Sword God (4)
Hyun Si-woon decided not to lodge at the camp.
Now that he knew Rankers were coming down to peddle TC, he had no desire to linger there any longer than necessary.
He scouted the area around the camp, searching for a suitable hideout. Before long he found a ruined building in relatively decent shape.
In the past he would have sought out some dark, deep hole out of fear of monster attacks, but as a Climber things were different. He deliberately chose a wide, open space on the third floor that offered a clear view of the surroundings.
This should do.
He rummaged through the dusty rooms, found a mattress that was still halfway clean, dragged it over, and roughly tidied the area. Cool night air whistled in through the cracked windows. Compared to the stifling capsule lodgings, the sense of freedom was incomparable.
Actually better than the camp.
Of course, he had no intention of never using the camp at all. He planned to stop by occasionally for a shower or to buy food and necessities with TC when supplies ran low.
—Ahem. You picked a fine spot. No bothersome presence nearby, no people either. Perfect for training.
“So what do I start with?”
—Your body looks serviceable enough, but it is still far from ready to hold proper martial arts. Especially your use of qi—you are at absolute zero. We must build from the most basic foundations.
“Foundations meaning…?”
—Breathing. The beginning and the end of every martial art lies in the breath. The first step of the Moon Spirit Divine Art this lady will teach you also begins with learning the correct breathing method.
Ha-wol began explaining the most elementary stage of the Moon Spirit Divine Art: the realm of Sensing Qi. The core was to feel the qi within the body, draw in the energy of nature through breathing, and gather it in the dantian.
—Come. Follow exactly as this lady does. First sit comfortably, close your eyes, and focus your awareness on your lower abdomen—about three finger-widths below the navel. That is where qi gathers: the dantian.
Hyun Si-woon obeyed her instructions.
—Inhale… and exhale slowlyyyyy. Watch carefully and copy this lady.
“Got it.”
It was a completely different texture from the abdominal breathing he had learned from Tae Min-seok. Far deeper, far slower, demanding total concentration of the mind.
—When you breathe in, imagine pure heavenly qi seeping into every part of your body. When you breathe out, picture the turbid energy inside leaving you.
He had no idea whether it was working. He was just breathing… What qi seeping in? What turbid energy leaving?
—Relax your shoulders! Keep your awareness on the dantian, yet let the body remain natural! Your breathing is rough! It must flow as smoothly as water!
—If stray thoughts arise while circulating qi, the flow will clog! Can you not even concentrate your mind!
—Keep your spine straight! Gaze forward! Pull your chin in!
Fine.
This was the Sword God speaking. No room for doubt. Stop thinking entirely and just do exactly as ordered.
Two weeks passed.
Hyun Si-woon set everything else aside and clung solely to the breathing method. An ordinary person would have grown drowsy and exhausted, but Si-woon was relentless. The memory of standing at the absolute peak of a game, plus the patience forged through twenty-one regressions, whipped him onward.
He would get stronger. Strong enough to burst that crocodile-headed bastard’s skull the exact same way.
How much time had flowed by?
Hm?
Faintly—very faintly—he felt a warmth gathering near his lower abdomen.
This it?
—Oh? Not bad. You have already begun to grasp the sensation?
Ha-wol never taught half-heartedly either. Even though she must have been bored stiff, she watched every single step of Si-woon’s progress without missing a beat.
—Good. You are ready to learn the basic path of qi circulation. And does your body not feel a little stiff and dull?
“Yeah.”
—Starting tomorrow we will advance into Moon Shadow Steps. You must accumulate qi through breathing and temper the body through footwork so that, in the end, you can pour everything into the sword.
The training was brutal. Ha-wol tolerated not the slightest slackness. The intensity was on a completely different level from Tae Min-seok’s instruction.
By day he ran the ruined building’s surroundings, drilling footwork and basic conditioning. By night he devoted himself entirely to breathing and circulating qi. Meals were simple combat rations or canned food bought from the camp; sleep was nothing more than catnaps on the mattress.
As a result, the previously sluggish growth in his stats suddenly broke open.
Something’s different.
Hyun Si-woon could clearly feel the subtle changes occurring in his body. Beyond the numbers, his center of gravity felt solidly grounded and his movements had grown distinctly lighter.
Most of all, he could now distinctly perceive the energy slowly accumulating in his dantian—true internal power.
So this really works.
If he could properly master Ha-wol’s swordsmanship, he would be able to display movements faster and more fluid than any character he had ever controlled while playing the Tower of Despair.
Roughly five more days passed.
Thud! Thud!
At last the moment he had been waiting for arrived. Just like before, Yu Jae-jun’s party had gone and poked the Rupture Fiends.
“Some so-called Tower of Despair veteran scared of mere Rupture Fiends… Their patterns are pretty clear, aren’t they?”
“What the hell are you doing—!”
“What do you think I’m doing, you bastard!”
Thwack!
The stone Yu Jae-jun threw lodged itself in one of the Rupture Fiend’s spikes.
Tsk.
Watching from a nearby rooftop, Hyun Si-woon clicked his tongue.
No matter how many times you rewind the past, people never change.
In previous loops he would simply have let it slide. This time, however, Si-woon already harbored a grudge against Yu Jae-jun.
—Those half-wits are the “comrades” you spoke of?
“Yeah. Except for those two.”
Ha-wol’s gaze followed Si-woon’s. After briefly scanning the Baek siblings, her eyes settled on Kang Si-a holding her bow.
—Oh?
A soft sound of admiration escaped her.
—That woman with the bow.
“Kang Si-a? What about her?”
—Her martial bone is quite excellent. Worth taking as a comrade.
“Really?”
