"Take your shoes off before you come in, you bastards!"
At Seo-jun’s shout, the man leading the group blinked.
"Did this little punk just say that to me?"
"It seems so, boss!"
"Unbelievable."
The man frowned deeply, slinging a large machete over his shoulder. It was similar to the ones Seo-jun had seen the two criminals wield earlier.
"I'm Jang Chun-deuk from the Black Tiger Clan, you little shit."
Should I respond with, "I'm Geum Chun-bong from between your mother's legs"? Probably not a good idea.
Understanding the situation, Seo-jun scowled.
"So, what are you going to do about our wall, you little shit?"
"The machetes over there look like they belong to our boys. Explain how that happened, and maybe I'll let you live."
"No, seriously, what are you going to do about the wall!"
Jang Chun-deuk clicked his tongue. With a flick of his hand, a group of burly men rushed into the house.
"They'll spill everything after getting beaten within an inch of their lives. Go on, boys."
As the thugs rolled up their sleeves and advanced, Seo-jun exchanged a glance with Chun-bong.
'What should we do?'
'We obviously need to run!'
'We fight? Okay!'
Of course, they didn’t have the ability to communicate telepathically.
Seo-jun kicked up the sword he had placed on the ground, catching it mid-air, and spun around to slash at one of the men.
Thud— Thunk—
As a head separated from its body, the room fell silent. The occasional splatter of blood served as background music.
"...Screw it. Just kill them all!"
Jang Chun-deuk's face turned beet red as he raised his machete and stomped forward. Seo-jun stepped in front of Chun-bong, who sighed.
"Haa... Yeah, this seems about right."
"Doesn’t it?"
"If they had taken us, we wouldn’t have come out in one piece anyway."
Chun-bong gripped one of the machetes that had been leaning against the wall and whispered quietly,
"Fight for a bit, and if you see an opening, run. I can get away on my own."
"Chun-bong."
"What?"
"Geum Chun-bong, my dim-witted little sister."
Seo-jun raised his sword high, the tip pointing toward the sky, his eyes fixed on the approaching Jang Chun-deuk.
"A real man doesn’t run away alone."
Voom—!
Jang Chun-deuk's swinging machete came into view. Just like before, Seo-jun could see the trajectory clearly as if it were being drawn in the air.
If I can see it, that’s enough. Seo-jun swung the sky-bound sword down to the ground.
The sword’s path intersected with the machete.
Clang—!
"Ugh...!"
Sparks flew as Jang Chun-deuk was pushed back. A crack appeared on the machete, and then it shattered into pieces.
"W-what the...?"
Jang Chun-deuk hesitated, stunned. Fights are all about momentum. Even without much experience, Seo-jun had heard as much.
Seo-jun quickly stepped forward with his left foot, twisting his waist. His legs firmly supported his body, transferring power through his waist. His arms, now relaxed, guided the sword, which smoothly sliced through bone and flesh.
Slash—!
A man was split in half. Blood and entrails spilled onto the floor. Seo-jun grinned.
"Too bad."
Jang Chun-deuk had quickly retreated, leaving one of his lackeys to take the fatal blow.
There were already two corpses. Panic gave way to rage as the men charged all at once.
Clang—! Clang—!
Steel clashed with steel. Seo-jun’s only training had been in the Three Talents Sword Technique. Not knowing anything else, he desperately blocked and dodged.
Every time the sword and blades collided, it felt like his arms would fall off. He couldn’t dodge all the blades coming from every direction, so the number of wounds kept increasing.
The room was filled with the smell of sweat, heat, and blood, mixed with the metallic tang of weapons aimed at taking lives.
"Ugh...!"
A blade slashed across Seo-jun’s side. The searing pain felt like his flesh was being torn apart.
If he stopped now, his head would fall off. Riding the surge of adrenaline, Seo-jun swung his sword wildly.
Vertical slashes, horizontal slashes, thrusts. The three forms were distilled down to just slashing and thrusting.
Those two actions were the essence of the sword. All other techniques ultimately derive from them.
As his mind grew foggy, Seo-jun’s body continued to swing the sword, slowly gaining more clarity with each strike.
Slash—!
The sword cut through an enemy’s chest.
Crack, snap.
He could feel the tip of the sword scraping against ribs and tearing through something—perhaps tendons or veins. The sound of the gory duet made his heart race.
"Hmm—"
Caught up in the addictive and strange sensation, Seo-jun drove his sword into the screaming man’s mouth.
"Haa..."
His young body was quickly reaching its limit. His arms trembled, and the wounds he hadn’t been able to block burned with searing pain.
Yet Seo-jun's eyes never stopped moving.
A sword from above, a kick from the front, another sword from the right. He moved to the left diagonal, keeping an eye on the sword above.
And now. Like how Chun-bong had deflected the sword with her palm, Seo-jun deflected the falling sword with his own blade.
Shhhhk—!
"Ahhh...!"
The deflected sword slashed one of its wielder's legs. The opening created by his surprise. Seo-jun kicked off the ground and thrust his sword forward.
Thwack—!
