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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 122
The situation had devolved into utter chaos in an instant.
Even Seonghyun couldn't help but let out a sigh.
‘First, let’s sort out the situation.’
The one thing Seonghyun could deal with right now…
Was one.
‘This is actually perfect timing.’
With that thought, Seonghyun connected with the ghost attached to Kim Chegeon—the one called Clara.
He didn't absorb its memories right away.
He established a connection first.
-Oh!? W-what is this?
‘I’ve just connected with you for a moment.’
-Oho?!
Once connected with the guardian spirit, it could understand Seonghyun even when he spoke with his thoughts.
Originally, it had been speaking in German, so only Seonghyun could understand it, but by connecting like this, their intentions became mutually intelligible.
Seonghyun first connected with the guardian spirit and then assessed the situation.
So.
“You and Ms. Kim Chegeon know each other, Sis?”
“S-Sis? Then, does that mean Player Yoo Mina is Seonghyun-nim's older sister!?”
“Well, yeah, something like that. How do you know Clara?”
“Keuheum! This one is called Kim Chegeon! Please do not use the name Clara in this land of Joseon, Player Yoo Mina.”
“...You really haven't changed at all...”
Clara, who kept denying her real name and insisting she was Kim Chegeon, and Yoo Mina, who looked thoroughly fed up.
Seonghyun could now somewhat piece things together.
“Then, don't tell me you two...”
“Yeah, we sparred once. It was at an event where various swordsmanship practitioners interacted, in our capacity as national kendo representatives.”
“Keum, keum, for this one, it was an occasion to splendidly witness the swordsmanship of Joseon and broaden one's horizons.”
“...”
After hearing his sister's and Kim Chegeon's words, Seonghyun glared at his sister, Yoo Mina.
‘Was Sis the reason Kim Chegeon ended up like that?’
It seemed likely.
‘Could it be that she became obsessed with ‘Joseon’ after losing to Yoo Mina and ended up this way?’
-Indeed, that is a correct thought. After that, my descendant went on and on about ‘Joseon, Joseon,’ became completely fascinated by it, and ended up coming all the way to this distant foreign land.
Even the guardian spirit confirmed that his thought was correct.
Actually, rather than it being his sister Yoo Mina's fault…
‘She's really something else.’
It was true that Kim Chegeon was the strange one.
To put it mildly, she was strange.
In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a nutcase.
Therefore, Seonghyun scratched his head for a moment before quickly trying to manage the situation.
“It was nice meeting you like this, but we're in the middle of a family gathering...”
“Ah, my apologies for the intrusion. Then, I shall contact you next time. May the parents of Seonghyun-nim and Player Yoo Mina also be in good health.”
Kim Chegeon said, bowing deeply before leaving.
And then, the guardian spirit attached to Kim Chegeon urgently exclaimed.
-Aaat! P-please, take my memories and experiences too! A-and if you often encounter my descendant, please try to stop her!!!
Seonghyun couldn't ignore the guardian spirit's urgent words.
He absorbed its memories.
He had been curious about it anyway.
If anything, it was a good thing.
Though, whether he could stop Kim Chegeon was another story.
Anyway, as he absorbed the memories, he had an epiphany regarding the fusion of sword skills he had been pondering all day.
‘Ah?!’
Seonghyun scratched his cheek at the surprisingly simple method.
‘This… I should try it out as soon as I get home, shouldn’t I?’
As Seonghyun thought this and grinned,
Yoo Mina, who saw it, glared at him and said,
“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Clara?”
“What? What are you talking about???”
Seonghyun’s expression turned serious, as if he’d heard something utterly absurd.
Seeing that, Yoo Mina looked at Seonghyun with a displeased expression.
As if she were interrogating him.
However, Seonghyun glared back at his sister, looking genuinely dumbfounded.
Seeing that, Yoo Mina clicked her tongue and shook her head.
“Aigoo, I was wondering if my little brother was finally getting a girlfriend~”
“Oh my, my? That’s what I thought too? Seonghyun, dear, it looked like that young lady was interested in you~?”
