Chapter 75 – Five Great Families Clans (2)

[You have acquired the Sword Demon Emperor’s Footwork (S)’ skill!]
[Sword Demon Emperor’s Footwork
Acquisition Difficulty: S
Description: A martial art that is the fusion of Infinite Step Footwork of the Namgung family clan, one of the Five Great Families Clan, and the ‘Sword Grave’ of the Sword Demon. A mixture of heterogeneous skills. Movement speed increases by 70% when used, and it can be used as an attack method if magic is focused on the feet.]
Mobility and attack power.

He had acquired both at once.

‘If it can be combined with a passive technique like shallow breathing, I will be able to use my stamina effectively and move long distances.’

In addition, both attack skill and magic could be used even if it was the same attack and performed with greater output.

It was a skill that could truly show the essence of murim.

Jin-hyuk glanced over the details of the skill again.

‘Originally, I thought I had to go to the 20th floor to get this…’

Thanks to the stupidity of the people who walked down here all by themselves, he instead had got that extra bit of reassurance.

On the other hand.

“Kuak!”

Seeing Jin-hyuk smiling, Namgung Hyun bit down on his lips.

He must be incensed. His opponent was looking relaxed while he needed the help of others.

A crack in his self-esteem was bound to happen.

At that moment.

“Are you fine? Hyun?”

Three people approached Namgung Hyun.

The man in his thirties was Hwangbo Gunak of the Hwangbo family, another one of the Five Great Families Clan members.

“I think it is the first time I have seen older brother Hyun sweat.”

A woman who was just over 20 years old was a member of the Tang family, known as the family of poison, Tang Soha.

“Why are you fighting so hard against such a person?”

Last but not least was the young-looking man, Zhuge Chun of the Zhuge family.

“Damn it. It was enough for me to do this. I don’t need people to do it.’

“I don’t doubt your skills. But also, don’t forget the order given by the sect leader. It wasn’t to kill.”

“Brother, Hwangbo Gunak is right. If he will join us, there is no need to fight.”

“But…! That guy knew about us! He knew we were from the tower!”

Namgung Hyun shouted. His words made his three smiling comrades go stiff.

“… what?”

“Is that true?”

“About us?”

They had been far behind, so they couldn’t hear what Jin-hyuk had said during the fight.

If what Namgung Hyun said was true, this was a serious matter.

They had been in contact with many promising players, but none of them had known their identities.

However.

“Uh? Does he know the dwellers in the tower? What nonsense is that? No matter how much the price has skyrocketed in Seoul, who will be crazy enough to buy a house in such a place?”

Jin-hyuk, who had been the one who said it, acted as if he was hearing this for the first time.

“This brat… aren’t you the one who told me that a moment ago!”

“Me?”

“Yes. It was you!”

“Ah! I think I said you are like a homeless person who spent 10,000 years in a tower. Was that what you were talking about?”

“No, homeless? Is that what you said?”

“Maybe not. Don’t get mad at me. Because it’s bad to be yelled at for something I didn’t do.”

“…”

Srng!

Namgung Hyun pulled out his sword.

“I am done. Rather than trying to talk with you, I will cut your tongue off first.”

Strange killing intent rose from his body as Namgung Hyun took a stance.

Woong!

In an instant, the sword extended out.

It was fast.

And scary.

The unpredictable sword attack moved between various points like a poisonous snake brushing against the fallen leaves.

However, Jin-hyuk avoided Namgung Hyun’s attack easily.

‘After all, the behavior patterns of this guy are too obvious.’

What would he do in the future if his character was understood so easily?

Besides, didn’t he say it just now? He wanted to cut off Jin-hyuk’s tongue?

No matter how complicated the process was, if the end goal was known, then it could be avoided.

“I’ll think about it for a bit. Let’s play tag.”

Jin-hyuk groaned.

“You bastard! Let’s see how long you can run!”

[Namgung Hyun activates Lv11′ Infinite Steps Footwork’!]
He was now showing completely different movements.

Namgung Hyun followed the foot technique of his family.

Kwakwakwa!

The sword path, the internal qi, and everything he used on his sword was the same. Nothing had changed aside from his footwork.

However, just that one difference produced a very different result.

“What? Can’t you run away now? You shouldn’t have said all those ridiculous words.”

Namgung Hyun continued to follow Jin-hyuk.

As he neared, he felt it was time to shove his sword into his defenseless opponent. Not to mention that cheeky tongue as well.

But at that moment.

[Lv1 Sword Demon Emperor Footwork has been activated]

A breeze blew through the air.

As time passed, Namgung Hyun’s face became more and more contorted.

‘T-this…! this cannot… be!’

He had been hesitant at first.

He thought that the human was just mouthy, so he decided to simply mess around before cutting out his tongue. That was the gap in strength between the 4th and 20th floors.

