Chapter 638: Invited Sloth

There wasn’t a single breeze in the clearing, yet fierce gusts suddenly began sweeping through it without pause.

Whoooosh—!

Hair and clothing whipped violently in the wind.

The power sealed within had been unleashed by nothing more than drawing the blade ever so slightly.

Keeping my eyes fixed on the sacred relic, I asked Go Hyeon-woo,

“So what does it say to do now?”

“It says I must grasp it with my own hand.”

“Well, that just got a lot harder.”

Han So-mi tilted her head in confusion.

She mimed reaching out with her hand and asked,

“Can’t you just use Telekinetic Retrieval again? Like, whoosh!”

“I already tried. It doesn’t work.”

Then again, a sword capable of releasing that much power would naturally be able to resist outside interference.

Which meant there was only one option: walk up to it and take hold of it physically.

Go Hyeon-woo soon set his jaw with determination.

“Then I’ll go. Please watch over me.”

With that, he began walking toward the sacred relic.

Calmly, one step… then another….

At first, nothing happened beyond the relentless gale.

But the moment Go Hyeon-woo crossed a certain distance—

Whoooosh—!

The swirling winds gathered around the relic, gradually taking on a distinct shape.

It resembled a swordsman holding a single blade at his side.

Its facial features were invisible, yet somehow it seemed to be glaring straight at us in warning.

Come any closer, and I’ll cut you down.

“.…..!”

Go Hyeon-woo’s expression grew even more resolute as he continued forward.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the wind-forged swordsman scattered into nothingness.

That was when the real trial began.

Craaaaashhh—!

Sword qi erupted from the storm.

Go Hyeon-woo instantly swung his own sword to meet it, knocking the attack aside.

But the sword qi came relentlessly, without a single moment’s pause.

Whoooooosh—!

Go Hyeon-woo continuously unleashed technique after technique in response, and for the moment, he seemed to be barely holding the barrage at bay.

But his feet have stopped moving.

In fact, he was slowly being pushed backward.

The recoil generated every time his sword collided with the incoming sword qi was forcing him back.

Whoooooooooosh—!

Even so, the sacred relic continued firing sword qi without the slightest mercy.

Unable to just stand by any longer, Han So-mi drew her sword and started forward.

“I’ll help!”

“You can’t.”

I immediately grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Glancing anxiously at Go Hyeon-woo, Han So-mi turned to me.

“Why not?”

“You know this is a matter of his sect. Just being allowed to watch is already an exception of exceptions. If you interfere, you’re completely crossing the line.”

“…You’re right.”

“And besides, in a solo challenge, interfering usually makes things worse.”

The trial could become significantly more difficult or even be canceled altogether.

For that matter, “interfering” didn’t just mean helping block the sword qi. It also included providing buffs like using [Amplification] to raise his rank or casting [Sylphid Armor] on him.

From beginning to end, this was something Go Hyeon-woo had to overcome with his own strength alone.

I tried to reassure Han So-mi.

“Let’s just watch. Whatever the outcome is.”

“…Mhmm.”

Whoooooooosh—!

Meanwhile, Go Hyeon-woo remained fully occupied fending off the relentless storm and barrage of sword qi.

He searched for openings and advanced one step at a time, but each time he did, another blast of sword qi struck him, driving him back. Then he’d inch forward again, only to be pushed back once more.

After repeating that cycle without making any real progress, Go Hyeon-woo suddenly froze, as though something had occurred to him.

“…….!”

Then he slowly retreated, making his way back to where we were.

The sacred relic also stopped launching sword qi, apparently because the challenger was no longer within its effective range.

That fit with what we’d already seen. Nothing had happened to either Han So-mi or me the entire time.

During the brief respite, Go Hyeon-woo retrieved the sword he’d been wielding…

…and put it away in his inventory.

A question mark practically appeared over Han So-mi’s head.

“Huh? Why’d you put your sword away?”

“I believe… the correct answer is not to use one.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I think you’re right.”

