“Really? Thanks, Yuda.”
There wasn’t much to be thankful for, but Yuda smiled instead of replying. Truth is, he was too exhausted to even speak. Does this little girl even know? Kain will have countless beauties clinging to him in the future.
Unlike the game, since this place… seems real, it’s unknown whether Kain will focus on one woman or look at them all, and while it’s a bit sad that Riel doesn’t know this situation, her devotion to Kain stays steady even into adulthood, so she might just win him over if she plays it right.
“What’s that? Your expression’s weird. What’s wrong?”
Pretty sharp for a kid. Yuda let out a small laugh.
“It’s nothing.”
He changed the subject. At his tired voice, Riel just tilted her head, not pressing further.
He turned his head back and looked up at the sky. As the sun set, a stunning evening glow spread out. The red light reflecting off the clouds was so beautiful. He felt like falling asleep.
The cool breeze blowing gently cooled the sticky sweat on his body. If he stayed like this, he’d fall asleep. Mentally and physically, he was utterly exhausted. A deep sleep might make things a bit better.
And so, irresponsibly, he lay in the training ground and fell asleep. When his fading consciousness returned, Yuda stared blankly at the sky. The glow had deepened, and darkness was creeping in from the opposite side. Some time seemed to have passed.
‘That was a sweet sleep.’
It was a truly sweet sleep. But his body still felt sluggish, as if craving more rest. Plus, he felt a slight chill. It wasn’t that cold, but spending the night outdoors like this might just get him sick if he was unlucky. Groaning with a “Ugh,” he sat up, and Riel was sound asleep too, her face buried in her knees.
Wait, what the heck is Kain doing that he still hasn’t come back?
Come to think of it, he’d heard Kaseun wasn’t around. That’s why they’d come to the training ground and dueled secretly.
At least tell the butler and let them rest at the house. Kain’s probably waiting until Kaseun gets back. Who knows when he’ll return—how long are they supposed to wait here?
“Phew.”
Sighing, he stood up. His bones and muscles seemed to scream in protest.
“Ugh—”
It hurts—he wanted to lie down and rest soon. As he thought that, he saw Kain running toward him from afar.
“Yuda! Grandpa said it’s fine to sleep over!”
“Come on faster… Riel, wake up. Kain’s here.”
Yuda woke the sleeping Riel. Hearing her name, Riel jolted her head up, looked around, then yawned and nodded as if grasping the situation.
With tired faces, they went to Kaseun. Riel returned home with the butler, while Yuda and Kain stayed behind to get scolded. Kaseun explained why he hadn’t let them duel earlier, asking what they would’ve done if they got hurt doing it behind his back. It was more of a lecture, but in their exhausted state, it barely sank in.
Answering with a tired face and blinking eyes, Yuda made Kaseun sigh. And from now on, they had to promise to duel only with his permission and under his watch. It wasn’t a bad deal.
After all, they got permission in the end.
From now on, he could duel with Kain as much as he wanted.
Spending the night at the mansion, he ate breakfast with Kaseun and discussed future plans. Since they’d duel together, from now on, he’d train with Kain in the mornings.
Simply put, it meant having them face off against each other. There was a clear gap in swordsmanship between him and Kain, but Yuda followed without a word of complaint.
Being able to duel under his supervision was what mattered most.
But Kaseun wouldn’t give advice on dueling results unless asked or absolutely necessary. It seemed he wanted them to grow through the experience of defeat and victory alone.
His skills improved day by day. He learned more from Kaseun, and beyond simple repetitive training, explanations of pointers and experiences increased too.
But there was a downside.
He started bonding with Kain little by little. He knew they’d become enemies someday.
But sharing meals, training, and clashing swords in duels made growing close natural. At first, that fact scared him.
Not clashing swords with wooden ones like now, or for the sake of dueling.
Later, they might clash with real swords, striking with intent to kill—that terrified him. Knowing that future would come someday, he’d even thought he shouldn’t get more attached. But was that ever something he could control?
It wasn’t easy. In the end, he pushed it off to later.
He’d think about that when the time came.
As time passed bit by bit, Yuda confided a secret to Kaseun.
He didn’t want to tell anyone until he left Serenia if possible, but struggling with solo training left him no choice but to ask Kaseun for help.
He told Kaseun about 〈Shadow Swordsmanship〉 and sought advice.
