Chapter 7

Chapter 7. Demon Worshipper (3)

"This stays a secret between you and me, noona. Understood?"

When I laid down the law, Seol-a noona nodded with an uneasy expression.

"A s-secret just between us...... okay!"

What had just happened was simple.

Sword Will, Meteor Shower had blanketed all of Yeouido, and as a result, the Fallen B-rank Hunter Park Chang-seok had been annihilated.

Naturally, the fact that I was the source of that power could not become known.

'I need to keep it hidden.'

Hiding things didn't sit well with my personality, but.......

Demon worshippers had appeared.

They were the kinds of people who'd served as the starting point for driving the world of [Raise a Sword] to ruin.

'Absolute scum.'

That's why I needed to conceal my identity until I'd built up my strength.

Because—.

'Four seconds.'

1st Sword, Reinhardt Euclid.

[4/100] had been four hours in the Tower.

But on the outside, it was only four seconds.

Even if I obtained momentary omnipotence, there was little I could do with four seconds.

What then, after those four seconds were up?

The point was that I needed to prepare for what came after.

【You must grow stronger, Master, before you can fully wield my power.】

I was still lacking.

He wasn't wrong.

'I'm a Level 2 who Awakened yesterday, after all.'

On top of that, I hadn't even fully absorbed the enlightenment from the swords yet.

Anyway, sorting through these miscellaneous thoughts, I wrapped up my statement as a Management Bureau employee regarding the incident.

Thanks to Seol-a noona's cooperation, we were able to return home without arousing any suspicion.

Before heading home—.

"......"

Seol-a noona looked at me with a strange expression.

I knew that look well— it was astonishment.

A close friend who'd Awakened just yesterday had suddenly summoned a massive greatsword and utterly demolished a villain. How could she not be astonished?

"Pretty cool, right?"

I asked for her thoughts on my sword.

Noona subtly leaned back and answered, 'Yeah......'

Then she smoothly changed the subject.

"I kept the secret, as promised."

Apparently, she was still too embarrassed to sing my sword's praises.

"Thank you."

I grinned and nodded.

That smile carried a quiet resolve of my own.

Shouldering a bomb like the demon worshippers alone seemed a bit much.

I'd hide my identity but make their existence known.

"How long are you planning to keep it secret? I know you're not the type to do anything reckless, but......"

I cut Seol-a noona off and jumped straight to the point.

"Park Chang-seok was a demon worshipper."

"A demon worshipper?"

B-rank Mage Park Chang-seok's Fall had been strange.

When a mage Falls, they become a dark mage.

That was a truth of [Raise a Sword].

But on Earth, things were different.

'He Falls and suddenly wields power in reality?'

If that was the absolute value of a Fall, then this world would be nowhere near as safe as it was now.

If it was Kang Seol-a noona's father— a man of integrity, a fair and righteous prosecutor with ties to the Patriot, then.......

'He could at least set up some minimal countermeasures.'

After I finished explaining, Seol-a noona tilted her head and asked.

"Is it okay for Dad to know your identity?"

"I've met him a few times, haven't I?"

Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.

He was a genuinely good and upright person.

The fact that he was a prosecutor favored by the Patriot said it all.

The 'Senior Prosecutor' title was just that— a title. The power he actually wielded rivaled or exceeded the president's.

'Honestly, if he just ran in the presidential election, he'd win in a landslide.'

His approval ratings among the public were astronomical.

That's why he could be trusted.

"Suddenly feels like we're in some secret society...... What on earth did you Awaken as—."

"Sword Master. That's my class name."

With those final words, I left the Bureau.

* * *

"Seol-a, you're telling me that eunuch...... Awakened and became a Transcendent?"

Senior Prosecutor Kang Mu-jin.

He was so dumbfounded by what his daughter had told him that words nearly failed him.

Shin Si-woo, his daughter Kang Seol-a's colleague who'd joined at the same time.

And.......

'That eunuch.'

Kang Mu-jin's daughter was a stunning beauty by anyone's standards.

She had lovely features inherited from her mother, maintained through consistent exercise and rigorous self-care.

Naturally, as a father, strictness regarding men was warranted.

But Shin Si-woo had been different.

"Hello! I'm Shin Si-woo, joined at the same time as your daughter!"

Kang Mu-jin recalled the first time he'd met Shin Si-woo.

Tall and handsome.

With a decently sturdy build on top of that.

Standing next to Seol-a, they made a good-looking pair.

A young man who inspired an inexplicable fondness.

"Dad, I'm going out for drinks with Si-woo!"

From that day on, Kang Mu-jin had given Shin Si-woo a pass.

A pass to associate with his daughter.

The guy was the genuine article.

"10 o'clock...... punctual as always."

Kang Mu-jin, who'd been waiting for his daughter's return with an axe in hand, witnessed the admirable side of the man named Shin Si-woo.

No matter how drunk Seol-a got, he brought her home at 10 PM sharp, without fail.

At first, that had pleased him.

But.......

'That eunuch.'

He hadn't expected this to continue for five straight years.

Shin Si-woo seemed to regard Kang Seol-a as nothing more than a close noona.

