Chapter 13 – You Have a Skill Too? (1)

-Roarrrrr!

The orc bellowed.

It could’ve been a short growl and not a bellow. But to me, it sounded like a long echo. 50 seconds! In that time of about 1 minute, the sound of the orc rang in my ear.

“Ke, uk…!”

It was a head-splitting pain.

-Hey. Focus.

Bae Hu-ryeong was ever the same in that slowed down time.

-Don’t get scared by something like an orc! Orcs are just ridiculously strong, their attack patterns are simple. If you can tell where they’ll attack, you can easily avoid them and fight back. It’s a fucking piece of cake.

“That’s easier…said…than done!”

-He’s coming.

The orc swung his club around. No, he was swinging it. It slowly but surely approached my head. If I stayed still, my head would explode.

“Sh, it!”

I jumped to the side with all my strength. But my body didn’t follow my command.

‘I’m slower!’

Just one step. I could avoid the attack with just one step, but that one step was too slow. I felt frustrated. I was so frustrated I felt like crying. I could avoid it! I even knew where it would attack!

-You can avoid it. Don’t give up.

Bae Hu-ryeong spoke in a low voice.

-Focus your Aura on your feet. Amplify your senses! Like the flow in your heart is being sent to you right foot, quick!

Damn.

‘He’s a ghost but his mouth is blabbering like it’s alive!’

For the first time in my life, I felt what Aura was. How would I focus this on my leg? It was really easier said than done. But…there was no other way. I had to do something. Even if I wasn’t scared of dying, I didn’t want my head to fall off because of the orc’s club!

‘Move!’

The flow in my heart. It felt cool and clean, like a flowing stream. I focused on that cool feeling and tried to send it down to my right leg.

Squirm.

The Aura in my heart twitched with my efforts but-

-It’s harder than you think, huh?

It was hard.

-It’s because there’s no pathway for Aura in your body yet. The path hasn’t been made! Your body can be compared to a mountain road. You need to clear it like a highway to be able to use it.

“Hup…!”

I continued to focus on my right leg while Bae Hu-ryeong babbled on. If my heart was a blocked sink, my right leg was like a cup under it. Drip. Drip. Aura slowly dripped off of the broken sink.

-You’re able to feel it because you ate the elixir. Under normal circumstances, it’s impossible. Tsk. That lady’s cleanliness is disgusting but her skills are definite.

The club whooshed close by me. I could feel the wind when it went by. The wind collided with my skin and dispersed. 1 second. No, if I was late by 0.5 seconds, my body would’ve been destroyed by that club.

“W, What…”

Relief only lasted for a moment.

“Happens…?”

The orc grunted. He probably didn’t like this. The fact that a weak looking prey like me had dared to escape his attack. He immediately raised his club again.

This time, it was a horizontal attack to break my back.

There wasn’t any time to rest.

I focused my Aura on my upper body.

-Hm? What happens what?

“If…make…a mountain path…into a highway…!”

It was hard. The sink in my heart was still clogged up. I didn’t see water flowing from it anytime too. I was thirsty, but it was only releasing one drop at a time.

‘I don’t want to admit it but Bae Hu-ryeong is right.’

A mountain path without anything around it.

It was a perfect metaphor that described me.

So I was curious.

If I could leave this level.

If I could escape.

“After…what…happens!”

-He.

He smirked.

-You. When grandpops Marcus killed you, your neck was cut without even a chance to fight back, right?

Yes.

I remembered the view of the night sky and the crescent moon.

Bae Hu-ryeong’s words dug into my brain.

-You can think of that as a clean street.

“…”

A clean street.

That beautiful attack was just. Was just a clean street.

-Even grandpops Marcus has a long way to go. And you, let’s not even talk about you. Zombie. I’m not nagging you because my personality is like trash, it’s because you’re worth being nagged. Heehee.

I clenched my teeth.

-Mm?

Obstinance grew inside me.

“Hup…!”

I bent over. Whoosh! The orc’s club swung into the air above my back. It was close. I barely avoided the second attack after the first one. And I didn’t plan on letting it get in another attack.

-What?

I gathered strength in my knees.

-Look at you.

I focused my Aura on my feet. Not just focus it, but bend it. 5 seconds. 3 seconds. 1 second. It was messy, but when Aura gathered at my feet, I jumped up with all my strength.

I lifted my sword.

The target was the orc’s Adam’s apple!

-Gwo?

He looked down at me confusedly. I saw my reflection in his eyes, and the sword that was in my hands. My sword became bigger in his eyes. In an instant, my sword cut his throat and the orc’s face crumpled in pain.

-Kraaaaaa!

Until the evening sky. In the large hunting ground, a scream rang out.

When I thought it was finished.

-Don’t let your defenses down until the end!

Bae Hu-ryeong shouted.

-The skin of an orc’s skin is tough! Fix your Aura on your blade! No, that’s probably too hard. Just hit it like your smashing it!

And so I did.

