Truth (2)

I wanted to shout,

"I'm a natural awakener!"

"No need to answer. We'll know the truth once this is over anyway."

B-class mage Park Chang-seok.

He had no intention of letting me off easy.

He didn't even give me a chance to speak, relentlessly hurling goblins at me one after another.

That ominous aura intensified once more.

Slash—.

I sliced through the lunging goblin's neck and glared at Park Chang-seok.

Something was off, no matter how I looked at it.

At this point, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was trying to kill me.

No, I was certain.

'This bastard's really trying to kill me.'

As I swung my sword, my senses sharpened, and my intuition reached its peak.

That's when I uncovered the truth.

Killing intent.

The ominous feeling I'd sensed was that kind of energy.

'Sword Enlightenment... must be thanks to that?'

All those messages that appeared when I first gripped the sword.

I couldn't summon the swords themselves yet, but the enlightenment of the sword remained with me.

My body and mind just hadn't fully comprehended it yet—

'Swinging the sword integrates it naturally.'

Sensation was just the beginning.

I was adapting to the sword at a maddening pace.

Like this—

Slash, slash! Spurt—.

I swept through the battlefield with movements as skilled as a battle-hardened veteran.

Wielding the small baby sword, I slew countless goblins.

Cleanly and decisively.

Just like a refined knight's.

With precise, disciplined motions, I advanced steadily.

How many dozens had I cut down?

"Huh??"

Suddenly, the ominous energy the mage had been emitting vanished.

His eyes gleamed as he stared at me.

"That skill! That ability!!! You're a natural awakener!!! Whoa— Sword summoning was just a bonus, but your swordsmanship is the real deal!!! Insane, what kind of swordplay is that?"

This guy...

"You must've survived some brutal trial too. Damn— How many decades of training does it take to wield a sword like a ghost?"

A true-blue natural awakener supremacist.

Once he confirmed I was the real deal, he completely shifted his attitude.

The ominous energy, the killing intent—all gone.

"You fight well. And you don't flinch—your mental fortitude is no joke! I thought you were a fake messing around with that pathetic little sword—"

The mage rambled on.

While insulting my small, precious baby sword, no less.

"No need to sour a fellow kinsman's mood. At this level already, you're a monster like that old Sword Emperor who vanished in the Tower..."

He might be acting friendly now, but he was trying to kill me just moments ago.

I fixed him with a sharp glare.

"If my killing intent offended you, I'll apologize again."

He even bowed his head.

Honestly, a three-year B-class hunter would've built up considerable power.

Even if I showed promise, he was still someone I couldn't beat yet.

Yet he was doing this...

'He either thinks highly of me, or he's the type who goes above and beyond for naturals.'

I nodded bitterly, reluctantly.

Because he started rummaging for something.

"You just awakened, so you'll need money for all sorts of gear..."

Should I still get mad?

That thought didn't last.

He pulled out a crude paper ticket.

"This is a Tower entry ticket. You know what it is, right?"

Gates appear on Earth.

They erode the surroundings, spreading bizarre and grotesque things.

But the Tower exists in an unseen realm.

'He's giving me a Tower entry ticket?'

The one and only unique place: the Tower.

Just called "the Tower."

An ordinary name for an extraordinarily special place.

'One ticket costs over ten million bucks?'

Not attempted murder, but as compensation for murderous intent, it was overly generous.

I swallowed my anger.

"You're just giving this to me?"

A ten-million-dollar ticket, just like that.

New awakeners aim to buy one of these by clearing Gates...

"I push real juniors hard. Fakes? Well..."

B-class mage Park Chang-seok.

He trailed off.

The unspoken part—

'He's probably gotten rid of a few too.'

As I thought that,

"They're so infuriating you'd want to kill them, but you can't. Non-awakeners oppress us, after all."

"Oppress?"

"You'll learn someday."

Hunter Park Chang-seok left those meaningful words and exited the Gate.

Awakener Management Agency, Yeouido branch.

"Here's the evaluation report."

"Already done?"

Manager Kang Seol-ah reviewed B-class mage Park Chang-seok's report.

An top-tier evaluation.

And I'd earned it with my performance.

"S-Soloed 83 goblins? In just three minutes? Whoa—."

Manager Kang Seol-ah looked at me with wide-eyed surprise as she read the details.

"Si-woo, you've become an insanely powerful awakener!"

That's right.

I'd become a rare special S-grade talent on the marriage market.

A young man under 30.

An awakener with immense potential for power.

"A-grade rating is a sure thing, no debate. SSS here is just potential—don't overthink it. You know real climbs need achievements, right?"

"Yeah."

And I could rack up achievements fast.

Thanks to Park Chang-seok giving me the Tower entry ticket.

Even after 83 goblins, my level hadn't risen.

But the Tower was different.

'Best place for leveling.'

Though it's brutally tough.

I couldn't go bare like this.

So—

"Noona Seol-ah."

I looked at Manager Kang Seol-ah carefully.

Using the nickname I only let slip when drunk at drinks.

Meaning what I had to say was that important.

"Huh? Calling me that at work? What, need to borrow money or something?"

The problem was...

Manager Kang Seol-ah's intuition was spot-on.

Yeah.

I needed to borrow money right now.

"You said you had four mil in savings, right?"

"W-Wait, you're seriously asking?"

"Well..."

I could earn chump change like four mil in a flash now.

But I was broke at the moment.

And it was urgent.

The message that popped up after the combat test.

Swinging honestly raised Sword 1, Reinhardt Euclid's counter by 1, triggering a quest to enter the Tower and summon him.

