The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are overly confident, while wise people are filled with doubt.
– A late-night stream?
– Wak-yah-pee~
– Right after school, an ON live stream? I’m so grateful for this precious moment, I’ll enjoy it!
– Are you making progress today, Professor NoName… no, Master?
– Please upload three lecture videos a day!
– It’s super noisy outside. What’s that sound?
“Hello. Since you all are progressing quickly in swordsmanship, I plan to upload two lecture videos today. Glow sticks have been trending at our academy; do you all know what this is?”
He pulled out a somewhat crude-looking sword.
Despite the cute plastic handle, the blade itself radiated an intimidating aura.
“Wow, looks like Na-me is going to show some swordsmanship!”
“Let’s sit here and watch!”
Elementary school kids gathered in a semicircle as if they had made a promise.
On one side, the pure eyes of curious children shone brightly.
And on the other side…
– What’s with the protesters?
– Seriously, those idiots are back again, not tired at all.
– “It’s not a joke, it’s violence,” they say lol!
– Wow! A school bullying situation with no victims! Korea really is something else!
– Academy = a group teaching killing techniques, look at that logic.
– NoName, let’s go film somewhere else.
– For real, are you dodging because you’re scared of the poop? You’re avoiding it because it’s dirty.
“Hey, student! Put that sword down right now!”
“The sword?”
“Yeah!”
“Me?”
“Yeah!”
“Why?”
“… Obviously because it’s dangerous! Do you think it looks good to be swinging a knife around in broad daylight on a busy street?”
“I’m standing here in the academy grounds, and no one but students and staff can walk around here anyway.”
“…”
The woman was left speechless, looking at the white line on the ground.
They could not cross that line without permission from the foundation.
The Sephiron Foundation’s land is part of the Republic of Korea, even leased to the United States.
The moment someone trespasses, fully armed U.S. soldiers would be the ones to respond, not the police.
I demonstrated the trick I had shown my friends earlier at the gym.
I spun the sword around in my hand and tossed it high into the air.
Thud!
I caught the freely falling sword by the handle at the perfect timing.
The children’s cheers filled the air with excitement.
– Wah ha ha!
– This kid is just on another level lol!
– Is this a circus or what?
– Seeing the kids so happy lifts my spirits too hehe.
– Swordsmanship always comes down to tricks.
– No matter how intimidating they act, they can’t step inside the academy.
“Today, we’ll have a brief review of what we learned last time, and afterwards, I’ll introduce the fifty-third technique of the Imperial Palace Swordsmanship, ‘Hawk Dive Thrust.’ It seems like we’re covering thrusts for the first time today, right? Usually, thrusting techniques are offshoots or linking moves from other techniques, so they’re usually taught after technique number 400. Keep that in mind.”
We started with a review of the fifty-second technique, ‘Key Slice.’
I began with my arms extended horizontally and quickly pulled the sword towards my body.
The sword hilt was at my chest, and the tip was aimed at the opponent. Then my left hand joined in.
I twisted my wrist 90 degrees like turning a key and quickly drew the sword horizontally.
After the impact point, the sword tip traced a large arc, circling around my body once.
My body spun lightly like a ballerina following the path of the sword and landed on the ground.
Cheers and jeers erupted simultaneously.
“Now, I’m going to teach you the Hawk Dive Thrust—”
“Stop that right now!”
– They’re totally messing with you lol!
– NoName was streaming just to show this off?
– LOL!
– Saw a kid yell at an elementary schooler, top-class!
– This is just too funny!
Finally, unable to endure any longer, one protester stepped boldly up to the boundary.
As I aimed the sword at her, she jumped back in shock and fell onto her butt.
I tried to reach out to help her get up, but she averted her gaze at the glow stick in my hand.
“Ah! Oh my God! Get that cruel thing away from me right now!”
“This?”
“You’re threatening innocent citizens! Just because you’re an academy student, does that make it okay?”
“Is it me?”
“Yeah, it’s illegal. Don’t you know what the law is? A glow stick is not just a toy; it’s a bona fide weapon. Hand over that sword and get home!”
“Why?”
“Ugh…!”
The woman’s face turned a colorful shade of red.
– LOL is it making me angry too!
– I’m so glad to be on Na-me’s side.
– This is an undefeated logic with no argument lol!
– Not even illegal, what is she saying?
– Plus, even if it were illegal, Na-me is invincible!
– Later she’ll probably scream she got hurt by a flashlight’s beam lol.
Realizing her embarrassment, the woman hurried back to join her fellow protesters without looking back.
She grabbed a red megaphone and started inciting the crowd.
“Look, everyone! This is the result of academy education. How did these kind and innocent children end up like this? It’s time we adults pay attention to this. Sephiron Academy must ban violent play culture immediately!”
“Ban it! Ban it! Ban it!”
Regardless of their noise, I continued my lecture.
Maybe later, I’ll do voice-over when I upload this on the Internet.
“The Hawk Dive Thrust is advantageous because it can be used without significant restrictions in tight spaces. You can use it anywhere, what do you say?”
“In tight spaces!”
“That’s right. It’s too complicated to say which techniques it can connect to, so you don’t have to worry about that yet. The basic stance is like this. For right-handed people, slightly tilt your body to the left, spread your legs a bit wider than shoulder width, and bend your knees.”
One by one, kids stood up from their seats to follow along.
