Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 156

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One-Strike Kill Swordmaster Episode 156

Episode 156. Recreation of Annihilation (4)

* * *

Actually, Roel’s community is quite well-activated for a veteran gamer’s game.

Should I say it has an atmosphere where anyone can ask questions and everyone is welcomed?

Thanks to the game’s massive volume, even now 12 years after release, the strategy boards are still active.

It had become a culture to kindly answer questions when newcomers who stumbled in posted them.

In any case, the closed and exclusive feeling typical of veteran gamer communities was rarely found.

‘But…’

That was only limited to ‘general’ strategies.

Top rankers, especially those ambitious about rankings, never revealed all the core strategies they knew.

‘Well, I was the same way.’

Critical information had to be kept to oneself.

That was the only way to maintain rankings.

Ah, of course.

Now that I was possessed in the game, all of that had become meaningless.

That’s why Strawberry Latte had unhesitatingly spilled all the strategies she thought only she knew as soon as she was possessed.

─I know too.

─Excuse me?

─The method to advance the Feather Sword 「Jinmyeong Geopbang」. I know it too.

But I knew everything.

The strategies Strawberry Latte thought were her own secrets.

The core information other rankers hid like their lives.

No.

Beyond simply knowing…

I didn’t stay within set frameworks and pushed rewards to their limits.

When others thought 100 was the end, I pulled out 150. I always looked beyond given limits first and tried to reach there first.

And now.

This aquarium in Rashutku Imperial Palace would also become a turning point to reach beyond that ‘limit’ once again.

“Here we are.”

Thud-.

Emperor Aurellius’s voice cut through my thoughts.

Looking up, we were standing before a massive arched entrance.

Various sculptures symbolizing the sea were intricately carved above the structure made of white stone.

Whooom, whoom-!

The inside of the entrance was blocked by a transparent barrier.

A barrier rippling like a giant soap bubble had sealed off outsiders’ entry.

Swoosh-.

As Aurellius carefully raised his hand, the barrier began to ripple like waves and slowly disappear.

The aquarium’s entrance opened.

“You’ve worked hard, Aurellius.”

“…”

Swish-.

Aurellius carefully bowed his head.

But even after finishing his greeting, he didn’t take a step. He just looked at me with a somewhat hesitant expression.

Naturally, I knew what words would flow from his mouth.

“The Protagonist.”

Sure enough, Aurellius spoke up.

“This may be a shameless request… but I’d like to ask just one thing.”

“Speak.”

“I plan to take my retainers and flee far away to continue the lineage.”

Aurellius’s voice trembled.

“Even if the empire falls, I want to show my descendants someday. That this brilliant nation didn’t collapse due to the twin emperors’ mistakes. And how beautiful and great the legacy we built together was.”

Aurellius, who had caught his breath for a moment, carefully added.

“If it’s possible… when that day comes, could The Protagonist and Pean help us?”

I nodded.

“Understood.”

“…Thank you so much.”

Aurellius bowed deeply.

I quickly ended this conversation.

“There’s no time to hesitate further. Take your retainers and leave for a safe place quickly.”

“Yes.”

Aurellius turned around.

His figure, who had guided us here even in this urgent situation, disappeared beyond the corridor.

“Then let’s go in.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Thump, thump-.

I moved my steps into the aquarium with Pean.

A faint blue light leaked from the end of the narrow passage. As we walked, the light that was just a small dot grew larger and larger.

And finally, the moment we reached the end of the corridor.

Whoooosh-!

The view opened up wide, revealing a massive space.

‘Ah…’

I almost let out an exclamation at that sight.

A huge dome-shaped space made entirely of transparent glass was filled with blue seawater. It felt like being in the middle of the ocean.

White marble pillars supported that blue space, and colorful fish swam elegantly between them.

From the dome’s ceiling above, mysterious blue light rippled down. That light refracted in the water, painting this space fantastically.

‘It’s much more beautiful than what I saw in the game.’

It was more magnificent than any other spectacle I’d witnessed in this world.

Then, Pean opened his mouth with a smile.

“It must be a truly beautiful sight.”

“…”

“The sound of water is quiet and gentle. The resonance spreading beyond the surface. The smooth movement cutting through the current.”

He breathed quietly for a while, then smiled slightly and added.

“Even without seeing, I can feel it. How beautiful this space is.”

“…”

“Still, at moments like this, I do think how nice it would be if I could see. Ahaha.”

Well, I felt the same regret.

If only it weren’t such an urgent situation, I could have appreciated the surroundings more leisurely…

“Magnificent, isn’t it, Upapa?”

“…!”

Right at that moment, a voice came from the corner.

Pean startled and turned his head.

Even he hadn’t sensed the other’s presence.

“That’s…”

Swoosh-.

In the corner at the bottom of the aquarium.

There sat a crouched human figure.

Soft pink skin. Slowly moving gills. A small mouth that seemed to always be smiling.

And round, hazy eyes that showed no sign of life whatsoever.

Axolotl.

Generally known by the name ‘Wuparufa’, this pink salamander was hugging a fishing rod while observing the aquarium.

【??】

The level window floating above Wuparufa’s head was completely masked with question marks.

