episode_0402
by fnovelpiaA piece of news buried under TV broadcasts, quietly slipping by unnoticed.
This had happened before.
Back then, when she had taken the pill containing the story of [Old Man Park].
Upon seeing the news that Kim Sarang’s body would be found at [Euncheon Academy], she had rushed over in a panic.
Like a lighthouse in a storm, like a bell tower in the dark.
A wise piece of news, pointing the way forward.
Could it be that [Old Man Park] was the one informing her of Kim Sarang’s death this time too?
Because he was a fool who remembered his grudges?
Some of those strange beings who projected their own grudges onto the people around Milky Way.
She wondered if they’d ever end up causing an accident someday.
‘I’ll find out when I get there.’
THUD!
That was why Milky Way leaped from the ninth floor of her apartment without a moment’s hesitation.
It hurt.
……
October 12th.
Kim Sarang’s daily routine was no different from usual.
After a brief stop at [Rabbit Latte] in the morning, she attended classes at [Euncheon Academy].
Days spent battling drowsiness.
Aside from her assigned professor, Kang Do-ah—the third daughter of the [Blue Dragon Family]—looking increasingly fatigued lately, nothing much stood out.
“Master Kang Do-ah. Is something the matter?”
“You were at the same café as my younger sibling and still didn’t hear the news? …Whatever, here’s some money—go buy bread from the snack bar. Keep the change.”
“Your sibling’s knee-deep in debt, and here you are, extorting me.”
“100,000 won.”
“Will red bean bread do?”
Once academy classes ended, she headed straight back to the café for her part-time job.
There, she endured the nagging of the boss lady, Silver Bell… Once work was over, she returned home.
“Nothing unusual happened today?”
“Milky Way Do-ryeo (sword partner) said she’d visit my humble abode.”
“I’ll prepare accordingly.”
On the way home, she rode in the car of Scout Jung So-ra alongside her mother, Kim Hayang, who had wrapped up guild business for the day.
Kim Sarang was happy.
Her mother was coming home early.
Chongie was healthy, and she had made friends.
Even her written exam scores… had started improving compared to before.
A pitch-black training uniform pocket, a gleaming C-rank Hunter license.
At her waist, a longsword gifted by her mother.
At the hilt’s end, an ‘Inverse Cross Keychain’ swayed with the car’s vibrations.
A happy life.
Kim Sarang found this more than enough.
“Are you troubled by something?”
“…….”
At Kim Hayang’s question from the backseat, Kim Sarang quietly pressed her lips together.
Plump…
Suddenly, she recalled the pet Milky Way had brought over this time.
A fluffy, rose-colored creature named Yang So-ah.
At first, it was curiosity.
What kind of person would Milky Way choose as a pet?
Small and soft… A woman who curled up like a hedgehog at the slightest sound.
What had caught Milky Way’s heart?
Unlike that researcher named ‘Flatfish’ she’d met before at the [Facility], who had wiped away memories of the supernatural…
Why had she allowed someone like her to linger near Polaris?
The meaning behind the ‘Inverse Cross’ she bore.
There must have been some criteria.
So, unbeknownst to Milky Way,
Kim Sarang called Yang So-ah to a back alley behind the café and challenged her to a duel.
After all, nothing was clearer than crossing blades.
(……Are you… okay?)
And then, she realized.
Strong.
An A-rank Hunter with the [Thread Manipulation] skill.
She hadn’t even had time to draw her sword.
The moment the duel began, her entire body had been restrained by her own uniform, leaving her unable to move.
Duel over.
Yang So-ah returned to Milky Way, wagging her tail in satisfaction.
“…….”
Ban Harin, ‘Field Mouse’, Yang So-ah, Do Jong-ha…
A-rank Hunters, or those possessing strange skills.
People close to Milky Way.
Even the boss lady, Silver Bell—known as a ‘skillless ordinary person’—was far from ordinary.
Every time Kim Sarang looked directly at her, her beast-like instincts screamed at her to unsheathe her sword.
‘Strength… Is it the strength to survive against the supernatural…?’
Kim Sarang pulled out her Hunter license.
C-rank.
“…….”
A strange tightness drummed against her chest.
DIIIIIING——
The chime of a bell from some time past.
Sometimes, living oblivious could prove helpful.