The protesters shouted something again upon seeing this scene.
Yet, the kids who were excited to learn swordsmanship paid them no mind.
People like them fear indifference more than insults.
The protest, conducted in complete indifference, gradually lost its momentum.
I corrected the kids’ stances and kindly answered viewers’ questions.
“Now, who wants to practice with me?”
“Me! Me! Me!”
“Na-me, you’re right behind me. Let me do it!”
I brought forward Go Kyung-won, who had the best stance, and stood him in the center.
“The techniques most used in actual combat are probably the Crown Slice—Barrier Slice—Hawk Dive Thrust. Hey buddy, I’ll swing the sword extremely slowly, think about how you’d react.”
“Can I really do what I want?”
“Just show me an appropriate response. For example, if I try to slice your head down straight, what should you do?”
The sword fell above Kyung-won’s head at a speed slower than a turtle.
Kyung-won blocked it without a second thought by holding the sword horizontally.
“Like this?”
“Exactly. In practice, this is the most orthodox defensive posture, and most people block like this. It has the least drawbacks and has become orthodox, but there’s a risk of being predicted. If you’ve anticipated that, you can use the stance transition from the Barrier Slice we learned last week right here.”
Drawing my right foot back a step, I swung the sword from left to right in a parabola.
The horizontally held sword cannot block an attack coming from the side.
“That’s the Barrier Slice. The sword has shifted to the right, but the weight is stabilized through the stance transition, right? Now, I’ll bring this back and execute the thrust. This will be the Hawk Dive Thrust. If you strengthen the aura in your right heel and thigh here, it will be much easier to execute.”
I then demonstrated the series of movements in slow motion.
The glow stick glided through the air like a conductor’s baton.
With a steady rhythm, slow tempo, and clear trajectory.
Going down, spinning halfway, and thrusting forward.
But there’s no way he can keep up.
Humans are inherently flawed beings, unable to view everything objectively from the beginning.
Swordsmanship has been developed precisely to exploit the innate limitations of the body and the vulnerabilities of the psyche.
A person who does not understand swords cannot surpass a sword user.
Go Kyung-won attempted late-stage defense with his glow stick positioned sideways. Was it a reflex?
“Very good. But…”
Ching!
My glow stick slid along the length of his sword.
Ultimately, it pushed his sword away and succeeded in reaching his abdomen.
The glow stick turned red from the tip.
I pressed the round button on the orange handle, and it returned to its original white color.
“Na-me, what was that! So cool!”
“Kyung-won, you couldn’t block that? Oooo!”
“No, the sword suddenly came right in front of me!”
“No way! Na-me was deliberately thrusting extremely slowly!”
“If that frustrates you, then you come and do it.”
I still had a mountain of things to explain.
Where the handle should be positioned for the Hawk Dive Slice, how far to step.
And just like before, Kyung-won displayed a V-defensive stance, but I needed to explain how I penetrated that. What about countering if someone uses an A-stancing?
The protest became increasingly aggressive.
I glanced at the chat window and chuckled briefly.
“I’ll extend the class by 20 minutes.”
*
The Vice Chair of the Nonviolence Peace Alliance, Shin Bora, was grinding her teeth.
She could endure the public’s indifference and mockery just fine.
Because she had a mission to bring true peace to the Korean Peninsula.
But NoName was different.
She herself was the biggest victim of real terrorism.
People like NoName symbolized the very purpose of the Nonviolence Peace Alliance.
Seeing her act the same as the public, brainwashed by the academy, was simply unbearable to watch.
She finally crossed the white line at the main gate.
Into the territory partially conquered by the U.S. on the Korean Peninsula.
Step step step—
“You shouldn’t come over here. Please return to your original position before I report you.”
Na-me said with a flat expression.
That was no gaze a child could possess.
It was yet another remnant of violence created by the system.
Shin Bora resolved to take away the glow stick, the root cause of it all.
Tap—
Na-me gripped the handle tightly and resisted.
“This belongs to Yuna!”
“It’s a weapon children should not have!”
“Release it while I’m still speaking nicely.”
“No, I can’t. This is an adult’s duty.”
Grind—
A child’s grip cannot overcome an adult’s.
Had Na-me used her aura, it would have been different, but she willingly let the glow stick be taken away.
‘Really, her patience is admirable.’
If Na-me had used even a little aura against me, she would have insisted on holding on to it till the end.
The most ideal scenario wasn’t reached, but taking the glow stick wasn’t bad.
Shin Bora lifted the glow stick high, out of Na-me’s reach.
As Na-me lunged to reclaim it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
She stretched out her left hand to block Na-me’s approach.
And then something unexpected happened in my mental scenario.
Thunk—
“Huh?”
The heavy Na-me, who had demonstrated the imperial palace swordsmanship, was nowhere to be found.
It was like hitting an empty tin can.
The moment I pushed Na-me’s body, I felt no resistance at all.
Her surprisingly light body was pushed back with ease, soaring through the air.
Crash—!
She tumbled onto the concrete floor.
cough cough!
Na-me trembled and lifted her head.
Looking at her palm, which had been scraped red against the ground.
Tremors flickered in her eyes like ripples on a lake.
In that moment of sudden change, Shin Bora froze in place.
Na-me spoke up, her voice trembling with emotion.
“It hurts…”
Her voice sounded as if she was barely holding back tears, making it heartbreakingly sorrowful.
