Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 55: Martial Arts Exchange (1).

Bubble, bubble.

The pot was boiling. Below it was a magic circle emitting flames, much like a modern gas stove.

After confirming that the soup was done, Orion took out a mana stone and extinguished the fire. Fascinated by the scientific phenomenon created by magic, I turned my attention to the pot Orion was bringing.

“Here! Enjoy your meal.”

“It’s a traditional Elven dish, but you’re using fire.”

“Did you think elves were primitives who couldn’t even use fire?”

“Not really… but isn’t it dangerous to make fire in the forest?”

“That’s only true for humans who can’t even start a fire on their own. Elves have been using magic since humans started rubbing sticks together to make fire.”

“Oh, really?”

I suddenly became curious about her age. The way she talked made it sound like she had been observing humans since those primitive times…

‘That can’t be.’

The story of rubbing sticks to make fire was from millions of years ago. No matter how long-lived elves were, they couldn’t have lived for millions of years.

If she had, she wouldn’t still be working as an adventurer around the 20th floor.

“How does it taste?”

“…It’s good.”

“See? There’s no human who dislikes Elven cuisine, after all.”

If it weren’t for Orion’s intense gaze, it would have tasted even better. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the type of person to speak so rudely.

After all, the ingredients were just freshly picked vegetables and fruits, with some meat added, weren’t they?

It was a simple stew to the point where it would be strange if it didn’t taste good. Even a stew becomes exceptionally flavorful with decades of experience.

“Orion.”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“Come to think of it, why did you come to this city?”

“Oh my, it’s not polite to ask a lady’s secret.”

Orion looked at me with sparkling eyes in response to my question. It was clear that if I tried to dig too eagerly into that secret, she wouldn’t let it slide, so I shook my head as if it was nothing.

“No, I was just curious… You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s more charming for a beauty to have one or two secrets.”

“A beauty, you say. Haha.”

Orion seemed quite pleased with my compliment and refilled my bowl with stew.

Even though it was just a simple dish, since I was starting to feel full, I slowed down my eating and opened my mouth.

“Well, I’m the leader. I have to judge whether there’s danger to the party or not, you understand?”

“So you’re saying I’m a threat to the party.”

“That’s not what I mean, but if you were an elf princess who ran away because the Great Forest was boring, assassins might come to kill us to keep your misdeeds secret, you know?”

“A princess…? Haha, the leader must know nothing about elves.”

“…Was I found out?”

After listening to Dojin’s explanation and glancing at his hair, eyes, and appearance, Orion realized that he was also an outsider like her.

Outsiders tend to have a connection with one another. Although there’s no discrimination against outsiders in this city, subtle differences do show.

“Don’t worry. I’m not a princess, and even if I were, I wouldn’t endanger the party. Rather, I’m more suspicious of the leader.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. Suddenly appearing as a rising adventurer, with swordsmanship skills that clearly show you’ve learned, though no one knows where you’re from. Anyone would find that suspicious, right?”

I never thought about it that way. I quietly slurped the stew while meeting her gaze.

“Yeah. It’s suspicious. Really suspicious. Am I a spy?”

“What’s the truth?”

“Well, for starters, I’m not a spy.”

A secret I hadn’t shared with anyone in this world. The fact that I am a stranger who had fallen into this world.

I hadn’t revealed it. Not only did I doubt they’d believe me, but I also didn’t know how they’d treat an otherworlder.

“Coming here was… a kind of accident.”

“An accident?”

“Yes. Every day was boring, and I wished for something to change… but I never thought I’d become an adventurer catching monsters in dungeons.”

“What did you originally do?”

“As you said, wielding a sword.”

I thought nostalgically of Earth… Of my father, who dedicated his life and even his children to restoring the swordsmanship of Joseon, whom I would never see again.

Thanks to that dedicated life, I could live well now, but… I had my grievances.

I had thought of running away from home if necessary, but I never imagined I’d leave Earth itself like this.

“Wielding a sword… Were you from a knight family? Or a famous dojo?”

“It was the latter. It was the most famous dojo in the country.”

“Wow, then isn’t that amazing? Don’t you miss it?”

“Do I miss it?”

I looked into Orion’s eyes as she spoke. Her gaze suggested she sincerely wondered if I didn’t find it regrettable.

How should I explain this? As I took a sip of the stew, I thought of an explanation fitting for an elf.

“For example… imagine you were born as a blacksmith’s child.”

“…An elf blacksmith?”

“Yeah, it’s possible, right? Though they might not be highly regarded.”

“There are some… though elves tend to avoid metal and fire. But blacksmiths are a necessary profession.”

“Would you feel regret if you couldn’t inherit that craft?”

“Not really…”

“Right?”

Just as blacksmiths were not highly regarded in the Great Forest where elves lived, a human cultural asset skilled with a sword in the 21st century held no value beyond being a spectacle.

