Chapter 173: Shocking Truth Being Revealed Now

(Author note: This content contains some potentially disturbing elements.)

“…Where am I now?”

When I opened my eyes, instead of the familiar mansion ceiling, I found myself surrounded by a forest of skyscrapers, rare even on Earth.

I was left alone on an empty street, surrounded by towering buildings that seemed to touch the sky, without a single parked car in sight.

‘Am I dead?’

As I pondered this possibility – death due to the potion’s side effects – the most likely explanation in this surreal situation, a voice I’d never heard before but somehow felt familiar called out from across the street.

“You’re not dead yet. Though you might be soon.”

Turning my head, I saw a long-haired man dressed entirely in black, as if he’d just come from a funeral, staring at me.

Though this was surely our first meeting, the disapproving look in his eyes suggested he held me in low regard.

“Who are you?”

“Would you understand if I said I’m the Swordmaster?”

“…What?”

A chill ran down my spine at the mention of that name, known only to me and perhaps one other person in this world.

The Swordmaster, the author, let out a deep sigh filled with frustration and slowly approached me.

“For 600… no, 620 years, I’ve been watching you lot. I sent seven of you, thinking at least one might be different, but you all seem to take pleasure in betraying my expectations, stubbornly clinging to your ways.”

“…Stubbornness?”

“Why ask about something so obvious? For Thor Kim, it was the hammer. For you, it’s Baldo.”

I thought he was spouting nonsense when he mentioned stubbornness, but he was actually belittling my beliefs.

The others might be stubborn, but my Baldo was a masterpiece that combined both performance and romanticism…

“You’re not much different from the others. In fact, the others might be slightly better than you, as at least they’re obsessed with weapons.”

“More bullshit… Let’s end this nonsense you’ve been writing in those skill windows.”

He’d always been trolling me with weird messages in the skill windows, and now he shows up in person to spout more nonsense.

Is being a god such a leisurely job? If he’s that bored, he could at least write a new story.

“So why did you bring me here?”

“I’ve… thought about this countless times, but I’ve come to do something I hesitated to do, wondering if I really had to go this far.”

As the Swordmaster approached me saying this, I unconsciously backed away, overcome by an inexplicable sense of unease.

“I saw you fight normally when Honhuld sealed your Baldo.”

“…It might look that way, but Honhuld used up almost all his power to seal Baldo, so in the end, you could say I defeated him with Baldo.”

“How many times do I have to tell you there’s no such power? Anyway, I didn’t want to go this far to make you realize it yourself, but since the end is approaching, I’ve decided to do this.”

The Swordmaster sighed and snapped his fingers. Something slimy crawled out of his shadow, stood upright on two legs, and looked at me.

“So I’ve decided to do this.”

What emerged from the shadow and stood before me was none other than myself.

Its face, clothes, expression, and even the weapon it used were identical to mine, making me feel like I was looking in a mirror. But there was one crucial difference.

‘…Why is its sword already drawn?’

It couldn’t use Baldo like that. Did this doppelganger not even understand that, despite being my copy?

“There you go with another idiotic thought.”

“I’ve never had such a thought in my life. But why is my fake already holding a drawn sword?”

“…You’ll understand soon enough.”

As if to prove his words true, my doppelganger advanced, holding its sword at the ready.

“It would be easy for me to defeat you directly. But then you’d just rationalize it, saying your skills were lacking, not that Baldo was weak. So I’ve prepared an opponent equal to you – yourself.”

“…Are you insane? It’s common sense that if skills are equal, the one using Baldo would be stronger…”

“…I’m tired of talking. Prove whether that common sense is right or wrong with your own body.”

As soon as the Swordmaster gave permission, my doppelganger, which had been slowly approaching, charged at me with full force as if unleashed from chains.

It seemed that while it could copy my appearance, it couldn’t copy the intelligence that led me to choose Baldo among the many sword techniques.

Rushing at me so defenseless while my hand was on my sword hilt was like a fly diving into a roaring fire.

I planned to cut down my fake in one stroke and then teach the Swordmaster, who had been insulting Baldo all this time, the greatness of Baldo through pain.

However, that thought was quickly overshadowed by a pain unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

“…Huh?”

Half of my vision suddenly turned red, then faded into eternal darkness.

