Chapter 38

There stood the sword master…as my enemy.

“Who is that?”

“It’s an orc! An orc!”

“The Great Wolf!”

Stonestone and Hundred belatedly emerged from the castle, followed by armed soldiers who prepared for battle.

“Hmph. You can’t do anything to me.” Khan Slash grinned at them.

“But being surrounded isn’t good, right?”

”…No!” I screamed fearfully but couldn’t stop his sword.

Ping.

A light wind sound. A line was drawn through the air…

Slash!

”…Huh? There is a line on my chest.”

“M-My breath… My breath… Gurgg…”

The approaching shield wielders were sliced apart along with their shields. Their thick leather shields reinforced with steel plates provided excellent defense against most enemies but proved useless against this sword energy.

Krrrk.

Every muscle in jae-yeon’s body tensed. He planted his left foot firmly on the ground and swung back his arm holding the bone sword until it was nearly parallel to the floor before letting loose.

Whoosh…shhhk!

There came a loud noise as Khan the Slasher, who had been confidently grinning just moments ago, flew about fifteen feet backward.

The knight looked incredulous. “What…the hell? Did you throw that? Your sword?”

Bam!

At around the same time, the severed upper bodies of the shield wielders hit the ground. Over thirty elite soldiers lay dead from one swing.

Krrrk!

The muscles tightened. He knew very well what would happen if he approached incorrectly…

‘If I approach wrong…I will die!’

A swordmaster wielding Sword Energy was a specialist in close combat—a living killing machine. On Earth, people ignored it with phrases like ‘Sword Energy is useless compared to Giga,’ but assuming both sides only had one weapon, those trained in martial arts possessed superior fighting abilities among all superhumans.

Ching!

Khan Slayer leaped towards me, but his bone longsword was pushed back by my blade. Using Sword Energy and astonishing reflexes, he managed to deflect the bone longsword, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t negate the immense physical force behind it.

‘Good! You can’t avoid it!’

The speed of my bone long sword throw was too fast to be considered simple throwing. Of course, Sword Masters were monsters who could dodge bullets, but this was possible only because bullets had a point attack range. With a wide-range weapon like a bone long sword, evasion became impossible. No matter how skilled a Sword Master might be, their entire body couldn’t move at supersonic speeds.

“Don’t approach! Keep your distance and try ranged attacks!” He shouted while drinking a potion.

“Log out.”

I returned to Earth. Slowly drinking the potion, I massaged my arm.

This time it was my left arm. Moreover, the muscles on my back felt like they were torn and bursting with pain. The muscles were so shocked that they started to spasm even when I remained still.

“Ah, Sword Master. What should we do…?”

My full-power throw did give me some advantage but had yet to inflict any damage on Khan Slasher. On the other hand, my body was in shambles from the attack, and without the ability to log out, he would’ve toyed with me until death.

“Heal!”

I switched classes to use healing magic and rested briefly on the bed. Fortunately, the Songpyeon buff persisted, gradually aiding in my recovery.

“Oh, I should’ve eaten the rare-grade Songpyeon!”

I still wanted to eat them now but it was too late. In Ardenia, the distance between Khan Slash and me was only 50 metres. With a sword master trying to kill me nearby, would I have time to eat 17 Songpyeons? It meant certain death.

Click. Click.

To recover my stamina along with the muscles in my arms and back, I rested while picking up the Songpyeon. Once my blackened arm turned blue, some character approached me.

RabbitDew: Excuse me! Excuse me!

Killians3: Yes?

RabbitDew: Why are you collecting Songpyeon? Even if you play for 24 hours, there is a limit of six plates that can be eaten.

It was an obvious question.

It was only because Revenge was set to automatic hunting that nobody cared; if it were a game where people played directly, everyone passing by would’ve asked questions. It seemed strange for someone to be collecting items that couldn’t be used for several hours.

“Hmm. Simply ignoring him isn’t a good idea… They might report me or even kill me out of annoyance.”

Thus, I calmly responded in chat. In such situations, spouting nonsense is better than giving a logical answer.

KillianS3: Just cleaning up trash.

RabbitDew: ?

