I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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“The Overlord Bahum. He considered himself the strongest being in existence.

He thought nothing in the world could defeat him.

Luke felt the same.

He followed only because he was told to, confident that he would win if it came down to a fight.

Coming here to capture Kim Il-sin’s woman was also what he desired.

Hanarin and Hazuki were the most beautiful people he had ever seen in his life.

He didn’t feel nervous at all when coming here.

He had heard that one of them was wielding a sword, but it didn’t matter to him.

All that was on Bahum’s mind was how to toy with the two.

And now, Bahum was witnessing hell.

Boom! Crash!

“R-run! Aaaah!”

“Please save me… please…”

In the dark night, the forest was filled with screams, shining brightly at the wrong time.

Flames shooting randomly from the ground were only targeting the members of the guard.

It felt as if the flames possessed a consciousness.

“Cough…”

“G-get away! I said get away! Aaaah…!”

“Ughhhhh.”

That wasn’t all.

There were sticky traps that immobilized the moment they touched, bombs spitting out fierce spiders, spears flying at invisible speeds, and nets that caused agonizing fainting upon contact.

With endlessly flying unknown weapons, the squad was helplessly swept away.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The most terrifying among them was a wooden doll wielding six swords.

The swords swung by the wooden doll were pure terror for the members.

There was no way to counter its swordsmanship.

Its speed was unbelievably fast, and it felt as if it had eyes in every direction, blocking every attack.

Even if they managed to land a hit, they couldn’t penetrate its sturdy gloves.

But attempting to bind it with nets or chains was futile; it would unleash flames and electricity from its swords, rendering their efforts useless, and the members could do nothing but be swept away.

[Don’t run! Just break through!]

But Bahum didn’t give up.

He thought if he could break through the defense, he could subdue them.

Leading the members, Bahum somehow reached Hazuki.

“Ugh…”

Not long after, he was painfully aware that he was mistaken.

Bahum, covered in wounds and drenched in blood, knelt before Hazuki.

He was gasping for breath as if about to collapse. In contrast, Hazuki remained unchanged.

The only difference was a bit of dust settling on her shoulder.

“Such a mess…”

But soon even that vanished.

‘…What is happening?’

Bahum couldn’t comprehend the situation.

He was sure he was pushing forward, yet at some point, he opened his eyes to find himself in this state.

All he could understand was that he had lost.

He had no idea how it happened, nor did he know the reason.

And that made Bahum even more afraid.

The unknown terror created by a tangible entity was unbearable for Bahum.

He dared not lift his head, staring blankly at the ground.

He was oblivious to the gaze of the members watching him.

All he wanted was to escape the object of fear right in front of him.

“I think this is enough. What do you think, sister?”

“Yeah! That’s enough!”

“Sounds good. Take care of the others and head back. Not a single one missing.”

With those words, Hanarin and Hazuki walked toward Ddil-ddil’s house.

Bahum stared blankly at their retreating figures, lost in thought.

Finally, after they had disappeared from view, he managed to rise.

“…Take care of your subordinates.”

Then he began gathering the fallen members according to Hazuki’s command.

In the process of moving the members, he realized there hadn’t been a single casualty in this battle.

‘…The level is different.’

It was a moment when the previously shattered resolve was completely crushed without a trace.

*

“I can’t imagine you reaching that point.”

“What…? What kind of nonsense-”

It was just as Luke was about to speak when he heard Kim Il-sin’s muttering.

“Overlord…! Hah!”

A battered member rushed in and collapsed in shock upon seeing the fallen Luke.

The member could hardly speak, alternately glancing between Kim Il-sin and Luke with a bewildered expression.

“Where are the women?”

Luke asked confidently, having not seen the member due to being on the ground.

“That is…”

“What are you doing? Spit it out!”

As Luke urged, the member squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.

“W-we failed!”

“What?”

“All the members sent on the mission are combat ineffective!”