“Mother.”
She turned her head.
Her mother, Kim Hayang, sat beside her in the backseat.
Her mother, who had been resting with her eyes closed, turned her head.
Slowly, her eyelids lifted,
revealing pupils shaped like ‘Inverse Crosses’, staring straight at Kim Sarang.
Her idol.
Unlike herself—merely draped in the shell of a ‘Sword Demon’—
a truly strong person.
“Mother… How did you become strong?”
“I fought.”
“Oh?”
“I won.”
“Oh.”
Of course.
Kim Sarang nodded.
…….
…….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[For the Trainees of the Mirinae Dojo]
– This dojo strives for a pure and beautiful cultivation of body and soul. – Quiet and refined, our dojo welcomes your visit.
0. Kindness in one’s gaze, discipline in one’s attire.
– Due to unavoidable circumstances, Mirinae Dojo enforces a unified dress code for all trainees. – We kindly ask for your cooperation.
2. The Lament of the Left-Handed Swordsman.
– The darkest room in Mirinae Dojo. – Even today, the left-handed swordsman guards before his lord. – Though he lacks a right hand or a head, there is no scarcity of substitutes. – There shall be no deficiency in protecting one’s lord.
2-1. If you wish to learn martial arts, seek the left-handed swordsman.
– He is an excellent teacher for anyone. – However, all things require moderation. – Like the wisdom of dusk—excess breeds poison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLANG!
And so, at 9 PM,
after dinner, her routine began.
CLASH! CRASH!
Kim Sarang swung her sword ‘again today’ in the world of the supernatural.
“Huff!”
A place named the [Mirinae Dojo].
An endless labyrinth of narrow hallways and sliding doors.
Rotting wooden floors.
Each step creaked with eerie footfalls.
From the ceiling dangled pitch-black cobwebs woven from human hair.
At the far end of this grim corridor.
Sliding open a door veiled by darkness revealed a ‘something’ leaning against the wall in the cramped room.
CLASH!
CRASH!
An armored warrior.
Whether from a fierce battle or not, the armor was battered, and ‘that thing’ was missing its right hand from the elbow down.
Beyond the tattered armor, there was nothing visible—
a headless warrior.
‘That thing’ didn’t have much.
No head, no right hand.
『…….』
And in the very center of the room,
beside a melting candle,
stood a ‘right hand’ dripping blood like a trophy.
From the severed stump, blood oozed steadily onto the spread-out fingers—still stretched wide.
CLASH!
Kim Sarang’s blade sliced through the air.
A diagonal slash aiming for the left flank.
But ‘that thing’, moving fluidly, deflected the swung blade upwards.
Her sword soared toward the ceiling.
CRASH!
Kim Sarang kicked ‘that thing’ in the abdomen, creating distance.
Then, reversing her grip on the hilt, she swung it down forcefully.
SCHWING!
‘That thing’, kicked in the stomach, retreated a step, evading the slash.
Though its crumpled and battered armor was splattered with blood seeping from ‘inside’,
the crude blade in ‘that thing’’s left hand remained perfectly polished.
SCHWING!
A headless warrior.
From a distance, it extended its arm and swung horizontally.
CRAAAAASH!
Blocking the attack with an upward parry, Kim Sarang exhaled sharply.
“Huu… Do you remember? We first met in a dream.”
『…….』
“I called you the mentor in my heart.”
No response returned.
On the floor, the ‘right hand’ folded one finger inward.
Four fingers remained.
CRASH!
This time, ‘toward her’ came ‘that thing’’s sword slicing through the air.
A diagonal slash aiming for the left flank.
Kim Sarang, moving fluidly, deflected the swung blade upwards.
Her sword soared toward the ceiling.
The exact opposite of before.
SCHWING!
In that instant, ‘the one-armed warrior’ turned its shoulder in a circular motion with the raised sword,
stepped half a pace forward, and swung down once more.
CRAAAAASH!
Kim Sarang blocked hastily and retreated two steps.
“Huu…”
She released the breath she’d been holding.
A crude blade.
Running ‘that thing’’s movements through her mind, Kim Sarang swung again.
SCHWING!!
She and the monster before her were matched in strength.
Speed of their swings, footwork, even the subtlest habits—identical.
