Sword Master With One Strike Kill - Chapter 36

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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 36

Episode 36. Corpse Exhibition (2)

“I need human corpses.”

Freeze-.

At my words, Adelia froze solid.

She looked at me with a rather bewildered expression, asking back with a dazed look.

As if confirming whether she had heard correctly.

“C-corpses, you say…?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded and answered.

“About five bodies should be enough.”

“…”

“Bring ones that are as minimally decomposed as possible.”

At the sudden command, Adelia showed a momentarily disgusted expression.

But her hesitation didn’t last long.

With an expression as if she had resolved something, she nodded as if she understood.

“…Yes, I’ll prepare them right away.”

Adelia immediately moved to carry out my orders.

Once she had made up her mind, there was no hesitation in her actions.

Through our past journeys, she knew that my eccentric behavior always had good reason behind it.

“…?”

However, Sikan Bauer was different.

With a puzzled expression, he frowned and pushed back.

“What are you planning to do with corpses?”

“It’s complicated to explain.”

“Still, please tell me something. Rather than acting unilaterally without any explanation like this, it would be better if we cooperated with each other… huh?”

Hesitate-.

Sikan Bauer stopped speaking.

He could see Adelia in the distance trying to shoulder a corpse.

“Oh my…”

His complexion darkened rapidly as he hurriedly ran toward Adelia.

“Miss, please leave such things to me.”

“…I’ll ask for your help.”

After that, moving the corpses became entirely Sikan Bauer’s job.

Indeed, recruiting Adelia as a bus driver was a stroke of genius.

Otherwise, when else would I get to use a level 85 as a porter?

‘Anyway.’

The process of finding less decomposed corpses was easier than expected.

Throughout the ruined city, adventurers’ corpses could be found quite frequently.

They probably came here targeting expensive antiques and were attacked by monsters. Or maybe there was a big fight between fellow adventurers.

Well, thanks to that, five corpses were quickly prepared.

“Phew…”

I sighed and looked down at the corpses.

‘Honestly, I don’t really want to touch them.’

A nauseating revulsion rose from deep in my heart, but I suppressed it and began touching the corpses.

I made one kneel, had another climb on top, and finally intertwined their arms and legs.

In that way, I changed the corpses’ positions while recalling the ‘sculpture’ from my memory.

Crack─!

Each time I changed their positions, sounds of joints, muscles, and bones twisting could be heard.

The unpleasant sensation vividly felt at my fingertips was a bonus.

‘…I think I’m going to throw up, really.’

Doing in reality what I had only seen through a screen made me nauseous.

But I endured the queasiness.

It was something that absolutely had to be done to enter the exhibition hall.

…Wouldn’t it have been hard to endure if not for my mental strength stat?

“…”

Naturally, my actions were disgusting for the observers as well.

Sikan Bauer muttered from a step away with a voice full of revulsion.

“How can he do such sacrilegious things with the deceased’s bodies…”

“Watch your words, Sir Bauer.”

Then, Adelia firmly cut off his words.

“The Protagonist is more noble and sublime than anyone else. I know this well, having watched him closely.”

“…”

“So, even if it’s uncomfortable for now, please trust and wait. The Protagonist must have his reasons.”

Adelia said this while looking at me with sincere eyes.

At this, Sikan Bauer was about to say something but shut his mouth tight.

“…Yes. I understand.”

Right.

Thanks for defending me, Adelia.

Thanks to her, I could continue my work without anyone’s interference.

“Phew.”

Before long, a bizarre sculpture made of five corpses was completed.

…It was a hideous result.

Just looking at it was enough to send chills crawling up one’s spine.

“…”

Yet I couldn’t take my eyes off that sculpture.

The twisted limbs and entangled flesh created a strange atmosphere that wasn’t simply disgusting.

This wasn’t just my personal impression.

Adelia and Sikan were also staring intently at the sculpture as if entranced.

