Chapter 24. Self-Development (3)

[The level of the skill Basic Swordsmanship has increased (Lv. 1 to Lv. 2).]

[You have reached the maximum level for this skill in the Basic Swordsmanship Class!]

[The effects of the Basic Swordsmanship Classroom have ended.]

That was the last notification Eun-Ho heard.

Swoosh!

Clang—!

After that, when he deflected the incoming strike with his sword, no system messages regarding blocking the attack or his proficiency increasing came. It seemed he had squeezed out every benefit this place could offer.

“If that’s the case, let’s stop here,” Eun-Ho said.

He stepped back, dodging the opponent’s blade, and lowered his own.

Wait, I have to check one last thing.

Shing—!

He suddenly thrust his sword forward, the tip hovering just below the other Eun-Ho’s throat. The doppelgänger did not flinch, showing neither movement nor emotion. It simply stared straight ahead like a statue.

“This is just a wild guess, but you’re not a doppelgänger, are you?” Eun-Ho asked.

A thin drop of blood formed at the edge of his blade. Looking at it felt as if he was cutting his own throat. Even indirectly, it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“Are you an instructor or assistant instructor? Or something like that?”

There was no reply nor any movement. The other Eun Ho’s expression didn’t even change in the slightest. He felt like he was talking to a mannequin.

Maybe I’m wrong?

“How did you figure it out?”

The other Eun-Ho raised a single eyebrow, his expression still blank.

I knew it! That strange feeling earlier, when I first stepped onto the magic circle... That’s probably when the copy was made,

Eun-Ho realized.

That was this guy’s ability.

“Your right leg. You used it really well,” Eun-Ho said.

“My right leg?”

“I can’t move mine that naturally.”

The other Eun-Ho furrowed his brow, clearly confused. Physically, Eun-Ho’s leg was fine, but that was because the system had repaired the damage.

Eun-Ho said, “I limped on it for ten years, so I guess the awkwardness still shows.”

He treated that leg like dead weight for the past ten years. Even now, even knowing it worked perfectly, he caught himself unconsciously favoring the left. Nobody else noticed, but it still bugged him

.

“You moved too smoothly, so it tipped me off,” Eun-Ho added.

The fake Eun-Ho ran a hand through his hair and let out a hollow laugh, blinking slowly.

So he does have emotions...

“You're the first person to notice.”

“I’m quite observant,” Eun-Ho replied.

“Observant...

Huh

.”

The way the clone muttered “observant” with Eun-Ho’s face made real Eun-Ho’s skin crawl.

Since he hadn’t come just to chit-chat with his look-alike, he got straight to the point. “I want to improve my sword skill even more.”

“You’re still not satisfied? How greedy.”

“Well, I’ve got to survive somehow, especially in a world like this.”

The doppelgänger stared at him, like trying to peer straight into his thoughts. “You’re serious?”

“

Dead

serious.”

At first, the clone laughed like it was a joke, then stopped and furrowed his brow.

His expression turned to one of disbelief before he finally sighed and said “You’ve already reached the maximum level for the basic class.”

Maximum?

Was that guy saying that level two was the cap for Basic Swordsmanship? That didn’t sit right with Eun-Ho.

“If there’s a basic class, there’s gotta be something after it, right? There’s no point dragging it out. Just take me to the next course.”

When Eun-Ho shrugged confidently, the clone responded with a half-smile—part surprise, part disbelief.

“Next course... Well, it won’t be easy.” The doppelgänger ran a hand along his chin and gave a crooked grin.

Eun-Ho hated seeing that expression on his own face.

“I’ll be the one judging that.”

The fake Eun-Ho twirled his sword thoughtfully, lost in thought.

“I’ll at least give you a taste,” he said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “It’s been a while since I had some fun.”

A moment later, he snapped his fingers and said, “I’ll open the beginner class for you.”

***

With a low, sliding sound, a new door emerged from what had once been a solid stone wall.

The door was massive and seamless, with no handle and no visible panel. It was just a towering slab of rock that had come out of thin air.

When Eun-Ho stepped forward and leaned his weight into it, the door slowly slid open.

Vrrrm!

A low, mechanical hum echoed from somewhere deep within, like a generator slowly powering up. The air was thick and heavy, damp enough to choke on.

Stone walls and ceilings surrounded him, carved with a precision too perfect to be natural. The lighting was dim, without a trace of sunlight.

“Is this a cave?” Eun-Ho murmured.

He cautiously stepped forward, finding himself at the mouth of a cavern—narrow, yet tall enough to dwarf him twice over. From its depths, a faint, sweet scent drifted out, which was subtle, yet strangely inviting.

