### Chapter 46: Real Combat (2)
The trail didn’t end too far away.
It was at an abandoned building.
“Looks like this place has nothing to do with the White Tiger Gang.”
He pointed at the walls around the building.
“There are usually warning signs in their territory. But this abandoned building is clean of such things.”
He quietly stepped into the building.
I followed him inside.
One step, two steps.
Libero stopped in his tracks.
He pointed to a room ahead and quietly said, “There’s someone in that room.”
I glanced at him, asking if I could handle it.
“He’s not that strong. You should be able to take him without much trouble. Still, it should be a decent experience.”
Alright. I had only been trailing behind the pitiful Libero, and I was itching for a challenge.
I pulled out the Relic Gravitas Replicant from my inventory.
“By the way, he seems to be awake but hasn’t noticed us yet.”
In that case, Night’s Shadow wouldn’t be necessary.
While its stealth features were excellent for assassination, what I wanted to learn was swordsmanship.
With Libero behind me, I decided to confront him head-on.
‘Shall we go?’
I cautiously entered the room with my sword drawn.
Inside, the lighting was adequate thanks to a lamp.
And the shadow cast by that lamp flickered on the wall.
‘A woman?’
The shadow clearly belonged to a female.
But just because she was a woman didn’t mean I could let my guard down.
The last women I encountered, Gwen and Ershiarah, both had talents that vastly surpassed mine.
Just as I took another step forward.
“Who’s there?!”
The woman sensed my presence and turned around.
And when I saw her face, I froze.
“You…”
I recognized that face.
She was the girl sitting across from me in the wagon on the way to Sakh.
We hadn’t exchanged words, but I never imagined we’d meet again like this.
“What’s this? You’re the kid from the wagon, right?”
It seemed she recognized me as well.
After a brief moment of surprise, she calmly examined me.
The fact that I was alone and wielding a weapon was something she could easily deduce. With that information, she made her judgment.
“I see. You’ve joined the White Tiger Gang?”
“The White Tiger Gang? Why do you think that?”
“I messed with a merchant connected to those guys. I thought I was being sneaky and hiding well.”
Of course, I wasn’t part of the White Tiger Gang.
However, her statement confirmed that she was the one who had messed with the merchant.
Then…
“You seem to be well-informed. Now, return the merchant’s belongings.”
At that, she smirked mockingly.
“What if I refuse?”
I knew she’d respond that way.
I closed in on her and swung my sword.
She quickly drew a machete from her waist and blocked my sword.
“You really have no choice but to take it by force.”
I twisted my sword and aimed to thrust it at her.
But she pivoted and used her machete to deflect the blow.
She was quite agile and skillful.
“You seem pretty good.”
Apparently, she felt the same about me.
But that was a miscalculation.
‘Swordsmanship (A) is more than just a name.’
No need for Wind’s Power or Gravitas’s abilities.
I pressed her with pure swordsmanship.
It was an overwhelmingly one-sided exchange.
‘I’ve definitely grown.’
I hadn’t noticed how much I had improved while swinging my sword alone, but now I could feel the difference.
Even without the aid of any power, I felt lighter as I swung my sword.
The transitions between sword techniques were also flowing more naturally.
Of course, it was still just Swordsmanship (A).
For those with higher-ranked swordsmanship, it might be nothing, but it was more than enough to keep this woman at bay.
“Wait, wait…!”
The woman, overwhelmed, threw her machete to the ground. She sat down, panicked.
“Please! Just spare my life! I’ll return all the stolen money. I won’t do this again!”
Realizing there was no chance for her, she started begging.
I hesitated, sword aimed at her neck.
‘If I was weaker, she would have tried to kill me.’
I didn’t want to go easy on someone who tried to kill me.
However, this woman showed no signs of wanting to kill me now.
As I continued to contemplate, she started to spill her guts.
“I have a younger sibling back in Basilium. I did all this to feed her. But if I can just return alive, I’ll do anything… I’ll even farm if I have to…”
Honestly, I didn’t want to kill this woman.
She hadn’t killed the merchant; she had only robbed his shop. So if she returned what she stole, that should resolve the issue.
Killing her here wouldn’t solve anything.
‘If it were Libero or, no, if I were the Player, I’d have killed her without hesitation.’
If I hadn’t recognized this wasn’t just a game, I wouldn’t have felt a shred of sympathy for her.
She’d be just another passing evil NPC.
I wouldn’t have hesitated to take her life.
After all, a quest was involved here.
[Chase the Bandit.]
A bandit destroyed a merchant’s shop and stole all the assets. Chase after him, defeat the bandit, and retrieve the belongings.
