Chapter 8 - Just… (1)

In an instant, Han Taemin vanished.

"What?"

The next moment, he reappeared behind Shin Gillim. Reflexively turning, Shin Gillim reinforced his arm. As he swung his sword with increased strength, a deafening noise erupted.

Thump.

The blades slid and crossed with a paper-thin margin, nullifying Shin Gillim's strike. Han Taemin moved forward, focusing his mind.

From now on, every action had to be careful.

Even if the outcome seemed predetermined, a single cut could end it all, and he couldn't let his guard down.

"You bastard."

Shin Gillim, irritated, spat out as he thrust his sword at the approaching opponent. The idea of a scavenger standing up to a hunter was absurd. A scavenger who hadn't awakened was just an ordinary person.

However, Han Taemin shattered that notion.

Even Shin Gillim, who had his sword aimed at him, couldn't understand. Somehow, his attacks kept missing their mark.

He could follow the movements with his eyes, yet his arms and legs didn't seem to cooperate with his mind. No matter where he aimed, he was always a beat too slow.

He couldn't pinpoint where this disparity originated, which made him increasingly anxious.

Shin Gillim steeled his wavering resolve with the Iron Will ability. His ability to positively enhance his strength and stamina had always been a reliable support in any situation.

"You've used something. I can't see it, but I can tell your actions have changed."

In the dark cave, Han Taemin's eyes met Shin Gillim's, sending a chill down his spine. Although he had hoped to turn the tables through sheer determination, the gap between them was now painfully clear.

Han Taemin's swordsmanship was almost divine, cutting through the overwhelming disadvantage with precision and finesse that was impossible to miss.

"Keu-ugh."

"You must have thought I was insignificant without an ability."

The cold voice reached him from a distance close enough to feel each other's breath.

"Well, I think the same about you. Even with an ability, you're a sorry sight. It's hard to think of you as anything but insignificant."

The two swords didn't stop. When one sword withdrew, the other would strike. A relentless cycle of attacks. The two swords moved in a continuous loop like a Möbius strip, pressuring Shin Gillim.

It was like a windmill, if anything. Shin Gillim raised his shield to block the blows to break the torrent of attacks.

Despite his superhuman strength, the heavy impact still reverberated through his forearm, bolstered by his stats.

"Is this how all hunters move? You'd think there would be a bit more freedom in their movements."

He was speechless when Han Taemin was using the sword like a blunt instrument, though wielding it.

Shin Gillim was at a beginner's level.

Abilities were merely talents to hunters that allowed them to earn money, akin to singing well or drawing well. Just that much.

There was no reason for them to be particularly attached to abilities they had suddenly received.

"I'll increase the speed."

Han Taemin ignored the protests of his body as it screamed in pain from the strenuous movements.

With a slight twist of his wrist, the swords spun smoothly like nunchucks. The successive strikes began with a precise, disciplined motion, on a completely different level from before.

In this place, there was no scavenger living off the leftovers of others. Instead, a knight was dancing on the edge of life and death.

"You bastard!"

Shin Gillim unleashed his ability with a roar, delivering a powerful blow. This burst of speed, once activated, was an uncontrollable, devastating strike that even he couldn't fully command.

Han Taemin couldn't see the strike. Even if he could, all he would perceive was a lingering afterimage, like a flash of light. Of course, not being able to see it didn't mean he couldn't avoid it.

"Don't you think that's too obvious?"

He evaded the attack by a hair's breadth and countered with his sword. The fluidity of his movements was seamless. Shin Gillim, unable to accept reality, blurted out whatever came to mind.

"What the hell is that ability?"

"This isn't an ability. It's something so fundamental that it doesn't even warrant a name."

Just as one doesn't name the acts of breathing or running, this was a technique so basic it wasn't even worth acknowledging. It was more of a natural body movement than a skill.

Reading an opponent's movements to anticipate the next attack was a basic combat logic that didn't need elaborate explanation.

"Well, you wouldn't understand."

Hunters were once ordinary people. If you overlooked the fact that they had essentially won a global lottery, they had no concept of undergoing rigorous training to reach higher levels.

Relying solely on physical abilities and recklessly using their abilities made hunters not much different from monsters.

"Shut up!"

Cornered, Shin Gillim lunged at Han Taemin with his whole body.

His leather armor, reinforced with metal plates at critical points, was incredibly thick. Moreover, it was made from monster materials, making it difficult for Han Taemin, who lacked mana, to penetrate.

"You're really no different from a beast."

Watching Shin Gillim charge at him like an enraged bull, Han Taemin laughed fearlessly. He had expected this. A beast without its fangs and claws was limited in what it could do.

Han Taemin shifted his center of gravity and deflected the sword, straining his muscles to their limit.

And then—

"Nice armor you've got."

He turned the tip of his vertically poised sword horizontally.

Click. The blade slipped between the metal plates. It fit perfectly, like a key in a lock, and Shin Gillim let out a groan. The perfectly timed strike was excruciatingly painful, cutting to the bone.

"Keu-ugh."

Shin Gillim quickly raised the shield in his other hand as his shoulders started to separate. But another sword blocked his attempt.

Face, neck, hands, ankles, behind the knees. Han Taemin, lowering his stance, swung his swords meticulously, avoiding the armored areas.

Just as a drizzle soaks clothes gradually, what started as a confident battle now left no room for laughter. He was being toyed with by someone he thought he could defeat easily.

And it was humiliating.

Blood gushed out when a sharp sword grazed his neck. Though not a fatal wound, he felt death inching closer.

"I-I'm dying? To a mere scavenger?"

With his life hanging by a thread, Shin Gillim unleashed his abilities wildly. He used all his remaining mana in a desperate gamble.

Stat Enhancement. Super Enhancement. Iron Will.

And Instant Acceleration.

"Hit him! Just hit him!"

His sword, filled with a sinister energy, flashed forward.

Even a hunter of the same rank would find it hard to dodge such a fierce attack. But Han Taemin closed his eyes.

He predicted every trajectory by sound alone and evaded with precision.

In disbelief at this extraordinary act, Shin Gillim swung his sword until he was exhausted. When a stray slash cut Han Taemin's side, he quickly bent his knees to escape the attack range.

A searing pain brought a groan to the tip of his throat.

It wasn't a mistake. His mind read the moves accurately, but his body was a step too slow in executing them.

The difference in physical abilities between the two was clear. Even with skill and technique, a scavenger could not match a hunter in a sword fight.

Their stamina was different.

No matter how much one trained, the human body made of flesh and blood had its limits. Some aspects couldn't be overcome by effort or willpower alone.

On the other hand, a hunter's stamina, enhanced by stat points, was as strong as the points invested. The effect was incomparable to regular training.

People always talk about one-in-a-million chances. Even a blindly shot arrow might hit the target if enough arrows are shot.

'If this drags on, I'll be in danger too.'

This fight was only possible because Shin Gillim was already exhausted. Though Han Taemin's skills were crude, the power within Shin Gillim was genuine.

Han Taemin crossed the swords in his hands in an X and focused. He forgot about their location in Raymara's Labyrinth and the fact that they were a hunter and a scavenger.

'I'll aim for the next exchange.'

Just before Shin Gillim unleashed his Instant Acceleration, Han Taemin moved a step ahead. He glared at the trajectory of the sword coming right at him.

Ignoring the blade grazing dangerously close above his head, he mustered every bit of strength remaining in his body.

There was an inevitable brief opening between one move and the next. Han Taemin squeezed into that gap.