KillianS3: Environmental protection. It’s my destiny…

RabbitDew: …What is this? What kind of concept are you going for?

Fortunately, he lost interest and left. Then…

“Login.”

Ping!

“No… does this make sense? How can you throw your sword at such speed?”

Khan Slasher was about to leap forward but stumbled back again. He stared at me with confusion before bursting out laughing. “It seems like one of your strengths… Let’s see how far you can go?”

He lowered his stance, emitting a strong aura.

Goo-ooh…

All he wore were leather pants, and all he held was a single katana. However, when he became serious… both myself and the hundreds of elite soldiers gathered around struggled to breathe under the overwhelming pressure.

He was someone who had completed Sword Intent—a true Sword Master.

‘Damn it.’

I realized that I felt a stronger premonition than ever before in my life.

‘This time, it will miss.’

Even though it hadn’t been thrown yet, I knew. This throw would miss. The guy avoided the bone long sword and approached like lightning, putting me within his ‘gap’.

Then…

‘I’m going to die.’

We needed to talk.

“Wait, what purpose do you have for being 100 km away?”

However, Khan slashed at the ground.

“You’re dead!”

I threw the bone long sword.

“Fucking hell!”

Clang!

With a loud noise, Khan’s body was pushed backward. His face twisted maliciously.

“Coward! You dare aim at my friend?!”

“Grrr!”

I broke out in cold sweat as I watched two beasts emitting killing intent towards each other.

‘Fortunately.’

If Khan Slayer didn’t care whether the Great Wolf lived or died, then I would’ve paid with my neck for making the wrong choice. From the inventory, I took out a new bone longsword and assumed a throwing stance.

“Log out.”

Back on Earth, I pulled my hair in frustration.

“What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?”

As expected, there was a huge difference in combat power. The Great Wolf wasn’t affected even after receiving three consecutive throws that could break down castle gates.

“Do I need to train more on Earth?”

However, it was nonsense. If training on Earth made me stronger, why did my past self wander aimlessly?

Combat power had to be raised through cash payments; training for hundreds or thousands of years on Earth would be useless. Skills could improve but the fundamental strength wouldn’t grow, making it all pointless.

“No! Why did you come up 100 kilometers just to rant?” I gritted my teeth and picked up Songpyeon. Then I changed characters, set them to auto-hunt mode, and entered the access device.

“How can I defeat a Sword Master?”

“What do you mean? How can you beat a Sword Master?” Sohyang looked amazed.

“If I have the current strength of an ogre?”

“Even if that ogre attacks, it is impossible? Aren’t you underestimating the peak experts too much?”

She was absolutely right. That’s why I hadn’t planned to go near my territory for some time.

“But what if you still have to fight?”

Her calm response indicated that she was now taking this seriously.

“If I had to fight…I would need gigas.”

“Ah, come on! If I had gigas, why would I ask such a question?”

“You’re setting quite stringent conditions here. In that case…” Sohyang pondered for a moment before continuing.

“At the very least, you’d require a weapon capable of withstanding sword energy and psychic energy to counter its impact.”

I logged out from the access device, sat at my computer, and searched the exchange.

“Oh.” I groaned.

“Just one skill is worth…”

The skill I found was:

Sword Energy Manifestation (Hero)

“15,000 diamonds…”

That’s equivalent to 1,500,000 won. It’s enough money to create over 100 elite soldiers. Moreover, so far, Sword Energy Manifestation hasn’t been necessary in any battles.

‘After all, they would’ve died from sword strikes anyway.’

However, things were different now. I needed Sword Force to protect my equipment and withstand its unique shockwave effect.

“Ah, is this some kind of price gouging? I’m buying it urgently because I need it urgently.”

Grumbling, I pressed the purchase button.

[The item has already been sold.]

“Darn…” In the end, I purchased the skill for 16,000 dia before selecting the equipment.

Valhalla (Hero)

Weapon Damage +33

Hit +11

All Stats +2

Skill Damage Amplification +10%

Material: Adamantium (Damage Prevention)

It wasn’t a particularly efficient weapon. There was nothing wrong with the weapon itself; it was just an issue with how reality manifested it.

‘It has hit.’

