His eyes fell shut as though he were passing out. In an instant, Kim Minwoo's consciousness scattered, everything growing hazy as if in a dream.

'Did I pass out?'

Well... He had been beyond exhausted, on the verge of collapse. Passing out was hardly surprising.

Just then, he saw messages appear.

[Beginning achievement evaluation.]

[Your body possesses the worst possible talent. A modifier will be applied to all achievement evaluations.]

[Achievement 'The Hundred-Billion-Won Spar' earned!]

[Now that is blowing money!]

[Grade: B]

[Achievement 'What the Hell Are You?' earned!]

[One of the game's main characters has begun paying close attention to you!]

[Grade: B+]

[Achievement 'Unstoppable Battle Continuation' earned!]

[With a shitty body, you demonstrated a will to fight that surpassed your limits!]

[Grade: A]

[Achievement 'A Swordsmanship Prodigy from the Start' earned!]

[You have granted profound insights to more than one hundred accomplished swordsmen!]

[Grade: A+]

[Achievement 'An Absolutely Insane Ordinary Person' earned!]

[You engaged in a fierce spar with an S-rank awakener!]

[Grade: S]

[Achievement 'The Sword Immortal's Teacher' earned!]

[The Sword Immortal has begun confronting the wall blocking his path!]

[Grade: S+]

[Achievement 'Founder of a Sword Style' earned!]

[You created a sword style of astonishing caliber during your awakening!]

[Grade: ??]

[Combining all achievements.]

[Calculating...]

[An unprecedented achievement beyond established parameters.]

[The existing grades cannot express its limits.]

[A new achievement grade must be unlocked.]

[A meeting is being convened!]

Kim Minwoo's eyes widened at the messages that kept appearing. The highest achievement grade he had ever received was S. These were messages he had never seen at S.

'Could it be even higher?'

His heart pounded. If he could earn an achievement above S right from the start, he would be unimaginably far ahead of the original Kim Minwoo, who had learned E-grade Spinning Slash.

'But what do they mean, a meeting?'

As Minwoo tilted his head, blue messages unlike the earlier ones began appearing.

'These are...'

He had seen them exactly once while playing the game. They were identical to the messages that had appeared before his move to Stage 6!

〈1. Remarkable. To think someone has accomplished deeds that transcend the limits of his species.〉

〈1. He has demonstrated potential. Should we raise humanity's growth ceiling?〉

Soon, messages in other colors began appearing alongside the blue ones.

[2. Is that really necessary? That human is merely an exceptional case.]

[3. Zero and one are different. If one has appeared, a second and third may follow. The existence of that possibility matters.]

[4. If we intervene, ??? will begin exerting power as well. It is dangerous.]

〈1. But without risk, can there be any reward?〉

[3. I agree with her. We have stagnated. The time has come for a bold decision.]

'What is this?'

The messages were conversing as though they were alive. He had never seen anything like it in his life.

Then...

[2. Even so, I oppose... Wait. Is that human actually spying on our conversation?]

[Warning!]

[The beings behind the veil have detected an anomaly!]

An inexplicable chill made Minwoo shudder.

〈1. There is no time for idle chatter. We must settle this matter before he awakens. I vote in favor.〉

[3. I shall place my hopes in humanity. I vote in favor.]

[4. ... To think he noticed us. Very well. We can give him a little help just this once. I vote in favor.]

[2. Are you all prepared to deal with the consequences? Have you lost your...]

● In favor: 3. Opposed: 1.

● Motion passed.

● The worldline is changing!

● Transcending the Species!

● The potential of all 'humans' increases greatly!

● Achievement: 'One Who Opened New Horizons' earned! This achievement will be added to your existing achievements!

● Warning! Warning! Warning!

● ??? senses an anomaly!

● ??? begins searching for the cause!

● Be careful. ??? will not take this situation lightly!

* * *

The fragrant scent of herbs brought Minwoo's eyes open. He was submerged in a tub filled with lukewarm brown liquid.

'This is...'

It was Sword's Tears, a remedy passed down at the Sword Sea Pavilion. Its main effects were relaxing the muscles, aiding circulation, and cleansing the blood vessels.