The orc’s scream became more violent. I squeezed out every drop of Aura in my heart that I could and used it to smash my sword down. Every time I brought it down, the monster’s scream became more pained.

-Kwo, ga…krrrr…!

Blood splattered everywhere. The blood of the orc covered my face in slow motion. I didn’t avoid it. I didn’t even blink. It was to save every last bit of Aura for the sword.

“Di, e…!”

In a short moment.

I felt the sword pierce the orc’s skin all the way to the opposite side.

-Grrrrr…rr…

He stumbled.

Even the time that he stumbled was long. He slowly fell backwards. I didn’t let go of my sword, so when the monster fell, I fell with him.

“Hu…k, uk…! Hup…!”

I panted looking at the orc’s corpse.

It wasn’t just the tired breathing.

A moment later, my entire body became pained. The world spun. It really felt my entire body was going to rip apart.

“Uuk…?!”

-Does it hurt? It hurts, right? Yup. It’ll fucking hurt.

Bae Hu-ryeong smirked at me while flying around me.

-Since you used your Aura when your pathway wasn’t cleared yet. There’s no way your weak body could take it! Sucks to be you.

“Y, You….”

-Ah. But it was nice seeing you bending your Aura at the end. Good job. I’ll compliment you. You have to be creative when you use Aura. A lot of people are misled, but the smarter you are the better you fight.

I wasn’t curious about those things right now.

“Hee, huk…keuk…!”

This pain!

A pain like my bones were being crushed and my veins were exploding. My only interest was how to quiet this feeling. Usually, it would pass with time, but because my time was extended, that wasn’t an option. It just hurt. It still hurt.

I felt like I was going to die.

-Does it hurt like you’re going to die?

“Can’t you…see…”

-Then you’ll feel better if you really die.

What?

-People who force their Aura usually become half disabled. This can’t be fixed with potions. So right now, you just made yourself disabled to catch an orc.

“W, What…”

-I told you, Zombie. If you didn’t have the regressing skill I shouldn’t have suggested this kind of training. Grandpops Marcus eats elixirs too but he trains by himself. He doesn’t stupidly attack monsters like you.

This ghost bastard?

-But you return even if you die. It’s the freaking best! Even with extreme training, your body is fine. Wow, I’m jealous. How nice would it have been if I had a regressing skill like you!

Wow.

How could he be so spiteful?

Did this guy have a passive skill like [Son of a Bitch] or [Impudent Manner]? That would explain his trashy personality.

-Zombie. But if you kill yourself, your kill count increases again.

“And…so?”

-There’s no need to raise your kill count from here. And it’s dangerous if you get caught by grandpops Marcus.

A worrisome sound came from behind. It was something I heard before not too long ago. I looked back, and my bad feeling was right. A monster that looked like the orc that just fell was drooling behind me.

“Da…mn.”

The monster was the same but my condition wasn’t the same. As Bae Hu-ryeong said, my body was half disabled now. Even lifting a finger was painful.

-It’s ok! There’s a lot of players who can’t understand Aura their entire lives, and you somewhat got it just by taking the elixir. If this keeps up, 100 deaths should be more than enough. Step by step.

Bae Hu-ryeong sniggered.

-Let’s go Zombie! 1 death coming up!

At the same time, the orc’s club started to come down. Slowly. Targeting my head. Looking at the club right in front of my nose, I opened my mouth.

“…Shit.”

Have you ever felt your nose break, and then feel your brain explode into two right after that?

You probably haven’t. That’s a relief. Because it’s really not a good feeling.

If there was a silver lining, it was probably that I heard the voice right after my brain exploded.

[You have died.]

My world returned to normal.

To be precise, my sense of time returned.

‘Whew…’

A pitch black area.

The space where I stayed until my next regression.

In the place that I was somewhat used to…someone that I didn’t like was floating around.

-Hm?

Bae Hu-ryeong.

-Dang. What’s this?

‘…Somewhere I stay after dying. I picked my skill cards here when I was killed my Flame Emperor and Sword Saint. Well, I’m calling it Nether World for now.’

-Fucking cool.

Bae Hu-ryeong spun around the dark space.

-But Zombie. Why am I here?

‘Why would I know? It’s probably because you’re on me now.”

I sighed.

‘If we wait like this, I’ll regress with a voice that tells me I’ll return to 24 hours before. Oh right. I’m curious if you also…’

It was the moment I was going to say I was curious if he would regress with me.

[The skill condition has been achieved due to death.]

[The monster orc’s skill is being randomly copied.]

‘…Huh?’

-What?

Bae Hu-ryeong and I stopped at the same time. We both turned to look at each other. Bae Hu-ryeong looked baffled, and my face probably had a similar expression.

[Skill cards are being created.]

Two bronze colored skills popped out from the darkness.

I stupidly mumbled to myself looking at them.

‘…Monsters had skills too?’

And Bae Hu-ryeong shouted.

-What is this? It’s a fucking cheat skill!