The Cripple's Blade
You've gone full berserker mode. A while back, I watched a medical drama. The protagonist was a doctor who charged into every situation with nothing but the single-minded determination to save his patients. His superhuman feats eventually hit a wall. The higher-ups who found him annoying started interfering with everything he did. The villains came at him for money, for his attitude, for conflicting interests. But then came the twist. Turns out those villainous higher-ups weren't purely evil. They were just worn down by the harsh realities of the world. Once upon a time, they had been passionate doctors just like the protagonist. It was actually pretty funny.
Watching that drama made me think of Go Wonsik. His face wasn't exactly the kind you wanted to dwell on in the middle of the night. I ended up tossing and turning until dawn. Anyway, just who the hell is Go Wonsik? In one line, he's a first-generation hunter and a political hunter. Add a bit more detail, and he's a three-dimensional character who walks the line between hero and total bastard.
About thirty years ago, the Black Towers rose across the world. Inexplicable structures that periodically spewed monsters outward. Humanity sacrificed countless lives to find a way to fight back. The solution was to kill the monsters inside the towers to lower their mana density.
Go Wonsik was one of those early awakened who climbed the towers in the beginning. It's nice to call them first-generation hunters, but the truth is they were forcibly conscripted. They took hostages, families included, and did all sorts of dirty things. It's not that important, so let's move on.
Amidst piles of hunter and soldier corpses, Go Wonsik survived. To fulfill the duty of the living, he established strategies for clearing the towers and researched training methods. He even took it upon himself to lead hunter groups. Since he was already in his mid-to-late thirties when he awakened, it was only natural for him to become the elder of the group.
Around this time, Go Wonsik was treated as a hero protecting Korea. And as if responding to everyone's expectations, he threw himself even deeper into tower raids. They say he dove into hunter work like a firefighter rushing into a blazing inferno. He even climbed towers instead of staying at his family's deathbeds. From my perspective as someone living in a later generation, looking at it with a slightly cynical eye, he seemed like a man who found meaning in his life only inside those towers.
"Caw caw, in a way, it's quite a tragic life!"
That's right. Unfortunately, the hunter life he loved so much didn't last more than ten years. He lost his right hand, and that was the end of it. His aging body apparently made it too difficult to learn left-handed swordsmanship.
"A hero who shone brighter than anyone else is bound to fall miserably!"
What came after was truly pathetic. He switched to administration and helped establish the foundations of the Hunter Association, but the position of Association President was quickly stolen from him. It was the logic of power. After that, he became a politician and created all sorts of evil laws that favored hunter interests. Thanks to that, he consistently ranks in the top ten of the "Most Hated Bastards" poll chosen by non-awakened people. That's the basic profile of Go Wonsik.
I don't get it. Why does he keep sucking up to hunters like they're so great?
"Caw, humans are creatures that remain mysterious no matter how well you think you know them!"
Anyway! That's enough of the old stories. Now I need to make a bribe that will butter up Go Wonsik. What should I create?
"Didn't you already decide?"
"Your face says you've already made up your mind!"
"Yeah. I actually have a design in mind."
The moment I heard about the one-handed swordsman concept, one weapon immediately came to mind. The Arm Blade. A weapon mounted on a gauntlet or bracer with a blade attached. It's one of the few designs that can be used without gripping a hilt with your hand.
"Wow, I've seen this in a game. It was a really old game."
"Old game…."
That game is way older than Suyeon, so I have nothing to say. Well, it was famous as the weapon of choice for berserkers in that classic strategy simulation folk game. Taking some inspiration from there wouldn't be bad. If I make it so the blade extends over the back of the hand and can be used like throwing punches, it should look pretty cool.
"Shall we make a prototype first?"
I created a rough forearm protector by layering metal plates over leather. Thin iron plates were connected above it. When I put it on my right arm, I felt an awkward weight. An ordinary person would struggle quite a bit to handle it. But considering Go Wonsik's physical abilities, it probably wouldn't be too burdensome.
Whoosh— Slash!
I demonstrated thrusting and cutting motions. I tried swinging it while rotating my body, chopping downward, and striking upward. But the reactions around me were strange.
"Huh? What the?"
"Caw caw caw caw caw caw!"
"What? Why?"
"The movements… are they supposed to be like that?"
"I can definitely tell it's not swordsmanship! Caw caw!"
"……It's my first time, so it might be a little awkward."
It definitely felt different from swinging a normal sword. The center of gravity wasn't properly balanced, making it uncomfortable to handle, and the joints felt loose and unstable.
This can be fixed during the actual crafting stage.
The fact that it couldn't perform various movements was also a problem. In normal swordsmanship, you can adjust the blade's angle by twisting your wrist. But an Arm Blade can only move within the rotation range of the forearm. It's slow and restricted. A weapon with clear pros and cons. It would probably require a lot of training to master.
Still, Go Wonsik should adapt to it quickly.
The biggest problem was something else.
