Chapter 8
‘This… this really worked.’
I tried my best to look calm as I brought the Mistcatcher to Sara’s neck.
Honestly, I just wanted to collapse on the spot.
But for now, I acted as if I was relaxed.
Since I had won anyway, I wanted to at least look composed rather than pathetic.
‘But… did I really win? Did I actually beat that Sara Isrinbloom with a sword?’
I looked at Sara in front of me.
She was clutching her bleeding wrist, glaring fiercely at me.
Seeing that, I once again realized that I had truly won.
‘I was the one who did it, but I still have no idea how I actually won.’
When I had fought Sara as a defensive swordsman in the game, it had been just like fighting a boss monster.
I would only defend, and when I saw an opening, I’d deal a bit of damage — the typical hit-and-run style.
But this wasn’t a game. This was reality.
So, I tried to think realistically.
‘Sara is arrogant, proud, and hot-tempered. And she loses her composure easily.’
I had wanted to use those traits of hers to my advantage as much as possible.
Sara’s pride was strong; she couldn’t possibly accept losing to an unknown swordsman like me.
But when I dragged out the fight by purely defending, she must have grown anxious that she might not be able to defeat me.
‘And to bring me down somehow, she’d try every trick she could — and eventually expose a huge opening.’
That was what I had predicted, and my prediction had been right.
When she got impatient, Sara tried to break my stance not with skill, but with raw strength and speed.
So she swung her sword widely without realizing it — and I didn’t miss that opening.
‘Never thought I’d actually experience cutting someone with a sword in my life.’
The moment I aimed for Sara’s wrist, my mind hesitated.
For someone who had spent most of his time as a shut-in gamer, the act of cutting another person with a blade was terrifying.
But my body didn’t hesitate — it slashed Sara’s wrist.
And even though I had just struck someone, I found myself disturbingly calm.
‘No, now that I think about it, the fact that I could stay calm and judge things during a fight — that’s what’s strange.’
Before I transmigrated this body, I had been just an ordinary person.
And now I was suddenly swinging a sword and fighting battles?
Normally, there’s no way I’d have stayed calm — I wouldn’t even have made sound decisions.
But throughout the fight, I had remained composed.
As if this kind of battle was something utterly familiar to me.
‘Well, I guess the body I transmigrated must’ve been through all sorts of real combat. And the way I swung the sword just now…’
A few seconds ago, I had made a split-second decision.
No matter how exhausted she was, Sara wouldn’t fall for an obvious attack.
So I copied her sword technique on the spot —a deceptive sword style, to be exact, one that alters the sword’s trajectory mid-swing.
Sara had looked startled when I imitated her swordsmanship so crudely, but she still blocked it easily.
So… I quickly attempted another move.
‘The Isrinbloom family’s… secret technique.’
The swordsmanship of the Isrinbloom Ducal Family — a style that deceives and misleads opponents.
One of its techniques allowed the user to vanish from the enemy’s sight in an instant and then strike from their blind spot.
I had faced Sara many times in boss battles, and since she’d just used that move on me, I was able to recall and mimic it.
Originally, it was a technique that followed with a flurry of attacks before the opponent could even realize what was happening.
‘I didn’t think it’d work… but I managed to pull it off, even if poorly.’
Honestly, even though I was the one who did it, I wasn’t sure how I had.
But I decided not to think too hard about it.
It wasn’t something I could figure out by overthinking anyway.
‘Well, I’ll think about that later. For now…’
I quickly cleared my mind of distractions.
For the moment, I needed to finish what was right in front of me.
“Sara-nim?”
“……”
Sara said nothing, continuing to glare at me.
I also stayed silent, keeping the Mistcatcher pressed to her neck.
‘Better not open my mouth and say something stupid. Turning Sara completely against me would be troublesome.’
As I mentioned before, Sara was one of the most ill-tempered and touchy characters in this now-real game world.
Just one wrong word — one wrong dialogue choice — could skyrocket her “displeasure gauge.”
And once that gauge exceeded a certain level, she’d become a boss and try to kill the player.
‘In the game, I could at least see that gauge, so I could predict and manage it. But now, there’s no way to check it.’
Because of that, I had to be extra cautious with my words and actions in front of her.
By the way, the Sara I had just sparred with… hadn’t fought at full strength.
If she had used Aura or even added flame magic to her swordplay, my swordsmanship alone wouldn’t have stood a chance.
“You… Kyrgram. How dare you, how could you…”
While I was lost in thought, Sara finally spoke, her voice trembling slightly.
And not just her voice — her whole body was shaking.
“How did you do that just now? Our… no, my family’s swordsmanship — how could some no-name like you…?”
“You showed it to me just now, so I managed to imitate it, though clumsily.”
“That’s absurd! The technique that made you vanish from my sight — that was clearly—”
“That’s enough, both of you.”
Cutting Sara off, Luke approached us.
“This sparring match ends here. Gideon, sheath your sword.”
“Yes, understood.”
I slid the Mistcatcher back into its scabbard.
Luke glanced at Sara’s wrist.
“Sara, your wrist… It’s not too deep, but you should get it treated quickly—”
“Luke, is that what matters right now? This bastard just used our family’s sword—”
“Yeah, I saw that too. But your treatment comes first. Jason, you know where the infirmary is, right? Take Sara and—”
“Tch… I’ll go alone.”
“But Sara, just in case, you should—”
“I said I’ll go alone! Alone!”
Sara suddenly shouted, her expression full of anger and frustration.
“…Tch.”
She grabbed her fallen rapier with her uninjured hand and walked toward the gym exit.
Luke sighed and scratched his head as he watched her go.
