***
-Shin So-jeong(15), double winner at the International Grand Prix!
-Only 7 points allowed by the finals. Overwhelming!
-Sabre, foil, and next year, even épée within reach?
-French legend: “A genius unlike any before.”
Only seven years ago, Shin So-jeong had first become known to the world as a genius shaking the fencing world.
Overwhelming talent and performance unlike anything an Asian had shown until then.
At one point, her news could be heard on almost any broadcast.
-A new sports star is born in South Korea!
-She would succeed even in sports other than fencing.
-Asian Games track-and-field silver medalist proposes athletics to fencing genius Shin So-jeong(15)?
Reflexes far beyond the official counterattack time of 0.17 seconds allowed in fencing.
Spatial perception that judged reach down to the millimeter and exchanged offense and defense, and an innate swordsmanship sense that made use of it.
Even her physical condition, evaluated as overwhelming in fencing, where footwork was considered more important than in any other sport.
She was a genius.
A slender body.
Long arms and legs.
Features unique to someone of mixed blood.
At fifteen, Shin So-jeong received the media’s full attention and rose to stardom overnight.
Yes.
Until that incident happened.
“Are you going to exercise?”
Early in the morning, Shin So-jeong’s mother, who felt unwell that day, was awake.
“I’ll just run to the park and back. It’ll take about three hours.”
Shin So-jeong said that while changing into exercise clothes.
“It’s your birthday today. Is there anything you want to eat? Should all six of us go out to eat for the first time in a while?”
So today was her birthday.
Perhaps because she honestly felt little about it, she did not even turn her eyes toward her mother. Instead, while checking the music list on her phone, she said,
“Just make seaweed soup, please.”
“Seaweed soup?”
“Yes.”
“All right. I should make seaweed soup.”
Shin So-jeong’s mother immediately began preparing ingredients for soup with her slightly bent back.
“You’re going to make it now?”
“Of course. I should do it now.”
“It’s the crack of dawn. You should rest a little before doing it.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I just need to boil some beef and sleep. How long could that take? Mom will be sleeping, so wake me when you come back from exercising.”
Her mother smiled as she said that.
Shin So-jeong thought perhaps she had said something unnecessary, but she told herself, ‘Well, it’ll be fine,’ and put her earphones in.
“I’ll be back.”
“All right. You work so hard, my daughter…….”
She felt a hand pat her shoulder once. Wrinkled skin and warm body heat.
‘I’ll work hard and make sure to win a gold medal.’
Her training that morning lasted longer than usual.
Perhaps it was because she had felt her mother’s sympathy for her.
Her mother, who had watched her shed blood and sweat every day in a sport that even most men quit because it was too hard, had always said this.
-It’s because I’m useless. Because of me.
That weighed on Shin So-jeong’s mind.
‘All I have to do is win a gold medal. Just a gold medal…….’
For the daughter of a poor family to train in fencing, the sport cost quite a lot of money.
She had to win a gold medal and succeed.
‘Yes, I just need to win a gold medal.’
Filled with only that thought, Shin So-jeong trained desperately that day.
And when she returned home.
“Prepare the entry team quickly, quickly!”
“Have we confirmed how many people need rescue?”
“We can’t enter the fire point because of the risk of collapse, chief!”
“Step back! Don’t stand there watching!”
Her house was burning.
Burning her once-harmonious family of five, the uncontrollable flames spewed smoke to the end of the sky.
To Shin So-jeong, it felt as if the entire world was burning, and she could neither breathe nor move.
“…….”
They said the cause of the fire was a gas flame that had not been turned off and had spread to wooden materials.
Her five family members, who had slept late because it was the weekend, died inside that hellish blaze before they had any time to escape.
She heard that toxic gas had covered them before they had even noticed the fire.
‘Because of me.’
Shin So-jeong.
It was her sixteenth birthday.
‘Yes, because of me.’
It was her fault.
The reason she had lost everything she had achieved until then, and even lost her family. Shin So-jeong found it solely in her own “mistake.”
‘Because I said something unnecessary. Because I exercised too long. That’s why.’
Shin So-jeong’s life changed completely from that day.
She quit fencing overnight, and even made the coach who visited for years trying to dissuade her give up.
