I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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“Oh dear… what should I do now…?”

Hwang Deok-su stomped his feet anxiously, peering into the main workshop.

The sight of Hanarin at the controls, working busily, looked incredibly precarious.

It had already been an hour since Hanarin entered the main workshop to start her work.

For that long, she had maintained extreme concentration while in a state of mana exhaustion.

It was a wonder that she hadn’t collapsed yet.

‘If she does collapse, that would be fortunate…’

That in itself was a hopeful assumption.

There was a possibility of becoming incapacitated or, in severe cases, even losing her life.

“I can’t just rush in and stop her…”

Though every fiber of his being urged him to burst through the door and save her, doing so would immediately disrupt the mana flow, causing chaos.

It would be fortunate if the project merely failed. He couldn’t predict what would happen if he intervened at this unprepared state.

Perhaps it could lead to the accumulated energy exploding all at once.

‘If I say something, it might break her concentration, so I can’t even speak…’

Thus, all Hwang Deok-su could do was watch anxiously over Hanarin.

“Do you have any idea how things are going?”

Without taking his eyes off Hanarin, Hwang Deok-su asked the chief researcher of the Mountain Range Workshop beside him, who pondered before answering.

“Only Hanarin herself would know for sure, but… from what I can see, it seems to be progressing as planned.”

“Is that so… then how much longer until completion?”

At Hwang Deok-su’s question, the chief researcher took a brief glance at the monitor connected to the main workshop.

“It seems to be about 90% complete.”

“Hmm, 90%…”

Hwang Deok-su let out a deep sigh filled with worry at the chief researcher’s response.

From just the numbers alone, it looked like completion was just around the corner.

However, the tasks still to be performed were far more complex and dangerous than what had been done so far.

“Dividing the gathered energy into multiple branches, refracting it to change its properties while mixing them… Do you think that’s possible?”

“Theoretically, it’s possible.”

“Just ‘possible,’ huh? Then what are the chances of success?”

“…I cannot tell.”

“You can’t tell?”

“Yes, because I am not Hanarin. If I were there, I’d probably be on the verge of collapse right now.”

The chief researcher admitted calmly his own limitations.

A genius who had surpassed a certain level allowed no room for jealousy.

“If it weren’t for Hanarin, I would have said it was impossible. She possesses talents as a blacksmith that surpass anyone else.”

“…Right. She has always been that way.”

The talent that the blacksmiths of Jangsan Cave prized the most was not handiness or creativity, but rather an unwavering persistence.

No matter how excellent other talents may be, without the tenacity to devote oneself to achieving the desired result, one could never become the best blacksmith.

In that sense, Hanarin had perfected her talent from a young age.

Hwang Deok-su recognized that fact, which is why he had allowed her to begin her work.

If he had kept her from doing it completely, she would have surely found another way to push through.

He thought that perhaps seeing it right in front of him would ease his heart, but it was quite the opposite.

Hwang Deok-su was breathless from the fierce pounding of his heart.

“…It’s about to begin.”

The chief researcher said after swallowing nervously.

They were nearing the most critical stage in the magic tool creation process.

“Huuh…”

Without a word, Hwang Deok-su only watched Hanarin’s back.

As Hanarin continued with the operation, her hands visibly sped up, and she eventually pulled a massive lever that had never been touched before.

Kuuung! Whoooom!

An unsettling mechanical noise rang out as the building began to tremble violently.

But on the surface, that was the only change.

“So, is it going well…?”

It was the moment Hwang Deok-su, momentarily distracted, asked that question.

Wiiiiiiiiiinnn—!!

The machinery’s noise intensified dramatically, reaching levels unbearable without cupping his ears.

“Whoa!”

Along with the intensified vibrations, Hwang Deok-su lost his balance and fell.

“This is dangerous…!”

The chief researcher was too focused on the monitor to care about Hwang Deok-su’s state.

The soaring internal temperature and fluctuating numbers hinted at an impending disaster.

Having made a decision, the chief researcher shouted urgently.

“There’s a mana overload! We need to evacuate immediately!”

A mana overload was a phenomenon where excessive mana caused distortions in the flow within a confined space, which posed extreme danger as distortions also affected the body of anyone carrying mana.

“What, what did you say…?”

There was no time to process an answer.

The chief researcher hoisted Hwang Deok-su over his shoulder and rushed toward the entrance of the Mountain Range Workshop.

Kugung!

As they exited, another tremor shook the ground before the mana overload began.

Now, nobody holding mana could enter that space.

“What about Hanarin…!”

“Since she doesn’t currently have mana in her body, she should be able to endure. However… how long she can hold out is uncertain.”

