Second Awakening (1)
“How far did you get?”
“....”
“Well?”
“Ten floors.”
“Ten floors in one go?!”
“No.”
“Ah....”
Kim Jun was momentarily speechless.
Park Minsu had been waiting for him when he came out ahead of schedule, and Jun had assumed he’d at least made it to the thirtieth or fortieth floor—even if he hadn’t reached the hundredth.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“One, two, three... like that?”
“Hey! I said yes, didn’t I?!”
Park Minsu shouted, his face turning red.
“That means going all the way to the hundredth floor is a good thing.”
“?”
Kim Jun considered teasing him a little more, then patted his shoulder instead.
“Hang in there.”
“....”
*
The Warrior Temple.
A massive structure, its heavy frame stacked from rough-hewn granite, stood towering before Kim Jun.
Of all the buildings in Thebes, this was the most rugged and imposing place of all. The Warrior Temple resembled a fortress more than a place of worship.
Creak—
The heavy iron doors opened, and Kim Jun stepped inside.
The two guardians stationed at the entrance nodded in greeting.
The temple’s interior was magnificent. High ceilings, warrior statues planted throughout the hall, and walls packed with weapons all displayed the dignity of the Warrior class.
Kim Jun headed for the center of the temple, where a man stood with his back turned.
“You’re here.”
The man turned around.
“Valderion.”
Valderion, the Warrior class instructor—the finest warrior in Thebes, responsible for Warrior class changes and second awakenings.
But when Kim Jun looked at him, he blinked.
Huh?
For some reason, he looked far more energized than he had the last time Jun saw him.
The Valderion he’d met before had definitely had fatigue written around his eyes, as if he were worn down by something.
This Valderion was different.
His vitality had returned, and his eyes burned with fierce intensity.
Twitch, twitch—
For a man in his sixties, he was carrying muscle mass that was frankly violent.
...His muscles are bigger than mine. Did something good happen to him?
Kim Jun was curious, but he greeted him first.
“I’ve come for my second awakening.”
“Already?”
Valderion’s eyes flew wide open.
He remembered the system announcement that had resounded across the entire tower just a few days ago.
Complete Conquest of the Heaven Realm Floors 11–15 Achieved!
The moment that announcement went out, all of Thebes had erupted in chaos.
“Who the hell cleared the Heaven Realm in one day?”
“At last... at last, in my lifetime, I might be able to leave this tower....”
Everyone had wanted to know. Especially the residents of Thebes.
Floors 11 through 15, known as the Heaven Realm, were more hellish than Hell itself.
So many masters had challenged them and failed to come back in one piece.
Given that Valderion had personally witnessed Kim Jun’s strength, the conquest of the Heaven Realm wasn’t all that shocking.
But level 50?
That was an entirely different matter.
No matter how many floors you clear there, you shouldn’t get that much experience...
To Valderion, the fact that Jun had reached level 50 was far more mind-blowing than the fact that he had cleared every floor of the Heaven Realm in a single day.
Clearing floors and leveling up were completely different domains.
“Hahaha... hahaha!”
Valderion started laughing.
“Puhahahahaha!”
The laughter was so thunderous it seemed to shake the temple itself.
Level 50?
He himself had only barely reached level 70 over the course of his entire life.
That had taken decades, and yet this boy...
“I never thought I’d live to see a monster like this.”
Exhilaration filled Valderion’s eyes.
The founder of Thebes, Kaiser. A legendary figure. The only being to have reached level 120.
And that had been when he conquered the eightieth floor of the tower.
But now, looking at Kim Jun, Valderion felt certain.
If it’s this guy... he might even surpass Kaiser.
His heart raced. He was excited by the possibility that he might witness, firsthand, a new legend rising beyond the old one.
“Kim Jun.”
“Yes, Valderion.”
“Do you know my rank and level?”
“B-class, level 70, as far as I know.”
Valderion nodded.
