TA-TA, TA-TA-TA, TA-TARA-TA-TA…
Dohyeon sprang upright at the sound of reveille.
‘Fuck. I died again!’
He had already been beheaded by the unidentified elven spy more than two hundred times.
He had heard that tiresome reveille no fewer than 213 times.
After living through the same tedious day over and over, Dohyeon had become extremely adept at responding to every change around him.
“Monsters have invaded! It’s a massive army!”
At Bae Man-deuk’s prank, Kang Uk kicked the locker, and the ballistic helmet fell toward Yun Du-sik’s head.
“Watch your head.”
Dohyeon warned him, but—
“Huh? What?”
CRACK!
The helmet struck Yun Du-sik squarely on the forehead.
“Ah, shit! What the hell was thaaat?!”
After gaining a lump on his head first thing in the morning, Yun Du-sik looked at Kang Uk before glaring at Bae Man-deuk, the true culprit.
Yun Du-sik went on about killing him, then lunged at Bae Man-deuk and gave him a thorough beating.
Dohyeon no longer caught the helmet for him.
Doing so would not change the day anyway, and catching it only caused Song Ha-jun to cast suspicious looks at him for no reason.
Dohyeon’s daily routine was always the same.
He ran out to the parade ground, completed the run and calisthenics, then listened to the battalion commander’s speech.
After he finished his meal and personal maintenance time began, a firearm accidentally discharged at the guard post.
At that point, Dohyeon went to the waste incinerator and repeatedly practiced his swordsmanship.
He had already spent the exact same day this way more than two hundred times, but his swordsmanship was still not perfect.
The same situation repeated every time.
Dohyeon’s knee could not bear his weight at such an abnormal angle. His balance collapsed, always sending his sword toward the wrong place.
The result led to a horrific death every time.
‘I need to figure out what’s wrong with the swordsmanship I learned.’
On the 214th repetition of the same day, Dohyeon decided to seek a new breakthrough.
Dohyeon had never formally learned swordsmanship.
He had learned everything he knew in actual combat, so the paths of his sword were extremely crude and monotonous.
As a result, any true master of swordsmanship would inevitably thrash him.
Naturally, finding the flaw in his own swordsmanship by himself was bound to be difficult.
‘Is there a master swordsman in the MSU who can evaluate my technique?’
For starters, no one in the 17th Squad could use a sword properly.
Yun Du-sik had mastered the spear, while Kang Uk was a tanker who only knew how to swing a greatsword with brute strength.
Song Ha-jun had mastered the bow, and Bae Man-deuk was a barbarian warrior who wielded twin axes. None of them could properly evaluate Dohyeon’s swordsmanship.
‘Why doesn’t anyone in our squad practice swordsmanship?’
The question suddenly occurred to him, but that was not important right now.
“Brother Yun, is there anyone in the MSU who’s good with a sword?”
Having almost finished his meal, Dohyeon asked Yun Du-sik, who was sitting across from him.
“A sword? Aren’t you about the best one with a sword, Squad Leader? I’m a spear fighter, so I don’t know much about swords.”
“You should’ve learned how to use a few weapons besides a spear. What have you been doing all this time?”
“You can’t use any weapon besides a sword either, Squad Leader.”
“Of course I can. I’ve got a gun, don’t I?”
Dohyeon handled a gun better than a sword.
A perfect score was the bare minimum whenever he underwent marksmanship training, and he was also fairly skilled at both shooting on the move and long-range sniping.
But no one knew.
They did not know that Dohyeon had built his shooting skills entirely through hard work as well.
“Park Gyu-ho from the 3rd Squad. I hear they call him the Sword Ghost.”
Song Ha-jun suddenly joined the conversation as he rose with his tray.
“Sword Ghost Park Gyu-ho? We had someone like that in our unit?”
“Apparently, he originally distinguished himself on the Northern Croat Front, but he was demoted to the MSU because he kept leaving camp without permission.”
“Park Gyu-ho.......”
Dohyeon narrowed his eyes at the strangely familiar name.
Then, in a flash, he remembered who the man was.
“The accidental discharge!”
When Dohyeon suddenly shouted, his squad members looked at him as though wondering what was wrong.
“I’ve got somewhere to go for a moment, so carry out personal maintenance in the barracks.”
Dohyeon hurriedly returned his tray and practically ran to the guard post.
Sword Ghost Park Gyu-ho.
Dohyeon had wondered where he had heard the name. Park Gyu-ho was the man destined to die in an accidental discharge at the guard post at around 7:30 that morning.
Dohyeon headed straight there.
Then he lingered nearby, waiting for Park Gyu-ho to appear.
‘I need to save him. Once I do, I’ll ask him to evaluate my swordsmanship!’
Dohyeon wanted to complete that swordsmanship by any means necessary.
