Episode 161: Lake of Swords (5)
Ppop.
The sound of snow falling on the ground. I opened my eyes at the sudden sound.
– ?
It was a sound coming from my field. I looked around right away. The snow was falling and my vision was extremely blurry.
However, thanks to the cold wind blowing, the snow starts to disappear and the surroundings gradually become visible.
After a while, the view was somewhat secured, and I was surprised once again.
My breath came out in a ragged gasp. A pure white world stretched out endlessly before my eyes. In the vast plain that at first glance looked like a snowy mountain, the ridges of the mountains formed a curved horizon.
The color is whiter than white. If there is no color, wouldn’t it be like this? Now we know that it is not reality.
And after the fog completely cleared, I was convinced once again that this place was clearly unreal.
Sashimi with blades half-stuck in the snow. There are so many knives lined up that it’s almost impossible to count them all.
An overwhelming scene that creates a majestic atmosphere. It is like a sword tomb. The sashimi is a gravestone, and the snow-capped mountain is a graveyard.
Thud, thud.
Contrary to my dazed mind, my feet moved forward on their own.
A situation where my body moves on its own. I am climbing a hill against my will.
– But why am I here?
I know because I’ve had a few surreal dreams. Dreams are usually vague in their context.
But the situation just a moment ago was still vivid in my mind.
I left the polling place, picked up some sashimi, and confronted 3rd Corps Commander Vesna.
I was avoiding the spears pouring down like cherry blossoms, waiting for an opportunity to attack. The next time I was going to attack by taking advantage of the bastard’s opening was now.
Still, if we roughly infer the circumstances, the possibility of where this place is can be narrowed down to one.
…the afterlife?
How did you get attacked and die in the midst of a fierce battle? He shook his head vigorously.
No. I didn’t feel that way at all. Even though all of Vesna’s spells were threatening, they weren’t something that could be avoided. Rather, she seemed surprised when I tried to evade them here and there.
Losing your footing for a moment and getting hit by magic and dying instantly? Still, it was strange. Even if the magic was fired at a speed exceeding the speed of sound. There’s no way you wouldn’t remember it until the moment of death.
By the way, why does my head resonate like this every time I speak? Why does my body move on its own?
My head is thinking back on the situation, but my legs are moving forward diligently. Crossing the Tomb of Swords, towards the top of the hill.
The mind and body are separate. The discomfort is no joke. My hands and feet are frozen like ice, and I can’t even rub them as I want.
I felt a sense of unease and anxiety at the same time. Why was I wandering around an unidentified place during a fierce battle with the 3rd Corps Commander?
At that moment, I imagined myself being struck by magic. I imagined myself being crushed by spears shot at supersonic speeds, and myself being turned into tteokgalbi and submerged in water.
Damn, I’m going crazy.
While climbing the snowy mountain, lost in ominous thoughts and without any sense of time, a status window suddenly appeared on my retina.
Phew!
[hello.]
… … ?!
My eyes grew wide. I was more surprised than I was walking through a strange snowy mountain. Of course, because the status window spoke to me. Is this what it feels like when a ghost pretends to know you in a nightmare?
[How about we talk for a moment to wake up your mind?]
[Do you accept? ☞ (Y/N)]
The status window that appears when you hum to yourself suddenly tries to have a conversation.
Has there ever been a time like this? Starting with ‘GM’, ‘God of Swords’, and finally ‘System’, they all talk to me. I’m not happy about it, but I’m getting attention in many ways.
But do I have time to exchange such questions and answers? I have many questions, but I don’t know where I am or what I’m doing. At that moment, as if reading my anxiety, a phrase came to mind.
[For your information, you are not dead. You are still struggling in reality. In fact, you have the upper hand, so don’t worry.]
He kindly relieved my anxiety. This action must mean that he really wanted to talk to me. I could feel his clear will.
I didn’t think too deeply about it.
Unlike ‘GM’ and ‘God of Swords’, didn’t I firmly believe that ‘Status Window’ was my ally?
I nodded, not physically but mentally. My body wouldn’t move the way I wanted it to, so there was nothing I could do.
[Y/N]
▲
[Thank you for accepting.]
Enough with the greetings. Let me get to the point. Where is this open space, and why am I walking on the snowy mountain against my will? Judging from the situation, I think you called me here.
[As always, you are a very impatient person. I tried to reassure you, but you don’t even believe me. Well, that’s good. Being careful is something to be praised.]
