NSE-Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sword Immortal Seo Jin-cheol.

He knew Kim Min-woo well. His granddaughter had mentioned him several times.

―That cowardly loser bastard! His gaze is so perverted. I’m telling you, I almost gouged out his eyeballs but held back! If it weren’t for Ilseong Group, I’d have wrecked at least one of his legs!

The public’s assessment was the same. Lazy by nature and crude in word and deed.

The only reason he hadn’t been causing major incidents was not that the guy was patient, but that he was a huge coward.

Most people in the world had definitely said so.

‘That’s this guy?’

The Sword Immortal tilted his head.

His own presence was not something an ordinary person could withstand.

An ordinary person would have been in tears, and wetting or soiling themselves would have been no surprise.

Even so, Kim Min-woo wasn’t shrinking back in the slightest.

As if he were a battle-hardened veteran.

The Sword Immortal examined Kim Min-woo’s body.

A body with not a trace of Mana. He was undoubtedly an ordinary person.

‘A cowardly loser, huh.’

A hundred words don’t matter.

What mattered most was the reality before his eyes.

The Sword Immortal acknowledged it.

That Kim Min-woo was, in his own way, a worthwhile sort.

“You have good eyes.”

“My sword will be even better.”

A smile rose at the corners of the Sword Immortal’s mouth.

Quite interesting.

“100 billion won is a lot of money.”

“That’s why it should be spent at a time like this.”

“Have you ever swung a sword?”

“A few times.”

“Let’s go to the Training Ground.”

The Sword Immortal walked ahead.

Kim Min-woo followed behind him.

The place where the First-Line Disciples were.

When the Sword Immortal appeared, the disciples’ eyes lit up.

The Sword Immortal, having moved to the center of the Training Ground, raised a wooden sword.

At that moment, his ferocious presence vanished as if washed away. So much so that anyone who didn’t know better would have seen him as nothing but an ordinary person.

“A spar only has meaning if it’s fair. I’ve matched my body to your level. Pick up a sword.”

“Allow me to learn from you.”

Kim Min-woo picked up a wooden sword.

He saw the Sword Immortal looking over here with an indifferent gaze.

He knew the Sword Immortal well.

Because he was one of the characters you inevitably interact with while playing the game.

The Sword Immortal, who had created the Wind Sword Art and risen to become Korea’s top Awakened.

But his realm of the sword was currently completely stalled.

At that level, the realm doesn’t rise in a snap just from using a few Elixirs.

It was a stage where pure enlightenment was also needed.

‘He’ll probably stay in that state for another five years.’

Then he would create a new Sword Art that supplemented his existing weaknesses and advance to the next realm.

‘Thunder Wind Sword Art.’

A Sword Art that blended the softness of wind with the speed and force of lightning.

‘I learned it directly.’

Naturally, it wasn’t as the personality-wrecked Kim Min-woo that he had learned it.

Seo Ye-rim.

A four-star difficulty character and the granddaughter of Sword Immortal Seo Jin-cheol.

Using that relationship, he had received the Thunder Wind Sword Art from him.

He truly deserved to be called the Sword Immortal.

Because he had never beaten him even once.

‘But it’s different now.’

This was a long time before then.

The Sword Immortal was not yet the complete Sword Immortal of that time.

‘Aim for the weaknesses of the Wind Sword Art.’

Before the creation of the Thunder Wind Sword Art, a few openings he hadn’t yet supplemented.

What if he pierced those openings with the far superior Thunder Wind Sword Art?

It could definitely create a variable.

‘In a short fight, it’s definitely doable.’

An ordinary person can hardly keep up a spar for even three minutes.

Kim Min-woo’s body was the same. Though his mind had changed, the body had its limits, so it would be hard to sustain combat for long.

‘Seven minutes.’

No matter how good his willpower was, it would be hard to keep fighting past seven minutes.

He had to obtain a meaningful result within that time.

‘Don’t get greedy. Just three hits.’

Land just three hits of the wooden sword on the Sword Immortal’s body.

‘As expected, no openings.’

Even without using Mana.

Even with a body similar to an ordinary person’s.

The Sword Immortal was the Sword Immortal.

There was not a single wasted motion in the stance with the wooden sword raised.

A stance that could perfectly defend from the face down to the abdomen.

Seeing it, a fighting spirit rose in Kim Min-woo’s eyes.

The Sword Immortal was the same.

‘Is that really a beginner who has only swung a sword a few times?’

He was astonished right now.

Kim Min-woo.

The stance of the guy he had thought of as merely a reckless greenhorn was far too refined.

There was meaning even in every single footstep as they circled each other. Subtly exposing an opening, or putting force into his toes as if about to pounce at any moment.

It was almost beyond belief. But there was no way not to believe it, either.

That was because Kim Min-woo’s body could not possibly be seen as one that had trained in the sword.

Hands without a single callus.

On top of that, the muscle mass of his whole body was pitiful. Judging by the body, he was indeed a complete novice who had never even entered the sword. Astonishingly, such a novice was now engaged in a perfect battle of wits with him.

Truly, one has to live long to see everything.

Tension amplifying without a single clash.

Just then.

