novelraw Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Regarding Swordsmanship
[‘Discount Coupon (99%)’ is applied.]
If you could buy something worth a million won for just ten thousand won, what would you do?
The answer is simple. You would be a fool not to buy it.
[Tactical Manual]
-You have learned the Swordsmanship ‘Hundred Night Yaksha.’
-Would you like to learn the corresponding skill? Y/N
-Required SP: 10,000(-990,000)
The message that popped up as soon as I saw the old man’s technique, and the ‘Discount Coupon’ that activated naturally.
Two miracles had found their way to me.
When I focused my mind, the Y on the selection option sparkled.
I pressed the Y button without hesitation.
[‘Hundred Night Yaksha’ has been acquired.]
The moment I saw those words.
My consciousness was snuffed out in a flash, like a candle flame blown out by a breath.
Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of a vast, empty space, within a great darkness.
‘What is this, all of a sudden?’
A sense of unease washed over me. No matter where I looked, there was only darkness. Silence alone filled the space.
Around the time I had wandered for a long while and collected myself.
An old man in a white suit appeared in front of me. Holding a sleek cane, he stood quietly like an actor on a stage.
He quietly assumed a ready stance. I found myself following suit, taking the same posture.
‘Aha. So it’s like this?’
Was this a visual representation of the process of learning a skill?
Soon after, the old man slowly raised his cane.
And I, too, tried to raise my sword.
But the sword did not budge.
Frozen in the ready stance, I struggled to lift it, but only the tips of my arms trembled.
‘W-what?’
It was then. The old man’s form began to grow larger.
The old man, who was at first the size of a person, soon swelled up like a building, and in the blink of an eye, his upper body was hidden by the clouds.
I was overwhelmed by his enormous size, enough to be at a loss for words. Just as I was looking up, feeling infinitely small.
The old man swung his massive cane down at me, who must have looked like a mere dot.
Is this what it would feel like to see the sky fall?
The round cross-section of the cane, which fell parting the clouds, grew flatter and flatter as it neared, brandishing red flames all over its body, and by the time it filled my vision.
An immense pressure crushed my entire body. An inexplicable fear swallowed me whole. My mouth opened without my consent, and I screamed, but no sound came out.
Hwaak-!
At the last moment, a light exploded, and my vision was painted entirely white.
“……!”
I came to my senses with a start.
My breath came in ragged gasps. I felt as if I had been trapped in a lucid dream for a long time and was suddenly pulled back to reality.
‘A hallucination? Or something like a skill acquisition event.’
In any case, the place I was in was a game.
It wouldn’t be strange for something like this to happen so suddenly.
And as if in response.
Ddiring-
With a clear alarm sound, the skill settled into the ‘Skills’ section, which had been empty all this time.
[Tactical Manual]
[Skill - Hundred Night Yaksha][Special Grade][Unique]
‘Special Grade?’
Special Grade, those two words gave me goosebumps all over.
The skill system of [Heroes Zero] was ranked from Grade 1 to 10.
And above that, there was an exceptional grade that only a very few could handle—‘Special Grade.’
There was a good reason why Special Grade was outside the normal grade system.
For example, the Special Grade skill [Breath of the Abyss] possessed by ‘Mailick Bodnov,’ a hero who vied for the top spot even among the world’s few S-rank heroes.
It was said that when it was activated in its final form, it would erase the very concept of its target.
It had actually been activated only once.
And what was erased then, only Bodnov himself knew.
In other words, a power that transcended everyone’s understanding.
The skill I had obtained was just as absurd a thing.
I was still a long way from Bodnov’s level, but its potential was comparable.
‘……This is insane.’
I stared blankly at the skill window for a moment.
“M-monsters are coming in!”
“Uwaaaah!”
Reality came crashing in.
I heard the sound of the door breaking, and One-Eyed Orcs and smaller wolf-type monsters began to force their way into the car.
Keu-eong! Keong-keong! Keong!
“We have to get out! Let’s go!”
“Damn it! Move! Get out of the way!”
The inside of the car became a mess in an instant.
People pushed and jumped over each other, running for their lives in the opposite direction from where the monsters had broken in.
I, who had been distracted by the new skill, also came to my senses and tried to follow the crowd. If only I hadn’t heard the low growl from my side.
U-eu-eu-
A One-Eyed Orc, which I didn’t know when it had entered, swung its mace violently.
Hwoong- Peok!
“Kkeok…….”
The body of the man who took a direct hit twisted like a utility pole hit by a dump truck and was flung into the air.
Ujijik, after the sound of bones breaking, the man was thrown to the floor.
His arms and legs were twisted and his body was grotesquely folded; he no longer moved.
“Kyaak-!”
“Quickly! They’re c-coming! They’re coming this way! Get out, quick!”
Splattered blood was everywhere amidst the tearing screams.
The injured rolled on the floor, and the wolves following the Orcs rushed at the fallen people.
The rampaging One-Eyed Orc had, before I knew it, come right up to me. In its pupil, a student in a dobok with a sword was reflected. It was me.
Keu-heung!
“…….”
The creature snorted foul steam from its wide nostrils.
But for some reason, I didn’t feel particularly scared. I was in a strangely calm state.
Keu-a-ak!
Hwoong-!
The monster swung its mace at me, its dirty fangs glinting.
My body, even before consciously registering the attack, had already deflected it to the side and prepared for the next one.
It was something that surprised even myself. At the same time, what I had to do became clear.
It was a chance to test the skill I had just learned.
‘No, wait a minute.’
In that fleeting moment, beyond my vision where the mace brushed past, I saw the old man cutting down the monsters.
The monsters being cut down, spilling blood, and the old man with a calm expression. The combination created a somewhat eerie harmony.
