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Chapter 24: Self-Developnt (3)
[The level of the skill "Basic Swordsmanship" has increased. (Lv.1 → Lv.2)]
[You have reached the maximum skill level achievable in the Basic Swordsmanship Lesson!]
[The effect of the Basic Swordsmanship Classroom has disappeared.]
Fwoosh!
Creak!
I managed to block the incoming strike, but no further notifications ca.
No "Blocked!" or "Proficiency increased!" ssages.
It seed I'd gained all there was to gain here.
If that's the case...
"Let’s stop here."
Tap!
I stepped back to dodge the opponent and lowered my sword.
No point in continuing when there's nothing more to gain.
But just one last thing...
Swish!
I raised my sword again, pointing it at the other Eunho’s neck.
The doppelgänger stood there, emotionless and unmoving, staring straight ahead.
It might be a foolish thought, but just in case, maybe, what if...
"You’re not a doppelgänger, are you?"
If my suspicion was correct—
Fwoosh!
A bead of blood ford on the blade of the sword I pressed against his neck.
It felt unpleasant, almost as if I was cutting my own throat.
"An instructor? A trainer? Or sothing like that?"
It felt strange to speak to what seed like a lifeless doll.
But maybe I was wrong—
[How did you know?]
—or maybe not.
The other Eunho raised an eyebrow, his expression otherwise unchanged.
I knew it.
"That odd feeling when I stepped into the circle earlier... Did you copy then?"
So that’s their ability.
"Your right leg—you're using it too well."
[Right leg?]
"I can’t use it that naturally."
The other Eunho furrowed his brow, as if confused by what I was saying.
Of course, he wouldn’t understand.
Thanks to the system’s fixes, my leg was physically fine now.
"I limped on it for ten years. Even though it’s fine now, I guess I still subconsciously favor my left leg when I move."
I’d treated my right leg like dead weight for so long, it beca a habit.
Even knowing it was perfectly functional now, I couldn’t help but lean on my left leg slightly when I moved.
It was sothing only I noticed—nobody else cared.
"But you moved it so fluidly. I learned sothing from watching that."
The other Eunho swept his hand through his hair, giving a small, surprised laugh and blinking slowly.
‘So he has emotions, after all.’
[You’re the first person to notice this.]
"I’m pretty observant."
[Observant... is that so.]
He repeated the word "observant" in a slow drawl, which was oddly unsettling.
I cut to the chase—I wasn’t here to chat with a fake doppelgänger.
"I want to level up my swordsmanship skill further."
[Still not enough for you? You’re quite greedy.]
"You have to be if you want to survive."
Especially in a world like this.
He stared at as if peering into my very soul.
[Are you serious?]
"Yes."
He let out a chuckle, shook his head in disbelief, and furrowed his brow.
The look on his face said, You’ve got to be kidding .
[You’ve already reached the maximum level in the basics.]
Maximum level, huh?
If what he ant by "maximum level" was Basic Swordsmanship Level 2...
I couldn’t accept that.
"If there’s a basic course, then there must be an advanced one. Let’s not drag this out—just move up."
I shrugged my shoulders and spoke confidently.
He smirked, half his face betraying surprise and exasperation.
[An advanced course, you say.]
He scratched his chin, a sly grin forming on his lips.
Don’t make that face with my face, I thought.
[It’ll be tough.]
"I’ll decide that for myself."
He twirled the sword in his hand thoughtfully before finally speaking.
[Fine. I’ll give you a glimpse. It’s been a while since I’ve had fun, after all.]
He snapped his fingers with a click!
[I'll open the Beginner Course for you.]
Rustle... Whoosh!
A new "door" materialized on the once-empty wall.
It was a massive stone gate with no handle or latch.
Creak...
I pushed against it with my weight.
Whirrrr...
In the distance, the sound of a generator echoed.
The air grew warm and stuffy, filling my lungs.
Carved stone walls and ceilings, and a dimly lit interior...
This is...
"A cave?"
The area opened up into a small cave, with an entrance about twice my height leading further in.
A sweet, enticing scent wafted from beyond.
Creak...
As I moved to investigate, the stone gate began to close behind .
Thinking I might be trapped, I gave it a push.
The gate opened again easily.
‘So I can go back whenever I want.’
If that’s the case, there’s no need to hesitate.
