Chapter 19
I woke up lying in my bed.
‘Humblebragging success.’
My head got cut off because of it, but it didn’t hurt, so I didn’t mind.
[Title: Sorry, Newbie]
Author: GreatswordFan
I couldn’t hold back my anger after seeing you humblebrag.
Sorry for getting mad even though you let me touch it…
-?? What happened?
-But what the fuck did you let them touch?
└GreatswordFan) Hehe
└PureAndLovely*) Was it your boobs? I need to know.
└What do you need to know, you crazy bitch? LMAO
└You put ‘pure’ in your name and then say shit like that? What the f@ck lol
-WokeUpAsATSGirl) It’s fine, I don’t really care. You even killed me painlessly.
└GreatswordFan) Still, I’m sorry… ㅠㅠ
└Just killing someone cleanly puts you in the top 10% of Swordsmanship Gallery.
└DaggerTechniquePro) You used to be damn clean about it. Then at some point you started killing people in really painful ways.
└Didn’t the blue-tag mod start that? Torturing people with slashes before killing them.
└PureAndLovely*) Hmm. Is that so?
└If something weird happens in Swordsmanship Gallery, blame that blue-tag bastard. He’s usually behind it.
└Blue-tag mod<< the root of all evil, the absolute worst JOAT in Swordsmanship Gallery history.
While I was staring blankly at the comments, a question suddenly occurred to me.
‘How do I use the greatsword’s ability?’
GreatswordFan’s absurdly overpowered motion-cancel ability.
I still didn’t know how to use it.
[Title: (NSFW) GreatswordFan’s Huge Boobies…]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
GreatswordFan-nim
How do I use the greatsword’s ‘Rewriting Causality’ thing?
-Phew… I got my hopes up for nothing.
-DaggerTechniquePro) Fuck, don’t trick people with a title like that.
└Why is this guy reacting to this when he hates greatsword freaks?
└He actually likes them, yeah.
└DaggerTechniquePro) Fuck off.
-GreatswordFan) Ah, shit, the title scared the hell out of me…
└GreatswordFan) You should figure out how to use the ability as soon as you channel aura into the greatsword.
Ah, so that’s how it works.
‘But didn’t I almost die a moment ago when I tried channeling aura into it?’
Remembering that, I wrote a comment.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Hey, when I channeled aura into it, it felt like my arm was melting. What was that?
└GreatswordFan) Ah, there’s nothing you can do about that.
└GreatswordFan) The greatsword’s power is too strong, so… you just have to overpower it with your aura output.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Got it. I’ll go try it now.
“Let’s do it.”
It made me a little nervous, but I’d have to do it eventually anyway.
Better to get used to it sooner rather than later.
-Clack.
I pulled the greatsword out of thin air and compressed my aura.
‘Let’s force it all in at once.’
As I condensed my aura to its limit, I poured all of it into the greatsword.
-Rumble!
The greatsword’s power and my aura collided, each trying to devour the other.
For a few seconds, my aura somehow managed to hold the upper hand, but…
“Ngh…”
In the end, the greatsword’s power surged back into my arm.
-Crackle!
A fierce energy coiled around my arm, threatening to melt it.
‘Shit!’
I immediately dropped the greatsword on the floor, but it was already too late.
“Ngh, aaagh…!”
The sensation of my bones and muscles burning spread through my arm.
I writhed in pain, rolling around on my bed for what felt like dozens of seconds.
“Hah, hah…”
I finally caught my breath and came to my senses.
‘A few seconds is my limit for now.’
It was still limited, but at least I seemed able to use the greatsword’s power.
That was enough.
‘I don’t need it right now, anyway.’
Unless it was a special floor every five floors, today I only had to clear Floor 16.
For the time being, I’d only be fighting C-Rank trash monsters.
“Ugh…!”
I put the greatsword into subspace and stretched lightly.
“Hmm.”
I’ve got nothing to do.
Should I just post some bait on Swordsmanship Gallery and bounce?
[Title: Swordsmanship Gallery’s Beloved Regular ‘GreatswordFan’!]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
Rei
-What is this guy talking about?
-Did he get possessed while trying to control the greatsword?
-PureAndLovely*) Rei? Is that someone’s name?
└PureAndLovely*) Wait, what the fuck?
└Oh
└Lmao, I think I know what this means. Upvote.
-GreatswordFan) ?
└DaggerTechniquePro) Hello, Rei!
└GreatswordFan) What the f@ck is this?
└PureAndLovely*) Hello, Rei!
└GreatswordFan) Fuck, fuck, fuck.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Hello, Rei!
└GreatswordFan) No, holy shit, how do you know my name!!!!
└PureAndLovely*) Didn’t you find that out when you went into the Tower last time? You said they were your master and all.
└GreatswordFan) Oh, shit!!!!
I revealed the demon’s true name, then quickly closed Swordsmanship Gallery.
The gallery users could dig into the rest of the juicy details themselves.
‘What do I do now?’
There should still be some time before I could enter the Tower again.
I guess I’d go for a casual walk in the meantime.
‘Maybe I’ll hunt while I’m at it.’
The land of dreams and hope, Hwaseong City, had a famous hunting ground.
The so-called outskirts of the city.
That place was practically a hellscape, and as you wandered around, a special monster called a ‘Raider’ would appear at random.
They usually shoved a knife at you and demanded you hand over everything you had…
If you knocked them out and stole their gear instead, the hunt was over.
