Whisper of the Spiral (2)
A clear morning.
“Hah!”
With a youthful shout of effort, the girl kicked off the ground.
It was Yoon Seo-a.
The once-frail body had grown healthy, and the wooden sword in her hand no longer looked awkward.
When you breathe in, draw the earth’s energy up through the soles of your feet. When you breathe out, push your body forward with that force. Your feet are not stuck to the ground—they merely brush past it.
She was practicing the silence of the Swimming Step, turning over the advice Hyun Si-woon had given her.
A silvery-white aura was rising from her body.
Heavenly Yin Body.
That legendary talent meant that teaching her one thing let her grasp ten, and those ten spawned a hundred more.
Shhhk.
Before long, the sound vanished from Yoon Seo-a’s footsteps. She walked as a cat walks, crossing dry leaves without so much as a rustle.
Good.
A satisfied smile touched her lips.
Now I thrust.
Her gaze fixed on the scarecrow standing alone in the middle of the training ground—specifically, the head, where a vital point would be.
Moon Point.
Ssshk.
Her body slid forward without a sound.
Pssht.
A flash of silvery-white light cut the air. With a clean sound, the wooden sword pierced straight through the center of the head.
That was not the end. The energy condensed at the tip of the blade exploded outward, ripping the scarecrow’s head apart from the inside.
Crump.
Straw and splinters of wood scattered in every direction.
A seamless link from footwork into swordsmanship.
“Whoa.”
“Damn…”
A simultaneous gasp of admiration rose from the young men and women watching nearby. They were the few remaining youths of the village, the ones who had thrown themselves into fieldwork after the world collapsed.
“How does someone that small move like that? I thought I was watching an action movie.”
“I heard she’s training under Master Hyun Si-woon. Think we could learn to do that too?”
“…Right? Even a kid that young can do it. Why couldn’t we?”
In truth, they had plenty of complaints.
Thunk.
One young man drove his hoe into the earth and spoke.
“How long are we supposed to keep plowing fields? Wake up, plow. Eat lunch, plow. Eat dinner, sleep. Is this a human life or a cow’s?”
“Still… I’ve heard a lot of people out there envy us.”
He was not wrong. In this hell of a world, simply having three warm meals a day and a safe place to stretch out both legs at night was already something to be grateful for.
But still…
“I want to try climbing the Tower at least once. You’ve only got one life. I can’t just dig potatoes until I die of old age.”
“Same. Feels like we’re living as extras.”
Extras.
That single word drove into the young people’s chests like a dagger. Every night they dreamed of becoming Climbers, of living like the hero they admired—Master Hyun Si-woon—receiving respect and honor.
“So… we climb the Tower?”
“If I tell Mom, she won’t leave a single strip of skin on my back…”
“Haaah.”
They sighed and watched Yoon Seo-a train. Their dreams were clearly pointed beyond the safe fence—toward the Tower that burned brilliantly even as it was dangerous. To them the Tower was not despair. It was hope.
On one side of the training ground, beneath the shade of a tree, another pair watched Yoon Seo-a’s practice in silence.
Hyun Si-woon and Ha-wol.
— Heavens. The completeness of her footwork is on another level entirely.
— As expected of the Heavenly Yin Body. She has elevated the Swimming Step beyond mere technique into the realm of art. It may look unimpressive now, but once she builds enough internal energy, it will be formidable.
True enough.
Hyun Si-woon nodded. He admitted it. If he himself was an exceptionally gifted human practicing hard in a swimming pool, Yoon Seo-a was a fish. No matter how diligently you practiced swimming, you could never catch a creature born to live in water.
— You could send her into the Tower. She will clear the first floor without trouble.
Hmm.
At those words, Hyun Si-woon’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
The question of sending Yoon Seo-a into the Tower was the problem that had been giving him the most headaches lately.
I have to send her… but with whom?
That was the real issue. Because of the nature of the Tower of Despair, once a party formed, it tended to stay together to the end. Just look at their own climbing party. Bonds once formed went beyond simple comradeship and became a community of shared life and death.
Yoon Seo-a was his first disciple. Her potential was limitless—enough, perhaps, to reach the very end of the Moon Spirit Divine Art. He could not entrust a jewel like her to just anyone. Ideally, he wanted to pair her with people talented enough to stand at the summit of the Tower after him.
Should he form a second-generation climbing party?
If he did, would he need to hold interviews?
Or… should they just found a guild of their own and recruit second-generation members that way?
His head was a tangle of thoughts.
First things first.
Hyun Si-woon shook his head.
I can think about that later.
He walked to another open stretch of ground and settled into stance. He had confirmed that Yoon Seo-a was growing well. Now it was his turn.
Ssshk.
Hyun Si-woon unfolded the Moon Shadow Step.
The first to react was Undine, spreading a thin membrane of water beneath his feet.
Shhhrrrk!
His body glided across the frictionless ground, far faster than before.
— Hmm?
Ha-wol’s eyes narrowed.
Taat!
Hyun Si-woon’s body shot into the air.
Moon Shadow Step.
Second Step.
Crescent Moon Step.
Treading the Void!
At the very moment he attempted the still-unfamiliar midair step, Gnome made a fist-sized foothold erupt from the earth beneath him.