As his sister and mother, Lee Nahkyung, said that,
Seonghyun, looking a bit annoyed himself, glared at them both.
His father, Yoo Gwangjin, stepped in.
“Keum, both of you, stop it. You're making Seonghyun uncomfortable.”
“Father...!”
As Seonghyun looked delighted at his father, Yoo Gwangjin, who had taken his side for the first time in a while,
Father Yoo Gwangjin added one more thing.
“Keum keum, Seonghyun. This dad is okay with a foreign daughter-in-law too.”
“Aaah!!! Dad!!!”
As Seonghyun also shouted "Dad!" for the first time in a while, yelling loudly, the whole family burst into laughter, ha-ha, ho-ho.
They were indeed a harmonious family.
Except for Seonghyun.
“Haaaah.”
Anyway, his entire family was wholeheartedly serious about teasing him.
But well, it was okay.
Because Seonghyun had obtained what he wanted.
The memories obtained through the guardian spirit.
He had learned a technique to unite sword skills with different attributes into one.
‘I want to go test it out quickly.’
6.
After returning home, he immediately washed up and changed his clothes.
He got into the capsule and logged in.
[Welcome to Eternal World, another world, and an eternal one.]
[May Player 『Seonghyun』 be blessed with good fortune in battle.]
He let the phrases that surfaced in his mind drift away like a beam of light.
Seonghyun headed to the training grounds.
As Seonghyun, who had suddenly appeared, headed straight for the training ground,
-What the!?
-The esteemed one suddenly appeared and is heading to the training grounds?
-Could it be that he has attained some sort of enlightenment?
-Ehei! Man, even so, it's not possible to combine sword styles into one like that!
-Wouldn't he at least try something similar?
-He's a genius, so he might be able to do it with time, but at least not now when not even a full day has passed! It's absurd! Yes! Absolutely.
Even as they said such things, the elf knight ghosts headed towards the training ground where Seonghyun was going.
Even though they knew it wouldn't work.
The reason was that they wanted to see Seonghyun gradually develop.
Soon, when all the ghosts had gathered at the training ground,
Seonghyun could be seen facing a wooden golem.
However, Seonghyun remained perfectly still, not moving at all.
At that moment.
A teal light flared in Seonghyun's eyes.
A glint like the sharp eyes of a predator that had found its prey flashed, and at that instant, the wooden golem moved.
‘There are sword styles that can be mixed, and there are those that cannot.’
It would be great if all sword styles could be mixed, but that’s not possible.
According to the memories of the guardian spirit, who was called a Meister of sword arts, that was the case.
Various sword styles, but among them, Seonghyun combined the ones that were most compatible.
A heavy sword style, and a domineering sword style.
These two went quite well together.
The heavy sword style pressed down on the opponent as if to crush them, and the domineering sword style was one where the sword was wielded solely for the opponent's destruction.
After combining those two, he mixed in an unconventional sword style.
When the weight that could crush and press down anything, the domineering force that aimed for the opponent's destruction, and the unconventional sword style that accurately pierced the opponent's openings came together as one—
Krrrk! Krk!
A sound like screaming, of muscles tearing, echoed from Seonghyun's body.
He even took damage as if an overload had occurred, but Seonghyun ignored it and continued.
As the sword was swung with the sound of his body tearing, the unconventional sword accurately targeted and exploited the wooden golem's openings, the heavy sword amplified its power, and the domineering sword style directly increased its sharpness.
Kwa-jijijijijij—!
As the sword struck the wooden golem's torso in a single blow, with a ripping sound, the wooden golem's upper body was torn to shreds.
-Good heavens—!
-H-how can this be—!
-W-what did I just see!??
-S-since becoming a ghost, I've never seen anything like this!!!
-Unbelievable!!!
Though the ghosts cried out in amazement at what they saw,
Seonghyun frowned, as if he wasn't quite satisfied.
