Became a Swordsman Genius in a Pretty Girl Game - Chapter 352



352. Operator (1)

Late at night.

I took Pisoyun to the Utopia Branch No. 2 with my master.

“Bring only the essentials. The rest will be disposed of by the academy. All traces you left in the world will disappear.”

“Yes, I’ll be right back.”

After sending her off to pack her things, saying she would go to the Demon Extermination Squad right away.

I had a moment alone with my master in front of the building.

“Master.”

“Hmm?”

“Here.”

I opened the subspace tattoo and handed my master a black book.

“……What is this? Attribute Bullet?”

My master frowned as he looked at the black book in his hand.

“It’s confidential, but it’s the result we obtained from the Demon Gate this time. It’s a skill book that allows you to spread attribute bullets as a barrage.”

“……”

Ah, is the term ‘skill book’ unfamiliar to you?

No, this expression is…

‘Hmm, I didn’t contribute to your strategy at all, so why are you giving me such a precious thing?’

That’s the look on his face.

I chuckled.

‘He’s still so rigid in this aspect.’

My master knows that thanks to him, I gained the scam-level trait called ‘Fate’ this time.

And he must have realized right after hearing my explanation that no one in our party particularly suits this skill book.

Yet he still feels burdened to receive something like this.

‘Hmm, the most effective method at times like this is…’

Hostage, of course.

Why a hostage all of a sudden?

I suddenly hugged my master tightly and met his eyes.

Then my master gasped and turned his gaze away.

“Master. Are you really not going to accept this?”

“Disciple… Someone might see—”

The master’s eyes darted around in confusion.

“There’s no one watching right now. You already know that. And even if they were, what does it matter? Our relationship was already revealed on the broadcast, wasn’t it?”

“Even so─”

“If you want me to let go, please accept it quickly.”

“······Disciple. As I said─”

“If you don’t accept this, I might be in real trouble at the next Demon Gate.”

Yes, taking a hostage.

That hostage was me.

It was my safety.

And as expected, when I said that, the master’s body froze as if time had stopped.

Flinch.

So cute.

“······Real trouble?”

“Yes, I need your help for the next Demon Gate strategy.”

“······Understood. But still─”

“Yes, of course, if I ask, you would help me without any compensation. And I trust your skills. It might not matter whether you learn this or not.”

“······.”

“But if you learn this, I’ll be safer.”

From noble mtl dot com

“You’ll be… safer?”

“Yes.”

I nodded and emphasized again.

Then, the master let out a short sigh and nodded.

“······Understood. I’ll learn it. Now let go.”

“As expected of my master.”

I smiled and let go of the master.

Then, with a slightly regretful expression, the master opened the demon’s skill book with an ambiguous face.

Fwoosh─

The demon’s skill book shone brightly.

It scattered into white crystals and was absorbed into the master’s body.

The master closed his eyes for a moment, organizing his newfound understanding.

Saaa─

In an instant, a chilling cold swirled around.

Ice crystals began to form in the air.

A fantastical scene, as if pure white snow had frozen in midair.

‘…Wow.’

Creak─

But soon, the ice crystals absorbed the surrounding moisture and grew in size.

They transformed into sharp octahedral shards.

Then,

The ice shards began to move according to the master’s will.

Whirr─!

Ice crystals freely roamed the air.

‘I thought it would just end with shooting them out, but like this…?’

Watching the sword dance, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

‘…Huh? This is similar to the skill I saw from Swordmaster before?’

The Swordmaster’s skill, which condensed energy into the shape of a sword and filled the area with sword energy.

Thousand-Hand Sword Form (千手劍形).

The master’s newly awakened ability through elemental energy had a similar aspect.

Of course, the form of the sword energy was different.

Because the swordsmanship they used was different.

And instead of a sword made by condensing energy like the Swordmaster, it was ice crystals.

‘Actually, this might be more efficient. Condensing energy into a form… Honestly, unless you have as much mana as the Swordmaster, it’s impossible to attempt.’

And probably, if you get cut by those ice shards, it might even inflict a freezing status effect.

After about a minute,

The ice crystals vaporized and disappeared.

“…Tsk, still lacking in proficiency, the duration is short, but definitely… Not bad.”

Ha.

