Chapter 68: I’m pretty good at kendo

[Dragon Slayer (S): A power obtained by those who have personally slain a dragon and been bathed in its blood. One gains an ability related to the slain dragon, and all abilities gained through Dragon Slayer are amplified each time a new dragon is slain.
In exchange, the hostility of dragonkin towards the owner increases.
*Nidhogg’s Blood Toxin: Can transform one’s blood into Hero-grade poison at will. Can replicate any type of poison one has ingested, and resistance to poison is greatly increased.]

He knew what Dragon Slayer was; what mattered was the ability he gained from killing Nidhogg.

‘Nidhogg didn’t use poison earlier, did it…?’

For it to manifest through the Dragon Slayer trait, it must have been one of Nidhogg’s crucial abilities, yet it hadn’t used it once while fighting Doom or Seung-ah.

“Was it weakened?”

It was a dragon recorded in mythology, said to gnaw at the World Tree, Yggdrasil.

It didn’t make sense for it to be only level 299.

Of course, level 299 wasn’t low, but if a dragon renowned in mythology was weaker than a Transcendent Realm master, that in itself would be problematic, wouldn’t it?

‘It was fortunate for me, though.’

If it had possessed its original power, he wouldn’t have even thought of fighting it and would have had to flee, regardless of whether people died or not.

It was right to save those who could be saved, but he didn’t want to save others at the cost of his and his acquaintances’ lives.

He could take risks, but he had no intention of facing certain death.

The newly acquired ability seemed quite useful.

Hero-grade poison meant it could unconditionally poison anyone who didn’t have Poison Immunity or a similar-level artifact.

Moreover, since he could replicate any type of poison he’d ingested, appropriately using paralysis poison, sleeping poison, debilitating poison, or deadly poison depending on the situation would be a great help to him.

‘Poison Immunity also seems to have come from this ability.’

It probably wasn’t an ability that unconditionally granted Poison Immunity. If it were, it would have said “Acquires Poison Immunity (S)” instead of “resistance to poison is greatly increased.”

It was correct to assume that since he already had Hundred Poison Immunity, it had been upgraded with the help of Dragon Slayer.

‘Originally, it probably wasn’t an ability to directly transform the body into poison.’

Without Poison Immunity, one would be poisoned, and generating it within the body would be unbearable.

The primary method of use was likely to draw blood and then transform it into poison.

Of course, since he had Poison Immunity, it was entirely possible for him to prepare poison in his body beforehand and use it for surprise attacks by instantly ejecting it.

‘I’m becoming more and more like a ranged fighter.’

With the Ink Lightning Divine Art, Frost, and Nidhogg’s Blood Toxin, he felt like he could truly compete with S-rank ranged Hunters using only ranged skills.

After dismissing the status window, he lay down on the bed.

“I want to test the blood toxin… but let’s sleep for now.”

He was tired from fighting an overwhelmingly strong enemy that was difficult to handle at his current level, experiencing death even for a fleeting moment, and then being berated by his companions for several hours.

Even his transcendent mental strength, reaching 104, struggled to cope with the events of the day.

“Wow… But seriously, why is this happening to me?”

He had prayed and prayed to the heavens for just one peaceful day, yet how could incidents keep exploding around him? This was beyond unfair.

Although he had achieved significant growth as a result, his body wouldn’t last if he kept growing like this every time. He was also sure to be scolded to death by his wives and Seung-ah.

Determined not to raise any flags this time, he closed his eyes and fell asleep without any expectations for the future.

****

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter. Whoosh-

Sunday, 8:00 AM.

He woke up to the sound of heavy rain pounding outside his window.

Having slept for over 10 hours, his head was clear, and his mind felt refreshed. His body also felt fine.

“Ugh… I was supposed to spar with that old man today, wasn’t I…?”

He had promised to spar with the old man, who had indirectly helped him in the dispute with the Wang family, once a month, and that day was today.

The old man seemed eager, saying he wanted to do it right away.

‘I should do it properly this time.’

Last time, to be honest, he’d felt annoyed and had done it half-heartedly.

But this time, since he had received significant help, he planned to help him achieve the results he desired.

“After sparring with the old man, I’ll have lunch and then go on Shin-woo’s broadcast with Estelle.”

