Chapter 46: Sword and the marble

The ‘Fourth Sword’ obtainable from this quest—

No one knew exactly what kind of skill it was. Namjin’s mastery of Mu-Wi was at a level where it was impossible to distinguish where his skills ended and his innate abilities began.

That was why, even in his previous life, information about Namjin was scarce, filled only with heroic tales and legends.

“So just managing to obtain it means stepping into a realm that no one else can even dream of reaching.”

Just like the current Namjin.

“Jiho’s going to be pretty jealous.”

Every time they met at home, Jiho would pester him relentlessly—asking if the training was going well, whether he could come watch, and when the Coming-of-Age Ceremony would take place.

He even showed genuine concern whenever Taehoo had serious injuries.

“Worried about me?”

“W-Well, I’m just worried my rival might disappear! It’s just that simple!”

His face flushed red as he stammered out the excuse without realizing how transparent he sounded.

Did Jiho really have such a cute side?

Taehoo found himself surprised anew.

Even Gyeonghwan showed slightly different facets compared to their past lives. It wasn’t a bad feeling at all.

“Jiho, you little brat. I’ll make you regret tagging along to the Coming-of-Age Ceremony.”

Joking with Jiho, Taehoo pushed aside his distractions.

The clinking sound of steel marbles hitting each other came from Namjin’s hand.

It meant training was about to begin.

Soon, the marbles were sucked between Namjin’s fingers.

Shiiik!

The shot came in an instant. Taehoo managed to dodge it without any trouble.

“Tch, was I a bit slow on the reaction? I need to move faster.”

His mind relentlessly analyzed and memorized the current situation.

To seize that one decisive moment.

To fulfill the condition he had set for himself.

For that, he had endured three months of time and just as many wounds.

The next projectile was fired.

The outer walls of the Martial Arts Hall were battered and pocked from three months of back-and-forth combat.

Though the Nam Clan’s Martial Arts Hall had an automatic Resonance Machine, the function had been disabled to preserve it.

Namjin always stood in the same spot, making it possible to accurately trace the trajectory.

He could discern the preferred angles of his grandfather’s shots.

Meticulous research and calculation were always Taehoo’s source of strength.

Using that knowledge, he dodged the incoming steel marbles and swung his sword several times.

He missed.

But he wasn’t wounded. He adjusted his timing once again.

Five shots remained. The final count.

He exhaled slowly. He had to, absolutely had to succeed.

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them. Namjin waited that long.

In that moment, time seemed to stop.

[Entering Special State ‘Trance’!]
[Second ‘Trance’ activation! Your body is more prepared than before!]
[‘Trance’ effect: Hearing dramatically enhanced!]
[‘Trance’ effect: Vision dramatically enhanced!]
[‘Trance’ effect: All senses dramatically enhanced!]
[‘Trance’ effect: Aura’s destructive power dramatically enhanced!]

Messages appeared before Taehoo’s eyes, though he himself couldn’t see them.

It was the same Trance that had triggered the first time he stepped into the Sanctuary.

His breathing thundered like a storm. The sweat trickling down his jawline hit the floor with a deafening sound.

Soon came the piercing impact.

Thanks to the heightened senses, the sound of the steel marbles was pinpoint accurate.

He swung the Falling Flower Sword along that exact trajectory.

The training method Gyeonghwan had taught him shone through at that moment.

Like breathing, like a ripple on water, the Falling Flower Sword met the steel marble.

There was no screeching friction.

Just a brief, crisp swish that echoed through the Martial Arts Hall.

Namjin watched it precisely.

“What a pain in the ass… a Trance in this situation…”

Namjin was dumbfounded, but he fired the second shot anyway.

The result was the same.

[Signs of Quest Completion detected!]

The third shot.

[Signs of Quest Completion detected!]

If even one shot wasn’t cut, it was over. Yet no failure message appeared. Taehoo just steadily sliced one after another.

Cutting, cutting—like a batter in a baseball stadium generating foul balls.

The sound of the blade carving through the marbles was just as clean as when he first heard it.

No unnecessary noise.

Then,

[Your sword has cut exactly through the center of the marble!]
[Quest Completed!]
[Skill ‘Fourth Sword’ awakened!]
[Skill reacts with ‘Eye of the Swordsman’!]
[Skill evolves!]

Messages flashed rapidly.

Only then could Taehoo truly come to his senses.

Just like the first time he snapped out of Trance, Namjin was standing right in front of him.

[Skill evolves into ‘Death Eye (사안)’!]

A wave of extreme fatigue washed over him.

Taehoo collapsed on the Martial Arts Hall floor.

For the first time, he had inherited his grandfather Namjin’s skill.

It was a glorious moment, but his body looked utterly pitiful.

Namjin gazed warmly at his grandson.

Why was this the face he could show him, yet he remained so cold toward his own son?

Why treat every grandchild but him so coldly?

If only his own ability was what Namjin valued, then what was that warmth from their past life?

In his exhausted, blank mind, questions without answers surfaced.

Taehoo had no clue yet. He hadn’t even grasped the tail end of it.

“Three months. I said three months would be enough, didn’t I?”

Taehoo said as if to prove a point.

“After barely managing with that Special State at the end, you still came out alive.”

“Luck is also skill, they say.”

He deliberately spoke nonsense to shake off the surging emotions.

Namjin knew that the second Trance was no coincidence.

Special States were so rare that even ordinary Hunters might only experience it once. Taehoo’s twice was no accident.

“Well done. Truly well done.”

Namjin draped the coat he had been wearing over Taehoo’s shoulders.

Taehoo’s lanky frame had grown, and the coat fit as if it were made for him.

“Nice build you’ve got.”

“This coat…?”

