SWNOVELXO Chapter 136 - Sekyung Walker (2)
Chapter 136. Sekyung Walker (2)
The second integrated quest for the 50th batch ended in just four days.
Only four days.
Compared to the previous quests like the Forest of Beginnings quest and the Leather Gathering quest, it was a remarkably short time.
Yet, countless events had occurred in those four days.
For some, it was a source of frustration.
For others, it brought about a mental shift.
And for some others, it brought joy.
Amidst all of this, one thing became clear from this quest.
That was the undeniable presence of Yuri among the 50th batch.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Yuri practically dominated this quest.
Most people only focused on his martial prowess.
However, a select few who understood how Yuri planned and maneuvered through the scenarios were wary of his strategies.
While most of the 50th batch were flustered by Yuri’s unexpectedly overwhelming presence,
there were only two who were bewildered by his surprising actions.
“Really… is this really for us?”
“Hu… Hungry?!”
Arin and Poppy widened their eyes at the sight of the 250,000 points that Yuri handed them.
In truth, they hadn’t done much in this quest, so even if Yuri had taken all the points, they would have had no complaints.
Yet, Yuri handed them 250,000 points, saying it was their share.
And it wasn’t just a shared amount—each of them received it individually.
The two of them froze in disbelief at this unexpected turn of events.
Arin quickly regained her senses and asked urgently.
“W-We didn’t do anything this time, though?”
“Hungry?”
“Is it really okay to take this? You’re not going to make us pay it back tenfold later, are you?!”
Seeing the distrust and suspicion in their eyes, Yuri responded bluntly.
“It’s a bribe.”
“…A bribe?”
“It’s a bribe so you don’t betray me later.”
Leaving those words behind, Yuri turned around and quickly walked away.
“……”
“……”
Arin and Poppy alternated their gaze between Yuri’s retreating figure and the pouches of points in their hands.
After a moment, Arin tilted her head and muttered softly.
“Wasn’t he just embarrassed?”
“Hungry.”
Poppy nodded without hesitation.
Seeing that she wasn’t the only one who felt that way, Arin folded her arms and asked.
“Does this really feel like a bribe to you?”
“Hungry.”
Poppy shook his head without any hesitation.
From what they understood, wealth held more value than personal relationships for Yuri.
Could it be that Yuri, who held such values, had shared his wealth with them?
‘This might be… a sign that he trusts us, even if just a little.’
A bribe not to betray him.
However, Arin and Poppy felt that these points were more likely a symbol of Yuri’s trust in them.
With that thought, the two of them smiled warmly and rubbed their noses with their index fingers.
“That guy… is kinda cute, isn’t he?”
“Hungry.”
They thought to themselves.
This time, they received 500,000 points out of the 3 million, which was 16.6% of his trust.
Next time, they hoped to earn even more trust.
“Yuri, wait up!”
“Hungry!”
The two of them eagerly ran after Yuri.
Five days had passed since the second integrated quest.
And Yuri and his friends had returned to their usual routine.
Of course, there wasn’t anything particularly special about their routine.
Yuri resumed the basic construction of the fort that he had only completed the framework for.
Arin and Poppy, spurred on by his constant nagging, were also involved in the basic construction work.
And Yuri and Theresia had begun sparring again.
Their daily life hadn’t changed much.
But if there was one small change, it was that Arin and Poppy had also started participating in the sparring sessions between Yuri and Theresia.
Kagwang-!
A sharp spear tip slammed into a massive shield, creating a loud explosion.
At the same time, the spear shaft, which seemed like it could snap at any moment, wobbled for a brief instant.
Kagagang!
The spear blade scraped against the curved surface of the shield, producing a strange sound along with sparks.
The spear, which veered to the left, aimed at the presence behind the shield, but the shield itself was no pushover.
Kang—woong!
The shield, which quickly shifted to the side, struck the spear shaft, and then, with a tremendous force, surged forward like a gale.
As the gigantic metal shield, nearly as tall as herself, charged towards her, Theresia felt momentarily overwhelmed, as if a wall were closing in on her.
She quickly performed a maneuver to evade in place and instead dove into the shield’s right side.
However, the shield was already blocking Theresia’s path again.
Theresia gritted her teeth at this.
‘The power, the destructive force… But above all, it’s too fast!’
Poppy, the young monk from the Yum clan, affectionately nicknamed “Poppy.”
Seeing his massive physique and the matching enormous shield, one might assume his movements would be slow, but that was a grave mistake.
The immense power with which he handled the enormous metal shield as if it were a feather pillow meant his speed was not slow at all.
His muscle elasticity and agility were far beyond the ordinary, even if it wasn’t immediately apparent due to his superhuman strength.
But those who actually faced Poppy would find themselves overwhelmed not only by his strength but also by his swiftness.
‘And on top of that, he’s not lacking in technical skill, either.’
Despite his young age, Poppy handled the colossal shield with remarkable proficiency.
‘He’s intentionally using a series of small, continuous movements.’
No matter how much strength and speed one had, a shield with a broad surface area would suffer significant air resistance when making large movements.
This inevitably created openings.
Having faced setbacks due to this several times, Poppy had minimized his shield movements to the bare minimum.
Small yet swift successive movements.
When combined with Poppy’s explosive strength and speed…
Anyone facing Poppy might feel as if the shield was tracking them.
Even Theresia, considered the fastest among the 49th batch, felt that way.
‘He’s exactly my counter.’
A massive shield that her strength couldn’t pierce.
And a steel barrier that always appeared a step ahead, reading her attack paths, was an almost unbeatable opponent for Theresia, who prized speed.
And this realization fueled her fighting spirit.
