304 – Regressor Fight (23)

“Stabbing… is fine. Slashing is fine, too. I still have some regrets about how to deal with it when our swords are facing each other. Right now, Cheonmaya’s strength is similar, so we can face each other, but we also need to think about how to deal with situations where he suddenly applies strength. He might use tricks like intentionally releasing strength like last time, so be careful about that too. Oh, and when defending against attacks near the bottom…”

“Junho.”

“In the end, a sword is supposed to block lines, not surfaces. You can lay the sword down and defend with a surface, but that depends greatly on the sword’s rigidity. Even though the sword I use is a famous dwarven sword, unless it’s a Bbung Bbung-level sword, it might break if you use it too roughly. Always be conscious of that…”

“Junho!”

“Uh, uh. Jiwon. Why?”

“Let’s go to reality and rest a bit.”

**

A quiet restaurant. This place was strictly reservation-only, but Jiwon Choi said she had been introduced to it by a government official she knew.

“It’s delicious.”

The portions are small overall, but it’s delicious. Still, what should I say? Is this really worth paying this price? Even though we’ve become economically free, seeing people act like this shows that people’s fundamentals don’t change easily.

“Junho, look at this.”

While I was eating the tart that came out as dessert, Jiwon showed me the screen of her phone.

-Creepy, creepy… NPC disease that’s popular among teenagers these days… txt

“… What’s this?”

“You say people look like NPCs these days. When I searched on Google, this came up?”

“… Are you crazy?”

“Phehehe…”

“Ha, no…”

I finished eating the tart while laughing. Sweet music, delicious food, good people, good times.

I slurped down my green tea, repeating phrases that a used car dealer would post on his Instagram story. Jiwon must have brought me here because she wanted to say something, but she was waiting calmly.

“So, are you feeling okay these days?”

Choi Jiwon asked cautiously.

“What?”

“It’s just that I feel like I’ve been fighting lately. I don’t know how much I’ve regressed because my memories are spotty, but I think I’ve regressed quite a bit.”

“Hmm.”

Jiwon was worried about my condition. I thought she was going to talk about something else.

“I’m okay. Seriously. It’s kind of fun.”

“… Really?”

“Yeah. I feel like I’ve gotten stronger, so I find fighting fun.”

“…”

“Mental health… Honestly, I’m not okay. I think it’s temporary.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My mental health becomes unstable because I keep regressing in the same environment. You had a nice conversation with the waiter earlier, didn’t you?”

“…”

I don’t think Jiwon has ever asked me to rest before. Did my condition seem that bad? I feel a little bad, but I’m also glad that she’s worried about me. I also wonder if I wanted to overdo it.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

But now is the time to fight. It’s time to push myself.

I’ve mastered Cheonma’s sword. Next is the spear. Next is memorization. Next is… Next is…

There are still so many martial arts to master. The road ahead is so long. I can see the peak of the mountain I’m climbing, but I can’t stop here.

“I can feel it. This is the time for me.”

I

had to get stronger.

**

Despite my boasts to Choi Ji-won, I didn’t get dramatically stronger. There was no such thing as a terrifying realization of swordsmanship. I just got a little better at what I was doing.

On the contrary, my progress in conquering Cheonma was really terrifyingly fast. Not only was I familiar with all the swordsmanship Cheonma used, but I was also starting to get used to other martial arts. It

would be understandable to call it a sidegrade rather than an upgrade. Should I say that my flexibility has increased?

“When the opponent has a longer range… It’s better to go extremely far. “It’s uncomfortable for me to just flinch near the opponent’s firing range. It seems better to charge in and create variables.”

Although it had improved, my swordsmanship was focused on attacking. It was a swordsmanship that aimed to knock down the opponent before I got hurt. That was the basis, and also my will contained in my swordsmanship.

The problem for a genius as great as Cheonma was to immediately grasp the essence of my swordsmanship. That’s why all the techniques he took out were specialized for countering, or they were advantageous for toying with me with long firing ranges. He wanted to unilaterally restrain me without giving me any room to attack, but he repeated regression and steadily built up countermeasures for this.

