C313
Clang!
When Choi Han’s sword clashed with the ex-hero Gisk’s, Cale was taken aback.
“No, not now…”
Choi Han hasn’t completed the registration yet!
This meant that Choi Han’s detailed attributes weren’t fully reflected in his current state. Since he wasn’t a fully registered NPC, Choi Han couldn’t use his full power. Just as Cale needed to complete his registration to access all his abilities, Choi Han also needed it to fully unleash his strength.
“Huh?”
But as he watched the situation unfold, Cale paused.
Clang!
“They’re evenly matched?”
Clang, clank!
The swords clashed again and again. Gisk and Choi Han were evenly exchanging blows, neither gaining ground.
“Master!”
Meanwhile, Cale heard Dark Bear urgently calling him.
“Gisk is an ex-hero and was originally the boss of the seventh evil.”
Huh?
“What do you mean?”
Wasn’t the Ancient Dragon Neo always the boss here?
“I mentioned that the concept of this place is a fairy tale, didn’t I?”
Dark Bear, always quick to explain, began clarifying.
“The seventh evil isn’t just a simple fairy tale but a distorted and cruel world with a fairy tale background. Each field has an owner, and the one recognized as the final boss becomes the leader of the entire field.”
Multiple cruel fairy tale fields. Combined, they form the seventh evil, the Hell of Time.
“The original boss was Gisk, the hero who defeated the owners of each field.”
“And then?”
“One day…”
Dark Bear’s expression turned serious.
“The dragon that ruled the Cotton Candy Field, which lured children, changed.”
Cale realized that the first place they arrived at was the Cotton Candy Field.
“Was that dragon Neo?”
“Yes. Neo defeated Gisk and made him the guardian of his house.”
“And since then, Neo became the boss of this place?”
“Yes. And…”
Dark Bear hesitated but then continued speaking.
“And the other field bosses didn’t know about this change.”
“What do you mean?”
“They all assumed that Neo had always been the boss of the seventh evil.”
Dark Bear sighed, trying to hide the trembling in his front paws.
“I’m the only one who remembers the change. No, no!”
Dark Bear’s voice rose.
“The other field bosses knew that Neo had defeated Gisk and become the new boss. But they didn’t know that Neo wasn’t the original dragon of the Cotton Candy Field. No one recognized the dragon that appeared after the update. Only I recognized it!”
A mutant. An entity that sensed external interventions and changes in the game’s system. This thought formed in Cale’s mind.
“Neo didn’t make you a boss just to have you as a subordinate.”
Dark Bear’s eyes shook.
“You were a threat because you knew the secret. He kept you close to keep an eye on you, didn’t he?”
Dark Bear nodded.
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes tightly before opening them again to continue.
“Anyway, Gisk is now just a corrupted guardian, an ex-hero.”
Hmm.
Cale felt something odd in Dark Bear’s explanation and pointed it out.
“Then why would a hero be the boss of the seventh evil?”
Aren’t heroes supposed to be more just?
“I don’t know. But his original title was ‘hero.’”
Cale opened the mission window.
[@#% Mission activated!]
[1. Find the hero with Count Lupe and stop the terrifying @#God trying to destroy this world.]
[2. Find my brother with Count Lupe.]
[Requester: System]
Cale glanced away from the mission window, still showing errors, and asked Dark Bear.
“So, is Gisk really strong?”
He was originally the boss of the seventh evil.
“Yes, he’s very strong! I barely…”
“Huh?”
“Ugh!”
Dark Bear, startled, covered his mouth with a paw, but seeing Cale’s gaze, he slowly lowered it and spoke sincerely.
“The truth is that I was originally an assistant to the hero. A little bear who wanted to become a hero.”
Dark Bear’s eyes seemed genuinely pure as he spoke shyly. Cale looked at him with a strange expression.
Finally, he saw a childlike emotion in Dark Bear’s eyes as he looked at the hero.
‘…He’s concerned.’
Dark Bear was worried about the hero, though he tried to ignore it.
“Hmmm.”
“...!”
Sensing Cale’s gaze, Dark Bear quickly looked away from the hero and turned to Cale with determination.
“Anyway, we need to defeat that weak and corrupted ex-hero! Master!”
“Really?”
“Yes?”
Dark Bear was surprised by Cale’s reaction. Cale let out an ironic laugh and casually said.
“It seems you’re not the only mutant.”