“That’s right. B-class, level 70. A pitiful number compared to the history of this temple’s instructors.”
Kim Jun kept quiet.
“Every man who led this temple before me was S-class. Compared to them, I’m terribly weak.”
Valderion’s gaze changed, sharp as a blade.
“And yet here I stand, proudly, at the pinnacle of all warriors.”
His voice held absolute conviction.
“Do you know why? For one reason alone.”
Valderion reached out into the air, as if grasping an invisible sword.
“Because before my swordsmanship, no one could stand against me.”
The air grew heavy.
“So what if the rank is low? So what if the level is low?”
Valderion’s voice rang out.
“The difference in power is clear. Rank is something you’re born with—you can’t change it. Some are born strong, and some are born weak.”
He clenched and unclenched his fist.
“But all that strength, all those ranks...”
For a moment, lightning seemed to crackle in his eyes.
“Are nothing but illusions before true skill!”
Gooseflesh rose all over Kim Jun’s body.
“The strong do not win. The one who wins is the strong one!!”
Valderion glared at him.
“What decides life and death is not some number, but will. What decides victory is not rank, but swordsmanship! Draw your blade, Kim Jun. Last ten minutes against me.”
Second Awakening Quest Started!
Objective: Survive a swordsmanship duel with Warrior Instructor Valderion for 10 minutes.
Time Limit: 10 minutes
Special Rule: All skills prohibited. Only pure swordsmanship allowed.
Kim Jun slowly drew his greatsword. Its blade caught the candlelight of the temple and flowed like a silver wave.
“I’m not just going to last.”
Kim Jun’s voice echoed low through the temple.
“I’ll beat you.”
“Kwahahahahaha!”
Valderion’s laughter rattled the stone pillars supporting the ceiling.
“Good, good! That’s the kind of spirit I want to see!”
The moment the laughter stopped, the temple fell silent.
Valderion drew the one-handed sword from his waist. Compared to Kim Jun’s greatsword, it looked no bigger than a pinky finger.
But the instant that small blade split the air, Kim Jun realized something.
Size didn’t matter.
“Let’s begin.”
Valderion’s first step stirred the wind.
The distance between them vanished in an instant. The one-handed sword shot for Kim Jun’s throat, fast and precise as a viper’s tongue.
Clang!
Kim Jun’s greatsword barely managed to block it. But the impact surged up through his wrists.
How can a one-handed sword be this heavy?
Valderion’s blade carried the weight of a mountain.
“Not bad for a first move.”
Valderion stepped back, resetting his stance.
“Let’s change things up a little.”
This time, he moved differently. Not with speed, but with slowness.
Yet something lethal hid inside that slowness.
Whoooosh—
Even the sound of the air being cut felt different. It was as if death itself were singing.
Kim Jun raised his greatsword to block, but Valderion’s sword changed course as though it had anticipated that very move.
A motion flowing like water.
Swish—
The tip of Valderion’s sword skimmed across Kim Jun’s shoulder. The sound of fabric tearing echoed through the temple.
“Kuh!”
A groan escaped Kim Jun’s lips.
In that instant, the past came flooding back.
Even before his regression, Valderion had always been like this.
He stood before Kim Jun like a mountain, a challenge meant to be conquered.
Kim Jun had always lost in swordsmanship training against Valderion. Even after hundreds, thousands of attempts, he had never once won.
The man who had been his teacher before regression, and his eternal unsolved problem.
Kim Jun already knew all of Valderion’s swordsmanship.
Which angle each attack would come from, what timing each change would take.
But knowing and blocking were as different as heaven and earth.
Knowing a storm was coming didn’t mean you could stop it.
Fssshhh—
The sound of tearing fabric rang out again.
“Tch!”
Kim Jun retreated.
“Are you only going to run?”
Valderion’s voice thundered through the temple.
“Where did all that spirit from before go?”
Valderion’s one-handed sword flashed toward him like lightning.
