Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Duel with the Sword Empress (2)
Hyukjin had been painting a picture the entire time.
In this fight of sword vs. sword, where the odds were stacked against him, he made it this far by making up for his relative lack of technical ability with his advantage in physical stats. He held back, leaving the slightest amount of give.
'Now.'
Exactly at that moment, he moved faster than Shin Yeonseo. He lowered his body and charged forward as if going for a tackle, like he was using a wrestling move on her. From Yeonseo's point of view, it looked like Hyukjin suddenly disappeared from sight.
'Fast—!'
His movements were completely different from before, far faster. There was only one explanation for this.
'He was hiding his strength?'
She was doing her utmost, but Hyukjin apparently hadn't been as transparent. It seemed that he had been saving his strength, waiting for this moment.
'He got me.'
Yeonseo was unable to redirect her sword. Single Hit Finisher, an innate ability bearing the meaning of 'killing the opponent without fail in one attack'. It was a high-speed attack that pierced one spot with incisiveness and alacrity. But her attack did not land. Her sword, which had struck forward, aiming for Hyukjin's throat, ended up embedding itself in the roadside tree.
That was exactly what Hyukjin wanted. Though theirs was a battle of sword vs. sword, Hyukjin knew how to use the objects in his surroundings to his advantage. While fighting Yeonseo, he had been inching closer and closer to the tree, all in order to paint this picture, in order to have a fight that wasn't a duel.
'Single Hit Finisher is fast.'
It was fast and precise. As long as the opponent moved within the predicted range, the skill could pierce the designated target with precision.
'It also has high killing power.'
It meant that you had to attack with a great deal of weight behind the blow.
'So when it fails, the risk is as high as its speed and strength.'
When it hit the mark, it would likely be a fatal blow, but if it failed to hit, it left a large margin for getting counterattacked. As fast and large as the movement was, it would take time to regain balance. In a case like this, with Yeonseo using the skill only to have it end with her sword lodged in a tree, she was completely vulnerable to a counterattack.
Hyukjin's eyes clearly saw a spot. He pinpointed a gap in the defenses of the future Sword Empress, Shin Yeonseo.
'Now it's my turn.'
Single Hit Finisher—a high-speed attack and the innate ability the Heavenly Demon who was the True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain had allowed him to temporarily use.
[Using the temporary skill Single Hit Finisher.]
The target was one hair in front of Yeonseo's throat.
"Kyaaa! Mommy!"
This woman might have the qualities to become the Sword Empress, but as of now, she still didn't have much real battle experience. Yeonseo fell backwards onto her butt.
Hyukjin grinned. "It's my win, right?"
"…"
Yeonseo reddened. She was embarrassed by the way she'd whined when she was unable to dislodge her sword from the tree, and also embarrassed by the way she'd fallen onto her butt just now.
"…Yeah."
Yeonseo knew as well as he did. If Hyukjin had truly struck her with the blade, she would have died, no two ways around it. It might be fine to die since it was a PVP zone, but no human could truly be free from a fear of death.
"I lost."
[Player Shin Yeonseo has acknowledged defeat.]
[You have won a victory in the first PVP zone, the first PVP battle.]
"Man, if our Mrs. Han Myunghye had seen me just now, she would've been shocked, huh? I haven't called for my mommy since elementary school," Yeonseo mumbled to herself in embarrassment.
Hyukjin didn't hear her muttering. He tilted his head.
'The first PVP zone, first PVP battle?'
Was there always a notice like this?
'No, there wasn't.'
April 28, 2028. The notepad that had always been in his hand had been placed carefully in his Inventory. Whenever he had the time, he carefully looked through the notepad and organized the events of the future, making a new strategy guide. But in his notes, there was nothing related to 'the first victory of the first PVP zone'.
Hyukjin helped Yeonseo to her feet.
'There's… a high chance it was originally Yeonseo who had the first victory.'
He came to that conclusion quickly. The Sword Empress had never been defeated by anyone other than Jo Sunghyun the Typhoon in a 1 vs. 1 PVP. She most likely received some kind of special bonus from the first PVP battle.
