Ten Years, Not Ten
Ten years, not ten.
Lv. —
You have become a being wearing a human mask.
If you wish to cut, it shall be cut.
Counting the days I didn’t bother tracking, it added up to ten years. During that time, I swung my sword like a madman. Sometimes I didn’t rest for days on end, just kept at it.
Because I wanted to live. Because I wanted to escape.
And now they tell me I’m not even human anymore.
Survival Day 3
Starting today, I’m going to write down what’s happened to me in this place I don’t even know the name of.
Aw shit, why the hell did it have to be my left arm that’s missing? I’m left-handed, damn it.
Anyway, I saw this rundown house while scouting the area and went inside. There was a damn skeleton in there. Fuck.
Survival Day 7
I’m going insane. The only living things around here are the fish in the lake. I thought about eating them, but why the hell are these bastards so fast?
Survival Day 10
I want to die.
Survival Day 11
But when I actually tried to die, it felt too unfair, so I picked up the book lying next to the skeleton and read it. A message popped up saying Swordsmanship (Apprentice) Lv.1.
Survival Day 32
Today I caught my first fish. It was fucking delicious.
Survival Day 67
What the hell is this insane cave? Why is it so damn big? The area I explored at the beginning couldn’t have been more than a few steps, right? More importantly—
Fuck yeah, I caught a rabbit. Sex.
Survival Day 68
Rabbit meat tastes way worse than I expected. I threw up while eating it.
Survival Day 110
My swordsmanship stage went up today. I’m now officially at Swordsmanship (Beginner). How far does this thing even go?
Survival Day 116
While wandering around I found some mushrooms. They’re literally labeled Suspicious Mushroom (Unidentified). It’s been so long since I had any proper food.
Survival Day 11/>cha
Human please.
Survival Day 130
Fucking hell, that crazy mushroom. I thought I was going to die because I couldn’t see anything. As a side effect, I can see objects even with my eyes closed now.
Survival Day 310
In celebration of reaching Swordsmanship (Intermediate), I ate rabbit meat again. It wasn’t bad this time.
Survival Day 407
Another Suspicious Mushroom (Unidentified) appeared. Should I eat it?
Survival Day 408
If I eat another mushroom, I’m no longer a human being. Now I can’t hear anything. Fuck.
Survival Day 497
My hearing came back. I can even hear rabbits fucking in the distance. This is bullshit.
Survival Day 670
I reached Swordsmanship (Intermediate) Lv. 10 but it won’t evolve. What’s the problem?
Survival Day 671
I hear strange sounds coming from beneath the lake. It seems insanely deep. Should I check it out?
Survival Day 672
There was a giant clam at the bottom of the lake! A clam as big as a person! This is a real delicacy!
Survival Day 673
Something’s wrong. I can’t taste anything at all. This is seriously fucked.
Survival Day 900
I had a realization. The pictures in the book the skeleton left behind all showed people holding the sword with both hands, but I only have one arm. How the hell did I not notice that until now? Am I an idiot?
Survival Day 1060
The lake looked unusually red, so I checked. It was a fish on fire. Does that even make sense? Why is it still alive? I probably shouldn’t eat it.
Survival Day 1061
I have no sensation in my body. Still, this isn’t so bad. I can focus entirely on the sword.
Survival Day 1557
I’ve reached Swordsmanship (Advanced). Just one step up from Intermediate, but it feels like everything has changed. Tomorrow I’m going to smash that damn rock.
Day 1558
I’m too lazy to even write “Survival” anymore. When I approached the rock, a message appeared.
Your power is still too weak.
I’m definitely going to kill you someday.
Day 1819
I caught a strange rabbit. Its fur is purple. Can I eat it?
Day 1820
I shouldn’t have eaten it. Now I can’t smell anything. What’s left after this?
Day 2170
Swordsmanship (Advanced) Lv.10.
Survival Day 2235
Stuck again. Nothing goes the way I want, so I went back to basics.
Survival Day 2300
I don’t even know if I’m laughing or crying anymore. My mind is completely blank.
Survival Day 2513
Swordsmanship (Master) Lv.10. Is there still more after this?
I don’t even remember what day it is anymore. It feels like it’s been over three thousand days. Anyway, today I reached Swordsmanship (Legendary) Lv.10. I’m not even sure if this is swordsmanship anymore. Just swinging my hand cuts down trees.
Survival Day 3317.
I’ve reached Swordsmanship (Entering Godhood) Lv.10. The end is in sight.
Survival Day 3448.
Not yet. Just a little more and I think I can reach it.
Survival Day 3518
I have reached Swordsmanship (Transcendence).
You have become a being wearing a human mask.
Along with a message I couldn’t understand, my level disappeared. A lot of other things seem to have vanished from me as well.
Survival Day 3519
I checked the rock after a long time. Now I can finally go outside.
Survival Day 3520
If someone discovers this place, or if they end up in the same situation as me, they will read this record.
