's also true that my trait is strange, I wasn't even really angry.
Besides, what was I going to do, get annoyed and smack the sword? My fist would most likely split open and I'd regress.
Well, I got the apology I wanted...
"...So, what do we do now."
I threw a fundamental question at Choi Ji-won.
We'd chatted and had a relatively enjoyable time, but the situation hadn't changed much.
There was no hope left in this place, and everyone was just waiting for their scheduled doom.
In this situation, the strange thing was how composed Choi Ji-won remained.
"...Kim Jun-ho. Before you regress, shouldn't we try to get something out of this?"
Choi Ji-won spoke my name as if savoring it.
"You. You said that when a person feels intense emotions, they can turn that into a trait, right?"
"...Yeah."
"Did you get a trait from me?"
"No. I've never gotten one."
Even now, on the verge of death, Choi Ji-won remained calm.
There was no way getting a trait from her would be easy.
"Hmm..."
Closing her eyes, Choi Ji-won fell into thought.
Her eyelashes cast long shadows over her closed eyes.
"I was thinking... I don't think we really know each other. Isn't it hard to feel intense emotions toward a stranger?"
Suddenly stating the obvious, Choi Ji-won.
"...Well, I mean."
We met in the Tower in the first place—what was there to know about each other?
"We could just start getting to know each other now, right?"
Again, Choi Ji-won smiles lightly. That smile, never excessive, was awfully nice to look at.
"Then... from now on."
On this island destined for destruction.
"I'll tell you about my life. And you tell me about yours."
Choi Ji-won began to speak.