Kim Jun swung his greatsword desperately, but the blade had already slipped through the wind.
Valderion flowed between every attack like a ghost.
As if he existed in a realm swords could never reach.
Yes. This was it.
Kim Jun’s chest burned.
The crushing gap. The wall he couldn’t cross. The perfect defeat.
These were the kinds of towering presences that had sharpened him in his previous life.
To overcome Valderion’s high, rugged peak, Kim Jun had struggled and bled and fought so hard.
And now that magnificent wall stood before him again.
“Hah... hahahaha!”
Suddenly, Kim Jun began to laugh.
His body was covered in wounds, his breathing rough, sweat streaming down him. Every sign pointed to defeat.
But his eyes were full of manic delight.
The first true gap he had felt since regressing.
“Valderion!! I’m coming again!”
Kim Jun raised his greatsword once more. This time, his movement was different.
The taste of defeat had only excited him.
Every time a wound stung, every time he was forced back, a smile spread across his lips.
Whoooosh—!
Kim Jun’s greatsword cleaved through the air. It traced a different path now, a different rhythm.
Valderion’s eyes flashed.
Oh? He’s changed.
The posture of a man who refused to give up even with defeat right before him, who instead used it as fuel and burned hotter for it.
“Kwahaha! That’s it! That’s what makes it fun!”
Now it was Valderion who burst into laughter.
Their swords collided.
Clang!
Clang!
Kagagagak—!
The sound was different from before. Faster. More violent.
Kim Jun swung his blade like a madman, laughing all the while. The more wounds he took, the more thrilled he became.
Valderion was the same. Stung by Kim Jun’s change, he moved with even greater ferocity.
“Good! Good! That’s it!”
The two men began to dance with blades inside the temple.
Swords met swords and sparked into flame, while their slashes carved deep gouges into the floor.
Kim Jun’s movements gradually became more natural. He was no longer forcing his strength; his body began to move on its own.
Ah. So this is what it feels like.
He was starting to understand swordsmanship.
Not strength, but flow. Not technique, but art.
The essence of swordsmanship—something he had never grasped before, not even in his previous life, not even until now.
Snikt—
Valderion’s attack grazed Kim Jun’s side, but Jun enjoyed even that pain.
I’m starting to read him.
And little by little, patterns began to emerge in Valderion’s movements.
Madness lurked inside his restrained power, and wildness stirred beneath his precise motions.
“An opening!”
Kim Jun’s greatsword brushed Valderion’s shoulder.
At last, he had landed a counter.
“Kwahahahaha! Good! That’s the one!”
Valderion roared with delight. He didn’t care at all that flesh had been torn from his shoulder.
In fact, he only grew more excited and swung his sword harder.
The two of them had already gone beyond simple sparring. They were testing each other, lifting each other higher, achieving a perfect harmony.
Second Awakening Quest Completed!
Objective Achieved: Survived for 10 minutes!
Reward: Qualification for Second Awakening obtained
Special Reward: Swordsmanship comprehension greatly increased
Valderion recognizes your skill
Affinity with Valderion has greatly increased
Proceed with Second Awakening?
Yes / No
The second awakening quest had been completed, but...
“Hngh!”
“Now block this!!”
Clang, clang, clang, clang—!
The melody of clashing metal continued to fill the temple.
As if this had been the true purpose from the start.
The quest had only been an excuse, and what the two of them really wanted was this very moment.
This perfect instant, where they tested each other’s limits and confirmed each other’s level.
Each time sword met sword, sparks flew, and the souls of the two swordsmen danced in the air.
And then—
“W-what are these perverts doing?”
Hena, the captain of the guard on Thebes’ northern wall, lost all words when she saw the scene.
Even though both of them were covered head to toe in wounds and bleeding,
“Hahahahaha!”
“Uh-huh-huh, muh-huh-hahahaha!”
they were laughing.
“I-I’ll come back later....”
26
---