Chapter 140

He looked triumphant. He shrugged his shoulders and even made a gesture of lightly tapping his chest with his hand.

The glance he shot my way was filled with pride, as if to say, “See? What did I tell you?”

Kim Soo-gyeom.

“Ahem. Ahem.”

The guy kept clearing his throat.

“Would you look at that.”

Choi Soo-jung shook her head as if finding him unsightly.

“You look pretty happy, don’t you?”

“Of course I’m happy. It’s like being freed from an oppressive prison. You wouldn’t know this feeling, Noona.”

“What prison? Stop being a jackass and move, you punk.”

“Noona, no, Ms. Choi Soo-jung, you have to admit it. Did you see? The President of the International Awakener Association came here himself. Because of whom?”

“What do you mean, because of whom?”

“Ms. Choi Soo-jung. Answer me. Just who was it that made the Association President come here ‘in person’ at this hour? Say it with your own mouth. Go on.”

“It was because of Mr. Byeon Soo-hyeon.”

“It was because of Mr. Byeon Soo-hyeon, yes. But who was the one who discovered this Mr. Byeon Soo-hyeon? And who was the one who disregarded that person’s eye for talent?”

“I’m a bitch who deserves to die, and you’re so great.”

“Repeat after me. I, Choi Soo-jung, admit my defeat to Kim Soo-gyeom and will never again question Kim Soo-gyeom’s judgment…”

Smack!

Having had enough, Choi Soo-jung smacked Kim Soo-gyeom on the back of his head.

Kim Soo-gyeom couldn’t even scream as he gasped for air.

I gave Choi Soo-jung a high-five and stepped forward.

“Hello.”

“Ye-Yes!”

Byeon Soo-hyeon answered abruptly, looking as if he’d just popped out of a dream.

It wasn’t even winter, but his body was trembling like an aspen tree.

Is my public image not that good?

Right before coming here, I was taking pictures with people and even signing autographs.

I offered a handshake. Byeon Soo-hyeon hesitated, then bowed 90 degrees and took my hand with both of his.

“Oh, my. It’s an honor.”

While our hands were clasped, I quickly scanned his body.

I tilted my head.

Byeon Soo-hyeon’s body was…

Ordinary. His bone structure wasn’t particularly prominent, and I couldn’t feel a single speck of Mana.

Thanks to his work as a porter in Dungeons, he was a little better off than a Civilian.

But that was it.

He was no different from a Civilian.

I couldn’t for the life of me picture the fluid movements I had seen in the video.

Kim Soo-gyeom patted his shoulder reassuringly.

“Speak comfortably. Comfortably. Why are you looking at the Chairman like he’s going to eat you?”

“Yes! I am comfortable!”

He looked uncomfortable.

I forced a smile onto my lips.

I opened my mouth, my tone as gentle as possible.

“I’ve heard the gist of it. You developed your own unique swordsmanship.”

And that unique swordsmanship seemed to be several levels above the one created by the Northern Grand Duke of the fantasy world.

It was true that Elsland was more developed in magic than swordsmanship.

True, but still. That was quite… a shock.

Enough to make me drag myself here in the middle of the night.

I replayed the video in my head and spoke.

“May I see it once?”

“…Right now?”

“Should I come back tomorrow?”

“N-No! I’ll show you.”

Byeon Soo-hyeon moved stiffly onto the Training Arena. Looking closely, I saw he wasn’t just stiff, he was limping.

I remembered.

According to the report, he had injured his leg a month ago.

Lee Seok-jae had also said it seemed like a rather unpleasant accident. For now, I decided to deal with that later.

“Can he even walk properly?”

“He’s going to collapse at this rate.”

Except for Kim Soo-gyeom and me, the faces of the others were increasingly consumed by disbelief.

“You all worry too much. Just watch.”

Byeon Soo-hyeon gripped a sword. Soon, I realized why Kim Soo-gyeom had been so confident.

The moment that man held a sword, his expression changed.

The nervous face from just a moment ago was gone, replaced by a comfortable expression as he swung the wooden sword in a figure-eight pattern.

