Maiden, Become the Sword God
"By the way, Sword God— no wait, Sensang-nim."
"Sensang-nim?"
"Well, you are the one teaching me, aren't you! But calling you 'Master' feels like a bit much..."
"That would be because you lack talent."
"Ah. Yes..."
"Ugh, whatever! Anyway, there's one problem with your videos, Sensang-nim."
A problem, she says. Whatever it was she had noticed, if there existed a flaw even I had failed to catch, then that itself was a grave matter indeed.
"You can't just toss out a breathing mantra with no explanation and tell us to figure it out!"
"Ah... so that is how it is."
So while claiming to teach, I had been looking at the world through these eyes of mine all along. Yet the gaze of the ordinary was a truly subtle and difficult thing. Again and again I had learned that deciphering a peerless technique came far more easily than understanding it.
Yes — a fine idea had come to me. If this one could not descend to the ordinary man's gaze, then surely I need only raise the ordinary... no, those lesser still, up toward me! And among such people, one who was considerably famous and influential stood right here.
"Then shall it be you who does it?"
"Huh?"
"Ah— no, you haven't even asked me to yet...!"
"So you would rather not?"
"I never said I didn't want to..."
"Truly a creature without backbone."
"W-well... I honestly don't know if I could do it. It's a lot of pressure, too."
It was not as though I had failed to anticipate a situation like this. Objectively and subjectively alike, Aso gave off the unmistakable air of a hopelessly pathetic little thing.
But a way to tempt even such an Aso did exist.
"Then is it fine if this one does not go seeking that Cheongmyeong of yours?"
"Cheongmyeongie! Taking our Cheongmyeong hostage... sniff!"
And should she still hesitate, there remained one further method.
"For the record, this one is quite handsome."
The honey trap. A truly fitting gambit for a world of reversed sexes, was it not? Yes — sorrowfully enough, Aso appeared lacking not merely in talent but in sense as well. The moment men entered the equation, she turned into a fool.
It made me wonder whether I had begun this tiresome business called teaching for nothing — but then, if I left this world as it stood, would I not be bored beyond all endurance?
"I'll do it!!"
"Just this once, I'll let it slide."
I had no notion what dream she was dreaming, but that upturned corner of her mouth was deeply unsettling to behold... If she grinned like that in front of me again, I truly might not be able to bear it.
"Now that is going too far."
"No... if you put it like that, what does that make me..."
"Then simply send this one a friend request."
"Yes sir!"
"I shall invite you to this one's Profile House, so accept it graciously."
Profile House. A feature I had stumbled upon only yesterday, after ending my stream and finding myself with time heavy on my hands. A wondrous function supported by Infinity, the very device through which I connected — one that allowed a person to shape a small world of their own. Building it here, tending it there, I had lost all track of time; in the end, I completed the whole of it in a single day. Still, I should not want for amusement now. I could not in good conscience call her a disciple, but I had gained myself something to do.
I switched off Aso's stream, connected to the device, and from within the Profile House sent a friend request to Aso.
"IronSword1021. However I turn it over in my mind, a truly peculiar name."
Mulling over her handle with the distinct feeling that it was an utterly bizarre appellation, I dispatched my invitation — and Aso accepted it almost before the thought had finished forming.
"A fine view indeed, is it not."
That aside — however many times I considered it, was this not a marvelously well-made world? Not beautiful because I had fashioned it, but beautiful in and of itself, no?
At the heart of this world, formed of a single small hill, stood one colossal tree. A tree so tall that even craning one's gaze upward, its crown lay far, far beyond.
Since long ago, I had wished for one ancient oak and one small hill. The scenery that kept me company was half the world, and the sky I gazed upon was the other half. Seated midway between heaven and earth, the vista seen alone had been lonely beyond all bearing.
Where standing alone atop it had been my lot, I had longed instead to come down.
"Wow... this is insane. The Profile House is gorgeous. The atmosphere is unreal... Ah, is that him? The Sword God? Th-the Sword God?"
A voice drifting over from behind me — familiar, and yet the first time I had ever heard it in the flesh. Aso. So it was her. She had come rather quickly, had she not? No different from the voice I knew from the stream. Just how far, I wondered, had this world's technology advanced?
"Yes. This one is the Sword God, Cheon Seojun."