“… You.”

“Huh.”

From some point on, Cheonma put down his spear. The next thing he used was a whip. Then an axe. Then a bow. Then a sickle. He would mix in his dark skills here and there, but unlike before, he didn’t openly pour out his dark skills, so I could deal with them.

“Wow…! Crazy…”

“You’re afraid of getting hurt. Why is that?”

Sometimes, Cheonma would openly aim for my skin. It was probably just a peek from Cheonma’s perspective, but from my perspective, it was deadly. This was the first time Cheonma realized with his unique observation skills that I was afraid of getting hurt.

“… No, do I have to mix in some bluffing?”

I thought that not only Cheonma, but also in high-level battles, my weakness could be exploited like this. After that, I intentionally mixed in some bluffing. I pretended not to be afraid of getting hurt, I pretended that I was okay, I pretended to give him flesh and take his bones. In the early stages of my return, Cheonma would persistently aim for my skin because my acting was awkward, but later on, even Cheonma fell for it. There are few people who are afraid of getting hurt in the first place. The number

of weapons used by Cheonma gradually increased. It seemed that he used more than 2/3 of the weapons on the floor, and his expression gradually became expressionless. Considering that he used to have a fierce smile or a disgusting smile on his face, it would be safe to say that he was gradually losing his composure.

Perhaps, if Choi Ji-won had been given enough time, she could have done the same thing as me. No, she would have done better than me. The reason she tossed the job of fighting Cheonma to me was because she knew that this moment was a golden opportunity for my growth. That’s why

I liked Choi Ji-won. She pushed my back even though she knew that I would suffer, even though she was heartbroken by it. She knew that it was for my sake, and that I would be grateful someday. If she

had simply been afraid of being hated, she would not have done this, and it means that she had strong trust in me. As much as I trusted Choi Ji-won, Choi Ji-won trusted me. Well, I didn’t know I would be this absorbed.

Time passed. In the repetitive time, the only thing that remained was my soul. Cheonma was gradually pushed back, and I forced him to use more and more diverse weapons.

The fact that Cheonma, who was so strong, was cornered brought about a strange sense of pleasure. In fact, from Cheonma’s perspective, I would be an extremely unreasonable enemy. He carefully thought about it and brought out a martial art that could exploit my weakness, but I had already completely figured out that martial art.

Of course, Cheonma used his unique eyes to bring out weapons and martial arts that I had not yet adapted to, and made me regress, but that was also slowly coming to an end. The gap in information. The gap in experience. I knew Cheonma very well, and Cheonma also saw through me, but we had few. It was a fight that I could only win.

It was about the time when I began to think that I could completely defeat Cheonma.

“Truly… how strange.”

Cheonma burst into laughter in vain.

“Who are you?”

“… “

Who are you to hate me, yet seem familiar with me, and so easily accept my attacks? I killed everyone who saw me fight with sincerity. The only exception is the Daecheon incident, but you don’t sense their aura. It’s unreasonable, unreasonable.”

He kicked away the numerous weapons on the floor with his feet.

“I’ll admit it. You are… a difficult opponent. Since I have a way to go, I’ll make a very merciful offer.”

Chuck. Cheonma showed his palm. The hand unique to Suin reached out to me.

“I will guarantee the safety of you and your comrades. For now, how about we go our separate ways?”

“…”

Intuitively, I realized that this was a turning point. If I accepted this offer now, I could also get information. Thinking about the future, that was the right thing to do.

“Get out.”

However, my pride was hurt right now. That b*stard’s tone still contained confidence that he could kill me. What Cheonma felt was not a sense of crisis, but irritation. He didn’t like that.

“… Is that so.”

Cheonma withdrew his palm. He slowly closed his outstretched hand.

“I can’t help it.”

Clenching his fist. Taking a stance.

“I will kill you.”

He released the dark magic power within his body. The tangible death dominated the space. Even as he felt his breath suffocating, he held his sword tightly.

Cheonma no longer hid his power.