‘I think I made it roughly similar to the sculpture I remember…’

I turned my gaze toward the tightly closed main gate.

‘…This should be enough to satisfy the building’s owner.’

Rumble─!

Just then, with a massive vibration, the exhibition hall’s door began to slowly open.

‘Success.’

* * *

What followed was as everyone knew.

Sikan Bauer looked at me with an expression of disbelief, while Adelia chattered that I must have received a ‘revelation.’

Sikan Bauer, who had shown signs of hesitation for a moment, came to me first and offered his apology.

“…I apologize for my rash behavior. At least for this raid, I will follow without complaint.”

Nod-.

I nodded lightly.

It might only be temporary trust, but this was enough.

Just being able to freely use an 85th level knight in this raid was a huge gain.

Sikan Bauer’s complete trust could be earned slowly, over time.

‘Well, it’s good that he’s quick to acknowledge things though.’

A strict principlist, but also a character who possessed a certain flexibility.

That was exactly who Sikan Bauer was.

I had brought him along to the party precisely because I knew his personality.

If he had been a completely stubborn blockhead, I would have left him stuck in the Free City of Vertess long ago.

Ding-!

〔You have elevated eerie death into art.〕

〔Dexterity greatly increases. (1→12)〕

〔※Art-related stats do not affect level.〕

Messages appeared in one corner of my vision.

Seeing this, I gave a bitter smile.

‘…I don’t even need such a useless stat.’

Dexterity was an ability needed by artists or blacksmiths.

Strictly speaking, it was no different from trash to me.

I had no need to make pretty sculptures, and even less need to hammer iron in a forge to make weapons.

‘Still, it’s something at least.’

I accepted the dexterity stat increase with a grateful heart…

Ding-!

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s intimidation.〕

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s intimidation.〕

〔Mental Power ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s intimidation.〕

…

Ah.

‘…It’s appeared.’

My vision turned bright red.

Semi-transparent warning windows covered my field of view.

Ignoring them, I examined the level window visible beyond.

【҉҈̶̸̷L҈̷̸v̴̶̵.̸҈̷̶̴ ■̸̷҉̷̵■҈҉҈̵҈】

“…”

I had hoped slightly, but even with the game becoming reality, nothing had changed.

‘…I still can’t see properly because of “their” remnants.’

I quickly looked around.

Sikan Bauer’s complexion was deathly pale, and Adelia was also trembling all over, paralyzed with fear.

If my mental power hadn’t been at ‘MAX’, I wouldn’t have been safe either.

I probably would have rolled my eyes back, streamed blood from my nose, collapsed, and met death with my mind completely shattered.

Step─.

The surrounding air instantly froze.

Crackle-!

A bone-chilling cold that constricted my entire body. White vapor rose with each exhaled breath, and frost began forming instantly on the building’s windows.

Step─.

The hollow sound of footsteps echoed once again.

Inside the building with its doors thrown wide open.

An androgynous voice of indeterminate gender offered a greeting.

“Welcome, everyone.”

A being with abnormally long and thin limbs emerged from the darkness.

On its skull-like pale face, no facial features could be found.

Where eyes, nose, and mouth should have been, there were only bizarre curves drawn in black paint.

“I have been waiting for visitors like you all along. It is an honor to host such connoisseurs of art.”

The black clerical robes made the deformed physique stand out even more.

On fingers that were nothing but bone joints, crucifixes bound with iron chains rattled.

Rusted halo ornaments added an eerie halo effect.

“Then I shall guide you inside.”

The immortal corpse artist.

Camillo von Taribas.

He began guiding us with smooth and elegant movements.

Ding-!

〔Merirose: You have entered the ‘Corpse Exhibition Hall’.〕

〔※Those with weak hearts or elderly individuals are advised to refrain from playing. Our company takes no responsibility for mental trauma, seizures, heart attacks, etc. that may occur during exhibition viewing.※〕

‘Thanks for letting me know, you bastard.’

I don’t know why such notifications still appear.