Thud!
He pushed off that platform for a second leap, and his body hung in the air higher and far more stably than before.
— Mixing spirits into swordsmanship? Are you playing clever tricks?
There was an edge in Ha-wol’s voice. The martial arts of the Moon Spirit were perfect in themselves. Mixing in clumsy odds and ends could only muddy the essence.
But Hyun Si-woon did not stop. The instant he landed he swung his sword. Cassa, who had been circling the blade, layered it with flame, while the wind Sylph raised gave the strike wings.
Fwoosh!
An ordinary sword stroke transformed into a destructive blow that carried both fire and wind pressure.
— Y-you little—!
If you mix fire into the Moon Spirit, is that still the Moon Spirit? Isn’t that the Sun Spirit?
Wait.
A faint tremor passed through her eyes.
But why does it look stronger?
Hyun Si-woon’s movements were far from orthodox. The footwork that used the spirits was cunning; the swordsmanship was bizarre. Yet every one of those eccentric motions flowed together as if they had always been a single art, as if the martial art had been created that way from the beginning.
…Come to think of it.
Ha-wol suddenly realized something.
What I am teaching this brat right now is not orthodox Moon Spirit either, is it?
The true orthodox path was being passed only to Yoon Seo-a. What she taught Hyun Si-woon was a version she herself had freely altered to fit him. If Seo-a walked the royal road of orthodoxy, Si-woon walked something closer to the unorthodox path.
Should I just leave him be?
The hardness left Ha-wol’s face. She looked at her disciple Hyun Si-woon again. A boy born with keen senses. A boy better at using and breaking rules than following them. Forcing orthodoxy on someone like that might be the foolish choice.
Well.
If Yoon Seo-a was the one who would see the end of the Moon Spirit… then Hyun Si-woon might be the one who would have to stand above the Moon Spirit itself.
Ha-wol looked back over the years. Among all the Climbers she had known—even among the Rankers—had there ever been anyone who moved with such strange, overwhelming force as Hyun Si-woon?
No. Not a single one.
Even she, once called Lord of the Moon and Sword God, had only ever reached fifteenth place. And this brat? He was climbing the Tower more perfectly, and more cleverly, than she ever had. The depth of his potential was beyond measuring.
Perhaps…
Trying to lock a being of such infinite possibility inside the frame of her own Moon Spirit might itself be arrogance. It might only be chaining his wings.
This brat might become a monster who surpassed even the Tower Lord.
Ha-wol’s eyes changed. She decided to respect Hyun Si-woon’s choice.
— Fine.
A low murmur of admiration left her lips.
— Perhaps this is for the best.
There was no longer any rebuke in her voice—only pure interest and expectation.
— Stop wasting time on things like archery. Instead, melt that bizarre spirit art of yours into your sword and your footwork. That will become the Moon Spirit that only you can create. This is an excellent attempt.
The Spirit Kings they had seen this time… if those beings were later woven into Moon Spirit sword techniques, what kind of grotesque destructive power might be born? Ha-wol’s body trembled of its own accord at the thought.
Is that so?
At Ha-wol’s praise a faint smile curved Hyun Si-woon’s mouth. He had simply tried whatever came to mind, yet it felt as though his path had been confirmed as the right one.
He adjusted his grip on the sword once more. Together with the four spirits, he began to sink deeply into the new realm of martial arts that only he could create.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Noon on the day of the promise with Yoo Jin-hyeok.
The ruined Gwanghwamun Plaza lay deathly quiet. The long shadows of collapsed buildings stretched across the ground; weeds that had pushed up through cracks in the asphalt swayed desolately in the wind.
Hyun Si-woon arrived at the plaza exactly on time. Far ahead stood the massive statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and a man leaned against it with his back.
Yoo Jin-hyeok.
A faint smile touched Hyun Si-woon’s lips. He was exactly the kind of man who would have led the Republic of Korea’s vanguard if Hyun Si-woon himself had never existed. Even after the crushing defeat in the raid, his presence still cut like a blade.
Tap. Tap.
Hyun Si-woon made no effort to hide his approach. Sensing him, Yoo Jin-hyeok straightened and turned with a welcoming face.
“You’ve come. Pioneer… or should I call you Master Hyun Si-woon?”
“Whatever is comfortable for you. How long have you been waiting?”
“I arrived about an hour early.”
“Diligent of you.”
“I could hardly keep a person of importance waiting. As promised, I came alone.”
Yoo Jin-hyeok’s manner was meticulously respectful. Hyun Si-woon observed him for a moment, then went straight to the point.
“Good. Let’s start by verifying the information fee. What exactly is this change after the tenth floor that you claim to know?”
At the question Yoo Jin-hyeok bowed once more. Before coming here he had repeated the words to himself hundreds of times; now he gathered every scrap of courage to speak them.
The information he was about to reveal… was something even his own party members did not know. Perhaps he was the only one on the entire Korean server who possessed it.
But to disclose it, the listener had to be someone worthy.
So he said:
“Before that… could I ask you to confirm just one thing first?”
“Confirm?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
“Master Hyun Si-woon… you are EndSeeker, are you not?”