While charging at me, it had extended Wolffang’s blade using its power and stabbed my right eye.

If I hadn’t instinctively stepped back, there was no doubt I would have been killed instantly, the blade piercing through my eye and into my brain.

“Ugh…!!”

I’d underestimated my enemy just because it wasn’t using Baldo.

Regretting my carelessness, I placed my hand back on the sword hilt I’d momentarily let go of. A pleasant friction sound rang in my ears, as if sounding an alarm.

“…?”

At first, I didn’t understand.

Why my body was so high in the air.

Why my intestines were spilling out and fluttering in the wind.

Why Jinta’s hilt, which I’d sworn never to let go of, was drifting away along with my right hand.

These questions were all answered the moment I saw Jinta in my fake’s hand, leaving a red trail wrapped in flames.

‘Did it cut me…? But how could it achieve such speed without using Baldo?’

“Tachi Jinta’s ability can be used without Baldo as long as there’s friction. In fact, dragging it along the ground like this can gather more friction, making it even more efficient.”

“…What?”

What nonsense was this guy spouting? The fact that it gets stronger with more friction is scientific common sense, not some ability Jinta has…

“You’re still in denial, even at this point. But you’ve felt it too, haven’t you? That what you’ve been saying is nonsense.”

“……”

As the Swordmaster finished speaking, my body, which had been cut in two, began to rejoin like Marina’s slime.

As I struggled to get up, still in pain from my waist, the Swordmaster, who had been looking down at me from a short distance, spoke.

“Let’s continue. This fight will go on until you defeat this doppelganger or admit your own contradictions.”

——

This time, my neck was cut, and my head fell to the ground. I wonder how many times I’ve died now.

At first, it felt novel to be on the receiving end of cuts after always being the one doing the cutting, but even this was starting to get old.

‘Was I this strong without using Baldo?’

I don’t know. I’d never experienced winning without using Baldo, except when I fought Honhuld.

“It’s only natural that continuously fighting with a drawn sword is stronger than the inefficient technique of sheathing and drawing the sword after each strike.”

Somehow, the Swordmaster wore a triumphant expression and launched into another lecture, even though we were both supposed to be me.

Come to think of it, there was someone on Earth who directly refuted my Baldo theory.

I can’t even remember his name now, but he was a professor at my university.

I thought he, being a renowned scholar, would understand my Baldo theory that everyone else had rejected, but reality was different.

[Friction force converting to kinetic energy and speed? Let me ask you one thing, Kim. When you apply the brakes to a moving car, considerable friction is generated between the tires and the ground, so why does the car stop? According to your theory, shouldn’t it accelerate even faster than before braking?]

[……]

Even now, recalling those words feels like being struck hard on the head with a reverse-edged sword.

I wonder what I should have answered then. Even after decades, I still haven’t found the answer.

So instead of logically refuting his words, I threw a punch and dropped out before getting expelled.

“…What kind of life did you live? Why throw a punch there?”

“When definitions clash, fists or swords determine what’s right.”

“Nonsense…”

After indulging in these pointless thoughts and resting my body sufficiently, I stood up again and placed my hand on Jinta’s hilt, which I hadn’t been able to draw even once.

My doppelganger showed no signs of fatigue despite having cut me to pieces multiple times, as if it had no physical limits. It continued to stare at me intently.

“…To be honest, I know I’m talking nonsense.”

As I stood up, I revealed a secret I’d been hiding all my life with a smirk, but my opponent remained unfazed, as if it wasn’t surprised at all.

Yes, I knew. From the very first day I picked up a sword, I knew that Baldo was weaker than ordinary swordsmanship.

But even knowing this, I continued to deny it, deceiving even myself and fooling others with false madness.

“Because if people knew I was aware that Baldo was weak but still only used it, they’d think Baldo was trash and that I wasn’t living up to my full potential.”

“…So you made people think you were crazy because you didn’t want Baldo to be seen as trash?”

“Yeah, and want to know something even more interesting? I have no intention of giving up Baldo, even if I die here.”

Because Baldo is cool.

Who cares if people call it cowardly, inefficient, or stupid? The fact that Baldo is cool is an immutable truth that no one can deny.

“Then let’s continue. Come at me, you fake bastard…”

“…Damn, to think I watched this shit for 620 years…”