Only one difference.
A slightly more refined swordsmanship.
The ‘warrior’ before her swung with a movement one step ahead of Kim Sarang’s.
CLASH!
A movement she could perfectly replicate.
Kim Sarang swung her sword.
This time, the clash was heavier and faster than before.
pulse…
Another finger folded.
On the severed ‘right hand’, three fingers remained outstretched.
‘That thing’’s swordsmanship still stayed one step ahead—
just enough for her to keep up.
CLASH! CRASH!
Kim Sarang swung her sword, keenly aware of her own gradual improvement.
CRASH!
She loved swinging her sword.
No need to think, letting her body and mind grow lighter.
‘A bit more to the left. Too much tension in the shoulder.’
An opponent she could wield her sword against sincerely.
The monster before her was such an impeccable teacher—
the reason Kim Sarang visited [Mirinae Dojo] every evening.
As long as she followed ‘the rules’, she was safe.
CRAAAAASH!
Before she knew it, Kim Sarang had switched her sword to her ‘left hand’.
The ‘right hand’ on the floor folded another finger.
Two fingers left.
‘Just a little more…’
She was growing stronger.
There was still plenty to refine in her movements.
All she had to do was mimic the left-handed swordsman before her.
Losing track of time, Kim Sarang swung her sword, matching ‘that thing’.
A little more.
Just a little more.
…….
…”…Whimper.”
“Huhk…!”
Snapped back to reality by
the pathetic whimper of a mongrel behind her.
SCHLICK!
Sheathing her sword in a hurry, Kim Sarang spun around and exited the cramped room.
“Huu… Huu…”
Creak—
Outside the sliding door, wooden hallways groaned underfoot.
Stepping out of the dark room,
Kim Sarang exhaled sharply and turned her head.
『…….』
‘The one-armed warrior’ who had been swinging an old sword in its ‘left hand’.
It stared at her almost regretfully as she exited
before lowering its blade and leaning back against the opposite wall.
Exactly as it had been before she entered.
And in the center of the room,
beside the small candle illuminating the darkness,
the ‘right hand’—now with only one finger left to fold—dripped with fresh blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2-1. If you wish to learn martial arts, seek the left-handed swordsman.
– He is an excellent teacher for anyone. – However, all things require moderation. – Like the wisdom of dusk—excess breeds poison.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Had she lost herself in ‘that thing’’s teachings and kept swinging,
her own ‘right hand and head’ would have been severed by now.
Such were ‘the rules’.
“Whimper… whimper…”
The mongrel approaching her whined in disapproval.
“Huu… Thank you, as always.”
Catching her breath, Kim Sarang straightened up.
She bowed toward the ‘headless warrior’ sitting silently inside the room, adjusted her disheveled uniform, and turned without hesitation.
“That’s enough for today. I’ll return, Master.”
『Come in moderation.』
She heard a voice—
but her master had no head,
so it must have been her imagination.
Flitter-flutter~
She had grown a little stronger today.
Forgetting her earlier worries, Kim Sarang—lighthearted and cheerful—picked up Chongie and dashed down the dark wooden hallway.
Tap!
Turning past corners draped in cobwebs—
“Whiiine…”
Just as Chongie’s pathetic whimper echoed down the hall,
a tugging sensation gripped the nape of her neck,
and Kim Sarang found herself back at the guild headquarters of [The Swordmaster of Changcheon].
“Hehe. Thanks to you, Chongie, I’ve benefited again. Take care of me tomorrow too.”
Today, she had swung her sword with satisfaction.
The Sword Demon Kim Sarang had shaken off her accumulated stress.
Humming a tune, she began making her way back to her room.
Another fulfilling day.
Tomorrow would be even more fulfilling.
A happy day.
“……Just now. Where did you come from?”
Until a voice called out from behind her.
…….
…….
In the end, it was greed.
A festering grudge.
Kim Sarang, slightly ‘less bright’ than most.
Every day, she was reminded multiple times by Milky Way—
Don’t forget ‘the rules’.
And never reveal the existence of ‘the supernatural’ to others.
Be careful not to let others notice anything strange.
“……Me?”
Kim Sarang, who had just stepped out of ‘Mirinae Dojo’, turned around.
A disgruntled guild employee.
