Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 25
Chapter 25. Present That Protects the Future
That smile… That face.
Only the hair color was different, but everything else was the same as my elder brother.
I couldn’t hide the astonishment on my face.
I couldn’t believe it.
Ha Il-Sung.
The first son and the next heir of the Ha House.
He was the elite of elites, a man who was always number one with his incredible talent.
I idolized such a brother, but at the same time, he was too far out of reach.
I was always treated like a faded gemstone because I had such an outstanding older brother.
“We meet again, Ha Chun-Sung.”
Calling your brother by their full name proved the distance between us.
“…Elder Brother, did you join Yashin?”
Rather than my eyes being full of relief at meeting my brother, they turned vigilant.
I now realized it was my own brother who cleared Floor 23. He intentionally made his presence known to me in the beginning of Floor 24.
Ha Il-Sung.
Above all, he was the person Yashin picked to stop me.
‘Do those bastards think I’m some pushover?’
Did they think I’d feel something like affection for my family?
Sorry not sorry, but I’ve got no familial affection for my brother. Not even an ounce.
Rather, if anything, he was already my enemy.
I got heated up remembering incidents that happened back on Earth. I gritted my teeth and stared, no, I glared at my brother.
“I didn’t think you were against going back to Earth, Elder Brother.”
“I also didn’t think you’d want to go back.”
Our opposing words went back and forth.
“Of course I want to go back. Our family is big, right? I wanna live a life of revelry as the youngest. Most of all, though, I’m tired of losing everything I accumulated over five years every regression.”
“It was the same back on Earth. All you did was lose.”
My expression darkened, while my brother smiled at that.
“Wake up, Ha Chun-Sung. You’re the same human being whether you’re here or there. It makes no difference.”
“I see that you haven’t changed. Still have that annoying, anger-inducing trait of yours.”
I pointed the Heavenly Star Sword at Ha Il-Sung, a clear indication that I wouldn’t let him off easily.
“Tell Yashin. He chose the wrong opponent.”
“That soft personality of yours is the problem.”
At that moment, Ha Il-Sung swung his sword.
I thought I would easily dodge his attack.
But the world suddenly turned upside down.
“Huh?”
The same electric aura attribute.
The sword containing that power penetrated my body and sliced off my head.
My head fell to the ground.
Ha Il-Sung watched me with emotionless eyes.
‘Goodbye.’
I could only make out the word Ha Il-Sung mouthed before my vision blurred and faded.
[Congratulations. You are the second person to clear Floor 24.]
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 24’, ‘Afterimage of You in Action’, congratulates you on your clearing and rewards you.]
I opened my eyes only to realize my surroundings had changed.
Located in an isolated area, I stood dazed before the stairs leading up.
What just happened to me?
‘My neck.’
It was my first time feeling such a thing.
When I touched my neck with my hand, my body shuddered.
That power, and that ability.
Ha Il-Sung possessed a level of strength comparable to mine.
“How?!”
Just how did he do it? That one big question consumed my thoughts.
For a moment, I suffered a mental breakdown.
He had the same power as me?
Me?
ME?!
I was distraught.
“Wait… Wait a minute. Cleared?”
Another question loomed over me.
The quest was cleared the moment I was beheaded.
I couldn’t understand.
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 24’, ‘Afterimage of You in Action’, announces that you have fulfilled your role as the boss monster.]
I scowled at the words that appeared.
The dungeon’s clear condition was to defeat the dungeon’s administrator, the final boss.
‘That means Ha Il-Sung’s clear condition was…’
As a member of the House of Havelia, target a dungeon created by another participant.
From my and Cynthia’s encounter to Chen Havelia’s visit, it all proceeded according to the Constellation’s desire.
“‘Afterimage of You in Action’, what about Cynthia?”
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 24’, ‘Afterimage of You in Action’, tells you that the time of the Floor has been reset.]
Reset.
Meaning everything I’d achieved on the Floor was gone.
At this point, it was routine. However, the feeling of annoyance and emptiness that came after the loss flooded back each time.
Maybe this was what Ha Il-Sung meant by my ‘soft side.’
“Ha Il-Sung.”
I muttered his name while looking up the stairs.
Ha Il-Sung had a similar level of power as me.
I didn’t have a clue how he got such power. I guess Yashin thought Ha Il-Sung could stop me because of that ability.
‘Then I will just grow stronger.’
My craving that had momentarily paused flared up once again.
For those who blocked my path, I wouldn’t forgive them.
“You just wait.”
With that being said, I followed behind Ha Il-Sung and climbed the stairs.
* * *
Become stronger.
What I needed to gain was the basics of swordsmanship and the acquisition of skills that I’d neglected.
After the belief that I was the strongest was proven wrong, I slowly began to refine myself.
I decided to stop climbing the Floors in succession.
First things first, I thought about how Ha Il-Sung became strong and pondered why I lost.
‘Carelessness, and the lack of skills.’
My overwhelming stats.
I’d grown careless from trusting only those stats.
If my death wasn’t the clear condition for Floor 24…
What would have happened?
I would have died in vain.
Death.
In my fifth regression, I was able to experience something I’d been able to avoid for the past four.
‘I can’t do anything about skills right now.’
I had no idea where Ha Il-Sung obtained his skill, but his power was more or less equivalent to mine.