The exact same situation as the blacksmith Guardian I met at the Sanctuary of Flames.

That’s right.

He was one of the Great Ones… that is, one of the ancient god Elders who governed this world.

“This is the aquarium I created for the Rashutku Empire, Upapa.”

“….”

“….”

Wuparufa opened and closed his mouth while watching the marine creatures swimming leisurely.

Among them were some particularly eye-catching creatures. Though they were spiritual beings that had not yet awakened as divine beasts, their potential was on a completely different level from the other fish.

Wuparufa’s expression as he watched all of this was bland and dry. Though the corners of his mouth were turned up, no emotion could be found on his face.

Bow-.

Knowing the identity of my counterpart, I quietly bowed in silence.

And perhaps for the first time since falling into this world, I spoke with honorifics that I had never uttered aloud before.

“I greet the creator of the Twelve Divine Beasts, who hides truth beneath the shell of youth… the ‘Master of Potential and Regeneration.'”

“…?”

Swoosh-.

That Wuparufa turned his head toward me.

A faint interest began to spread in his dead eyes.

“Upapa, you’re more polite than I heard you were.”

* * *

The Master of Potential and Regeneration.

An ancient god called by the name ‘Upapa’ among players.

He was one of the few Great Ones who possessed the authority to create divine beasts.

Despite his cute appearance, Upapa was a being with powerful strength even among the Elders. He was equally dangerous too.

…However, Upapa was a deity who had completely disappeared at the current point in time.

Meaning he was a being who could only be met within Tarosk’s nightmare.

‘Anyway.’

Upapa had more of a stubborn old-fashioned streak compared to the other Elders I had met so far… that is, compared to the ‘Master of the Forge and the Flame’ or the ‘Master of Life and Earth.’

When dealing with him, regardless of concept or anything else, you absolutely had to show proper respect first.

Otherwise, he would sneer and completely refuse to converse with players.

But…

‘Something’s strange.’

Upapa’s response was slightly different from what I had expected.

‘…More polite than he heard? Me?’

It was dialogue I was hearing for the first time.

Suddenly, various thoughts began racing through my mind.

All the Elders I had encountered so far had seen through my identity completely. They knew from the beginning that I wasn’t a being of this world, but a ‘Possessed One’ who had fallen in from outside, and reacted accordingly.

Then who exactly were Upapa’s words just now directed at?

The original me from this world? Or me who had been incorporated into this trial of the past?

‘I need to find that out.’

Whether Upapa was somehow an avatar of an Elder connected to the Heavenly Realm.

Or whether he was just a dummy constructed as part of the trial.

I needed to distinguish that before I could move to the next stage.

“Ahem!”

While I was having such thoughts, Upapa cleared his throat and spoke again.

“You’ve found your way well to the aquarium I created, Upapa.”

“….”

“Since it’s a world that’s going to be destroyed anyway, there’s no point in struggling pointlessly. It would be wiser to just quietly watch the fish like me and then disappear.”

Resignation was embedded in Upapa’s voice.

A powerless tone as if he had given up on everything.

An attitude that accepted even the world’s end without any emotion.

‘This is…’

It was familiar dialogue.

The script that Upapa would deliver when playing the game.

Dummies in trials only act according to predetermined patterns. And the current Upapa was also reacting exactly as I remembered.

So I spoke one of the choices that had appeared on the game screen.

“Why didn’t you follow the other Great Ones and leave the Lower Realm?”

“….”

Upapa fell silent. With his usual emotionless face.

“Well.”

Not long after, he spoke in an indifferent voice.

“I have no particular attachment to this life, Upapa.”

“….”

“You know what? The other guys are really full of greed. Even though I warned them so many times, they ended up bringing in ‘Beings from Another World’ and created this mess.”

Once again, the familiar dialogue repeated.

The moment I heard this, I was certain. Upapa wasn’t a real Elder.

He was a counterfeit implemented to recreate the past.

In other words, he was just a dummy.

‘Then…’

The direction became clear.

I could push through this trial according to my first prepared plan, ‘Plan A.’

“Why do you have no attachment to life?”

Upapa muttered in a dejected voice.

“I’ve lived too long, Upapa.”

“….”

“Now everything is predictable. Every day is the same, and there’s nothing new anymore.”

“….”

“The other guys couldn’t bear this boredom either and brought in ‘Beings from Another World,’ but in the end they faced this kind of disaster.”

I quickly answered.

“Then I will become your ‘something special.’ So please follow the others and depart for the Heavenly Realm.”

“…?”

Pause-.

Wuparufa stared at me intently.

Then he soon burst into a sneer as if he found it absurd.

“What are you supposed to be, Upapa?”

“….”

Up to the 90th playthrough, this dialogue was the ‘end.’

This point was the limit that players could reach, and no more choices or dialogue could be input.

Upapa burst into mocking laughter and then went back to blankly watching the fish. Encounters with ancient gods always ended like that, without any results.

But….

‘…from the moment I obtained this item, the story changes.’

Swoosh-.

I quietly pulled something out from my chest.

At that very moment.

“…!”

Upapa’s eyes widened in shock.

“Th, this is…!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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