Records of the Past
The old man stood in front of me with his usual bird's-nest hair and scruffy, unshaven face. The ratty tracksuit he always wore had started to feel almost comforting after seeing it day after day.
"Today I'm recording our duel."
"Why the sudden video concept?" I asked.
"This time I'll be using one of my abilities. If you manage to land even a single hit on me, I'll call it a success."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Now you're just going to beat me with your powers? Isn't that a bit much? How the hell am I supposed to hit you?"
"Shut up and listen."
"......"
Unlike his usual self, the old man's voice was dead serious. He stared at me with that lazy expression paired with those razor-sharp eyes—an incredibly unbalanced combination.
"The ability I'm using right now is Object Manipulation."
His tone and way of speaking hadn't changed, but the atmosphere was completely different from normal. It felt sharp. Cold. Like one wrong move and you'd get sliced open.
The old man grabbed the weapon locker in the dueling arena and flipped it over. With a loud clatter, various weapons spilled across the floor. As he rummaged through the pile, he continued.
"My ability has a lot of conditions, but the effect is solid. Listen carefully. Any object with two straight four-centimeter lines drawn exactly 1.3 centimeters apart falls under my control."
He picked up a longsword, inspected its blade, then tossed it aside carelessly.
"I can manipulate any object meeting those conditions up to the limit of my processing power. The speed and power will be exactly the same as if I were holding and using the weapon myself, so watch out."
The number of selected swords had already passed four, but the old man kept digging through the pile.
"I'll tell you the characteristics too. Objects under my control don't fall to the ground when they leave my influence. They stay fixed in that position. Finally, the control range is ten meters around me. Don't bother trying to create distance—deal with it however you can."
The moment he selected a total of eight swords, the old man stopped explaining. The sight was completely unlike his usual demeanor. These were real weapons meant to kill people. And now he was pointing them at me while using his ability.
He began drawing two clear straight lines with a marker on the lower part of each blade. Before long, he'd finished marking the last sword. The eight real blades slowly rose into the air.
Soon the eight swords had surrounded me from every direction, their tips all pointed straight at me. At the same time, the old man picked up another real sword in his hand.
When everything was ready, he finally activated the dueling arena system.
"Let's begin."
The moment the words left his mouth, the eight swords shot forward to pierce my body all at once. I'd already anticipated an immediate attack, so I was already rolling forward. It wouldn't mean anything, but I still grumbled at him out of pure resentment.
"At least give me time to grab a weapon!"
"How many people in real combat are going to wait for you?"
While dodging the flying blades, I quickly snatched a longsword with my right hand. As I got back to my feet, I grabbed a mace with my left. There was no point trying to create distance anyway—I'd just get suppressed. I shot forward immediately.
The instant I reached the old man, I planted my right foot and thrust the longsword toward his abdomen.
-Clang!
One of the flying blades had already intercepted my thrust. I bent my right arm and slammed my elbow into the flat of the sword that blocked me. Without killing the momentum from the strike, I pivoted hard on my right foot and swung the mace in my left hand.
-Kwaaang!!!!
Another sword flew in without fail and blocked my attack. The impact was louder than when I'd thrust with the longsword, strong enough to spray sparks. But it was still far from a valid hit.
I gave up on getting any closer. If the floating swords surrounded the old man, there'd be no way to attack him at all. Instead, I used a backstep while striking the lower part of the sword blocking my path with my longsword. My target was the section marked with the marker.
With a sharp clang, the gap between me and the old man returned to its original distance.
"Not bad. Being wary of my ability and trying to nullify it is a decent approach."
"Then tell me how I'm supposed to break through!"
"If you can't break through, you die."
Six swords came rushing at me. But this time they weren't simple thrusts like before. Some slashed, some stabbed. Each blade moved as if it had its own will, flying in randomly and with staggered timing.
I threw my body to the right, knocking aside two incoming slashes, then charged forward again. Or tried to.
A sword suddenly shot in from outside my field of vision, stabbing straight down and forcing me to stop. The blade that came flying pierced straight through my right forearm.
-Squish!
"Fuck, that hurts like hell!"
"Dodging is fine, but the sword you attacked earlier is still under my control."
"Are you serious? Isn't this ability straight-up broken?"
