The Gift of Knowledge

There were three kinds of skills.

The innate skills granted from the moment a hunter first awakened.

Skills that opened up as one climbed the Tower of Trials, depending on one’s class.

And skills that only awakened through equipment or under special conditions.

Kim Jun’s gaze fixed on the last category.

"Take it."

"...?"

What he held out was a single sword.

"Something like this... I can’t accept it."

"It’s fine. I can’t use it anyway."

Kim Jun cut her off calmly.

He already had the greatsword Dragon Eater.

It suited his class, which was specialized in greatswords, and the swordsmanship that worked in tandem with his Dragon Heart.

The greatsword was the weapon that fit Kim Jun’s hand best.

By contrast, Dragon Tail was a thin, agile short sword.

And the unique skill embedded within it, Dragon Tail Flash, centered on rapid swordsmanship.

A stealthy, nimble style that closed the distance in an instant and cut an enemy down before they could react.

"No matter how I look at it, this sword belongs to you."

Kim Jun’s gaze naturally shifted to Han Suin.

The way she fought, darting in to strike at weak points in a single breath, matched Dragon Tail almost uncannily well.

It was as if the sword had been forged for her from the very beginning.

Snikt-

As the blade left its sheath, it drank in the moonlight and flashed with a sharp, cold gleam.

The slim, keen short sword trembled with a resonant hum the instant Han Suin took it into her hand.

Woom—woom—

As if it had recognized its new master.

Kim Jun let out a small laugh and muttered to himself.

So that’s how it was. It really was yours.

A new class, a new skill, a new weapon.

"All right, shall we see what it can do?"

Snikt-

Han Suin’s slender blade glittered in the moonlight.

The moment the tip of her foot twitched.

Fap!

"Fast."

Even to Kim Jun’s eyes, only a faint afterimage remained.

The blade had already slipped to his side by the time his vision caught up.

Kaang-!

But Kim Jun’s greatsword came down in a sweeping half-circle.

With the force of heavy iron cleaving the earth, it suppressed that razor-sharp speed.

Kang!

When sword met sword, sparks scattered through the air.

She’s much faster than before.

Shuk-shuk-shuk!

Han Suin’s feet flicked up again, leaving afterimages that multiplied all around them.

Like a dancer crossing the stage, her blade tip lashed out at Kim Jun in a relentless barrage.

Papapak—!

Dozens of sword strikes poured down in an instant.

It was speed beyond the range the eye could follow.

But Kim Jun didn’t panic.

Kwoaaang-!

One swing.

Overwhelming force dominated the space, sweeping away the incoming chain of slashes in a single motion.

"Kuh...!"

Han Suin’s short sword was knocked aside, but her foot was already at Kim Jun’s flank.

"You really have gotten stronger."

"Not yet."

The corner of Kim Jun’s mouth slowly lifted.

Heavy and swift.

And the difference between those two qualities soon collided on the battlefield like a torn-open wound.

Kwo-gwagwagwang-!!!

Dark red flames and silver afterimages slammed into each other at the center, and the whole field rang out as if it were exploding.

"Is that all?"

"Not yet...!"

Her soft, lethal trajectory and his heavy, crushing arc canceled each other out over and over.

Then Han Suin’s short sword came again, like lightning.

"Dragon Tail Flash."

Fap-!

Han Suin’s hand touched Dragon Tail.

Then she simply stared at Kim Jun in silence.

But the sight before them was entirely different.

Whooosh-!

In a single draw.

And yet dozens, hundreds of silver arcs were layered through the air.

As if the world itself were being torn apart, the overlapping lines sliced the atmosphere at once, generating a devastating shockwave.

All Kim Jun could hear was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the sharp scream of steel cutting through wind, and all he could see were the countless afterimages trembling one atop another.

"Hng!"

The moment Kim Jun took the assault on his greatsword, dozens of sword strikes struck in from every direction, grazing the hem of his clothes.

"This is a little dangerous."

As he muttered low under his breath, the glittering path of the short sword trailed across ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his vision.

Dragon Tail’s unique skill, Dragon Tail Flash.

He had known the skill in theory, but this was his first time feeling it with his own body.

"I know that much won’t even leave a scratch."

Han Suin’s voice shook rough with exertion, but her gaze remained razor-sharp.

Come to think of it, she has pretty eyes.

Sweat slid down her face, glinting in the moonlight, and with every slash their breaths mingled a little more.

Spat-!

Each time their blades collided, their breathing drew closer.

The distance between their eyes, the half-beat quicker inhale, and the clash that followed.

"Haah, haah...."

"Hoo...!"

The air grew taut, but neither of them stopped.

After countless exchanges, a rhythm emerged—one that seemed to govern them not by force, but by breath.

And when the final collision passed,

thunk.

The heavy greatsword and the nimble short sword both came to rest at the same time.

In the silence of that instant, their shadows overlapped, then drifted apart.

"That’s enough for today."

As Kim Jun sheathed his sword, Han Suin slowly returned her blade to its scabbard as well.

"Thank you... for today."

"Don’t mention it."

She had always been impossible to read, but this sparring match had been different.

For the length of time they had stood facing each other, he felt as though they had taken one step closer.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

...Wait. Had I transferred Dragon Tail?