'And she kept it a secret from the world.'
[The title 'First Adversary' is being generated.]
"Thanks. But man, you're really strong. You haven't formally learned the sword either, right?"
"…"
"How can someone who hasn't learnt be like this? And you hid your strength in the middle on purpose, right? Your last movement was completely different. I feel like you got a real one over on me."
Yeonseo's mumbling didn't reach Hyukjin's ears.
'Another title?'
He got yet another title, something even rankers would seldom get.
'First Adversary.'
This was probably the title the Sword Empress was supposed to have gotten.
[First Adversary]
A title given to the Player who won in the first battle between Players.
The 'Adversary' holds a considerably advantageous high ground in battles with Players.
Attack speed: +7%
Movement speed: +4%
Special Skill: Can use Flash Step.
Hyukjin was sure of it. Flash Step, of all things, had appeared. It was a skill of an entirely different nature from other instantaneous movement magic-based spells like 'Blink' or 'Warp'. With absolutely zero use or flow of mana, it could allow you to change positions instantly, before your opponent could even notice what was happening.
This formidable lightness technique, that had allowed the Sword Empress to shine radiantly in 1 vs. 1 PVP, this skill called Flash Step, was relegated to Hyukjin.
'A skill the Sword Empress should have originally gotten…'
He saw Yeonseo, who had already shaken off all her embarrassment and had a faint smile on her lips. Looking at that nearly completely innocent smile, his emotions were a little complicated.
'I got, instead.'
Thanks to his knowledge of the future, he ended up getting an ability that the Sword Empress was supposed to get.
'I'm not sorry.'
He wasn't completely at ease, but that didn't mean he was extremely troubled, either. The Sword Empress was doing her best, and likewise, he, Kim Hyukjin, was doing his best to Play, using everything within his capacity.
They had both done their best, so they would each take responsibility for the result. It was a simple, clear-cut principle.
Hyukjin's victory also surprised the Guardians.
[The 'Nameless Observer' expresses their surprise.]
[The 'Nameless Observer' has sent you a Coin sponsorship.]
[+400 Coins]
The Nameless Observer sent me yet another sponsorship.
[The 'Lady of the Scales' is awed by your chivalrous spirit.]
By chivalrous spirit, she was likely referring to the fact that I didn't kill Yeonseo.
'If you're awed, you should at least give some Coins.'
I heard that she was so very generous to one of the 8 Heroes representing Korea, Jo Sunghyun the Typhoon, but to me, she only expressed her admiration without opening her purse.
[The 'Whispering Devil' likes your scheming.]
[The 'True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain' has begun to pay attention to you.]
It felt fun to Hyukjin.
'A whopping four Guardians have begun to send messages to me.'
The number of Guardians who could send messages to a single Player was limited to five. No one knew the exact details, but it was said that the Guardians also competed amongst themselves in order to squeeze into those five slots.
'Getting into the first four slots also takes a huge amount of Coins.'
Not every detail of the System was known. However, one thing they did know was that Guardians also had to compete in order to send messages. In other words, even among the Guardians who 'revealed their names', message-sending Guardians were the 'real deal'.
'Just one more, and all five slots will be filled.'
But the notices continued.
[The 'Courageous Lion King' ridicules your petty tricks.]
It was almost a little absurd, even. How much did he have to compete among the Guardians in order to send that message? Thinking about it like that, it really was laughable.
'Even though there's no doubt that he doesn't like me.'
But even so, he was unable to take his eyes off Hyukjin. Despite falling slightly short compared to famous Guardians like the 'Lady of the Scales' and the 'True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain', seeing as he continued to persist in sending messages…
'Is he a tsundere?'
His flip flopping made me feel like there was some sort of love-hate relationship here.
"What are you thinking about so hard?" asked Yeonseo, peering at Hyukjin. "The PVP zone is supposed to be disabled after three minutes."
"Ah."