'This stuff is pretty precious, isn't it?'

The remedy was made by blending monster by-products, elixirs, and mana stones. He knew it was quite expensive. Seeing how generously they had used it, he must have scored some real points with the Sword Immortal.

"I feel great."

His muscle pain had vanished without a trace, and his fatigue had long since faded as well. As he circled his arms, messages appeared before him.

[All achievement evaluations are complete.]

[Evaluation result: EX]

[You receive a class skill book (EX)!]

[Select your desired class.]

'EX-grade!'

His eyes lit up. That was the grade of the skill the Dragon Lord had used.

'One blast of Dragon Tongue turned all my top-tier artifacts into scrap.'

It was a grade overwhelmingly superior to S. He couldn't have asked for a better start.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

The sound of knocking reached him inside the bathroom.

"Who is it?"

"If you're awake, get dressed and come out."

The voice sounded distinctly unenthusiastic—and somehow familiar. A few memories soon surfaced in Kim Minwoo's mind. Seo Yerim, the Sword Immortal's granddaughter. And himself, leering at her.

'Ugh.'

Whatever. He hadn't done any of that anyway. That bastard Kim Minwoo was responsible for all of it. There was no reason to feel cowed. All he had to do was avoid behaving that way from now on.

He changed into the clothes hanging in the bathroom and stepped outside.

"Did you need something?"

"Grandfather told me to bring you to him once you woke up."

"Let's go."

Watching Kim Minwoo calmly take the lead left her with mixed feelings. Something—something was different. Until recently, he hadn't even been able to meet her eyes. Now he wasn't merely holding a perfectly casual conversation with her...

'His eyes are different.'

The pitch-black eyes looking at her held not a trace of lust. Had he attained some spiritual enlightenment in the meantime?

As they walked in silence, Seo Yerim finally spoke.

"... That swordsmanship earlier. Where exactly did you learn it?"

"I've never learned swordsmanship."

"That's a lie!"

The fluid, perfect distribution of force. The uninterrupted chains of moves. Even without mana, even with his abysmal physique, what Kim Minwoo had wielded was unquestionably a sophisticated sword style. A powerful style that surpassed even her grandfather's Wind Swordsmanship!

If he hadn't learned it, then surely...

"You're not saying you created a sword style on the spot, are you?"

"I just swung however I could. Calling it a sword style is a bit..."

Seo Yerim, who had worked up the courage to ask, was utterly dumbfounded. His haphazard swings were superior to her grandfather's swordsmanship? How did that make any sense? Her eyes trembled wildly.

"How, how is that... possible?"

Even I couldn't do that.

It took superhuman restraint to keep those last words to herself as she spoke.

"You can't do it?"

When Kim Minwoo tilted his head and asked that question, seemingly genuinely puzzled, she felt an unfathomable despair.

"... Let's go."

She didn't think she could keep talking to him right now. And so they arrived in the inner courtyard, where the Sword Immortal awaited them.

"You've come."

"Yes. Thank you for treating me."

"Think nothing of it."

The Sword Immortal chuckled warmly.

"Congratulations on your awakening. It will give wings to your brilliant talent."

Hearing his words, Seo Yerim secretly clenched her teeth. From the age of seven to her current twenty-two, she had practiced with her sword every single day. Everyone around her had showered her with respect and admiration, but not her grandfather. Not once had the Sword Immortal told her she was talented.

Until now, she hadn't taken it to heart. No one her age had ever heard those words from him.

But now...

"Take this."

The Sword Immortal handed him a small box. Minwoo accepted it and opened the lid. A pleasant fragrance wafted out, revealing a small red pill.

The Sword Shadow Pill.

It was one of the finest elixir pills made at the Sword Sea Pavilion, a treasure difficult to obtain even with money.

"This looks like a precious elixir..."

Even as he spoke, he discreetly tucked the box under his arm. There was no reason to refuse. Considering the insights he had given the folks at the Sword Sea Pavilion, he more than deserved this much in return.

"I'll put it to good use."

"Good. Oh, yes. Minwoo, would you consider becoming my disciple—"

"No."