And that was a wall between an average human and a murim that could not be crossed. However, after their first encounter, he changed his mind and thought he shouldn’t look down on his opponent.

‘I will take you down with all my might.’

If he used the technique he was most confident in, he would get a victory here.

Right, it would work.

But.

Even though he had made use of all the best things in his arsenal.

Just why!?

Did this mean that he couldn’t even step into his opponent’s shadow despite using his footwork?

This overwhelming difference in their footwork felt like an unassailable wall.

‘What is that bizarre move…’

This strange footwork that mixed linear beats with inter-changing steps was not what he had expected.

No doubt.

This was a higher-leveled technique than his own.

“Hyun. I understand that you are angry but act in control. If he gets hurt, we will be in trouble.”

“Brother! Get it done quickly. It has been 5 minutes already.”

“You don’t have to waste too much time to counterattack him, right?”

His allies kept telling him such things.

This was because all they could see was that Namgung Hyun was just playing around.

Shit.

This entire thing was wrong!

Namgung Hyun was sweating as he realized everything he did was in vain until a thought crossed his mind.

Should he pretend to make a mistake and kill him instead?

If only he could use a technique… but that would require too much effort.

Obviously, the human didn’t know how to attack. Wasn’t that why he kept defending and used footwork to evade him? There were plenty of ways to do this.

His worries didn’t last long.

[Namgung Hyun activates the ‘Taihua Sword Qi’]
Psss!

The sword on his waist began to radiate cold energy. It was a sword that radiated clear killing intent. And at the same time…

“It is a mistake.”

Cold air began to flow out from Jin-hyuk.

To be precise, it escaped from the twin swords in his possession.

[Twin Dragon Swords answer their master’s call!]
Creepy!

‘…!?’

Namgung Hyun’s eyes narrowed. It was because he felt something unusual.

And it was then.

“Goooo!”

“Kuaaaa!”

A sharp, high, pitched noise. Players began to shout from all around.

“The Zombie wave from the right!”

“The number is a thousand. Three minutes away!”

Amid this frantic fight, the first wave had come right in front of them. This was no time to mess around.

“You are lucky.”

Hwangbo Gunak said to Jin-hyuk.

He thought they might have won if the zombies had come a little later.

“Yeah, thank god I survived. You’re a pretty young master.”

Jin-hyuk also put his half-drawn swords in.

“L-look at how he acts.”

“I am looking. Hahaha! The snout continues to live. Right, Hyun?”

“Uh… Uhuh….”

Namgung Hyun stuttered and answered.

What was that?

That energy he felt before?

His hands and feet were still trembling because of it. He could even feel his spine freeze.

He had felt magic that was utterly different from murim.

And he was certain of one thing. If they properly fought…

‘I would have died.’

Right.

He would die for sure.

Namgung Hyun realized this.

But not Zhuge Cheon.

“Eh. Next time, no zombies will be intervening at the right time, so do not hesitate to crawl somewhere and hide, okay? You who have lived fine outside will have to bow down to us….”

Zhuge Cheon couldn’t finish his speech.

Kwang!

It was the sound of his face being crushed in.

“Sorry, what did you just say?”

Jin-hyuk smiled brightly as he wiped the blood from his hand.

“Kwak!”

Zhuge Cheon covered his face with both hands. Blood gushed down from the hand covering his face.

“What did the bastard just do?”

“Kuak!”

Hwangbo Gunak and Tang Soha grabbed their weapons. On the other hand, Namgung Hyun was frozen and couldn’t move.

“It doesn’t matter if we continue to fight, right? But if we fight, your side will be at a disadvantage, though?”

All of a sudden, Yoo Yeon-hwa, Lee Taemin, Teresa, and Chun Yuseong, who were all exhausted, had recovered.

“Koooo!”

“Kuaaak!”

Of course, in the middle of this, the zombies were closing the distance at a fast pace.

“… I guess we will have to continue the conversation later.”

Hwangbo Gunak nodded his head.

“The stadium is ours, do not even think about coming here and look elsewhere.”

“I refuse to put such trash in place. Besides, the base is already decided.”

“Oh. You secured the base?”

“Right, the best place on the 4th floor.”

Hwangbo Gunak nodded and pointed to the large supermarket in front of the stadium.

They chose that?

“Not bad.”

It was a large mart surrounded by high walls and had a narrow entrance, making it easy to defend.

Especially if several hundred people were defending it.

The interior also had food, canned items, water, and many more items. If the world was destroyed by a zombie virus, then the mart would be the place everyone should head to.

But…

There was a fatal weakness there. The worst condition that no one knew about.

‘I think the attack on the 4th floor is the most interesting thing.’

Jin-hyuk smiled.

He had come up to this floor to maximize his profits. These arrogant murim people were just a bonus.