Returning Home

Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

Once a major sect that formed one of the pillars of the Nine Great Sects.

Destroyed decades ago due to economic downturn.

The martial arts they left behind were released on the black market and luckily fell into Tang So-hye’s hands.

Trapped in the game and less scrutinized by her family, she taught Americano the Plum Blossom Sword Technique with a bit of personal interest.

There were two reasons for teaching it.

She wanted to teach her a good sword technique,

And she wanted to meet her often under the pretext of education.

The Plum Blossom Sword Technique could be described as a quick swordplay that deceives the opponent, forcing fast combat and mental calculations.

Tang So-hye’s plan was that Americano would need her help to adapt to this, and they would naturally become closer.

She thought Americano wouldn’t contact her without a reason, so she created the reason of education.

But,

Into Skeleton’s head,

───Thwack

Americano’s sword pierced.

“Ah…”

Tang So-hye realized that her wish was only half as effective as she had thought.

Skeleton, whose helmet had been knocked off, turned his swordsmanship to defense to protect his head, intercepting and deflecting Americano’s attack.

But Americano’s sword retreated as if approaching, and entered as if retreating.

Skeleton, deceived by the feint, barely blocked with his armor, but failed to block once and received the sword with his skull.

Slash transforming into Thrust.

Thrust turning into Slash.

Piercing into the chest as if to stab, aiming for the chin.

She even grabbed Skeleton’s arm and snatched his sword.

Defenseless, Skeleton protected his head with his arms and tried to escape, but he was deceived by another feint and met his end.

‘Judging by the basics alone, she’s already better than me.’

It was absurd, but,

Only a day.

In just one day, she had mastered the Plum Blossom Sword Technique she had learned yesterday.

Even though using a technique in practice is harder than learning it.

It was unbelievable.

“Miss.”

“Huh? Uh? Ah.”

“I know you’re shocked, but we just received a message.”

“Oh… okay.”

She read the message sent by another party.

Traces found.

Requesting confirmation.

Something like that.

Tang So-hye’s heart was still pounding from the shock of Americano’s talent.

She approached Americano and called her name.

“Americano.”

Flinch.

“Ah, yes? Yes. Why are you calling, calling me?”

After a battle, her first reaction was always a flinch, but she didn’t bother pointing it out.

A genius who seemed to have the world at her feet.

She could glimpse her future self, who would become the greatest under heaven, but her strangely calm reaction reassured Tang So-hye.

The fallen Skeleton.

She examined the equipment.

But it wasn’t a modern item.

From the manufacturing method and wearing style of the armor to the patterns indicating the maker, it was quite different from modern manufacturing processes.

“Still, he seems to be a mercenary affiliated with a guild.”

“A mercenary?”

“You haven’t used one yet, have you? Well, they’re rare in Gospel. Outside of Gospel, there are mercenary groups in every town, and you can hire them for a fee. Not a Hero, but more like a Hero’s companion.”

Tang So-hye picked up the dog tag hanging around Skeleton’s neck.

The dog tag had an English word engraved on it.

“Grand Climber.”

It was the official name of the Hero guild.

Literally translated, it would be something like ‘Great Climber’.

Skeleton was a mercenary of the Hero guild called ‘Grand Climber’.

‘But why was someone like that acting as a mid-boss in a Dungeon?’

Americano wondered quietly.

It was a minor question, but Tang So-hye quickly caught on to it.

“Maybe he found and entered the gate before our people did? Jin-woo.”

“Yes.”

Lee Jin-woo picked up the mercenary’s corpse, who was Skeleton, and retrieved it into his Inventory.

NPCs also resurrect if you cast Resurrection on them.

However, you had to receive it directly on the corpse.

Tang So-hye analyzed the traces they found while receiving messages from the parties.

But most of them were judged as X.

A small number of traces were indistinguishable and were put on hold.

When Undead appeared, they defeated them,

When they found traces, they investigated them,

They repeated this process.

‘It’s different from what I thought.’

The Dungeon Americano had imagined was more… what was it? She had imagined something that pushed people to the limit.

But she pretended not to know even when they were approaching the boss room.

She was focused on finding traces of reality.

‘That’s the purpose, but…’

Turning away from boredom didn’t make it go away.

Like that, 1 hour.

2 hours.

3 hours.

4 hours.

5 hours.

They took breaks and lunch breaks in between, and it was 4 PM as announced in advance.

Tang So-hye sent a message to the entire party.

[Work for today is over.]

[Return quickly.]

The party members who received the message gathered at the Dungeon entrance.

“There were more traces than expected, so everyone must be tired, right?”

“More than expected.”

“It’s a game.”

Everyone didn’t seem tired.

Rather, it seemed that they had found their own fun after 5 hours.

“Still, we have to comply with labor laws. I’d get in trouble if I overworked you guys. Let’s end it here today and start again tomorrow.”

“We can do more, though?”

The leader of Party 2 said with a grin.

He showed off their overflowing stamina.

“Even if you guys are okay, what would other people think? Our Sacheon Tangga complies with the law and values the safety of workers above all else.”

“Sacheon Tangga, huh.”

“What about Sacheon Tangga?”

“…Nothing.”

Tang So-hye cleared her throat.

“Anyway, let’s disband for today and meet again at the same time tomorrow. Disband!”

“Are you coming?”

“Just to see the Resurrection.”

“…No. If any useful information comes out from the mercenary, I’ll send it to you later via message.”

Tang So-hye said it was okay and told him to go home.

