Swordsmanship Training (4)
Hyun Si-woon had never been particularly kind by nature.
If anything, he leaned toward the realistic and cold-blooded end of the spectrum.
Even when the Rupture Ghosts appeared, he had simply watched in silence, figuring it was a fight they had chosen for themselves.
But.
Two variables had cropped up.
First, two Rupture Ghosts had shown up at once.
Second, Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo had fled.
On top of that.
Kang Si-a, even in a situation where she could have run, firmly chose to raise her bow.
That stirred something deep in Hyun Si-woon's resolve.
I should help them.
Of course, it wasn't purely emotional.
Across several of his regressions, Baek Do-hee had always fought Yu Jae-jun to keep him alive. Baek Yeon-ho was a likable streamer he had watched consistently as a kid, and Kang Si-a was a proven talent who also seemed to have a sense of loyalty.
The kind of people he would definitely want on his team if he ever formed one.
They were clearly too valuable a hand to simply let die here. He judged they were worth the investment.
"Kang Si-a! I told you to run!"
"Focus! I'll handle my own affairs just fine!"
"You idiot!"
A thunderous BOOM split the air.
The Rupture Ghost's tumor finally burst.
"Ghk—!"
That horrific toxic miasma flooded straight into Baek Yeon-ho's lungs.
"Hah— hah—!"
He had already been running for some time, his stamina draining bit by bit; with the poison on top of it, every breath grew harder.
This was the end.
Yu Jae-jun.
Because of that bastard, was this really how his life would end?
Even as he ran, Baek Yeon-ho tried to locate Baek Do-hee and Kang Si-a again—
Huh?
In the distance, a single figure was walking toward them, sword in hand, utterly quiet.
That person…
A familiar face.
The one I saw back on the Tower's second floor…!
Even amid the superheated air, his steps were strangely calm and unhurried—despite walking straight into a place where two Rupture Ghosts were tearing everything apart.
"Huh?"
"Si-woon?"
Kang Si-a and Baek Do-hee recognized him as well.
How he had gotten here was a mystery, but one thing was certain!
"It's dangerous over here!"
Baek Do-hee shouted, but Hyun Si-woon did not answer. More precisely, he was too focused on the Rupture Ghosts to hear her.
It was easy in the game, but this is reality now.
And yet… why did it feel so good?
As he walked, Hyun Si-woon raised his sword at a diagonal.
"W-wait—!"
Baek Yeon-ho, who had been working hard to hold the aggro, went white.
He couldn't do that. The core was still yellow; if he closed into melee range like that and a rupture went off, it would be over instantly.
"You can't do that!"
"Baek Yeon-ho."
"Y-yes…?"
"Get clear. I'll handle these two."
"No, how are you even—"
"Now."
The final word landed like a command, and Baek Yeon-ho found himself stepping back before he realized it.
It was absurd. Facing both of them alone? The man was an Ascender who had only just cleared the second floor with the rest of them!
Step. Step.
Hyun Si-woon's strides never faltered. As if the grotesque forms of the Rupture Ghosts meant nothing at all, he walked right up and flicked his blade against the core at one creature's foot with a sharp shhk.
And the result?
— GROOOAAAR!
The aggro that had been locked on Baek Yeon-ho snapped straight to Hyun Si-woon.
"W-what are you doing?!"
"Baek Yeon-ho. I know you're a veteran. Truth is, I used to be part of the Yeon-ho Corps."
The Yeon-ho Corps—the fan-group name for the regulars who watched Baek Yeon-ho's streams.
"But that isn't how you take down a Rupture Ghost."
— GROOOAAAAAR!
Hyun Si-woon brought his sword to the remaining Rupture Ghost's core as well, and both monsters' gazes locked onto him at once. At the same moment, the eyes of both beasts began to burn a furious red.
"Th-this is—!"
Baek Yeon-ho was stunned.
The Rupture Ghost's second pattern: Berserk Charge!
To dodge that, you had to drop your weapon and run. And if it wasn't one but two charging at the same time? A single mistimed step meant death.
And yet—
"W-what are you doing right now?!"
That man refused to let go of his sword. If anything, he tightened his grip and glared straight at the Rupture Ghosts—clearly intending to meet them head-on.
"Uh… uh…"
Baek Do-hee froze as well, unsure whether this could possibly be right.
Fwhip, fwhip!
Kang Si-a loosed arrows in a frantic hurry. She even managed to land shots on their eyes, hoping the red might fade if she hit them hard enough.
But—
KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAAASH!
One of the Rupture Ghosts, not even reacting to the arrows, charged straight at Hyun Si-woon.
"Hoo."
Hyun Si-woon let out a breath.
Other veterans might not know it, but he did: when a Rupture Ghost charged, a razor-thin gap opened—just enough to slip through.
A kind of dash counter.
At the exact right moment, you could slide past in a dash and land a critical hit at the same time.
Just like this…!
Shhhk!
Hyun Si-woon's body snapped sideways as if on rails. Pivoting on the tip of his foot at a perfect angle, he raked his blade across the Rupture Ghost's lower weak point as it thundered past.
Shhk!
At the same instant—
KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAAASH!
—the second one came barreling in. He dodged it the same way, carving the exact same spot, at the exact same depth, at the exact same angle.
And if I do this…
He could stoke their rage even higher.
It was reverse thinking. Where veterans carefully measured distance and chipped away with safe harassment, a true rotten-water player just smashed straight through the front.
— GROOOAAAR!
— GROOOOOAAAAAR!
Both Rupture Ghosts prepared another Berserk Charge. Once you hit the weak point, that was the only pattern they used.
And from that moment on, Hyun Si-woon's mad movie began.
