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Chapter 32: The Scarlet Sword (2)

A goblin screamed for a long time. Its scream didn’t die out in my time.

—One down, the Guardian counted.

A fan of blood arced through the air, exactly the same color as the rain.

The drops of blood were still flying and the rain hadn’t hit the ground. And yet, the entire world was scarlet.

I adjusted my grip on my sword.

—Take care of the left one next.

I swung.

Before the first goblin died, I sliced into the second goblin. It happened in a flash. The goblins didn’t even see me coming. Blood gushed out and screams rose from my left and right. By the time one monster died, another one was dying. This repeated.

Another monster started screaming before the last one’s scream died out. The screaming around me never stopped. I wielded my sword like a conductor’s baton; the main instrument in this sonata of screams was also my sword.

—One second’s passed. Don’t stop. Keep your swings separate. Connect the attacks as you slay your enemies, the Guardian said.

I wielded my sword.

—Cut from top to bottom. It’s not over just because your sword is positioned low now. This is just like music. Think about it: a low note is just a stepping stone to go higher again.

Screams pierced the air.

—Connect them! If your sword is at the bottom now, swing it up. Build a sequence. That’s how you connect your attacks.

Another second passed.

—Time is of the essence when it comes to the sword! A beginner can only control one second at least. One swing and that’s it. They are blinded by this one second, so they don’t know how to connect their attacks. Someone who’s a little more proficient controls five seconds.

My enemies let out their blood; I let out my breath.

—Don’t waste the time you have! Don’t waste it! It’s not over because you killed one enemy. Nothing is over. Look for where you should swing next! People let time pass by, but a swordsman should not! Don’t throw away your one second. Live your one second to the fullest.

My sword flew between me and my enemies; they bled out as I finished exhaling.

—A swordsman is a man whose life is the sword.

I swung my sword.

—Do you think it’s easy to live one second to the fullest? Do you really think you’re living that second?

I did it again.

—A man isn’t alive when he just lets the time pass by. The only time he’s genuinely alive is when he devotes his time to something. Gong-Ja, you’re a swordsman, so your life should be the sword.

My sword was swung once again.

—Make those seconds in your life shine brighter!

A goblin clawed my arm until I bled. It made me feel lightheaded and my heart quivered. Despite the horrible pain, I swung my sword and kept looking forward.

Endless monsters were emerging from the cloud of red dust, which meant that the amount of enmity was equally immeasurable. All of them were monsters who were out to eat my flesh and drink my blood. They charged me, stained blood-red by the rain.

—Now you’ve reached ten seconds.

This was ten seconds. Only ten seconds.

—Burn brighter, Gong-Ja. Don’t let your life slip away. Make it shine.

I clutched my sword as tightly as I could.

—Show them who you are.

And I roared. My voice swept over the front line, to the center of the battlefield and then the gaping breach in the walls. For a moment, the archers shrank back and the monsters swarming out of the dust cloud halted.

—Fuck yes. That’s it. Now you’re looking a little less like a zombie, boy! The Guardian giggled.

I sprinted forward. My target was one of the goblins startled by my roar.

Before it could react, I cut off its head. It flew through the air with its mouth agape.

My next prey was the orc vacantly watching me kill the goblin. I stabbed its head before it could raise its club. Blood spurted out of the wound.

A little more.

I used my sword to kill a skeleton.

A little more.

Next was another goblin.

A little more.

Many orcs were taken down.

More! A little more.

I continued to swing my sword.

Look at me! Me!

I was alive. When I used my sword, I was alive.

A howling ogre surged out of the dust, swinging its huge club. Once, twice... Every time the ogre swung, a small storm followed. It pushed away the thick dust around the collapsed gate.

Some small goblins were caught by the ogre’s wild swings and slammed into the walls with a sickening crunch. They were reduced to a grisly pulp. The ogre had no sense of camaraderie. I was sure that it didn’t understand kinship, sympathy, or mercy either. That was why the ogre was a beast—an ugly beast. The beast howled loudly, baring its fangs. Its fury was directed solely at me.

Come.

Here stood a hunter who was out for his prey.

I’ll show you.