As if drawn by instinct, Eun-Ho moved in closer. However, before he could look too far, the stone door rumbled shut behind him.

He turned and gave it a cautious push. Then, it slid back open with ease.

So, I can leave whenever I want.

There was no reason to hold back if escaping was that easy. If things went south, he could just run.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With that in mind, he pushed forward and emerged from the cave into a forest. Towering trees, deep green, filled the space like a wall of living wood.

The trees are green,

he noted.

They were so massive that he could not wrap his arms around even a single trunk. However, the trees themselves were not particularly unusual. Their thick canopies stretched overhead, blocking out most of the sky, and letting sunlight filter through in scattered patches.

[The trial lesson of the Beginner Swordsmanship Class will begin.]

A trial lesson, huh. Then, could there be another course objective?

“Check course objectives.”

[Please check the course objectives!]

[Course Objectives]

1. Eliminate Rooted Enemies (0/100)

2. Eliminate Moving Enemies (0/50)

3. Eliminate Winged Enemies (0/10)

So there are objectives.

That meant there had to be a reward for completing them.

“Show me the reward.”

[Upon completing the Beginner Swordsmanship Class, you will unlock a unique Swordsmanship skill and acquire the title, Swordsman.]

[Note: In the trial version, you may return at any time, but you will forfeit any completion rewards.]

No reward without risk, huh.

It was the system’s way of saying this place was dangerous.

Still, I’ve got to at least try.

Maybe it was reckless. Maybe this forest was crawling with enemies far too powerful to face. However, if he did not get stronger, he would die anyway—whether from the trial, the system, or other people.

Eun-Ho clenched his fists, determination hardening inside him. Then, a huge, looming shadow fell over him.

Thud!

Suddenly, something slammed into him from the side.

“

Gah!

”

The impact sent him stumbling forward. Before he could recover, thick green vines coiled around him like snakes, crushing the breath out of him. The one that had charged and struck him like a beast was a tree.

This really is a tree... right?

It was an ancient tree with limbs as flexible as tentacles.

Wham!

The world flipped upside down. The vine slammed his face into the dirt, then yanked him upright again, as if playing with a doll.

Whoosh—!

The ground dropped away. He was rising higher and higher, until he finally saw what he was dealing with. Eun-Ho froze.

What the hell?

The sight was staggering. Everything he thought he knew about the food chain collapsed.

It wasn’t a tree, but a flower?

What he thought were towering trees reaching the sky were just flower stems and leaves, on a scale far beyond his own. They made the “cave” he had entered through seem like a pebble.

In this place, he was nothing more than an aphid.

Shhhhk—!

A massive stem, growing like a branch, stretched out and coiled tightly around him. The leaf at its tip flicked gently.

Eun-Ho could quickly tell that this was bad.

Could this be a carnivorous plant?!

Crack!

The vine tightened and his insides felt like they were being crushed.

[To end the trial lesson, return to the Training Institute.]

“Screw the trial!”

Shhhk—!

The vine bound him tighter, dragging him toward a yawning red bloom the size of a car. It opened wide, its petals licking the air like a tongue.

“Are you serious?! This thing’s on a whole other level!”

***

People always said that the key to winning a fight is knowing your enemy first.

That grotesquely massive, carnivorous plant lured prey using its uncanny resemblance to nearby flowers and deceptively sweet fragrance. Its usual targets were bugs drawn to nectar and crawling insects from the forest floor.

Crunch—!

A gigantic insect, as big as a logging truck, was crushed in the plant’s grasp.

That should be enough for a full meal,

Eun-Ho thought grimly.

“Does it really need to eat me too?”

Ssssh—!

As if in response, the scarlet petals rippled like a bright red festival tent fluttering in the wind. At the center, hundreds of towering stamens wriggled in a slow, slimy dance, oozing sticky fluid.

Here and there between the translucent, jelly-like strands were dark, scale-like fragments.

It’s mimicking a flower to lure prey in, then melt them down with digestive enzymes.

It was a textbook carnivorous plant tactic. The only problem was that he was not an insect.

“Summon.” Eun-Ho then channeled his focus into his exposed left hand, just enough to call forth the Razor Beak Blade. “Accelerate.”

[With the Basic Swordsmanship(Lv. 2) effect activated, your posture has been corrected.]

The muscles in his arm shifted subtly and precisely. However, it was not him doing the action. Something unseen was guiding his stance, making minute adjustments with eerie precision.

So this is what posture correction feels like.

He raised the sword high, then drove it straight down.

Swoosh—!

The sword sank in like jelly.

That’s weird. It felt rock-solid when I touched it earlier, just like an old tree trunk. Is the attack buff kicking in?

