Lord of Weapons (2)

'Kang Woojin is different from other men.'

Shin Sohee observed Kang Woojin, and reached a conclusion.

It had all started with a request from his manager, Kang Yena. The stories she'd heard about Kang Woojin through Kang Yena at their usual team dinners were completely different from the man in front of her.

'He's tall, and the muscle on him is well-earned.'

A far cry from the swarm of men who groomed themselves after the frail, dainty pretty-boy ideal.

He was bigger than other men — and not merely big for bigness's sake. This was healthy muscle, hardened through discipline and training.

A different kind of 'masculinity' entirely, blooming in its own way. It came at her with an unfamiliar charm, but Shin Sohee did her best to tear that flicker of fondness out by the roots.

'I can't make a move on my manager's little brother.'

Above all, she believed she was a woman with a serious flaw.

It wasn't just her own opinion, either. Even within the Shin family, she was treated as the problem child.

In the life of Shin Sohee — a woman hopelessly lacking — there would be no man. That was what she had decided. Even when she spotted an attractive one, she stayed indifferent. A fruit she could never eat. She wouldn't even get the chance to reach for it.

And yet, when he swung that sword, his talent blazed so brightly that her eyes were stolen away despite herself.

'He tried to block a goblin's matchlock with his sword.'

Stopping a bullet with a blade.

An act bordering on pure artistry — and yet his movement and positioning had been precise. Judging with the keen eye backed by her high Agility stat, there wasn't a single gap in Kang Woojin's defensive stance. The sword sat exactly in the path the bullet would travel.

Left ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alone, the goblin's feeble slug would surely have smacked against the blade and been flung harmlessly away.

She had promised to protect him, after all — so she'd batted it aside in advance with her Trick Shot skill. That was all.

She sensed enormous potential in him. He hadn't even leveled up yet, and already what he displayed looked like the work of a sword master.

'He puts other people before himself.'

His handling of the coin sale was unusual, too.

Korea's coin shortage was dire. Chronic budget shortfalls meant the government kept failing to buy up enough.

Thanks to a handful of good-hearted hunters, the system was barely holding together — but the national coin reserves were steadily approaching their breaking point.

If things went on like this, the countdown had already begun: the Tower would break, and monsters would burn the Korean peninsula to ash.

That breaking point was roughly six months away. The news never reported it outright, but that was the deadline she had privately estimated.

If Kang Woojin kept growing and brought in coins by the pile. If hunters inspired by his example multiplied, and the good ones grew more numerous. Korea could become safe again.

She genuinely welcomed the arrival of a newbie like this.

'Still, if he's a beginner he could have squeezed out every won he was owed.... Good kid.'

Shin Sohee was delighted by Kang Woojin's selfless goodwill.

A man outstanding in both looks and character.

'A boy like this. It's a first.... All right. I'll keep watching him grow.'

She couldn't imagine what he was aiming for — enough to brave the Tower, a place Kang Yena wouldn't send her precious brother lightly. But as she helped Kang Woojin along, she had a feeling Korea's future would shift, if only a little.

"I think we could've gone higher. Kind of a shame I couldn't level up this time."

"No. I promised Mom. Absolutely no pushing your luck."

After parting ways with Shin Sohee, he rode home in Kang Yena's car.

Like a child being dragged out of an amusement park, he couldn't tear his eyes from the Tower shrinking in the window behind them.

'Maybe I'm actually... pretty good at fighting?'

Swing the sword, cut down a goblin. There was no unpleasant sensation at all — if anything, it was fun.

That clean shk as the blade slid free even left him feeling refreshed.

He couldn't explain why. He'd simply tried it, and confirmed that he was that kind of person.

'Must be the swordsmanship skill. Hmm....'

"So if I want to meet Shin Sohee noona again, I have to book her for twelve o'clock again?"

"If you booked early, couldn't you fit in two sessions a day — one morning, one afternoon?"

"Nope. First meetings only. Apparently that hour just suits her. What did you think of Shin Sohee?"

Kang Yena asked casually, hands on the wheel.

"Hmm... a strong noona? A lonely wolf? That sort of vibe."

"So you think Shin Sohee's strong."

