Chapter 7
Two red wolves the size of trucks were slaughtering people indiscriminately.
“Grr…”
One of them was leisurely devouring its prey.
‘Should I take that one out first?’
I poured aura into the Mithril Sword, and it gradually turned dark blue.
Its appearance alone put it on a whole different level from a longsword.
‘Let’s see how it performs.’
-Kwoong!
I blasted out aura and soared toward the Dire Wolf.
‘At least I need to avoid its head.’
A Dire Wolf’s skull was as hard as that of a B-Rank monster.
No matter how good the Mithril Sword was, it would break the moment I drove its blade into the wolf’s head.
‘I have to aim for the nape.’
It wouldn’t be an instant kill, but I had no choice.
I’d just have to cram in follow-up attacks and finish it off quickly somehow.
“Hup—”
Just as I was about to put all my strength into a thrust—
“Grr!”
The wolf sensed something was wrong and turned its head.
‘!’
The change in angle sent the blade toward its skull.
At this rate, the sword might break—
-Kaaang!
The dark blue Mithril Sword pierced straight through its head.
It didn’t just pass through—the impact was closer to shattering it.
“…What the hell?”
It was a clean, instant kill without a single wasted motion.
With the longsword, I’d barely managed to cut through the High Orc’s weak point, its neck. And now I’d shattered the skull of a Dire Wolf, which was several times tougher?
‘That’s gear for you.’
I’d only just started thanking ‘HwaseongIsGreat’ for gifting me the Mithril Sword when—
“Grrr!”
The other wolf charged at me.
A head-on collision with a Dire Wolf could put my life in danger, but…
‘Even better.’
I was almost grateful it had come to fight me so quickly.
Other Hunters would be dispatched soon, and then it’d only be a matter of time before my identity was exposed.
Besides, dragging this out any longer would put me in danger.
‘Let’s finish this in one go.’
I drew the longsword strapped to my waist.
I waited for it to ram into me, and—
-KWAANG!
“Ngh…!”
My body flew into the air with pain that felt like my insides were twisting.
At this rate, I’d be sent flying and take a follow-up attack from the Dire Wolf, but—
-Thuk!
I drove the longsword in my left hand into its flank.
“Grr!”
It contracted its muscles to keep me from pulling the sword out.
It was probably trying to take my weapon, but…
‘Thanks.’
I’d never planned to use the longsword to attack in the first place.
“Hup!”
Using the longsword as a brace, I used the recoil to spring upward, and—
-Puuuuk!
I drove the Mithril Sword straight into the nape of its neck.
“Grr, rrr…!”
The wolf thrashed around, trying to shake me off.
But it was already too late.
After pulling out the Mithril Sword, I swung hard—
-Sshhk!
Its head was severed.
“Phew…”
I sheathed the Mithril Sword and looked around.
There was no one else there except for the C-Rank Hunter who’d been with me.
‘Perfect.’
I walked over to her and spoke up.
“Excuse me.”
I asked as politely as I could.
“Could you say you took care of these?”
“…Pardon?”
“Or say some stranger suddenly showed up, swoosh, and killed them. Just pretend I wasn’t here…!”
After saying that, I hurried away from the scene.
***
Kwon Dohwa, the Hwasan Guild Master and an S-Rank Hunter, was racing down the street.
She’d heard that Red Dire Wolves, top-tier C-Rank monsters, had appeared near the Tower.
‘Why does this have to happen when none of the guild members are around…!’
The only Hunters left at the guild besides her were C-Rank or below.
They were nowhere near strong enough to take on Red Dire Wolves.
That was why she’d rushed to the scene herself, but—
“-So you’re saying someone whose identity you don’t know suddenly showed up, killed them all, and ran off?”
“Y-yes…!”
Park Jiwon, a C-Rank Hunter and guild member who’d been at the scene, had told her something strange.
A girl who said she was fifteen had killed all the Dire Wolves with a dark blue longsword.
‘At least B-Rank…’
No, if she thought about it carefully, she’d have to rank the girl even higher.
She’d killed two Red Dire Wolves in such a short time and then escaped.
‘…She could even be A-Rank.’
After thinking it over, Kwon Dohwa spoke again.
“By the way, what was that dark blue longsword? Did it look like a high-grade item?”
“No, I couldn’t sense any mana at all. If anything, it seemed to be pushing away the mana around it… It felt… unnatural.”
“Pushing away mana…?”
Mana was the substance that made up the world, a concept no different from the laws of nature. And something was pushing it away?
It made no sense.
“Jiwon, what do you think the weapon was made of?”
“Hmm. It looked like mithril, but it can’t have been, since it was dark blue.”
“….”
Mithril.
That word brought a memory to Kwon Dohwa’s mind.
‘No way?’
She thought of the person who’d traded an A-Rank weapon for a Mithril Sword on the exchange, but…
‘…That’s way too convenient a fantasy.’
She dismissed it as a coincidence.
After all, fighting with a sword made of mithril?
That was absurd.
***
After that, I spent the next few days doing nothing but climbing the Tower.
I worried something might happen, but fortunately, there were no incidents.
[You have cleared Floor 9!]
[Final score: 25,000 points]
[The world record for the Floor 9 rankings has been updated from ‘19,830 points’ to ‘25,000’ points!]
[A blessing will be bestowed upon the region where the top-ranked climber on Floor 9 is located!]