Swoosh—! Swish! Swoosh!

He stabbed the thick, green stalk that bound him, puncturing holes as he went. Then, he dragged the blade across those gaps in a clean slash.

Shhk—!

Got it.

If he could make an opening with his sword and tear the rest with his hands, he should be able to slip out.

Wait, huh?

What he meant to be just a small cut split the massive stem clean in half, revealing its slick, pale interior. It was still a plant, but the cross-section was densely packed with circular tubes—like something out of an industrial pipe system—coated in deep green.

From the sliced segments, water poured out in torrents through a huge, storm-drain-like hole.

Whoosh—!

With overwhelming force, the pressure slammed into his face, chest, abdomen, and legs all at once. However, he had to endure it. Only five seconds left until Acceleration ended.

If I jump now, I’ll die.

The drop below was dizzying, easily the height of a three- or four-story building. Unless he wanted to leap straight into his death, he had to look for another route.

Three seconds remained.

Swoosh!

Eun-Ho drove the blade of his hooked sword straight into the center of the stem. Then, like a rock climber scaling a cliff, he clung to the embedded weapon, pressing both feet tightly against the surface of the plant.

Swiish—!

He then slid downward, carving through the massive stem in one smooth motion. It was a clean vertical cut.

Two seconds remained.

The stem twisted and curled, bucking and writhing beneath him. Even slowed to one-fifteenth speed by Acceleration, he could still feel the violent motion.

Finally, one second remained.

Just as the ground rushed up to meet him, he returned the sword to his inventory. “Store!”

At the same time, he kicked off the stem with both feet, launching himself downward. It wasn’t a trick to pull the sword free, but to save time.

Tick—!

Time snapped back into place, and with it, the pursuit began.

Thud! Thud! Boom!

He had clearly split the thing in half and killed it. Yet, massive stems came surging toward him again.

Damn it.

There were three leaf-covered stems, meaning he had only taken down one of them. Two more tendrils were still coming for him. Besides, the segments he had sliced were regenerating at an insane rate.

In that brief moment, the three colossal stems lunged at him like bombs with tails, ready to explode on impact.

Wham! Thud! Kaboom!

If I just stand here, I’ll definitely die here!

He would be crushed long before the digestive acid could melt him. With a desperate burst of movement, he threw himself to the side, just in time to dodge a vine. The vine slammed into the ground like a falling meteor, splitting it wide open.

His mind raced.

A head-on fight won’t work.

They were just too big, and with so many of them, a sneak attack wouldn’t even register.

Unless I cut all of them at once, I don’t stand a chance.

However, even if he did cut them, they would only grow back.

There’s no opening!

There was no opening that he could see.

Then I’ll just have to make one!

Sssss—!

A sharp stench hit his nose from a crack in the boulder. It was the shed carapace of that giant insect, left behind during the plant’s earlier meal.

Swoosh—!

Eun-Ho carefully sliced the shed carapace into three neat pieces and wrapped each one tightly around a rock—or, a pebble by this world’s scale. Then, with all his strength, he hurled them upward.

One, two, three!

Just as planned, three of the stems took the bait. He waited until the tendrils had completely wrapped the stones in their deep green appendages and brought them up to their mouths.

“Accelerate!”

Gripping his sword low, he sprinted forward at full speed.

Swoosh—!

He sliced through the lower portions of the three stems in a single, fluid motion.

Five seconds, four seconds, three seconds...

Then, with one powerful kick, he knocked the severed stems to the ground.

Thud!

The massive pillars crashed down, kicking up a storm of dust and dirt.

“

Kuh!

”

His vision was not just hazy; it had turned pitch dark. Dust and dirt clung all over him, as if someone had poured a sackful of soil on his head.

His eyes, nose, and throat stung so much tears kept streaming down, but for the final finish, Eun-Ho raised his fist.

“Petrify.”

Whack! Smack! Thud!

He smashed the severed ends over and over again, crushing the soft, regenerating tissue before it could grow back.

Sticky fluid sprayed out, coating his arms and torso. However, thanks to the enhancement he made earlier, only his shirt began to dissolve slowly.

He did not stop—he couldn’t stop.

Then, the system message appeared.

[You have defeated the Drosera, a delicate yet deadly predator of the jungle!]

Yes! I did it!

[Congratulations!]

[You are the first in Sector 13 to defeat a Flora-Class predator within its native territory.]

[Thanks to the first kill and the classroom effect activated, your Basic Swordsmanship (Lv.2) proficiency is increasing rapidly.]

[+10%]

Besides, there was another system message that he preferred even more.

[Check your loot!]