"Why, isn't she? She shot well enough. Did you see her hit a bullet with a bullet? That's the kind of thing you only see in movies."

"Her family doesn't seem to see it that way."

So the Shin household considered Shin Sohee weak, did it.

"Sounds like they've got no eye for talent."

"Hunters live and die by raids in the end. She never had much of a showing in team engagements. Even when I tried to arrange raids for her, the guilds heading into them weren't very interested."

Apparently there were standards for judging hunters that he knew nothing about.

"So what are you spending your first money on?"

"Hmm...."

First paycheck. No — first day's wage, rather.

Five hundred thousand won. Big money if you called it big, pocket change if you didn't. The fact that it was more than an hour of construction labor at the hiring hall would ever earn warmed his chest.

"Clothes first."

"Ah, right — your old ones stopped fitting you."

The clothes 'Woojini' had worn were cut short. And all skinny-fit, like some trend from a decade ago. They showed off the line of the legs — there was no way in hell he was wearing them.

His own wardrobe amounted to a single set, top and bottom. Being a gentleman of one outfit had already hit its limit — his first climb had left it soaked through with sweat.

'Wide fit. Non-negotiable.'

Having been steeped in wide fits his whole life, wearing skinny made him feel vaguely like a different man entirely. He wanted none of it.

"Oh, and the person helping you climb the Tower tomorrow won't be Shin Sohee."

"What? Why not? Shin Sohee noona's great."

The cowgirl — fine, cowgirl — outfit had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been quirky, sure, but that tube top with her abs on full display, and he wouldn't get to see that heart-stopping chest again? He wanted more.

"She needs to hunt and earn her own coins. Low floors are nothing to a hunter past Floor 20 — it doesn't even count as exercise. It gets rough from Floor 4, so we'll set up another appointment once you're there."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And, ah — for the next one, reach out to them yourself ahead of time."

"Who? How would I know anyone?"

"There's Seong Haeun, isn't there? Your childhood friend. She's not with our agency, so it'd be awkward for me to contact her directly. Poaching people gets you a bad name in this industry."

Oh. A childhood friend.

A female childhood friend existed. A fantasy utterly divorced from reality.

'That guy hit the jackpot, and he was complaining about what, exactly?'

He opened his phone and dug through the messenger app.

'Just burger discount ads and the family group chat. Wait, no, hold on...'

Unread messages had been shoved far down the list. 'Woojini', appearance aside, had been a certified social butterfly.

A quick scroll showed profile after profile of women, lined up in a row.

'What is this. These clingy, sticky-fingered messages.'

A rough skim revealed the common thread. Every last one of them ultimately wanted to meet 'Woojini'.

'So my face actually sells around here, huh.'

Ahem. Having never once been popular, he had no frame of reference.

A woman approaching him first. This, too, was a fantasy on par with a female childhood friend.

He found Seong Haeun's profile in no time. She had plenty of chatrooms but relatively few contacts registered, apparently.

Tapping the 1:1 chat opened up their existing conversation.

Scrolling the old logs, Seong Haeun was almost always the one to message first.

'This punk can't even muster a thank-you for her always texting first....'

This time, he would message first.

The unread counter vanished in an instant.

Truthfully, he could manage alone. But to keep his promise to Kang Hana, he had no other choice.

And on and on the chatter poured.

'Wow, I toss out one conversation starter and she writes back paragraphs. Just texting is this fun?'

His years of celibacy had been long. The simple situation of a pleasant message exchange with a woman was setting his brain's dopamine taps flowing.

'Could this be... romance? Is it?'

He was buried in his phone, deep in the exchange, when Kang Yena driving beside him slipped in sideways:

"Aren't you going to take a photo? You used to take them all the time."

"Ugh. I'm done with that stuff. Forever."

Heavily filtered selfies. Goodbye and good riddance.

"Haeun would love a selfie from you, you know."

"I hate selfies. It's embarrassing."

"Suit yourself."

The message exchange flowed on and on, eventually landing on a decision: they'd go clothes shopping together. Meeting today. Meeting again tomorrow.

'Ooh. This is a date. A bona fide date.'

Kang Yena dropped him off at a nearby department store.

"Take a taxi home."

"Will do."

