Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 58

‘I’m sure of it. Rebecca’s sword definitely bent inwards.’

Bumseok, feeling a strange sense of understanding, watched her sword intently. Such a change was impossible for a normal sword. And seeing the tip of the sword trembling severely, his eyes sparkled. Her sword was a two-handed sword. If it were made of ordinary metal, such trembling would not occur.

‘It seems that sword is one of the causes of this rhythm. The special metal material must be causing the sword’s surface to bend. Heh heh heh.’

Bumseok grinned. He had obtained an important piece of data, and from then on, it would be smooth sailing. If he could find a weapon among the bending weapons that caused bizarre changes, he could figure out the identity of her unique swordsmanship.

‘It’s not a flexible sword. It looks a bit similar, but Rebecca’s swordsmanship doesn’t have the characteristic flippancy of a flexible sword. It feels heavy and extends far out. Like a whip. Yes, a whip!’

Bumseok wore a relaxed expression. After grasping and synthesizing each of her sword movements, he concluded that the unique form of movement emanating from Rebecca’s swordsmanship was that of a whip. He knew it all too well because he had faced it countless times in the games he had experienced.

The combination of a sword and a whip. That was the identity of Rebecca’s unique swordsmanship. Now that all the data was gathered, all that was left was to deal with her appropriately.

Ding, ding, ding.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the first round. Bumseok clicked his tongue regretfully and turned around. This was because now, with the image vividly captured, was the best time to test his theory. However, the situation couldn’t possibly change in just one minute. He sat on the circular chair that Venus brought and glared at Rebecca, who was resting in front of him.

‘I know the identity of the bizarre rhythm, but I still need to be careful. Rebecca, with her inherent skills alone, is enough to match a Central League-level gladiator.’

After a minute, the referee, noticing the time, placed them in the center of the ring. And after touching their swords together, he stepped back and started the second round.

Clang.

Small sparks flew in all directions as the swords clashed again. Bumseok, who had retreated with all his might, boldly raised his sword to deflect the tip of the sword flying towards his face. Rebecca, surprised by this, stopped advancing and circled around him. This was because he had blocked the tip of her sword, unlike before.

‘Could it be? Did he notice?’

The most efficient way to block her flexible sword was to block the tip. This would minimize the bending, making it impossible to perform unconventional attacks. However, no one had ever figured out the identity of her swordsmanship in just the first round. That was because the swordsmanship itself was highly complete, and the sword she was holding was an excellent weapon that encapsulated Chaplin’s technology.

She wondered if it was a coincidence and continuously swung her sword, pressuring Bumseok.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

‘Yes, that’s right. He definitely noticed.’

It was more difficult to block the rapidly flowing tip of the sword than the less changing center of the sword. After blocking dozens of strikes in the same way, she had no choice but to admit it.

Rebecca looked at Bumseok with anxious eyes. To figure out her swordsmanship, which only her father and Amelia knew, in just three minutes, his talent was too frightening. If he had only had excellent physical abilities, she thought, she would not have been able to lead him into such a close battle.

“Amazing. To figure out my swordsmanship. How did you know?”

“How did I know? Just by looking at your sword and its changes, the answer roughly comes out. Anyway, I was surprised too. To create a new swordsmanship by mixing a sword and a whip.”

Rebecca smiled awkwardly. She was grateful for the compliment, but she had not created this swordsmanship herself. Her father, who had been a World League gladiator for a long time, and her lover, the elf Amelia, had developed it after much deliberation and passed it on to her.

“I didn’t create it. My father and my elf lover created it.”

“Really? They must be amazing people. Still, it must have been quite difficult to learn, but you seem quite talented to handle it so skillfully.”

“Thank you.”

“Heh heh. You’re welcome. I’m just telling the truth. Well then, let’s get started in earnest. It’s not good to drag it out too long. Here I come.”

Bumseok’s relaxed sword stance instantly transformed into a dazzling one, shooting towards her. Although she wore a tense expression, Rebecca did not back down at all and swung her sword back and forth to counter him.

However, it was not enough to match Bumseok’s sword, who had obtained the data. As he applied pressure with his unique speed, she couldn’t keep up at all. Bumseok’s agility was in the mid-90s, and his katana was relatively light, while her sword was a heavy two-handed sword. To block his sword one by one, she had no choice but to refrain from attacking.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

“Hiyat!”

The katana, lightly held in both of Bumseok’s hands, drew a smooth trajectory. Rebecca’s sword stance faltered for a moment due to the slow sword strike following the quick timing. This was because his sword was flowing in a completely different direction than she had predicted. She twisted her waist to barely block it and hurriedly widened the distance. An attack from the opponent following a loss of balance would be fatal, so her intention was to avoid it first.

However, as if waiting for it, Bumseok’s sword surged in like an angry wave.

Clang.

A flash of sparks erupted from the colliding swords, relentlessly striking Rebecca’s face shield. She was surprised by Bumseok’s sword, which had stopped almost reaching her head, and hurriedly pushed it away, continuing to retreat. However, the situation did not improve much. She had to move her body to the limit to avoid his sword flying from all directions.