Namjin had wanted to ask ever since he first wore it.

“It’s the coat I wore when I was active. One of the few rare-grade items in the world. I thought it’d fit you perfectly, and it suits you. It’s yours now.”

He gave Taehoo a quick once-over, as if to confirm his judgment.

“If your grown-up clothes fit you well, that means the Coming-of-Age Ceremony is just around the corner.”

Clothes fitting adults meant it was time for the ceremony? Taehoo thought it was nonsense but didn’t voice it.

Instead, Namjin continued.

“The dungeon for your Coming-of-Age Ceremony has been decided. From now on, it won’t be monsters standing in your way.”

His words held a lot of meaning.

“You can leave as soon as you’re ready. I’ll send my personal Quest separately.”

He added that the Hunters who would join the dungeon run had been chosen by Namgoong.

The full explanation would have to come later.

Namjin’s words drifted in Taehoo’s mind.

His consciousness grew hazy.

A personal Quest…

Without recognizing the trap card,

“Wow, that coat suits you really well!”

Ba’al’s voice echoed clearly in Taehoo’s head. It was probably because it was a voice transmitted directly into his mind.

And then—

“Do well out there. I’m counting on you.”

Namjin’s and his grandfather’s training was over, and their hopes rested on Taehoo’s success.

Taehoo lay down in the family’s infirmary and immediately fell asleep.

It took him three full days to wake up.

The aftereffects of the Trance combined with the exhaustion of three months of training hit him all at once.

It was the first time in a long while since he had experienced anything like it, except for when he first entered the Sanctuary.

It was proof of how insane it was to operate Aura all day long.

“I crashed just one month after starting this whole thing. I was down for a whole week back then. Three days is nothing!”

Gyeonghwan visited the infirmary and slapped Taehoo’s back as he said this.

Taehoo laughed, fighting the urge to return the slap.

Wasn’t this some other kind of psycho? The gratitude he had felt toward Gyeonghwan vanished instantly.

Regardless of Taehoo’s thoughts, Gyeonghwan was quite surprised internally.

Not only had Taehoo digested the training method, but even though he hadn’t obtained the skill, taking three days to recover from the lingering exhaustion was astonishing, especially given his age.

“I really need to step up my game.”

Gyeonghwan thought perhaps he was the one who needed to adjust his expectations.

“Don’t bother him anymore. Let’s head out now.”

Taehoo issued the dismissal order.

In the infirmary, the patient was always king, no matter the relations.

With that, Gyeonghwan left, and Taehoo was left alone.

He stared blankly at the white ceiling.

An IV drip was inserted into his arm.

From the attached hose, a mana-infused fluid flowed steadily into his body.

“Three days just for this.”

Feeling the weight of his arduous training all over again, he opened the

‘Skill Window’

to check what he needed to.

“What I thought was a dud pull turned out to be a jackpot…”

Neither Taehoo nor Ba’al had expected or even imagined the skill.

[Death Eye]
-Origin: Sword God
-Description: The Fourth Sword is originally a technique imbued with the wielder’s will to bring the opponent inevitably to death with a single strike. It is an evolved skill supported by [Eye of the Swordsman]! When the target’s strength falls below a certain level, it reveals their ‘Weakness’—allowing you to bring them to certain death! The executioner’s eye!

[Wow… Is this even allowed?]

Ba’al’s reaction made it easy to understand just how unprecedented the skill was.

It was a skill with unimaginable potential.

Perhaps the synergy was born from the fusion of two skills originating from the Sword God.

“This skill definitely lives up to the name Death Eye.”

It was the moment Taehoo realized just how incredible his titles and Ba’al’s powers were.

In any case, he had gained an incredible card before even entering the first dungeon.

Since it revealed Weakness, it would work well with the Giant Slayer.

Two hidden blades to use against opponents stronger than himself.

Both were more than adequate in performance. Cards that could decisively turn the tide.

“Whatever stands in my way won’t just be monsters…”

Taehoo remembered Namjin’s words exactly.

Namjin clearly didn’t misunderstand Jiuk’s intentions either.

There was no doubt about Jiho joining the Coming-of-Age Ceremony alongside them.

“He intends to eliminate us.”

Taehoo was quite taken aback internally.

He hadn’t known as an outsider in his previous life just how fierce the clan succession fight was.

“How did that young brat Jiho manage to survive on his own among them?”

Given how quickly things were being prepared, it wasn’t a plan formed in just a short time.

“That sneaky glance was a total sly fox, wasn’t it?”

Ba’al’s words struck a chord.

The one Taehoo needed to be wary of wasn’t Jiho, but rather Jiuk, who had treated him like a person in the previous life.

Of course, in hindsight, maybe Jiuk’s coldness was what made his actions possible.

His face already bore a thick mask.

“Well, at this level, I don’t think you—the firstborn—would lose to a spy anyway.”

Ba’al added.

Taehoo’s thoughts weren’t much different from Ba’al’s, but he still felt uneasy.

Unlike the second brother Gyeonghwan, Jiuk was notorious for being thorough.

He was said to be the only one who managed politics and social relations well in the Nam Clan, things the family had traditionally been poor at.

He knew very well that surviving in such environments, especially where families interlinked, was no easy task.

Yet Jiuk had managed to pull it off in their past lives.

Even when Namjin disappeared completely and Namgoong stepped down.

Who knew how deep the cunning inside him ran?

Namjin’s warning wasn’t without reason.

“It wouldn’t hurt to prepare thoroughly.”

Checking all bridges before crossing them—that was Taehoo’s specialty.

By the way,

“What is this personal Quest?”

Namjin’s words flashed in Taehoo’s mind.

At the same time,

Knock knock.

The person Taehoo had been waiting for knocked on the door.