“What?”
Cale pointed at Gisk.
“The ex-hero isn’t fighting seriously.”
Clang! Clang!
Gisk and Choi Han were only using their sword skills. It was purely a physical fight.
From a distance, Lock’s voice reached Cale’s ears.
“Human, Choi Han seems to be enjoying it!”
“It looks like he’s having fun!”
“Yes, he seems to be enjoying it.”
Dark Bear’s eyes widened.
“What, what did you say?”
Dark Bear looked at Cale, who started speaking to Gisk.
“Did you hear us?”
They weren’t that far away.
“The former boss of the seventh evil, no, the seventh evil itself wouldn’t have overlooked a conversation this close, right?”
Chaeng!
Gisk ignored Cale’s words.
C-C-Clang!
Instead, he attacked Choi Han with more speed.
A smile crossed Choi Han’s face as he spoke.
Clang!
Even in the midst of the battle, their swords clashed.
“You didn’t learn swordsmanship formally, did you?”
“And neither did you, it seems.”
Gisk licked his dry lips. His eyes, once tired and fatigued, now shone with strange energy. His gaze focused on Choi Han and his sword.
“…You’re like a stray dog.”
He couldn’t hide his excitement.
“But I can’t keep playing.”
Suddenly, Gisk changed the direction of his sword.
Whooosh!
The sound of wind wrapped around his blade.
“Gisk of the Whirlwind!”
Dark Bear unknowingly exclaimed, his voice filled with emotion. But Choi Han’s sword moved without hesitation.
Boom!
The impact was different this time. Dust and wind rose.
Crash!
The sound of someone being pushed back echoed.
Bang!
The ex-hero Gisk crashed into the door of the candy house.
“…Ha.”
He lowered his head.
Five steps.
That was the distance he had been pushed back. The chains tied to his ankles tightened.
If it weren’t for those chains and the door, he would have been pushed back even further.
“No.”
If his opponent hadn’t held back, he would have been completely thrown back, with the chains ripped out.
Gisk raised his head.
“...”
Choi Han. A being without a title or nickname, just a name.
Yet, he was still there, having not moved an inch.
“This can’t be!”
Dark Bear was shocked.
“No, this can’t be happening.”
Dark Bear’s voice rang in Gisk’s ears. The young bear who used to follow him across the seventh evil field was now yelling in anger.
“The Hero hasn’t even used a fraction of his true power.”
Gisk let out a bitter laugh. His eyes shifted to the chains and shackles that bound him to a nearby stake, next to which was a tray of food. That tray of food, always filled with expensive, high-quality meals, was secretly left by the bear while Gisk pretended to sleep.
“And he hasn’t used his hero’s sword either.”
Dark Bear continued talking, filled with frustration, as he lightly stomped the ground with his paws. Gisk, however, paid no attention to him and looked at Choi Han.
“If you were fully registered, you’d be able to use all your power. Just like me, you’re only using your sword skills without employing any special strength.”
It was true. Both were on equal footing. Gisk looked at Choi Han with a neutral expression.
“Your style is rough and unrefined, but you have solid fundamentals.”
A sarcastic smile appeared on his face.
“I thought you were a stray dog like me, learning to fight on the battlefield without any formal training, but you have solid roots.”
Choi Han came from a family that practiced ancient swordsmanship, adapting those techniques to his own style.
“I guess it’s hard without having roots.”
The spark in Gisk’s eyes began to fade, replaced by a sense of melancholy.
Gisk had learned his sword skills in countless battlefields after being chosen as a Hero. As the son of a farmer, he had received no formal training. His swordsmanship, developed purely for survival, lacked roots.
‘I have no foundation.’
Yes, as the nobles and the queen had said, he lacked fundamentals. Without the special power granted to heroes, Gisk was just an ordinary person with no exceptional talent.
‘That’s why I lost.’
He lost to that dragon who suddenly appeared and defeated him. His face, marked by fatigue, darkened even more.
“In the end, without being the Hero, this is all I am…”
At that moment, Choi Han spoke.
“If you were in your complete state, you wouldn’t have been defeated so easily.”
“What?”
Gisk looked at Choi Han, who pointed at his face.
“Your face. It seems like you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Hearing those words, Cale spoke loudly, though it seemed like he was talking to himself.
“Is he also trapped in some sort of temporal prison created by Neo?”
“...?”
