Chapter 25

What is the most important thing in the fantasy genre?

Some will say it’s the hero, some will say it’s the holy maiden, and some with unique tastes might say it’s the demon lord.

But I think this way.

The most important thing in fantasy is the holy sword, which contains mysterious power, waits for the next hero, and stands firm against the flow of time.

Yes. That was fantasy.

‘This is… a damn urban fantasy.’

No matter how much he cut away his childhood memories, giving such a cheating sword—the game developer must have been showing too much favoritism towards the protagonist.

He wanted to save a person in danger right before his eyes.

For that one reason alone… he sacrificed all his precious childhood memories and reminiscences to obtain a single sword.

As an ordinary human, a villain, I couldn’t understand such a reason at all.

‘First… analysis.’

To be honest, I only remembered the protagonist’s ability [Self-Sacrifice], and I didn’t remember well the various abilities and items derived from self-sacrifice.

To begin with, there were cases where they were given or not given depending on the choices.

There’s no way there would be a strange bastard who memorizes all that.

I wasn’t particularly obsessed with achievements, nor was I a 100% completion player, nor was I a veteran with a lot of playtime.

Honestly, I could forget, right?

Anyway, let me squeeze my memory as much as possible.

The name of that item is surprisingly not a holy sword. Ryu Seong wasn’t the type to name swords in the first place, and he just uses it as a convenient tool.

These are its simple characteristics:

 

The sword appears when desired. It always appears in the hand.

While holding the sword, physical abilities are enhanced. Also, a very weakened regeneration is constantly activated.

It sparkles. This isn’t particularly an ability. It just sparkles, that’s all.

 

In other words, there’s no particular ability in that sword.

The increase in physical abilities is very minimal, and the regeneration is also very trivial compared to the regeneration I have.

The ability to call the sword immediately when desired was a perfect downgrade of inventory and subspace abilities.

The sparkling is just decoration.

Then, what makes that sword special?

What makes that sword special is the person wielding it.

“I’ll start.”

“No need to tell me every little thing.”

“Okay.”

The protagonist can be summarized in one sentence: ‘A genius who went and worked hard too.’

I immediately wrapped my shadow around my body. The shadow, starting to assist my movements like artificial muscles, tightened around my joints and body.

Controlling the shadow that tightened so strongly that it made cracking sounds, I integrated my body and ability.

First, I attempt to knock him down.

With my hands quickly extending to the floor, I spread my shadow widely on the ground.

Immediately, my weapon popped out from the shadow, and as I gripped the handle with one hand, I threw the scabbard elsewhere to draw it.

With the other hand, I continued to control the ability and aimed for Ryu Seong’s feet.

Ryu Seong seemed to notice my intention and immediately used his enhanced physical abilities… to leap into the air.

But that’s a mistake. This is my plan so far. Having leaped into the air, there’s now no way to move freely in mid-air. His evasion methods become limited.

“…?!”

And my plan failed spectacularly.

The reason was that Ryu Seong cut the shadow in mid-air with his sword. Just with an ordinary sword, the shadow that had a hardness similar to steel.

Crazy talented bastard.

This is why I hate geniuses. I just fucking hate them.

“That’s cheating.”

“Haha…”

“Our abilities are disclosed to each other from the start. What’s that sword?”

“It’s a weapon made from my ability for now.”

“Is it fair for only you to have a weapon?”

“Oh, um… isn’t that a weapon?”

Ryu Seong pointed with wavering eyes at the Japanese sword held in my hand.

Of course, this was indeed a weapon.

“At least it’s not an item.”

“This isn’t really… something that can be called an item either.”

“Alright. Let’s continue.”

“Okay.”

The offensive and defensive battle that had paused briefly begins again.

This time, it’s a duel of sword against sword.

Since I wasn’t yet at the level where I could precisely control my ability while moving my body, I was using over 90% of the shadow to assist my movements.

The remaining 10% was stored at my feet, temporarily ejected when the distance widened or narrowed.

Shadow spikes emerging from the ground. And shadow artificial muscles that far exceeded the strength of an ordinary girl. The application methods I created were working to some extent against Ryu Seong.

I can do it.

I can win.

I’ll prove that the effort and experience you’ve accumulated are like greenhouse flowers, completely useless in a real battle. I’ll completely deny you head-on.

I’ll prove that the effort and experience I’ve accumulated are far superior. Unlike you, I lived in hell and finally crawled up to the surface.

