Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 9

9

After finishing their meal, Bum-seok and Raemi returned to the sports center and headed up to the fourth floor. The kendo dojo [a training hall for kendo, a modern Japanese martial art of sword-fighting] was located there, where sword fighting classes were held.

Following Raemi’s lead, he entered the locker room and put on an armor-like suit. It was a low-cost training suit without physical reaction capabilities, but its safety was comparable to the high-end competition suits.

Feeling awkward in the suit he wore for the first time, Bum-seok sat down on the dojo floor, waiting for the other test participants to arrive. About twenty minutes passed. Gradually, dozens of elves and human men, who appeared to be their owners, entered the kendo dojo, forming a long line.

Waggle waggle.

The human men proudly boasted about their elves as if they were the best. They bragged about how their elf had won against seventeen others, how they would easily pass this test, and how a prominent professional team’s coach had recognized their talent at first glance and recommended them. Bum-seok doubted the truth of these claims.

Most of them were elves with current abilities in the 300-400 range and potential abilities in the 400-500 range—extremely ordinary. They were at a level where most would end up as reserve sword fighters in amateur clubs or area league teams.

However, he ignored their boasting. He simply closed his eyes and focused his mind and body in preparation for the test.

Creak.

After a while, the dojo door opened, and Raemi entered, wearing a red suit. In her hands, she held various spears and swords, but with thick, rounded blades, they didn’t seem too dangerous as long as one wore a suit. She placed them on the dojo floor and stood before everyone.

“Everyone here is aiming to become a professional sword fighter, right?”

A resounding answer echoed through the dojo.

“Yes!”

“From now on, we will conduct the test, so please check your suits carefully. Even though we use weapons without blades in sword fighting matches, getting hit on bare skin can cause fatal injuries. So, before sparring, you must carefully check whether your suit is worn out or damaged.”

In response, the male owners examined the seams and materials of their elves’ suits. After confirming that there were no issues, they looked at Raemi, urging her to start the test quickly.

Bum-seok didn’t bother checking Raemi’s suit since she was the examiner. He worried he might mess something up if he, a beginner, touched it carelessly. Soon, when everyone was standing at attention, Raemi looked at the documents she was holding and called out the name written on the top line.

“The first person to take the test is Rinu. If you’re here, please come forward.”

Then, an elf with red hair drooping down from under her helmet emerged from the group. She thanked the person who seemed to be her owner for his encouragement and stood before Raemi, drawing a sword she had prepared in advance with precision. She didn’t seem like a novice sword fighter.

“You’re Rinu, right?”

“Yes.”

“Could you tell me about your experience as a sword fighter?”

“Yes. Thanks to my owner’s consideration, I’ve been taking classes in the hobby class at this sports center for three years.”

Raemi nodded at her words and drew her sword.

“Okay. You seem to have enough experience, so we’ll skip the basic test and go straight to the practical test. Is that alright with you?”

“Yes, I don’t mind.”

Her voice was full of confidence. In response, Raemi brought the hand holding the sword hilt to her chest, bowed, and then raised her sword to the center.

“Come at me.”

“?!”

Rinu immediately launched a downward strike from above. It was an attack with full power in the sword, incorporating sufficient waist rotation.

However, Raemi was dumbfounded. Using such a powerful strike without a preliminary feint against an experienced professional sword fighter like herself was incredibly arrogant. The more power added, the greater the preparatory movements required, and consequently, the larger the openings.

Thinking there was no need to see more, she immediately slashed Rinu’s waist with the sword she was holding.

Thwack! Clatter!

With a loud noise, Rinu flew through the air and rolled across the dojo floor. Fearing she was seriously injured, her owner rushed over and hugged her. However, she got up easily, seemingly without much injury. Somewhat relieved, the man glared at Raemi and shouted.

“Hey! How can you conduct a test so harshly! If she gets hurt, will you take responsibility!”

As if it were absurd, Raemi replied indifferently.