Against beasts that had lost all reason from successive strikes to their vitals, he displayed movements of pure elegance.
Shhhk!
Even in moments so close that cloth brushed past, Hyun Si-woon's expression never changed. The path of his blade sought maximum efficiency with the absolute minimum of motion, pouring on nonstop extreme damage.
Insane.
From a distance, Baek Yeon-ho could only stare in shock. He had never imagined a swordsman would fight Rupture Ghosts in pure melee range. Even if he had seen it in a game, he wouldn't have believed it—and here the man was replicating it in reality. Not against one, but against two.
Just what is this guy?
It felt like he had eyes on the back of his head. As if he had already predicted every movement the Rupture Ghosts would make and was dodging without even looking.
How many times did you have to fight them for something like that to become possible?
Whoosh!
And every motion was subtly different. Where he had slid into a dash before, now he dipped his body slightly and, with a reverse grip, carved straight through a glowing-red core.
— KHWOOOK!
Against the panicking Rupture Ghost, he swung his sword like a man possessed.
Impossible.
Baek Yeon-ho was completely lost for words. The display was so dazzling that even Baek Do-hee and Kang Si-a stood with their mouths open.
Minimum movement. Every footfall, every angle of the waist—there was not a single wasted motion. It looked as if the same actions had been carved into his body through tens or hundreds of thousands of repetitions over a vast stretch of time.
That isn't the realm of a veteran.
The strategy Baek Yeon-ho knew—keeping a safe distance, reading the color of the core, and responding to each pattern—existed on an entirely different level from this. This wasn't merely accepting risk; it was diving into the heart of danger and rewriting the board itself.
This is the realm of pure rotten water.
Something fundamentally different from any strategy he had ever known—a stage where every variable was twisted purely for efficiency.
And through it all, Hyun Si-woon's sword never stopped.
Charge, dodge, cut.
Charge, dodge, cut.
As if following a predetermined choreography, his movements only grew more fluid. The Rupture Ghosts' thrashing became larger and wilder, but that only opened more gaps for him.
And then—
— GROOOOOAAAAAR!
Both Rupture Ghosts' bodies began to turn a deep violet.
The final pattern that erupted when a Rupture Ghost was about to die—a last, desperate thrash!
"Deadly Poison Breath!"
"Hmm."
Hyun Si-woon cracked a small grin. Until now he had been fully focused, but once it reached this stage, it was ninety-nine percent over. He could finally afford a little room to breathe.
Not entirely satisfied, though.
With his original character, he would have finished them faster. But this was reality—he had moved more carefully, and his body still didn't fully keep up.
Still, it's clearly better than before.
Even in that short span of training, he was already seeing the results.
"Y-you're incredible, but now you really have to dodge! They're about to spew poison in a cone—even a graze will melt your entire body!"
"It's fine."
In Hyun Si-woon's mind, the exact directions both Rupture Ghosts would vent their poison were already mapped out. Kill something a few thousand times and you simply absorb it.
"If I stand right here, it won't hit me."
"What do you mean…"
Between the two Rupture Ghosts thrashing as they prepared to unleash their poison, Hyun Si-woon simply stood there, perfectly calm.
And then—
KWOOOOOOOOSH!
A massive torrent of poison erupted.
Yet not a single drop touched the spot where Hyun Si-woon stood. It was a perfect blind spot.
And.
Right after they finished spewing, the Rupture Ghosts revealed their greatest weakness: the central core lay completely exposed.
"Kang Si-a!"
Hyun Si-woon called out. He could have finished them himself, but that would mean leaping upward through those filthy tumors. Faster just to let the bow handle it.
I should learn archery soon too.
Hyun Si-woon could use every weapon. If his bow skill had been solid, he would have drawn one right then and put arrows through the cores himself.
And, as expected, Kang Si-a's instincts were razor-sharp.
Thuk. Thunk!
Fast and precise. Two arrows flew, each piercing a Rupture Ghost's central core.
"Nice. That's how it's done."
The instant the arrows buried themselves—
— GROOOOOAAAAAR!
— GROOOAAAR!
The Rupture Ghosts' hideous death cries tore across the battlefield.
Krrrk-krrrk-krrrk!
Cracks spiderwebbed out from around the cores, and the disgusting masses of flesh that formed their bodies began to slough away without strength.
And at the center of it all stood Hyun Si-woon, sword hanging loosely at his side, sweat running down his face.
Grade 7 Monster, Rupture Ghost, has been eliminated.
Reward based on contribution assessment has arrived.
You have obtained 85 TC.
Grade 7 Monster, Rupture Ghost, has been eliminated.
Reward based on contribution assessment has arrived.
You have obtained 91 TC.
"Hoo."
Hyun Si-woon exhaled in a short breath.
So that's how it works.
Kill a monster and the reward dropped straight into his inventory. Grade 9 monsters yielded around 10 TC, Grade 8 around 50 TC. Grade 7? Around 100 TC. It seemed the system automatically distributed the payout according to party contribution.
I was almost out. Perfect timing.
While he was still checking the messages—
"Si-woon!"
"Are you all right?"
"…Just what in the world was that?"
The three Ascenders he had rescued came running. Their eyes were full of concern as they looked him over, yet shock was written plain across every face—a complicated mix of awe and unanswered questions.
"Thank you… truly. We only survived because of you, Si-woon."
Baek Do-hee offered her thanks in a trembling voice, and the others bowed their heads in turn.
Anger toward Yu Jae-jun still smoldered in a corner of their hearts, but right now…
How the hell did he do that?
Baek Yeon-ho's lips moved soundlessly. Right now, the true identity of this man—Hyun Si-woon—was the greater mystery.