SWNOVELXO Chapter 107
Chapter 107
“Sword, huh.”
Seeing the notification, Ahn Suho couldn’t help but smile.
Of all the possible weapons, it had to be a sword.
“This will end quickly.”
He thought it was a fortunate turn of events.
In the Library of Martial Arts, he would have to fight Mokuzan, who had mastered all kinds of martial arts, but with the first round being swords, he could end it faster than anyone.
With that thought, Suho reached out his hand.
[ Blood Weapon is activated. ]
As the skill activated, a blood-red sword appeared in Suho’s grip.
Mokuzan did the same.
In Mokuzan’s hand, a steel sword appeared, and he stared at Suho for a moment before suddenly charging at him like a raging bull.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each step seemed as if it would bring the library walls crashing down.
Yet, Suho didn’t avoid the charging figure; he simply stood there, watching.
Then, just as Mokuzan brandished his sword like a horn to strike, Suho swung his sword in an instant.
Swish!
The blood sword sliced through the air.
And it collided with Mokuzan’s sword.
Slice!
Amazingly, Mokuzan’s sword was severed in two as the entire blade split in half.
– …….
Mokuzan, suddenly weaponless, froze for a moment.
It seemed even Mokuzan hadn’t experienced this kind of situation before.
Maybe that’s why…
[ The Library Guardian has acknowledged his defeat. ]
[ The Gate has been conquered. ]
[ The MVP of the Gate Conquest is ‘Ahn Suho’. ]
[ Additional experience points are awarded for MVP selection. ]
[ One bonus stat is provided for MVP selection. ]
[ Your level has increased. ]
[ All stats have increased by 1. ]
[ You have gained 1 bonus stat. ]
Surprisingly, the Library Guardian admitted his defeat, allowing the Gate to be conquered.
Seeing the flood of system notifications, Suho dispelled his Blood Weapon and spoke.
“Martial artists really are different.”
Perhaps because the whole concept of the Library was to test the challenger’s abilities, Mokuzan acknowledged his defeat without resistance.
Suho found that quite satisfying.
Most other Gates had boss monsters that were crazed killers, obsessed with murder.
Right after the Gate was conquered, Mokuzan trembled briefly before freezing in place like a stone statue.
Suho approached him to get a closer look as he walked toward the library.
“Solid.”
Touching the figure, he could feel the unique weight of steel.
The broken sword blade was the same.
But for such a sturdy steel blade to be split in two meant Suho’s blood sword was even stronger.
“Didn’t even use a skill… Guess this really counts as pure physical prowess.”
Of course.
Even the Martial King, Goo Taeksoo, had lost to him in pure swordsmanship.
With a nod of satisfaction, Suho moved toward the library.
The Library of Martial Arts was filled with countless martial arts manuals.
When Suho reached out to examine them, a system notification appeared before his eyes.
[ Welcome to the Library of Martial Arts. ]
[ Having defeated the Library Guardian, you are granted one piece of knowledge from the Library of Martial Arts. ]
Just as Goo Taeksoo had said.
The Library of Martial Arts granted knowledge equal to the challenger’s achievements, and in this case, knowledge meant skills.
Soon, several choices appeared before Suho.
[ Swordsmanship ]
[ Footwork ]
[ Miscellaneous Techniques ]
Looking at the choices, Suho chuckled as he saw the last one.
“Miscellaneous Techniques, huh.”
He knew what swordsmanship and footwork were.
But “Miscellaneous Techniques?”
Miscellaneous Techniques referred to skills outside of martial arts and footwork, though they weren’t necessarily inferior.
They were simply categorized that way.
Thus, Suho didn’t underestimate them.
In fact, he was already aware of all the skills he could acquire from the Library of Martial Arts.
If anything, that was why he planned to select Miscellaneous Techniques.
As Suho raised his finger and selected “Miscellaneous Techniques,” the moment arrived.
[ You have selected Miscellaneous Techniques. ]
[ You have acquired the ‘Acupoint Strike (B)’. ]
With the system notification, he acquired the skill ‘Acupoint Strike.’
Suho’s lips curled into a smile as he read the alert.
“Finally learned Acupoint Strike.”
Acupoint Strike was a technique that targeted specific pressure points in the human body to produce special effects.
Hence, it was categorized as a Miscellaneous Technique.
Acupoint Strike wasn’t martial arts or footwork.
Suho checked the details of the Acupoint Strike he had obtained.
[ Acupoint Strike ]
– Grade: B
# A mystical acupoint technique from the Martial World.
# The user of Acupoint Strike can see the main acupoints in the human body, and when accurately stimulated, each acupoint triggers a special effect.
A simple description.
The Acupoint Strike he acquired was precisely the one Suho knew.
Therefore, he was pleased.
It was understandable since Acupoint Strike, though a common technique in martial arts novels, had only been mastered by a handful of people in the modern world, even as the Cataclysm reached its later stages.
“Supply creates demand, after all.”
Just as he closed the information window…
Flash!
As Suho acquired a portion of the Library’s knowledge, the entire library began to glow before the light condensed into a single form.
The gathered light floated before Suho and slowly materialized into a scroll.
[ You have obtained the Library Scroll (S). ]
An S-grade item.
Suho checked the information on the Library Scroll.
[ Library Scroll ]
– Grade: S
# A scroll containing the Library of Martial Arts.
# Passed down only to those who defeat the Library Guardian.
# On the day of the full moon, the challenger can once again enter the Library of Martial Arts.
“Exactly as Goo Taeksoo mentioned.”