‘Yuri has… overcome that steel barrier.’
He had already surpassed that fast, massive barrier and aimed his sword at Poppy’s neck.
Having witnessed this once, Theresia was convinced.
‘If my speed can outpace the movements of the steel barrier, then this matchup will completely turn in my favor.’
For now, her movements were blocked by the steel barrier, rendering her powerless.
But if she could somehow overcome that barrier, Poppy would be left defenseless.
This meant that their so-called natural enemy relationship would be completely reversed.
**Creak-.**
Theresia clenched her spear tightly, her eyes shining.
At the same time, a small smile spread across her lips.
‘Nice.’
A few days ago, Yuri, Arin, and Poppy began sparring together.
Theresia, who had not had the chance to face off against spears and shields since entering the cradle, set aside her pride as a senior and asked to join their sparring.
It turned out to be the best decision.
Theresia shouted toward Poppy.
“Here I come again!”
“Hungry!”
Theresia charged at Poppy, who snorted.
*Clang!*
As the spear and shield clashed once more,
not far from there, two people stood facing each other at a distance of about 20 meters.
Yuri stood still.
Arin aimed her bow at him.
Arin shouted nervously.
“I’m really… going to shoot?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? You won’t regret it?”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
“Oh, just shoot already! If you hit me, I’ll make dinner with only the dishes you like!”
“…Since you’re putting it that way.”
With a reluctant look on her face, Arin released the arrow.
*Swish-.*
The arrow shot through the air, aiming for Yuri’s chest.
However, despite its fierce speed, the arrow merely sliced through the empty space.
Yuri had effortlessly dodged the arrow.
Arin’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
She moved her hand quickly.
*Swish- Swish-.*
Two more arrows followed in rapid succession.
Yuri dodged them just as easily and reviewed the trajectory of the arrows that had flown past.
‘The speed is certainly fast, but if I predict the direction beforehand, it’s not impossible to dodge.’
It didn’t even take a second for Arin’s arrows to cross the 20-meter distance.
But since he could read the direction of the arrowhead from the start, dodging was easy.
Yuri took a step forward and shouted.
“What’s this? Is that all you’ve got? I could dodge these with my eyes closed!”
And Yuri actually closed his eyes, dodging the arrows as they flew toward him.
A feat made possible by knowing the trajectory in advance.
Arin’s brow furrowed at his taunt.
“That…!”
Yuri, who had been gradually moving forward, was now only 15 meters away.
As an archer, it was humiliating for the enemy to dodge arrows while closing the distance.
Moreover, Yuri hadn’t even drawn his sword.
Arin decided to repay the humiliation.
She quickly nocked two arrows on her bow.
They flew simultaneously toward Yuri.
*Swish-.*
The two arrows flew faster and more fiercely.
Yuri, observing the arrows flying in a seemingly ordinary trajectory, suddenly widened his eyes.
‘What?!’
The arrows, which had been flying closely together, suddenly split apart.
They moved like snakes, weaving unpredictably along different paths.
*Swish-.*
The arrows narrowly missed Yuri, grazing his right thigh and left ear.
Yuri, having barely managed to avoid the arrows, felt a chill run down his spine.
‘If I had moved in any further… it would have been really dangerous.’
The arrows Arin shot felt more dangerous than the traps of the 7-star level institutions Yuri had encountered.
Even though she was 15 meters away.
‘If I want to get closer, I’ll need to draw my sword.’
But Yuri didn’t want to do that.
He believed that closing the distance without drawing his sword would push him to grow even more.
While Yuri was thinking this,
Arin shot another arrow, which flew in an unpredictable, intricate trajectory.
Yuri watched carefully, moving his body to dodge.
*Swish Swish Swish-.*
Three arrows skimmed past Yuri’s body.
More arrows followed in quick succession.
*Swoosh!*
Arin continued to pull her bowstring, starting to feel something was off.
‘This isn’t sparring; I’m just being used for Yuri’s training, aren’t I?’
Realizing this belatedly, she had already become a machine for shooting arrows.
Time passed as they continued.
Arin finally shouted in frustration.
“How much longer are we doing this?!”
“Just a bit more!”
“How much longer is ‘a bit’?”
“Let’s empty the quiver three more times.”
“You said three more times earlier, too!”
“Really? Then let’s do it five more times this time.”
“You little—!”
She couldn’t even remember how many times she had emptied the quiver.
She had fetched and shot back the arrows countless times.
Arin grimaced at her sore fingers.
‘Is he possessed by some training demon? He never knows when to stop once he starts!’
Since starting sparring with Yuri, Arin had lost count of the number of arrows she had shot once it reached the thousands.
She realized her skills were improving rapidly because of it, but it didn’t change the fact that it was exhausting and painful.
And she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.
“Hu… Hungry?”
“Not yet!”
Poppy, peeking out from behind his shield with a look that asked when this would end, sighed as he saw Theresia charging at him again, raising his shield.
Arin and Poppy suffered because of the two people who were obsessive to the point of near-madness about their training.
Their suffering continued until a voice called out from beyond the stockade.
“Helloooo!”
The clear, ringing voice of a woman halted the movements of the four people.
“A visitor?”
“Hungry?”
“Did someone actually come here?”
“Here?”
Since the basic structure of the fort had been completed, this was the first time something like this had happened.
Startled, Yuri, Theresia, and Arin leaped up the wooden posts.
They saw her then.
A tiny woman with white hair and red eyes standing near the massive stockade.
“Is anyone theeeeere… Oh?”
The woman, who had been shouting with her hands cupped around her mouth, saw Yuri appear on the stockade and waved her arms energetically with a bright smile.
“Yuri! I brought the information you requested!”