Chapter 13
“Your name was Joo Donghoon, right?”
While I was training Bone1, the old man asked me.
“Yes, sir.”
“So, Donghoon, what do you think swordsmanship is?”
It was a random question.
I’d never even held a sword before, so it felt foreign.
Still, since he asked, I had to answer.
“Hmm, well, since it’s called swordsmanship, isn’t it just the skill of using a sword?”
“Hah, that’s just like you—simple-minded.”
The old man nodded as if he expected that answer.
But he wasn’t frowning or disappointed.
If anything, his eyes looked approving.
“You’re right. No need to overthink it. Swordsmanship is just the skill of wielding a sword—nothing more, nothing less.”
The old man’s lesson was directed at me, not Bone1.
That made it clear.
He was trying to let out his lingering regrets through me.
He intended to teach me the arts he planned to pass on to the skeletons, too.
He probably wanted me to inherit all of his Ten Thousand Arts.
I should have known from the moment he remodeled my skeleton with that strange grand art.
“Alright, pick up that wooden sword.”
I picked up a piece of wood lying by the road.
“Hold it.”
“How should I hold it?”
“I already told you—not to overthink it. Just grab it in whatever way feels most comfortable to you.”
A little confused, I did as he said.
“Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now swing it with all your strength.”
“Like this?”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
I swung the sword a few times in the air.
It was a completely untrained, amateur slash.
“That’s it! Well done.”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head.
Was this guy kidding me?
He calls that good?
Am I just too dumb to get it because I’m not a genius?
Even to my own eyes, and honestly, anyone else’s, my “slash” was embarrassingly rough.
‘Is this guy really a top-class teacher?’
Just as my confidence was starting to crack, the old man spoke.
“Look at how you gripped the sword with your right hand. Your thumb sticks up straight, the other four fingers are locking it in place. And your swings—one from the upper right at two o’clock to the lower left at eight o’clock. Then one from ten o’clock on the left to four o’clock on the right. Isn’t that how you did it?”
He broke down my posture in detail.
“I didn’t teach you anything. You just swung in the way that felt most natural to you when you heard the word ‘slash.’ All the ideas you have about slashing, based on your life experience, are built into that swing.”
“……”
“Don’t get what I mean?”
“…Not really.”
“You just put your whole life into that swing.”
Huh?
That sounded like nonsense.
But for some reason, it also sounded kind of cool.
Damn, am I going crazy?
As I stood there slack-jawed, the old man continued.
“So, if you add power and speed to that ‘slash’ you just did, would it be more effective?”
Hmm?
I’m not sure.
Wouldn’t a professional swordsman’s slash be stronger than mine?
Like a kendo player, or maybe a samurai.
I honestly had no idea.
“Tsk tsk, there’s that dumb look again. Any ‘slash’ gets stronger if you add power and speed. No matter how a tiger swings its paw, the rabbit’s guts will burst. Do I really need to explain something so simple?”
“Ah?”
I thought I understood what he meant.
First, create my own “slash.”
It probably takes into account my life, my body type, everything.
Then, practice it over and over, adding power and speed.
Eventually, my “slash” will get stronger and stronger.
“Looks like you get it now.”
“A little, yeah.”
“So, what do you think happens if you repeat that slash tens of thousands, millions of times, until you reach the limit?”
This time, the old man picked up a steel sword.
It wasn’t any kind of real sword—it was a sword of pure imagination, conjured by the old man’s will.
“Watch closely. This is the swordsmanship you and your skeletons will learn.”
Chuk!
He gripped the sword.
A simple, ordinary grip.
But my heart was anything but calm.
“Huh?”
Overwhelming pressure.
It felt like a mountain was pressing down on me.
“You don’t need to complicate any skill. No matter what path you dig into, if you go far enough, the extreme point is the same.”
“……”
“If I had only obsessed over theory like the scholars, do you think I could’ve mastered the Ten Thousand Arts? Ridiculous!”
Whoosh!
The old man’s hand flashed.
An unbelievably fast sword.
I couldn’t even see it properly.
There was an enormous gap between his level and mine.
All I could grasp was that he had “slashed” something.
“Forget theory! Strengthen your own swing. Keep developing your own ‘slash!’ If you do, someday everyone will use your ‘slash’ as the standard!”
My heart pounded.
I clenched my fist.
My palms were sweaty and my legs tingled.
My own “slash?”
A slash so strong that it becomes everyone’s textbook standard?
Just thinking about it made my chest swell with excitement!
“Now, swing.”
Bone1 and I instinctively grabbed our swords.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Our real training began.
“Keep swinging. Keep swinging until you find the most comfortable, fastest movement.”