"You two have a good time, now."

She'd even handed over her card. Apparently, as a little commemoration, noona would buy him a few outfits.

"Buy the expensive stuff if you want."

'Noona is the best.'

He settled onto a bench beside the outdoor fountain in front of the department store, watching the water trickle and idly browsing the internet.

He was hunting for any record of 'swords are strong'. Unfortunately, the search turned up nothing.

'Every last one of them calls it trash. I'll prove it with my own two hands, so just you wait.'

He was digging through U-Tube for anyone who might actually teach swordsmanship when — for reasons unknown — a 'Lord of Weapons' hunting video surfaced.

'No way....'

The video showed a white-haired woman, apparently filmed by a teammate on a bodycam.

The white-haired woman drew a long cylinder from her back. Was that a rocket?

A colossal boom shook the screen. Far in the distance, gore scattered in every direction — so gruesome it had to be mosaicked out.

Countless zombies were massing into a wave before her.

The person holding the camera narrated:

The white-haired woman didn't stop there. Off her back came a massive flamethrower — the size of a human torso.

From the nozzle wrapped in its heat shroud, she unleashed a long, roaring stream of fire. The zombies burned like mad. What exactly did they find so enjoyable — arms raised, they went on dancing amid the hellfire.

The pillar of flame thinned — the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flamethrower's fuel tank must have run dry.

Then an anomaly stirred in the zombie horde. Still burning, they began to clump together in a single spot.

The swarm of zombies fused together, taking the shape of a giant.

The white-haired woman flung the emptied flamethrower aside.

From the empty air behind her back, she drew a fresh long sword.

'So that's what it looks like when you pull your next weapon out of the inventory.'

A broad greatsword as tall as a person. He was just thinking, how does anyone swing that thing? —

She swept the greatsword in a long arc, hauling it up from the ground. In the same breath she sprang high into the air, riding the rising momentum into a long, cutting slash.

The Zombie Flesh Golem split down the middle, spilling its guts. Flailing zombies clawing their way out from inside reached up to seize her.

But she spun a full backward rotation in midair, slipping free of those grasping hands. Legs spread wide as she whirled round and round, she ended up facing downward once more.

The very crown of the golem's head. From directly above it, she brought the sword down with everything she had.

KOOOM!

The earth-shaking landing split the golem clean in two, left from right. Fire geysered up from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bisected halves.

The white-haired woman glanced back over her shoulder and raised two fingers. A victory V.

Behind her, a massive detonation bloomed across the screen to close out the shot.

And that was clear.

"Whoa...."

Intensity to rival a blockbuster action film. So this was what hunting skill at the very summit looked like.

'That was cool. And the sword is strong, isn't it.'

It felt like proof of the sword's hidden potential.

But the comments praising Erika told a different story than his.

Maybe she'd simply pulled out whatever came to hand, blasted everything in sight, and picked the greatsword last for a flashy finish.

And yet — it was also proof that the sword's power undeniably existed.

Then, that moment. Erika snatched the camera away, filling the screen with her face.

'...!'

Words that struck a man square in the chest.

The videographer hurriedly wrestled the camera back, and the recording ended.

'All right. Let's really dig into swordsmanship.'

Until now, his resolve had been a reckless thing with nothing underneath it — but now, at last, he had a rough picture to work from.

At the very least, if he personally mastered the swordsmanship that ranker Erika wielded, he was sure some thread would reveal itself.

He was searching for anyone who offered lessons in the sword when — right on cue — Seong Haeun arrived.

"Hahh, hahh... You waited, right? Sorry, I'm a little late."

'Oh.... She's cute.'

She stood just slightly shorter than him. She'd clearly put real effort in — her styled hair, her makeup, the whole outfit. A thin knit top that showed a hint of cleavage, a skirt worn high on the waist to make her legs look longer.

'I told her we were just going shopping, casual like.... It's almost embarrassing, by comparison.'

Him, meanwhile — still damp-then-dried with the sweat of a hunt he'd just come back from. His hair and his clothes were frankly an apology waiting to happen.

"Hehe... I had — I mean, I had an afternoon hunting appointment today, but I snuck out of it. So I could see you, Woojin."

'...What?'