There are things you need to keep in mind.
Yes, I said keep them in mind.
I’m out of here. Fuck.
Thud. I finally closed the book that had been with me for ten years. If it weren’t for this, I would’ve gone crazy long ago.
I survived without even knowing why I was here. What was that feeling called again… joy?
It doesn’t seem all that important.
I took out the clothes I had kept safe all this time and put them on. The empty left sleeve fluttering felt strangely natural.
There was nothing else to take. I walked toward the cave entrance and faced the massive rock.
[Rock of ■■]
It can be cut with ease.
“It doesn’t say my power is too weak anymore.”
I stared quietly at the rock. No sound could be heard. Not even the wind was felt.
In that instant when everything around me seemed to stop, I drew a diagonal line with the tree branch held in my one and only hand.
The branch never touched the rock.
It wasn’t even close enough to reach in the first place.
Yet it was cut.
It was cut without a sound, without leaving a trace.
What had once been the rock scattered as dust across the floor.
The path that had been blocked all this time was revealed.
A vast green meadow stretched out before me. The chirping of birds flying across the sky reached my ears. The scent of freshly bloomed flowers drifted on the breeze. The soft, sun-warmed soil could be felt beneath my feet.
It was so peaceful. It was completely different from the world I had imagined. And then, one emotion I had forgotten rose up inside me.
It was rage.
The fury that surged from my core echoed and faded into the distance.
Only—me. On—ly—me. —ly—me. —me.
In such a peaceful world, what the hell was I supposed to do? Why did I swing my sword like a madman all that time?
All the pent-up resentment threatened to explode, but—
The voice inside me calmed me down. That’s right. Peace didn’t matter.
Anyone knows that imagination and reality are different.
And so, I walked. To find out where the hell this place was.
The direction was already decided. Toward the living beings that had been approaching for a while now. I simply headed in their direction.
Thirty-eight in total. They were people.
They were wearing fancy weapons and armor. Meanwhile, I had nothing but a shabby, worn-out freshman varsity jacket, an old sword, and a random tree branch I’d picked up.
A flicker of hatred raised its head.
Mutation, F-rank, rift, orc, ogre. Words that had nothing to do with me drifted over.
Is this one of those hunter stories? And I got possessed into it?
I tried to remember if any of the web novels I’d read had something like this. Maybe too much time had passed.
I couldn’t recall.
Doesn’t matter.
From the way they spoke, they sounded Korean. At least I hadn’t been dropped in a foreign country.
But these guys were way too slow.
If I kept waiting, I might collapse first.
If they couldn’t even detect what was in this narrow space, they probably weren’t all that impressive.
With no other choice, I decided to approach them first.
I lightly kicked off the ground.
Crunch—!
My hearing, which I’d left open to listen to their conversation, delivered a terrible noise. You can go back in after this is over.
Massive magic power concentration detected ahead! Everyone be careful!
Maybe because there were so many of them, there was at least one decent person.
It was a black-haired woman holding a talisman. She looked similar to the one who told everyone not to be nervous—maybe they were sisters.
At her warning, I moved.
One single step.
With just that one step, I arrived in front of them.
The ones who had been trying to get into a defensive stance were all belatedly drawing their weapons.
Since I had appeared in an instant, it was natural they’d be surprised. The fact that they didn’t show it meant I didn’t have to treat them like complete rookies.
I simply stood quietly before them. I took no other action.
I have no intention of fighting you.
“…Team Leader, I don’t think that guy wants to fight.”
Pretty good sense. He probably doesn’t get hated much wherever he goes.
The young woman at the very front spoke.
“It’s too early to be sure. Don’t let your guard down.”
A solid leader. But does your guard actually change anything?
Their clueless attitude made me shake my head involuntarily.
“…I think he just called us pathetic?”
What the hell is with that guy? Can he read minds or something? Why didn’t I get a cool ability like that?
It’s so unfair. They forced me to survive alone, but they didn’t give me any nice skills like that. It’s heartbreaking.
The only thing I had right now, besides my swordsmanship, was—
Immovability (Unique)
Immune to all mental attacks and status analysis.
The mountain does not avoid the wind that blows for eons. No force in the world…
There it goes again. Keep it short.
Who do they think I am, some monk cultivating his mind?
Immune to mental-type techniques.
It’s definitely not a bad skill.
But it pisses me off that they gave me this and then trapped me in a cave. Why did I have to suffer alone?
“U-um, everyone… that person’s clothes…”
It was the woman who had warned her teammates earlier. As expected, she was smart enough to recognize it.
She realized what I was wearing.
“It’s… really embarrassing.”
I really hate this. Why give me hope and then take it away? Of course, the only clothes I had preserved were my outer layer, so maybe that was inevitable.
“Wait, isn’t that a varsity jacket?”
Here we go again. This time I won’t fall for it.
“Oh! You’re right. I went to that university too.”
Maybe I’ll believe it just one more time.