Chapter 95

There was a saying that went like this: Know thy enemy and know thyself. If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

I already knew a lot about the Spear Demon Byeon Gilsup. It was believed that even Shin Yeonseo, one of the strongest Korean PVPers, had to be on her toes when PVPing with Byeon Gilsup.

'Only a tiny few think so, but… there were people who put Byeon Gilsup above her.'

In PVP, a match between Players, there were countless variables. The battle could go a million different ways depending on how you utilized your opponent's weakness, timing, how quickly you could read your opponent's plan, the element and terrain of the field you were fighting on, how your condition was that day, etc. There were countless variables, and you couldn't always win. That was the reason why Shin Yeonseo wasn't called the 'strongest Korean PVPer', but 'one of the strongest Korean PVPers'.

'Because victory or loss is decided by many variables and your luck.'

At least for this match, I could control those variables and create my luck. To start, I got an item from Sunghyun.

[Wind Shoes +1]

Shoes imbued with the blessing of wind. Dramatically increases one's affinity with the wind element, bestowing a synergistic effect when using wind attribute foot techniques or movement skills. However, a full pair of two shoes must be worn for that function to apply.

Attribute: Wind

Agility +2

Grade: Rare

Level Restriction: 25

Special Skill: Can use 'Imaginary Running Start'

Equip Restriction: Wind-attribute class

If I used the special skill imbued in the Wind Shoes, I'd be able to fight a slightly more favorable ranged battle.

Sunghyun asked, "Hyung. Um… You just equipped the Wind Shoes, right?"

"Yeah. I did, just now."

"..."

He had an expression of extreme dubiousness that I didn't quite get. After a moment, he seemed convinced of something.

"Why do you ask?"

"I wasn't sure, but you really can equip them after all."

I quickly understood what Sunghyun meant.

'Come to think of it…'

Even I had to admit it was a little bewildering. My eyes were drawn to one part of the item description.

Equip Restriction: Wind-attribute class

It was clearly written in black and white that only a wind-attribute class could equip them, so how was it that I could wear the shoes? One conjecture I could come up with was that the 'Observer' class was a higher grade class with a bigger scope, and the 'wind-attribute' fell under its umbrella.

"The sovereign class seems to be a class that includes a great number of things."

"Mm."

To be precise, it wasn't sovereign, but Observer…

"If you think about it, maybe you can equip them because you have a kind of null-attribute class."

"Maybe."

His words had some sense to them. Even I didn't know everything about the 'Observer' class. It was indeed possible that it had an attribute that took precedence over all other attributes. To borrow Sunghyun's turn of phrase, a 'null-attribute'.

"Even then, it's a little hard to accept."

"..."

It was the same for me. I couldn't quite wrap my head around it, either. I just went to put them on, and they were on. Since I couldn't say that, I just kept my mouth shut.

"I'm sure that you have a secret of your own."

Sunghyun actually seemed uplifted by this revelation. His eyes were filled with a sort of… longing? The look was a little too intense for me, so I slightly averted my gaze.

'Let's just inspect the items.'

I also checked the new Great Orc Warrior item I got this time. I'd added the Great Orc Warrior's Gloves to the set via the bet with the Herdsman of Las Vegas.

Partial Set Effect: Defends against a physical attack the wearer cannot handle, limited to once per day. However, the attacker's level must not exceed level 35. If their level exceeds 35, a damage reduction effect will be triggered depending on the attack's power.

With the addition of the Great Orc Warrior's Gloves to the partial set, the upper level limit for the complete nullification effect went up from 30 to 35.

'Byeon Gilsup's level 30.'

I would be able to nullify at least one attack from him. So it was time to go to the next item.

After parting with Sunghyun, I met up with Yeonseo next. We picked a coffee shop in Yeonnam-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul.

'She looks cute in casual clothes.'

In her casual clothes, she looked like any university student and gave off a refreshing, even lively, appearance. Maybe because I was thirty on the inside, I saw her as cute rather than pretty.

Sitting on the other side of the table, Yeonseo gave me a smile that reached her eyes.

"What the, is this a date? Have you finally decided to see me as a woman?"

"..."

This smile had consigned countless men to the fate of 'Sword Empress crushers', but it didn't make me think much. Just 'oh, she's cute'.

Of course, I hadn't called her to have a date.

"Lend me your sword once."

"My sword?" Yeonseo seemed troubled for a bit. "I'm not sure I can lend it to you."

It was probably an artifact bestowed by the True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain. Since this was the early game, it would be nothing compared to the 'Demonblade Asura' she would use in the future, but it would still have the highest attack power out of all the sword items I could get my hands on right now.

'The sword's name was Asura.'

The future Sword Empress' beloved sword, Asura.

Asura was the king of the Asura Realm, also called the World of Chaos. It also meant he was the king of ghosts. That was why 'Asura' was sometimes called a ghostblade, sometimes a demonblade. It was an artifact of the highest level that had even won the title King of Swords.

'I remember the way Shin Yeonseo looked when she swept through the Battle of the Maldives.'

The video documenting Shin Yeonseo's performance had set a huge new Youtube record of half a billion views. In any case, considering there were less than ten artifacts deserving the name 'King of Swords' in the entire world before I regressed, Asura was a named blade that ranked within the global Top 10, at least in the 'sword' category.

After a long moment of intense contemplation, Yeonseo opened her mouth.

"If I let you borrow this, will you go on a date with me?"

It seemed… I needed to make things clear to her. Yeonseo was obviously a pretty woman, but she wasn't my type. I didn't know why. I just couldn't see her as a woman.

"I'm sorry, but you're not my type."

"But will you go on a date with me though?"

"I said you're not my type?"