Kim Min-woo drew in a deep breath. It was a duel between masters.

The one who moves first gets probed quickly.

Still, they couldn’t keep going around in a circle dance forever.

‘I have no choice but to yield the first move.’

He thrusts first.

“Not so fast!”

Realizing his intent, the Sword Immortal, enraged, lunged like lightning.

He was the Sword Immortal.

He hadn’t lived in vain to the point of being yielded to by a green youngster!

His sword, flowing softly, aimed at the opening.

Crack!

The two wooden swords collided powerfully.

The Sword Immortal’s wooden sword softly thrust at Kim Min-woo.

Soft as a gentle breeze.

At times fierce as a storm.

The Wind Sword Art.

It was a terrifying Sword Art in which the links continued endlessly, pressing the opponent without even one of those common openings.

Kim Min-woo, blocking and dodging by a hair as if walking a tightrope, kept being pushed back.

The Sword Immortal’s offensive continued.

Kim Min-woo was driven onto the defensive in an instant.

Yet his eyes were shining sharper than ever.

‘Head, shoulder, waist, neck, shoulder, arm…….’

He, who had been blocking while recalling the path of the Wind Sword Art, suddenly thrust his wooden sword out.

“……!”

The Sword Immortal quickly twisted his shoulder to evade.

But Kim Min-woo’s offensive didn’t end there.

Following up like a snake, his sword drove deep into the Sword Immortal’s armpit.

Thwack!

In a brief moment.

It wasn’t only Kim Min-woo’s sword that had struck. As if to prove he wasn’t a supreme master for nothing, the Sword Immortal’s wooden sword had also fiercely hit his shoulder.

At that moment……

[Awakening begins!]

[The Achievement is blossoming!]

The Achievement’s blossoming had begun.

The two of them stepped back two paces each at the same time.

The Sword Immortal’s face stiffened.

The blow Kim Min-woo had just thrust in.

It had precisely pierced an opening of the Wind Sword Art.

And what was more, an opening he himself hadn’t even been aware of.

“……How did you find it out?”

“Huff. I just felt like I could stab then.”

Kim Min-woo said with a grin, breathing hard.

“……You. Have you truly never learned the sword before?”

“I haven’t.”

Kim Min-woo, twenty-three years since birth.

He had never learned the sword.

It was the undeniable truth.

Seeing the unwavering eyes, the Sword Immortal nodded.

“My apologies.”

“For what?”

“I should have been the one to request this spar first.”

“Then please give this spar your best. Until one of the two of us falls.”

“So I shall.”

The Sword Immortal acknowledged it cleanly.

That this young one, purely in terms of swordsmanship, was fully worthy of being called a rival to him.

No, considering he had pinpointed in a single stroke an opening that he himself hadn’t been able to find for years……

If anything, this guy could be said to be the one above.

The Sword Immortal’s eyes grew more serious than ever.

* * *

Waaah!

At the faintly echoing cheers, Seo Ye-rim, who had been sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, opened her eyes.

The inside of the Sword Sea Pavilion was exceptionally noisy today.

‘Is something going on today? I don’t think there was any special schedule…….’

The only notable thing she could recall was that the damn brat was coming to tour the Sword Sea Pavilion.

Feeling puzzled, she stepped out of the Training Room.

She saw several Instructors moving about busily.

“Is something happening?”

“The Sword Immortal is in the middle of a spar.”

“Grandfather? With whom?”

Seo Ye-rim’s eyes sparkled.

Sword Immortal Seo Jin-cheol.

The Swordsman greater and more brilliant than anyone else in this world.

Naturally, a single spar of his was worth that much.

She was immensely curious who her ever-respected grandfather was sparring with.

Naturally, that opponent must be a remarkable figure too.

Several figures flashed through Seo Ye-rim’s mind.

Divine Spear, Fist King, Poison Demon…….

Every one of them was a super-powerhouse within the top ten of Korea’s Awakened rankings.

For someone like that, it made sense for Grandfather to move himself.

Just then…….

An Instructor scratching his head said.

“Uh, well…… it’s that Kim Min-woo guy.”

“……What?”

Kim Min-woo? Surely they don’t mean that Kim Min-woo?

Come on, no way…….

“The Kim Min-woo who was supposed to visit here today.”

But the Instructor’s next words shattered her thoughts with a crash.

Seo Ye-rim was shocked.

She loathed Kim Min-woo.

The snake-like gaze that had brazenly raked over her body was still vivid.

A pathetic and filthy human being.

A guy like that was sparring with Grandfather?

When even she, his own granddaughter, couldn’t?

“No, why on earth is Grandfather sparring with that pervert bastard? Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

“Well…… they say he bet 100 billion won on a single spar.”

“100 billion won?”

“Yes. He said he’d donate all of it to the Sword Sea Pavilion, win or lose…….”

“Is he insane? 100 billion won……”

Only then did Seo Ye-rim understand why the Sword Immortal had moved himself.

Even for the Sword Immortal, 100 billion won was not an amount to casually ignore.

With that money, they could overhaul the Sword Sea Pavilion’s training facilities to the latest models. A considerable sum for just teaching a brat a lesson.

Of course.