[Mana stones and points earned on Floor 9 of all Towers in South Korea +10%]
I was breaking records one floor at a time with overwhelming scores.
[Title: Sword Maiden<< Who the hell is this person, anyway?]
They keep taking first place in the rankings and bringing down blessings.
Why are they increasing the earnings of Hunters on the lower floors?
Why do they keep breathing life into South Korea?
Fuck, I’m so damn grateful.
-Long live Sword Maiden!
-Sword Maiden’s really been making life worth living lately.
└I heard the Tower in Busan would’ve collapsed last time from a lack of points if it weren’t for the blessing Sword Maiden gave us.
└The Sword Emperor is the one who’ll normalize the Tower lol
[Title: U.S. President says, ‘We’ll even risk diplomatic issues with Korea to bring Sword Maiden over’]
(Photo of a stock graph in free fall)
You piece of shit, shut your mouth already!!!
-Economic recovery is all thanks to the Great Trump.
-At this point, isn’t that guy an economic criminal?
└He started a war with Iran and wrecked the economy back then, so upvote if you still don’t know how he got elected to a fifth term lol
└He’s an S-Rank Hunter himself, so let’s raise a glass.
“Hmm.”
As I browsed the Hunter Gallery, I started to feel a chill run down my spine.
People all over the world were trying to figure out who ‘Genius Sword Maiden’ was.
‘Won’t I be dead if they find out who I am?’
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to show up saying, ‘I’m the famous Sword Maiden~’ and side with America, but…
If I did that, assassination requests would come pouring in from every direction.
No matter who I affiliated with, my life would be in danger.
‘They’d take away my freedom, too.’
I couldn’t even beat an S-Rank Hunter right now.
I might end up living like a slave, getting tossed around by them.
“Hmm.”
It’d be better to reveal my identity only after I’d gained at least S-Rank strength.
To do that, I’d need the gallery’s help.
[Title: Masters, I want to move on to the next stage.]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
I’ve spent days doing nothing but fondling aura’s ass.
Can you finally teach me about that inner world or whatever?
-GreatswordFan) What kind of attitude is that from someone asking to be taught?
└That’s a genius girl, you know.
└GreatswordFan) I’m a woman too, you know?
└You’re not cute, though.
└DaggerTechniquePro) The greatsword-wielding gorilla can sit this one out lol
-PureAndLovely*) It is about time for you to move on to the inner world.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Oh, so you’ll teach me?
└PureAndLovely*) Yeah. But first, accept the request I’m sending you.
-Ding!
An alarm sounded, and a strange window appeared.
[PureAndLovely has requested a spar.]
*If you accept the request, you will be moved to PureAndLovely’s inner world.
“Whoa.”
So this was the kind of thing they were talking about whenever they mentioned sparring in the gallery. What a great system.
‘Accept.’
The moment I thought that, everything before my eyes turned black.
***
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a strange place.
It was a plain piled with countless swords and weapons, stacked up like mountains.
‘Is this the blue-tag mod’s inner world?’
As I looked around in wonder—
-Tap.
“Eeeek!”
Someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.
[PureAndLovely*) Hey?]
When I slid the message window aside, I saw a blue-haired woman.
Her expression was calm, without a trace of emotion.
“Are you the blue-tag mod…?”
“….”
She only tapped at the air with her finger and didn’t respond at all, but—
[PureAndLovely*) We can’t hear each other here, so just use messages.]
After the message appeared, she gave me a faint smile.
‘…She’s really pretty.’
Unlike the image I’d had of the blue-tag mod as a complete troublemaker, she was prettier than any model.
Anyway.
That was enough time admiring the mod’s face. I hurried to get to the point.
[WokeUpAsATSGirl) So why’d you ask for a spar?]
[PureAndLovely*) You’re ready to learn about the inner world, but it’s hard to explain in words alone, so I called you here.]
[PureAndLovely*) Learning through practice is the surest way.]
The mod continued sending messages.
[PureAndLovely*) First, to put ‘Inner World’<< in really simple terms… it’s like a unique ability each person has.]
[PureAndLovely*) The more you understand your inner world, the more unique abilities your aura develops, and you can draw them out to fight.]
[WokeUpAsATSGirl) Oh.]
A unique ability, huh? It felt like I was finally about to learn something really awesome, and it was exciting.
[PureAndLovely*) I want to give you an example of a unique ability first… Could you move about ten meters away from me?]
I toddled away until I was about ten meters from the mod.
[PureAndLovely*) Now just wait there.]
[WokeUpAsATSGirl) Okay.]
‘What on earth is she planning to do?’
I was so excited my heart was practically pounding.
“….”
The mod drew the sword at her waist.
Then she pointed its blade toward where I was standing—
-Whish!
And swung it through the air.
[WokeUpAsATSGirl) What are you doing?]
Just as I was wondering what on earth she was doing—
-KRAKAKAKANG!
Thousands of slashes flew at me, and—
‘Huh?’
My body shattered into pieces like toy blocks.
[PureAndLovely*) This is my unique ability lol]
The mod sheathed her sword with a satisfied smile.
‘Did she ask me to spar just so she could beat the crap out of me?’
By the time I realized, my vision had already turned black.
[The spar has ended.]
[Participants will return to their respective worlds.]
That blue-tag mod, you bastard…!