“She’s still the same, huh. Anyway, Gideon, good work. And congrats. Blocking all of the Isrinbloom family’s sword techniques and winning… that’s really—”
“That guy didn’t win!”
Sara, who had been walking toward the exit, suddenly turned around and shouted.
“It's not… it's not over yet! Gideon Kyrgram! The match isn’t finished! I could’ve kept fighting, but Professor Luke interrupted us, so the duel isn’t decided yet!”
“Hey, hey. Sara. Stop it, you’re embarrassing yourself.”
Jason cut her off and stood up, walking toward her.
“Anyone can see that you lost. Refusing to accept that even now… it’s not a good look.”
“Shut up, Jason! I could’ve kept fighting! The professor ended it too soon—”
“The moment your wrist was cut and you dropped your sword, the match was over. Why’s your pride—”
“I said shut up! Anyway, the match isn’t over!”
Sara shouted again and glared at me, her expression a mix of humiliation and anger.
She seemed like she had a lot more to say, but in the end, she turned her head and stormed out of the gym.
Jason, watching her go, gave a hollow laugh and turned to Luke.
“Professor, I’ll go with her. I don’t feel right letting her wander off alone like that.”
“Alright. I’ll leave it to you, Jason.”
“Yes, sir.”
With that, Jason followed after Sara and exited the gym.
Once things settled down, I glanced around.
“Wait, so Sara-nim… actually lost? That Sara-nim?”
“No way. Isn’t it basically impossible to beat a swordsman from the Isrinbloom Ducal Family unless your skill level is miles above theirs?”
“Who even is that Gideon guy? He’s got a noble surname, but I’ve never heard of him.”
“Same. That family name’s new to me too.”
Everyone around was talking about the duel between Sara and me.
And it wasn’t just the other first-years —
upperclassmen from the second and third years in the gym’s second-floor spectator seats were also talking about me.
‘I don’t care what anyone else says. What matters is… that person.’
My eyes shifted to a red-haired girl sitting alone in the stands.
Lisa Balmuth.
She was looking at me with clear interest, and when our eyes met, I quickly looked away — but I could still feel her gaze lingering on me.
‘Well, I definitely left an impression on Lisa.’
Of course I did.
An unknown baron’s son had just defeated the genius of the great Isrinbloom Ducal Family.
‘Things turned out better than I expected.’
Not only had I left a good first impression on Lisa, but by defeating Sara, my name had probably spread a little.
That bit of fame might help me later when it came to rising through the ranks.
“Gideon.”
“Hm? Oh, yes, Professor.”
While I was lost in thought, Luke called out to me again.
“If you want, you can head back early today. Facing Sara wasn’t exactly easy, right?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Honestly, I’m not that tired.”
That wasn’t just something I said.
Partly because this body I transmigrated had excellent physical ability — but more than that, defense consumed far less stamina than attacking.
So while Sara’s stamina had quickly run dry, I was still perfectly fine.
“You’ve definitely got good endurance. Alright then. Take a breather while the others spar. Once they’re done, we’ll have a short orientation before I dismiss you.”
“Understood.”
After replying, I walked to a chair in the corner of the gym and sat down.
As I did, I stole a glance at Luke — he had a somewhat uncertain expression.
“Still, did he really mimic Sara’s swordsmanship at the end? No, that shouldn’t be possible… I might have to check that myself later.”
He looked like he was deep in thought, but I stopped paying attention to him.
Physically, I was fine — but mentally, I needed a short break.
‘Phew… finally, a moment to breathe.’
When Sara had suddenly challenged me to a duel, I’d honestly thought things would get complicated.
And, in a way, they had — she probably hated me now.
Still, the important thing was that I’d left a strong impression on Lisa.
That alone was a gain.
‘Speaking of Lisa…’
I glanced up again toward the second-floor seats.
Now that another first-year duel had started, Lisa was watching it seriously like the other upperclassmen.
But I could still catch her sneaking glances at me from time to time.
‘I need to think about how to get closer to Lisa.’
The path I’d chosen — becoming a knight, the so-called Disciplinary Committee Route — required me to first join the Academy’s Disciplinary Committee.
And right now, the only active member left in that committee… was Lisa Balmuth.
‘For certain reasons, she ended up managing the committee alone, running it by herself.’
From what I remembered, the committee would soon recruit one new member from each grade.
And I had to become the first-year representative.
To do that, I needed to impress Lisa — prove that I was capable and strong.
And of course…
‘…I’ll have to pass the entrance test.’
The Disciplinary Committee’s entrance test — it wasn’t easy.
I’d need to prepare for it.
That meant one thing: I had to become stronger.
‘Not just for the committee. If I want to rise and survive in this world, I have to get stronger.’
There was a lot I needed to do.
First, train to fully adapt to this body. Then, acquire the right items.
‘The gear set that boosts physical attack… and most importantly, the rune. If I’m sticking with the defensive swordsman build, that rune’s essential.’
Honestly, I wanted to go find those items and runes right now.
But at my current level, it was impossible.
‘Even if my physical ability and swordsmanship are good, the top-tier gear I want… is out of reach for now. I’ll have to start small and farm lower-level equipment first.’
There was no need to rush.
Since I’d likely be spending a long time in this world, I just had to grow stronger step by step, like in the beginning stages of a character build.
‘Still, the Disciplinary Committee entrance exam is coming soon. I’ll need a way to get stronger fast. And right now…’
I looked down at the Mistcatcher hanging at my waist.
‘…let’s start by strengthening my weapon.’
As I’d said before, this world was no longer a game for me.
So strengthening my weapon wouldn’t directly increase my stats.
But somehow… I had a feeling that it’d be much better than leaving it as it was.