The sword that had stabbed my forearm quickly pulled out. It positioned itself in front of the old man like a shield, edge raised toward me.
I caught my breath and assessed the situation. My left hand was still fine. The wound in my right hand from the recent penetration was more serious than I'd thought. I could still hold a sword, but I wouldn't be able to put my usual strength behind it. I gripped the sword with my trembling right arm lowered. Blood began flowing from the pierced arm. Before I knew it, everything below my right elbow was soaked red.
"So think carefully and dodge properly."
"Stop talking out of your ass."
I gripped the sword tighter, fighting the slipperiness from the blood on my right hand. This time I sprang to the left. Six swords moved to block my path in response. Two flew at my left ankle from both sides as I tried to plant my foot. The rest targeted my neck, right shoulder, left thigh, and abdomen respectively.
I planted my left foot a half-beat early. I felt a heavy pressure crushing my left ankle. Immediately I twisted my body and threw myself hard to the right.
-Slice.
-Whoosh.
-Clang.
My left calf got thinly sliced. It was a sharp attack that took advantage of the moment I urgently changed direction from left to right. Still, it was tolerable. It didn't affect my movement. The remaining swords either barely cut through empty air or stabbed deep into the ground.
This time I planted my right ankle and shot my body to the left again. Enduring the pushing momentum, I closed in on the old man at high speed.
"That last move wasn't bad."
"Then just let me hit you once."
Without killing my acceleration, I stepped forward with my left foot. At the same time, I brought my sword down with all my strength.
-Kwaaaaaang!!!!!!!!
A violent burst of sound rang out along with flying sparks. Maybe because I'd put more speed behind it this time, even the old man seemed to judge it as dangerous. Four swords flew in to block my attack. And as if that wasn't enough, he even overlapped them with the sword he was holding himself.
"This bastard really does have monstrous strength."
It felt like I'd swung a mace instead of a sword. But I still hadn't landed a valid hit. Without stopping, I dragged my right foot forward, stepped on the overlapping swords, and used them as a springboard to leap. The moment I tried to bring the mace in my left hand down from above—
-Slice!
Two swords that hadn't been stuck in the ground flew in and neatly severed my left arm below the shoulder.
"Ugh."
"I told you—if you can't break through, you die."
"This difficulty is fucking bullshit."
I held back the rising scream and swung the stump of my left arm as if the arm was still there. Blood gushed from the severed surface like a fountain.
-Splash!!
"The hell?"
The old man clearly hadn't expected that—his vision was momentarily blocked. It was my chance. I rolled forward once in the air, got behind him, and thrust my sword straight toward his spine.
-Squish!
-Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sword sank slightly into the old man's back. I'd meant to drive it in deep, but two problems made that difficult. One was that my right hand was already injured, so I couldn't put proper strength behind it. The other was that the six swords he'd sent out in anticipation had hammered the flat of my blade. Still, it had gone in deep enough that it wouldn't come out easily. That was enough.
Feeling the sensation of the sword tip touching bone through my fingers, I focused again. I'd already stabbed him, so it was a success, but after taking so much damage I was too pissed to end it here. As I pulled back slightly, the old man spoke to me in a surprised tone.
"You actually stabbed me? Congratulations. You pass."
"Go to hell!!!!!"
"That's not allowed."
At the old man's words, all eight swords began mercilessly stabbing into my body. But the adrenaline surging like crazy made me forget the pain for a moment. The brief grace period was enough.
I quickly planted my right foot. Using that as the axis, I spun my body powerfully and attempted a spinning back kick with my left foot. My target was the pommel of the longsword.
-SQUELCH!!!!!!!!!
The sword that had only been slightly embedded in the old man's back suddenly received tremendous force. Like hammering a nail all the way in with a single strike, my sword drove straight through the old man's body.
"I got you, you son of a bitch."
At that moment, sudden dizziness washed over me. Was it anemia from losing too much blood? Or had the tension finally left my body? Whatever the cause, I couldn't hold on any longer.
Unlike the old man who stood perfectly fine, I slowly collapsed and immediately lost consciousness.
Right before passing out, I thought I heard the old man say,
"What a crazy bastard. You actually went and pierced me."
As the dueling arena system shut down, sudden silence fell over the arena. In that quiet, the only sound that echoed emptily was the notification that the recording had ended.
