Awakening

Seo Jincheol, the Sword Immortal.

He knew Kim Minwoo well. His granddaughter had mentioned him several times.

["That cowardly little shit! The way he looks at me is so perverted. I nearly gouged his eyes out, but I held back, you know? If it weren't for Ilseong Group, I'd have wrecked one of his legs!"]

The public's assessment was much the same. Lazy by nature, vulgar in word and deed. The only reason he hadn't caused any truly serious trouble was not his great self-restraint, but his utter cowardice.

That was certainly what most people said.

'And this is supposed to be him?'

The Sword Immortal tilted his head.

His imposing aura was not something an ordinary person could withstand. It would have been no surprise for someone to burst into tears—or even piss and shit themselves.

Yet Kim Minwoo showed not the slightest sign of shrinking back. He looked like a veteran of a hundred battles.

The Sword Immortal examined Kim Minwoo's body. There wasn't a trace of mana in it. He was unmistakably an ordinary person.

'A cowardly loser, they said.'

A hundred claims meant nothing. What mattered most was the reality before his eyes.

The Sword Immortal acknowledged it. Kim Minwoo was made of fairly promising stuff.

"You have good eyes."

"My sword will be even better."

A smile rose to the Sword Immortal's lips. How intriguing.

"A hundred billion won is a great deal of money."

"Which is why I should spend it on an occasion like this."

"Have you ever swung a sword?"

"A few times."

"Let's go to the training hall."

The Sword Immortal led the way, and Kim Minwoo followed him to where the first-tier disciples trained. The disciples' eyes lit up at the Sword Immortal's appearance.

Moving to the center of the training hall, the Sword Immortal picked up a wooden sword. At that moment, his ferocious aura vanished without a trace. Anyone who didn't know him would have taken him for an ordinary person.

"A spar is only meaningful if it's fair. I've matched my physical abilities to yours. Pick up a sword."

"I look forward to your instruction."

Kim Minwoo picked up a wooden sword.

An S-rank awakener sparring with an ordinary person. Even without using mana, the difference in sheer physical ability meant the latter wouldn't last a single punch. That must have been why he had evened the playing field.

'It won't be easy for him.'

Minwoo knew the Sword Immortal well. He was one of the characters players inevitably interacted with during the game.

The Sword Immortal had created Wind Swordsmanship and risen to become Korea's greatest awakener. But his swordsmanship had currently hit a wall.

At his level, taking a few elixirs wouldn't simply propel him to greater heights. He had reached the point where genuine insight was necessary, too.

'He'll stay like this for another five years.'

Then he would create a new sword style and advance to the next level.

'Thunderwind Swordsmanship.'

A style that combined the suppleness of the wind with the speed and force of lightning.

'I learned it from him myself.'

Naturally, he hadn't learned it as Kim Minwoo, whose personality was a complete disaster.

Seo Yerim. The four-star-difficulty character, and the granddaughter of Seo Jincheol, the Sword Immortal. He had used that relationship to learn Thunderwind Swordsmanship from him.

The man truly deserved the title of Sword Immortal. Minwoo had never beaten him. Not once.

'But things are different now.'

This was long before that time. The Sword Immortal wasn't yet the man he would become.

'And on top of that...'

With the sensory simulation cap lifted, he could move his body with far greater precision than before. That was an advantage in combat.

Swordsmanship? Having learned the more advanced style, he had the upper hand.

Experience? The Sword Immortal had been an awakener for decades and would certainly be more seasoned, but Minwoo was no slouch himself.

And now their physical abilities were equal, too?

'I've got a shot.'

If they fought stripped down to their underwear, he had nothing putting him at a disadvantage. Of course, that only applied to this particular moment.

'Just as I thought. Not a single opening.'

Even without mana, even with his body reduced to an ordinary person's level, the Sword Immortal was still the Sword Immortal.

There wasn't a single wasted detail in the stance he took with his wooden sword raised. It offered perfect protection from his face down to his abdomen.

The sight kindled a competitive fire in Kim Minwoo's eyes. The Sword Immortal felt the same.

'Is he really a beginner who's only swung a sword a few times?'

He was astonished. Kim Minwoo—the boy he had dismissed as a reckless fool—held a stance of extraordinary precision.

Even every step as they circled one another had a purpose. He would subtly expose an opening, or tense his toes as though about to lunge.