“Huh? Why? How?”

“If you want to fill your hands with something new, you have to empty them first. I’m going to claim the Blood Wind, aren’t I? But if I’m already carrying another sword in my hand? There’s no way that’s going to leave a good impression.”

“To put it another way, it’d be like going to propose to Dang Gyu-young while carrying Seo Ye-in on your back and holding Hong Yeon-hwa’s hand.”

Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi exchanged a glance.

Then they both looked at me and spoke at the same time.

“But by that analogy, Kim hyung… aren’t you already walking the path of heresy?”

“You’re basically a total womanizer. A hopeless womanizer.”

Naturally, I remained as shamelessly confident as ever.

“I can pull it off, so I do. If you’ve got the confidence, you’re welcome to try it too.”

“…That may be beyond my current ability. I’ll try it without a sword.”

With a wry smile that suggested there was no helping it, Go Hyeon-woo turned back around.

Then he once again started walking toward the sacred relic.

Fwooooooosh—!

The moment he entered its effective range, sword qi came surging toward him once more.

This time, however, the onslaught seemed noticeably less fierce than before.

As expected, putting his sword away had been the correct answer.

That doesn’t mean it’s become easy, though.

After all, he now had to redirect sword qi with his bare hands.

Fortunately, Go Hyeon-woo had experienced something similar during his Hardship Challenge quest.

Calmly assuming a sword stance, he executed his techniques as though he were holding an invisible blade.

Fwooooooosh—!

Deflecting and dispersing the incoming sword qi, Go Hyeon-woo continued advancing.

Earlier, he’d been stuck in place no matter what he did.

Now, however, he was steadily if only little by little closing the distance to his goal.

Watching from the sidelines, Han So-mi’s face lit up with anticipation.

“Is it working? Is it working? Is he gonna make it? Can he do it?”

“Too soon to tell.”

The sacred relic was estimated to be at least S+ rank.

There was no chance a challenge to obtain a sword like that would continue playing by the same rules.

Sure enough, once Go Hyeon-woo had covered roughly a third of the distance—

Fwooooooosh—!!

The power of the sword qi increased dramatically.

Not only that, but its trajectory began to bend in strange, unnatural ways, a clear sign that something about the attacks had fundamentally changed.

The difficulty had just multiplied severalfold.

“…….!”

Go Hyeon-woo’s expression hardened, but he continued executing sword techniques with his hand as though it were a blade.

He was still managing to neutralize the sword qi.

The problem was that his feet had stopped moving again.

Just like at the beginning of the trial, he found himself making no real progress.

As anxiety gradually crept across Go Hyeon-woo’s face—

He got greedy.

He took a step forward when he should have been executing a technique.

And that single mistake led to a devastating result.

Boooom—!

The sword qi struck him head-on, blasting him backward.

He staggered and barely managed to regain his footing, but in the end, he failed to stay upright and dropped to one knee.

“Urgh…!”

“Go Hyeon-woo!”

Han So-mi immediately drew her sword and rushed toward him.

I followed right behind, already preparing to send Sylphid and the Dark Cloud—

– ……

But the Blood Wind Sword (not really) had, as if by magic, completely ceased its assault.

Eventually, the small portion of the blade that had been drawn slowly slipped back into its scabbard.

The clearing, which had moments ago been raging like the heart of a typhoon, returned to complete stillness.

“So… you failed.”

The challenger was effectively no longer able to fight, and on top of that, Han So-mi and I who were both outsiders had stepped in.

Go Hyeon-woo gave a wry smile and nodded.

“I expected as much from the beginning. No one fills their stomach with the first spoonful.”

For now, he had only just barely met the minimum qualifications required to attempt the challenge.

If he truly wanted to earn ownership of the sacred relic, he would have to become far stronger than he was now.

Still, even if he understood that logically, disappointment lingered in his heart.

Go Hyeon-woo stared at the sacred relic with a conflicted expression.