Of course, he didn’t say “Shadow Swordsmanship” outright. But Kaseun, who’d roamed the continent and held the platinum badge, was shocked seeing parts of Yuda’s techniques. He realized what Yuda used was a unique skill of the fallen kingdom’s knights, the Black Lions.
Now, nearly a hundred years after its fall, most don’t even know that kingdom’s name, but those who do, know it well. Kaseun was one of them.
He asked how Yuda learned it and who else knew.
For the first, he said he couldn’t remember; for the second, he said only Kaseun knew.
Kaseun shut his mouth. He probably recalled, belatedly, that Yuda had lost his memory. The moment he heard Yuda’s parents were killed, Kaseun rushed to their house, but the temple had already taken Yuda. The blood-soaked house was guarded by the lord’s soldiers. The bodies were left abandoned inside. Thinking it couldn’t stay like that, Kaseun first went to the mercenary guild to demand accountability, then visited Serenia’s lord, declared himself Yuda’s guardian, and filed the papers.
And finally, he went to the temple to find Yuda. Back then, an old priest, a former paladin, said Yuda seemed to have lost fragments of his memory. He’d vaguely recognized Kaseun, but since he’d lived fine afterward, it slipped Kaseun’s mind entirely.
Kaseun asked if he knew anything else.
He was asking about the existence of sorcery, not just Shadow Swordsmanship. Yuda shook his head. He hid the existence of sorcery for now. At that, Kaseun let out a big sigh and spoke as if truly regretful.
He said without sorcery, the swordsmanship was only half-complete. But as a swordsmanship used by the fallen kingdom’s knights, the Black Lions, he rated it above average techniques. And he shared what he knew about Yuda’s shadow swordsmanship, even correcting his stances bit by bit. It seemed Kaseun had faced shadow swordsmanship while roaming the continent.
Kaseun’s advice was helpful. Thanks to it, his stagnant shadow swordsmanship proficiency suddenly rose noticeably fast. Proficiency, which hadn’t budged from 1/10 in nearly a year of solo training, jumped to 2/10 in just two months.
Because of the shadow swordsmanship, his training schedule with Kain changed a bit.
Going to Kaseun daily except weekends shifted to every other day, and training with Kain split apart like before.
Dueling was set for Fridays.
With training every other day, he had much more free time.
When he asked Kaseun what to do with the downtime, he said it’s good to have leisure time. He definitely agreed, but even with free time, there wasn’t much to enjoy.
He wasn’t close with kids his age, so he couldn’t play even if he wanted to. There was even less to do alone. It was only natural. In this world, magic had advanced greatly, so conveniences like refrigerators, gas stoves, and water purifiers were highly developed, but entertainment devices like computers, TVs, or smartphones didn’t exist. Thus, the most popular pastime here was chess, and beyond that, just simple physical games.
At least in a place like Serenia, where the lord was enlightened, there was a public library—something unheard of in more backward regions. The problem was, he had already read every book there. Some of the fun ones he could go through two or three times, but he didn’t want to spend his days holed up rereading things he’d already finished.
He wished for something more stimulating. Sitting still brought back thoughts of his original world. With just a computer in the corner of his room, he could do anything. He could make games, chat with people, watch funny shows, and laugh. One call, and delicious food would be delivered to his door.
Thinking of food led to a sudden realization—he was glad to be in this world. Maybe because he’d stuffed taverns and inns with all sorts of food for players to rest at, this world had widespread spices and diverse vegetables. Merchants’ trade ranges were vast, so you could eat decent food almost anywhere.
Pizza, tangsuyuk (fried sweet-and-sour pork), fried chicken, jjajangmyeon.
These iconic dishes were available here too. For kimchi, you could get it on the second continent. Adding modern food to taverns, inns, and restaurants in each village to make them feel authentic was a stroke of genius.
Because of that, the vague urge to return to his original world faded a little. But he still longed to see his parents and meet his friends. He missed using a computer, feeling the breeze from a fan, and lying lazily in bed. Sometimes, those desires brought a sharp sadness, but whenever it became overwhelming, a player trait kicked in, forcing his mind to calm.
“Ha…”
Ending the day with those thoughts, Yuda lay in bed earlier than usual, let out a deep sigh, and closed another day.
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
***Author’s notes***
If I suddenly stop posting without a word, there’s only one reason.
Either I’m dead, or I’ve got health issues and am hospitalized.
In the latter case, a notice would go up, but the former—who knows?