Leaving Reinhardt aside.

It meant I could finally hold that magnificent, massive greatsword he'd wielded at the end.

'Touch the sword I raised in its full glory?'

I couldn't resist.

Manager Kang Seol-ah summed up my profound longing simply.

"So, to grab that sword, you wanna buy forty mil worth of armor? 'Cause the Tower's dangerous?"

"Yeah."

"What about your money?"

I sighed deeply.

"Well..."

I was a natural awakener now, but even I couldn't help cursing them.

"That crazy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠patriot bastard tied up my money in an apartment."

"Ah..."

After the first Gate incident, S-grades, SS-grades, and SSS-grades emerged one after another.

Korea even had one SSS-grade hunter.

Nicknamed the Patriot.

"That lunatic said he'd abandon Seoul unless apartment prices dropped below ten mil average—"

The government clamped down on real estate loans.

"—And you got that redevelopment slot!"

"Yes."

When my parents passed, they left me a rundown villa.

Twelve years later, it got redeveloped, and I paid the premium for a new apartment right.

All my cash was locked in the house.

"Can't sell even if I wanted to now."

Loan restrictions, luxury apartment tax hikes.

Laws popping up overnight as the "Patriot Special Act."

"The Patriot..."

SSS-grade hunter.

One of the rare few who could wield power outside Gates: a Transcendent.

He had the bizarre ability to summon Korea's historical figures as constellations.

"He's a good guy, but way too extreme."

Japan doesn't claim Dokdo anymore.

Five years ago, the Patriot summoned constellation Yi Sun-sin.

Yi Sun-sin called forth 12 massive aircraft carriers, turning parts of Japan's islands into a sea of fire.

"He’s got that 'national ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pride hunter' nickname, but he's harsh on his own people too."

Ban on luxury bags.

Death penalty for corrupt politicians.

Erasing pro-Japan companies, etc.

The Patriot kills for real.

'A good villain, sort of...'

Korea got pretty clean.

Corrupt politicians die.

Rapists and murderers too.

Violent crime vanished.

So now the Patriot fixates on housing prices and stocks.

Anyway.

"I'll lend you the four mil."

After my explanation, noona Kang Seol-ah reluctantly agreed to break her savings for me.

Such a grateful sister figure...

"I'll pay back with hefty interest."

I bowed deeply and left the Awakener Management Agency.

The Tower could be entered anywhere, so I planned to do it from home—where I felt safest.

"So... this really was a special, bizarre experience?"

Only after awakening did I realize how extraordinarily unique my past had been.

For twelve years, I'd played Raise a Sword on the same computer.

Click—.

My computer wouldn't turn on.

No one uses computers in this world anymore anyway.

I'd been so immersed in Raise a Sword that I never noticed.

"Unbelievable. A computer without internet to begin with..."

I accessed my personal internet.

Commonly called World_NET.

A holographic screen appeared before my eyes.

It's called internet, but it's basically a supercomputer.

'Why AI died after the awakener era.'

Mystery from Gates worldwide became personal computers.

AI and old internet stalled when server rooms got eroded.

Now World_NET is standard.

'A status window ability given to everyone worldwide.'

Games, communities—all on it.

Keyboard and mouse auto-generate.

Or type with thoughts.

Summon small like a smartphone for calls and texts.

An all-in-one super device.

'And free.'

Awakeners get exclusive features.

I entered the auction house.

To buy gear before the Tower.

'Gotta do official Gates for government incentives.'

The state gives awakeners pocket money.

They buy Mystery dearly from Gates.

Purify eroded land? Get 50% of the area in compensation.

Rewards match the risk.

But prices are insanely high for top earners.

'Damn.'

Cheapest armor at four mil—no joke.

I hit [Buy].

The Beginner Full-Body Armor from auction zipped to my inventory icon.

Probably equip from status window in the Tower.

"Prep's done?"

I tore the Tower Entry ticket without hesitation.

A mechanical voice rang in my ear.

A green safe zone appeared under my feet.

A three-meter circle.

I quickly thought to equip the Beginner Full-Body Armor from inventory.

A thin suit of armor materialized over my body.

No stats shown, but enough defense against orc-level attacks.

'Better than nothing.'

I looked around.

The Tower: the space that boosts awakener power most.

Reenacts the special and bizarre trial of awakening.

'Did the Sword Emperor vanish here?'

Kim Hong-sik, 78, Korea's first S-grade after 1000 years training.

At 90, he cleared floor 9 for SS-grade, vanished on 10.

Rumors say a million-year training room appeared...

"Me? I'm safe."

My case was secure.

Raise a Sword had a storyline.

Floor 1 was early game.

Shoooo—.

Chilling mist shrouded the surroundings.

Raise a Sword's starting point.

The abyss interior for placing swords.

'Not similar—identical.'

Like pixel graphics rendered real.

Just a cave.

Except the monsters looked vicious.

'Anyway—'

I had the model sword that saved the world.

Complete with its NPC wielder.

'Summon Ego Sword.'

I willed it naturally.

Swap my baby sword for Sword 1, Reinhardt.

Then—

Vmmm.

The sword vibrated.

An overwhelming omnipotence settled into my body, like when I first gripped it.

'This is the true power of the sword—'

Blue light rippled over the small baby sword, slowly reshaping it.

Rumble!!!

A massive greatsword emerged amid dazzling effects.

Ding!

Gleaming blue blade.

Simple, restrained sky-blue hilt.

A pure white gem at the pommel.

The gem pulsed.