I let out a hollow laugh at those words.

‘Truly a genius.’

This person is my master.

My master always said that he had no choice but to choose the sword, unlike me, who had exceptional talent.

He shows humility, but in my opinion, the true genius is my master.

‘I had an early cheat. I used my knowledge of the game to get a few steps ahead of others and grow to this level.’

However, my master had already stepped into the realm of a quasi-transcendent before meeting me.

Perhaps the luckiest thing that happened to me in this world was meeting Baek Seol-hee and having him as my master.

At that moment, my master turned to me and spoke.

“Disciple.”

“Yes?”

“Consider this as an advance payment.”

Even though he had achieved new accomplishments, I liked that he still said such rigid things.

I nodded with a bright smile.

“Of course! No matter how busy you are, you must come with me to the next Demon Realm Gate.”

“Hmm.”

Yes, the next Demon Realm Gate definitely requires my master’s help.

Why?

Because.

‘It’s a double gate.’

A double dungeon-type gate where another gate is created inside the gate.

At that time, the party splits into two.

So, in the original game, you had to form a main party and a sub-party to enter together.

But, that sub-party was… well…

‘After looking around the sub-party today and seeing Pi So-yoon, I’m sure.’

Unless they grow a bit more.

If we form a sub-party with Pi So-yoon’s current level and push them into the Demon Realm Gate, they will 100% die.

But.

If my master takes charge of one of them and we split the party into 4/4?

No need to say more.

I can confidently shout ‘All in!’ without even showing my hand.

No matter what anyone says,

My master is one of the people I trust the most.

* * *

Drip. Drip. Drop.

In the dark room, bright red blood spreads over the paper densely filled with letters.

“…Ah, blood.”

Shin Se-hee pulled out a tissue and pinched her nose.

She had been intensely studying strategy and tactics lately.

In front of her, holographic images of Utopia party members floated, displaying detailed information such as their abilities, attack patterns, skills, traits, and personalities.

If even one of these were to leak out, the whole world would be in an uproar.

“Sigh…”

Shin Se-hee let out a low sigh as she scanned the information with her eyes.

Despite hardly attending classes anymore, she still maintained top ranks in the academy based solely on her exam scores.

Even so, she couldn’t help but be amazed every time she saw Jin Yu-ha’s tactics.

On one wall, a battle video of Utopia was playing.

“…Truly, you’re a genius.”

The most important thing in party tactics is to adjust the flow so that their areas do not overlap.

“You have to consider everyone’s skills, timing, and movements.”

That’s why the six-person system, which is easy to organize without overlapping areas, had become common sense in this era.

“Yet, Jin Yu-ha broke away from that norm and perfected a seven-person system.”

When the number increases from six to seven, the difficulty of command increases exponentially.

You might think, “Just one more person, how much harder could it be?”

But as the mana waves emitted by each person overlap, efficiency plummets.

This is why parties are not composed of tens or thousands of people as a single unit.

Of course, in special situations like the first Demon World Gate or the US-UK-Africa alliance, they might use hundreds of people despite the inefficiency…

But Jin Yu-ha adjusted the timing and movements perfectly.

He rotated smoothly without a single moment of error.

Even after running simulations hundreds and thousands of times, there is no strategy better than the one Jin Yu-ha came up with.

“Jin Yu-ha came up with this solution instantly and commanded it in an unpredictable, unfamiliar situation.”

Really, even though it was overwhelming to follow Jin Yuha, I never thought it was hopeless.

This time, honestly, I have no confidence.

I’m scared.

I’m afraid.

With just one command, the lives of the party members could be lost in vain.

If the first defeat of Utopia happens because of my inadequate command…

Shin Se-hee shook her head, shaking off the negative thoughts in her mind.

‘Still, I have to do it.’

I heard that Jin Yuha couldn’t fully exert all his abilities as a dealer in battle.

Especially, to use the newly learned technique ‘Mua’, it was necessary to separate the command authority.

It was absurd that he couldn’t fully exert all his abilities yet.

But, because of such a reasonable reason, Jin Yuha trusted me and handed over the command baton.

Then, it is only right for me to live up to that trust.

‘As expected, theory alone is not enough. I have to try commanding in actual combat.’

Shin Se-hee’s eyes sank heavily.