From Today, I'm a Player

Chapter 205: Preparing for War Pt. 5

[Shuffle.]

Lee Jun-Kyeong heard the sound of a page turning in his head. However, before he could even register that sound, as he lifted up his hand, a flame gracefully bloomed within his palm.

Flicker.

As he raised his other hand, the flame in his hands began to swirl and increase in size.

Wooosh!

Both hands moved as if they were dancing as a whirlwind of flames lit up the night.

“Ahhh!!” Lee Jun-Kyeong suddenly started to shout as if he was flustered by something.

Merlin interjected, “Dispel!”

Flicker.

After she called out, only a small flame was left burning once again. Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Merlin and scratched his head. He had lost control of his powers. The spell he had used to create the wind had been successful, but the scale of it couldn’t be controlled. However, Merlin instead praised Lee Jun-Kyeong as if she had been rather surprised by his display.

“You…you really are impressive.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at Merlin with a puzzled face. Any spell that was impossible to control was a failure, even if it had been successfully cast.

However, Merlin responded to him, understanding his confusion, “This isn’t your fault, Mr. Lee.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s just that the system of mana that I taught you is incompatible with your mana in the first place. Instead, it seems that you’ve actually just exceeded the limits of the system I taught you.”

He didn’t quite understand it. “That's supposed to be a compliment, right?”

“Yes.”

It was only after Merlin answered firmly that Lee Jun-Kyeong finally relaxed his brow.

“I explained that there were two types of magic that Hunters use, right?”

It was a well-established truth.

“Yes, magic using skills and magic through systems of mana.”

[Shuffle.]

The former was a method of guaranteeing a fixed amount of power and success in casting by receiving a skill from a Sponsor. Most mage-type Hunters expressed their magic through skills, and any magic expressed through a skill was generally able to stably annihilate one’s enemies.

The latter was a method devised by a few genius Hunters.

“By learning the driving principle of a skill and replicating it according to the devised method is how the system of mana works.”

“That’s right.”

By studying a skill itself, one would understand the principle behind its power. At first glance, it could have seemed like a waste of time, but the merits of using a system of mana was clear.

Firstly, the power of any magic wasn’t fixed any longer. Depending on the system of mana created by the caster, the casted spell could have even greater power than the original skill.

Of course, while there were still limitations in any created system of mana, the system of mana could be much more efficient because an enemy would be attacking with a power completely different to what would be expected…

Secondly, a system of mana wasn’t a skill given by a Sponsor.

That was why any Hunter with magic should, in theory, be able to learn it. However, the reality was different from the thoughts of the Hunters who created the foundation behind a system of mana. Because the method was so difficult to learn and required an excessive amount of talent, ordinary Hunters wouldn’t be able to comprehend the basis of the system of mana itself.

Still, because it was still possible to share spells among mage-type Hunters who could understand systems of mana, it wasn’t an entirely meaningless advantage.

Finally, it allowed for the usage of magic even in the presence of a skill that would suppress the activation of any other skills.

“The mana stream that you have, Lord Underdog, in my opinion, is no different than the basic principle that serves as a foundation for all mana.”

“...”

“It can also be said to be more advanced or perfect than any other method that Hunters have created so far.”

Because of the mana stream created by the Demon King, it seemed as though Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t have to understand a system of mana, as he had already acquired a higher level of knowledge contained within his body.

“The problem seems to lie in the fact that the system of mana I created itself is on a lower level than the mana stream.”

[Shuffle.]

Merlin's explanation may have been complicated, but the conclusion was simple.

“You’re saying the problem is that I’m too good?”

“…To be precise, it’s that the mana stream is too high a level, but…”

“Thank you."

Seeing Lee Jun-Kyeong's smirk, Merlin shook her head for a moment but then continued, “Most likely, within a few days, you’ll be able to learn the magic that you want. While the mana stream is impressive, you are also, in truth, impressive as well, Mr. Lee.”

“...”