If it gets dangerous, I can just run away.
Step. Step. Step.
Having made up my mind, I walked outside the cave and found myself in a forest.
Tall, lush green trees surrounded , their canopies so dense they blocked out most of the sky.
‘The trees are green.’
Apart from that, nothing seed particularly unusual.
The trees were so massive I couldn’t wrap my arms around them, and they grew so tall they almost seed to pierce the heavens.
The sunlight filtered through in sparse patches, dappling the forest floor.
[Beginner Swordsmanship Trial Lesson has comnced.]
A trial lesson, huh?
So... does it have that too?
"Check lesson objectives."
[Check the objectives of your lesson!]
〔Lesson objectives〕
Eliminate rooted enemies (0/100)
Eliminate moving enemies (0/50)
Eliminate winged enemies (0/10)
There it is, the objectives.
Which ans there's also a completion reward.
"Completion rewards."
[Upon completing 'Beginner Swordsmanship,' you'll unlock a unique skill in the swordsmanship category and receive the title 'Swordsman.']
[However, in the trial lesson, you can return without fulfilling the objectives, but completion rewards will not be granted.]
No risk, no reward, huh?
Which ans this place is dangerous for soone like right now.
But.
'Shouldn't I at least try?'
It might be reckless.
Enemies so powerful they’re out of my league could be lurking everywhere.
But.
'If I don't grow stronger, I'll die anyway.'
Whether it's by the missions.
Or the administrators.
Or... by people.
Clenching my fist tightly, my vision suddenly dimd.
And then, I felt a massive shadow envelop .
— WHAM!
The tree next to … lunged and struck with its trunk.
A massive old tree moved with the flexibility of tentacles.
"Ugh!"
The sudden impact sent tumbling forward, and before I could recover, green vines wrapped tightly around my body.
And began to constrict, leaving barely able to breathe.
It was a tree… right?
— SPLAT!
My vision flipped in an instant.
It was as if I was forced into a handstand, slamming my face into the ground before being hoisted upright again.
SWOOSH-!
The massive green tendrils lifted higher and higher, until I saw—
'This is...!'
An utterly shocking sight.
A world where the food chain was completely overturned.
'It wasn't a tree—it was a flower?!'
What I thought were towering trees reaching the sky were rely small flowers and blades of grass.
And the "cave" leading to the academy? Just a tiny pebble.
…In this place, I was nothing more than an aphid.
SSSSSS-!
The enormous vine that grew like a branch coiled tightly around my body. Its leaf-like end twitched and wavered.
This was bad.
A carnivorous plant?
CRACK!
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The massive pillar squeezed so tightly it felt like my organs were being crushed.
[To end the trial, return to the academy!]
"Forget the trial—"
SSSSSS-!
The green vine bound tightly and dragged toward the maw of the flower disguised as a bloom.
Its petal-like tongue, larger than , flicked eagerly.
Between the crimson petals, sothing licked hungrily.
"This is a ridiculous size difference!"
They say to understand your enemy first if you want to win.
This grotesquely huge carnivorous plant seed to lure prey with its resemblance to real flowers and its sweet fragrance.
Its main targets were insects drawn to its nectar and crawling ground bugs.
SCREEEECH! CRUNCH!
An enormous insect, with a body the size of a truck carrying logs, was caught in its grip.
That should be enough to fill it up, right?
"Do you really have to eat too?"
SSSSSSS-!
The crimson petals flapped like festival tents, almost as if they understood my words.
At its center, hundreds of human-sized stans writhed, secreting sticky liquid.
Between the unknown clear substance oozing out, dark scales were faintly visible.
'A flower pretending to be one, luring insects to dissolve with digestive fluids.'
A typical carnivorous plant chanism.
The problem was that it caught instead of insects.
"Summon!"
I focused my senses on my left hand, barely peeking out from the vine, and summoned the Blade Tipped Sword.
And then—
"Accelerate!"
[Basic Swordsmanship (Lv. 2) grants an adjustnt to your attack stance.]
The hand holding the sword and the arm supporting it moved slightly, almost as if an invisible force was refining my posture.
'Stance adjustnt, huh.'
I raised the sword to its maximum height and drove it down.
The sword sank smoothly, as though cutting through jelly.
"This is…"
Strange.