The Library Guardian shared attributes with the Sword Emperor.
It fought with weapons designated by the Library, and if it lost, it acknowledged the challenger’s eligibility and handed over a manual.
However, unlike the Sword Emperor, who had only one item to pass on, the Library of Martial Arts had an abundance of treasures for the challenger.
That was ultimately why Goo Taeksoo had been able to rise as the Martial King, thanks to this Library Scroll.
“A full moon… So that means I can enter every time there’s a full moon.”
Although the Acupoint Strike was impressive, Suho knew there were still many things he needed to obtain from the Library of Martial Arts.
Among those were various skills, including footwork and other techniques like Acupoint Strike, but what he coveted the most was the Library’s ultimate treasure—the final secret manual.
“Well, should I head out now?”
With his prize in hand, Suho exited the Gate.
***
Outside the Gate.
Members of the detection team were nervously waiting in front of the Library of Martial Arts Gate for Suho to return.
Though it was supposed to be a safe Gate, Suho had suddenly been taken, which left them understandably anxious.
Especially for Jung Chulmin, who felt utterly miserable.
“This is driving me crazy… really….”
He could understand the Iron Valley incident.
He had gone in with Suho himself.
And they’d planned to make a quick exit if anything happened.
But this situation was different—far too different.
This Gate had no available data… no expected risks… and yet an unpredictable variable had activated within it.
No wonder he was on the verge of panic.
“If something really happened to Mr. Suho….”
Oh no.
The thought alone was terrifying.
So, all Jung Chulmin could do was offer prayers to a god he usually didn’t even believe in.
Faith in Suho?
Of course, he had it.
But no matter how much faith he had, the worry wouldn’t go away.
Then it happened.
“Hey, hey!”
“The Gate Line! The Gate Line is collapsing!”
“No way?!”
People gasped in shock.
At those words, Jung Chulmin reacted like lightning.
And seeing the Gate Line slowly disappear filled him with dread.
“Could it be?”
In that instant, someone emerged from within the Gate.
It was Suho.
He strolled out of the Gate with a relaxed expression, as if he’d just been out for a casual walk.
“Oh, everyone’s gathered here.”
“Mr. Suho!”
People rushed forward.
Among them, Jung Chulmin was the first to reach Suho.
“Do you know how worried I was? What on earth happened?”
Suho gave an awkward smile in response to Jung Chulmin’s heartfelt concern.
“Well… it seems there was a sudden surge of mana, which caused this to happen. Thankfully, the Gate itself wasn’t too challenging, so I managed to get out safely.”
“Oh… thank goodness… really, thank goodness….”
“You must have been very worried. Haha… I’m sorry.”
“Worried? I was extremely worried. Really… I’m still shaking.”
Seeing the genuine relief on Jung Chulmin’s face, Suho felt a twinge of guilt.
Even though he had approached this Gate knowing exactly what it was, watching Jung Chulmin’s evident distress made him feel a little guilty.
Suho scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.
“But I came out safely, didn’t I? Um… so, what does this mean for my field evaluation?”
“Does that really matter right now? The important thing is that you’re safe, Mr. Suho.”
“Well, that’s true….”
But a test is a test, right?
After that, Suho insisted on retaking the evaluation at another Gate, and of course, he achieved a perfect score again.
***
“So, it’s finally time for the Special Department.”
After passing the evaluation at another Gate, Suho returned home early.
Now, the only department left for training was the Special Department.
Naturally, he wasn’t too concerned about the assessment there.
After all, the Special Department was the place most favorable to him.
Upon arriving home, Suho quietly opened his status window.
[ Ahn Suho ]
– Lv : 75
– Class : Healer
– Traits : ＜New Blood＞ ＜Candidate for Heracles＞
– Strength (R) : 99
– Stamina (R) : 37
– Mana (R) : 37
– Perception (R) : 37
– Bonus Stat : 2
Level 75.
With 99 Strength in the Red Grade and 2 bonus stats.
All of it was gained from the Library of Martial Arts.
Suho hadn’t allocated the stats on purpose.
He wanted to fully savor the moment when his stat rank would rise to Orange Grade.
So, he allocated one of his bonus stats to Strength.
[ Your Strength Stat has reached 100. ]
[ Your Strength Stat is further enhanced. ]
[ Congratulations! Your Strength Stat level has increased and reached Orange Grade! ]
The Red Grade stat advanced to Orange Grade.
Simultaneously, the stat count reset from 100 to 1, and the red border changed to orange.
Next to it, the letter ‘R’ representing the Red Grade was replaced with the letter ‘O,’ symbolizing the Orange Grade.
Seeing the notification, Suho gave a chuckle of disbelief.
He felt this way when he first obtained the Red Grade stat too, but the growth rate was simply ridiculous.
“Not even a one-star yet, and already at the Orange Grade….”
At this rate, he felt confident he wouldn’t lose to anyone in this lifetime.
“Maybe I’ll even be able to tackle the first Disaster-grade Gate on my own.”
He was confident.
After all, he’d already cleared one Gate before.
How much harder could a second attempt be?
It only required some additional preparation for a solo conquest.
Suho invested his remaining bonus stat into Mana and closed the status window.
Then it happened.
Bzzzz.
The phone vibrated.
Seeing the caller ID, Suho stood up.
It was a call from Pi Seongyeol.