“It’s almost like…” Merlin smiled broadly before she continued, “It’s like filling in letters in an empty notebook. If you’re a blank sheet of paper, Mr. Underdog, my system of mana would be letters. It almost feels like you shouldn’t have to understand it at all. Just write it down in order to use it.”

“...”

“Go to Arthur now,” Merlin said while pushing Lee Jun-Kyeong on the back. “It really seems like, just as you said, you’d be able to reach an acceptable level in both of what we have to teach you, Lord Underdog.”

At Merlin's urging, Lee Jun-Kyeong began to move his feet. As he was leaving, watching his back turn, Merlin wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

/p>

“Whew…”

This time, she wasn’t talking in her usual mysterious way..

“At this rate, I’m going to be wiped out…” she said in a manner of speech that was no different from that of an ordinary person. Merlin was that flustered. It was the first day that she had started teaching Lee Jun-Kyeong magic, and she could only feel one thing from him.

‘He’s an incomparable genius…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong was a monster beyond imagination.

***

[Shuffle.]

The constant sound of the pages of a book turning fluttered around his head, but even though he was clearly aware of it, Lee Jun-Kyeong didn’t care. Or, to be more correct, it seemed as though something was keeping him from being able to be bothered by it.

Swish!

The sword Lee Jun-Kyeong had just stabbed forward drifted by Arthur’s blade.

“...”

“...”

The two froze, staring back at each other.

“Are you crazy?”

Arthur's curse broke Lee Jun-Kyeong's concentration, and only then did he withdraw his sword. The tip of his sword was somehow resting on Arthur’s nape.

“Please withdraw this as well.”

On the other side, Arthur’s sword was similarly at his own throat.

“...”

Arthur looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong, his face blank as if he was a little shocked.

“Even though I said that I would only stab, this…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong had still evaded his blade and had aimed at a vital point. This was a mistake that couldn’t be excused.

It was the first morning that Lee Jun-Kyeong was being taught the swordsmanship used by the Knights of the Round Table, but now, in less than twelve hours, the Hunter was demonstrating mature swordsmanship.

“Something like this is possible?”

No matter how ceaselessly one swung a sword, no matter how much of a genius one was, this wasn’t something that should have been possible.

Even if Lee Jun-Kyeong knew how to handle a spear and had an understanding of martial arts, learning formal swordsmanship was still something completely different.

“This really is strange,” Arthur said as if confirming it. “This isn’t normal.”

[Shuffle.]

His astonishment was palpable, and it was the same with Lee Jun-Kyeong.

'Just now…’

That feeling he had just had while sparring with Arthur was definitely something that made him feel odd. He didn't feel like he was practicing swordsmanship. Rather, he felt like he was outputting information that had been entered into his mind.

That was how he had been able to aim for Arthur’s opening. By anticipating the trajectory of the thrust, he had almost copied and pasted the swordsmanship that Arthur had taught him in the right direction.

"This…”

“Merlin said something to me earlier. That it was similar to writing in a blank notebook,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said.

“She’s not wrong.” Arthur looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong with a stony expression. “But that isn’t something that can ever be seen to be normal. That…”

It wasn’t something a human could do. That was what Arthur was definitely going to say. Lee Jun-Kyeong knew it too.

‘It can’t be…’

It wasn’t as if he didn’t have any guesses as to why that would be.

After all, there was the book that was hidden inside of himself. In fact, he didn’t know if it had been there all along and he just hadn’t realized it, or if it had just recently appeared. Regardless, it was likely the culprit.

It was almost as if he had gone through an awakening of some sorts after it had appeared.

[Shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle.]

There was the constant sound of turning pages from the book.

Although Lee Jun-Kyeong finally recognized the sound in his head and tried to tell Arthur, the Hunter began to say something, “Could you have awakened?”

“Awakened…”

“You said you came from the future,” Arthur said, recalling Lee Jun-Kyeong's secret.

Hearing Arthur bring up that subject, Lee Jun-Kyeong shut his mouth once again. Suddenly, the sound of turning paper was far from Lee Jun-Kyeong’s mind.