His limping leg was completely unnoticeable now.

It started from there.

Whoosh— Whoosh—

The wooden sword danced.

I couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.

Seeing it in person was even more amazing than in the video.

The living tip of the sword, the perfect stride, the posture.

Even if you made a textbook, it couldn’t be this perfect.

My eyes rapidly followed his movements.

Soon.

Kwang!

[Skill, Mind Sword (D), has been acquired.]

[Skill, Mind Sword (D), has been mastered.]

[Mind Sword (S): The most basic swordsmanship that a novice Acolyte of the Demonic Cult can learn. Do not underestimate it just because it is basic. One can vie for the title of the strongest under heaven just by mastering the Mind Sword.]

Demonic Cult?

A word I couldn’t comprehend popped up.

“It’s breathtaking, isn’t it? See? I told you.”

“Shut up for a second.”

“Yes, sir.”

Only Choi Soo-jung and Lee Won-sik, who didn’t know much about swords, watched the scene blankly.

“It does look amazing. But is it really that good?”

It was that good.

The devil is in the details, and every single fiber of the sword’s tip was alive.

Soon, the sword dance was over.

I had been holding my breath without realizing it.

Byeon Soo-hyeon panted as he spoke.

“Th-That’s all.”

“……”

“…Chairman?”

“…I enjoyed the demonstration.”

I quickly replied and approached him.

My face was reflected in Byeon Soo-hyeon’s pupils.

Greed was oozing from every part of my eyes.

Oops. When hunting prey, you must put them at ease as much as possible.

I calmed my pounding heart and said.

“Could we talk for a moment? One-on-one.”

Byeon Soo-hyeon stared ahead. He remembered when he first joined the Fit the Awakening guild.

He had been so nervous during the guild master’s interview that he had trembled.

But now, he was tens, hundreds of times more nervous than back then.

Meeting Choi Gi-woong one-on-one. It was something he had never even imagined.

And he realized that the swordsmanship he wielded was no mere coincidence.

That dream.

There had to be something about the dream of becoming the Young Cult Leader.

So he made a resolution.

Absolutely no bullshit about dreams, or being the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.

Better to just stubbornly insist otherwise.

It was then.

Every time Choi Gi-woong’s eyes scanned him, he felt like he was being stripped naked. As if the man was saying, ‘I know everything, so don’t even think about hiding anything and just spill it all…’

“Your leg seems to be bothering you.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Byeon Soo-hyeon nodded.

“Ah, yes. That… I had an accident in a Dungeon.”

“Oh dear. When?”

“About a month ago…”

Choi Gi-woong nodded meaningfully.

A strange chill ran down his spine.

“The Association will fully cover your treatment.”

“Treatment?”

“Aren’t you registered with the Association?”

“I am, but…”

“About two weeks of treatment should heal you up completely.”

Two weeks?

The doctor had told him to give up on the idea of ever running again.

If he really wanted treatment, he should go to at least an S-Rank Healer, which would cost about 500 million won.

But Choi Gi-woong said it so casually, as if asking something obvious.

“Or are you planning to leave the Association?”

“N-No! Of course not!”

Choi Gi-woong gave a light laugh and continued.

“When did you start wielding a sword?”

“It’s been about a month.”

He answered honestly. It didn’t seem like lying would work.

“A month… You never held a sword before that?”

“I did, but I was told I didn’t have much talent back then.”

“That’s strange.”

“I-It’s true.”

“I know. I know you’re not lying.”

Choi Gi-woong leaned forward. Byeon Soo-hyeon swallowed hard.

“Rank 3.”

“Pardon?”

“That is the Rank you will receive. A Rank 3 agent of the International Awakener Association’s Korean branch. I believe this is not an unsatisfactory offer. What do you think?”

Suddenly?

His head was spinning.

Not an unsatisfactory offer? This was far beyond that.

He had heard about the treatment Association agents received. The guild master of Fit the Awakening had bowed 90 degrees to a Rank 5 agent.

But Rank 3?