A chance to turn everything back.

For that one thing, I’ve put everything in.

When I open my eyes in the morning, I wrap the ability around my body and move. I repeat this until I close my eyes at dawn.

I’ve put in countless objects, taken them out again, and put them back in. I keep repeating this. Until the number and size of objects I can put in increases.

To develop regeneration, I constantly inflict wounds on myself. From minor bruises to the amputation of peripheral body parts.

The ability has now reached the point where I can operate it unconsciously even when smoking.

Every time sword clashes with sword, I can see Ryu Seong’s stamina dropping.

The battle of ability users whose physical abilities exceed humans differs in appearance and form from ordinary kendo.

Continuous attacks at high speed, then blocking with another attack. Sword clashing with sword repeatedly in a short time. The defeat of the side whose strength drops first.

It’s becoming visible. Ryu Seong’s once solid stance is gradually faltering. The tip of the sword wavers, and his arms are trembling.

“I’ve won.”

“…”

I declare victory.

I don’t miss the gap when Ryu Seong’s stance temporarily falters. I wasn’t such a fool as to miss such a big opening.

Shadow in one hand, sword in the other.

I attempt attacks from both sides along an unavoidable path.

And.

Clang—

A clear and refreshing sound of metal impact resonated throughout the dueling arena.

Both my hands stopped moving, and only then did I realize that the attack had been blocked by something.

What blocked it?

Ryu Seong’s ability [Self-Sacrifice] requires words when activated. He inputs exactly what and how much he’s offering, and what he wants in return for it.

That’s what a ‘transaction’ is.

But Ryu Seong’s mouth didn’t move at all. He never activated [Self-Sacrifice] in this mock battle.

Then, why?

Finally, my concentration slowly began to return, and an incomprehensible scene began to appear in my vision.

“…This is.”

“Did I win?”

With a kind face and an awkward smile, Ryu Seong declared his victory.

His sword was standing still, precisely aimed at my body.

One of the abilities of the ‘sword’ that Ryu Seong constructed at the cost of his childhood memories.

 

The sword appears when desired. It always appears in the hand.

 

He used this ability to ‘half’ unsummon the sword held in one hand and summon the remaining ‘half’ in the opposite hand.

The sword in his left hand had no handle, and the sword in his right hand had only a short blade left.

It looked as if one sword had been divided into two.

“…”

Ryu Seong quietly extended his hand to me who was sitting down.

Without realizing it, my legs had touched the ground.

A hand filled with sympathy and compassion for the defeated, and concern for a friend.

I didn’t want to take that hand.

“It’s okay. I can get up by myself.”

“Uh… okay.”

“I made it awkward.”

“It’s fine. I went a bit too far as well.”

What is he apologizing for?

He hasn’t done anything wrong. This duel was requested by me in the first place. It’s an event that happened because I was greedy.

It wasn’t even something he did wrong, but the sight of him apologizing just because the other person seemed upset somehow didn’t sit well with me.

Even though I was the one receiving the apology, I couldn’t bear the discomfort in my heart.

Why do talented people always sparkle and shine?

Born in a good home, in a happy family, in an abundant life without envy for others, comfortably training the parts they’re good at and cutting away the parts they’re not.

I couldn’t do that.

I smashed my home, my family was killed by others, and I thought I was the most unfortunate person in the world. I forcibly trained parts I wasn’t good at, and I continued practicing parts I wasn’t good at until I could do them well.

The current me was completed that way.

But you.

Always… as if it’s natural.

Personality, character, ability, effort, talent.

Why… are you superior to me in everything?

“…Thanks for the duel.”

“Yeah.”

After an awkward farewell, I escaped from the dueling arena and headed outside.

I took out a bottle of cold water from the school vending machine and immediately poured it over my head. With the sensation of being jolted awake, the world became clear again.

The matches in my pocket got wet again, and they wouldn’t light.

I threw the matches on the ground irritably and took out a lighter.

I put a cigarette in my mouth.

I inhale deeply.

Cough- Cough- Cough-

Gasp, Hack… Ugh…

It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay now. I just need to start over. I can’t kill the current him, but I can kill the future him.

The status window told me.

That he’s an opponent I can kill someday.

Let me think about what I should do now.

Confirm that Hiyeon goes to the black market and gets kidnapped. And when the opportunity arises, kill the academy teachers and receive abilities from the status window.

Yes. I just need to continue what I’ve been doing.