The Heavenly Demon Rolls You (3)
When Enri first heard that Ara would teach her the Six Harmonies Great Spear, she felt a spark of anticipation. She had no idea what it was, but there was no way any martial art taught by Ara could be sloppy.
The basic direction is simply an enhancement of how you wield the spear in Apis. Keep that in mind.
Before teaching her the technique, Ara explained exactly why she had chosen this art.
I know you have no particular talent for moving your body.
Even after desperate effort in Apis, Enri had never managed to escape the correction system. There was no chance she would be skilled at handling her own body. That was precisely why Ara placed the great spear in her hands. A weapon that could strike from a long distance created its own safety and advantage.
The reason I’m teaching you the Six Harmonies Great Spear is the same. It’s far better to drill the fundamentals to death than to learn something complicated.
Ara demonstrated the technique after speaking. What Enri felt upon seeing it was disappointment. Of course, the spearmanship Ara displayed was beautiful. The way she handled the three-meter spear as lightly as her own limbs, moving it with effortless grace, made her look like a celestial maiden descended from heaven. The slow yet flowing movements of the spear, the black hair and long robes fluttering in their wake—the sight was a work of art in itself.
Yet the Six Harmonies Great Spear itself looked far too simple and crude. What kind of martial technique only had three moves? The spearmanship Enri used in Apis easily surpassed ten distinct movements.
Her disappointment must have shown on her face. Ara gave a bitter smile, took the spear back, and demonstrated something else.
This time the sight was completely different from what she had shown earlier. The gap between movements meant for teaching and movements meant for actual combat. She hadn’t prepared anything special. She simply stamped her foot and thrust the spear forward.
The result was anything but ordinary.
The massive, seemingly sluggish three-meter spear pierced the air with a scream as it shot forward. Laden with weight and speed, it left aftershocks on the distant ground. If it had struck a person, the wound wouldn’t have been a simple hole—the struck area would have been torn apart.
Simple, therefore powerful.
Enri recalled Ara’s earlier words and shuddered.
After finishing the demonstration, Ara returned and handed the spear back to her. Now I get to learn it? Enri’s eyes burned with motivation, but what came out of Ara’s mouth was completely different.
Let’s learn it with your body.
Déjà vu washed over her. It was exactly like the memory of desperately rolling in Apis to reach Diamond rank, getting beaten again and again without mercy.
Enri frantically insisted that she already understood how incredible the Six Harmonies Great Spear was, but Ara ignored her. The semi-forced sparring began, and Enri’s ominous premonition became reality exactly as expected.
“Keuk!”
Struck by the spear shaft and sent flying, Enri tumbled through the air before face-planting into the dirt. She had no desire to get up. It was VR, so there was almost no physical fatigue or pain, but her mind was so exhausted she couldn’t move.
“Now do you understand what kind of martial art the Six Harmonies Great Spear is?”
“...”
“If you don’t answer, I’ll have to force you up.”
“I get it! I understand!”
The moment Ara issued the warning, Enri shot to her feet and raised her voice. It was superhuman willpower born from not wanting to endure any more of that hellish, horrific training.
Ara chuckled at the sight of Enri’s wide-eyed expression.
“Then explain it to me.”
“The Six Harmonies Great Spear is selfish.”
After being hit by the spear multiple times, that was what she had realized. It wasn’t a technique meant for exchanging moves with an opponent. Once it seized the initiative, it never let go—pressuring, pressuring, and pressuring again until the opponent crumbled. If you couldn’t handle it, you would be forced into endless defense until your breath was choked off and you collapsed. Simply put, it was like a child throwing a tantrum. I’m going to attack, but you don’t get to attack. Just defend while I attack until you fall over. The Six Harmonies Great Spear was the martial art that had turned that childish joke into reality.
When Enri explained her realization, Ara narrowed one eye slightly.
Are you surprised?
“Correct. The Six Harmonies Great Spear is built on the principle that attack is the best defense. Suppress the opponent with the first strike. If that fails, seize the momentum and drive them down until you win. That is the root of this art. You understood it surprisingly quickly.”
At Ara’s rare words of admiration, Enri’s shoulders straightened proudly.
Hehe. Miss Ara! I’m not going to stay stuck in place forever! After rolling under you for months, I can at least figure this much out!
She seemed to have already forgotten that she had been rolling desperately until moments ago. Ara listened quietly as Enri chattered away in excitement.
At first Enri babbled nonstop, but that only lasted a moment. Normally Ara would have cut her off, but seeing her simply stare in silence made Enri uneasy. She stopped talking and glanced nervously at Ara’s expression.
“Um… Miss Hwaryeong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“What’s wrong with my eyes?”
