Luck.
It was pure luck that helped me evade the old man's attack.
"Hmm?!"
The Sword Saint's eyes widened slightly. Perhaps, in his eyes, I was a tremendous master. So after I dodged his attack, he immediately jumped away, expecting a counterattack. What he probably didn't expect was that I would be fiercely rolling on the ground.
"Swo-, Sword Saint-nim. Wait. Please listen to me for a moment."
It didn't matter if I died. I wanted to die after all. No, what mattered was if I could fix the misconception that the Sword Saint had, then die. That way, I could avoid useless confrontations in the future.
"I'm an F-class hunter…"
"You dodged my sword. You must be a high-end assassin huh?"
"Ah! Is this old geezer deaf?!"
This was horrible. Instead of clearing up the misunderstanding, it was just getting worse.
Again, avoiding the sword had been pure luck. I couldn't even follow the blade with my eyes. The old man's skills far exceeded my cognitive abilities.
'If he attacks again, I wouldn't be able to avoid it.'
After all this, it seemed like I could only give up on convincing him. I watched the death approach in the form of a sword.
"…"
He stopped.
The Sword Saint suddenly stopped, just a step away and at first, I thought this was my chance.
'Oh? Are you ready to listen to me now?'
But the Sword Saint didn't look at me. Instead, the old man frowned at the air. Curious, I also turned my head to look but found nothing there.
"…Didn't I tell you I'd take care of it?"
The old man spoke to the open air.
"…So noisy. Catch and interrogate. So I should keep this demon alive?"
He was talking to himself.
'What the?"
The Sword Saint, who had just been about to cut me down, stopped. Instead, he began to mutter to himself. The immediate crisis was delayed a bit.
I furrowed my brow.
'Is he…is that a self-talk skill?'
Maybe. Maybe it was.
At the bar, I'd thought, 'This old man is mentally ill.' But now that I was witnessing it up close it seemed a bit different. Shall I say a bit more elaborate and sophisticated? The man truly seemed to be talking to someone.
'Is it telepathy?'
Suddenly a thought came to me. Telepathy or Sound Transmission(傳音). The ability to freely communicate from a distance. Such a skill did exist.
'Then…was he talking about me to someone else?'
A shiver went down my spine again.
'He intends to capture the man who slaughtered 4091 people.'
Wanted Criminal.
The Hunter Bureau rarely released bounties. And when they did, the targets didn't last very long. The Wanted person would be hunted by top players and would need to hide for life. If they were caught, they would be executed publicly in Babylon Square in the middle of the city.
'This is not good.'
I clenched my teeth.
'I have to die right now.'
So that everything I could go back 24 hours and let everything be reset, I had to die immediately. I stared at the Sword Saint.
"…It's too late. I've already made up my mind. Even if you're the master…"
The old man was still muttering to himself. I wasn't 100% sure if he suffered from psychosis or was really talking to someone, but even if I wasn't sure I still opened my mouth.
"How are your grandchildren doing?"
The old man stopped talking to himself. Then he slowly turned and looked at me.
"I heard that the outside world is really ugly these days. If they're the grandchildren of the great Sword Saint then they must be quite pretty. You must be very worried."
"…"
Dark blue eyes, and pupils that were as still as the ocean's depths stared into my eyes.
"It is said that you're originally from Northern Europe. I heard that terrorists there are really rampant. I don't know, maybe without your knowledge, your grandchildren have already suffered many injustices."
Suguk.
'Huh.'
The sound of an apple being cut in half rang out in the clearing.
'Huh…'
At first, I couldn't tell what had happened. I'd been watching the old man this entire time and I hadn't seen him move. Not even his lips moved.
So where did that sound come from?
The strangeness didn't end there though. Originally, the Sword Saint was standing on the ground right in front of me. But does it feel as though the ground was slowly turning over.
The horizon tilted and the moon in the sky flipped over. High in the night sky, the first quarter moon(Sanghyun) tilted and became the last quarter moon(Hahyun). The only thing on the horizon was an upside-down old man.
"…"
The old man's blue eyes just stared at me and I couldn't help but think that they truly resembled the starry sky. I could see why he was called the sword saint.
Then I realized.
'Ah.'
The ground was not upside down.
My head had been cut off and it was slowly falling.
One Hit KO(一擊)
'Beautiful.'
