Chapter 27 - Volume 3 (1/2)

“This is ridiculous!”

Chung Il Hoon screamed.

He had never stopped Ahn Hyundo’s decisions before but this time he couldn’t stand by.

“The opponent is a beginner. Beginner swordsmen do not know how to properly use a sword in a fight!”

“Argh, Hoon! I did not ask you. I was talking to my opponent! You are going to interfere with my duel!”

Ahn Hyundo’s voice rang throughout the dojo.

Honestly, nobody could stop Ahn Hyundo. If they tried, then they would be subject to a severe repercussion.

They could not afford to take that risk.

The instructors were silent, glancing to Lee Hyun to reject the proposal.

‘It is better if you flee now than to get beaten.’

Competing with real swords.

When fighting with real swords, literally anyone, no matter how skilled, would be scared witless.

However, Lee Hyun stood his ground.

Ahn Hyundo applauded him.

“That’s good. You didn’t back off. Just like a real man. Sun Hoon, go up to my room and bring the two swords on the wall. Do you know where they are?”

“Boss…”

Matter had gotten worse.

The iron swords were great at cutting.

Chung Il Hoon sensed that the outcome of the fight would be relentlessly horrible.

‘Sword’

Lee Hyun stood holding a sword.

He felt as though his mind was clear and he had woken up.

‘Huh, why am I here?’

Lee Hyun had come from the hospital to go to the bookstore.

Then he saw the dojo.

He was not there to fight.

He just wanted to clear his mind of a little frustration.

Training and working up a good sweat was refreshing.

Challenging the dojo.

To compete with the sword.

Lee Hyun did not object.

Wooden sword vs. wooden sword.

It was a fair match.

There was no reason to refuse.

The first opponent was a little weak.

He felt that the opponent’s technique was a little weak. Strength training was not necessarily the path to become stronger.

One should use the potential power of the muscles properly. It emerges when one utilizes breathing and core body flexibility.

The first opponent was lacking in that area.

Another challenger had appeared after the first opponent lost. Against a sword expert with a lot of experience, Lee Hyun looked for weak spots.

Defense-orientated swordsmanship.

However, it was not perfect.

In that very moment, he was able to find the flaw.

Considering the speed of the movement of the opponent’s sword, Lee Hyun used that difference to attack the weak point.

‘It’s thanks to Royal Road. I’ve been fighting over tens of thousands of times.’

Virtual reality games.

In Royal Road, if everyone became a sword master, then the world would be full of strong people.

Most users typically relied on skills and the game instead of their own bodies to fight. Someone like Lee Hyun who had earnestly learned the sword to play the game was a rare find.

So he knocked down the second practitioner.

But then another challenger appeared.

‘Why don’t you want me to win? Why do they want to beat me?’

He was angry.

He did not know that his eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, provoking the others.

Tough like a beast!

Using all his strength until they were cornered.

He grasped the sword.

‘Cool’

Lee Hyun shook his head as he took the sword.

As he took the sword, he could not remain still. At that moment, it felt as if every cell in his body was latching onto it.

Until now, he had felt as if he had been seeing everything at about 20%, about 5 times less than he was now.

Early in the morning, his body was normally extremely sensitive to everything around, he was stressed and in an agitated mood.

Lee Hyun calmly collected his breath.

He felt as if by simply holding the sword his mind had been cleaned.

Ahn Hyundo did not attack immediately.

Thanks to that, he was able to rest for a brief moment.

A very short moment.

He rested his muscles and blood vessels. The heart spread oxygen throughout his entire body.

In his hand, the sword felt very cold, but heat in his chest kept rising.

‘So this is how it feels to hold a real sword.’

He did not seem to know why he was here and in this situation.

He had just come to have a sweat and could not believe what had happened.

‘Surrender’

It was not worth it. There was no need to fight without having something to fight for and he could easily get injured holding the sword.

He apologized and admitted defeat, laying down the sword.

Then Ahn Hyundo examined Hyun Lee’s eyes and said.

“Are you scared? Don’t have the courage to fight? That’s okay. The law of nature states that in the wilderness, wild beast turn tail and run when they meet someone stronger than them.”

Lee Hyun was enraged.

He wanted to fight.

In a moment, a sharp came from his chest as he wielded the sword. (A sharp what?)

He had unwittingly decided to pick up the sword despite having fought over nine times.

Chaeaeaeng.

The sword let out a metallic sound.

The metal sword let out incredibly clear sounds.

Ahn Hyundo also took his sword lightly as he stepped back a step.

“It is better to put down a sword that you cannot swing. You have swung it once already but you swung it too hard. Care to try a second swing?”

Instead of answering, Lee Hyun swung the sword. It was about 60 percent the speed of the original swing but it was a good attack.

Jjanggang.

Gripping the iron, he could feel the subtle vibrations flowing to his fingertips.

Lee Hyun could hear the good, clear sound of the sword in his hand.

‘This is a good sword.’