… … .
The tone of voice seems strangely encouraging. There’s also some laughter mixed in between.
[Let me correct one thing. The place you are walking on is not a snowy mountain.]
There’s snow everywhere, but it’s not a snow field?
[Yes. This place is originally a lake. At the same time, it is a world where your inner self is projected. Although it is now frozen with frost, the fact that it is essentially a lake does not change.]
Hearing that, I looked down slightly. The road surface visible through the snow was opaque with a bluish tint. The entire area beneath my feet was covered in ice.
[You may not have noticed because you are oblivious, but this place has been frozen for quite some time. Every time I warned you, ‘The dignity of the people is falling.’ But you ignored me cleanly and swung your sword first when something happened. If a person is talking, you should at least pretend to listen.]
person?
Beep!
[This is a joke. You don’t have the right to speak yet.]
… … .
The status window continued to nag. This request for conversation was just a pretext, but the main purpose was to nag.
[You became so intoxicated with the sword that you even lost your self-consciousness. Even if you defeated your enemy while losing yourself, would that lead to the result you wanted?]
I felt the eyes narrowing somewhere.
[Remember, your enemy is not others. It is you. If you continue like this, your mind will freeze like this lake. Eventually, it will become an eternal snow that never melts, and you will eventually become a machine that only swings a knife.]
A deep sigh follows.
[But fortunately, you were lucky. The ‘humanity’ that would have dried up like a bottomless pit was barely filled by those around you. And… it’s still the same now.]
lim?
Tsk tsk tsk.
Before the words could be tied, the cold wind that had been piercing my skin dispersed. Soon, the gray sky cleared up and the snowfall stopped.
I turned my head. The sun rose over the ridge and cast a glare. At the same time, a warm feeling touched my back, soft and smooth.
I shut my eyes tightly against the sudden light. Then, with great difficulty, I opened them.
Slurp.
As the snow melted, the original scenery was revealed.
A vast lake. The calm waves rippled as if caressing the infinite swords.
At that moment.
[Conditions were met through external intervention.]
[Using your suppressive power, you begin to adjust your personality.]
Jiiing.
[The person’s status rises.]
[The Sword God’s protection ‘Sim’ is revealed.]
* * *
Inside the polling place.
In the midst of the chaos, Se-in wiped the sweat dripping from his forehead.
“I really knew what was going to happen.”
In the midst of all the anxiety and fear, only she remained relatively calm.
From the beginning, the anxiety felt by the people was of a different kind from that of the cadets.
Sein narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance. In the middle of the battlefield, he saw a blue-haired man hugging Kanggeomma from behind.
“… Still, thanks to you, I was able to overcome the crisis.”
Se-in smiled faintly. The meaning of that smile was relief.
She quickly turned off her phone and disappeared into the crowd of cadets.
* * *
“Haa… haa… … .”
Her breathing was muffled. Blood flowed ceaselessly from the scars all over Saki’s body.
I barely made it by stepping on the buoyant chunks on the lake, but it was impossible to dodge the magic that was being fired at supersonic speeds.
Fortunately, the target of the magic was Ganggeomma, so he barely avoided a fatal wound, but his condition was dire.
He only avoided the vital points, so it wouldn’t have been strange if he had passed out soon.
Saki vomited blood. Only after she had poured out a lot of blood did her head cool down. Her brain activity had calmed down as the oxygen had decreased like a deflated balloon.
“… I really do all sorts of things.”
Saki laughed at herself with her blue lips. She was so foolish now. To put it harshly, she was a complete idiot.
This impulsive action was tantamount to suicide. Let alone running towards Kanggeomma without being of any help.
Even thinking about it myself, I felt pathetic. But… … .
I couldn’t just watch, Kanggeomma was swinging his sword and taking attacks while losing consciousness.
If she left him alone, he would never come back. That thought had brought her here.
“… … .”
Vesna stopped her ferocious attacks and watched the scene.
It was time to recharge her magical power. She needed at least a minute to raise her magical power. Vesna gathered her magical power and collected her thoughts.
He was so weak that he didn’t notice the woman’s approach. Just like he didn’t pay attention to each and every ant crawling on the road.
The woman’s presence was beyond Vesna’s perception. If she had known, she would have snapped her neck with just a glance.
That girl is hugging Kang Geum-ma without even caring for my blood-covered body.
For a moment, Vesna was dumbfounded by the unexpected scene of youth, and then her temples shook fiercely.