“You should also consider joining my exclusive team. It feels like a waste to hand you over to that Kim Soo-gyeom fellow.”

“…Pardon?”

“If there’s anything else you need, please let me know. Or, should I raise your Rank by one more?”

Gulp. He swallowed.

His breathing became ragged with excitement.

Byeon Soo-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut and said urgently.

“Ch-Chairman.”

“Go ahead.”

“I am twenty-seven this year, I live with my widowed mother, and she is about to have surgery for lung cancer. And also…”

“I know.”

“Pardon?”

“That leg, Fit the Awakening did that to you, didn’t they? The guild master, Park Chang-wook.”

He gasped.

“We’ve already paid for your mother’s surgery. You should have gotten a text from the hospital’s administrative office.”

“……”

Choi Gi-woong twirled a pen.

“But there’s one thing I couldn’t figure out. How a person who has only held a sword for a month can wield it like that. Could you perhaps explain?”

A kind smile. But the suffocating pressure didn’t ease up at all. As if mesmerized, he nodded.

The resolution he had made just moments ago evaporated like steam on a summer day.

“I’m not sure how to explain this, but… I have dreams.”

“…Dreams.”

“Yes.”

He glanced around. Then he spoke in a whisper.

“A man named Jin Cheon-geuk, the first disciple of the Demonic Cult Leader, appears in my dreams. And I become him, that Jin Cheon-geuk. So I practice swordsmanship and…”

He rambled on in disjointed sentences.

He kept glancing at Choi Gi-woong, worried he would be seen as a madman. But no matter how he looked, Choi Gi-woong’s expression wasn’t one of looking at a madman.

“Dreams, you say. I’m quite familiar with them myself.”

“Ah, that, your past life…”

“Yes. When I sleep, I become an eagle, a spider, all sorts of things. Becoming a master from a martial arts novel isn’t that hard to understand.”

“Is that so?”

“Do you still have those dreams these days?”

“Yes. Still, no, I had one just yesterday.”

The Young Cult Leader Jin Cheon-geuk was on the verge of achieving the pinnacle of the Mind Sword. Once he reached the pinnacle, he could learn something called Chilyanggong from the Cult Leader.

“Chilyanggong. Is that also a type of swordsmanship?”

“No, rather than swordsmanship… it’s said to be a multi-faceted martial art that encompasses all martial arts.”

That is, according to the Heavenly Demon he saw in his dream.

“So you just need to master the Mind Sword.”

“Yes. That’s right, but.”

It was then.

Choi Gi-woong shot up from his seat.

“Let’s first check if it’s connected to your dreams.”

He said something incomprehensible and suddenly grabbed a sword that was lying nearby.

Hwoong, hwoong. Choi Gi-woong swung the sword.

To be honest, he had been confident.

Even though Choi Gi-woong had created the swordsmanship Skill Books distributed to the public, he was confident that his Mind Sword was better.

But that pride was shattered in a single moment.

The level he had aspired to was right there.

And in that moment, Byeon Soo-hyeon attained enlightenment.

“Ah!”

Hwaak!

It was the moment he mastered the Mind Sword.

Without breaking a single drop of sweat, Choi Gi-woong smiled and said.

“Let’s check. How your dreams are affected.”

Park Chang-wook looked at his team leader and asked.

“How much is the compensation?”

“They said 900 million won.”

The words ‘900 million’ made a grin spread across his face.

That was why.

Even when an Association agent burst through the office door, even when he approached with a business-like face, Park Chang-wook’s face was full of smiles.

“Oh my, Agent. You’re here.”

He bent his waist 90 degrees. As Park Chang-wook’s back straightened up again.

“Keok.”

The agent grabbed him by the collar.

“I’ve never seen such trash.”

“A-Agent. What is this…”

“You cripple a man and then ask for compensation? Are you out of your mind?”

“First, please let go of this…”

Smack!

The agent slapped him across the cheek.

The team leader, who had unconsciously tried to fight back, flinched.

He had realized just how strong an Association agent was.

“What, you want to fight?”

“N-No. I’ll come with you.”

“Eyes on the floor.”