Chapter – 05
Time flies like an arrow, or so some fool once said.
Lately, I found myself deeply agreeing with that statement.
It was already nearly two months since I had taken up residence at the Bonglimhwasan (Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain) Association.
A day would pass in the blink of an eye.
It felt as if someone had hit fast-forward, making time flow at twice its normal speed.
Pushing away the lingering fragments of dreams, I slowly rose from the bed.
It was morning.
No, it was too early for morning.
Right. It was dawn.
The sound of pouring rain filled the surrounding air, playing a monotonous melody.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I finally got up.
I liked rainy days.
While others often felt depressed on gloomy days, I was the opposite.
Swoooosh. There was something in the sound of the rain circling my ears that stimulated a sensitivity deep within a corner of my soul.
Getting out of bed, I flung the window open.
The sound of the rain grew louder.
Even as the rain-laden wind began to dampen the room, I paid it no mind and looked up at the black sky, thick with dark clouds.
A torrential downpour.
There was no way anyone could do anything outside in this weather.
The wind was cold.
The scale of the storm exceeded expectations.
I was lost in the illusion that the world was about to be submerged.
A thick mist rose all the way to the horizon, shrouding everything in sight.
Suddenly, a translucent blue hologram message appeared before my eyes.
『Load.
Echo of Estalnisia.
The continent of Estalnisia possesses its own unique music.
The crashing waves, the whispering wind, the cries of beasts—the sounds echoing from all around create the special music of this continent.
Listening to the rain, you fell into deep thought.
Yes.
Each part of nature is both an instrument and a musician.
If these ancient instruments were to combine with long-forgotten scores from the past, perhaps another great music might be discovered.
You have gained insight into the skill [Natural Music Performance].
However, you have only vaguely grasped the concept of the skill. To use it, you must either achieve a greater enlightenment or be taught how to use the skill by a person or a book.』
As I averted my gaze, the message soon disappeared without a trace.
This world was like that.
Just from watching the raindrops fall and getting lost in thought, it arbitrarily interpreted my actions and gave a reward.
Estalnisia was excessively generous to ‘Otherworlders’.
For any action taken, it would instantly react, display a message, and grant a reward.
If you received a message saying, ‘Since you ran a lot, you’ll be able to run better,’ you would indeed, thereafter, become slightly better at running.
If you received a message like, ‘Because of this, your understanding of swordsmanship has increased,’ then the sharpness of your sword techniques would improve.
This was called Hologram Support.
Growth based on that.
The growth of Otherworlders easily defied common sense.
It was a common occurrence for an Otherworlder to catch up to and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a ‘Native’ who had built up their power over a hundred years, all within a mere ten years.
In all fields: swordsmanship, magic, music, divinity, art, alchemy, spirit communication, even summoning.
Of course, among them, there were certainly those who were exceptionally outstanding.
The source of such growth was the hologram messages, just like the one I had received.
If one could receive these rewards more frequently and more substantially, growth would naturally become more pronounced.
I looked outside through the window once more.
The heavy downpour, with its large droplets, didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon.
Forcing my aching and sore body, still feeling the aftereffects of training, to move, I stretched and headed out of the room.
* * *
Gared.
The day of the old man, now one hundred and twenty-six years old, began with simple stretching.
While doing a handstand on a single finger, bending and straightening his arms—an act closer to a feat than exercise—he didn’t break a sweat or even a single breath.
Standing beside him, a feline beast-person holding a few documents.
Hesse.
“Chairman, how many times have I asked you to refrain from doing that even in the chairman’s office?”
“My joints ache when it rains. You understand.”
“On a clear day, you definitely said, ‘When else would I move if not on a day like this?’ and asked me to understand, didn’t you?”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“If you wish, Chairman. A merchant requested an escort from Ajin Emir to the Magic Tower.”
“Tch, again? They can just leave that kind of thing to the mercenaries over there. Tell them no. They’re really taking the Association lightly, aren’t they?”
“The problem is, Councilor Estelle’s official seal is stamped on it. If we refuse carelessly, our relationship with that side might…”
“Ugh. Was that person involved with the merchant group too? Aigoo. I can’t stand troublesome things. Fine, tell them we’ll do it. And make it clear this is the last time.”
