Secondary Profession (1)

It was early dawn.

Long before the sun rose, Hyun Si-woon was already out on the training grounds.

He had spent the previous day resting, sorting through his thoughts until they settled into a single conclusion.

For now, focus only on becoming stronger than I am.

In any case, he would not be reaching the eleventh floor for a while. Access remained sealed until the Server War ended. He remembered how, in the last regression, that same restriction had left the members floating aimlessly with nothing to do. Fairness was probably the reason—yet it still felt unexpected.

Hyun Si-woon had fully expected the Tower of Despair to be so brutal that almost no one would clear even the tenth floor. Instead, eight nations had managed it in a mere nine months.

Well, the environment is completely different now.

A wry smile touched his lips. In the past, the Tower of Despair had been a game for a tiny handful of masochistic enthusiasts—mercilessly difficult, unforgiving, and designed exclusively for the twisted few who thrived on extreme challenge. Including the EndSeeker he once was, the people who had devoted their entire lives to it could be counted on one hand across the whole world.

Now everything had changed. This was no longer a hobby; it was a matter of survival. With tens of billions of people forcibly thrown into the game, the sample size had exploded beyond comparison. Hidden talent was bound to surface among that throng—athletes, soldiers, or ordinary students who would never have known the Tower even existed in the old days, yet who now revealed monstrous aptitude one after another.

There will be those who stumbled into fortuitous encounters as well.

Just as he himself had done, anyone could accidentally discover a hidden route or claim a powerful item. He had also heard of people receiving a Ranker’s help for various reasons. Factoring in every one of those variables, nine months almost seemed too long.

None of it matters.

The world could be vast and filled with monsters; Hyun Si-woon was simply a greater monster. He no longer swam in the same waters. Competition with other Ascenders was not even a consideration. His gaze had already moved past the beings who merely administered the Tower’s rules.

If even Rankers were still bound to move within those rules… then he intended to question the rules themselves and dig down to their very source.

“Hoo.”

He stared into empty air. From this moment he would begin testing the skill Experience Imprint.

Accumulate experience and enlightenment through specific actions…

Then the answer was simple.

Ultimate techniques.

Shrring!

Without the slightest hesitation, Hyun Si-woon drew the Formless Sword. It was the technique he had polished most fiercely and most often over the past three years—the first ultimate of Moon Spirit Swordsmanship.

Swaaah…

He closed his eyes and settled into stance. The sensation of drawing energy from his dantian and condensing it into a single point at the sword’s tip—pure, piercing, absolute. Moon Spirit Swordsmanship. First Form: Flash.

Spaaat!

A silver-white beam of light split the pre-dawn darkness and punched through empty air. The strike was nearly perfect. Yet the system gave no response at all.

“….”

Hyun Si-woon did not frown. Instead a faint smile curved his lips.

Still crude, is that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it?

Interesting. This skill called Experience Imprint was not merely counting repetitions. It was clearly measuring the completeness of the act itself.

“Good.”

Let’s see how far this goes.

He took his stance again. He thrust, and thrust again. Dozens of times, hundreds of times. Even after the sun rose and the members began appearing one by one in the training grounds, his movements never ceased. Like a machine, he repeated the identical motion with obsessive precision that allowed not even a single millimeter of error.

And at last, in the fleeting instant when his consciousness sank into absolute focus and sword, body, and mind became one—

Spaaaaaat!

A light of pure, dazzling brilliance far beyond anything previous erupted outward. At the same moment the long-awaited message rang through his mind.

“Flash.”

“Imprint.”

“Hooo.”

His chest swelled with exhilaration. He immediately opened the skill window and activated the newly registered skill. The moment he willed it, the energy in his dantian condensed at the sword tip at a speed incomparable to before—like racing down a perfectly paved highway. Internal energy consumption was halved; power was doubled.

Sqwaaaaaah!

The sword aura that split the air punched clean through the steel scarecrow standing at the far end of the training ground. The size of the hole alone was on another level.

“Hoh.”

A murmur of admiration slipped from Ha-wol, who had been watching.

“What a truly insane class. The Flash that even this lady marveled at for its perfection… has grown stronger through artificial force.”

“It really is good, isn’t it?”

Hyun Si-woon’s eyes blazed. This was only the beginning. He took his stance once more—this time adding the power of the spirits.

Flash Fire. Flash Water.

A technique that layered spirit power onto Flash! He began with Fire. Again and again he attempted to condense the Salamander’s flame at the sword tip. It was far from easy. Yet because he had already refined Flash to near perfection, after dozens of attempts he finally grasped a comparable sensation.

“Flash Fire.”

“Yes.”

“Nice.”

He activated it without hesitation.

Sqwaarrrrk!

A crimson comet tore through the air and melted the steel scarecrow completely. Its power far surpassed ordinary Flash.

Hyun Si-woon paused to think. If Fire already reached this level, was there any reason left to use plain Flash? He had only ten slots. He needed to consider carefully how to use limited resources.

“Delete skill, Flash.”

Inferior versions were unnecessary. He would fill all ten slots only with stronger, more efficient skills.

