A precise line splits the corner of my mouth from the center of my eye.
There was certainly a sense of cutting, but it felt a bit shallow.
Thanks to this, I realized that my ability to slice through space is still lacking.
Right now, that one attack might be the only moment I have the upper hand over that guy.
It’s possible that I might not surpass him with the overall perfection of my swordsmanship in the future.
So I need to put in more effort to sharpen that special slice.
The ability to slice through space, something he can’t even manage.
The reason I can do it, I couldn’t even grasp myself.
Perhaps it’s the effort I put in since my past life finally shining through.
“Ugh… I’ll kill you— I’ll definitely crush you and send you straight to hell.”
‘Sorry, but there’s no lower place to fall. Waking up in this body is already a hellish punishment, what are you talking about?’
Twisting—
‘By the way, it’s so hard to balance since my arm feels so different.’
It feels like I’m in a completely different body, so it’s not easy to adapt quickly.
So what should I do?
‘Should I buy some time with the manhwa portal and recover my body a bit more? I might not be able to launch a proper attack due to lack of mana…’
I chose to endure in [Invincible] state while looking for another opportunity.
When he loses his rationality and charges at me, if I stab his tail from the side, I might definitely succeed in attacking.
As I thought, I quietly prepared [Manhwa Portal].
Vwoooom—
My body starts to slowly swell.
‘Too late…’
I didn’t realize it took this long the first time I used it against a Dire Wolf, but in a one-on-one contest like this, it seemed unsuitable.
And my bad feeling proved to be right.
───
‘Ugh?! I need to dodge—’
At that moment of thought, my two legs suddenly crumbled.
‘Damn!’
I clearly sensed Hyeon Woo-seok’s sword energy, but I couldn’t react properly.
‘If I had no injuries, I would have dodged.’
I realized how crucial my arms were to moving my body.
My vision rapidly drops.
Trying to lift my body with the ‘Float Rune’ and escape with [High-speed Flight], but the immaterial aura he unleashed pressure me down hard to the ground.
– Il-wol!
– Stop! The outcome is already decided!!
The screams of my companions, including Yeon-hee, echoed in my ears like a reverberation.
Having lost my legs and laying exposed, staring at the ceiling, I felt a strange deja vu.
‘It was exactly at this moment when I lost to Tanya.’
Back then, even though I lost, I felt oddly pleased, but now, the feeling is simply dirty.
‘I fought well enough, but that damn guy is too strong. Ha…’
It seems I can’t disregard experience.
He must have gone through numerous duels with excellent swordsmen of Ilseom since childhood, while I lacked such experiences.
‘His breathing is different. Breathing. I needed to move faster than when facing monsters. Damnit…’
When I think back to my time as a guide, I realize how drastically different I’ve developed, but in the face of death, it offers no comfort.
Before I could drown in my thoughts, a shadow loomed heavily above my head.
Looking up at the Grim Reaper named Hyeon Woo-seok, I could only resign myself.
He was gazing down at me with heavily shadowed eyes.
“My eyes… you have no eyes… There’s nothing to take away. It’s unfair…”
A terrible expression and gaze.
I wanted to shout at those calling me a monster to take a good look at that guy’s face.
Instead of fear, I felt disgust towards Hyeon Woo-seok.
So maybe that’s why my thoughts are spinning in a different direction.
‘The activation takes too long, this manhwa portal.’
I was quite far away, yet he moved so quickly that even from that distance, he managed to sever my legs and reached me already.
‘… Both my defense and physical abilities… the more I grow, the more I realize my shortcomings.’
The inadequacies I didn’t feel even when facing an Ogre, yet I clearly realized there’s still something for me to fill in despite a brief confrontation.
From the moment I sensed his attack with my instincts, my body didn’t react and move right away.
I had no idea the gap in time between those moments was this long.
‘Still lacking in agility… despite all the investment. It’s ridiculous. By the way, if I die, [Ogre’s Rage] and [Trace of Existence] will activate… I wonder what effects they’ll exhibit. I won’t get to see it though.’
While I was trying to think differently, he spoke to me as if he desired my focus.
“I wanted to crush you to death piece by piece, but I don’t want to see your disgusting face anymore. Die.”
‘I didn’t want to die looking at your face either, you jumbled heap of unfit trash.’
As I gazed at Hyeon Woo-seok’s sword descending upon my forehead, my anger flared for a moment.
‘Why should I die at the hands of this jerk? Because of some unknown will of the system?’
Or perhaps for the fame I’d gain from Yeon-hee after this duel?
Or just to assuage myself that I had an honest one-on-one duel with Hyeon Woo-seok?
[You’re kidding. A monster shouldn’t be thinking this much.]
I couldn’t distinguish if the voice I heard was my inner voice or if someone was saying it to me.
My dark consciousness submerged in the abyss floated back up to surface under the scorching sun.
[Kill… kill… get rid of that filthy being right now!]
Someone seems to be whispering closely in my ear.
The voice was so sweet that it was hard to reject.
And it was as if I was enchanted, activating [Blast of Madness].
Kiki-kiki- Kwoooom──
A dreadful explosion surged forth as my body began to swell grotesquely.
‘The being I’m going to take to death with me is Hyeon Woo-seok, the [Hypocritical Swordsman].’
As I designated my target for self-destruction, time seemed to flow slowly, as if the world had stopped.