"I see, you wouldn't—"

The Sword Immortal was struck speechless.

"Do you mean you have no intention of becoming a swordsman?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

Why else...?

The Sword Immortal was laboring under a serious misconception. Minwoo only looked like a genius because he had used a sword style created by the future Sword Immortal. With an unrivaled expert controlling his body on top of that, of course he must have looked like a genius.

'But that has a short shelf life.'

What happened once he became an awakener? Swordsmen depended on their bodies more than any other class. At some point, his growth would grind to a halt. Kim Minwoo's physical talent was the absolute worst, after all.

The conclusion: Kim Minwoo, you're better suited to being a necromancer than a swordsman.

That was the verdict of the player who had piloted him through every imaginable ordeal.

He had no intention of explaining all that to the Sword Immortal, so...

"I have seen my limits."

"Seen... your limits?"

An eerie intensity filled the Sword Immortal's eyes.

"What did you see?"

"Illusion and its boundary. I saw the realm of selflessness that lies between them."

What was that supposed to mean? Truthfully, he didn't know either. He was merely repeating, word for word, what the Sword Immortal had muttered after creating Thunderwind Swordsmanship and breaking through his wall.

'The old man did spout a lot of vague nonsense.'

A profound silence followed.

"Illusion, boundary, selflessness..."

As though he had sensed something, the Sword Immortal closed his eyes and murmured quietly to himself.

"I realized instinctively that I could go no further. But I don't want to decide my limits so soon. Perhaps I could go further in a field other than the sword."

The Sword Immortal quietly closed his eyes.

Just as expected. In situations like this, nothing beat vague, lofty talk.

"I'll be on my way, then. The donation will be delivered soon."

Leaving the silent Sword Immortal behind, Kim Minwoo left the inner courtyard. Yerim, who had been watching her grandfather with his eyes shut, unsure what to do, sank to the ground.

'Illusion? Boundary? Selflessness? What on earth does that mean?'

She didn't understand any of it. Just then, the Sword Immortal's eyes snapped open.

"... So unimaginably far beyond."

"... Pardon?"

"Brilliant talent doesn't begin to describe it. That boy Kim Minwoo is a genius!"

"Is he... really?"

Seo Yerim's voice sank as she asked.

"Yes. A genius you might see once in ten thousand years! Ilseong Group has produced a monster. There's no time to waste. Bring me my phone! Quickly!"

Even the Sword Immortal didn't know precisely what Kim Minwoo had meant. But he had managed to grasp the faintest thread of understanding. It was an insight of the mind.

If he could only give more concrete form to this tantalizing feeling, he might glimpse not merely the next level, but the one beyond it.

And so the Sword Immortal made a decision. He would forge closer ties with Ilseong Group, with whom he had maintained a relationship neither particularly close nor distant. Surely that would give him more opportunities to interact with Kim Minwoo.

He had long since abandoned the absurd ambition of taking him as a disciple. Kim Minwoo was already a consummate seeker of the sword who had seen the end of the path.

'He doesn't have to become a swordsman.'

Now the Sword Immortal simply wanted to talk with the boy a little more. No, preferably a great deal more.

"Haha, Chairman Kim? This is Seo Jincheol. I'm calling because..."

* * *

On his way out of the Sword Sea Pavilion, Minwoo found the bodyguards' gazes converging on him. Their eyes were brimming with questions.

'Hold on a little longer, guys.'

It was time to perform the most important and sacred task. He had no energy to spare for personal conversation. Fortunately, the bodyguards seemed to have picked up on his mood and were professionally keeping their questions to themselves.

He climbed into the back seat of the car.

"Take me to the family home, please."

He drew the curtains over all the windows, plunging the interior into darkness like a lightless chamber. It was time to create his EX-grade skill book.

[Using class skill book (EX)!]

[You have selected the necromancer class!]

[Caution: Once you choose your class, you can never reverse the decision!]

[Would you like to create the first EX-grade necromancer skill?]

'Of course!'

A moment later, light burst forth...

[Your class changes to necromancer.]

[Stats are generated.]

[Inventory unlocked.]

[You receive an EX-grade skill.]

A message appeared before Minwoo's eyes.