“They look like you’re staring at an interesting new toy…”
“Oh. That’s accurate too.”
Enri swallowed hard at Ara’s exclamation.
Accurate? Miss Ara, what exactly do you mean by that?
When Ara stepped closer, Enri instinctively retreated a step from the inexplicable sense of danger, but it was already too late. Ara had closed the distance and grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Seeing you chatter away like that, it seems you’re still overflowing with energy.”
“No! That’s not it! I have no strength! I feel like I’m about to collapse! I’m serious!”
“Everyone shut up! I’m being serious right now!”
If she chose the wrong option here, she would fall straight into the abyss! They were making her nervous—couldn’t they just stay quiet? The thought that one wrong move would mean rolling until she fainted inside the VR gear made Enri raise her voice in panic, but that was a mistake. She had just given the demon standing right beside her the perfect justification.
“Now, Enri. Stop wasting your energy shouting and let’s continue training. You want to learn the spearmanship quickly too, don’t you?”
“Miss Hwaryeong?! I have a schedule tomorrow! If I don’t sleep now, I won’t—”
“No! Hey! What did I ever do to you?! I paid your salary and bonuses properly!”
Enri couldn’t say a word in response to the sponsorship filled with her editor’s resentment. There were far too many things that hit home.
“Oh. Your editor says you have plenty of leeway. Perfect.”
With every possible excuse stripped away, Enri could only let out a hollow laugh in front of Ara’s smile.
There was no escape from this hell. What made it worse was that she had chosen this hell herself. She was the one who had first asked Ara to teach her martial arts—how could she possibly say she didn’t want to do it now?
“Mr. Haneul. Just you wait. I’m an extremely petty person, you know.”
I’ll make you pay dearly for feeding your boss shit! Just you wait!
*
“I can’t! I caaaan’t! Just kill me instead!”
Enri collapsed to the floor once again. It really had been a long session. Including the previous torment, she had spent more time than during her old grinding days in Apis. If someone asked whether the results were significant… it was ambiguous. Very ambiguous. Hmm.
Teaching martial arts without the help of the correction system was indeed difficult. There were many problems, but the biggest issue was teaching her the footwork that formed the foundation of Eight Extremes Fist. The power of that art began with the stamping of the foot. Only the overwhelming force derived from it could create the fierce continuous barrage that left opponents struggling just to defend.
The current Enri could not connect those steps naturally. It was only to be expected. Originally this was something that required long periods of training to build a foundation. Succeeding immediately would have earned her the title of genius.
“That is correct.”
To Enri, this world was ultimately just entertainment and a game. The training she was undergoing now was merely preparation for that enjoyment. Someone who wished to devote their life to martial arts would be able to accept such hardship, but Enri was not that kind of person.
“Enri.”
“I can’t! I really can’t move anymore! I’m seriously—”
“That’s not what I’m saying.”
“…Then what?”
“Use the correction system once and perform the Six Harmonies Great Spear for me.”
When I told her to use the correction, Enri stopped flailing and stared at me blankly. It seemed she hadn’t expected me to suggest it first.
“Am I really that talentless?”
“It has nothing to do with that. I simply want to see it once.”
“You’re not even going to deny that I have no talent?”
“You already know the answer to that better than anyone.”
Enri pouted and grumbled before standing up and taking her stance again. She must have activated the correction. Her posture looked far more refined. It was still far from perfect, but at least it was human.
“Should I start?”
“Yes.”
The first move was a powerful thrust that followed a heavy stamp of the foot. Then a sweeping strike the moment it was dodged. Attack. Attack. And more attacks.
Perhaps because she had rolled so desperately earlier, her understanding of the art itself was decent. Maybe it was thanks to what she had learned in Apis before, but she also knew how to make use of her advantages. There were still many shortcomings because she didn’t understand the principles of martial arts and simply let her body follow the flow, but since the Six Harmonies Spear was inherently simple, it created fewer problems than other arts.
This should be fine.
Having confirmed everything I needed to see, I grabbed the shaft of Enri’s spear and stopped her.
“Let’s not erase the correction system from your mind completely. Turn it off while training to learn the fundamentals of martial arts, and turn it on when experiencing real combat. That should work.”
Gradually reducing the influence of the correction while increasing her own ratio would be the right path.
While I was nodding to myself, Enri carefully watched my expression. I could tell what she wanted to ask.
“Let’s end training here. You worked hard.”
“It’s over! It’s finally over! So I can go rest now, right?!”
“No.”
What was she talking about? The most important part was still left.
“Enri. Don’t you want to take what you’ve practiced so desperately and apply it in real combat?”
If you’ve learned something, you should try using it at least once. Come, let’s go experience real combat.