“You little thing, how dare you interfere with my fight!”
Vesna screamed. The sound echoed throughout the academy. The cadets’ bodies all fell to their knees.
“Yes, you little thing. Thanks to your misbehavior, I have come to my senses. Now is the time to exterminate all the bugs that are bothering you.”
As Vesna flicked her hand, a crimson aura flowed out from her arm. Evil magic dripped down her fingertips, polluting the lake.
Vesna rolled her hands back and forth in front of her chest. Her lips continued to chant the spell.
Then the water began to boil and become sticky like a swamp… … .
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
A giant water serpent emerged from the bottom of the lake. It was an imperfect summoning, but it was three times as big as the annex building. Her dim smile deepened.
A retinue summoned from the Demon Realm after completely exhausting their magical power. A sea serpent that devours the world.
“Jormungandr”
Vesna jumped up as if she was going to fly and landed on the snake’s head. She caressed its scales and whispered to her followers.
“My child, I’m sorry to have called you all the way here from Gehenna. Instead, there is plenty of food, so eat as much as you can.”
A cold smile appeared on Vesna’s lips. Her vertically slit eyes gleamed dangerously.
“Working hard, working …
Jormungandr let out a monstrous cry. He opened his mouth toward the students. The wind blew in the opposite direction as he exhaled a puff of air.
“Ah, ah, ah.”
One of the boys looked up at the monster with eyes filled with despair. He had given up and now he couldn’t even cry. He wanted to ignore the situation. That was when the flashes of light in his mind and reality intersected.
Kiririn- Kiririn- Kiririn-
Kiririn- Kiririn- Kiririn-
The chilling sound of swordsmanship rang out repeatedly.
“… … ?”
The male student felt something tickling on his waist. Suddenly, his gaze dropped and his eyes grew wide as if they were going to tear apart.
This morning, when I went out to the polls, I playfully put the Daiso sashimi on my waist. The blade was swinging by itself.
It wasn’t just the boys.
Sashimi Dan, the supporters of symbol number 7. The Daiso sashimi on the waists of 1,457 people was beating like life.
The wriggling swords eventually slipped out of their waists. Soon, over a thousand sashimi pieces floated into the air.
“… This is?”
The cadets watched with blank expressions as if they had seen a ghost. Their thoughts were paralyzed by the phenomenon unfolding before their eyes.
“What the heck?”
The monster, who didn’t know English, tilted his head with an innocent face. At that moment, a soft voice came from the side. The monster pricked up his ears that didn’t even exist.
“I will win.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the blades were fired like arrows of a protest, at incredible speed.
Pavabak! Pavabak! Pavababat!
Jormungand let out a howl that was neither a scream nor a roar. The creature resisted violently, but it was nothing more than a struggle.
The light beams struck Jormungandr’s scales, cutting them into small pieces. Blue blood gushed out like a fountain. The more he struggled, the faster the blade accelerated. The monster had to take the sword strikes that were coming in such a chaotic manner.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Jormungand’s mother wavered feebly like a candle in the wind. The ground shook as the monster writhed on the blade.
Vesna, who had lost her cynicism, sank down on the snake’s head. I stroked my baby’s forehead and called its name longingly. Push- Sticky blood spurted out and stuck to its face.
“baby……!”
My heart pounded for a moment. The side of my face felt tingly.
Ki-ki-ki-ki- Vesna twisted her stiff neck. Her pupils shook uncontrollably as the earthquake struck.
! ! !
Amid the twisted axis, a black new shape approaches.
With his eyes shining wearily fixed here, he walked with an arrogant gait, his hands in his pockets. His once pure white hair had now turned pitch black.
Ttukbuk.
The sound of footsteps echoing through the hall of fame.
Ttukbuk.
Black hair hung in the moist eyes. The cadets’ faces were filled with joy. Someone who couldn’t hold it in any longer burst into cheers.
“With every strong sword!”
Hope began to spread around that one word.
On the other hand, Vesna’s face became as dead as a death after a series of shocks. She had a gut feeling. If she touched the wrong thing, she touched it hard.
I just turned my gaze for a moment. What is this sudden change in atmosphere and this sudden unidentified ability? With just one gesture from Kanggeomma, the swordsmen rip Jormungandr apart.
Just then, a sharp blade flashed across her retina. Her last words were, “Ah.”
Pavabak!
A storm of blades swept over Vesna, and the whole scene was reflected like a mirror in the lake.