The ogre took a step. A part of the castle wall which had precariously managed to remain standing crumbled helplessly.

The ugly beast had giant feet. Whenever it took a step, the ground trembled, and some of the walls—the empire’s last line of defense—collapsed.

—Set your feet, look forward, and wield your sword to kill the enemies.

The task at hand hadn’t changed one bit. I threw myself at the beast.

The huge beast took another step. That was the moment I had been waiting for. The moment its club came up to throw me out of its way, I moved my sword right in front of it. The holy sword’s white light shot into its eyes.

However, the ogre was already too far into its swing to change the course of its attack.

Why? Why did you give a Class EX Skill to a bastard like him?

A moment stretched into infinity. As I avoided the ogre’s club, I thought about Yoo Soo-Ha, the Fire Emperor. I wondered...why the Tower had given him the regression Skill.

It didn’t have to be a saint. All you had to do was give the Skill to a more reasonable, sane person. Then there wouldn’t have been any problem—so why? Why in the world did you have to give that Skill to a psychopath?

The ogre’s club brushed right past me thanks to the holy sword’s blinding light. It gave me a brief opening, so I ran.

Wait... Is that it? Yoo Soo-Ha is the only one who could conquer the Tower? Do people have to be like him to stand at the top?

The ogre’s eyes widened when it realized that I was in the air. The beast tried to use its club on me again, but it was too late.

Don’t be ridiculous! I’ll clear the twentieth stage instead of the Fire Emperor. Not just the twentieth stage—I’m going to do the same with the thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth, seventieth, eightieth, ninetieth, ninety-ninth, and the hundredth floor!

I was going to show them. All the way to the top.

[Your presence has become stronger.]

[Hunter Kim Gong-Ja’s level has increased.]

My sword cut neatly through the ogre’s neck, splashing blood across the ground. The ogre’s hide was tough, but my sword was sharper. Although the ogre had vibrant vitality, it was dull compared to my aura.

The ogre refused to die. Even in its last moments, it swung its arms. There was no need to panic. I just attacked it one more time.

[Your Skill Slots have increased.]

[Your Hunter Class is D.]

The ogre’s head fell to the ground.

Its body joined it a little later.

[May luck be with you.]

The dust cloud gradually settled.

I saw the monsters marching for the ruins of the gates. The seemingly endless wave of monsters slowed, cowed by the fall of the huge ogre.

No sound could be heard other than the rain. The empire’s soldiers watched me from the walls, while the Demon King’s monsters were gripped by fear.

I stood alone. More eyes were drawn to me with each passing moment, and more of the Demon King’s creatures began to back away.

—Congratulations, you dominated thirty seconds. The Guardian grinned.

Someone stepped past me. I could tell who it was just from their back. They were wearing a black suit and had white hair—it was the Sword Star.

The Sword Star sprinted past, splashing his way through puddles. The strongest Hunter drew his sword and swept it in front of him.

One attack cost dozens of goblins their heads and just as many orcs their lower bodies, adding more red to the battlefield. One second, two seconds, three seconds... It was over quickly, but the fresh blood was darker than the rain, making the Sword Star’s impact impossible to ignore.

He slowly turned away from his bloody painting and looked at me. His lips moved, but time was still moving too slow for me to really understand him.

The Sword Star noticed that I was behaving oddly and smiled faintly. He added a little aura to his voice.

“...That was splendid.”

The Sword Star held up his sword in the rain. Its color was red, so his sword remained scarlet even after the rain washed it clean.

“My name is Marcus Carlenbery, young man.”

I had no words. I realized that the Sword Star was paying his respects to me in his own way.

It was my second time listening to the Rank 1 Hunter introducing himself. My first time was when I had still been wandering on the first floor. In a remote alley, the Fire Emperor had clutched my head as he whispered to me, “My name is Yoo Soo-Ha. Goodbye.”

I had been killed on that day.

Today, I heard my second introduction. They were different names and belonged to different people. Suddenly I felt that I was different as well. It made me realize that I now had the opportunity to do something that I never got to do the first time.

“My name is Kim Gong-Ja, sir.”

Today, I got to introduce myself.