It was almost impossible to believe. Yet the Sword Immortal had no choice but to believe the boy's claim. Nothing about Kim Minwoo's body suggested he had ever trained with a sword.

His hands bore not a single callus, and his muscles were pitifully underdeveloped. Judging by his body, he was indeed a complete novice who hadn't even begun learning swordsmanship. Astoundingly, that novice was matching him perfectly in a battle of wits.

Live long enough, and you really did see everything.

The tension mounted without a single clash.

Then it happened.

Kim Minwoo drew a deep breath. This was a duel between experts. Whoever moved first would quickly have their approach read.

But they couldn't keep dancing in circles forever.

'I'll have to give him the advantage.'

He would thrust first.

"Don't you dare!"

Realizing his intention, the Sword Immortal charged like lightning, furious.

He was the Sword Immortal. He hadn't lived all these years to be handed an advantage by some wet-behind-the-ears brat!

His sword flowed smoothly toward an opening.

CLACK!

The two wooden swords collided hard. Kim Minwoo's sword moved first.

He smoothly deflected the Sword Immortal's blade and drove his wooden sword forward with lightning force. The Sword Immortal swiftly twisted his shoulder aside to evade it.

But Kim Minwoo's assault didn't end there. His sword snaked upward, jabbing deep into the Sword Immortal's armpit.

THUD!

In that brief instant, Kim Minwoo's sword hadn't been the only one to strike. The Sword Immortal's wooden sword had hit his shoulder, too.

At that moment...

[Awakening is beginning!]

[Your achievement is blossoming!]

His achievement had begun to blossom.

Both men took two steps back at the same time.

"... You. Have you truly never learned swordsmanship before?"

"I haven't."

Kim Minwoo, twenty-three years old, had never learned swordsmanship. That was the absolute truth.

Seeing his unwavering gaze, the Sword Immortal nodded.

"My apologies."

"For what?"

"I should have been the one to request this spar."

"Then give it your all in this match. Until one of us falls."

"I will."

The Sword Immortal freely acknowledged it. In pure swordsmanship, this young fellow was more than worthy of being called his equal.

No, the boy was actually better.

The Sword Immortal's eyes grew utterly serious.

* * *

WOOOO!

At the faint sound of cheering, Seo Yerim opened her eyes where she sat cross-legged in meditation. The Sword Sea Pavilion was unusually noisy today.

'Is something happening today? I don't remember anything special being scheduled...'

The only unusual thing she could recall was that the scumbag was coming to tour the Sword Sea Pavilion.

Puzzled, she stepped out of her training room. Several instructors were hurrying about.

"Is something going on?"

"The Sword Immortal is sparring."

"Grandfather is? With whom?"

Seo Yerim's eyes sparkled.

Seo Jincheol, the Sword Immortal. A swordsman greater and more brilliant than anyone else in the world. Naturally, even one of his sparring matches was worth a great deal.

She was intensely curious who her revered grandfather was facing. His opponent must be someone remarkable, too.

Several figures flashed through her mind. The Divine Spear, the Fist King, the Poison Demon...

Every one of them was a powerhouse ranked among Korea's top ten awakeners. People of that caliber would warrant her grandfather's personal attention.

Then the instructor scratched his head and said,

"Uh, well... It's that Kim Minwoo fellow."

"... What?"

Kim Minwoo? Surely he didn't mean that Kim Minwoo?

No, surely not...

"The Kim Minwoo who was scheduled to visit today."

But the instructor's next words shattered that thought.

Seo Yerim was stunned. She loathed Kim Minwoo. She could still vividly remember his snakelike gaze openly roaming over her body.

A pathetic, filthy excuse for a human being.

And someone like that was sparring with her grandfather? When even she, his own granddaughter, couldn't?

"Why on earth is Grandfather sparring with that perverted bastard? Are you sure you haven't got something wrong?"

"Well... apparently, he put up a hundred billion won for a single match."

"A hundred billion?"

"Yes. He said he'd donate it all to the Sword Sea Pavilion, win or lose..."

"Is he insane? A hundred billion..."

Only then did Seo Yerim understand why the Sword Immortal had personally stepped forward.

Even he couldn't easily dismiss a hundred billion won. That much money could replace the pavilion's training facilities with state-of-the-art equipment. Quite a sum for giving a scumbag a little beating.

Of course. What could that damned scumbag possibly have to offer that would draw her grandfather out? Without his money, he was worth nothing.