About ten minutes later,
“Halt! Move and I’ll shoot! Hwarang!”
The guard spotted a suspicious individual and responded according to the manual.
“What? You’re going to shoot me? Who the fuck do you bastards think you are, threatening to shoot me?”
A thin man with an unkempt beard and filthy appearance staggered toward the guard post.
“No further approach is permitted. Stop where you are and give the countersign. Hwarang!”
The guard showed no intention of letting the matter slide.
“Hey, shithead! What countersign do you need in broad daylight? Just get out of my way. My head hurts like hell, so don’t piss me—”
BANG!
In the end, the guard pulled the trigger.
But the bullet missed the man.
Dohyeon had charged in just in time, grabbed the man, and pulled him down to the ground.
Sitting on the ground, the man stared with wide eyes and his mouth half open, utterly dumbfounded.
He had never imagined that the guard would actually fire.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?! How could you actually shoot?!”
A senior guard rushed over and struck the shooter on the head with the butt of his rifle.
“I-I’m sorry. I did it without thinking.......”
“Now I’m f***ed too because of you, you bastard!”
Sure enough,
The gunshot drew a large crowd.
Fortunately, no one had been hurt, but the guard who recklessly fired his weapon was dragged away by his seniors.
The drunken man was, of course, questioned as well.
He had to write an incident report, and after the day’s battle against the dark elves ended, he was scheduled to face a court-martial for being absent without leave.
In any case, the man was fortunate simply to have escaped with his life.
The man emerged from the interrogation room looking haggard and met Dohyeon, who had been waiting outside.
“I survived thanks to you. I am Park Gyu-ho.”
Park Gyu-ho appeared to have finally sobered up completely.
“I was fortunate. I saw a dangerous situation and moved without thinking. I’m truly glad no one was hurt.”
“Your footwork looked impressive. Do you use a sword, by any chance?”
Park Gyu-ho glanced toward Dohyeon’s waist.
Dohyeon always wore a longsword at his waist, so anyone could easily tell that he used one.
“Well, as you can see.”
Dohyeon tapped his sword, and Park Gyu-ho smirked.
“You look as though you have something to say to me...?”
Otherwise, Dohyeon would have had no reason to wait around until Park Gyu-ho finished giving his statement.
“I heard that if I had a question about swords, I should seek out Mr. Park Gyu-ho.”
At Dohyeon’s words, Park Gyu-ho’s gaze sharpened.
“I have not even been in the MSU for a month. Where did you hear such a rumor?”
“Rumors travel quickly in the MSU.”
“Then what do you want from me?”
“I would like you to evaluate my swordsmanship.”
“Evaluate your swordsmanship? I am not accomplished enough to teach it to others.”
Park Gyu-ho subtly tried to withdraw.
He was grateful that Dohyeon had saved his life, but he had no desire to use that as an excuse to become involved with someone else.
“I am not asking for instruction. I only want you to identify what is wrong with the swordsmanship I perform.”
“You believe there is a problem with your own sword?”
Dohyeon’s honest attitude slightly eased Park Gyu-ho’s frown.
Among those who wielded swords, it was extremely rare for anyone to admit that there was a problem with his own technique.
“There is clearly something wrong, but I cannot find the problem by myself, no matter what I do. I thought you might be able to identify it, Mr. Park Gyu-ho.”
“Is that why you were waiting for me at the guard post?”
“Something like that.”
Dohyeon did not fabricate an elaborate lie.
He could not tell Park Gyu-ho that he had repeated this day more than two hundred times, but he honestly admitted that he had deliberately lingered around the guard post to meet him.
Park Gyu-ho studied Dohyeon for a moment.
Then he narrowed his eyes and asked a question.
“Is there someone you must kill?”
“There is.”
“If you came to me because you want to use a sword to kill, you came to the wrong man. Go back.”
Park Gyu-ho was resolute.
He had been known as a troublemaker even in his previous unit, but when it came to the sword, he was sincere.
The fact that his swordsmanship had been used to harm lives played no small part in the self-loathing that had driven him into the fallen life he now led.
He wanted his sword to be used to protect life, not to kill anything.
That was why he could not grant Dohyeon’s request to evaluate a sword intended to kill someone.
Dohyeon bit his lip and spoke quietly.
“I just want to live.”
“You intend to live by killing someone else?”
“Even if I must die when the time comes, shouldn’t I at least see my sister become happy first?”
Park Gyu-ho fell silent in thought at Dohyeon’s words.
It was true that Dohyeon intended to harm someone else so he could live, but he had his own circumstances.
He was not acting merely because he did not want to die.
Nor was it simply because he wanted to live a little longer.
Nor was this merely a case of him having no choice if he wanted to survive.
Knowing that Dohyeon’s reason was not so trivial left Park Gyu-ho with conflicted feelings.