She simply lived as if holding her breath. While earning only enough to feed herself through part-time work, quietly and without a sound…….
Until today, when she turned twenty-four, she had lived a life so cut off from the world that there was not even one person living alongside her.
Then one day.
-You have been chosen as a Hero.
It was the day Shin So-jeong’s life changed once more, and the day her second mistake began.
Because she had never imagined that what she had thought was merely a “game” would truly threaten her own life and the lives of others.
‘I just have to finish it.’
But it was fine.
As long as she ended everything with her own hands.
Even if, to others, that looked like excessive self-importance or putting on a ridiculous act, it was fine.
‘I won’t repeat the same thing ever again.’
She would never make the same mistake again.
So.
“I will end this request.”
Yes. She had to untie this knot with her own hands.
That alone was the strength and faith driving Shin So-jeong…… Brillante.
“No matter what happens…….”
Cheers rang throughout the arena.
“Waaaaaaa!”
“Kill him!”
“The magic swordswoman’s victory!”
“Finish it!”
In everyone’s eyes, the result was already visible.
Brillante was so famous that rumors had spread through the capital of Rivelhardt that “a gladiator who uses magic has appeared.”
“It is over.”
“The magic that woman wields has truly reached a mysterious realm, Your Majesty. Would it not be too wasteful for her fate to end as a gladiator?”
It was a match that even Emperor Wigen Haieon and the eunuch could not help focusing on.
“Whichever of the two reaches the conclusion, they shall see my face.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
General Doturan listened to their conversation and quietly checked the emperor’s complexion. As expected, his expression was not very good.
***
-The effect of Berserker Zeroph manifests.
Min-jun had no idea what Brillante was feeling or what calculations she had made, but one thing was certain.
‘I can’t trust anyone but myself.’
Whether it was a game or a request, quietly stepping back while entrusting his fate to someone else did not suit his temperament.
That was the reason he could not withdraw from this fight.
“Hoooo.”
The power of Berserker Zeroph ran through every blood vessel in his body. Following his quickened heartbeat, it grew stronger and clearer.
As adrenaline ran wild, the pain that had been gradually binding his body vanished.
Holding the wound on his stomach, Min-jun rose with heavy steps.
“Urrgh.”
“You…….”
He saw Brillante’s shocked expression from afar.
She could only wonder how Min-jun was still able to move.
‘Even if it missed his vital point, for him to move again in that state…….’
Brillante took her stance again.
The standard of fencing. She extended the rapier gripped in a pistol grip. This time, she intended to aim for Min-jun’s vital point.
‘With a body like that, he can’t do anything anyway.’
But she did not know.
Min-jun's body was now wrapped in a force far deeper than before.
“Hoooo.”
A long sigh flowed from Min-jun’s mouth.
The power that awakened in proportion to the depth of his wounds, the manifestation of “Berserker Zeroph,” sent an unprecedented force surging from the tips of his toes to the crown of his head.
It would not last long. Judging by experience and instinct, a minute at most.
‘Then I have to end it quickly.’
Min-jun condensed strength into his legs.
As if Brillante had sensed an unusual aura, she unknowingly hunched her body and took a defensive stance.
“Brillante…… I don’t have time, so please understand if I get a little rough.”
BOOM—!
The ground beneath his feet practically peeled up and left a mark. Min-jun’s body shot toward her with the force of a cannonball.
Air resistance felt as if it would tear his body apart, and Brillante’s face, which had been far away, drew close in an instant.
“Ah!”
Her eyes shook.
“Ugh!”
THUD—!
The rapier and shield collided.
“You, what on earth……!”
Brillante retreated in alarm, but Min-jun clung to her again.
CLAAANG—!
The sound of sword meeting sword rang out in every direction.
‘What is…… this strength……!’
Brillante gritted her teeth.
One retreated and one pursued. Between them, blades flashed, and each time they met, it was Brillante who lost out.
‘How does he still have this strength……!’
She could not believe it.
A person who did not fall no matter how much she cut him, no matter how much she stabbed him.
With human stamina, it was absolutely impossible. Absolutely.
“Hoo!”
Min-jun charged at her endlessly.