My eyes couldn't follow the attack of the old man, but as I saw the world after my head was cut off, I couldn't help but think it was beautiful.
After a while, my head hit something. My mind was blank and I couldn't hear anything, but I finally realized that my head had landed on the ground.
By the time I realized that there was no longer any life in my eyes.
[You have died.]
What kind of skills did he have? How long did he have to practice before he could get skills at that level?
[The skill condition has been achieved due to death.]
I was filled with emotions that were much different from when I had been killed by the Flame Emperor. I felt betrayed by the Flame Emperor and I'd wanted revenge for my wrongful death.
However, it wasn't the same with the Sword Saint.
'I want to be like that.'
'I want to have a one-hit attack too.'
This was similar to the feeling I had toward Yoo Soo-ha before I learned what he truly was like.
Jealousy. Covetousness. Adoration.
Flames of desire burned within my heart.
And there was something that responded to those flames.
[A skill of Hunter Marcus Calenbury will be randomly copied.]
Cards began to appear in the darkness around me.
[Creating Skill Cards.]
Swish!
The cards had their backs toward me so I couldn't see their information.
'Still, the colors were more pronounced than when I was killed by Yoo Soo-ha.'
Perhaps it was because I've already adapted to death.
4090 times. As the Sword saint had confirmed with his [Kill Counter] skill, I'd already experienced death thousands of times. No hunter was more familiar with death than me.
'It's not something to be proud of.'
I couldn't help but make a bitter smile.
'Please select a skill card.'
The cards floating before me all started to fly around quickly.
'Whoa!'
At first, I was surprised. But it didn't take long for me to regain my focus and begin to concentrate on the cards.
'I mustn't get anything else. Golden yellow! I can only get a golden yellow card!'
But they were fast. It seemed impossible to chase after them.
'Oh my God.'
Did I grab a golden card from these fast-moving cards when I was killed by the Flame Emperor? Me? How did I do that? I was new, but I was really lucky at that time.
'There is nothing to say, I can't get lucky again this time! Golden Yellow, where are you golden yellow?'
But I realized something strange.
'Huh?'
No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find one.
'I don't think there are any golden cards.'
Among the cards flying around in front of me, there were blue cards and silver cards. However, none of them were golden. Believing I was wrong, I focused and searched even harder to look for anyone that I missed, but found nothing.
This meant there was only one possibility.
'Re-, really?'
I was shocked.
'Is there really no..?'
From the start…the Sword Saint did not have any S-rank skills.
'This doesn't make sense!'
I wanted to scream.
'He is the number one hunter! The most legendary character before the Flame Emperor arrived and he didn't have any S-rank skills?!'
It was very hard to believe, but it was true. My skill proved it.
Marcus Calenbury, the great Sword Saint, reigned above the world without a single S-rank skill.
I was shocked and a bit fearful.
'No, no! This cannot be!'
My reaction of shock and fear were completely genuine.
'I'm sure that there are at least a few strong skills among the silver cards.'
I didn't know where to curse my situation or laugh at the odds. Nevertheless, I was eager to try my luck.
With a very earnest heart, I stared at the cards.
'Three blue cards and four silver cards.'
Seven cards in totally flew around dizzyingly.
'I can completely ignore the shit cards.'
It was a reasonable choice of course.
Now the question was which silver card to choose.
The [Kill Counter] skill was probably included in the silver cards. And he probably had an unidentified cheat skill as well.
Of course, the technique I wanted should not be as subtle as the kill counter skill and it would be better if it was a cheat skill like the resurrection skill.
'The probability is 1 out of 4.'
In other words, I could only rely on pure luck.
'Please be something good.'
I reached out my hand.
'Please, please be the one I want. The Sword Saint's cheat skill!'
Then I caught one of the silver cards.
[Selection Complete. A skill has been copied.]
[Returning to 24 hours ago.]
…
"-Huk!"
I woke up, swallowing a groan.
Side room.
A 2 pyung1 large lodge welcomed me, the familiar sight enriching my heart a bit. The futon gave off a bad smell as it hadn't been washed in a long time.
Unfortunately, this single bedroom apartment was all I could afford at the time.
"Wha-, what did I get?!"
I immediately opened my stat window, wondering if I'd succeeded or failed in my 25% gamble.