From listening to the sword, he felt as if it was part of his body. To some extent, he could tell how sharp the sword was and the small difference that made it a good sword.

Ahn Hyundo blocked Hyun Lee’s attack very gently, and then raised the speed of his sword to attack.

However, because of the concern over bodily harm, it was possible for Lee Hyun to prevent the attack.

If there were swords flying towards the body from the front, then there was plenty of room to let them graze past.

Ahn Hyundo struck away Hyun Lee’s sword like a tyrant.

His sword swung away from him. He pounced towards Lee Hyun as if he was a wild beast to kill.

Ahn Hyundo’s sword came stabbing towards Hyun Lee’s heart.

The sword!

‘I do not want to die.’

Lee Hyun struck Ahn Hyundo’s sword to interfere with its path.

His consideration toward his opponent’s wellbeing had disappeared.

He struggled to avoid being hit with his colossal will to live.

A clear sound of the wind.

A flash of light would appear over their chests as the iron swords clashed.

The practitioners had their mouths hanging from their fierce attacks.

“In..instructors! This needs to be stopped, doesn’t it?”

The practitioners asked anxiously.

Chung Il Hoon could not believe the current situation.

It was very difficult to subdue Lee Hyun without injuring him.

However, for Ahn Hyundo’s level of proficiency, it was possible.

For him, it was a simple task of hitting the wrist, the sword hilt, or temporarily immobilizing by hitting a vital point on the forehead.

It was simple for Ahn Hyundo to put Lee Hyun in that state, but he did not have the slightest intention of letting him do so.

With goose bumps all over his skin, he was barely managing to survive.

‘Instructors, think of something! Surely you have an idea of what to do…?’

‘I don’t think so. But why am I so anxious?’ (first option)

Chung Il Hoon had not known what would have happened once the swords were brought into the situation. Once they were brought out, it was dangerous to try and stop the situation.

But soon he was able to relax and watch. The swords continued their exchanges.

Hyun Lee’s strength was being dragged out by pushing his will to live in front of a strong opponent.

More vigorously, stronger, faster.

These thoughts gradually awakened.

Lee Hyun had complete control of his own body. This caused his body to rebel.

Chung Il Hoon watched as Lee Hyun changed by beginning to penetrate deeper into the way of the sword.

The skilled practitioners could see it with their eyes but soon even the others began to feel something.

“Huh?”“It’s a little different.”“What has changed?”Ahn Hyundo cut a path to prevent the attacks.

Diagonal slicing sword.

Lee Hyun lowered his body at the same time to avoid being stabbed by the sword, moving on instinct rather than thought. Lee Hyun struggled against Ahn Hyundo’s outrageous sword fight without hesitation.

‘Why are you having fun? This is a dangerous moment…!’

The corners of Hyun Lee’s mouth curled into a smile.

Not knowing why himself, he decided to focus on the duel.

Sword fighting. Challenging others to a fight. The fight itself was good.

‘I’ve been thinking too much. When I’m faced with a fight, I do not need to think…’

Swinging the sword felt good; when Lee Hyun moved towards Ahn Hyundo he swung his sword. His body began to show an unsteady reaction.

Lee Hyun let go of his sword completely exhausted, he had terrible muscle pain and his legs gave out and he could not stand.

“Drink this. It will calm your body down a little.”

Ahn Hyundo gave him a cup of tea that had a deep and profound smell.

“This is good.”

“Yes. This is wild ginseng tea from Baekdu Mountain.”“The price would be expensive…”“There is nothing more precious than the body, don’t you agree?”“Yes, that’s right.”

Lee Hyun unreservedly drank the tea. He mixed a bottle every day.

It was good for the body.

“That’s some good drinking. Have some more.”“Thank you. I’m thirsty and tired.”

Lee Hyun drank five cups of tea.

Ahn Hyundo took the time to start a conversation.

“Ahem, I’m curious. This is the first time you have held a sword, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You did not panic very much. However, for the dignity of the nine men you beat, did you learn the sword anywhere else?”

“That’s not it. I learned the sword…”

He brought up the story of Royal Road.

How he mastered the sword while hunting monsters and how he had hit the scarecrow.

Lee Hyun did not trust others easily.

He did not open up to others because of the memories of how he had lived up till now. However, he seemed to somehow trust Ahn Hyundo.

During dark times, people tried to hide their problems. Ahn Hyundo helped people in need and people came to trust and rely on him. A man who believed that training was more valuable than a thousand words.

“I see. You must have had a difficult struggle to develop your swordsmanship.”

“However, thanks to it, I have managed to learn the basics up to this extent.”

“So you’re telling me that there are really monsters? Living, moving monsters that you can catch for items and money…and you gain experience? Are there dragons?”

“Yes, yes there are.”

“For now, you are tired, so go rest. I hope that you can come by the dojo sometime later so we can spar again sometime.”

“Goodbye.”

Lee Hyun finished his break and then left the dojo. Then Chung Il Hoon was surprised.

“Master you don’t want to get him? So you have changed your mind of having him be your successor then.”