For the first time, Gisk directly looked at Cale. A smile appeared on Cale’s face as he saw Gisk’s reaction.
“It seems something happens to you when you sleep. Is it Neo’s doing?”
Gisk remained silent and closed his eyes. Every time he slept, he relived the nightmare of giving up everything as a Hero to become the master of the seventh evil, feeling powerless in his dreams, which were like a curse. Only Neo could release Gisk from that curse, so he was forced to remain chained.
Exactly, he no longer wanted to do anything. He just wanted to sink into nothingness.
At that moment, Choi Han continued speaking.
“You have roots too.”
“What?”
Gisk opened his eyes and saw Choi Han’s clear gaze without a hint of falsehood.
“The growth of a sword style over time is natural. But all techniques have a beginning.”
Choi Han sheathed his sword.
“The sword is made to cut and strike. If you have your own style to achieve that, then you have roots. You already have them; it’s just the beginning.”
When it came to the sword, Choi Han was honest.
“No matter how rough it is.”
A smile appeared on his lips.
“Your swordsmanship has been very enjoyable for me.”
Suddenly, a thought crossed Choi Han’s mind.
‘The Heavenly Demon would find it interesting.’
Gisk’s swordsmanship, despite lacking form and structure, focused entirely on the sword’s purpose. That was the essence of swordsmanship itself.
“I would like to face you again.”
When Choi Han said that sincerely, Gisk began to laugh.
“Ha, ha, ha.”
Gisk stood up, moving away from the candy door he had fallen against.
The chains clattered, but he didn’t care. Instead, he dropped the sword he had been holding.
Clang.
Ignoring the fallen sword, Gisk drew a scabbard from his waist.
“Is that…?”
Dark Bear’s surprised voice was heard as Gisk, looking at Cale, spoke. Cale seemed to be the leader of Choi Han.
“One day, like Dark Bear, I understood the truth of this world.”
Cale’s eyes lit up.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems you’ve met others like us.”
Cale had encountered Count Lupe.
“I believe that this mysterious force that enlightens us…”
Gisk paused before continuing.
“I believe that this mysterious force shows us the truth of this world.”
As Cale listened, he thought of something.
Perhaps the more the hunters and gods tried to manipulate this world, the more they intervened externally, the more the system would try to create flaws to protect this world, just like Jungwon protected the Central Plains.
‘Won.’
Maybe he should talk to ‘Won, also known as One,’ derived from the system, about this. Perhaps Won knew the system’s intentions.
“Even though I know the truth, I can’t do anything. Or rather, I don’t want to do anything.”
Gisk continued speaking, and Cale paid close attention.
“But maybe I can find someone who can. Or maybe this is my mission.”
A smile appeared on Gisk’s face. Although he was tired, he seemed to feel at peace.
He drew a sword from his waist, different from the one he had used against Choi Han.
“Could it be…?”
Dark Bear’s voice was filled with disbelief.
Gisk quietly extended the sword towards Choi Han. Seeing this, Dark Bear cried out in desperation.
“The Hero’s Sword!”
The Hero’s Sword. As those words reached Cale, Gisk shook his head.
“The Hero’s Sword is not the name of this sword.”
The worn hilt and scabbard were in full view. Gisk calmly spoke to Choi Han.
“The Sword of the Sun.”
It was the Sword of the Sun.
“Only those chosen by the Sun can wield this sword.”
A translucent screen appeared in front of Choi Han.
“Choi Han, I would like you to deliver this sword to the Hero.”
[@#% Mission activated!]
[1. Find the Hero in place of the corrupted ex-hero Gisk and deliver the Sword of the Sun.]
“But.”
Gisk firmly addressed Choi Han.
“Only give this sword to someone you recognize. Those you don’t acknowledge have no right to be Heroes.”
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Meanwhile.
“What is this?”
Crown Prince Alberu Crossman, known in the game as the “Profane Emperor,” frowned.
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Main Mission 2 [Become the Hero and stop the birth of a ?? God!]
He still hadn’t accepted the second main mission. Below it, a new side mission appeared. He had never seen something like this before.
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Related Side Mission 1 [Earn the recognition of the Swordsman who enlightened the ex-hero.]
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“Wow.”
Alberu Crossman shook his head with an incredulous smile.
‘It seems I’ll have much to discuss with Cale Henituse.’
Sighing, Alberu returned to focusing on his game, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling creeping over him.