“Yes!”
I swung to my heart’s content.
With no set form, it was easy.
Even if my posture was rough.
What I swung was the law and the truth—who could say otherwise?
[Ding!]
[Skill ‘Slash’ (Rank C) acquired.]
[This skill can still grow further.]
“…Huff, huff.”
Time passed.
My whole body was drenched in sweat.
Thirty minutes flew by, it felt like less than a minute—total immersion.
As usual, I didn’t even feel tired.
Actually, I felt refreshed.
[Ding!]
[‘Bone1’ has been adjusted.]
[Skill ‘Low Slash’ (Lv.2) has increased by 2 levels.]
[‘Skeleton 1’s Strength increased by 1!]
[‘Skeleton 1’s Skill increased by 3!]
Same for Bone1.
His stats, which usually barely moved, had skyrocketed.
Clack clack!
He clicked his teeth, clearly pleased.
Hey, now I’m a little jealous.
He never did that when I was the one teaching him.
“That’s it for today. Review thoroughly. With your grit, you’ll improve in no time.”
“Thank you, sir!”
I bowed deeply.
I was truly grateful for this new skill.
This old man was a stroke of luck.
The best of the best.
—
Parang Guild headquarters.
The Shadow Empress, Ki Soyul, sought out her only sibling for the first time in a while.
“Brother.”
Someone respected by every hunter in Korea.
A global VIP who built an entire major guild on his own.
Currently ranked 58th in the world.
The renowned archer, Ki Parang.
“What’s up? I don’t think you’ve ever visited me in person before.”
Ki Parang looked at Ki Soyul curiously.
She held the position of deputy guild master, but had never participated in guild management.
Just because she was a ranker.
Just because she was family.
She was just there to add weight to Parang’s name.
“Um, actually, I’ve got something on my mind.”
“You?”
Ki Parang’s eyes widened.
She’d never cared about anything except training.
“Could a D-rank hunter suddenly show the power of a ranker or higher?”
“That’s kind of random.”
“Hurry.”
“Well, even if someone gets a lucky break or a new skill, it takes time to make it their own… It’d be tough. If it happened, the only explanation is that they were hiding their real abilities.”
“They’re definitely not hiding.”
“Really? Well, even a ranker couldn’t fool your eyes.”
Her assassination skill, ‘Search’ (S-rank), showed her a target’s true level.
Ki Parang shook his head.
“Then it makes no sense. Why, what’s going on?”
“……”
Ki Soyul still hadn’t reported the dungeon incident to Ki Parang.
Her pride.
Or, really, she had reported it—but left out the real details.
How?
Because Parang handled more than ten unidentified dungeons a week.
Most were scouted or cleared by the recon team.
A guild master can’t track everything.
He only paid attention to failures or when they found an A-rank or higher dungeon.
“Hmm, never mind. So, you’re saying it’s impossible?”
“As far as I know, yeah. But you know—common sense is meant to be broken.”
“Yeah, I know.”
It’s only been ten years since the world went crazy.
Ten years ago, the very idea of “hunters” was impossible.
‘The old man.’
Crunch.
Ki Soyul secretly clenched her teeth.
He was the first person to ever make her feel powerless.
She’d lost to other rankers before, but never felt so utterly helpless.
‘But how could some porter defeat that old man…’
Actually, she’d been curious from the start.
A guy with eyes more like a viper than a wolf.
A poisonous spirit.
He reminded her of herself at twenty, five years ago.
That’s why she was interested.
She’d even played a prank on him for the first time.
But that was it.
From a ranker’s perspective, he was just another hunter.
‘But then what happened?’
He’d demanded entry to a dungeon everyone else was failing.
Stayed calm, like a beast stalking prey, even as everyone else was shaking with fear.
She thought for sure he’d fail.
Thought it was a waste of time.
But she liked his spirit, so she gave him a chance.
‘But he actually cleared it?’
She was dying of curiosity.
So curious she hadn’t been able to sleep.
‘He’s definitely someone to watch.’
If he were interested in guild management, she’d have recruited him on the spot.
If he’d gotten a lucky break on top of that toxic spirit—
And if he was a necromancer, too—
Didn’t that mean he had the potential to become a ranker as fast as the Dark Lord?
‘I’ll tell him what I think, like I promised.’
There had to be something.
She wanted to press him right away, but she’d give him time—she’d promised.
“Hm? My little sister. Something’s up. You looked so serious a minute ago, now you’re smiling?”
“Huh?”
“What is it? Tell me. Weren’t you the type who only cared about swinging a dagger?”
“It’s nothing.”
Annoyed by her brother’s teasing, Ki Soyul quickly left the guild master’s office.