The Outsider couldn’t strongly refuse.

He left Tang So-hye and went home to the dorm.

The party members who had left earlier were visible at a distance.

Consisting of 15 people, they seemed to know each other and were gathered together.

‘Probably Hyun-chin’s.’

It wasn’t uncommon.

Wasn’t it common for friends to play games together?

Americano reviewed the Plum Blossom Sword Technique she had used this time.

It didn’t seem like there would be many opportunities to use it, but she had Ill-fated Beauty.

Just as the idiom Ill-fated Beauty meant that beautiful women die young, beauty attracted people, so the Plum Blossom Sword Technique needed to be honed for personal combat.

‘But Ill-fated Beauty and Ill-fated Talent.’

Are these even working?

Ill-fated Beauty was about goodwill and malice.

Ill-fated Talent was about luck and misfortune.

Even if both were working, it was hard to notice unless you suffered actual damage.

‘Well, if I’m prepared, I can handle it.’

“Goodwill and malice, huh.”

Tang So-hye must have been on the goodwill side.

Americano waved her empty hands in the air.

Reviving the lingering feeling in her hands, she used the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

“…Excuse me!…”

The Plum Blossom Sword Technique emphasized Phantom Sword and Scattered Sword and was based on quick swordplay.

If Magical Power were added to the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, what kind of technique would appear?

Americano pictured mixing Magical Power in her head and unfolded the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

But,

‘I don’t know.’

It was natural.

She hadn’t learned any of the techniques that could be said to be the essence of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, which involved mixing Magical Power.

“Excuse me! Americano-nim!”

“…?”

Then, someone called her name in front of her.

It was a female member from the party that had gone ahead.

Staring intently.

“…I’m a party member from Party 2 who went into the Dungeon with you earlier. You know me, right?”

“Yes… Ellie.”

She vaguely remembered.

Remembering 15 people at once was a bit of a hassle, but there were only three women.

It was easy to remember.

So?

“If you don’t have any plans after this, would you like to go to the after-party with us!”

“….”

Beyond Ellie, 14 men and women were chattering and glancing this way.

They were asking her to go to the after-party with that group?

It was only 4 PM.

There was plenty of time.

Wow… I don’t want to.

“No, thanks.”

“You might think you’re standing out, but most of the people there met for the first time today. It won’t be awkward.”

“….”

“Everyone is anxious because they’re trapped in the game, so we’re going to gather together and have fun. That way, we can get rid of our anxiety and have a good time. It’s a win-win!”

“Okay.”

I’m not interested.

In the first place, it was inefficient to be anxious about not being able to leave the game.

Since we’re already trapped, we have to learn to accept it.

They have the leeway to be anxious. Everyone must have lived well outside.’

In the first place, Americano, who had Awakened to enjoy this Magical Power-based virtual game, didn’t have even a speck of anxiety.

She turned to leave.

Her sleeve was grabbed.

“You can just be with us.”

“…Do you really need me?”

“Yes.”

It was firm.

It felt good to be needed by someone, but even that was classified as a loss when considering the cost-benefit analysis.

“No, thanks. I have somewhere else to go, so have fun without me.”

“…Okay.”

She let go of her sleeve.

Ellie pouted.

She returned to the party group.

“She said no.”

“Ugh. It would have been awesome if she had come.”

The party members were disappointed to hear that Americano wouldn’t be attending.

When Tang So-hye, the party leader, introduced Americano at first, everyone was scared of her.

They didn’t know what kind of person Americano was or what she did,

But they were worried about what would happen if they made a mistake during this investigation and incurred her displeasure.

It wasn’t a big deal, but being hated by someone so pretty was a scary thing.

Being hated by someone was naturally unpleasant, but everyone was afraid for the first time.

“Why did she say no?”

“Does she hate us?”

“She just said she had somewhere to go.”

It was a typical rejection line.

The party members looked at the screenshots they had taken of Americano when they first met her and were captivated once again.

If such a beauty joined the after-party, it would have livened up the atmosphere just by itself.

“It’s a shame she’s not coming, but everyone remembers what the leader said, right?”

“Yeah. It’s better not to pay too much attention. I’m advising you as a senior, don’t incur the displeasure of Sacheon Tangga people. Unless you want to die from Unlimited PK.”

“Stop. I know what you want to say, so enough with the gloomy talk!”

Ellie shouted.

“Let’s use the money we got as a reward to eat something delicious. Everyone knows, right? We’re rich in the game. No matter how much we eat, we won’t gain weight!”

It was a morale-boosting statement.

Lots of money.

No weight gain.

A fantastic combination.

Everyone’s expectations swelled at the thought of drinking and eating to their heart’s content at the after-party.

“But where’s Lee Jin-woo?”

“Huh? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He went somewhere alone?”

“You were friends with him, right? What did he say?”

“No answer.”

The party members, who had been 15,

Had become 14 before they knew it.

Lee Jin-woo.

His real name, which had spread due to his acquaintances, was grinding his teeth.

At first, he was unilaterally attacked because he didn’t know he could use his Awakened Ability, but,

‘I’m going to kill her.’

It was different now.

The condition for being able to use the Awakened Ability was to lose the Avatar.

Americano’s pretty appearance must have been an Avatar.

There’s no way such an appearance is possible in reality.

In other words, that woman can’t use her Awakened Ability.

“Keeheehee.”

Lee Jin-woo was already excited at the thought of making Americano imitate a pig, and he chuckled to himself.