The wind stirred. Between the swaying leaves, sunlight rained down and caught the brown of her hair in a hazy glow — and in the midst of it, black eyes met mine.
That was the first meeting between this one and Aso.
"Do you have a girlfriend? Ah— no! That's not it! No, wait—"
In one sense... no, in many senses, it was the worst possible opening. But since the words seemed to have escaped her against her own will, I would forgive it this once.
"Do you not have that girl of yours already?"
"I'm sorry! It's like an instinct or something..."
Instinct, she says. She possessed an instinct like that, and yet had lived out her days without ever once taking a sweetheart?
"Living all these years with such an instinct gelded within her — it must have been truly hard going."
"Uh..."
"Come to think of it, with an instinct like that, no wonder she could connect with that Cheongmyeong of hers."
In Murim, there had never been many women who approached one so directly. The pleasure quarters might be another matter entirely, but that Cheongmyeong girl hardly seemed the type to set foot in such places.
"I-I'm sorry."
"It is quite all right. So — are you prepared?"
"Huh? Prepared for what?"
"Just so. Your skill is wretched. It would be generosity itself to call it third-rate."
Watching her through the stream, it had been so pitiful I could not tell whether what I saw was her genuine skill or merely an act. Yes — even I could not tell. But now, looking into her eyes at last, I understood.
A dull blade, this one. And a considerable dull blade at that. There was nothing wrong with her body. Judged on sinew and bone alone, she might rate a cut above the merely average. But she lacked the capacity for insight — the ability to grasp principle and accept it into herself. Eyes that ought to shine clear instead sat clouded, wrapped in fog, unable to see the world at all.
"Below third-rate..."
Perhaps because such harsh words had been spoken face to face, the color drained visibly from her expression. Or perhaps I had struck, dead on, the very sore spot that always gnawed at her.
"Your aptitude is wanting as well. To put it in terms you would grasp easily — your understanding is deficient."
"Yes..."
Whether she had come with a light heart I could not say, but the gravity of the atmosphere exceeded anything she had imagined, and as my words picked her apart, her head sank lower and lower — until at last she could not even meet my eyes. Watching her, I spoke.
"That is precisely why I asked. Are you prepared?"
The moment the words left my mouth, a rising bank of clouds veiled the sun. The light that had shone down upon Aso's bowed head was swallowed whole.
"What... kind of preparation? I told you already, didn't I? I know. I can't do anything. There's nothing I'm good at. I can't learn either. Yes — I'm below third-rate, so whatever I do, I stay below third-rate. What on earth... do you even want from me?"
Spoken calmly, quietly, Aso's words nevertheless rang out loud, as though to spite their own gentleness. Slowly, she lifted her head — and the eyes that met mine held a whole constellation of feeling laid bare. Resentment at having her wounds gouged open anew. Resignation toward herself. And—
Yes. The women of this world were as men had once been. If truly a man — if truly a woman—
ought they not to aim still higher?
That expectation, that wish — I would grant it.
"The resolve to crawl up from the bottomless pit and behold the heavens."
Crawl up from the very bottom — and behold the heavens.
"Become a star."
Surpass the Sword King — and become the Sword God.
"I shall have you carry my martial arts to the world."
Behold the heavens.
"For the world saw fit to name this one the Sword God."
One path. One blade. One god supreme.
I extended my hand. Beyond the towering oak, the sun climbed past the very clouds that had veiled it. This was a body that had once cleaved the world itself. In a flesh-and-blood frame I could not say the same — but a virtual body need fear no harm.
Clouds such as these — hardly worth mentioning, no?
"Climb. That is the one and only thing this one asks of you."
Beneath the freshly cloven sky, Aso's eyes caught fire and shone.
"I will serve you as my Master."
"Ah, that part is a bit much."
For me, one disciple has been enough from days of old — and will be enough ever after.
"Huh...?"
"One disciple is enough for me. So instead, you will address this one as—"
Hm. Yes — there was a word that suited Aso perfectly.
"Call me Sensang-nim."
The dumbfounded face staring blankly up at me was so absurdly funny that laughter spilled out before I could stop it. Yes — this was the kind of person you were. An entertaining one. Quite pretty, too, and living such a comical life all the same. Perhaps that was precisely why she had caught my eye.
"Yes! Sensang-nim!"