Risk Level: C+
Reward: 25sp
25sp.
To my former self, this woman would have been nothing more than 25sp.
Ironically, I was now struggling with the same reason that kept me from taking her life—25sp.
‘One life versus 25sp.’
Most of the opponents I had killed were those who would kill me if I didn’t kill them first.
But this one was different.
She had already lost her will to fight. My hands held her fate.
‘If I kill her now, I’d earn 25sp.’
It would be an easy kill.
Just swing my sword and sever her neck.
But…
‘What am I even thinking?’
Gwen came to mind.
Ershiarah, Weiss, Finn came to mind.
The people here weren’t simple NPCs.
‘And neither am I anymore. I’m no longer just a Player.’
It was true that I found 25sp valuable.
But I didn’t want to lose my humanity just for sp.
In the end, I lowered my sword away from her neck.
And I said, “Wherever you go, I can find you. So…”
I pointed at the merchant’s belongings she had stacked.
“Return those to their rightful place. I’ll give you two days.”
“Thank you! I won’t forget your kindness!”
She finally collapsed on the floor, sobbing.
Watching her, I turned away.
That should be a satisfactory resolution.
Just then.
[The Trait ‘Absolute Obedience’ activates.]
‘Huh?’
Against my will, I tightened my grip on the sword.
Then my body turned around.
It faced the direction of where the woman had been.
Crack.
A sickening crunch echoed as blood erupted from where her head used to be.
Her head rolled to the side.
The expression on her face was one of sheer horror.
‘What the hell…’
I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
‘Absolute Obedience’ activated unexpectedly,
and as a result, I killed the woman I intended to spare.
‘Why?’
Blood began to splatter everywhere.
With the realization of having killed someone, my mind filled with questions.
My head spun from the overwhelming thoughts, and I felt dizzy.
‘I…’
At that moment, Libero walked into the room.
He had a satisfied expression on his face.
“You’re better than I expected. I knew you were sharp, but perhaps you have a genius for psychological warfare.”
He pointed to the woman’s lifeless body.
In her hand was the machete she’d left behind moments ago.
“Testing someone’s true intentions under the guise of sparing them? You had me fooled for a second. By the time I considered helping, it was already over.”
No, that wasn’t my intention.
This wasn’t my will.
“Looks like your idea of a real combat practice was spot on.”
His words didn’t reach my ears anymore.
‘Absolute Obedience.’
That single term echoed in my mind.
Whatever had just occurred, I couldn’t let it go.
*
After the incident caused by ‘Absolute Obedience.’ I stopped following Libero’s lead.
I was terrified of when ‘Absolute Obedience’ might activate again.
Instead, I immersed myself in swordsmanship training in the basement, deep in thought.
I could form two hypotheses.
First, perhaps ‘Absolute Obedience’ had some effect or condition I wasn’t aware of. But even I knew this was unlikely.
No matter how close this world was to reality, the games’ mechanics like skills and traits had always been upheld rigorously.
It was improbable for ‘Absolute Obedience’ to suddenly behave outside its text.
The second hypothesis was something I didn’t want to dwell on.
I reread the text of ‘Absolute Obedience.’
[Absolute Obedience]
Allen Pleuk will obey the Player’s orders without question.
Concise but certain text.
It was bitterly unjust to be trapped in Allen’s body by such a text, but its effect was an absolute trait.
From this, one conclusion came to mind.
I must have unconsciously issued a command to kill the woman.
That was the most plausible explanation.
At the same time, it was something I didn’t want to believe.
‘Not yet.’
The second hypothesis hadn’t been confirmed.
I wanted to believe I didn’t want to kill her.
But there was no evidence to support that.
‘Swordsmanship reached its limit, and ‘Absolute Obedience’ has turned chaotic.’
I saw no way out of either situation.
‘What should I do?’
Among the sayings known among users, there was one that stood out.
‘If something isn’t going well, try throwing it into a trial.’
Here, trials weren’t abstract; they referred to actual game devices.
There was a trial near Sakh, just as there had been one near Basilium.
To be honest, just thinking about the last trial sent shivers down my spine, but I’d gained much from that experience.
Wind’s Power, which I now used without consuming mana,
The connection I built with Gwen through the trial, and the Relic Gravitas Replicant.
But most importantly, I had gained the strength to move forward through regret during that trial.
‘I suppose thinking I could achieve results like last time is optimistic…’
I could see no other path besides the trial.
Though I’d postponed it for the sake of training with Libero, I could no longer delay it.
‘For now, I have no choice but to go.’
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