A C-rank Hunter working at [The Swordmaster of Changcheon]’s guild headquarters… She didn’t know her name.
Since the guild headquarters was nestled in the mountains, some members stayed in the dormitories to commute easily.
The employee before her was likely one of them.
‘But this is the annex… reserved only for me and Mother…’
Her eyes darted around.
The wooden floors of the annex were spotless—not a speck of dust.
Around the corner were the bedrooms used by her family.
An eerie dissonance.
Setting Chongie down, Kim Sarang stared at the employee.
“……What brings you here?”
“Uh… never mind that. Where did you just come from? You disappeared all day—were you off playing in the mountains again?”
Her black training uniform was a mess from sparring with ‘the one-armed warrior’.
It seemed the employee assumed she had been messing around.
Was she the one assigned to retrieve Kim Hayang whenever she wandered off during walks?
Was that why she had access to the annex?
While Kim Sarang pondered, the employee wiped sweat from her brow and sighed in exasperation.
“I get that you’re thrilled about passing the C-rank exam, but you can’t just slack off and play around. Being a Hunter starts in earnest at C-rank.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
Familiar nagging.
The same lecture she’d heard even as an E-rank Hunter.
Why had she chosen to become a Hunter again?
“Tch… Some of us studied till our noses bled just to get into the guild…”
Was she someone assigned to keep tabs on Kim Sarang?
Muttering to herself, the employee turned on her heel and fled the annex.
An old concern resurfaced.
Once she became a C-rank Hunter
and graduated from the academy—
what would she do with her life?
Lead a guild like her mother?
Become a famous Hunter?
Or maybe…
“Whiiine…”
A pathetic whine tapped against her foot.
“……Hm?”
And then, Kim Sarang—
quietly sheathed the sword still clutched in her ‘left hand’,
“—Ah, it’s nothing.”
And strode forward with her usual dignified demeanor.
Step. Step.
The clean wooden hallway.
Sliding doors lining the sides.
Another fulfilling day.
Should she head back to her room and work on her [Academy] homework…?
Rustle.
Before that, she abruptly spun on her heel and veered toward the kitchen.
Time for a snack.
“Want something, Chongie?”
“Whiiine…”
She bypassed the fridge and opened a shelf.
Store-bought snacks and dog jerky caught her eye.
She ignored why they were on the same shelf.
“…….”
After an active evening—
she craved meat.
Sneak.
Fiddling with a snack bag,
Kim Sarang quietly grabbed Chongie’s jerky
and shuffled back.
“Whiiine…?”
Chongie frowned up at her suspiciously.
“Sorry. But what can I do? This world is governed by… what was it again… quantum mechanics?”
“Whimper…”
“I’ll buy you something tastier.”
“Siiiigh.”
That resigned sigh.
And so, Kim Sarang—
grinning ear to ear—
plopped down on the floor,
ripped open the jerky wrapper,
and quickly stuffed it into her mouth
before her mother could sniff it out and confiscate—
THUD!
Just then—
something dropped behind her.
“……….”
Squelch. Gurgle.
The sound of something wet—like a wad of soaked tissue— being hurled with force.
The horrific noise of a person plummeting from a great height.
“Ugh… ghhk…”
A groan stifling pain.
Creaaaak… Snap.
The sound of broken bones grinding
as something slowly rose to its feet.
Thud. Thud.
Her heart raced. Like prey sensing a predator.
Kim Sarang, frozen mid-bite, remained rooted in place.
Gripping her sword’s hilt with her ‘left hand’, she mustered her courage and turned.
“…….”
Her eyes met Milky Way’s—
as Milky Way wiped streaks of blood from her face.
THUD.
Her heart plummeted.
“Cough… Sorry for… Cough. Dropping by so late.”
Snap. Craaack.
Like a ghost from a horror movie, reassembling shattered bones as she stood.
Yet her faint smile never wavered, even through the pain.
A woman resembling ‘the supernatural’.
…No, was she even human?
“…….”
Then, Kim Sarang glanced down
at the jerky in her ‘left hand’—what she had tried to secretly eat.
…Oh.
Milky Way must have wanted some too.
She should have just said so.
“Eeep!”
Shoving the jerky into Milky Way’s mouth, Kim Sarang let out a tiny squeal.
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