Yet he'd subtly leave the door open just enough that he was clearly a wicked man.

Case in point—.

"Dad! Stop calling him a eunuch! Words become reality, you know?"

Kang Seol-a, thirty years old.

Shin Si-woo was the one who'd made his daughter live alone without a single boyfriend for over five years.

And still, his daughter happily defended that man.

Kang Mu-jin reluctantly got to the point.

"So you're saying Park Chang-seok was a demon worshipper who underwent this thing called a Fall, and that's what caused this whole disaster?"

"Yes."

His stomach churned.

126 casualties had been reported in Yeouido, counting both civilians and soldiers.

It was only because the mage had targeted the Awakened Management Bureau that the damage was limited to this extent; if mass slaughter had been his goal, at least 1,000 would have died.

"A B-rank Awakened suddenly wielding power like a Transcendent. We couldn't even identify the cause, and yet...... what the hell did that guy Awaken as to know something like that?"

Kang Seol-a handed over Shin Si-woo's file.

[Shin Si-woo: Swordsman / A-rank Hunter]

It contained information about his Awakening and a brief personal profile.

Practically empty.

"Did you erase this?"

"Yeah. Si-woo asked me to keep it secret."

"But he said it's fine for me to know?"

"That's right."

Kang Seol-a recounted Shin Si-woo's class and the circumstances of his Awakening.

As Kang Mu-jin listened, his fist clenched tight.

"Raise a Sword?"

"He said he became the master of the swords he raised...... I don't know the details either. A massive sword appeared out of nowhere and then Park Chang-seok just disintegrated."

"And nobody knew he'd been playing a game like that all this time?"

"Nope. I only found out when he registered as an Awakened! I couldn't believe it either......"

Shin Si-woo was the second SSS-rank Awakened to appear in the Republic of Korea.

An unprecedented being who had Awakened already at the Transcendent level.

'He absolutely has to be protected, but—.'

Kang Mu-jin was seething.

Because he'd finally discovered the reason his daughter had been left without a boyfriend for five years.

"He's a natural Awakened too, so he must've been obsessed with something."

"Who would've guessed it was a game about raising murderous blades."

Father and daughter exchanged glances and heaved deep sighs in unison.

"Are you okay?"

"Honestly, I'm fine with things the way they are."

Kang Seol-a smiled wryly.

Her relationship with Shin Si-woo wasn't bad at its current level.

'Who has time for romance in a world that could end any day?'

In truth, she had little interest in romance.

Yet everyone around her wouldn't stop nagging her to date.

Her father had been especially relentless.

—Not interested in dating?

—You neither?

—Let's just stay close.

Shin Si-woo had been the same.

The two of them made for a rather picture-perfect pair, didn't they?

So they'd deliberately stuck together to dodge the meddling commentary about romance from everyone around them.

'Of course, Si-woo was just obsessed with swords the whole time—.'

Up to that point, fine.

But what bothered Kang Seol-a was something else entirely.

'It looked terrifyingly powerful.'

The massive greatsword Shin Si-woo had drawn.

It vanished in seconds, but that brief moment alone had been enough to instill fear in Kang Seol-a.

There was a hypothesis that an Awakened's power was proportional to the experiences of their trial— and if that was true, then Shin Si-woo must have undergone an incredibly dense set of experiences.

"Raise a Sword— a game that was delisted from Steam over ten years ago. That guy...... the fact that he was the only person playing on a computer when everyone else uses WorldNet—."

In any case, a conclusion had been reached.

No information could be found about the game Shin Si-woo had been playing.

But since they knew full well he wasn't the type to lie—.

"Get him a license for solo Gate raids. I'll investigate on my own until the Patriot returns."

* * *

As expected.......

Was it noona?

[A-rank Hunter License]

—Solo Raid Authorization.

I looked at the small card in my hand and smiled warmly.

There were only about 300 A-rank Hunters in Korea.

Even with a high Awakened rank, receiving an immediate A-rank designation was virtually unheard of.

'That's how tough Gates are.'

I wasn't talking about public Gates where goblins appeared.

The [Public Gates] accessible from the Bureau basement were essentially training grounds.

The Gates I was referring to were the [Red Gates] that had corroded the world.

'The cause of my parents' death.'

[Red Gates] varied in difficulty based on size.

Even the smallest Gate couldn't be entered alone by an ordinary Hunter.

The mortality rate was so high that the government strictly controlled access to protect its Hunters.

You had to form a stable party and receive approval before entering.

'Not me, though—.'

The Hunter License Seol-a noona had given me.

Alongside the A-rank Hunter designation, a 'Solo Raid Authorization' tag was attached.

In a way, it was a natural privilege.

'I'm basically a pseudo-Transcendent, after all.'

I immediately drove toward the outskirts of Goyang City.

To raise my small and precious 'Baby Sword.'

The fact that the endgame of a Fall was wielding power outside Gates, like a Transcendent, was no trivial matter.

I needed to get stronger as fast as possible.

VROOM—.

"That's intense."

A crimson sea came into view.