“I didn’t strike her with full force; I merely pushed her away with the flat of the blade. Even without a suit, she wouldn’t be injured by such an attack.”

“How do you know that!”

“Hey. You can tell by the fact that your elf got up right away. Even I can see that it wasn’t a severe attack, so quickly step back. There are plenty of people waiting here.”

The one who grumbled was none other than Bum-seok. He didn’t like the man’s irritable reaction to Raemi, who was on his list of potential women, and he could see that the previous attack wasn’t that dangerous.

The man glared at Bum-seok, wondering who he was to interfere, but then averted his gaze. Just as he had said, there were many people lined up to take the test. They were all glaring at him sharply, telling him to get lost and stop interfering with the test.

In the end, the man silently left without any success, and Rinu, perhaps feeling ashamed, followed behind with her head bowed.

“Then, we’ll proceed with the next person’s test.”

Raemi continued to call out the next applicant. This time, a blonde elf came forward, and perhaps because of what she had seen happen to Rinu earlier, she approached the test cautiously. But that was all. Before long, her skills were exposed, and she allowed Raemi’s sword to strike several parts of her body.

However, Raemi wore a satisfied expression. The purpose of this test was to find individuals with potential, not to assess their current skills.

“Not bad. You have the potential to become a professional sword fighter, so work hard in the future.”

The blonde elf woman, who had been unable to hide her disappointment at thinking she had failed, smiled so brightly that her face turned red. It was a direct indication of passing. Soon, her owner also realized this and rushed over to hug her.

After a while, another test began, and about two hours later, it was Bum-seok’s turn. There was no one left in the kendo dojo except him and Raemi. Since he had barely applied around noon today, it was natural that he was taking the test last.

Standing face to face with Bum-seok, she spoke in a businesslike tone.

“Bum-seok, even if it’s you, I will conduct the test fairly. Understood?”

At those words, Bum-seok laughed heartily as if he were in a good mood. Interpreted literally, it meant that she thought of him as special.

“Hahaha. It doesn’t matter. It’s only natural to fail if I don’t have the talent.”

“Thank you for understanding. Then, before we start, I have a question for you. Do you have any experience as a sword fighter?”

It was the first time he had held a sword like this since starting the game. There was no way he could have experience as a sword fighter.

“No.”

“Then, how long have you been learning swordsmanship?”

He needed to think carefully about that point. Honestly, he had experienced hundreds of years of practical experience through numerous virtual reality online games. This was possible because all typical virtual reality games had time adjustments of over a hundred times the real-time rate. However, if he said something like that, he would surely be scolded for how he had lived for such a long time, so he needed some plausible excuse.

“Well, I don’t know exactly. I’ve been learning swordsmanship for a long time, but I don’t remember when I first started. It was when I was too young.”

“Oh, really? Then you must have some skill.”

On the surface, it seemed like she was acknowledging his skill, but if you delved deeper into the meaning, you couldn’t deny that she was looking down on him slightly. That’s because the word ‘some’ didn’t mean considerable at all.

Slightly heated, Bum-seok narrowed his eyes and added another word.

“Yeah. So you better be prepared if you don’t want to be embarrassed.”

“Oh, really? I’m looking forward to it.”

Although she was speaking calmly, Raemi’s tone was full of resentment. Even though she was from a lower league and hadn’t competed in over a year, she had twenty-nine years of professional experience. And she prided herself on the fact that, although she might lack in physical aspects, she was second to none when it came to swordsmanship. Naturally, Bum-seok’s remarks were seen as ridiculous. Now, this sparring match was turning into a battle of pride between each other, beyond just a test.

First, Bum-seok raised his sword to the center and stepped forward.

“Okay, let’s stop the chatter and get to the test.”

Raemi, with narrowed eyes, gripped the hilt of her sword.

“Yes. Then, let’s begin. First, I’ll thrust towards your neck, so try to block it.”