‘I made some pocket money that way a few times before.’
Sure, I had the magic stones I’d gotten from the Tower and the money Kwon Dohwa provided me with.
But farming Raiders was a whole different thing.
I could spend that money on gacha games and hand out a few burgers on Hunter Gallery.
Thanks to that, I’d become a famous, beloved regular on Hunter Gallery.
‘Anyway.’
Today, too, I headed for the outskirts to become a hero and bring home burger money for Hunter Gallery.
***
Hwasan Guild Master’s office.
Kwon Dohwa was reviewing the documents with a serious expression.
“…Something’s definitely off.”
It started when she checked the access logs for confidential information, as usual.
She noticed something strange, and after tracing several records,
she reached one conclusion.
‘Someone’s been stealing internal documents.’
Of course, spies had occasionally tried to steal documents before.
But this time, something was different.
‘Why did they only take documents containing personal information?’
From top Hunters to the new Hunters who’d joined the guild recently.
It seemed they’d tried to steal every document containing people’s information.
‘…They even took the documents related to Sword Maiden.’
Records of her adoption process, the materials for issuing her Hunter license, and so on.
They were documents where you could spot something strange if you took the time to analyze them.
‘It’s probably those government bastards.’
Kwon Dohwa stood up and left her office.
She had to track them down somehow.
***
“Hmm…”
After wandering around the city outskirts for about two hours,
I had nothing to show for it.
‘What the hell?’
The streets felt unusually clean today.
Normally, there’d be some blood on the ground and a few monster and human corpses lying around.
‘Why are there only monster corpses?’
Just as I figured it wasn’t my day and started to head home,
-Shhhhh…
I felt eyes on me nearby.
‘…A Raider?’
I casually kept walking, using aura to heighten my bodily senses.
My superhuman perception began to read the information around me,
and before long, I’d figured out how many people there were and where they were.
‘About three of them?’
They were hiding in a building, keeping watch on their surroundings.
Whenever someone passed nearby, they seemed to secretly take pictures.
‘Are they just stalkers?’
I wondered about it briefly, then sensed them moving somewhere else.
Normally, I’d find it bothersome and just let them go.
But right now, I was short on content.
‘I should follow them, right?’
-Thump!
I strengthened my body with aura and followed them.
After following them for about twenty minutes…
-Creak.
I spotted the three of them entering a villa.
Watching them from the roof of a nearby building, I thought,
‘Should I barge in?’
Like President Trump of the U.S., who’d raided the Korean presidential office, maybe I should follow his example, but…
‘…I don’t really have an excuse.’
Were they extremely suspicious stalkers? -> Yes.
Were they so evil that I could barge into their house and beat them up? -> Unknown.
“Hmm.”
It was all so ambiguous.
‘Should I just leave?’
Just as I was thinking that and about to leave the scene,
“I’m sorry! Please forgive me! Please spare my younger siblings…! Please, please…!”
A woman was dragged out of the hideout by her hair.
‘…A Hwasan Guild member?’
She was the C-Rank Hunter who’d stopped me for an ID check near the Tower.
Was her name… Park Jiwon?
I remembered her because she’d risked her life to stop a Red Dire Wolf that had appeared on the street.
‘Why is she here?’
I watched the situation for a moment.
“You said you’d spare me if I just brought you the documents…! Why, why are you doing this all of a sudden…!”
“Hey, fuck. You think I don’t know you deliberately left evidence behind?”
“…”
The man threw her to the ground.
“Because of you, that bitch Kwon Dohwa caught on. What are we supposed to do if we all get wiped out?”
“I’m sorry…! I’ll do anything you tell me from now on, so please, just spare my siblings…!”
“What a fucking joke. You’re useless now, so just go ahead and die~ I’ll send your siblings along with you later.”
He drew a sword from his waist.
He looked ready to swing at the Hwasan Guild member at any moment.
‘Okay, I’ve got a feeling about this.’
They weren’t just Raiders; they were the worst kind of JOAT criminals.
As soon as I realized that, I pulled a hood over my head,
and jumped down from the rooftop toward the man.
-Boom!
“Gah…!”
One down.
‘The other two were in the hideout.’
Just as I was about to rush in and take care of the remaining two,
“…”
I spotted the Hwasan Guild member lying on the ground, covered in wounds.
Should I ask Kwon Dohwa to come?
[GeniusSwordMaiden (Me): Guild Master]
[GeniusSwordMaiden (Me): I’ll send you the coordinates, so bring an emergency responder here. One of our guild members was kidnapped and is injured.]
After closing the system message, I said briefly to the guild member trembling on the ground,
“Someone will be here soon. I’ll take care of things here, so just stay down on the ground for now.”
“Yes…?”
After saying that, I broke down the hideout door and went inside.
-Crash!
“You bastard!”
One of them ambushed me from the side, as if they’d been waiting for me.
‘Dodged.’
I did a light somersault to evade him and put some distance between us.
“Fuck, who the hell are you? Did Hwasan already track us down?”
“Whoa, calm down. I’m just an ordinary robber.”
“…What?”
My goal was just one thing.
Take them out before Kwon Dohwa arrived and steal the expensive valuables in their house.
‘Time to be a hero and bring in burger money.’
-Whoosh!
I drew my longsword with solemn determination.
All of this was for Hunter Gallery!