“That’s how it is. In our country, being good with a sword doesn’t bring any benefits.”

“So, do you think it’s fortunate that you came here instead, Dojin?”

“Do I think it’s fortunate?”

I fell into thought for a moment. Then, recalling events in this world, I smiled slightly.

Humans are quite paradoxical; even memories of learning they disliked and didn’t want to boast about can be positively received later on.

“Yeah… I think it’s fortunate.”

While learning swordsmanship, I thought I’d never use such skills, yet I felt proud when wielding a sword in this world.

“That’s fortunate.”

“…What is?”

“That your life so far hasn’t been useless.”

Her words were appropriately arrogant for an elf who had lived long. Words that only an elf, living eternally and capable of pitying other races, could utter.

I laughed heartily and sipped the stew. Perhaps because I was reminded of Earth after a long time, I couldn’t quite taste it.

─**What are you doing? Get up already.

The sharp words pierced into my ears. I stood up, but my legs were trembling violently.

My hand gripping the sword was swollen and bleeding profusely, and I couldn’t muster any strength, causing the sword to wobble unsteadily.

The man in front of me didn’t seem pleased with the sight, clicking his tongue and glaring at me.

─**Pathetic, are you exhausted and collapsing already?

“But, but…”

─**Enough with the excuses!

Clang!

The man swung the iron rod in his hand. It was too thick and heavy to block with a sword, so I ended up dropping the sword.

At the same time, the rod in the man’s hand flew from all directions, starting to beat my body. I curled up to protect my vital points.

However, just because I protected my vital points didn’t mean there was no pain. I groaned, enduring the pain.

─**Wield your sword.

When I tried to grab the sword upon hearing the man’s command, the rod flew in without fail and struck the back of my hand. When I clutched my hand in pain, the exposed vital points were mercilessly hit again.

Getting hit in the vital points made me gasp for breath, nausea surged, and whenever an opening was exposed, I was struck by the rod once more…

When such an inescapable vicious cycle repeats, it makes one want to give up everything. At that time, I felt the same.

‘Why did I do that?’

With a real sword in my hand.

I could end all the pain with a single swing.

But I couldn’t do it.

‘Well, even if I tried, I would have been subdued.’

I escaped from that hellish situation when I was in middle school. When I finally became able to confront my father with a sword…

─**What are you doing? Get up.

“It’s hard… Father.”

─**Don’t make a fuss.

My father believed that extreme situations led to significant growth, a notion that would make modern sports scientists collectively gasp for being outdated.

I grew up under such a father and learned the sword. However, I never had the chance to use it anywhere.

When I was in middle school, after he hung a winning medal from a national tournament around my neck…

─**That’s enough kendo.

“What? But…”

─**I didn’t teach you the sword to use it for such child’s play.

“…Then, when am I supposed to use it?”

─**In real combat.

I shouldn’t have been born in the 21st century. Growing up under such a father, it was impossible for me to develop normally.

It was all thanks to my mother that I attended school normally and didn’t become a sword-wielding lunatic.

“You mustn’t become a crazy old man like that.”

“Mom, but…”

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of everything.”

Between a father who was too old-fashioned.

And a mother who was too new-age.

I was molded with both outdated notions and modern thoughts simultaneously.

“…Ah, damn.”

I rose, rubbing my head. It was a dream. Just as they say, men discharged from the army dream of the military all their lives, my father’s memories, which marked most of my life, stuck with me even in another world.

“Today is… right, a hunting day. With Seoyoon… at least I’ll get some rest.”

I got up, stretched with some simple exercises, and immediately ran through the city. This, too, was one of the habits my father left me.

A shadow I could never shake off.

“Martial arts exchange?”

“Yes…”

After returning from mana stone farming in the dungeon, what Eunha said to me was something I never expected to encounter in another world.

The dojo she was learning from, the Tiger Dojo, was the most famous martial arts school in the city.

The master of the dojo, Hoyeon, generously taught the unique martial arts of the beastmen to everyone. Even those who had never been exposed to martial arts could easily learn its essence as long as they paid.

Therefore, Hoyeon, the master, must have plenty of martial artists she could call upon…

“Why me?”

“Well, it seems a few beastmen from her hometown are coming over…”

“Hometown? Why?”

“They want to see how skilled human adventurers are as martial artists. I’ve already decided to participate, but it seems there aren’t enough adventurers willing to join.”

“Well, adventurers are monster hunters, not martial artists.”

“You learned swordsmanship, Dojin. So she asked if you could help…”

I pondered for a moment before nodding. I had recently developed a keen interest in the martial arts of the beastmen.

I was curious about what kind of martial arts the beastmen, with their superhuman physical abilities, had created.

“Alright. I’ll participate.”