He’d already given Shin-woo a heads-up, so he would have everything set up.

With his recognition having skyrocketed after the Nidhogg subjugation, his simultaneous appearance with Estelle, who was in the same party, was a guaranteed hit.

It was a win-win plan for both: Shin-woo could boost his subscriber count and views, and Estelle would have an opportunity to explosively increase her power.

Of course, he, caught in the middle, wouldn’t gain much, but he could do this much for Shin-woo, who periodically made artifacts for him, and Estelle, who loved him unchangingly.

“Ugh!”

He stretched lightly, washed his face, and headed to the living room.

All four of them, excluding him, were gathered there. They all looked pouty, perhaps still a little angry with him.

‘I did do something terrible…’

He couldn’t imagine how they must have felt when his breath stopped.

It seemed he would have to live like a sinner, cowering for a while.

“Everyone… what would you like to eat…?”

Feeling like a servant, he asked them what food they wanted.

“Chicken.”

“Chaliapin steak.”

“Yu-won… I mean, nakgopsae.”

“Omelet.”

‘Something seemed off in the middle there…’

It wasn’t his place to question anything, so he let it slide and first ordered delivery for the chicken and nakgopsae.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t make them, but both would take too long to prepare in the current situation.

The steak and omelet could be made quickly at home, so he bought the ingredients from the supermarket right in front of his house and, for the first time in a week, showcased his brilliant cooking skills.

Watching them eat, their expressions gradually softened, and he could feel that his bribe had some effect.

After making and eating his own food, he did the dishes and headed to the entrance.

“I’m going to Baek-ryong’s house.”

He’d told them why he was going a few days ago, so they all knew, but no one responded to him.

Still, seeing the atmosphere was less tense than yesterday, he felt things might improve with a little more time.

After going outside, he lightly changed his face using Disguise and headed to Baek-ryong’s house.

He had become even more famous, so it seemed difficult to move around without doing so.

Since it was raining, he used an umbrella.

About 30 minutes passed.

‘Phew…’

‘Fortunately, nothing happened.’

That was his thought upon safely arriving at Jin Baek-ryong’s house.

There had been so many incidents lately that he’d wondered if he’d be ambushed on the way here, but thankfully, nothing had happened.

He stood in front of the door, about to ring the doorbell, but the main gate opened on its own before he could.

‘What the?’

“Welcome!”

The head of the family, as if he’d been waiting eagerly for this day, opened the door himself, without any regard for his dignity, and greeted him. He could vaguely sense his excitement.

“Why are you so excited?”

It didn’t seem to be just because of the spar, so he asked him.

“I saw how you caught the dragon. Even when I slowed it down to 0.01x speed, I could barely see your movements. It was truly a marvelous speed. A feat achieved through pure martial arts, not just stats or artifacts. Seeing that, my heart couldn’t help but pound.”

The family head stared at him with shining eyes. That gaze, full of admiration, was extremely burdensome.

“Never mind that… Let’s go inside first.”

It seemed like it would only get more embarrassing if he listened further, so he urged him and went inside.

This time, they faced each other not in the room with the capsule, but in a room that simply functioned as a training hall.

“You want to have a real spar this time, not a virtual one, right?”

He nodded.

“Virtual sparring is convenient, there’s no risk of injury, and it’s almost like reality, but it’s not very good for actual training, is it?”

He was right.

No matter how much one trained in virtual reality, stats other than Intelligence and Mental Strength would never increase, and skill growth was slower compared to reality.

And because one already knew they wouldn’t die, there was a lack of desperation, and the sharpness of one’s senses dulled slightly.

It was very good for things like exams, but a bit unsuitable for training.

“I’ll choose a weapon here too, so you pick whatever weapon you want.”

This time, instead of the famous sword he used in virtual reality, he took out an ordinary sword from the training hall’s chest. Perhaps it was because his weapon had been broken by him more than twice.

Of course, rather than pointing that out, he also picked up a sword of similar length to the one he was using.

Seeing that, he asked with a puzzled expression.

“You’re… going to use that?”

“Yes. I’m quite good with a sword too.”

To give him, a sword wielder, enlightenment, a sword wasやはり best.