“I’ll do that. Ah. Also… You remember the meeting with Nox Nim in three days, right? They contacted us, saying they’re sorry, but they need to postpone the appointment. They said something extremely important suddenly came up…”
“Understood. Ah, right. What about the letter we sent to the Papal Office last time? The matter about Franz.”
“Chairman, please. It takes at least three months just to get to the Papal Office. Even if Kane is a good rider. Considering the round trip, you’ll have to wait at least three more months, even at the earliest.”
“Right… that’s true. It just feels uneasy. Hoho.”
Receiving reports from Hesse about the Association’s affairs was one of the old man’s important daily routines.
Mostly, the old man’s work consisted of simple decisions: ‘Do it like this,’ or ‘Don’t do it like that.’
Although it was simple work of granting or denying permission, it was also work that no one else in the Association could do in his stead.
Hesse read through the documents in her arms a few more times carefully, then finally filed them away in a folder.
It meant today’s reporting was over.
She bowed to the old man and was about to leave the chairman’s office to attend to her own work when,
As if remembering something, she stopped.
“By the way, Chairman.”
“Hmm?”
“Ah. It’s nothing.”
“You certainly know how to make an old man shudder with curiosity. What is it?”
“It’s really trivial. Truly.”
“Now, now. Is there anything we can’t say between you and me? I’m hurt.”
Encouraged by the old man, Hesse brought up the words she had swallowed.
Her tone was cautious.
“Um… It’s really nothing major. And it’s not that I’m trying to criticize or question your teachings or anything.”
The old man’s attention was drawn to one specific word she chose.
Teachings?
Lately, the only people the old man could be said to be ‘teaching’ were Kang Juhyuk and Lee Woohyun.
The reason Hesse was being this hesitant must be because she judged that there was some problem, in her view.
What could that ‘something’ be?
The old man listened carefully to his secretary’s next words.
After hesitating for a while, Hesse finally began.
“Well. Mr. Lee Woohyun… I know he lacks the talent that Mr. Kang Juhyuk possesses…”
“It’s only been two months. We shouldn’t be measuring what’s overflowing and what’s lacking already.”
Even as he said that, the old man didn’t think Hesse’s words were particularly wrong.
The old man and Hesse were among those who knew quite a lot about Otherworlders.
They grew dozens of times faster than ordinary people, regardless of the field.
For such Otherworlders, two months was enough time to gauge their talent.
“Making him train outside even on a day like today when it’s pouring rain is a little…”
Isn’t it excessive?
Hesse swallowed the rest of her words, but her expression alone conveyed her meaning to the old man.
For the old man, it was a puzzling story.
Training? In this rain?
He swore he had never ordered such training.
Didn’t he clearly tell him last night?
‘Heavy rain is coming tomorrow, so rest well and we’ll see each other the day after.’
He soon realized the full story.
*Sigh.* He let out a breath filled with futility.
Shouldn’t he rest on a stormy day, at least?
Lee Woohyun.
In Kang Juhyuk’s case, he was beyond a genius; calling him a monster was no exaggeration at all.
If you taught him something, he would perfectly execute the movement within a day or two.
Once, as a test, the old man had demonstrated a technique for him, and after seeing it just once, he immediately mimicked it exactly, matching the form.
Although he hadn’t grasped the subtleties contained within the technique, and the total amount of Ki he possessed was still far insufficient, making it incomparable to the old man’s…
Put differently, it meant that once those issues were resolved, he could replicate a move of the Sword Saint, known as the greatest swordsman on the continent.
It wasn’t that Lee Woohyun lacked talent for the sword.
On the contrary, it was overflowing.
He, too, was a prodigy among prodigies, the kind that appears maybe once in a decade.
But conclusively, the difference in their talents was stark, to the point where comparing them to a human and a monkey wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Because talent is relative.
Yet, astonishingly, their achievements were similar.
Astonishing.
That word might be an understatement to describe it.
Perhaps the word ‘miracle’ could convey its full meaning.