With those words, the tip of Raemi’s sword pierced toward Bum-seok’s neck with intense momentum. It was an attack filled with the intention of punishing his arrogance from earlier with a sure hit.

Clang. Swish.

However, her intention was absurdly off. The tip of Bum-seok’s sword moved slightly, deflecting the blade and slightly disrupting its direction. Thanks to this, the sword only grazed his helmet and did no damage at all.

Raemi wore a bewildered expression. Even though she had told him the direction of the attack, she couldn’t believe that he had lightly avoided her full-force strike with just a slight twist of his wrist. However, it might have been a coincidence. She decided to confirm it accurately through the next test.

“Ahem. You have some skill. Then, this time, we’ll go into actual sparring. Be prepared.”

“Hmm. Anytime.”

As soon as the answer came out, Raemi launched a downward strike from above. It was a concise and quick movement, with the purpose of checking the opponent’s next move rather than delivering a shock.

Seeing this, Bum-seok slightly raised his sword as if to flick it, blocking the sword’s momentum, and then pushed into her body, slightly pushing her shoulder to disrupt her balance. Then, he gently pushed her chest with the hilt, causing her to step back.

Next came a powerful horizontal slash. Raemi was taken aback and quickly lowered her sword to block it.

Clang.

Sparks flew from their swords. She quickly took a few steps back to distance herself, preparing for Bum-seok’s next attack. The current situation was that dangerous. However, he was just lightly shaking his sword and standing there, as if he didn’t care about winning or losing.

“Why? Aren’t you going to attack?”

“It’s a test, so there’s no need to go all out.”

It was a line full of composure. At this, Raemi realized that the current situation was no coincidence. She judged that she needed to find out more about Bum-seok’s skills and slowly walked forward.

Following was Raemi’s shout. In an instant, the sword shook as if undulating, and then shot towards Bum-seok like a cobra. It was her ultimate move, named ‘Snakesword’ because its appearance resembled a writhing snake.

Clang. Whoosh.

However, her sure-kill strike did not see the light. This was because Bum-seok had tapped the flat of the blade with the hilt, changing its direction. As a result, Raemi, who had swung vigorously through the empty space, lost her balance and leaned forward. It was a moment of desperation. Bum-seok could have easily claimed victory by simply extending his sword.

But again, there was no follow-up attack.

“What are you doing, Raemi? You need to do it properly.”

Raemi, who had been silently staring at him for a moment, put her sword back into its scabbard. Judging from the results so far, even though it was only for a short time, there was no point in sparring any further.

Precise distribution of power, concise movements without unnecessary actions, and a seasoned skill in each sword movement that seemed to defy age… It was even suspicious that some famous professional sword fighter was responding to this test as a prank.

Raemi calmly looked at Bum-seok with her eyes.

“Just who exactly are you?”

“A test taker.”

It sounded like a joke, but it was an honest answer. The only identities he could currently present were his name, ‘Bum-seok,’ and the ‘test taker’ he had just mentioned, but saying the former would sound even more like a joke.

However, there was no way Raemi could know his circumstances.

“Don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking. I really came to take the test.”

Raemi sighed deeply as if she didn’t like it. It seemed like he was trying to hide his identity. But since he didn’t want to talk about it, she couldn’t keep asking.

“Sigh~ Okay. Then, how old are you?”

The reason was very simple. If Bum-seok had lived for a very long time and had been steadily learning swordsmanship during that time, then his current skills could be understood. Of course, it was difficult to dismiss his appearance as old, but he had undergone body modification surgery. When you receive that surgery, no matter how old you are, your physical age changes to around twenty.

“Don’t lie. Then you’ve only been learning for at most a dozen years, so how can you push me, who has been a professional for twenty-nine years, this far?”

Bum-seok, feeling a pang of guilt, stammered.

“We, well… Maybe it’s because you’ve been conducting tests for several hours and your mind and body are exhausted.”

