Chapter 61 Chul Namgoong (3)
The Heavenly Devil once said that in order to become a swordsman that can achieve the state of Two In One, he had to master the basics. Yoon-seok finally realized what that meant.
The tip was pointed, and the end was blunt. There was no distinction between the blade and the handle. But the moment he thought that Yoon-seok could handle it as if it was part of his body.
Swoooosh!
Afterimages were left in the wake of Yoon-seok’s swift movements; the crimson sword was divided into several blades. Yoon-seok spread the sword wide without limiting it to one place. There seemed to be no place to hide in this arena, which now felt so narrow. But…
He was surprised that it was called an invisible sword. Chul Namgoong came to his senses when he saw the crimson sword firing off energy. He shouted angrily as if he’d realized something belatedly.
“This is not an invisible sword. You’re trying to fool me with your petty skills!”
He never said it was an invisible sword. He never knew the difference between Invisible Sword and Sword Manipulation. Yet now he was saying it wasn’t an Invisible Sword and grew angry because he fooled him. How did his brain work?
He would never know, but Chul Namgoong continued to shout angrily.
“Gal!”
Was it possible to put magic in your voice? The air trembled at the sound of his shout. At the same time, blue energy began to flow from his swords. Surprisingly, it began to form a shape.
“Mounting Azure Dragon!”
Chul Namgoong leaped back and stabbed the sword into the air. The blue energy surrounded by the sword roared upwards. No eyes, no nose, no beard, no scales. However, the wiggling movements and aura reminded him of a dragon. The blue dragon roared as it appeared and swallowed the incoming crimson sword, then swept up Yoon-seok’s body.
‘What the…’
Were all the people who reached the final floor of the tower monsters? Or was it just that these people were particularly strong? He didn’t know. If it was the former, though, would he be able to break through the final floor even if they failed to?
Chul Namgoong’s move was powerful enough to fill the heart of anyone observing with terror.
Yoon-seok calmly regained his breath. He didn’t think he could avoid the approaching phantom dragon solely with Bloodseeker’s Energy. Or, for that matter, even if he gave it everything he had.
“…”
Yoon-seok recalled his duel with the Heavenly Devil, which felt like it had happened long ago. There was the one move she showed at the end. If only he could recreate the tsunami that seemed to cover even the mountains with his own hands…
He didn’t know how.
‘The perfect balance between strong and fluid….’
She had emphasized that strongly while teaching him about swords. He could only reach the perfect state if he combined the power that could break everything and the softness that could embrace anything. Yoon-seok could find some balance between the two, but it was still far from perfect.
No, he hadn’t found a good idea of what perfection was yet. How could he achieve perfection when two contradictions were mixed? If Yoon-seok hadn’t seen the last move the Heavenly Devil had made, he would have denied it was even possible.
‘Honestly, I still don’t know….’
At that time, the Heavenly Devil didn’t have Inner Qi and thought that certain skills must be learned to use sword energy. Nevertheless, she used a single blade stroke to cause a tsunami. There was no magic intervention in the process, only a human touching the sky with her sword.
Yoon-seok had continuously trained with the goal of reaching that heavenly status while climbing the tower. Therefore, he knew that he was still too short to cross the line. But…
Now, he had the energy to replace his Inner Qi, and his knowledge about swords had greatly improved.
“I might be able to imitate it right now….’
No, he must do it.
Yoon-seok quietly stared at the dragon before him. Then, he pushed strength into both of his swords. As if it were the right way to use it, instead of raising the energy violently as he always did, he applied it almost gently. For some reason, Yoon-seok felt like he was starting to grasp the method. Somehow, the road to perfection wasn’t extreme, but instead, harmony with fluidity…
‘There’s still a long way to go….’
Yoon-seok let out a short sigh at his foolishness. Two In One wasn’t a state that he could reach just by handling the sword like a part of his body. In a true sense, the sword became one with the self. After all, grinding a sword was no different from grinding himself.
The moment that realization struck his mind.
Swaaaaaaaaaa-!
Red waves crashed and swept over the dragon. It swallowed half of Chul Namgoong’s body as it swept over him.
“How come…”
Chul Namgoong, who collapsed with only half of his body left, babbled blankly. His face was filled with doubt, but about something other than his defeat.
“How the hell…? Heavenly Devil…sword…?”
Yoon-seok flinched.
‘Do they know each other?’
They were both from Moorim. But on second thought, it didn’t make sense. Ragna, the merchant from Seheranbad, said the last time the Tower had opened was 500 years ago. That meant Chul Namgoong was at least 500 years old…
How did a man like that know about her?
“You…are you a student of that oldie?”
Maybe he was curious, as Chul Namgoong asked the question while coughing up blood. He didn’t know if the oldie he was referring to was the Heavenly Devil Yoon-seok had met.
But Yoon-seok neither confirmed nor denied it. Let’s say he was talking about her; the problem was whether he could confidently say that he was a student of hers. But did he take his silence differently?