When he tried to knock away the rapier that hurriedly attacked him with his sword.
“This really is the end, Liz!”
Her arm blurred. It passed straight through his sword and aimed for his neck.
By “teleporting” by a very tiny distance, she had overturned the situation where the sword should have met the sword and counterattacked.
The moment the rapier was about to cut Min-jun’s neck sideways.
CLANG—!
“No, what……!”
Brillante shouted in a voice close to a scream. Because what had blocked her sword was Min-jun’s teeth.
Even as a large wound formed on his face, he had opened his mouth without hesitation and bitten the blade. Horror filled her eyes.
‘Impossible.’
If a human had resistance against a blade, there would be no reason or ability to do such a thing. But for the current Min-jun, anything was possible.
His physical ability beyond the limit had made it possible.
“Urrrrgh!”
With the sword in his mouth, Min-jun pulled Brillante into a tight embrace. With the full momentum of his charge, he crushed her body down.
“Ah!”
Brillante was helplessly pushed by that force and fell to the ground.
She slid dozens of meters, enough that the armor protecting her back was torn away.
‘Now!’
Min-jun gripped his sword.
He stabbed it toward her body with all his strength.
But it only dug into the innocent ground.
‘Of course.’
She had moved her body again.
‘Behind!’
He could feel it.
The sight of her stabbing her sword from behind.
The sharp force of the rapier desperately aiming for his neck.
Min-jun twisted his head with all his might and avoided it.
Swaaash—!
The moment a cold sensation swept across his neck, he saw the flashing blade pass him and stab into the ground.
Brillante, who had thought she would end it this time for sure, wore a bewildered expression behind him.
‘Now.’
Min-jun held his sword in a reverse grip and stabbed it straight toward the direction behind his back. Seen from the side, it was a movement almost like committing seppuku.
Squelch—!
The sensation of the blade piercing through flesh. Min-jun was certain. He had definitely stabbed a vital point.
“Kuh…….”
The sound of her staggering back while spilling blood. The palm that knelt and leaned against his back.
“……You are strong, Liz.”
A faint breath was felt beyond his neck.
Min-jun slowly turned around. He saw that the sword had accurately pierced through her solar plexus.
“I suppose I was still…… underestimating you.”
Blood poured from her mouth as Brillante forced out each word with difficulty.
“You won, Li…….”
“I didn’t like it.”
Min-jun’s abrupt words.
Questioning settled in Brillante’s eyes. Min-jun, whose whole body was a wreck, smiled bitterly at her.
“Participating in this request was my own will. That means it has nothing to do with you.”
Brillante looked up at Min-jun with her eyes half-closed while kneeling.
“It’s my request…… so I’ll end it.”
Min-jun placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Rest for a bit and watch.”
Within her fading consciousness, Brillante recalled her sixteenth birthday from eight years ago.
The image of her mother patting her shoulder with a gentle hand overlapped with Min-jun.
“……You worked hard.”
-You work so hard, my daughter.
‘Mom.’
Her eyes slowly closed.
Black darkness came.
And the blade slowly slid out of her stomach.
Her consciousness cut off.
-Level increased.
-Hero Level: 6~7
“Waaaaaaa!”
“Wooooaaaah!”
Listening to the pouring cheers, Min-jun gently laid Brillante’s body down on the ground.
For the first time, peace came to Brillante’s face, which had always been filled with exhaustion. It was a comfortable expression he had never seen before.
‘She really is a woman who lives in such a tiring way.’
Min-jun gritted his teeth.
As the power filling his whole body drained away, fierce pain covered him once more.
“I really feel like I’m going to die, seriously…….”
With a distorted expression, Min-jun turned his gaze.
It was the top floor in the distance, where the emperor sat.
“A splendid match, gladiator.”
It was the voice of Emperor Wigen Haieon.
“Treat the wounds of that gladiator who overcame the third crisis, and guide him outside the arena. The guards shall give him sufficient travel money and allow him to celebrate his victory.”
After saying that, the emperor turned and disappeared.
The arena door opened, and several guards rushed out in a crowd.
“Hurry with the treatment, quickly!”
Among them, he could see Canaria’s face as she shouted urgently.