Raising Shin Yu-hee (7)
In this Hero Factory where angels raise heroes according to their own policies, there was one thing that personally rubbed me the wrong way. The disconnect from the term "tutorial."
A tutorial is basically the process of learning the basic know-how to play any game, right? So any hero who's played games before would just see it as total bullshit. But the process of becoming a hero—if I had to compare it to a game—is more like the tutorial in a Souls-like game. The vicious kind where they throw a boss at you without any proper explanation.
You have to think of it as a survival struggle with a dash of game-like elements mixed in. Getting hung up on the metaphorical "game" aspect would be a huge mistake. Just like right now, with the broken sword in my hand and the knight Dex with that sword shard jammed in his eye.
"Gaaahhh!!"
Knight Dex staggered back. Instinctively swinging whatever he had in his grip amid the agony, but I dodged the wild flailing—precisely because it was so erratic—and put some distance between us.
"Urk... ugh...!"
Even writhing in pain, he didn't let go of his sword or shield. Any average guy would've dropped his weapon the moment that broken blade pierced his eyeball. There were two reasons he endured the pain and clung to it.
Even rotten fish has its uses—guy's a knight, after all.
One, he was an experienced knight. And the other—
"You fucking bastard...! This eye? I can just get a priest to heal it!"
As Dex shouted, losing one organ was something holy power could fix.
"You hold up well. Been stabbed in the eye before?"
"You... fuck...!"
"But getting your eye poked out? That's on you."
I gingerly pinched the tip of a fallen sword shard with my fingertip.
"If you hadn't broken my sword, it'd have just ended with your head rolling."
"Your fault for bringing that piece-of-shit blade!"
"Fair point."
A cheap scrap-iron sword was nothing compared to a steel blade, just like Dex said.
If this were a game, the sword wouldn't break.
It'd vanish like an object hitting zero durability. But this was reality. Scrap iron shattering against steel was reality too—and
"Oh yeah. I mentioned it earlier? I'm taking good care of your gear."
"Trying to make me talk so I'd bleed out more—urk?!"
Splat!
Hurling the broken blade like a dagger—that was a move possible only in reality, not some game.
Clang!
The shard bounced off his round shield. But I'd aimed for his throat, so the shield blocked his face instead, and I leaped right in close.
Thud!
I slammed my full body weight into him, shield and all, with a kick. He tried swinging his sword blindly while his vision was blocked, but it only grazed my calf.
Thump!
Dex toppled backward. Partly from losing balance, but also because my kick shoved the shield into a bad spot.
The sword's hilt. The blade hadn't sunk deeper, unfortunately, but the hilt had jammed against the shield.
Caught on bone, maybe.
Then my weight pushed the blade a bit further, and down he went.
Whoosh!
But Dex didn't pass out.
"Ugh... grrrgh...!"
His mind might've been fogged by pain, but years as a knight kept him swinging wildly, blocking my approach. I was down to my bare hands. But I still had a weapon.
The bounced shard wasn't nearby, but a sturdy iron replacement was right in front of me.
Crack!
From below, upward kick. My toe perfectly hooked the back of the shield where his sword couldn't reach, flinging it high.
Clang!
Sword met shield. At the same time, the shield rocketed up over his blade.
"Got it."
"!!"
With his one good, blood-soaked eye, Dex must've seen it. Me snatching the shield's edge and swinging it like a discus.
Splat!
Straight into the hand gripping his sword. It wasn't a sharp-edged heater shield but a round one—still, a hunk of metal smashing your wrist wrecks it, tear or no tear.
"Grrraaah?!"
Dex dropped the sword. I reached for it on the ground, but had to raise my hand for the shield instead.
Scraaaape!
A sharp blade stabbed toward the front of the shield I braced with both hands. Blood sprayed from it.
The hand that lost the shield had grabbed the very knife still lodged in his eye.
Using the broken sword on weak points. Counterattacking with the blade that pierced his own eye.
To some, it might look like a dogfight. But this was a desperate brawl to win. When the loser's life was on the line, you couldn't stop just because blood splashed your face.
Thud!
I raised the shield and smashed down on Dex.
"Ugh... grrrk...!"
Aimed at his throat, unprotected by helmet or armor. He tried shoving the shield and me downward, but the less strength he used, the more blood poured from his eye.
Choke to death or bleed out. Either way, he was done.
"Th... guk...!"
"Your little bro's Zexter, right?"
No. But Dex glanced at me like What the fuck? for a split second, and I seized the opening to hoist the shield high.
"I know."
Splat!
Smashed down. A clear crunch echoed, totally different from before.
"Ah, shit."
Thud.
Dex's hand flopped aside, and I gripped the shield, slowly standing.
"Helmet's fucked now."
* * *
Until the sword broke, Shin Yu-hee had thought the man named Yoo Si-woo was just teaching her how to wield a blade. How to properly slash an enemy. How to cut down someone armored like a knight.
That notion flew out the window the instant the sword snapped.
Death. Even as she told herself it couldn't be, the anxiety she'd kept voicing became reality.
Maybe she'd jinxed it. Despite him being more than capable alone, her needless fretting had broken the sword.
But the fight that followed delivered a massive shock to Shin Yu-hee.
Stabbing with a broken sword. Attacking with the enemy's shield. Even using the blade jammed in his own eye for a counter from the ground.
"......."
Thinking back, how had she fought the goblins? Not much different. Branches, rocks, daggers dropped mid-swing—whatever worked. No holds barred against anything trying to kill her.
And it ended in merciless, precise death. No mercy for foes. No complacency even against a sure win—she pulverized them to prevent any counter. The head, specifically.
"Was he toying with him?"
Hard to say. From the sword's breakage, it wasn't about showing off anymore—just fighting like always. But after snatching the shield, there was definite leisure. Not playing around, but the poise to gauge his foe's state. Fighting to preserve post-battle loot as much as possible.
"Referee."
Look at him clutching the shield that was Dex's, picking up the fallen sword, calling the referee.
"Can't I loot the corpse first, then eat?"
"...Victory not declared yet."
"Oh."
Even thinking of stripping gear before the official call.
"By proxy fighter Yoo Si-woo's victory, the winner of this bout is Pin."
Roooar!!
Cheers erupted toward Yoo Si-woo, standing alone in the arena. His first win had stunned the crowd into wary silence, but now they roared like Roman citizens at the Colosseum.
And.
"Th-this...!"
Look at Pin, the guy who'd never expected a real win, face pale with terror and dismay.
"Hmmm...."
Shin Yu-hee kept her head toward Yoo Si-woo but slid her gaze sideways.
"Th-this...! This is for real...!"
Even though he'd won in his stead, Pin stared at sword-and-shield Yoo Si-woo with fear surpassing even when Dex appeared—worse, even.
"N-no...! Th-this is borrowed from that guy... hngh?!"
...At Yoo Si-woo? Or terror at something even scarier? Either way, Shin Yu-hee sensed something from the panicked Pin. Her hand naturally went to her survival log.
After putting up 30 exchange vouchers for a proxy knight per her request, the proxy killed the foe—and now he clutched those vouchers first.
"Hey, Pin. One win down, so now—"
"Gaaah!"
Just before Yoo Si-woo exited the arena, Pin screamed and bolted.
"Wh-what?!"
"That fucker?!"
The onlookers gawked in shock at his flight. No one chased him—not even Yoo Si-woo, who just sighed heavily as he headed out.
"Told you. No contract, this happens."
Like he'd seen it coming. And Shin Yu-hee immediately knew what she had to do.
"Referee."
She raised her hand.
"I'll nominate."