[Kim Gong-ja]
Class: F
Skills(3/4):
→I Want to Be Like You2(S+): Passive
→Returners Clockwork Watch(EX): Passive
→Sword Constellation(A+): Passive
None
(TL: Of all passives…rip…)
"Ah…"
I sighed, feeling both happy and sad.
"I'm glad I got an A+-rank skill…"
First I felt glad. Even though it wasn't an S-rank skill, I still believed this was the best one he had. I was also lucky to not get a skill like Kill Counter.
"…It's another passive skill."
Then there was my sadness. What I'd initially aimed for was a combat skill. Some kind of rare martial art. Like fencing. Or maybe a skill that awakens an aura. Most of those were active abilities.
In other words, I failed to get the best combat skill.
"Haa."
I sighed again.
"No, if I think about it, it's not so bad…"
In fact, if other hunters were to hear my lamentation now, they'd go crazy.
Where could you find A+-rank skills without having to work hard for it.
I decided to look at the bright side instead.
First, I had to focus on checking the skill out first.
Shak!
Of course, the skill cards were only visible to the hunter themself.
→I Want to Be Like You(S+): Passive
→Returners Clockwork Watch(EX): Passive
→Sword Constellation(A+): Passive
Sword Constellation.
Just by looking at the name, it was really hard to determine what the skill did.
"But even 'I Want to Be Like You' had a strange name."
It was difficult to judge whether a skill was a scam or a prize from the name alone.
Maybe it would turn out to be an amazing skill. It was a little comfort I gave myself since I was the one who grabbed the silver card.
-Ah. What's so noisy?
A voice sounded out from somewhere.
-Grandfather. This Master told you. If you want to have practice in the middle of the night, at least be quiet.
"…"
-When you move, there's no need to disturb me. I don't have to wake up. Let's treat each with manners yeah?
Slowly.
I slowly turned to look in the direction of the voice.
On a futon in a single room. I was crammed into space where I could barely lie down alone. Yet I could see something behind, though blurry. Someone was laying there, with his back to me.
"Excuse me."
I felt goosebumps.
"Who are you?"
-Huh?
And then my eyes met with someone I didn't know.
Spirit. Ghost.
Something that was clearly not a living human.
-Eh?
The ghost was large. If it wasn't for his clothes, he might've been mistaken for a gorilla. His physique was rather wide, even down to his eyebrows. And he stared at me with a shocked expression.
-Hey. Who are you?
"…I want to ask the same thing. Who are you?"
-Can you see me?
I nodded evenly.
"Yes."
-Can you hear my voice?
"Um. If we're communicating right now…maybe that is obvious"
What the hell. Am I really talking to a ghost right now?
You would think that an ordinary ghost would be like a monster, picking on everyone because of its grudges in life.
But this guy was different. He spoke and acted like a human, only with a blurry body.
-Huh, isn't that weird? I don't know what to do.
The ghost shook his head. It seemed that I wasn't the only one who couldn't understand the current situation.
-Where are we? It's as small as a doghouse. Where has that old man Marcus gone and why is there a boy like you in front of me?
Only then did I finally understand something that the ghost had said.
"Uh. By Marcus…do you mean Marcus Calenbury? The Sword Saint?"
-Tch-tch. Even a beginner like him can be called a Sword Saint? It's undeserved.
The ghost clicked his tongue as if he heard something unbelievable.
-Anyway, the name you called was right. Where is he? He should be around here.
I was dumbfounded.
'The Sword Saint is a beginner?'
The hunter who was currently ranked number one in the world. And since I intended to murder Yoo Soo-ha, maybe he would continue to reign at the very top in the far future.
What exactly was this ghost in front of me that called such a big shot, a beginner? And why was I able to suddenly see ghosts?
"…"
To answer my questions, I brought up the skill card and read the information.
[Sword Constellation]
→Rank: A+
→Effect:
→A ghost from another world. He cleared the 99th floor but failed the 100th floor and died. The resentment remained, causing him to become a ghost. He cannot interfere with the physical world, but it is possible to tamper with the owner's mind. Seek advice from his rich experience and amazing skills!
→However, no one can see the ghost except for the owner.
→This skill was copied from Hunter Marcus Calenbury.
I was lost for words.
-Hey. I said where's the old man. Are you ignoring me? Tsk. Hey. Hey! I've been doing well this past year. It's rare to find warriors like him, even if he's only so-so.
Oh my God.
It seems I copied the Sword Saint's ghost.