It had felt as hard as an ancient tree when I touched it earlier.
'Could this be the effect of the attack boost?'
SQUISH-! STAB! SLASH!
I stabbed the vine holding in several places and tore through the gaps with my sword.
— SLICK!
It worked.
Once I widened the gap with my sword, I could pry it apart and—
'Huh?'
Instead of just creating a gap, the massive vine split in two, revealing its slick inner flesh.
It was still a plant—its cross-section was packed with round tubes, like a dense green lattice.
Chop, chop, chop—each severed segnt released water from its pipe-like interiors.
SPLASH!
The water sprayed my face, chest, and legs with incredible force.
But I had to endure it.
Three seconds left until acceleration ended.
Two seconds...
'If I jump now, I’ll die.'
It was at least the height of a three or four-story building.
The quickest way down, other than jumping, was—
— STAB!
I plunged the Blade Tipped Sword into the center of the vine.
Clinging to it like I was rock climbing, I pressed both feet against the vine and—
SWISH!
Slaaash!
Sliding down as if riding a slope.
Cutting straight down along a giant trunk.
Two seconds.
The twisting and bending trunk writhed beneath .
Even with ti slowed down to one-fifteenth, the movent is palpable.
One second.
Just as the ground rushed up to et —
“Store!”
The sword that had supported my weight was stored into my inventory.
Then, using both feet, I kicked off the trunk and leapt into the air.
It was a trick to save ti, avoiding the effort of yanking the sword free.
But…
Click—!
As ti resud its normal flow, the chase for its escaped prey began anew.
BOOM! RUMBLE RUMBLE! CRASH—!
Even though I had split it in half, massive branches ca surging back.
“!!”
Damn it.
There were three tentacle-like branches with leaves.
Aside from the one I had barely dealt with, there were still two more.
And on top of that…
Ssssssssshhh—!
The severed segnts I had just hacked apart began to regenerate in an instant.
An incredible regenerative ability.
In the anti—
WHOOSH! THUD! KA-BOOM!
Three enormous branches charged like tailed missiles.
Standing there idly would an death.
Before being dissolved by digestive fluids, I'd be crushed to a pulp by the branches.
Leap!
I flung himself to the side, narrowly dodging the incoming pillars, while rapidly strategizing.
A head-on battle was impossible.
The size difference was too overwhelming.
And with three branches, even ambushes were futile.
‘Unless I cut all of them at once, I can’t win.’
The problem was that even if I miraculously did manage to cut them, they’d just grow back.
‘No openings!’
No matter how I analyzed it, there was no gap to exploit.
In that case…!
Sliiiide—!
‘If there’s no opening, I’ll make one.’
The air reeked of sothing pungent near a crack in the giant rock.
The discarded shell of a truck-sized insect he had been battling earlier.
Slash—!
I carefully sliced it into three pieces and wrapped them tightly around three stones—a kind of “rocks” in this world.
Then, with all my might, I hurled them into the air.
One. Two. Three!
WHOOSH!
The three branches took the bait.
I waited until the tendrils wrapped tightly around the rocks and brought them to their gaping maws.
“Accelerate!”
I gripped my sword low and charged forward.
Sliceeeeee—!
Slashing the base of the three branches as they split apart.
‘Five seconds, four seconds, three seconds…’
As I finished cutting through the branches, I kicked them hard to topple them over.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
The massive pillars fell, raising a storm of dust and dirt.
“Cough!”
The air was so thick it turned dark, like soone had dumped an entire sack of dirt on my head.
Dust clung to my body, my eyes watering so much they blurred my vision, and my nose and throat burned.
But for the finishing blow, I raised my fist and—
“Petrification!”
WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
I ticulously crushed the severed ends of the branches to prevent them from regenerating.
Splurt!
Sticky fluids and sap sprayed up, splashing over my fists and arms.
But thanks to prior reinforcents, only my shirt dissolved in patches.
After pumling for what felt like ages—
[You have defeated the fragile predator of the jungle, ‘Drosera’!]
‘Got it!’
A notification chid.
[Congratulations!]
[You are the first in District 13 to overco the limits of the vegetation zone and defeat its enemy.]
[As a reward for the first kill and classroom bonus, Basic Swordsmanship (Lv.2) proficiency has increased significantly.]
10%
And with the most welco news—
[Check your loot!]
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