It was the money after all.

"I should go watch. Would you like to come along, Instructor?"

Her mood abruptly improved, and she spoke with a bright smile.

She could watch the scumbag get thrashed, and they could replace some of the aging facilities while they were at it. Truly two birds with one stone.

And so she went with the instructor to where the spar was taking place.

"Impossible..."

Yerim was aghast. Had someone hypnotized her? Otherwise, she couldn't make sense of the sight before her.

It was definitely that Kim Minwoo. Yet that very same Kim Minwoo was exchanging fierce sword strikes with the Sword Immortal.

Their wooden swords narrowly skimmed past each other's bodies. Her grandfather was absolutely not going easy on him. If he were, he wouldn't be smiling with such delight.

'What is this?'

Sword strikes as supple as the wind, yet at times as sharp as lightning. Watching Kim Minwoo's sword, Seo Yerim felt as though she were looking at something impossibly far beyond her.

A spar performed through pure physical skill, without a scrap of mana. It was a work of art.

Only then did Yerim understand why the cheers kept erupting.

"Not bad at all!"

"You too, sir!"

"Ha ha! You wild young colt!"

Two swordsmen ran wild to their hearts' content in the small world of the training hall. She had never seen her grandfather enjoy himself so much.

Yerim clenched her teeth and bit her lip.

She had devoted her entire life to the sword to earn her revered grandfather's recognition. At twenty-two, she had even earned an epithet.

Seo Yerim, the Sword Phoenix.

She had taken pride in that.

Even if she wasn't there yet, she had been certain she would be the first swordsman to earn her grandfather's recognition.

But at this rate... someone was going to steal that from her. And of all people, it would be that scumbag she didn't merely dislike, but despised.

Cold sweat trickled down between her brows.

* * *

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes.

As the spar continued, Kim Minwoo was driven increasingly onto the defensive.

'I'm running out of stamina.'

However much the Sword Immortal restricted his physical abilities, he was still fundamentally an S-rank awakener. His natural recuperative ability was on an entirely different level.

The Sword Immortal didn't slow down. He didn't tire.

But Minwoo was different. He was a wastrel who had spent twenty-three years doing nothing but enjoying himself. How much stamina could he possibly have?

Swordsmanship only worked while you still had the strength to move. An ordinary person would collapse from exhaustion after just three minutes of sparring. This had lasted thirty.

His mind was foggy. His entire body trembled. He was holding on through superhuman willpower, but even that was nearing its limit.

Then the Sword Immortal, who had been wielding his sword in complete absorption, abruptly came to his senses.

'Oh dear.'

He felt dismayed.

The wall blocking his progress—he had only just felt he might finally glimpse it!

They had sparred for far too long. If anything, it was extraordinary that Kim Minwoo had lasted this long.

'What incredible mental fortitude.'

His surprise soon gave way to fond satisfaction, as though he were looking at his own grandson.

"I was thinking only of myself. My apologies."

"... Hah. You haven't forgotten your promise, have you?"

This still wasn't enough to raise his achievement. He needed to take more hits.

If they stopped now, this would all come to nothing!

Please, hit me more!

Kim Minwoo put that sentiment in more refined terms.

"... Yes. Until one of us falls."

The Sword Immortal nodded as he answered.

The outcome seemed clear. Yet even as he looked ready to collapse at any moment, Kim Minwoo refused to sink to his knees. His eyes still blazed with fighting spirit.

Tenacity like iron sinews. Indomitable resolve. Even a hunger for victory!

This young man was already a fully realized swordsman.

"Yes. You never know who measures up..."

"Until you put them to the test."

Grins spread across both their faces.

"Try taking this one, too."

The Sword Immortal rushed forward as though leaping into the fray and lashed out with his wooden sword.

Head, shoulder, torso. Three precisely linked strikes.

'I'm not blocking.'

If he took these hits, he felt he could finally go down for good.

Abandoning defense, Kim Minwoo instead launched an attack as though determined to take his opponent down with him. His wooden sword passed between the three strikes and slammed into the Sword Immortal's chest.

THWACK!

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

As their wooden swords struck each other's bodies, Kim Minwoo crumpled to the floor.

A brilliant flash of blue light burst from his body.

It was unmistakably an awakening. And one that was close to the very highest grade!

"An awakening?"

"He's awakening!"

"What kind of achievement could produce a light like that...!"