On an ordinary road, right next to Seoul, a red sea stretched out.

An extremely bizarre sight.

But also a familiar one.

'Corrosion.'

Goyang City was a completely corroded city.

One of Korea's biggest headaches, endlessly spawning Gates and expanding its territory.

"Sir! Hunter ID, please!"

Soldiers controlling the road flagged down my vehicle.

I showed them the Hunter License.

"Solo raid......"

The soldier who saw the license murmured with wide eyes.

A gaze as though beholding a war hero.

'Solo Raid Authorization really is special.'

A moment later, with a noticeably sharper posture, he returned my license.

Military discipline firmly in place.

"Entry confirmed!"

I'd become a Hunter.

It was starting to feel real.

Just look at those reverent eyes.

Of course, not just any Hunter received that kind of respect.

'Solo Raid Authorization' carried that much weight.

It meant you had no character deficiencies and were dedicated enough to the nation to raid Gates alone.

'Good money, respect......'

Well, and a good chance of dying too.

Anyway, receiving looks like those felt strange.

I parked the car and headed toward the red sea that was Goyang City.

HUMMMM———.

A peculiar resonance echoed from all directions.

The sound of the [Red Gate] luring Hunters.

'It really does feel like it's pulling me in.'

Honestly, if I just wanted to level up, entering the [Tower] would suffice.

But that wouldn't grow my [Baby Sword].

My level would rise, sure, but.......

'I can't build up experience that way.'

When I'd cleared Floor 1 of the Tower, a message had definitely appeared saying the 'Baby Sword's' growth would begin.

That meant I needed to swing the sword personally, just like the NPCs in [Raise a Sword].

Swing the sword.

Fight alongside it.

'The fastest way to grow a sword.'

I walked along the red sea near Goyang City.

In corroded Goyang City, you could walk on water.

Among the countless Gates floating on the sea, I chose a slightly smaller one and threw myself in.

* * *

Flash!

[You have entered the Red Sea.]

I'd entered a Gate.

The reason I'd chosen a Goyang City Gate was simple.

Information on this location was extremely well documented.

'A sea that isn't a sea.'

WHOOOOSH—————.

The sound of waves echoed from all directions.

Yet I was standing on solid ground.

Didn't they say Moses parted the Red Sea?

To my left and right, I could see a sea flowing upward toward the sky.

I walked along the path that ran between the waters.

With my small and precious Baby Sword in hand.

The surroundings were red.

The [Red Sea] was the parent body of the Gate that had corroded Goyang City.

As such, even the small Gate I'd entered was governed by the [Red Sea]'s rules.

The enemy here was the sea.

More precisely, monsters formed from pillars of water surging from the sea.

'Sea serpents are going to come pouring out.'

I expanded my senses.

Not quite at the level of when I'd wielded 1st Sword Reinhardt, but.......

'I can feel them.'

The senses of a complete swordsman had taken root in me.

My goal was to hone and refine them, adapting them to my physical body.

The method was simple.

'Like the last sword.'

This time, my goal was to raise the [Baby Sword].

I couldn't repeat what I'd done with the grotesque swords I'd made for fun as a kid.

So I gripped the sword with proper form.

WHOOSH———.

I heard it.

A pillar of water surging from behind me.

I turned to face it.

SHRIEEK——!!!

Serpents emerged from the sea.

Snakes made of thick, red water.

There were countless of them.

I strode forward without hesitation.

And swung the sword.

SLASH—! SLASH!!

The serpents were torn apart.

My sword was stained with the red sea.

It was a small Gate, so the difficulty wasn't all that high.

'Manageable.'

I continued swinging the sword as I walked the path through the Red Sea.

At the end of it, there would be some bizarre entity sustaining this Gate.

After walking for a while, the silhouette of a massive serpent coiled at the far end came into view.

'The core sustaining this Gate.'

Similar to a boss monster.

I readied my sword ahead of the final clash.

But then.......

'My Baby Sword!!!'

My small and precious Baby Sword had turned red.

The Red Sea's crimson was apparently deeper than I'd anticipated.

I tried to wipe the sword clean.

【WAAH!!! HUNGRY!】

But then.......

The Baby Sword suddenly made a strange noise!!!

'It had a sense of self from the start?'

Just as I tilted my head in confusion—.

SLURP———.

The blade absorbed the red liquid coating it.

And then an unbelievable message appeared before my eyes.

Flash!

[Baby Sword has consumed a generous amount of human blood.]

[Baby Sword has become accustomed to the swordsmanship of a complete knight.]

[Baby Sword Alignment — Good 50 : Evil 50 / Chaos]

This was the same type of message that appeared when a sword grew in [Raise a Sword].

'This isn't the direction I intended—.'

In [Raise a Sword], nothing was more infuriating than when an NPC's mistake derailed the sword's growth path.

And I'd just done something similar myself.

But.......

'There was a Chaos alignment?'

My heart was racing.

It seemed my final sword.

The 'Baby Sword' had a new growth path I hadn't known about.

Flash!

————————

Choose the sword's path.

1. Chaos.

2. Supreme Evil.

3. Supreme Good.

————————