All-Star Faculty (12)

I hadn't expected to learn it all within this fatigue cycle.

I felt good.

I opened the Gallery and posted a thread.

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Title: Mastered the Moon Wheel Scythe Art.

Author: ㅇㅇ(121F)

Title says it all.

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Title says it all.

It means the title is the content.

Since my username was 121F, the post did contain all the necessary information.

But I knew it was an excessively concise post.

…It wasn't that I'd suddenly felt like showing off.

The aftereffects of using Full Moon were still lingering strongly, so I wasn't in the state of mind to write.

That was the sole reason.

‘Communicating directly wouldn't be so bad…’

Then I hit refresh.

The reactions were intense.

First, comments appeared about how I'd climbed twenty floors in such a short time.

ㅇㅇ(312F) : Fuck, you climbed another twenty floors lolololololol

ㅇㅇ(431F) : Since you pushed twenty floors beyond the highest floor we knew, this is definitely a new record now, yeah.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(436F) : Seriously, you didn't even write it like it was a big deal;;;

ㅇㅇ(723F) : We knew it was possible, but seeing it firsthand is fucking insane.

ㅇㅇ(432F) : Did you push through with Wrath of the Sun God?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(324F) : Since you only used a scythe, I guess you meant you mastered that scythe art or whatever…

ㅇㅇ(723F) : Huh? That's fucking crazy.

Amid all the praise, a familiar registered user chimed in with some nagging.

ㄴ Fenrir : No, this is way too fast;; Have you read farther in the guide?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : I've already read through Floor 150.

ㄴ Fenrir : You need to read through the next fifty floors too. The monsters could change midway…;; Please be careful.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(355F) : You should stop worrying and do your promotion match already.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(642F) : Seriously lolololololol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : No, I got it. I'll do that from now on.

ㄴ Fenrir : Okay, okay.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Great Newbie is winning everyone's favor lolololololol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : It's a little irritating how you're trying to get on everyone's good side lol;

The reactions to how quickly I'd learned the scythe techniques continued.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : Did you really master it?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : Yep.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(445F) : Confirmed to be talented across the board wow;;

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(150F) : Wait, you learned all that already? Weapon arts are different from magic, so that shouldn't be possible overnight. Did you just imitate it?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Maybe you just followed along and mistook that for mastering it hehe…

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : What the hell are you two idiots doing?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : (Please let that be true) lololololololololololololol

They seemed unable to believe that I, a martial-arts novice, had learned five forms in one go.

It was right then.

The person who had taught me those forms appeared.

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : …Truly remarkable. Since you had only recently taken up the scythe, I merely taught you the formulas so you could get a feel for it. Did you really internalize all five forms?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : Yep.

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : Oh…! Then I must rearrange the order of your training at once.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : You destroyed the curriculum lol

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : That is an astonishing speed. Even the people called prodigies in my former sect needed a full fifteen days merely to grasp the fundamentals of a single martial art!

‘Do I have talent in this area too…’

But a few gallery users still couldn't let go of their suspicions.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : No fucking way…

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Maybe the monsters are so weak that even careless swings kill them, so you think you've learned it.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : If Newbie's talented, that's good for us too, so why are you acting like assholes?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : It's not jealousy; I genuinely can't believe it ;;;;

‘I should've written a longer post…’

That seemed to be the downside.

I typed on the keyboard.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : I trained using Time God's Oblivion.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : ?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : I went right up to the moment before being hit and slowed time, then used Black Shift to take my attack turn and corrected my muscle movements while examining each motion in detail. That's how I trained.

Silence fell.

And then the reactions poured in.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : Holy shit, what an idea.

ㄴ Fenrir : So you deliberately let yourself get hit at first?;;

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(610F) : Is that even possible?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(736F) : …It does make sense. It's a fact that training efficiency rises as the Sensory stat increases.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(150F) : Why did the Sensory stat suddenly come up?

The item-expert regular showed up and continued the explanation.

ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Abuser : Making time feel slower to you isn't any different from increasing the Sensory stat. There is no qualitative difference whatsoever.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(349F) : Equivalent wow

ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Abuser : But Newbie, you're seriously incredible. How did you think of combining two items to train in such a short time when no one had even told you about it? Truly amazing…

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(397F) : Easy, you'll make Newbie's head explode.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : Let's not overuse Newbie.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : ?

Since Item Abuser was here, I took the opportunity to ask a question.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : Thanks for the compliment. But you said Time God's Oblivion's effect was underwhelming; it was fucking awesome.

ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Abuser : Oh… Is that so? I'm sorry. I may have given you incorrect information. Maybe I spoke carelessly from my own perspective. But in the end, it just compensates for the Sensory stat, so it will become less impressive in the late game. The higher you raise the Sensory stat, the more sharply its efficiency drops, you see ㅠㅠ

‘As expected, it felt so powerful because I was weak.’

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(397F) : ? But didn't you say Time God's Oblivion was an ultra-late-game artifact?

ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Abuser : Learn to read, you low-IQ bitch. I said Time God's Oblivion was an artifact that was ‘effective’ in the ultra-late game, you fucking brain-dead bastard.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : That tonal whiplash is insane, fuck lolololololol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(397F) : Got it, asshole.

ㄴ SSS-Rank Item Abuser : 🖕

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : I see… So that's how you used that divine relic. You maximized your training efficiency on the brink of death. Truly ingenious.

Then a question came in.

ㅇㅇ(543F) : But now that Newbie is on the 121st floor, what level are they? How high is their Strength stat?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : I'm level 125 now. But I haven't assigned my stats yet.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : ?

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : What?

Question marks began flooding the thread.

ㄴ Fenrir : Wait, you haven't assigned your level-up stats?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(249F) : Why haven't you, you lunatic? lol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : I thought it would confuse me when correcting my form if the way it felt changed midway, so I put it off.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(687F) : Lolololol, you really did proper weighted training lololol. Without even using magic lol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : You could get yourself killed at this rate, Newbie. Assign your stats on time;;;

Ignoring the gallery users' worried remarks, Sword Venerable Jihee gave me a new instruction.

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : Raise the Strength stat you've been putting off! And now try breaking through the fourth wall. Use the forms to destroy it. Depending on whether you succeed, I shall give you the next stage of instruction.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : Understood.

Training to break through a wall.

Having learned the basics of handling a scythe, it seemed I was now entering the real training.

But then a concern suddenly crossed my mind.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : But… the wall was so hard. What if I keep hitting it with my scythe and chip or break the blade? It hasn't happened so far, but still.

Someone answered.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Feed it to Lu when the Golden Carriage comes and have him repair it, yeah.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : The next Golden Carriage is three weeks away… What if it breaks before then?

The Reaper master who had been silent suddenly burst out.

ㄴ Death Note Tripitaka : A Death Scythe is not some crude weapon that will break against something as trivial as the fourth wall! What's more, the one you're holding is a top-grade Void Scythe, even among Death Scythes, so its durability must be tremendous.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : But why do Reapers use nothing but black magic when they have such great scythes?

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(150F): Seriously lolololololol

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Ahem.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(297F) ㄱㅡ

Fortunately, it seemed my scythe's durability was quite good.

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : However, you must not blindly trust a weapon's durability. Training to break walls is not merely a process of developing destructive power; it is also a process of learning how to handle a weapon and your own body without damaging either.

ㄴ Sword Venerable Jihee : Even with identical Strength and Agility stats, knowing how to gather and release your force fully can make your destructive power three or four times, or even dozens of times or more, stronger. Remember that the five forms you just learned are merely basic movements for swinging a scythe. The forms are the framework, and from here on, you must carry out the process of fleshing them out.

ㄴ ㅇㅇ(121F)(Author) : Understood. I'll try right now.

I closed the Gallery.

First, I dealt with the stats I had put off.

Having leveled up five times, I had a total of fifteen remaining stat points.