He threw himself back into training. Next he registered and tested Flash Water, which added the power of water; Flash Wind, which added the power of wind; and Flash Earth, which added the power of earth. Each skill possessed its own unique traits. Water flowed smoothly to pierce the opponent, Wind was faster still, and Earth delivered crushing impact.

And later…

Hyun Si-woon’s gaze deepened.

I will imprint True Flash.

That would be the ultimate strike waiting at the end of this path. Ten slots? His final goal was to fill seven of them with the True versions of the Seven Ultimates of Moon Spirit Swordsmanship.

The remaining three will be footwork.

Moon Spirit Steps consisted of three steps and nine variations. First Step, Drifting Shadow Step, was composed of Silence, Afterimage, and New Moon Step—techniques he could already execute at a perfect level. Second Step, Manifest Moon Step, consisted of Void Step, Phantom Dance, and Reverse Step. Originally he had only been able to learn Void Step, but after reaching the Full Moon realm he could now attempt Phantom Dance and Reverse Step as well.

And finally…

Third Step, Moon God Step. The ultimate footwork of Moon Spirit Divine Art that even Ha-wol had barely mastered: Earth Shrink, Heaven Flight, and Falling Moon. Registering those three would be the goal…

Though who knows.

Hyun Si-woon was already walking the heretical path of mixing spirit power into Moon Spirit arts. He might seek out True versions of those as well and blend them in. In other words, the road ahead was still very long.

One step at a time.

For an entire week Hyun Si-woon did nothing but eat and train. As a result he filled nine of the slots.

“Hwaaah.”

For the first time in a week he threw himself onto the bed. Every joint seemed to scream, yet his mind was clearer than it had ever been. Nine skills—the fruit of a week of manic obsession.

“What a truly grotesque brat. When it comes to training alone, you are more tenacious than any martial artist this lady has ever seen.”

Ha-wol’s voice dripped with open exasperation.

Well, this much is normal.

Hyun Si-woon had merely moved as he always did—exactly as he once had when he stayed up night after night dissecting the Tower of Despair.

He rested thoroughly for a full day. After that he decided to check the martial arts of the members and his disciple Yoon Seo-a. Having raced alone for a week, it was time to look after them as well.

“Hyeong-nim! You’ve arrived!”

“Si-woon, you’re here?”

They greeted him warmly.

“Hoo… haah!”

The training grounds burned with heat—bodies pouring sweat, breaths being expelled in sharp bursts.

“What, everyone’s working hard?”

At those words the members wore peculiar expressions.

“To be honest… it’s because of you, Hyeong-nim.”

“Even if we try to rest, how can we? When the leader himself is swinging a sword like a madman from dawn till night, how are we supposed to stretch out our legs and sleep?”

“You’re already strong—how much further are you trying to pull ahead of us?”

They had been stimulated. Afraid of falling behind, they too were struggling desperately to grow stronger. It was a good sign.

“Everyone, take your stances. I’ll take a look. Seo-a, you come over here too.”

Hyun Si-woon broke down each of their movements one by one and did not spare a single piece of advice.

That night Hyun Si-woon decided to tackle the final remaining task.

Blacksmith.

For the three months until the Server War began, he intended to grind the secondary profession thoroughly.

Shrrk.

Hyun Si-woon opened the Low-grade Hammer blueprint stored in his inventory. The crafting method was written in a tangled mess, along with the required materials:

Sturdy Iron Ingot × 3

Tough Wooden Handle × 1

Low-grade Hardener × 1

Iron ingots can be made by smelting iron ore. I can ask Hwang Dae-un for the wooden handles. Low-grade hardener from Noona Do-hee.

Hyun Si-woon clutched his head.

Right… it was always like this.

Already he needed the other members’ help. For the moment it did not really matter—he could simply use the junk that dropped from monsters and was already circulating on the market. But that would only be temporary.

In the end, for me to grind more efficiently…

He would also have to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raise the members’ secondary profession levels.

Hyun Si-woon immediately sought out Park Du-shik of Midas’s Hand. The man had furnished a proper office; the atmosphere was quiet and orderly. Practical stacks of documents lined the desk, and one wall displayed the current TC reserves and material stockpiles of their group.

“Boss, you’ve arrived.”

“Yes, ajusshi. I have something to discuss.”

“Yes, sir! Anything at all!”

“It’s about time we start using the materials we’ve been stockpiling.”

“Uuuhahaha! At last! My inventory was so full it was making me dizzy—please, take as much as you want and use it freely!”

Even Hyun Si-woon stuck out his tongue at the sheer quantity listed.

“That’s… a lot.”

“Yes. Especially recently the market has been exploding with goods. Ever since Miss Jang Cha-yul started operating as the Dragon Savior, the level of domestic Ascenders seems to have jumped; they’re hunting a great many more monsters.”

“Low-grade hardener… ten thousand of them?”

Hyun Si-woon let out a hollow laugh.

“First give me some iron ore, wooden handles, and hardener.”

“Understood.”

“And from now on, if any of the members request materials, support them without question. If they ask you to procure something, no matter how much TC it costs, make it top priority.”

“Haha, of course!”

Hyun Si-woon bowed in thanks, collected the materials, and left.

Now the real grinding time began.