Hyeon Woo-seok’s movements, while wielding his sword against my forehead, became vivid in my sight.
‘Perfect posture and balance. He has all the fundamentals my master always taught. Damn it, it’s perfectly executed.’
Even amidst all this, I realized I was just as crazy.
As if the entire world except me had stopped, once this mystical moment passes, both he and I would cease to exist in this world.
But then.
A massive magical force, shaped like a gigantic sword with immense power, suddenly fell from the sky.
‘Who…?!’
It wasn’t Hyeon Woo-seok’s skill directed towards me.
It was the ability of a far superior existence.
Before I could properly activate my skill, I vividly pictured my own demise.
And something even more astonishing happened almost simultaneously.
– ‘The woman with the hidden name’ has intervened.
I felt a strong sensation pulling me away, and soon I vanished from the space with a fleeting feeling of weightlessness.
This happened just as the immaterial sword that fell from the sky was about to strike me.
*
The moment Il-wol activated [Blast of Madness], Hyeon Woo-seok felt an overwhelming presence and chill he’d never felt even from his uncle.
‘What, what the heck? What’s happening?’
Hyeon Woo-seok’s sword was already cracking the forehead of the monster whose legs were cut off.
Yet it was moving through a very slow flow of time, only his thoughts were flowing normally.
With the hair on his body standing on end, he realized he must get out of this situation.
Death.
It was the area of instinct that reacts faster than thought.
But the strike propelled with intention couldn’t be halted and he screamed internally.
‘No way! What the hell is this damn guy doing?! I’m going to die…! I can’t believe I’m dying to such a jerk?! Me? In this trashy place? I still have so much left to do! Me, who will surpass Hyeon Il-hwan and become the world’s best swordsman?’
As he forcibly twisted his body,
The already-fixed body burst apart like a dried meat torn apart.
‘Ugh…! I can’t die like this! Please save me! Anyone! I won’t do anything crazy from now on. Please! Please! Father! Uncle!! Where are you?! Save me!!’
He cried out in desperation.
He believed if he could get through this crisis, he could manage anything after.
He truly wished for it and hoped for it earnestly.
And then, the moment his cry ended, a miracle occurred.
──────
A massive sword fell from the sky, pushing Hyeon Woo-seok far away and engulfing the monster named Il-wol.
As the sword burrowed into the ground, Il-wol vanished completely. As if he had never existed in this place.
Immediately after, a man slowly descended from the sky.
Behind the man, a fierce light glimmered.
‘Ah… I wanted to be like that, why am I…’
Facing a situation where reality felt surreal, Hyeon Woo-seok’s deepest memories from childhood resurfaced for a brief moment.
An individual whose flowing cloak fit him perfectly.
He was someone whose overwhelming presence made it seem no one could compare to him.
He was someone Hyeon Woo-seok knew very well.
The man who had been his idol in childhood, and now had become his goal.
“Woo-seok…”
“Hyung…”
Hyeon Il-hwan.
The eldest son of Hyeon Joong-gil, recognized as a genius swordsman expected to carry on his legacy.
In a world where the rarity of the term genius had greatly diminished, there was perhaps no one more deserving of that title than him.
He appeared in the training hall displaying remarkable abilities.
The man, whose appearance was anything but ordinary, made everyone present unable to close their mouths, their gazes fixated upon him.
The only one not looking at him was Lee Yeon-hee.
Before anyone knew it, Il-wol had vanished from existence in a strike that could have been either Hyeon Il-hwan’s skill or attack.
If it were the usual Lee Yeon-hee, she would have screamed and shown some reaction, yet she simply stood with her eyes tightly closed.
‘He’s alive. He hasn’t disappeared due to that guy’s attack… He must be alive, but where could he have gone? What happened?’
She could faintly feel the connection with Il-wol, but it wasn’t the feeling she got when a summoning was released.
It meant he hadn’t entered the Dark Space.
‘Haa… some other unknown power has intervened. What could it be… If I wait, he will surely return, right?’
It clearly seemed he was about to self-destruct, but suddenly Hyeon Il-hwan appeared, interrupting the skill. After that, she understood nothing at all.
“Hyeon Woo-seok… Hyeon Woo-seok──!!”
“Yikes…! Y-yes!”
Suddenly Hyeon Il-hwan appeared and roared at Hyeon Woo-seok.
Hyeon Woo-seok, face planted into the ground, trembled while repeatedly mumbling he was wrong.
“Are you someone who thinks? What the hell did you come and do to the main base with all those people?!!”
“Yikes…! C-Cough… that, that’s…”
Hyeon Il-hwan seemed genuinely furious, showing not a hint of sympathy toward the pitifully crying Hyeon Woo-seok as he continued to scold him.
The intensity of his voice was so great that the entire training hall shook as if an earthquake struck.
Watching the scene, Jang Yu-chan gestured for everyone to calm down and said.
“Everyone… Don’t worry. Hyeon Il-hwan is the most righteous and rational person among all the hunters I’ve ever met.”
However, contrary to his words, Jang Yu-chan stepped forward, cautiously pushing everyone, including Noh Ha-yoon, behind him.
Then Hyeon Il-hwan stopped scolding Hyeon Woo-seok and hurriedly dashed over to Jang Yu-chan, bowing deeply.
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