Recording terminated.
"What do you think? From what you saw?"
"It's Ryu Kanghyuk, sir."
"Indeed. Even so, he only used one-quarter of his personal limit in terms of weapon count. And he only used a single ability."
"Still, that speed and power were clearly at Ryu Kanghyuk's limit."
When the video ended, Chairman Jang Inhyuk clasped his hands together, rested his chin on them, and spoke.
"Would you like to look at the final part more closely?"
"Is there something specific?"
"Look at his hands, not the kick."
The secretary rewound the video slightly and began playing it in slow motion. As he watched, Jang Inhyuk spoke quietly in an intrigued tone.
"He's erasing the mark using the blood on his right hand."
"What does that mean... Ah."
"As expected, you're quick on the uptake. That's why I keep you as my secretary."
Having gotten bored, Jang Inhyuk waved his hand over the desk. He grabbed a cheap lokum that appeared and popped it into his mouth.
"He was probably preparing to erase the mark on the sword and use it himself in case the attack failed."
"That doesn't seem like something he thought out beforehand. It looks closer to instinct."
"I don't know about the actual situation, but just seeing this already shows the potential."
"With movement and reflexes like that, he'd easily qualify for Gold Rank."
Jang Inhyuk burst into loud laughter.
"The freshman I enrolled is the one who landed a valid hit on that Ryu Kanghyuk."
"......Pardon?"
The secretary, who had maintained perfect composure until now, showed emotion for the first time. Jang Inhyuk smiled with satisfaction at the sight.
"And he's an incompetent who hasn't even awakened a simple ability."
"Is it possible for someone like that to land a valid hit on Ryu Kanghyuk?"
"If it weren't possible, this video wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't have decided to enroll him."
Only then did the secretary's expression show understanding.
"...So that's why you enrolled that student, sir."
"Hahaha. Besides, aren't you curious?"
Jang Inhyuk looked out the window with eyes that seemed to be recalling something. Whether it was nostalgia for the past or chewing over a suddenly remembered bad relationship, only Jang Inhyuk knew.
"What if an incompetent of that level were to awaken an ability?"
"With all due respect, statistics show that ability awakening only occurs before the age of twenty."
"Yes, as you say. But there's always the possibility of 'what if,' isn't there?"
"That would never—"
Jang Inhyuk stood up from his seat, cutting off the secretary's words. He began walking slowly toward the door.
"Consider it the small expectation of an old man."
"..."
"Besides, the protagonist of this duel is that student."
"You mean that absurd odds match where he exploited a loophole in the rules?"
The secretary, who rarely showed emotion, spoke with unusual sharpness. Jang Inhyuk paused while opening the door, turned back, and grinned.
"You bet on the favorite, didn't you?"
"......"
"Thanks to you, I made quite a bit of money. The other old men must be shedding tears of blood right about now. Kehehehe."
Chairman Jang Inhyuk left just like that, but the secretary remained frozen in place for a long time. Whether he was stopped from shock or from the sorrow of betting on the favorite, only the secretary knew.
"Shinwoo, do you really not know anything?"
"After coming here, I can't remember a single thing. I forgot everything. I'm screwed."
"I'm going to take care of you for the rest of your life, so you can't get dementia, okay?"
"...Hye-ji? Why did the topic suddenly get so heavy? I'm still in my twenties."
In the end, I didn't tell Hye-ji that I hadn't taken the test. It wasn't that I didn't trust her. I just thought I should be at least a little cautious since I didn't know how the rumor might spread.
It's not like there's anyone among those sons of bitches I can trust.
In my remaining time, I tried studying again. No matter how I looked at it, the theories were definitely not something that could be mastered in a short period.
This is why there are no normal hunters—stuffing theory into your head like this.
Of course, the only hunter I'd met was Kanghyuk, but that guy wasn't sane either. It was only recently that I'd finally managed to hit him a little. Before that, he'd been a madman who beat the shit out of me while laughing.
Even though I think the old man is fucking awful, he should be grateful to me. Soon, the mama dispenser is going to turn into a majestic big sister and come for naked dogeza.
Why? My senses are tingling. I told Hye-ji it was the favorite, but this feels like Season 2 of the dueling arena's underdog knight story.