Yeonseo's smile actually widened. I told her she wasn't my type, so why was she even happier?

"Do you always only wear clothes that are your type, eat food that's your type, and watch movies that are your type? You don't."

Her summary changed.

Summary: Woman Blazing with Determination

The dreaded 'wife' disappeared and a new keyword—'determination'—was formed. Even 'swordswoman' disappeared, replaced by 'woman'. At least in this moment, she wasn't the Swordswoman Shin Yeonseo, but the woman Shin Yeonseo.

'Determination?'

She smiled brightly at me.

"My mum says that there isn't a tree out there that won't go down after ten swings." She balled her hands into fists, pumping herself up. "If you don't go down after ten swings, I'll give up 100%. How about it?"

"..."

No matter how I looked at her, she seemed serious.

"Just lend me your sword."

"You've promised me a date, okay?"

Yeonseo lent me her sword. When I took a look at it, my mouth dropped wide open.

"Oi. What's this?"

"What do you mean, what's this? I thought you wanted to borrow it? The True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain also gave permission."

The Shin Yeonseo who once rejoiced over a 'Quality Iron Sword' was long gone.

'She… had this?' I almost ended up rubbing my eyes in disbelief. 'Why does she already have Asura?'

It looked very different from the Asura I remembered. I opened up the item description.

[Asura - Growth-Type - Fully Sealed]

The named blade the Heavenly Demon has bestowed upon his chosen successor.

A legendary weapon made by smelting the Heavenly Demon's Vital Ki / Heavenly Demonic Mountain's Spirit Ki / Magic Pearl of a Dragon.

Grade: Transcendent

Attack power: 40-63 (currently sealed)

Additional effects:

Disabled

Disabled

Disabled

Disabled

Disabled

Disabled

30% offensive innate ability damage amplification

Can be freely modified to any shape of 'blade'

Special note: In a fully sealed state. Not all of its strength can be drawn upon.

A fully sealed state. That was why the majority of its additional effects were 'disabled'. On top of that, it was a growth item.

'I see now, Asura was a growth item.'

The more Yeonseo grew, the stronger this artifact would become. It was even 'transcendent' grade. There were rumors that the transcendent existed and the top Rankers were equipped with those transcendent items, but it was my first time confirming it with my own eyes.

'Transcendent items really do exist.'

It was said that the top Rankers had a world of their own, the so-called World Above. A world that ordinary people didn't know about and could never hope to reach. It seemed that was really true. But seriously, why did an item of a grade this ridiculous even exist in the early game? There were eight frickin' additional effects currently shown.

'Even though most of the effects are disabled and the attack power is also greatly weakened…'

Even despite that, it was an extremely outstanding item. Of the items in my possession, the one with the highest attack power was Mandra's Greatsword. Considering that Mandra's Greatsword had 18-22 attack power, you could say this was one hell of a sword.

'What a jackpot.'

My plan to get overgeared and give myself the 'item halo' was going way better than I thought.

* * *

The formal name was the DMC Lucentia Tower, but it was normally called the 'Player Center'. Even the taxi drivers didn't know where Lucentia Tower was, but they knew the Player Center.

In any case, I headed to the Players Association with my party, the Player Center where the first convention had been held on the 12th floor. A space for PVPing had been arranged on the roof.

I found the choice of location mind-boggling.

'They really have no fucking clue.'

It didn't matter now because we were in the beginner period, but once we got into the mid-game, indoor PVP was extremely dangerous. One misstep, and there could be significant damage to the building. Normally, PVP was done in specially made 'fields' or in open areas like clearings.

'The Players could even fall off.'

This misinformed choice was made because the concept of PVP still wasn't full-fledged. Anyway, our PVP today would be private, by my request.

'No need to make Taeguk Shield's smackdown public.'

Taeguk Shield needed to be heroes in the minds of the people. In light of our partnership, I wanted to protect their image. However, the other party seemed to have a different understanding of my request.

A woman in tight-fitting black clothes that revealed every curve of her beautiful body with long, flowing, black hair that contrasted sharply with a snow-white face was sneering at us. Her name was Cheon Sooji.

'Poison Witch. Cheon Sooji.'

State: Ridicule / Slight Contempt / Desire to Win

There was another Taeguk Shield guild member standing next to her, a considerably handsome man with dyed blond hair. This man, who I remembered as having quite a lot of female fans but also many scandals, was named Gong Jinhoon. Nickname, Golden Priest.

State: Regret / Pity / Slight Expectation

They were staring at me with ridicule or regret. Most of the seven Taeguk Shield guild members here were the same.

'The reason why I asked for a private PVP… was to save Byeon Gilsup's face, not mine.'

They were clearly misunderstanding my intent. It seemed they thought that I feared my immediate and pathetic destruction and therefore asked for a private PVP.

The Guildmaster of Taeguk Shield and I shared a simple greeting.

'Song Kiyeol's gaze is strangely shifting to Cheon Sooji.'

It was impossible to tell with the physical eye. I couldn't really put it in words, but his 'invisible gaze', his attention, was on Cheon Sooji.

I could guess the reason without much difficulty.

'My first opponent won't be Gilsup, but Sooji.'

The Poison Witch Cheon Sooji. By the looks of it, this woman was going to try a little trick on me, in a way that couldn't quite be called a PVP. She probably had a trifling scheme up her sleeve. I smiled readily.

'That's right, this is what you should do. You should try every little trick in your book. Only then will you be qualified to work with me.'

I waited a little, and sure enough, Cheon Sooji came up to me. I would be able to gain at least one thing from her approach, a thing that would be very useful in the Plum Blossom Gate, the 'Centipede Cave'.

Sooji had an item that I had to acquire before we went into the Centipede Cave.

'The first step begins now.'

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