Right, Yeonseo was in front of him. He had been so focused on various things that he forgot about Yeonseo.
"Um… hey."
Yeonseo's cheeks reddened a little. Hyukjin's Eye of Perception picked up on a strange emotion from her.
'What's going on?'
It was hard to describe in exact words, but this slightly itchy feeling of some sort, emotion of some sort, came sweeping towards him via Eye of Perception like a spring wind.
"Tell me your phone number."
"Why?"
"Well, um… It'll be convenient to party up if I get to know a Player of your level in advance… Ah. So what I mean by party is, you know. That thing. Uh. Not the kind of party where you drink, but that System-made party… that is…"
After rambling for a bit, she finally straightened.
"Just give me your number, okay?" She decided to simply go for it. "I've taken a liking to you, alright?"
She bit her lips a little, and as she looked up at Hyukjin with something like expectation in her eyes, her face appeared as pink as a peach.
Her voice became a little smaller.
"Give me your number already."
I was forced to experience a fierce beating. After the PVP zone dissipated, my eyes were greeted with the sight of my older sister and her swollen eyes. The beating she unleashed was pretty damn painful, even for an Awakened person like me. Eye of Perception sent me danger signals, but I didn't avoid her fists.
'Looks like she worried a lot.'
She had even called the police, but they told her there was no use, or something to that effect. This 'Playing' thing happening now was an incomprehensible and mysterious phenomenon. Not even the police could do a thing about the Streamers, and they couldn't even keep up with all the calls related to gates or Players. It was just too early in the game for that.
'The only thing noona could do was simply wait here.'
If I knew this would happen, I would have come after giving her a detailed explanation, at least. She had waited in a daze outside for nearly seven hours. She only regained her composure after a long time.
"I told you to not worry. I won't die before letting my family live in comfort."
"…"
Inside the taxi, my sister absentmindedly gazed out the window, almost as if saying, 'I never worried about a fool like you'. When we were almost home, she pushed something towards me.
"Take it or leave it; I don't care."
It was chocolate, the Ghana chocolates I liked. I picked it up. The feelings and sincerity of my sister who worked three shifts in the factory to support me, growing sick with leukemia in the process, were in this pack of chocolates. That was how it felt to me.
'Noona, I'll do my best.'
The debts of the past, I would repay them all. We had a house, as well as money.
'It'll take about three days to sort things out for moving.'
I guessed that our new nest would be ready for move-in in three days. Our current hole in the ground, a place that was hot in the summer and cold in the winter, a place where bugs came skittering away as soon as the lights went on, the day would come when we would be able to say this place was a memory, an experience.
One day passed, and the media exploded with articles.
—Global Conglomerate Sungshin expands into 'New Technology Business'.
Sungshin announced that they would be concentrating on 'Playing'. They named the items acquired from Playing 'new technology' and revealed that they would devote their full energy into this 'new technology business'. Not long after this announcement, 'Tutorial Fields' appeared all over the world.
I knew.
'Globally, at least 20 million people will die.'
This was something I could do nothing about. I was neither a hero nor a god. I could not save them. I wasn't even able to save the people right in front of me, the people on the D-Tower 2nd floor. This was a flow of events I could do nothing about.
'Sungshin's vigorous involvement, and the transition of the world into Tutorial mode.'
The world was proceeding exactly as I knew.
One day passed.
I stumbled upon a 'mini gate' that formed near my house, where I found 'baby orcs'. Their level was about 15. They weren't full-growns, but I still needed to face them seriously.
'Not too far in the future, I will have to kill orcs.'
And not just one, but a great number of them.
Another day passed.
[Level increased.]
[Current level: 25]
[2 bonus stats acquired.]
[1 random stat acquired.]
'Level 25.'
I reached level 25. This was the number one thing I'd been waiting for. Before a Player reached the 30-40 stretch, the level up period from hell, level 25 was the first 'turning point' of that Player.
'I should be getting a notice now.'
I waited for the level 25 notice.
'Huh?'
But something was a little strange.
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