The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 7

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace – Episode 7

Swordmaster Wants to Live in Peace 7

The Qualification of the Living (2)

At Yoo Seong-woo’s words, Yoo Ji-woo narrowed her eyes and looked toward the snow mountain, but saw nothing.

How could that majestic snow mountain be a monster? She wanted to deny it, thinking it was absurd.

When Yoo Seong-woo picked up a suitable stone rolling around at his feet and threw it toward the snow mountain, a distinct ‘thud!’ sound echoed from nearby.

This meant the snow mountain wasn’t as far away as it appeared.

Following that, the ground began to tremble. With a rumbling sound, the earth vibrated, and the snow mountain shook off its blanket of piled-up snowflakes as it rose.

“That’s!”

At the same time as Yoo Ji-woo’s exclamation, the snow mountain’s eyes snapped open.

The reptile’s yellow eyes shone and darted around, and a blue tongue flicked out, hissing menacingly.

“Could it be a Snow Serpent?”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“It looks similar, but I’ve never seen a Snow Serpent this big.”

Snow Serpent.

It was a monster that mainly appeared in 5th or 4th grade Abyss dungeons, and because it was used in snake liquor or elixirs, it was a well-known monster among divers [individuals who explore Abyss dungeons].

However, the Snow Serpent that Yoo Ji-woo remembered wasn’t very big. At most, its thickness was only about the size of an adult man’s forearm, and its length was about 2 meters (approximately 6.5 feet).

But the Snow Serpent in front of her was so large it resembled a mountain.

Its thickness was greater than that of a large tree, and its length couldn’t even be estimated. In terms of danger level, it was a monster that should appear in at least a 2nd grade Abyss.

‘This isn’t a simple 5th grade Abyss.’

There was a reason why the research team and rescue team were stranded.

Why did the internal exploration team sent in after the Abyss bidding return safely?

There was no need to overthink it.

The exploration team was just bait.

The Abyss’s malice, designed to attract more palatable prey.

There was a reason why the researcher in the cave said that.

This thing was a true monster.

The Snow Serpent was a monster that demanded caution because of its potent poison.

At this size, it wouldn’t be strange if it appeared in a 2nd or even 1st grade Abyss.

Moreover, it was boss-level.

A monster among monsters that even an S-class Diver couldn’t handle alone.

Why did this kind of thing appear in a 5th grade Abyss?

Yoo Ji-woo cooled her head, which was about to boil over with anger.

“……Oppa [term of endearment for older brother], I’ll join you.”

“No, just watch. Keep your eyes wide open and observe carefully. See how strong I am.”

Saying that, Yoo Seong-woo stepped in front of Yoo Ji-woo and lowered his sword.

The blood-colored sword shone even more eerily.

At the same time, the large Snow Serpent uncoiled its body and began to rush forward.

Even though there was some distance, it closed the gap in an instant.

Usually, one would choose to avoid it, but Yoo Seong-woo instead kicked off the ground and leaped.

Snowflakes scattered along the path where he jumped.

Then, Yoo Seong-woo, who had rotated in the air, lightly spun and extended his foot.

Thwack!

With a tremendous sound, the Snow Serpent’s head was knocked back.

Yoo Seong-woo, who smiled slyly with his foot still extended in the air, rotated again and landed on the ground.

The pushed-back Snow Serpent shook its head violently and made a threatening sound with its mouth wide open.

But Yoo Seong-woo didn’t back down. Who did it think it was, making noise with its mouth open?

It was just the last struggle of a beast that hadn’t yet grasped who was the predator, the wild animal, the ruler, and the strong one.

“Ji-woo.”

Yoo Seong-woo called Yoo Ji-woo.

At the somewhat affectionate voice calling her name, Yoo Ji-woo widened her eyes and looked at him.

There stood Yoo Seong-woo, his hair fluttering.

From the sword in his hand, a dense blood-colored aura surged like flames.

“Behold.”

Who I am.

What kind of power I hold in my hands.

And Yoo Ji-woo stared directly. Who the person standing in front of her was, and what kind of work he did.

He wanted Yoo Ji-woo to clearly engrave his appearance in her mind.

What kind of hardships and adversities he had overcome to reach this power, the ‘end’ that a person wielding a sword could reach.

Yoo Seong-woo firmly gripped the red blood-colored sword, his life, and raised his energy.

A powerful, beast-like red aura surged up at once, creating a whirlwind.

And then, he muttered quietly and slashed his sword.

* * *

The world Yoo Seong-woo had come from was a barren place.

A place where you had no choice but to take what belonged to others in order to live.

A place where you had to step on corpses to take even one more step forward.

Still, it wasn’t a completely heartless place, and if you were lucky, you could get away with just having your money and goods stolen without dying.

Yoo Seong-woo also took a lot.

He took lives, he took money and goods.

Sometimes, he even abandoned his compassion, taking the lives of those who surrendered, and struggled to survive.

With the single thought of seeing his only family again, he crossed countless corpses.

He had no knowledge of swordsmanship, but he had outstanding talent.

He stole the swordsmanship of the strong who came to kill him one by one, and made them his own.

Eventually, he succeeded in combining numerous swordsmanships into one and creating his own swordsmanship.

“One Sword, Life and Death Control.”

One Sword (一劍) Life and Death Control (生死與奪).

Seven forms created by taking the seven swords engraved in his soul.

The first sword, Life and Death Control.

Yoo Seong-woo’s sword, which was slashed, bent at a strange angle.

His Life (一生), which should have been a straight sword, moved as if it were a soft sword (軟劍) [a flexible sword], splitting into dozens of branches.

The Snow Serpent, seeing the sword rushing toward it split into dozens of branches like tree roots, was horrified and retreated.

But already, its life and death were in Yoo Seong-woo’s grasp.