Blood dripped from the tip of the sword that pierced a man's neck.
"Gurgle..."
As he withdrew the sword from the man's gurgling throat, Seo-jun quickly rolled on the floor, dodging the falling swords.
"You rat bastard...!"
Jang Chun-deuk grabbed a lackey's sword and charged. Seo-jun focused on him. Was I always this good at fighting? The thought briefly crossed his mind before he burst out laughing at the sheer exhilaration of the moment.
"Hahaha!"
Blood flowed. The floor was a pond, and from his body, small streams trickled down.
Each thrust of his sword brought more blood to the surface, heating the air.
"I’ve got her...!"
Seo-jun’s attention was drawn to a voice. One of the men had managed to circle around and grabbed Chun-bong.
Thunk—
Chun-bong resisted with a palm strike, but her body was weak. The man who endured her attack caught hold of her.
Meanwhile, Jang Chun-deuk was swinging his machete down toward Seo-jun.
"Boss! I got her!"
Ignoring the voice, Seo-jun struck the flat of the machete and then quickly turned, flicking his thumb against his middle finger.
Whish—
The qi blast hit the man between his eyes. Blood spurted as Chun-bong crawled out from the man’s grasp.
"Hey...! Be careful...!"
Suddenly, the men surrounding them all lunged with their swords. Seo-jun quickly assessed the situation. He swung his sword to push apart two approaching blades and threw himself between them.
Clang—
The men’s swords became entangled. The cut he had taken stung. But the pain brought a rush of euphoria. He spun his body and slashed his sword in a wide arc.
Swish—
The men’s waists were shallowly cut. Seo-jun spotted Jang Chun-deuk retreating.
Instinctively, Seo-jun closed in on another man, stabbing him in the stomach.
"Gaaah...!"
He continued to move the sword, forcing the impaled man to act as a shield.
His view blocked, Seo-jun remembered where Jang Chun-deuk was and unleashed another qi blast.
Whish—
He couldn’t see the result with his eyes.
"Boss...!"
But the panicked voice was enough. Confident in Jang Chun-deuk’s death, Seo-jun pulled out his sword.
Splurt—!
The man whose stomach was pierced collapsed, spilling his guts. Seo-jun grabbed the falling man by the hair and, with a swift slash, severed his head, raising it high.
"Hahaha!"
Seo-jun threw the head toward the remaining men. Their expressions crumbled. Seo-jun took a step forward, and they retreated.
"Raah!"
He let out a roar, causing them to scatter in fear. Their retreat was so comical that Seo-jun laughed until his stomach hurt.
"...Hey!"
His head was hot. He wanted to keep slashing, no matter what. Should I chase them down and kill them all? It seemed like a great idea.
Thwack—!
Just as he was about to move, his vision shook.
"Snap out of it, you idiot!"
Chun-bong’s angry face was in front of him. What’s her problem now?
"Do you think you’re some kind of killing god? Stop grinning like that, it’s scary as hell!"
"Why? It’s fun."
At that, Chun-bong slapped her forehead.
"Good grief. You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep this up."
But Chun-bong didn’t look well. Her face was deathly pale, just like it had been before.
“There’s a demonic nature in blood. If you get consumed by it, you’ll become a demon. You always need to be careful.”
“You should be more worried about yourself.”
“I’m fine... Urgh—!”
Suddenly, blood poured from Chun-bong’s mouth like a waterfall. Perhaps because he had seen it before, Seo-jun didn’t panic. Instead, he calmly patted her back.
“Just circulate your energy, will you?”
“Y-you... Ugh... Be careful, okay?”
“Got it, now hurry up.”
After a few prompts, Chun-bong sat down in the lotus position and began to circulate her qi.
It seems like this happens every time she uses martial arts. Is there something wrong with her body? Seo-jun looked at the top of her head with concern and sighed.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Staying healthy is the greatest act of filial piety, but it already breaks my heart that my little sister is suffering.
“Aigo...”
Maybe because the tension had finally eased, but his body started to ache all over.
Seo-jun slumped to the floor and began counting the bodies strewn around.
“One, two, three... seven. I killed quite a few.”
The floor was in a terrible state. Blood, guts, and corpses were everywhere, and a few severed heads rolled around separately.
Come to think of it, I just fought off almost 17 to 1 and won. The day I got slashed by those criminals now seems like a distant memory.
‘I joked about it before, but do I actually have some talent?’
Seo-jun nudged one of the rolling heads with the sheath of his sword, sending it further away.
“Hmm.”
Nine people dead since I landed in this martial world. In the world I came from, this would have been headline news.
Am I weird for killing so many people and feeling nothing?
‘That’s probably true.’
I’m definitely strange, but I don’t know if I was always like this, if something broke in me after coming here, or if there’s some other reason.
“Who cares.”
Seo-jun lay down on the floor. I’ll just rest until Chun-bong gets up.
What should I do when she wakes up? Should we move? Was that all the Black Tiger Clan had? No, was it Black Tiger Sect?
As Seo-jun’s thoughts spiraled into endless questions, his consciousness slowly began to fade.