“Ugh…”

Hwang Deok-su, sitting on the floor, recalled the last moment he saw Hanarin.

She remained completely unmoved even though a mana overload was about to occur.

Perhaps even the occurrence of the mana overload was part of her plan.

‘If it comes to this, even if he comes, he’ll be powerless to do anything…’

No matter how capable Kim Il-sin was, he couldn’t enter an area where a mana overload was happening.

Even if he wanted to go in and save her, the process of safely extracting the mana from his body would take at least several dozen minutes.

And by the time that was done, the situation would already be over.

“Don’t go in there!”

At that moment, Hwang Deok-su turned his head at the desperate cries of the researchers.

Someone was rushing towards the entrance of the Mountain Range Workshop.

“Stop! It’s dangerous!”

Without a moment to spare, the person entered inside, and even from just a brief glance at their back, Hwang Deok-su recognized them as Kim Il-sin.

He didn’t know why, but he felt a bit relieved.

With a serious expression, Hwang Deok-su murmured as he stared at the entrance.

“Please….”

*

Clack.

Hanarin gritted her teeth as she manipulated the device. Completion was just around the corner.

Over an hour had passed since she started the work.

It had long been since her vision began to flicker erratically, and now her mind was starting to blur.

Hanarin suppressed the symptoms indicating danger with her mental strength as she continued her work.

‘My hands…’

However, her trembling hands refused to cooperate.

Even though she had taken medication to stabilize her muscles in preparation for this, it was all in vain.

This tremor was caused not by her body but by her mind.

Since the moment she began crafting, Hanarin had been plagued by a fear rooted in death.

A fear that could not be shaken off no matter how hard she tried.

As the work peaked, that fear reached a boiling point.

‘I’m not going to stop.’

There had been countless moments when she wished to give in to that fear.

If it were the old Hanarin, she would have surely given up.

But the current Hanarin could not stop.

As she had said before, this work was not for Kim Il-sin, but for herself.

‘No matter what I say, he will never stop…’

On the way back from the Jangsan Cave after finishing their work, Hanarin had asked Kim Il-sin:

– Why did you go off on your own back there? I’m glad you won, but what if you had gotten hurt?

At Hanarin’s concerned question, Kim Il-sin fell silent for a moment before he answered.

– Because that was the most efficient way.

– Huh…? Efficient?

– The gate was about to break. Going in to fight was the way to minimize damage. I was confident I could win.

Though he had answered quite clearly, Hanarin’s confusion only deepened.

Ordinary people typically prioritize their own lives when faced with danger.

Even if they were confident in victory, choosing to confront such a massive enemy alone without hesitation was incomprehensible to Hanarin.

Kim Il-sin had not considered his own safety in that process of decision-making.

He hadn’t done so even after that.

Whenever danger arose, Kim Il-sin always charged forward, completely excluding his safety from consideration.

Time and again he had faced death yet didn’t back down.

‘Did he… feel this kind of fear too?’

When he walked into peril and faced death’s threat, did he experience the same fear?

If he continued to advance regardless of repeating such fears, what could be the reason?

‘…Why do you do that? What’s the motive behind it all?’

Hanarin felt a contradictory emotion of curiosity mixed with an unwillingness to know that secret.

If she were to learn his secret, she feared she would no longer be able to suppress her long-held desires, which would mean the end of this stable relationship.

A relationship where they shared warm moments as friends, spending time together daily.

Hanarin didn’t want to lose that, but now she didn’t truly understand it anymore.

Was she satisfied with their relationship thus far, or was she simply afraid of making another choice?

‘I don’t know…’

With her mind cluttered and unable to organize her thoughts, Hanarin moved forward.

She had succeeded in separating and refracting the energy, and now it was time for the property transformation.

This was a task where Hanarin had to personally contact and handle the energy mass, not through a gauge.

“Huu…”

Hanarin staggered her way toward the luminous orb in the center.

Streams of various-colored lights flowed within a clear spherical barrier.

Blink.

At that moment, her vision flickered, and her feet seemed to lift off the ground.

‘This isn’t good…’

Though her mind thought that, she couldn’t resist the overwhelming mana.

In the end, Hanarin tightly shut her eyes, bracing for the impending pain.

Poof.

However, what she felt next was not the hard ground, but a warm touch.

“…Hang in there.”

As she heard a familiar voice, energy flowed into her from the touch of the connected hand.

Feeling the dense mana retreat in an instant, Hanarin gently opened her eyes.

“Wha… why are you here…?”

“That’s my line.”

Before her was Kim Il-sin, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.