While Lee Tae-sung was vigorously swinging his sword, Oh Choong approached him.
“You’re working hard.”
“Greetings, sir.”
Lee Tae-sung politely performed a fist-and-palm salute.
‘Always be polite to NPCs, you never know what they might drop!’
This was a thought deeply ingrained in Tae-sung’s head, and even a quick glance at Oh Choong’s martial arts uniform revealed a mark signifying a first-class member of the Soaring Dragon Sect.
Naturally, he had to be on his best behavior.
‘He’s definitely an outlander, but his attitude is decent.’
Oh Choong secretly felt a sense of approval toward Lee Tae-sung.
There were several outlanders in Eln whom he had met in passing, and he hadn’t liked them very much until now.
Despite being weak, their backs were stiff with pride, and many were plain disrespectful.
But this guy seemed a bit different.
Oh Choong didn’t care much for outlanders, but he felt he understood why the Chief Manager had told him to give this man a reward.
“I saw you on my way over. It looks like you’re training.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If you’re alright with it, I’d like to help you with your training for a bit starting now.
The Chief Manager thought highly of your contribution last time.”
At those words, Lee Tae-sung flicked his gaze toward the Chief Manager standing far off in the distance.
The man was watching them, and Tae-sung gave him a light salute.
The Chief Manager nodded and walked away.
‘I knew it was right to be nice to NPCs.’
He had already received the quest reward, yet here was another windfall!
“I would be grateful for your guidance.”
He knew that practice increased skill levels, but even though he had been practicing whenever he had free time for several days now, there hadn’t been a big change.
At most, the sparks blooming from his sword had changed slightly.
Originally, only a few sparks flickered at the tip of the blade, but now the range had widened a bit.
Still, it was significantly lacking compared to what the Crimson Brotherhood member had shown.
Oh Choong stood across from Lee Tae-sung.
“It looks like you’ve learned a Hybrid style. Is that correct?”
“Yes. I happened to obtain it by chance recently.”
“A Hybrid that combines martial arts and magic actually doesn’t receive very good evaluations.”
Martial arts process the energy within the body into a form called internal energy to strengthen the physical form.
On the other hand, magic processes mana to resonate with nature and bring about change.
Both share the commonality of handling energy, but the processes are different.
And a Hybrid uses both.
Naturally, the efficiency isn’t great.
The amount of energy a human body can produce is limited, and to become a master, it’s better to refine one side to the extreme.
“However, that’s a conversation for when you’ve reached a certain level of mastery.
It should be a great help to you for now.”
At levels like third-class or second-class, a momentary mistake can flip the results of a fight.
If sparks fly from a third-class martial artist’s sword?
That unexpectedness could save a life.
One only had to look at how the squad leader, a second-class martial artist of the Soaring Dragon Sect, had died in a mutual strike.
“A Hybrid with decent skill can, if lucky, take down even a martial artist who has entered the realm of mastery or a veteran magician. That is the advantage of a Hybrid.”
“Then, is it impossible to progress beyond that?”
This was something Lee Tae-sung was curious about.
Since he had already invested a skill point and learned it, would he have to discard it and switch to something else later?
“For most, yes, but it’s not an absolute rule. Though few, there are those who have reached the Ultimate Realm despite being Hybrids. And hundreds of years ago, the Flame Emperor was famous as the number one expert of the Western Continent despite being a Hybrid. Unfortunately, he had no disciples, so his lineage was cut off.”
Oh Choong shrugged his shoulders.
“Now, enough small talk. I’ll watch your swordsmanship from here on out. I saw it briefly earlier, and it was pathetic. No matter if you’re a Hybrid, swinging a sword and circulating internal energy within the body are the same, so I’ll give you some basic guidance.”
From that moment on, Oh Choong’s instruction began.
Tae-sung had honestly wondered how useful it would be, but the experience was different once he actually received it.
It was different from simply spending a skill point to learn a skill.
Oh Choong taught him the essentials: the position and strength of his feet when swinging the sword, the regulation of internal energy flow, and the significance of each movement.
It was a stark contrast to training blindly on his own.
-Ding!
[Flame Sword Technique proficiency increases.]
[Flame Sword Technique skill level has increased.]
[Flame Sword Technique (Lv.1) -> Flame Sword Technique (Lv.2)]
“!”
The game message appeared before Lee Tae-sung’s eyes.
And then.
-Ding!
『Flame Sword Technique proficiency increases.』
『Flame Sword Technique skill level has increased.』
『Flame Sword Technique (Lv.1) -> Flame Sword Technique (Lv.2)』
A notification from reality rang out as well.
***
Lee Tae-sung spent some time immersed in training.
‘I was right to focus on Dream World.’
To think that training in the game could increase his real-world skill level.
He didn’t know how other hunters grew, but at the very least, it wouldn’t be easier than this!
Oh Choong’s teaching lasted barely two hours, but he had gained a lot during that time.
As a result of repeated training throughout the next day, the level of his Flame Sword Technique rose once more, reaching level 3!
Afterward, Lee Tae-sung worked even harder on his duties for the Soaring Dragon Sect.
He didn’t think of them simply as in-game quests, but as things happening to him in reality.
Since he could resurrect even if he died in the game, he acted boldly.
Consequently, he built up a better track record compared to other third-class members.
There were other users among the third-class members, but they didn’t approach the game as seriously as Lee Tae-sung, so they were naturally lacking.
“As I expected. I noticed early on that you were a talented individual.”
-Ding!
[You have completed the quest.]