The problem was if he witnessed me using the ‘skill.’ How would he think of me if I copied his technique just by seeing it once?
Above all, I don’t know who that old man is. What if he’s a dangerous person?
No. Someone helping people couldn’t be a bad person, right?
At that moment of fleeting conflict, the enemy before me did not wait idly.
Hwoong-!
Kwang!
The One-Eyed Orc’s massive mace once again struck the spot where I had just been standing.
The mace made a harsh smashing sound and left a huge mark on the floor. If I had been hit directly, I would have been turned into a pancake in an instant.
A sigh of relief escaped me automatically.
‘This is not the time to weigh my options.’
The monster that had rushed me roared ferociously and lifted its mace high. The moment it brought it straight down like splitting firewood.
[Hundred Night Yaksha]
As I activated the skill, an alien heat began to boil up from my right arm.
From my forearm to my fingertips, a pale complexion spread, changing it into a hideous form that was hard to believe was human.
Uduk, udeudeuk—!
Muscles twisted and bones protruded, revealing a thick, rough shape. Coarsely raised white veins writhed on the surface of the skin. It was a gruesome sight, as if the arm of a monster had been grafted onto me.
And it was at that moment. The scene the old man had shown me came to mind on its own.
The ‘skill’ was still continuing.
My body moved on its own. As if outputting a predetermined value.
My body lowered its hips to find its center of gravity and then tightly gripped the hilt of the sword.
A cool and eerie energy spread from the hand that grasped the hilt.
The moment the cool trajectory became clear before my eyes.
[Yaksha Style: Heavenly Demon's Night Slash]
The sharp blade, freed from its scabbard, drew a cold arc.
A soundless sword energy flashed as it cut through the air.
Seuseuk-
The Orc’s massive torso was split diagonally and it collapsed as if sliding down.
Flesh, muscle, and even bone were all marked with a smooth cross-section. It was as neat as sliced meat.
Strangely, no blood flowed from the cut surface.
“…….”
I was stunned and speechless.
I couldn't believe that this was something that had started from me.
My abnormally transformed arm soon returned to its original form. As if nothing had happened.
It felt like I had been dreaming for a moment. But that was short-lived.
“Eu-eung? Kkeu-eu-a-a-a-ak-!”
Excruciating pain surged through my entire body. It felt like every single one of my nerves was being seared with fire.
This was not pain, but closer to torture.
The heat pressing down on my head and hot blood flowing backward made my vision go dizzy.
By the time I couldn't support my body and collapsed, my face a mess of tears and snot.
“…….”
The surroundings were quiet.
What I saw in my collapsed field of vision were the One-Eyed Orcs lurking around. But strangely, none of them charged at me.
Their bodies were frozen as if they had stiffened, and their eyes held a clear emotion.
Fear.
‘Are they not attacking……?’
Even as my mind grew distant from the agony, I held onto that question.
I also felt a sense of relief, thinking that if they had attacked me now, I would have surely died.
And it was then.
Teobeok-
The old man in the white suit was approaching step by step from over there.
Seuseuk-
When the old man reached the first Orc, its neck was severed before it even had a chance to scream.
Seuk-
Another one.
Next was a monster that looked like a wolf. Its head spun once before it sprawled on the floor.
The old man simply, with a blank expression, yet without hesitation, cut down the monsters.
When all the monsters on the platform were neatly slaughtered, ironically, his pure white suit was still clean. Without a single drop of blood splattered on it.
And finally, he stopped his steps toward me.
‘I’m screwed.’
He probably saw it. The scene of me using his technique. On top of that, he didn't look to be in a good mood.
His appearance as he walked, leaning on his cane, was without a doubt that of an ordinary old man.
But to me, who had already witnessed his peerless show, that very appearance felt even more intimidating.
I had caught the eye of such a monster. Was that a good thing? Or a bad thing? I couldn't know yet.
The old man lowered his head and spoke to me.
“How did you do it?”
“……Pardon?”
“I saw. That arm—from whom was it passed down to you?”
The old man didn’t give me a chance to make excuses and went straight to the point.
I couldn’t say, ‘Who was it passed down from? I learned it from watching you do it.’
It was the truth, but he wouldn’t believe it, and it would only provoke him unnecessarily.
As I remained silent, the old man’s gaze grew sharp. Even the aura flowing around his body was gloomy and sharp.
“This is not something a brat like you can handle carelessly.”
The moment those words fell, the space behind the old man began to distort.
An aura like a faint mist slowly rose, and a massive form gradually revealed itself.
A beast with dark red blood-like patterns twisted and carved onto its pure white skin.
Its long horns stretched as if to tear the very sky, and its entire body shimmered faintly like a mirage.
The shape of its forearm was somehow familiar.
And from that very moment, an invisible force began to crush me.
It felt as if a giant mountain range was covering my shoulders, and I couldn't even breathe.
An enormous pressure pressed down on my entire body from all directions.
I couldn't hold back the groans that burst out.
“Keu-eup……!”
A hot sensation flooded my nostrils. For a moment, my vision was stained red, and a clear stream of blood flowed down my cheek.
“So you can see it. But if you can’t even withstand this much, you are not worthy of using that power.”
My body trembled uncontrollably. My muscles screamed as if they would snap, and even my bones felt like they were twisting.
‘I can’t breathe……!’
I wanted to make a sound, but my mouth wouldn’t open.
The pressure emanating from the monstrosity the old man had summoned grew stronger and stronger, trampling my body and mind to shreds.
“If you are not worthy. It would be right to take it back.”
“W-what……!”
Immediately after, a tremendous force, feeling dozens of times stronger than before, began to crush me.
‘This crazy old man……!’
A hot liquid began to flow from between my clenched teeth.
That moment, when some old man was deciding my fate just like that, without the owner's permission.