Chapter 32
The Final Battle (6)
BOOOOM!!
The giant eagle known as BJ Bugle—the internet streamer Hong Myung-tae—crashed into the ground, shattering the earth beneath him.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Neither the Sangju Greatest Swordsman, Dokgo Se-hwan, nor the transformed Mayor Kim Hyun-ho could understand what had just happened.
Another mutant had suddenly fallen from the sky?
Even Myung-tae himself, who had been summoned by the whistle, looked completely confused.
"…Huh? What is all this?"
He had arrived determined to earn a great achievement this time.
Instead, he found himself facing a bizarre scene:
A gigantic headless mutant...
Jung Myung-woo...
And another Greatest Swordsman.
Before he could even finish asking whether the other man was also a Greatest Swordsman—
Clang!
Yeongwoo attacked.
Although it was a surprise strike, Se-hwan barely blocked it thanks to his superior stats.
Two silver blades collided near his neck.
At that instant, another message appeared before Yeongwoo.
Your Sense stat has temporarily increased from 480 to 808.
The increase came from stealing both Dokgo Se-hwan's senses and Mayor Kim Hyun-ho's.
At this point, no one present could surpass him in terms of perception.
"Myung-tae! Kill him first!"
Yeongwoo swung his sword again.
As Se-hwan defended, panic and disbelief filled his eyes.
Until this moment, he had never imagined such a thing could exist.
A Greatest Swordsman...
Working together with a mutant.
And now both of them were attacking him simultaneously while the mayor simply watched from behind like an immovable fortress.
"So..."
"You're seriously going to ignore the mutant..."
"...and kill me first?"
Exactly.
The gigantic eagle had already opened its enormous beak and charged toward him.
"Am I dreaming?"
Se-hwan desperately defended against attacks coming from every direction.
Years of combat experience warned him of one thing.
He wasn't getting out alive.
Claws...
Swords...
Every attack followed different angles and ranges, making defense almost impossible.
Even with the Sangju Sword Style guiding him, it was still his own body that had to react.
"...Damn!"
Before twenty exchanges had passed, his breathing fell apart.
He began missing his rhythm.
"AAAAAH!"
Whether it was a scream or a battle cry, even he no longer knew.
Realizing his opponent had lost his composure, Yeongwoo threw his dagger behind Se-hwan.
His plan was simple.
During Myung-tae's next attack, he would recall the dagger and strike from behind.
Moments later—
Myung-tae lunged forward with his massive arm.
At the same time, Yeongwoo recalled the dagger buried in the ground while slashing at Se-hwan's neck with the Early Bird Sword.
It became a three-pronged attack.
Even Se-hwan—whose defense had seemed almost miraculous—couldn't stop everything.
The returning dagger sliced across his side before flying back into Yeongwoo's belt.
That single wound changed the battle completely.
"Ghh...!"
Se-hwan's movements suddenly became sluggish.
"Could it be..."
Sensing something, Yeongwoo shoved Myung-tae aside and retreated himself.
Se-hwan staggered.
Then dropped to one knee.
He clutched his wounded side while his face twisted in agony.
Yeongwoo smiled.
"It activated."
Golden Punishment
Inflicts pain upon enemies.
The bracelet's hidden effect only activated after successfully injuring an opponent.
Yeongwoo didn't know how intense the pain truly was.
But it was powerful enough to force even the Sangju Greatest Swordsman to stop fighting.
"...What?"
"It hurts that much?"
Even Myung-tae looked astonished.
The injury itself wasn't serious.
Yet Se-hwan looked as though he were dying.
He immediately suspected Yeongwoo had used another strange trick.
Which, in fact, he had.
"We have to finish him now."
Yeongwoo raised his sword.
Se-hwan struggled back to his feet behind his shield.
However, with unbearable pain distracting him, he could no longer match Yeongwoo even in a one-on-one duel.
After barely surviving another five exchanges, he finally exposed an opening.
Yeongwoo thrust toward the gap between his neck and collarbone.
Se-hwan tried to deflect the strike and counterattack...
But his timing failed.
Thud!
The blade pierced straight through his trapezius muscle.
Once Yeongwoo's sword entered his body...
Everything happened in an instant.
Keeping the sword embedded inside Se-hwan, Yeongwoo drew his dagger.
Then stabbed upward beneath his chin.
Stab!
The dagger shot through his jaw like lightning.
Blood poured from the wound.
Even then...
Se-hwan still had strength remaining.
Yeongwoo immediately smashed his skull with Se-hwan's own shield.
CRACK!
All strength finally left his body.
He collapsed.
The Early Bird Sword remained lodged in his shoulder while the dagger protruded from his head.
Myung-tae stared silently at the gruesome corpse.
He wanted to make one of his usual jokes...
But couldn't.
His own body had already begun fading away.
His summoning time had expired.