For me, this isn’t a game but reality.

With such thoughts, I followed behind Camillo.

…Into the depths of the “Corpse Exhibition Hall,” considered the worst dungeon among gamers.

* * *

Roel had originally been a game that promoted dark fantasy.

A gloomy worldview, cruel settings, and even grotesque visuals.

[Strawberry Latte] : Ah, damn… I really can’t clear the Merirose dungeon.

[Strawberry Latte] : The developer bastards were told to make dark fantasy, so why did they create gore instead.

And the Corpse Exhibition Hall was a dungeon that elevated all of those elements even further.

[Muwolcha] : You mean the Corpse Exhibition Hall? The 1st floor there was at least bearable though?

┗[Strawberry Latte] : Haven’t you been to the 2nd floor?

[Muwolcha] : I haven’t been to the 2nd floor lol Always died on the 1st floor lol;;

┗[Kongiabum] : The 1st floor is nothing lol The problem starts from the 2nd floor. That crazy bastard Camillo really starts going insane.

┗[Siwonchoi] : For real… I thought I was getting schizophrenia while solving the 2nd floor puzzle…

[Muwolcha] : How bad is it?? I should try hard today. I’ll clear it and post proof.

┗[Kongiabum] : lololololololol

┗[Siwonchoi] : I offer my condolences.

┗[Strawberry Latte] : Make sure to book a psychiatric consultation after you’re done.

The Corpse Exhibition Hall had been an extremely notorious dungeon since Roel’s early days.

Just looking at the community’s reaction at the time, you could gauge how shocking it was.

The riddles posed by Camillo, that mad artist, were things that could never be solved with normal thinking.

You had to look at sculptures made from corpses, interpret their meaning, and find the answer to the next riddle.

[MoonlessVehicle] : Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck I quit the game right at the entrance to the 2nd floor.

[MoonlessVehicle] : Isn’t the developer a psychopath? Why the hell do they make stuff like that? How did this not get caught by the ratings board?

[MoonlessVehicle] : Ah seriously I think I’ll see it in my dreams save me for real I can’t sleep tonight fuck

However, the main problem wasn’t the difficulty of the puzzles.

Corpses with bodies spread out like flower petals.

Grotesque sculptures made by separating and reassembling joints.

Corpses hanging upside down from the ceiling with entrails spilling out, and faces trapped in walls used like windows.

Like this, elements too disgusting to even describe in words interfered with gameplay.

How could you solve puzzles when it was hard to even look at them properly in the first place?

‘…Insane.’

And now.

Those horrific scenes were unfolding vividly in reality, not as pixels on a monitor.

More shocking and intense than anything incomparable to what I’d seen Inside the Game.

‘I can’t manage my expression.’

No matter how much I tried to endure it, there were limits. The smell of rotting corpses was also a problem, but looking at the works displayed everywhere made nausea rise to my throat…

“How strange.”

That was exactly when.

“Why do you look so displeased when you’re the ones who created such magnificent work in the front yard?”

Pause-.

Camillo, who had been leading the way, turned to look at us.

The black curves drawn on his face began to slowly distort.

“Don’t tell me you’re dissatisfied with the exhibits?”

Tsk tsk tsk tsk-!

At that moment.

Hundreds of eyeballs displayed like a chandelier all began looking at us at once.

The scene was so grotesque it made my skin crawl.

“Or… perhaps, you have some other ulterior motive?”

I turned my head to meet Camillo’s gaze.

And answered in as calm a voice as possible.

“It’s because your works are disappointing.”

“…?”

“I came here after hearing rumors, but it seems I had pointless expectations.”

Pause-.

The entire Exhibition Hall froze.

The black curves drawn on Camillo’s face slowly distorted into a nightmarish shape.

“Just now…”

The elegance and warmth that could be felt in his voice disappeared.

“What did you say…?”

Watching the guy fall for the provocation, I smiled inwardly.

‘He took the bait.’

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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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