[You receive 23 copper coins and a small amount of experience as a reward.]
When he returned from completing another quest, the Chief Manager welcomed him with a satisfied smile.
After making an impression like this a few times, the Chief Manager now placed quite a deep level of trust in Lee Tae-sung. At the very least, there was no longer any negative bias because he was an outlander.
That was why this happened.
“Hmm. Come to think of it, are you free this evening?”
The Chief Manager asked as if he had just remembered something.
Lee Tae-sung noticed that this wasn’t a normal occurrence.
Usually, he had to ask if there was any work to do before getting an answer, but for the manager to offer first?
This was clearly no ordinary task.
“Yes. I have no special plans other than training.”
“That’s good. Elder Dam Ho-pung is scheduled to meet with the Crimson Brotherhood members for a ceasefire negotiation this time. Would you like to go with him?”
-Ding!
[A quest has occurred.]
[Quest: Accompanied by the Elder]
-Description: The friction between the Soaring Dragon Sect and the Crimson Brotherhood is intensifying over time.
As this is not good for either organization, the Soaring Dragon Sect intends to negotiate a ceasefire.
Complete the negotiations alongside Elder Dam Ho-pung.
‘Oh!’
It was definitely different from the quests he had received so far.
Those were trivial things like patrolling the market, guarding an area, or collecting protection money from merchants.
This was clearly different.
However, a question arose.
“Is it alright for a third-class member like me to be present at such a place?”
Lately, the constant friction with the Crimson Brotherhood had been the main focus of the entire Soaring Dragon Sect.
A ceasefire negotiation was not a place where a third-class member would usually be involved.
“We agreed to match the number of people with their side. We need to go with a balanced set of first-class, second-class, and third-class members.”
If they had only set a total number of people, they would have taken the Soaring Dragon Sect’s strongest fighters.
But taking such people could lead to an all-out war if one thing went wrong.
To prevent such a situation, they had intentionally placed limits on the rank of the subordinates.
Lee Tae-sung nodded in understanding.
‘Getting on the Chief Manager’s good side is paying off in places like this.’
The number of third-class members being taken wouldn’t be very many.
Naturally, they would pick the most trustworthy among the third-class members, so it was a good thing the Chief Manager had selected Lee Tae-sung.
It would be dangerous, of course, but the quest rewards would be better than simple missions.
Furthermore, it was good to have a chance to build rapport with someone of Elder rank.
“If you leave it to me, I will work hard.”
“Right. I trust that you will do well.”
The Chief Manager smiled and tapped him on the shoulder.
-Ding!
[You have accepted the quest.]
***
The Soaring Dragon Sect was a martial arts sect closer to the Unorthodox side.
And the Crimson Brotherhood was also an organization that sought disorder.
If such powers met to negotiate, would it proceed in a gentlemanly fashion?
The answer was an absolute ‘no.’
“Ha! This is ridiculous. You were the ones who unilaterally picked a fight, and now you’re asking for gold bars as a condition for a ceasefire?”
“I told you earlier, Elder Dam. That market was originally our territory.”
“What are you doing bringing up something from fifteen years ago?”
“You guys raided it and took it from us back then! We’re just doing the same.”
“Tsk, tsk. Are your ears clogged, or has your mind gone blank?”
“You old man! Do you want to eat funeral food next year on this day?”
“Fine. I’ll take your head and offer it to our Sect Leader!”
‘It’s a mess.’
Lee Tae-sung carefully moved his hand to grip the hilt of his sword.
The atmosphere felt like a fight could break out at any moment.
This wasn’t just talk for intimidation.
“Die!”
“Hah!”
Elder Dam Ho-pung and Diego, one of the three Vice-Commanders of the Crimson Brotherhood, leaped up and lunged toward each other.
Elder Dam’s sword flew fast like a beam of light, and lightning sparked from Diego’s fist before being fired.
As the sword and fist collided, light, shockwaves, and loud noise shot out in all directions.
Clang!
Clang!
Naturally, the subordinates of each faction drew their weapons.
At that moment, Lee Tae-sung was already rushing in and stabbing one person in the heart.
Because he had anticipated the brawl, he had been ready and moved immediately.
Thud!
“Guh-hurk…”
An enemy roughly equivalent to a second-class member of the Soaring Dragon Sect fell with eyes wide open.
He had failed to block the surprise attack because his attention had been momentarily stolen by the battle between Elder Dam Ho-pung and his own leader.
-Ding!
[You have defeated an enemy superior to yourself.]
[You gain experience.]
[Level Up!]
The experience was substantial enough that he leveled up just by taking down one guy.
“Y-You cowardly bastard!”
When the man collapsed, the Crimson Brotherhood members standing next to him shouted at Lee Tae-sung.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Lee Tae-sung smirked. To receive the best compliment an enemy could give—it meant he was doing well.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from Lee Tae-sung’s sword.
Thanks to the Flame Sword Technique reaching level 3, flames now wrapped around two-thirds of the blade, and such an appearance was extremely imposing indoors.
Regardless of their power level, people flinched momentarily.
“F-Flame Sword Technique?”
Furthermore, wasn’t this a Hybrid style originally used by one of the Crimson Brotherhood members?
Recognizing it made them even more flustered.
“Hyaah!”
“Chah!”
Thanks to the opening Lee Tae-sung provided, the Soaring Dragon Sect members gained the advantage of the first strike.
Thud!
Slash!
Fwoosh!
The meeting place prepared for ceasefire negotiations transformed into a scene where people killed each other.