As usual, I distributed them among Strength, Agility, Sensory, and Intelligence.

Sword Venerable Jihee seemed to be telling me to raise only my Strength stat further, but I had no intention of doing that.

My policy of maintaining balance hadn't changed.

Therefore, I had to raise my Strength stat even less.

My Strength stat was already slightly higher because of the Earring and the Ring of Magical Strength's effects.

[Strength stat increased by 3.]

[Agility stat increased by 4.]

[Sensory stat increased by 4.]

[Intelligence stat increased by 4.]

Fwoosh-!

The pleasant sensation of my stats rising.

Vitality surged through my entire body.

I stood up and approached the empty wall of the 121st floor.

I adjusted my grip on the scythe and took a deep breath.

“Falling Moon.”

Lowering my center of gravity, I put my entire body weight behind the scythe.

There was no need to slow down time anymore.

KWA-AAAAAANG-!!!!

A hazy cloud of stone dust billowed into the air amid the roar.

The recoil that should have reached my wrist was smoothly redirected along the curve of the scythe.

Tap-

I approached the wall as the smoke cleared.

“Oh.”

A fairly large scratch had appeared on the surface.

It was an enormous difference from before, when the wall had remained completely unscathed.

I was certain.

I could break through this wall now.

KWAANG-! KWAANG-!

Then I began swinging the scythe like mad.

I committed the knack of letting the recoil flow away to muscle memory.

Kwang! Bang! Bang!

I slammed down with Form One, Falling Moon, carved through it with Form Two, Half Moon, and tore it apart with Form Three, Moonrise.

I swung the scythe in various directions, varying the forms as I went.

Puhk-! Crack!

The fourth-stage wall began to crumble, spraying rough fragments.

Afraid it might collapse, I didn't dig deeply into a single spot. Instead, I dug across a wide area from side to side.

When I had shaved away about ten meters of the wall.

Kkaaang-!

The sensation at the tip of the scythe changed distinctly.

I cleared away the fragments and peered inside.

Beyond the dark-gray rock layer, a smooth cross-section of a completely different color emerged.

“The second layer…!”

By the Gallery's standards, this was a wall called the fifth layer.

This was the very boundary Sword Venerable Jihee had said I had to break through to learn a derivative technique of the third-stage instant-kill move, Slash (斬).

Sweat seeped into the hand gripping the scythe's shaft.

“Here I go.”

I steadied my breathing.

I linked every trajectory of the Moon Wheel Scythe Art into one.

I lowered my body and dropped the scythe, twisted my waist and slashed horizontally, leaped and struck upward, then flipped the face of the scythe and gathered my strength.

Falling Moon - Half Moon - Moonrise - Closing Moon

The four trajectories drew the shape of a full moon in the air.

Woooooong-!

“Full Moon.”

A circular slash shot toward the newly revealed fifth layer.

KWA-AAAAAANG-!!!!!!!!!!!!

A deafening roar.

After the enormous dust cloud obscuring my vision cleared.

I panted as I peered into the hole I had made.

The wall had been gouged several meters deep in a round shape.

I had succeeded in piercing through the fifth-layer wall with a single blow.

“Haa... haa...”

With trembling hands, I turned on the holographic camera.

I captured the huge, Full Moon-shaped hole in a photograph.

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Title: Broke Through the Fourth and Fifth Walls.

Author: ㅇㅇ(121F)

{Photo of a round, deeply gouged wall surface}

I broke through the fifth wall by using Full Moon after chaining the forms together.

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After posting it, I proudly examined the inside of the hole I had made once more.

But.

“Huh...?”

My brow furrowed.

Amid my bewilderment, I snuck a glance at the comment section.

[Comments]

Fenrir : Why does it look like it's two shades darker?

ㅇㅇ(431F) : ???

ㅇㅇ(335F) : Wait, didn't that thing damage the sixth layer a little too?

ㅇㅇ(734F) : ;;

Insect King : Legendary.