‘No. I’m completely losing in speed. I need to lead the battle with power to have a chance.’

However, it was very difficult to regain the initiative once it had been taken away. Especially from an opponent stronger than herself. For now, she had no choice but to endure and wait for the bell to ring. Then she could come up with a new plan and continue the battle in a much better way.

She desperately swung her sword, enduring Bumseok’s pressure.

Ding.

As the second round ended, Rebecca returned to her seat, breathing heavily. It was only a three-minute battle, but she was greatly exhausted due to the continuous series of dizzying moments. She leaned her limp body against the chair and looked at the brightly shining lights with narrowed eyes. The heat that had been nothing until just now was now so resentful.

Soon after, the one-minute break passed in an instant, and she had to go to the center of the ring again at the referee’s call.

‘He’s not an easy opponent after all. If I make a mistake, I’ll be the one who gets hurt.’

Bumseok was never relieved, even though he had unilaterally pushed her in the second round. The fact that he was leading the round for so long in a gladiator match where the outcome was easily decided meant that her skills and his were not that different. If he made even a slight mistake, the situation could be reversed and he could be defeated.

He touched sword tips with Rebecca once and started the third round match with the referee’s signal.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The fight between them to gain the initiative was fierce. Thanks to this, the third round was proceeding in an equal form, unlike the first and second rounds. However, contrary to appearances, the situation was rapidly tilting to one side. Bumseok’s sword stance had a sense of余裕묻어나오는 [composure/余裕], while Rebecca was constantly disrupting the tip of her sword due to rapid stamina consumption. Her transforming swordsmanship had the disadvantage of being extremely stamina-consuming.

“Huff, huff……”

Rebecca barely mustered her strength to run quickly and swing her sword. It was a very ordinary, orthodox attack, so Bumseok could have easily blocked it, but he dodged and moved out of the trajectory. It could have been dangerous, but he thought that she couldn’t take any more consecutive actions in her current state, and he also judged that it was necessary to wear down her stamina a little more. The stamina consumption was completely different between the sword being blocked in the middle and being swung completely.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

As it flowed around the middle, Rebecca’s movements decreased rapidly. She was trying to conserve her stamina by focusing on defense. Even if she was pushed back, she had to leave the strength to push back when the opponent made a mistake. For now, that was the only way to win.

Bumseok shook his head at this sight.

“It’s over now. It was a tough match.”

“Huff, huff. Not yet. Gladiator matches are a fight of one blow. If you seize the opportunity at any time, you can defeat your opponent. Even you.”

He snorted and swung his sword.

“Hmph. Swordsmanship is a martial art created to kill the opponent. The moment you lose your fighting spirit, the victory or defeat is decided. And opportunity is not something you seize, but something you create. You are forgetting both of these things right now. So you can never beat me.”

Rebecca flinched in great surprise at Bumseok’s sword strike, which was shot with a cold voice. She couldn’t properly control her body because of the murderous intent shooting from his eyes. Rebecca put all her strength into striking down her sword, but she couldn’t catch up with the tip of the sword that was moving quickly and changing its trajectory. Soon, Bumseok’s sword wrapped around her sword and was violently bounced off.

“No!”

The two-handed sword, which collided with a loud noise and hit the floor, soared high into the sky and tumbled out of the arena. This was because Bumseok had given a strong shock to her hands and wrists by using the unique elasticity of Rebecca’s sword. Normally, she could have grabbed it sufficiently, but she was easily attacked because she was holding the hilt loosely to conserve stamina.

She felt the cold sword touching her jugular and lowered her head. She was dumbfounded that she had made the mistake she had hoped the opponent would make. Not going all out against a skilled person like Bumseok was tantamount to suicide.

“Match over! Winner, Oh Bumseok!”

Wow! Wow!

Cheers erupted from the audience along with the referee’s match-end signal. It was a very short time in the third round, but the tension they showed was a 명승부 [great match] hard to find in any other gladiator match.

And although not the entire audience, there were some who shed tears of joy. It was Matilda. She thought she would spend a desperate time after advancing to the pros, but a wonderful master who appeared like a prince on a white horse had saved her. Overwhelmed with emotion, she ran straight onto the ring and hugged Bumseok.

“B, Bumseok-nim! So, Bumseok-nim will be my master now, right?”

Bumseok, who glanced at the heartbroken Rebecca for a moment, smiled and replied to her.

“Of course. From now on, Matilda, you will be an elf serving me.”

“Sniff, sniff. Thank you so much. I will serve you well in the future.”

Several event staff members approached and surrounded him as he stroked Matilda’s snow-like hair. The gladiator part of the competition was over, so it was time for the awards ceremony. They neatly placed boxes with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 written on them on the ring, then took pictures of Bumseok, Rebecca, and Hilla, who had won the 3rd and 4th place match. And after a while, when an elderly gentleman who seemed to be the chairman came up, he held a simple awards ceremony and gave them certificates and prizes.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

From today, I will be participating in Perfect World 1 day 1. And when a certain amount of reserves are accumulated, I will upload all the content written that day. Thank you for your continued interest.