It was definitely a bound item, and without a system transfer it should have been impossible for anyone else to use it.

And yet in Han Suin’s hand, the short sword was humming as if it had always belonged to her.

Kim Jun furrowed his brow for a moment, then shook his head.

...Well, let’s leave that alone for now.

"Hoo... that feels good."

The moment his sweat-soaked body cooled, the fatigue of battle and the pressure of the Tower were forgotten.

This inn, which drew its water from a stream flowing down from the ice mountain west of Thebes, was as refreshing as it got.

A faint chill brushed his skin, and a coolness seemed to sink all the way down to his bones.

Kim Jun shook out his damp hair and sat down on a chair.

Now that the break was over, it was time to check his true objective.

"All right, let’s see what we’ve got."

What he took out of his bag was the reward from the hidden clear on the 16th floor.

...

Even the description alone made his skin crawl.

If he asked whether the 100th floor had been cleared and got no answer, that would mean he had died.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious.

But that kind of confirmation would likely drag despair out before hope had a chance to appear.

Kim Jun had already made up his mind.

What I need right now isn’t hope from the future. It’s strength, right now.

He would learn how this run ended when the time came.

What mattered was surviving now, and becoming stronger.

So the question he chose was only one.

As he turned the page, Kim Jun muttered inwardly.

My future self definitely unlocked this all the way.

He was certain of it.

There was no way his future self would have failed to draw out the full power of demon-kind.

Maybe he could even bring that moment forward.

Shrrrk—

"This is insane."

Kim Jun’s eyes wavered.

To make every being in Hell his soldiers.

That wasn’t merely an increase in power.

Of course, what Gate of Hell could call forth were only the soldiers.

But if he contracted high demons with Diablo and turned them into commanders, then opened the gate of Hell and spewed out entire demon legions on top of that?

...I could turn the battlefield upside down, literally.

Several floors immediately came to mind.

Floors that took months, even years, to push through because of massive monster waves.

Battlefields where even humanity’s elite had been nowhere near enough.

The number of hunters was always limited.

We’d only just begun searching for people with potential.

And the number capable of climbing deep into the Tower was even smaller.

But if he had this power,

he could make up for humanity’s limits with sheer numbers.

No obstacle would be able to stand for long.

Then first, he would need to...

"Go to Hell."

Deep beneath the Tower lay Hell.

The first floor of Hell was under Asmodeus and his forces, but their relationship was friendly.

The second floor of Hell had already been cleared with Park Minsu.

That left only Hell’s third floor.

"Hell’s third ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠floor... ah."

A memory from before his regression surfaced in Kim Jun’s mind.

The ruler there was Andras.

The demon of flame and destruction.

Not just cruel, but born from malice and devastation itself.

Of course, not all demons were evil.

Asmodeus, whom he had contracted, was even gracious toward humans in his own way.

But Andras was different.

He was evil in the truest sense of the word.

A mad demon who delighted in destruction and turned battlefields into seas of fire.

"But if a monster like that is on my side."

The corner of Kim Jun’s mouth slowly rose.

The more fearsome the enemy had been, the more reassuring they were as an ally.

If it was Andras, he could probably push all the way to Hell’s tenth floor without even having to step forward himself.

"Shall we head there right away?"

He didn’t have time to waste.

Compared to his previous life, his growth had been absurdly fast.

But even so—

There’s no guarantee I’ll regress again after this.

He had to steel himself as if this life were the last.

Creak—

As he opened the door, the cold dawn air brushed his face.

"Hah... hah..."

Then he heard rough breathing from the inn’s front yard.

There stood Choi Doheon, swinging his fists with his bare hands.

A boy who, from dawn onward, built up his punches against the shadows, thousands upon thousands of times alone.

Kim Jun’s gaze paused for a moment.

He remembered the one blow that had brought down Leviathan’s leg on the 16th floor.

How long has he been at this?

That persistence, carved into every punch, looked strangely like the path he himself had walked.

"Doheon."

At Kim Jun’s sudden call, the boy jumped and his eyes flew wide open.

"H-Hunter-nim? W-where are you going at this hour?"

"Stop calling me Hunter-nim. Just call me hyung."

"H-hyung...? W-where are you going?"

"To Hell."

"H-Hell?!"

Doheon looked flustered, but after staring at Kim Jun for a moment, he nodded.

Because it was Kim Jun, it was more than enough to make sense.

"Doheon."

"Yes, sir!"

"Want to come with me? To Hell."

"...!"

A place completely different from the Tower’s surface floors.

Hell was far more brutal, but it also gave far greater rewards.

Training a level 11 fighter on the surface is too slow. But in Hell, it’s different. The experience points stack up twice as fast.

Besides—

I should also make him act as a shield in Minsu’s place while I’m at it.

But what came out of his mouth was different.

"Doheon, I know you’ll do well."

"!!"

The boy’s eyes flared bright.

M-my idol is counting on me...!

Kim Jun let out a quiet snort to himself.

Doheon, who had no idea what was going on inside Kim Jun’s head, clenched his fists and shouted,

"I’ll do my best!!"

"Good. Let’s do this."

His eyes were already burning like fire.

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