“Die.”

And Yoo Seong-woo sentenced the Snow Serpent to death.

Then, the split sword stretched out as if to surround the Snow Serpent’s head.

In an instant, it pierced the head from all directions. The sharp red sword energy that stirred the head did not stop there, but spurted out from the Snow Serpent’s entire body before scattering like smoke.

Yoo Seong-woo took a long breath and sheathed his sword, and at the same time, the Snow Serpent’s massive body fell to the side.

With a crashing sound, frost flew into the sky. Following that, the sleet stopped, and a clear sky shone on Yoo Seong-woo.

He frowned at the sunlight and said.

“Should I eat grilled eel for dinner tonight…….”

Humans live by the strength of food.

How happy he was at the fact that he could look forward to the next meal.

Yoo Ji-woo ran to him and shouted as he stood next to the Snow Serpent, looking at the sky.

“Oppa! Are you okay?!”

“I used too much strength, I feel like I’m going to die…….”

“Are you having another episode?”

Yoo Ji-woo, who casually brushed off Yoo Seong-woo’s nonsense while he stood upright without changing his expression, looked at the sky once and approached the fallen Snow Serpent.

“……How did you kill it? There aren’t any traces of being stabbed by a sword.”

“I cut the monster’s internal nerves with sword energy. I destroyed its insides without any visible traces.”

“Crazy.”

Yoo Ji-woo sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

It was a habit that surfaced when she had something to think deeply about.

‘Oppa is.’

Her brother is.

Beyond the standards. The ranks of Divers, which are graded from F to S.

It’s a strength that surpasses those.

Is there anyone who can defeat such a monster in a single blow?

A prepared S-class Diver might be able to.

She herself, under the premise that the Snow Serpent didn’t move, could generate the firepower to defeat it in one blow if given enough time.

However, she didn’t have the same freedom as Yoo Seong-woo.

Strength beyond strength. The sky above the sky.

Beyond the standards. A monster.

‘……The dimensional wave measured on the day Oppa returned.’

The enormous number caused rumors of machine malfunction, but in reality, a monster corresponding to the 2nd grade or higher appeared from the 8th grade Abyss, and many people died.

A diver of unknown identity killed all the monsters…….

‘His identity was Oppa.’

Thinking about the scene he just showed, the pieces fit perfectly.

When a returnee returns, a powerful dimensional wave is generated.

Experts say that it is because connecting dimensions to dimensions causes a strong distortion of space.

The strength of the dimensional wave also depends on how strong the returnee is, and the dimensional wave measured this time was an unprecedented number, so much so that it was suspected to be a device malfunction.

In Sehyun City, the number at the time was announced as an abnormality of the measuring instrument linked to the appearance of a strong monster…….

Yoo Ji-woo was convinced. That it was not a device malfunction, but the dimensional wave that was generated when Yoo Seong-woo returned.

She turned to Yoo Seong-woo and said after finishing her thoughts.

“Oppa, we’ve hit the jackpot. If we take this and dismantle it to sell, we’ll make at least hundreds of billions [of Korean won, equivalent to millions of US dollars]?”

“Deduct the fees and deposit the rest separately.”

Yoo Ji-woo smiled and nodded.

It seemed to be the first smile she had shown since returning to Earth.

And at that moment, Yoo Seong-woo saw his past sister’s face overlapping.

Changed, but unchanged. It was his sister.

And at the same time.

Those who were prolonging their lives by relying on the fading light-emitting stone lanterns in the cave.

They witnessed the scene of the blizzard that had been raging outside disappearing in an instant.

It was the moment when despair turned into hope.

* * *

“It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Yoo Ji-woo personally visited the bereaved families of those who died in this incident and conveyed condolences and apologies.

It was the greatest sincerity she could show, standing at the top of the work of handling people’s lives.

There were no bereaved families who uttered harsh words to bring them back to life. They also knew that Divers were in a job where they could die at any time.

The honor of dying as honorable explorers of the Abyss was the last bit of conscience left to them.

“Let’s go back to the company.”

“Yes.”

When Yoo Ji-woo got into the back seat, Seo Yeon-jeong, who was holding the steering wheel, answered briefly and stepped on the accelerator.

Yoo Seong-woo, who was in the passenger seat, glanced at the back seat and said.

“Is it all over?”

“It’s over. But the real problem is from now on.”

“What’s so problematic about it?”

“There are executives within Meteor Industries who don’t like me. They’ll try to tear me apart for the people who died this time. Even if there’s no particular gain, their goal will be to find fault with me, even a little.”

“I heard you’re an S-class? You’re in the top ten in the country, and it’s your company. Can’t you just fire them all?”

“I wish it were that easy. Right?”

Yoo Seong-woo, who didn’t get his way, clicked his tongue.

After this incident, he decided to formally join Meteor Industries.

He couldn’t just play around and eat forever.

He took a position that was easy to move in case of an emergency.

“Um, should I solve it for you?”

“How?”

“There’s a method I used often in the other world.”

“Excluding threats with a knife.”

“That’s the mainstream though.”

“I thought so…….”

Yoo Ji-woo sighed deeply.

Yoo Seong-woo was definitely a powerful force, but it was a power that couldn’t be shown in the future.

He was also her brother, and if his power became known, there would be many who wanted it.

Like a large guild with several S-classes.

Meteor Industries had grown quite a bit, but she didn’t think it could block the attacks of those who had been holding onto vested interests for a long time.

“I’m really getting old because of Oppa.”

“If you get any older, I’ll become your younger brother.”

“Pfft.”

“Unnie [term of endearment for older sister], did you just laugh?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You laughed…… Anyway, Oppa, when we get back to the company, just don’t cause any accidents.”

“Am I a kid?”

Yoo Ji-woo couldn’t bring herself to say yes.