“Whew...... Very well. Let us have a look. You are the benefactor who saved my life, after all. It is only common decency to repay you in some small way. Lead on.”
Park Gyu-ho finally gave his permission.
He followed Dohyeon to a shaded spot at one edge of the parade ground.
“Do not expect me to teach you anything. As you said, I will only watch.”
“My name is Dohyeon, not ‘you.’ Kim Dohyeon.”
“Your name does not matter. I already know perfectly well that you are the leader of the 17th Squad. In any case, show me. I will determine whether the problem lies with your swordsmanship or with you.”
“Then I leave it to you.”
Dohyeon assumed his stance in front of Park Gyu-ho.
Without even drawing his sword, he moved one foot slightly backward and lowered his stance.
After steadying his breathing, Dohyeon imagined Kirantal standing before him and kicked off the ground.
Dohyeon shot forward like an arrow. At a certain point, he drew his sword with his left hand and swept it diagonally above his right shoulder to deflect an imaginary blow.
He took a long step forward with his right foot and twisted his body at an impossible angle.
Dohyeon committed only as much weight as he could withstand. From that position, he spun his upper body and thrust his sword toward his imaginary opponent.
SWISH-
The sword extended straight ahead and stopped in midair.
“Huff, huff.......”
Dohyeon steadied his breathing, corrected his posture, and looked at Park Gyu-ho.
His gaze asked the man to tell him what he had done wrong.
Park Gyu-ho’s expression had gone rigid.
He looked both considerably shocked and deeply puzzled by something.
“Did you perform that swordsmanship with your full strength?”
“No. My knee cannot withstand it if I use my full strength. I only put about sixty percent of my power into it this time.”
“Were you always left-handed?”
“No. I successfully performed this swordsmanship once before, but my right hand was injured at the time, so I had no choice but to use my left. That is why I use my left hand now.”
Dohyeon was naturally right-handed.
But when he first performed this swordsmanship, he had been unable to use his right hand properly.
Consequently, he had used his left hand even when performing the swordsmanship through Equivalent Exchange.
His right hand had recovered now, but he was forcing himself to use his left to reproduce the exact same swordsmanship as before.
“As I thought. That is where the problem lies.”
Park Gyu-ho muttered as though he had realized something.
“What exactly is the problem?”
“Before I tell you...... let me ask one thing. How did you learn the swordsmanship you just performed?”
Park Gyu-ho was honestly deeply shocked.
Even he, a man called the Sword Ghost, could not possibly imitate the swordsmanship Dohyeon had just performed.
It was swordsmanship that had reached complete mastery, impossible to perform without repeating it thousands or tens of thousands of times until it was perfectly engraved into the body.
Yet Dohyeon, the man who performed it, looked no older than twenty-two or twenty-three.
Even if he had practiced swordsmanship from the moment he was in his mother’s womb, it would have been impossible to engrave the technique into his body with such near perfection.
That meant either the master who taught Dohyeon was staggeringly skilled, or Dohyeon possessed astonishing talent for swordsmanship.
Park Gyu-ho wanted to know which one applied to him.
“To be honest...... I learned this swordsmanship from a skill.”
“You learned it from a skill? What do you mean?”
“I possess a unique skill that lets me perform tremendous swordsmanship for a very brief time. There is a technique I successfully performed exactly once with that skill. I barely managed to remember it, and after practicing it countless times, I became able to imitate it to some extent.”
Park Gyu-ho stared at Dohyeon with his mouth half open and a dumbfounded expression.
‘Is that supposed to be an explanation, or is he just farting out nonsense?’
He reproduced swordsmanship that could only be performed through a skill from memory alone?
Even the Sword Ghost’s grandfather could never accomplish such a thing.
Perfectly remembering every movement of swordsmanship he had successfully performed only once was impossible. Performing it through his own power without even using the skill made even less sense.
“Do you truly expect me to believe what you just said?”
Park Gyu-ho had no choice but to ask.
“Why would I have any reason to lie?”
“Ha. Ha ha...... Very well. If that is what you say, let us simply accept it as such.”
“Then please tell me now. My swordsmanship...... Where and how is it wrong?”
Dohyeon stared at Park Gyu-ho with eyes full of anticipation.
Park Gyu-ho could feel the burning passion for the sword within them.
“To give you the conclusion first...... That swordsmanship was wrong from the very beginning. Right now, Squad Leader, you are forcing your feet into shoes that do not fit and trying to sprint one hundred meters at full speed.”
Park Gyu-ho’s words struck Dohyeon like a hammer to the head.
He had repeated the same day more than two hundred times and trained that swordsmanship with everything he had, only to hear it dismissed as “shoes that do not fit.”
“Could you tell me exactly what is wrong with it?”
Although upset, Dohyeon remained as polite and calm as possible while listening closely to Park Gyu-ho.