Clatter—
It was too inconvenient in non-combat situations. Since it couldn't be stored in a scabbard, you'd have to keep wearing it, but that long blade was incredibly cumbersome.
"Isn't it fine as long as it works when fighting?"
"Imagine getting ambushed while eating in a tower. You'd need to quickly equip the Arm Blade, but that wouldn't be easy, would it? The guy only has one hand."
"Hmm, I guess that's true…. Wouldn't it get better once he gets used to it?"
"It has to be good all the way. If even the slightest thing bothers him, he'll stop using it."
Comfort of wear was something I couldn't compromise on. It absolutely had to be comfortable. I couldn't demand that the user simply get used to it.
"Caw, what an unexpected side of you, oh bearer of offerings! I didn't expect you to put this much care into a gift for someone you hate!"
"Hate is hate, but making something is making something. I don't want to see a weapon I made treated like a piece of junk. Especially if it's for Go Wonsik, I hate it even more."
That bastard Go Wonsik would shove my weapon in a warehouse? Then complain that it's inconvenient or whatever? If that happens, even I might not be able to hold back. Even if the performance suffers a bit, I'm going to make a proper weapon.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to try making it retractable."
When I think about the creative works where Arm Blades appear, most of them can retract the blade. Berserkers only activate the blade when entering battle. Assassins draw their hidden blade to kill the target and then put it away again. Couldn't that be realistically implemented?
"Caw caw caw! Copying games? I think I chose the wrong companion!"
"Shut up."
I immediately returned to the workshop and made a large utility knife. The body was as long as a forearm, and when the blade was extended, it doubled in length.
"You push this lever to extend the blade and pull it to retract."
"What if the blade gets pushed back during a fight?"
"If you push it sideways like this, it locks in place so it won't get pushed back."
It was just a mock-up, but making it was quite troublesome. The process of creating pathways inside the gauntlet that covered the entire arm for the blade to move through. Since I'd never done it before, I got a bit lost. Still, once it was finished, I felt like I'd grown another level as a craftsman.
Ratchet— Ratchet— Click!
The blade felt properly locked in place. Making the body larger seemed to have balanced the center of gravity nicely too. When the blade was retracted, it didn't interfere with movement at all.
"Looks good. Suyeon, come at me."
"You want to fight a middle school dropout high school girl…?"
"Caw! He is a man among men!"
"No…. We still need to test it. The blade isn't even sharpened, so don't worry."
"Agh, what if my head gets split open? Fine, I get it."
Ji Suyeon swung a practice sword around. I blocked her completely powerless attacks and focused on my own movements. The sensation of horizontal cuts and forward thrusts was excellent. If I made it like this, it seemed like a pretty decent masterpiece would come out.
"Yah!"
Crack—!
…At least that's what I thought until Ji Suyeon's strike shattered the lever.
"Ouch."
"Ouch?"
"Heh, but isn't it good that we found this now? Imagine if it broke inside a tower."
She had a point. We were dealing with monsters, after all. I couldn't expect an exposed lever to be perfectly safe. I tossed the loose gauntlet onto the floor.
"Let's make something else."
Next, I used a spring. When the trigger was activated, the spring would launch the blade outward.
Whoosh—!
"Caw! What an appearance befitting an assassin from the shadows!"
"……."
"…What are you doing?"
"How do I put it back in?"
Firing something and storing what was fired turned out to be completely different matters.
The internal structure combining rails and springs. Safety mechanisms to prevent misfires. Automatic stop functions and shock-absorbing pads to prevent the gauntlet from breaking under the impact of blade deployment. Locking mechanisms to prevent arbitrary retraction. I used every bit of my intelligence to implement this complex structure. No further progress was possible.
Sigh….
I tried various other approaches too. Methods using gravity to draw and return the blade, methods using brake pads for fixation, and so on. I discarded them all.
"I'm dying here!"
I flopped down dramatically on the sofa in the forge.
"It's easier if you just give up!"
"After going this far, how can I give up?"
"They call that attitude the sunk cost fallacy."
Is that so? In the end, was I forced to settle for a non-retractable model? It left a bitter taste in my mouth. The fact that I was going through all this trouble because of that bastard Go Wonsik made it even more annoying.
It's a shame to stop here….
Should I ask the Gallery? As far as I remembered, there wasn't a craftsman particularly skilled with mechanical devices. Still, asking didn't cost money…. I opened the Gallery while still lying on the sofa.
As expected, the craftsmen were just spouting nonsense. It seemed they didn't have any brilliant ideas either.
Mana is something I only use when connecting nodes. In other words, she was telling me to imbue mana with physical force. Was that even possible?
That's the kind of thing you know instinctively without trying— Ah! I have tried it! A memory suddenly surfaced. There was that time I was too lazy to get my smartphone and reached out with a third arm. It only lifted it about 1cm, but I had definitely imbued it with physical force. Why didn't I think of that?
What the hell. Out of nowhere, class had begun.