"Huh?!"
As Myung-tae dissolved into light and disappeared...
His enormous shadow vanished with him.
Yet an even larger shadow still remained.
Mayor Kim Hyun-ho.
Holding his own severed head in one hand, he quietly watched Yeongwoo.
Throughout the entire fight between two Greatest Swordsmen and a mutant...
He had never taken a single step.
After all, why interrupt while enemies killed each other?
"What's happening in other cities?"
"I don't know."
"It's only the second day since the Reset."
Remembering that the mayor had only just entered this new world, Yeongwoo answered honestly.
"...Only two days?"
For the first time...
Kim Hyun-ho showed genuine surprise.
Yet his horrifying appearance remained unchanged.
Then he raised his sword.
"Either way..."
"You should disappear too."
"You seem dangerous."
WHOOSH!!
His next slash was even faster than before.
"Damn..."
"My Sense dropped when Se-hwan died."
His Sense had fallen from 808 back to 480.
Myung-tae was also gone.
Now Yeongwoo had to fight alone.
Another enormous blade swept over his head.
"The only way to grow stronger immediately..."
"...is to take Se-hwan's equipment."
Yeongwoo sprinted toward Se-hwan's corpse.
Immediately, Kim Hyun-ho charged after him.
BOOOM!!
Yeongwoo barely dodged.
Instead...
Se-hwan's corpse was cut clean in half.
As it flew apart, Yeongwoo noticed a purple bracelet still attached to the corpse's wrist.
But before he could retrieve it—
"Die."
The five-meter-tall horseman was already upon him.
Including the giant black horse...
It felt less like fighting a knight...
And more like fighting a tank.
"How is something this ridiculous appearing already?"
Even the Gumi Sword Style warned him never to block the sword head-on.
A contest of strength was hopeless.
Fortunately...
Yeongwoo still held the advantage in perception.
Kim Hyun-ho's attacks repeatedly smashed into the ground instead.
Roads shattered.
Stone fragments exploded everywhere.
After another miss...
The mayor finally lost his composure.
"You little bastard."
At his core...
He was still human.
He hadn't returned just to duel an unknown swordsman forever.
The people who had judged him...
They were the ones he truly wanted to punish.
Just then—
Both Yeongwoo and Kim Hyun-ho sensed something.
They looked in the same direction.
"There!"
"What...?"
A large group of heavily armed people was rapidly approaching.
Judging by their speed, they were clearly superhumans.
"Sangju's monster hunters..."
Hunters.
Awakened.
Elites.
Whatever name one used no longer mattered.
Perhaps...
The Sangju Greatest Swordsman's wife had sent them.
Yeongwoo remembered she had disappeared when the battle began inside the motel.
But that no longer mattered.
The important part was—
Kim Hyun-ho suddenly turned toward the arriving reinforcements.
Rather than continue a pointless duel...
He decided to massacre the weaker prey first.
"Perfect."
The giant horseman thundered toward the incoming hunters.
Using that brief opening...
Yeongwoo rushed to Dokgo Se-hwan's corpse.
More precisely—
To loot it.
But then...
Something impossible happened.
As Yeongwoo's shadow fell over the corpse—
Se-hwan's eyelids twitched.
"...What?"
At first, he assumed he had imagined it.
Then he noticed...
The corpse was breathing.
Its chest continued rising and falling.
Despite having half his skull crushed...
Despite being sliced in two...
He was still alive.
"That's impossible..."
Before Yeongwoo could process it—
Screams echoed in the distance.
The mayor had already begun slaughtering the approaching hunters.
"No time."
Yeongwoo immediately ended Se-hwan's life with the Early Bird Sword.
Then removed the purple bracelet from his wrist.
Its description appeared.
Slime Core — Mutant Bracelet
Greatly increases regeneration.
So that was the reason.
The incredible regeneration had kept Se-hwan alive despite his horrific injuries.
"A treasure like this actually exists?"
But the surprises weren't over.
You have successfully absorbed the Sangju Greatest Swordsman!
You now possess three Gyeongbok regional titles.
You have become the True Greatest Swordsman of Gyeongbok.
You are currently the only True Greatest Swordsman in the Gyeongbok region.
Yeongwoo's eyes widened.
According to the title rules he had seen before...
Among all True Greatest Swordsmen, whoever possessed the most regional titles would eventually become the official Greatest Swordsman of the province.
Which meant...
"I'm the only candidate."
At that very moment...
A system announcement echoed throughout the entire Gyeongbok region.
A Greatest Swordsman of Gyeongbok has been chosen!
The current Greatest Swordsman of Gyeongbok is 'Jung Myung-woo07'.
Generation: 1
Successful Defenses: 0
Then one final warning appeared for Yeongwoo alone.
From now on, every newly selected True Greatest Swordsman of Gyeongbok will receive your real-time location.