And the blow that reached my neck with one swing… That attack I couldn’t even follow despite my ability was definitely a skill’s effect.
An A-rank or higher skill.
However, I couldn’t obtain an A-rank skill right now.
Even the S-rank skill I’d acquired in a previous regression was only found above Floor 50.
And with the Constellations all jumbled up, a skill of that level might appear anywhere
That was why I decided to refine and train my sword first.
The dizzy feeling of death fired me up.
Become strong.
Stronger.
It’d been a long time since my desire to rise had lit a fire in my heart.
My eyes flashed.
The blade I swung quietly stroked through the air.
Chen Havelia.
That man was weaker than me, but his swordsmanship was excellent.
Ha Il-Sung.
A man as strong as me.
The sword moved and created echoing rings in the air.
My breathing stopped.
The sword traveled slowly through the air.
Giving my all to a single swing.
The sword, absent of any aura, continued from one movement to another naturally, like a wave.
My stats were practically at the peak.
I started training my body on what was lacking.
Beads of sweat formed on my face.
I could feel the small tremors in my pores.
My focused breathing slowed my heart beat.
‘Get stronger.’
My conviction burned hot.
My eyes gazed into blank space and darkened.
The surrounding sounds dimmed to nothing.
My breathing stopped.
Every sound vanished.
Slowly.
Slowly.
The sword moved.
Clak.
The sound of the sword returning to its scabbard woke the surroundings.
My body was drenched. When I resumed inhaling, the loud panting echoed.
The drops of sweat hindered my vision, and the area surrounding my mouth tasted salty.
Over the course of three hours, I swung once. That one swing was also without any aura.
“Fuck.”
Putting everything into just one swing.
With that mindset, I’d given everything I had to this one swing.
As a result, my body was creaking all over.
However, it wasn’t enough.
My sword skill could improve beyond this.
I’d seen a strong person named Chen Havelia who had reached the end of the heart sword realm.
I remember that body, stronger than mine despite their stats being lower.
I knew how to become stronger.
“One more time.”
I began to swing my sword.
Three hours, and then three more hours.
A total of three swings.
I felt like I was going to burn out, but my eyes changed.
I closed my eyes and recalled the past three sword strikes. This time, I swung the sword as fast as I possibly could.
The aura-less sword cut through the air with a slice.
No.
Too slow.
If I can’t even remove the sound of my sword, it won’t reach anyone.
I wielded the sword countless times.
In order to reach the maximum speed.
Three hours, and another three.
Over half a day went by like that.
The sun rose anew and set again.
With my knees weakened and bent, I sprawled on the ground. In the practice room prepared on Floor 24.5, I went to sleep.
And when I opened my eyes, I repeated the process again.
Two days, four days, a week, a month.
[The tower was moved by your endless swings.]
[B-rank skill, ‘The Sword Path’, has been offered. Would you like to receive it? YES/NO.]
“Finally.”
As soon as the skill window popped up, I breathed out heavily.
“YES.”
With that one word as my answer, the skill entered my body.
I took deep breaths and immediately opened the skill window to check.
[The Sword Path (B-rank) — Growth Type]
Type: Passive (active)
Fascinating! You can detect your opponent’s attack routes! With this, you too have the power of a seer!
This is a growth-type skill.
The more you think and ponder about your sword, the more it will raise you to a higher level.
A skill that had been responsible for determining my life and death numerous times in the past.
When I saw ‘The Sword Path’ in my window, I stumbled back and slumped to the ground.
My veins were pumped full of excitement from acquiring a skill after a long while, but the fatigue overpowered my body.
Growth-type skill, The Sword Path.
In the past, I could only raise this skill to A-rank. The current me was different, though.
I believed I could raise it to S-rank. No, I could even go beyond that.
‘With this, can I avoid any attack from Ha Il-Sung?’
I don’t know.
Ha Il-Sung’s first attack was definitely related to some skill.
Until I found out what skill he used, it’d be difficult to come to a conclusive answer.
However, I was planning on trying everything I could.
Using my sword as a temporary cane, I managed to head outside.
“Ha Chun-Sung?”
I perked up at the voice of a woman.
Several people were standing there, and one woman amongst them was looking at me, surprised.
With my already dim vision, I squinted my eyes to check the woman’s face and realized it was Sword Queen.
I guess enough time has already passed for people from the lower Floors to reach here.
‘Then what about Ha Il-Sung?’
How far could he have gotten by now?
He sided with Yashin.
He probably thought he’d finished me off.
If that was the case, then at least until the other Yashin punks cleared Floor 24, they’d be certain I was dead.
Until then, fighting tooth and nail to improve.
I sharpened my sword, and then sharpened it again.
They must’ve realized I wasn’t dead by now.
Wait for me. You better be prepared.
Because I’m coming, Ha Il-Sung.
‘But first and foremost…’
I need rest.
And without any delay, I lost consciousness.
* * *
“Shit.”
I covered my face and cursed as soon as my eyes opened.
Even if Sword Queen was my acquaintance, I couldn’t believe I’d passed out in the middle of the street.
I must have gone crazy.
If someone from Yashin had been nearby, that would’ve been the end for me.
“You already suffered from carelessness once, yet you went and did it again.”
I muttered to myself, sighing and checking my body’s condition by working my mana.
My body was rather patched up and seemed healed. Perhaps someone had used a recovery skill on me.