He had managed to combine three sword styles into one using the guardian spirit's memories, but he wasn't satisfied.
‘The domineering sword style didn’t fit well.’
The result just now was a level of power achievable enough with just the heavy sword style and the unconventional sword style.
But because he mixed in the domineering sword style, he even took damage he wouldn't have otherwise.
This time, he would try mixing different sword styles.
Seonghyun reactivated the wooden golem and this time mixed different sword styles together.
A fast sword style, an unconventional sword style, and even a flamboyant sword style.
When he mixed the three, a completely different level of effect appeared this time.
As the fast, flamboyant, and unconventional styles mixed, the swordsmanship seemed undeniably fast yet appeared slow, bewildering the wooden golem.
And confused by the swords flying in from all directions, if it blocked one side, an attack would come from another.
As it displayed an effect as if his arms had multiplied, like clothes getting soaked in a drizzle, the wooden golem was quickly destroyed, scattering like dust.
-Huh!? H-he mixed sword styles again!?
-He mixed three again this time!
-Hooo. A talent that even the heavens would fear!!!
The elf knight ghosts, once again, admired him and praised Seonghyun.
However, Seonghyun, far from listening to them, focused even more intensely.
As if still finding it lacking, Seonghyun moved, more immersed in his mental image.
‘This isn’t enough.’
Simply increasing power by using multiple sword styles is good, but.
Attack is, after all, about flow.
Recalling that, Seonghyun continued his swordsmanship as if linking them one after another, like a chain where each link catches the tail of the next.
‘So I can respond immediately.’
He started by wielding the sword quickly, then gradually shifted to a heavier, domineering swing, and when the opponent tried to evade, he used flamboyant and unconventional sword styles as if to bewilder them.
‘I have many cards I can use, so I’ll use them according to the situation.’
As the wooden golem tried to struggle, he even employed a sword style that cut off its breathing, as if to obstruct its very breath, and another that sealed the opponent's movements.
The wooden golem could only collapse without being able to react in any way.
A flow where, through consecutive attacks, all of the opponent's techniques were sealed, and only he could attack.
As he executed such swordsmanship,
-…….
-…….
-…….
Now, even the ghosts were speechless.
Hadn't it been only about a day since he came here?
Yet he was already demonstrating such advanced swordsmanship.
They didn't even know what to say.
Everyone could only watch Seonghyun with their mouths shut.
Then, suddenly.
-……Perhaps the esteemed one no longer needs our sword styles?
-……That might be so…….
-Haaaah.
As the elf ghosts all became gloomy, one elf ghost said.
-N-no! Rather, if he learns more of our sword styles, won't he have even more varied cards to play! S-so, he'll definitely need our sword styles too.
He said it as if to console them, but it was also true.
Seonghyun too was feeling something similar.
“Hoo, hoo.”
Panting heavily, he recalled the swordsmanship he had just performed.
Although he could deal with many things in various situations, it was still lacking.
Because the more options one has to deal with sudden situations, the better.
‘It seems I’ll need a bit more after all.’
Panting, he had such thoughts.
Seonghyun thought of doing just a little more and gripped his sword.
Then, it suddenly occurred to him.
‘Ms. Chegeon must have learned swordsmanship too, right?’
Recalling the guardian spirit's memories, wasn't she the scion of a prestigious German swordsmanship family?
They say people who are good at sports are definitely much better at games.
It really seems to be true.
Though there were many cases where it wasn't, it seemed there were no cases where being good at sports meant one couldn't do well in Eternal World.
‘Like Sis said, I should sign up for a gym tomorrow.’
As Seonghyun was thinking that, it suddenly struck him.
‘Come to think of it, what has Ms. Chegeon been doing since joining the Rapid Guild?’
Thinking about it, he hadn't heard any recent news about her.
Well, what does it matter.
He just needed to train himself.
While thinking that, Seonghyun trained his swordsmanship and, at the same time, diligently leveled up the close-combat skills he had recently acquired.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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