“Of course, that’s true. But do you think I’m doing this without considering that? Clearly, Bum-seok was a remarkable person who had been learning swordsmanship for a considerable amount of time before undergoing body modification surgery.”

Bum-seok’s forehead was slightly beaded with cold sweat, thinking that something had gone seriously wrong. How could any excuse work when she was speaking with such a confident expression? But his other names were Ibargu Bum-seok or Ib Bum-seok [likely nicknames referring to his skill at talking or making excuses]. This level of difficulty couldn’t even be called a difficulty.

“Raemi, you seem to be seriously mistaken about something. Swordsmanship isn’t arithmetic. It’s not like skill increases linearly and uniformly depending on how many years you’ve learned. In reality, passion and intensity for swordsmanship make a bigger difference. Tell me honestly, which is more important to you? The sword or the desire as an elf to meet an owner?”

For Raemi, it was a question with no room for choice. If the sword was more important, she wouldn’t have prepared such a ridiculous lunchbox. A strong body is essential for handling a sword. In order to maintain a near-perfect body, it was necessary to consume more nutrients through various foods.

“Well, the, the desire to meet an owner is more important.”

Bum-seok barely managed to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising and said.

“I’m different. There’s nothing more important to me than the sword. I’d risk my life if it meant I could improve my skills. Do you think I, who is so passionate, would lose to you, who is lacking in that regard?”

“That’s…”

Raemi stopped speaking and lowered her head. She had been deceived by his plausible lies and had lost any further words to say. She greatly blamed herself for being like a frog in a well [an idiom for someone with a limited perspective].

‘Oh. It’s done. She fell for it. Hehehe.’

As it seemed like he would get through it smoothly, Bum-seok breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. If this excuse hadn’t worked, there weren’t any other good reasons to give. Now relieved, Bum-seok smiled and asked about his test results.

“Raemi, so, are you going to pass me now?”

Raemi, who couldn’t agree with those words, shook her head slightly.

“Of course, you’re failing.”

At the unexpected words, Bum-seok widened his eyes. He had even beaten the test examiner, but he was failing? It didn’t make sense. He wondered if Raemi had developed resentment towards him because of this incident.

“What are you talking about? Why am I failing?”

“It’s obvious. What would you do taking this course, Bum-seok?”

“I’d just become a professional sword fighter and, incidentally, find some useful teammates.”

Raemi sighed deeply and replied.

“Sigh~ This specialized course is for cultivating the skills and qualities of a professional sword fighter, but you’ve already far surpassed that level. In other words, it would be a waste of time to take this course, so it would be much better to work out at our center’s gym during that time. And what’s this about finding teammates?”

“Hmm. I’m planning to create an amateur team and participate in the GA Cup that will be held in mid-June this year.”

“You’re participating in the GA Cup? How many team members do you have right now?”

“Hmm. Two, including me. One might not be able to participate if things go wrong. He suffered a major injury and is currently receiving treatment.”

“How can you go to the GA Cup in that situation? Besides, there’s only a little over a month left.”

“That’s why I came here to find teammates.”

Raemi wore a bewildered expression. She didn’t know what kind of team he was going to create, but it would be difficult to achieve good results in the GA Cup if he created it in such a haphazard way. A good team can’t be made just by filling the roster. They needed to train for a long time, and teamwork was also necessary.

But on the other hand, Bum-seok’s skills were quite outstanding, so it seemed like it might work out somehow.

“Okay. If you really don’t have anyone, I’ll introduce you to some of the students I know. Then, there’s no need for you to take the class anymore, right?”

He nodded without hesitation. If Raemi introduced him to sword fighters, there was no need to stay here. It would be more effective to use the remaining time for physical training or preparing for team creation.

“Great. Then I’m grateful. I’m counting on you.”

After this, Bum-seok and Raemi cleaned up the suits and equipment that were scattered in the dojo. And before returning home, he found out her mobile phone number and entered it into his electronic notebook.

——————-

Next, I’ll go again.