What Kang Juhyuk learned in one attempt, Lee Woohyun had to repeat a hundred times to barely keep up.
Even so, if you compared their current swordsmanship, you couldn’t hastily declare which one was better.
If someone said it was only the second month, so a sufficient gap hadn’t formed yet, the old man could easily guess that person’s perspective.
They were probably blind, unable to see clearly even an inch in front of them through the haze.
The Sword Saint was the old man.
It meant he was an old person, that he was aged, that the years he had lived were vast.
Naturally, he had seen many types of people.
He had seen many talented people, but he had seen even more untalented ones.
The strange thing about the world is that it’s not rare for the tooth of the untalented to sink into the neck of the talented.
Having experienced such moments countless times,
The old man had come to name the tooth possessed by the untalented ‘Effort’.
Did Kang Juhyuk become complacent with his talent and neglect effort?
That wasn’t the case.
He, too, spent his days in training that burned his flesh and grated his bones.
But that was all.
Just as talent is relative, so is effort.
If his training was scraping the bones, then Lee Woohyun’s training was literally grinding down the soul.
In terms of effort, Kang Juhyuk couldn’t hold a candle to Lee Woohyun.
Just as Lee Woohyun couldn’t compare to Kang Juhyuk’s talent.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
Hesse was quick on the uptake, and thus didn’t say things like ‘Where to?’ She could roughly guess what was going on from the old man’s complicated expression.
* * *
I said that the growth of abilities through messages, commonly known as 『Rewards』, is the source of the Otherworlders’ growth.
And that the more and greater the 『Rewards』 one receives, the more pronounced the growth naturally becomes.
Then, what is the method?
How can one receive many rewards?
Simply repeating the same action has its limits in triggering the appearance of messages.
Also, in absolute terms, even for the same action, the reward received differs depending on the individual’s level.
To give an example, suppose there’s a five-year-old child and a twenty-year-old youth.
If both run the same ten kilometers, praise like ‘You did really well!’ and a message might appear for the five-year-old, but for the youth, it wouldn’t even show its tail.
Similarly, if someone who just picked up a sword for the first time swings it a thousand times on the spot, they might receive praise for their superhuman mental strength, but if I, in my current state, swing it a thousand times, that blue hologram would never appear.
Regarding rewards obtained through training, it is determined by how close that training comes to the individual’s limits—whether a message appears or not, and whether the reward is substantial or not.
『Load.
The Stubborn Swordsman.
‘What drives him to push himself so hard?’
Dark black clouds fill the sky, and the sorrow of the displaced sun, with nowhere to go, turns into tears, filling rivers and forming seas.
It means it’s a rainy day.
A lot.
The record-breaking heaviest rainfall in thirty-seven years has hit Danan, the capital of the Etelheda Kingdom.
On days like this, activities outside are usually greatly restricted.
What can one do when rainwater submerges up to the ankles?
The farmer puts his hoe away in the shed,
The merchant returns his goods to the warehouse,
The swordsman sheathes his blade.
Everyone…
Yes.
Everyone.
That’s the wrong expression.
Thanks to one crazy person here.
Please don’t be too upset.
What other word than ‘crazy’ could describe a human who insists on being outside swinging a sword while a torrential downpour falls as if the sky is collapsing?
Therefore, I have decided to call you crazy from now on.
Sword-crazy guy.
A Sword Maniac.劍痴
– If bards ever hear of this episode, they will not hesitate to call you a Sword Maniac.』
『Load.
Unyielding in Inclement Weather.
How many humans are there who directly confront the whims of nature with their bare bodies?
No, is calling this ‘fighting’ even the right expression?
Swinging a sword heedless of the storm.
It must be an act of unparalleled ignorance.
Passion for the sword?
Do you think that can gloss it over?
However, it’s certainly an act not just anyone can perform. Then, there should be a reward for the hardship.
– When swinging a sword, you will be slightly less affected by weather conditions.』
For a training session performed in the pouring rain, the reward wasn’t exactly satisfying.
I didn’t stop swinging my sword.
Because I had to become stronger.
