26: New Combat Type (1)

Having been in the basement for half a day, Seol-Hwi was considering how quickly and efficiently he could deploy the Great Sword.

His joy had cooled considerably; while it could inflict huge amounts of damage, the Great Sword had a fatal weakness: it took a long time to activate, and it forced him to use his left hand. For Seol-Hwi, who was right-handed, trying to switch hands in an emergency was an unwanted burden.

“Unfortunate. It’s problematic from the very start…”

It was still a sword technique, when you got down to it, but the process was difficult.

Great Sword: ↓ ↘ → ←, B
Move down low, to the side, quickly backwards, and then swing the sword—an enemy wouldn’t wait patiently for him to complete the movements.

“I think it has to be linked with the White Light Demonic Arts techniques…”

The 6th Form, Small Becomes Large. “Small” had something to do with ice; “Large” meant transformation. It was the most aggressive of the already aggressive White Light Demonic Arts.

So… Push out of the crouch to rush forwards, while moving his sword to the left. And lastly ←, stepping back and swinging. That was the Great Sword attack, wasn’t it?

“Let’s practice a bit more—”

Seol-Hwi froze as a familiar old man opened the door and walked in. It was the library manager.

Weird. He hadn’t shown up any other time, strangely.

Only then did Seol-Hwi realize that the walls and ceiling were in ruins and the books were scattered in the deep ruts carved into the floor.

Then he remembered he was supposed to be organizing the books.

The man scanned the room with narrowed eyes and creased forehead; from the sweet potato in his hand, Seol-Hwi could tell he’d interrupted the man.

“This is…” His face twitched.

Seol-Hwi was quite pleased, on the other hand. Over his head was “Life +1”.

[Status]
Du Hong
[Library Manager]
Body normal
1 Coin
Objective: Become Du Hong’s Commissioned Man (0/8) (New)
→ Upgrade Combat Style
[Stats]
Health: 3,500/3,500
Internal Energy: 3,200/3,200
Combat Strength: 10,000
I almost missed the extra life. But what is…?

“This brat,” Du Hong shrieked, sweet potato flying out of his mouth. “You have no sense…”

No… Seol-Hwi clenched his fists. I can’t kill him now… He might be able to kill Du Hong easily, but the consequences could create unexpected variables in his plans. Seol-Hwi needed to focus on killing Goeun.

“S-Sorry. I’ll put everything back the way it was—uk.”

Du Hong spat again, but something yellow came out of his mouth instead of food.

“You did quite well. I had too much free time these day, and all the people who come and go get on my nerves.” The man stepped closer, leaning into Seol-Hwi’s ears with his drooling mouth. “How about we get closer? Heheh.”

Ah. Should I just kill him?

Seol-Hwi’s eyes changed, but he held back. There was one thing he was curious about.

Objective: Become Du Hong’s Commissioned Man (0/8)
→ Upgrade Combat Style
Seol-Hwi bowed.

Might makes right. This rule was deeply rooted into the Demonic Cult, and everyone was required to follow it. It was common for captains to abandon their subordinates and flee for their lives.

However, there were some groups which didn’t fall into the normal hierarchy. They were known as common miscellaneous groups and didn’t belong to any unit, such as Seol-Hwi’s old Flying Squad. While he nominally belonged to a pavilion, a squad leader from any pavilion could give him orders.

So, even if Du Hong torments him, Seol-Hwi has no reason to stop him—which is how Seol-Hwi ended up cleaning the back room since this morning.

“This bastard has to be killed as cruelly as possible. I want everyone to say it was bad.”

Du Hong was one crazy fucking bastard. He had called Seol-Hwi last night and made him clean the back room until dawn, then had him emptying shit out of the bathroom this morning.

“Hah. No matter how many times I go back, I can’t seem to escape from shit…”

The poop was deep enough to hide the floor.

Become Du Hong’s Commissioned Man (1/8)
Fortunately, cleaning up had fulfilled one request; cleaning out this shit would be another.

Then he would have to do another six. Still, he was eager for the reward.

“What kind of combat style is it going to be? Surely it has to be huge, right?” The windows had only helped him—surely this time would be something special too.

Creaaaaaak!

“…did I eat too much this morning?”

Seol-Hwi’s eyes widened at the sound of the bathroom door opening. He couldn’t see the new person’s face, just their status.

[Status]
Lee Byeok
[3rd Floor Manager]
Body normal
[Stats]
Health: 2,400/2,400
Internal Energy: 2,890/2,890
Combat Strength: 8,000
“I-I’m in here!”

Unfortunately, this was the only bathroom in the library.

“…Oh. You’re the one Du Hong was talking about.” An old man’s face with a twisted moustache came into view. “Hm. Right. Keep up the hard work. I’m suffering here, so…” He gestured to his stomach.

Gah, you fuckwit!

The old man pulled his pants down, flashing Seol-Hwi a terrifying view of his bottom. A little shit—and then a waterfall.

Fucking—He has diarrhea! I’m going to kill him! Seol-Hwi’s eyes shone with a glint of madness. He has to die! I need to kill him!

But still, he had to consider the aftermath. The death of a library official would call in an investigation from the Supreme Pavilion. Inevitably, if not necessarily immediately, Seol-Hwi would be implicated, and that would compromise Seol-Hwi’s plan to gain the Earth Demon’s trust after killing Goeun.

Drip. Lee Byeok pissed while he shat.

Drip.

And then he was done.

“Ah, so refreshing.” He rubbed his butt and stood up.

A crumpled, yellowed piece of paper fell on top of Seol-Hwi’s shit-covered head.

“I really want to kill him,” he said, covered in sticky fluids and undigested vegetation. “I’ll put his head into the same shitty hole and stomp on it until he dies in shit. Right… that would be nice.”

A terrifying way to die, but it wouldn’t be enough. The smell was driving him insane.

“Ahhhhh!”

His anger soared even higher.

Seol-Hwi went to the lake and washed himself. He wanted to tear his skin off.

“Oh. All done?” Du Hong looked at him when he returned to the library, but Seol-Hwi didn’t reply. This was the man who caused him to smell like walking shit.

“Must’ve been thorough. Heheheh.” Lee Byeok sat right next to Du Hong. The two of them had cooperated very well to shame Seol-Hwi, just like Sama Gwi and the Pavilion Master had.

“It’s cleaned.”

Become Du Hong’s Commissioned Man (2/8)
Watching the numbers tick up allowed Seol-Hwi to fight down the urge to slap them.

“Well done. Then get some water and prepare our bath.”

“Of course. Right away.”

“Did you wash your hands thoroughly?” Lee Byeok shouted as Seol-Hwi left. “I don’t like the smell.”

Seol-Hwi finally snapped. Maybe it was better to just kill the old bastards and go back to the past. He spun around—

“You’re here!” The two laid-back old men suddenly stood up and walked to the entrance.

Seol-Hwi’s eyes widened. How did that woman…?

[Status]
Seo Ryeong
[Crimson Demon Pavilion]
Body normal
It was the woman he saw on the test island: Seo Ryeong, the great beauty.