“Pfft! Pfft Hahahaha! She said she would never take in any students, so the oldie did deceive me after all!”
Not knowing what’s so funny, Chul Namgoong laughed. However, his gaze started to die down like a winter breeze. Feeling out of place, Yoon-seok looked at him.
“…Deceive? What, did you get rejected for asking her to take you as her pupil?”
Just in case, he asked this question. But did he hit the nail on the head? Chul Namgoong’s face turned red.
“Yikes…! I guess that senile oldie told you about it, even after deceiving me!”
There seemed to be some misunderstanding, but Yoon-seok didn’t address it and asked about something else. Frankly, it was a bit ridiculous. He’d said he’d punish him for being a devil’s pawn when in fact, he asked the Heavenly Devil to accept him as her pupil.
“…Aren’t you a Protestor?”
Yoon-seok learned about the feud between the Magic Faction and Protestors through the chat room. He didn’t know what kind of household the Namgoong noble family was, but he thought he was a Protestor when he talked about justice and called him the devil’s pawn.
And his prediction was true. It just didn’t matter to Chul Namgoong.
“Factions are irrelevant. If you were born a man, you should dream of heaven!”
If he spoke so confidently, Yoon-seok, who wasn’t from Moorim, had nothing he could say. However, upon hearing the cry, Yoon-seok belatedly recalled the Heavenly Warrior’s desire.
-Be invincible. To become stronger and stronger, and to have no enemies left in the world. This is all I want from you.
Seeing how he was desperate enough to turn it into a desire after becoming an admin, in the end, it became an unfulfilled wish.
‘Come to think of it; his nickname was also the Heavenly Warrior.’
If you were to translate it directly, it would mean a warrior chasing the sky. Considering how he couldn’t give up his dream even after becoming an admin and tried to take his body away, there would be no better fitting nickname than this.
“Don’t talk to me, kill me! A wise man’s revenge is not late, even after ten years. After all, I will be the one who stands at the top!”
He was still talking trash and nonsense. Seeing how he became an admin in the distant future, it was safe to say that being talkative was the original personality he was born with.
Yoon-seok laughed.
“Are you perhaps, laughing at me…? Just wait! Someday I’ll…!”
Telling him to wait and see, Chul Namgoong, who was currently standing in front of Yoon-seok, was just reproduced data. Even in the future, he wouldn’t fulfill his aspirations.
“I don’t mean to laugh at your dream, but…I’m starting to feel sorry for you.”
He felt how cruel the Tower was. Anyway, after this duel, even if he became initialized and disappeared, Chul Namgoong’s obsession with his dream was real.
‘If I fail to reach the top of the Tower, will I become like him?’
Then, what would his wish be by then? He had no clue. He couldn’t even guess. He didn’t even know what he wanted now, so how could he know what he would want in the distant future?
“You punk!!!”
Slash-!
At least he’d won this floor. It brought him one step closer to normalcy. Yoon-seok decided to keep that fact in his heart.
「Victory.」
「512,000AP will be given as a reward.」
「Unique technique {Predation} is activated.」
「Acquire one of your opponent’s skills at random.」
「Acquire Unique Skill b Energy of the Azure Dragon}.」
「Looting one of your opponent’s equipment at random.」
「Looted Taegeuk River Sword Rank C+.」
「Absorb some of your opponent’s highest stats.」
「Absorbed agility stats.」
「1 coin will be paid as a reward for promotion.」
「Please proceed to the waiting room on the 8th floor.」
「Please prepare for the next duel.」
He would find out as he ascended anyway. What the Tower wanted from the challengers, and what was at the top of the Tower. What he wanted from this place and what he was looking for.
Yoon-seok returned to the waiting room and closed his eyes for a moment.
Elle once said on top of granting contractor’s wishes or doing extra work during their pastime at the plaza; they could gain a certain amount of WP along with their basic allowances. But there was nothing free in the world.
Elle said it was common for admins’ past lifetimes to appear even outside the seventh trial. Perhaps admins would lend their life’s traces and receive WP as payment, even if it was in the past.
‘Maybe I’ll even get to meet Elle from the past if I keep going up.’
Aside from feeling indebted, it was vague for Yoon-seok to say that he had a close relationship with Elle. But Yoon-seok was curious about her. Frankly speaking, it was because there were still questions about her unspoken dedication.
Lady of Liberation, what kind of hope did she have, and what life did she lead to gain that nickname? Well, apart from that, it was because he was simply curious.
‘I guess she won’t tell me even if I asked.’
She hadn’t even shown him her face yet. She seemed to want to hide something, but he didn’t ask her because he thought it would be impolite.
‘It doesn’t matter anyway….’
Yoon-seok entered the achievement store and bought a Mission Statement for 500LP. If he tore it apart, he would face a challenge instead of a duel, and any admin’s request passed through Elle would naturally proceed.
But there was something to do before that. As usual, he had to confirm the reward earned on this floor.
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