What was there to see in that damn brat that Grandfather would move himself?

A guy who’s worthless apart from money.

It was money after all.

“I should go watch. Would you like to come too, Instructor?”

Her mood rapidly improving, she said with a bright smile.

Watching the brat get beaten up, and getting the slightly outdated facilities replaced while she was at it.

Wasn’t it literally killing two birds with one stone?

So she headed with the Instructor to where the spar was taking place, and.

“This can’t be…….”

Ye-rim was astounded.

Could someone have hypnotized her?

If not, she felt she couldn’t make sense of the sight before her eyes.

It was definitely that Kim Min-woo.

But that Kim Min-woo was fiercely trading swords with the Sword Immortal.

Even doggedly blocking the sword raging like a storm was impressive enough.

Whack!

“He landed another one?”

“Twice. The Sword Immortal has already been breached twice……”

“How is that……”

Amid the Sword Immortal’s offensive, she saw Kim Min-woo thrusting his sword out in a breathtaking way and counterattacking.

‘What the?’

Seeing Kim Min-woo’s sword, Seo Ye-rim felt a dizzying distance.

A spar unfolding purely on the skill of the body, without a speck of Mana.

It was a work of art.

Only then did Ye-rim realize why the cheers kept bursting out.

Just holding out without allowing a valid hit against the Wind Sword Art was already tremendous, yet he wasn’t even stopping there, he was counterattacking as well.

And using a Sword Art that looked extraordinary at first glance, no less.

“Not bad!”

“Gasp. You too, Elder!”

“Heh heh, you little colt!”

Two Swordsmen running wild to their hearts’ content in the small world called the Training Ground.

It was the first time she had seen Grandfather so delighted.

Grit.

Ye-rim bit her lip.

She had devoted her whole life to the sword to be acknowledged by the grandfather she respected. She had even earned an epithet at the age of twenty-two.

Sword Phoenix Seo Ye-rim

She had pride.

Even if not now.

She had believed that she would surely be the first Swordsman to be acknowledged by Grandfather.

But at this rate, she would…… lose that.

And to that brat, whom she not only disliked but even loathed.

Cold sweat ran down between her brows.

* * *

2 minutes.

4 minutes.

5 minutes.

As the spar continued, Kim Min-woo was driven further and further onto the defensive.

‘My stamina’s giving out.’

No matter how much the Sword Immortal had restricted his own body, he was fundamentally an S-rank Awakened.

His natural recovery rate was bound to be completely different.

The Sword Immortal’s speed didn’t drop.

He didn’t tire, either.

But Min-woo was different.

He was a brat who had lazed around for twenty-three years.

How good could his stamina possibly be?

Sword Arts too can only be performed when you have the strength to move your body.

An ordinary person is bound to tire out and collapse after even three minutes of sparring.

And this wasn’t even an ordinary spar, but one with the Sword Immortal.

A tremendous battle of wits.

In a mere six minutes, dizziness rose as if his brain were burning out.

His whole body trembled.

He was holding on with superhuman willpower, but even that was nearing its limit.

Just then.

The Sword Immortal, who had been wielding his sword in a trance, suddenly came to his senses.

‘Oh no.’

The Sword Immortal felt dismayed.

The wall that had been blocking him.

That wall had felt like it was just about to come into view!

They had sparred for too long.

If anything, it was Kim Min-woo, who had lasted until now, who was strange.

‘What tremendous willpower.’

The surprise lasted only a moment.

The Sword Immortal’s heart grew warm, as if he were looking at a grandson.

“I only thought of myself too much. Forgive me.”

“……Huff. You haven’t forgotten the promise from earlier, have you?”

It’s still not enough to raise the Achievement.

I need to be hit more.

If it ends here, it’ll all come to nothing!

Please, hit me more!

Kim Min-woo put that in an elegant way.

“……Right, until one of the two of us fell.”

The Sword Immortal answered with a nod.

The outcome looked clear.

But even in a stance that looked ready to collapse at any moment, Kim Min-woo never sat down.

His eyes were still full of fighting spirit.

Tenacity like sinew.

Indomitable fighting spirit.

Even a craving for victory!

This young man was already a complete Swordsman.

“Yes. As for which is longer or shorter.”

“You can only tell by putting them side by side.”

Grin.

Smiles rose at the corners of both their mouths.

“Take this one too.”

Immediately afterward, the Sword Immortal charged as if leaping in and thrust his wooden sword.

Head, shoulder, body.

Three precisely linked sword strikes.

‘I won’t block.’

If I take just this, I think I can fall down completely.

Instead of defending, Kim Min-woo threw out an attack in the manner of dying together.

His wooden sword passed between the three-pronged strikes and hit the Sword Immortal’s chest.

Whack!

Whack-whack-whack!

Cleanly, three hits in total.

He had achieved his original goal against the Sword Immortal.

And just as the two wooden swords lashed each other’s bodies.

Kim Min-woo collapsed limply toward the floor.

Flash!

A brilliant blue light burst out of his body.

It was unmistakably an Awakening.

And one close to the highest!

“An Awakening?”

“It’s an Awakening!”

“What kind of Achievement is this to give off such light……!”