Luke jolted up at the unbelievable news.

Only then did he notice the state of the member.

“Bahum. Bahum is!”

“…He has been defeated.”

Thud.

The barely lifted body of Luke fell weakly back down. Hope had vanished.

“Are you finally coming to?”

Kim Il-sin, crouching beside Luke, asked. To Luke, that question sounded like a death sentence.

There was no longer any means to stop Kim Il-sin.

He could no longer fight, and even if he did, he couldn’t win.

His plan to create hostages to coerce Kim Il-sin had also been brutally shattered.

‘What do I do? Am I going to die like this?’

He couldn’t even move his body, making any form of rebellion impossible.

His life and death now depended on Kim Il-sin. Just one stab with a sword would be the end.

Realizing this, Luke’s complexion turned pale.

He was engulfed in a feeling of fear never experienced before.

“P-please—”

In that moment, he was about to beg for his life, having abandoned his pride.

“Shall we be going now?”

Kim Il-sin stood up from his seat.

Calmly adjusting his attire while leaving Luke with that blank expression.

“Starting today, the plundering of food and forced labor will cease. Announce it first thing tomorrow morning. We have plenty of food, so it’s fine. If we run low, you can dig and eat. No need to build more buildings.”

The one-sided demands didn’t stop there.

“And don’t meddle in what I do. Just stay put right here. It’s spacious enough. Go play tag or something. The deadline’s at my discretion. Got it?”

Luke couldn’t respond easily.

Then, after finishing his outfit adjustment, Kim Il-sin leaned forward to bring his face into Luke’s view.

“Got it? I’m asking you.”

Forced to respond to his insistence, Luke could only nod.

“If you break your word, you know what will happen. I’m leaving.”

After Kim Il-sin departed, Luke trembled with the incoming wave of shame and self-loathing.

*

The reason he didn’t kill Luke was to clear the quest.

The quest clear condition was to present the citizens of the walled city with complete liberation from fear.

Killing all the overlords alone wouldn’t fully achieve that.

It wouldn’t be a result of his own struggle.

To clear the quest, the citizens had to overcome two fears.

One was the overlords who oppressed them, and the other was the outside world.

If he killed the overlords now, the first element would suddenly vanish, making it difficult to achieve complete liberation.

So he chose to only show his power and issue a warning.

‘With this much done, things should settle for a while.’

Kim Il-sin knew that Luke absolutely wouldn’t give up.

‘He’s probably checking by now.’

The quest message he received was likely different from the one that had gone to Luke.

The content he remembered would be like this.

[Maintain the fear percentage of the citizens of the walled city at over 70% for one week.]

[Clear Reward: Death of Kim Il-sin, dimensional choice move ticket.]

This was an element to adjust the difficulty.

The walled city was an area that could only be accessed in the story’s later stages by using a divine mirror.

Thus, to restrain player-generated chaos, such measures were necessary.

No matter how strong the players became, they had to spare the overlords to clear the quest.

But if Luke, motivated by a powerful reason from the quest, continued his disruptive tactics, the difficulty would inevitably rise.

The conditions for Luke’s quest clearance were the type that could be achieved without directly fighting the players.

The players could not check the fear percentage of the citizens, so if things went wrong, they could die without understanding why.

But Kim Il-sin was relaxed. That too was merely a device to achieve the quest.

[Present complete liberation from fear to the citizens of the walled city.]

[Progress: 2%]

The progress, which had only been 0.2%, rose significantly.

It would be difficult for the citizens to notice what had happened in the castle, so Hanarin and Hazuki had likely done well.

‘With this, the first step is complete.’

He was thinking of moving on to the next step starting tomorrow.

For that, he needed to first secure Ddil-ddil.

‘I hope he isn’t sleeping?’

There were still many processes that required attention, but it was well worth the effort.

If he could perfectly clear this quest, the reward would be ‘Divine Status.’”