“Cough.”

He let out a quiet cough, then wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

The sword qi from earlier had evidently left him with serious internal injuries.

I spoke up.

“Let’s heal you first.”

[Activated ‘Enchantment.’]

[‘Retro Recovery’ has been granted to the target.]

The next instant, Go Hyeon-woo was completely restored.

With a faint smile, he bowed his head.

“Thank you, Kim hyung.”

“Let’s call it here for today. You can try again later.”

“I can still continue now.”

“No. You should leave at least three days between attempts.”

The cooldown for [Enchantment] was twenty minutes.

But [Retro Recovery] had a cooldown of three full days, and that cooldown was tracked separately for each person it was granted to.

If he got injured again before then, there would be nothing I could do for him.

Waiting was the wiser choice.

I gave Go Hyeon-woo a light scolding.

“Three days is already short. If you’d gone to the infirmary, you’d probably have been out for at least a week.”

“That’s a fair point. I would have needed time to recuperate as well.”

“And besides, throwing yourself at it again right away isn’t going to solve anything.”

“…….”

Repeated attempts might let him accumulate experience.

But when the gap in ability was still this large, all he’d accomplish was failing over and over again.

I pulled the Challenge Book out of my inventory.

“Don’t rush it. For now, focus on getting stronger.”

“…I shall.”

Go Hyeon-woo slowly nodded.

Standing beside him, Han So-mi clenched her fist and declared,

“I’ll help!”

With her full support behind him!

***

While the sword-wielding couple set their sights on a second attempt, I spent an eventful week of my own.

Bong Jae-young quickly caught up with the curriculum and I gave her another round of homework while I continued sparring and ranking work with Seo Ye-in.

Then, around the weekend.

The cooldown on [Invitation] expired.

I was originally supposed to wait another two or three weeks.

When I’d used it on Father-in-law and Mother-in-law No. 3, it had been under a hefty forty-day cooldown.

Then, the moment I used [Time Share], [Deja Vu] activated and cut it down to around sixteen days.

After the semester started, I had a little more breathing room, so I used [Time Share] again.

[Activated ‘Deja Vu’.]

[Activated ‘Time Share’.]

I’d beaten those slim odds not just once, but twice.

Is it because Seo Ye-in is next?

Had her absurd luck rubbed off on me?

I suddenly turned to Seo Ye-in in the middle of our sparring and accused her.

“Why do you keep cheating?”

“…? I’m not.”

“You can deny it all you want. I know the truth.”

“I’m innocent.”

Of course, there was nothing to complain about if the cooldown had come back sooner than expected.

I brought up the invitation with Seo Ye-in.

“I’ve got another ticket to Kim Ho Land.”

“…Kim Ho Land.”

“Want to go in?”

“Let’s go.”

For once, her gray eyes brimmed with enthusiasm.

She didn’t say it outright, but she’d clearly been looking forward to this.

She’d given up the first opportunity to Dang Gyu-young, the second had unexpectedly gone to Elder Moyong, and after that, I’d left for the Ruby Magic Tower.

“All right, I’ll use it now.”

As I activated the skill, a notification appeared.

[Activated ‘Invitation’.]

[Cooldown: 6 days, 23:59:58]

Seo Ye-in also looked up at the empty air. Presumably, she was seeing the following message.

[You have received the Monarch’s Invitation.]

[Will you accept the invitation?]

[Accept / Decline]

Having gone through several invitations by now, I’d accumulated enough data to offer a bit of guidance.

“When you go in, there’ll be some ridiculously strong seniors waiting for you.”

“Strong seniors.”

“It’ll probably be one-on-one tutoring. Just follow their instructions, and pay close attention to whatever they show you.”

“Okay.”

***

Not long after entering the inner world, Seo Ye-in tilted her head.

“……?”

Just as Kim Ho had said, the vast arena was filled with overwhelmingly powerful seniors.

And the two who stepped forward to greet her were…

…One-on-one tutoring?