Hit, evasion, critical strike, parry, etc., these options had no value in Ardenia. This was because combat in reality didn’t depend on probabilities. If my attack reached the enemy’s body, it was a hit. If I struck their neck or head, it was a critical strike. If they blocked the attack, it was a parry—so stats based on probability were practically useless.

Naturally, when purchasing equipment, I always avoided items with such options.

‘But this time, there is no choice. Among adamantium swords, this is the only one rated hero or lower.’

Equipment had different ‘materials’.

Wood, bronze, iron, silver, gold, mithril…

Even among items of the same rank, their price, repair costs, attributes, and performance varied greatly depending on the material used. Among them, adamantium possessed excellent resistance to damage.

“In games, it only protects against weapon-breaking abilities from golems or rock elementals, but I’m hoping adamantium will perform its proper role here in Ardenia.”

Admantium was a rare metal extensively used in crafting gigas, impervious even to sword energy. It’s why gigas could withstand attacks from Sword Masters despite having their magnetic shields disabled.

Naturally, such quality came at a steep cost.

“1,200,000 won… Wow, good thing I received my Chuseok bonus recently.”

After purchasing the sword, he used an enforcement scroll to upgrade it to level +6 without any issues. The real challenge began with level +7.

“Sigh.”

I sat down and regulated my breathing. Recalling the battle situation before logging out, I focused all my nerves on it. Then I spoke:

“Log in.”

Entering Ardenia…and throwing the sword. Once again, the target was the Great Wolf.

Zing!

“You! Son of a bitch!” Khan Slayer let out an angry cry but I didn’t listen. As soon as I threw the sword, I took two items from the inventory.

[You have acquired the Sword Manifestation (Hero) skill!]

Holding Valhalla Hero +6, I took a defensive stance. The entire process was swift, having been simulated countless times in my mind. It only took 0.5 seconds to throw the sword, acquire the skill, and grasp the adamantium sword. However, that time…

It was terrifying.

Enough time for me to die.

“Crap!”

I groaned and bent forward at the waist. My upper body leaned back faster than an arrow, allowing me to narrowly avoid having my neck sliced by the sword energy.

However…

Slash!

Blood burst forth. Even as I stumbled, I firmly planted my left foot on the ground and kicked with my right.

Whack!

“What?!”

Caught off guard, Khan Slasher flew into the air after taking the blow to his stomach.

My eyes involuntarily narrowed in frustration.

‘Damn it, I tried to aim for his gut, but he still managed to dodge part of the attack!’

Thud!

I fell over, and soldiers rushed towards me from all directions. Adjusting the muscles around my neck, I applied pressure to stem the bleeding while quickly drinking a potion from my inventory.

In the distance, Khan Slasher recovered and charged back with relentless vigor.

“Protect Lordship!”

“Hold up your shields and charge!”

“Shoot arrows!”

The soldiers blocked Khan Slayer’s path. I opened my mouth to shout but…

“Cough! Gwek!” Blood spewed out instead.

The potion that I had just drunk flowed out through the cut on my neck.

Crack! Rip!

“Grah!”

“Kek!”

“Don’t retreat! Protect Lordship!”

“Cu…k! Logout!”

I returned to Earth with the last sight of Giga cutting down dozens of elite soldiers. With trembling hands, I formed a hand gesture. Ridiculously, amidst this chaos, my chakra level increased. My body’s chakra entered the Third Gate, Great Door (巨門)! Choices appeared in my consciousness:

1. Recovery.

2. Enforcement.

3. Transformation.

4. Evolution.

5. Body

I urgently needed recovery so I chose it and completed the hand seal.

“Body (身體). Great Door (巨門). Open (開放).”

The specialized chakra for healing wrapped around my body.

Zzzz…

Steam rose from my neck. For several hours, I couldn’t move at all as I concentrated on treatment. The broken blood vessels were connected, and the muscles and nerves returned to their original shape.

Even after the treatment was finished, I remained immobile for some time. I feared that any slight movement might rupture an artery. However, as time continued to flow, it reached 7:30 p.m.

“Ahhh… Damn.”

Cursing under my breath, I slowly got up.

It felt like swearing became automatic.

“Fucking hell.”

It was already time to go to work.