—The structure of her frame is straight and solid, and the flow of her qi and blood is clear and unobstructed. Especially that focus—even while merely scanning the surroundings without drawing the bowstring, her gaze never wavers. Her will is firm as well.
So that was what masters were like. Just watching from afar was enough to read potential.
“Anyway, I’m going to save them now.”
Whoosh!
Hyun Si-woon turned his back. He already knew exactly which route Yu Jae-jun would take to flee later. He intended to be waiting there in advance.
The situation unfolded almost the same way.
Not long after—
“Run!”
Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo bolted, while Kang Si-a once again chose to keep her loyalty. Gasping for breath, the two men fled down the narrow alleys between ruined buildings.
Having predicted their escape route, Hyun Si-woon was already waiting at the corner, back against the wall, arms folded.
“Where are you two rushing off to in such a hurry?”
“Huh?”
Yu Jae-jun’s eyes went wide with shock the moment he nearly ran into Si-woon. When Si-woon stepped out and blocked the path, the man had no choice but to skid to a halt; Choi Geon-woo almost crashed into his back.
“Why the hell are you here? Get out of the way!”
“Get out of the way, you say?”
Swish.
Hyun Si-woon drew his sword. Even in the shadowed alley, the blade that housed Ha-wol reflected a chilling light.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
A two-against-one standoff—and at that exact moment—
—Grrraaaaargh!
The Rupture Fiend’s roar echoed from behind them.
“Ha, you little shit. We’re in a goddamn hurry—you got a death wish or what?”
“If you don’t want to die, fuck off.”
As expected. The fact that they would spew that kind of line the second he drew a single sword told him everything about how they had always viewed him.
“And if I don’t feel like fucking off?”
“Then you die!”
Whoosh!
Yu Jae-jun immediately swept his spear around. In Si-woon’s eyes the entire trajectory was crystal clear—exactly how to evade and exactly where to counter struck him with pure instinct.
Before, I could only see it and my body couldn’t keep up.
Now it was different. Stepping with the basic form of Moon Shadow Steps, Hyun Si-woon lightly deflected the spear strike.
Then—
CRACK!
A dull impact smashed into Yu Jae-jun’s shin with brutal force.
“Aaaaargh!”
“J-Jae-jun!”
In the split second Choi Geon-woo froze in shock, Si-woon had already circled to the opposite side and targeted the man’s left leg—with the flat of the blade.
CRACKKK!
He shattered the leg bone.
“Aaaaaargh!”
Choi Geon-woo also went tumbling with a blood-curdling scream. Both men now had precisely broken leg bones; neither could stand or move properly.
Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo groaned on the ground, staring up at Si-woon. Their eyes were filled with pain and utter disbelief.
“W-why the hell did you suddenly attack us?!”
“What did we even do wrong?!”
Hyun Si-woon let out a short laugh.
“Shut up, you pieces of trash.”
Not a shred of pity colored his voice.
“You two just wait right here. I’ll leave your punishment to Yeon-ho hyung.”
No further words were necessary. He turned his back on them and walked toward the Rupture Fiends.
Everything after that proceeded similarly. He faced the two Rupture Fiends faster and more precisely than before. When they finally unleashed their last pattern—the toxic breath—
Thwip! Thwip!
Kang Si-a’s arrows pierced the central cores clean through.
As expected.
No matter how many times he saw it, that accuracy and composure still sent a chill down his spine.
7th-grade beast, Rupture Fiend, eliminated.
Reward distributed according to contribution.
83 TC acquired.
7th-grade beast, Rupture Fiend, eliminated.
Reward distributed according to contribution.
90 TC acquired.
Thus the three whose lives had been saved by Hyun Si-woon.
“Th-that was incredible.”
“What was that just now? You looked like someone who’s killed hundreds of Rupture Fiends!”
Hyun Si-woon gave a bitter smile. Was this the loneliness every regressor felt? His own memories with them were vivid, yet to them those memories simply did not exist. The weight of carrying every relationship reset while walking alone with the recollections was heavier than expected.
“Please! Take me with you. I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Just as in the previous loop, Kang Si-a put on a little display of skill and appealed to be accepted as a comrade. Her eyes held pure admiration for the strong.
“Would you take us siblings as well?”
Baek Yeon-ho and Baek Do-hee were accepted under the same conditions as before. Conversation flowed quickly this time.
I have to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.
Hyun Si-woon vowed inwardly. Once they reached the third floor, a save point would appear. He intended to restore his bonds with them to how they had been and then ascend. He was finally prepared enough for that.
And…
“Ah, Yeon-ho hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“That Yu Jae-jun guy.”
“Right—those sons of bitches! The second I catch them I’m going to thrash them for sure.”
Grind!
He clenched his teeth and exploded with rage.
“I saw them earlier in an alley. Looked like they might’ve twisted their legs or something and fallen over?”
Si-woon tossed the line out casually.
“Really? Where! Where are they!”
Baek Yeon-ho’s ears practically pricked up. The chance for revenge had just landed right in front of him. Impatience that said he would sprint off any second colored his voice.
“They were staggering into the alley between that blue building over there and the collapsed pharmacy. Probably collapsed somewhere around there.”
If Yu Jae-jun heard that, he would be furious—but who cared?
“I’m going right now. I’m not letting them off!”
“Yeon-ho!”
Baek Do-hee called out anxiously, but Yeon-ho was already blind with fury.
With that personality of his, he won’t send them off gently.
What exactly would happen to Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo was impossible to say. Kill them, or leave them alive but ensure they could never crawl back up again—either way, that choice and that responsibility now belonged entirely to Baek Yeon-ho. Hyun Si-woon decided to leave everything to him.
And…
From now on they would no longer be able to use the camp either. To prevent the misfortune of catching a Tower Ranker’s eye ahead of time. He planned to have them settle into a ruined building the same way he had.