“Who knows, you might already have learned this swordsmanship before.”

“...!”

“You’re just rediscovering what you’ve already learned. If that’s the case, then it all makes sense. It’s not that you’re writing in a blank notebook.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong realized what he was saying and wet his dry lips and completed Arthur’s thought, “We’re just uncovering the writing that was already there.”

“...”

Arthur and Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at each other again silently.

“Well, whatever works.” But soon, Arthur shook his head, and his expression went back to normal. “It’s a good thing that our trump card is becoming stronger.”

As if he had no jealousy, the knight slowly raised his sword as he looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“Take a good look. If you know this too…then I’ll have nothing to say.”

Arthur's sword began to emit light. Right now at this moment, his sword wasn’t a blunt training sword, but looked as if it was a sword from legends, like his Excalibur.

“The basics of swordsmanship and spearmanship are the same. If you can use this perfectly…” Arthur's sword began to move little by little, moving in slow motion as if time itself had slowed down. “I’m sure you’ll be able to adapt it to your spearmanship as well.”

Swish!

A gust of wind passed by.

“This is the swordsmanship of the royal family of Pendragon.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong's gaze looked up at the sky.

“The moon, it’s…”

The moon had begun to slide into two halves like it was splitting apart.

[Scritch, scritch.]

The sound had changed, it was different from before. It wasn’t the sound of pages turning anymore, but instead it was almost as if something was being written on paper.

***

A month had passed.

“Waa!!!!”

The residents cheered as they looked at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

In order to become feared by them, Lee Jun-Kyeong had planted seeds of fear using illusions. However, their reactions were wildly different from Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expectations. Instead, they cheered even louder and with more enthusiasm. There was something that Lee Jun-Kyeong hadn’t thought of.

‘People develop awe in the midst of fear.’

Just because he gave them something to fear didn’t mean that they would just tremble in it. On the contrary, it had made them respect and look up to him even more. The good thing, however, was that they had stopped calling Ungnyeo a witch.

Before she had been captured by Odin, Ungnyeo had invested a lot in healing people, and that incident had awakened that memory.

“Priestess! Priestess! Priestess!”

Funnily enough, the witch had become a priestess in that short time. The people had gathered, and alongside them, the apex Hunters that were in Gyeonggi-Do all also gathered in one place.

“...”

One month was the time Merlin had needed to regain her strength, and now, the time had come. Although it may have been too early to start a war, it had been more than enough time for them all to thoroughly prepare for war.

“Today,” Ungnyeo said, speaking as the representative of everyone. “We will be leaving.”

“...”

The people’s cheers soon settled down.

“We will no longer be able to protect you.”

Although her words sounded hopeless, the people accepted them calmly.

“You must survive on your own.”

It was like a declaration.

“We can do it!”

“We’ve worked hard for this too!”

“Priestess! Priestess!”

At their positive reaction, Ungnyeo gave a small smile. She had been preparing for this day for a month, just so that the residents wouldn’t feel abandoned when it came time for them to leave. She realized that her efforts had been fruitful as the residents had worked hard so that they could live independently in the future.

“However, I’ll make you a promise.”

She sneakily looked back at Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“We will make everything return to the way it was.”

As she finished, the square was still silent.

“Waaaaa!!!!”

Then, quickly enough, loud shouts filled the square. They were confident and full of hope today.

***

“All the surrounding monsters have been cleaned up. Most likely, there shouldn’t be any major issues for the next month or two,” Jeong In-Chang and Won-Hwa reported to Lee Jun-Kyeong with happy and positive expressions.

“Just how much sponsorship have the two of you received?” Moreover, the power that Lee Jun-Kyeong could feel from them was distinctly different from before.

“I mean, I hunted monsters till I felt like I was going to die, so I guess I’ve received quite a bit.”

“Um, I feel like I can even bring the dead back to life?”

“Sigh…”

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked at the two of them with a sigh. Then looking at the sky, he thought to himself.

‘Is this what it means to be favored?’

Sponsors generally gave generous support to the Hunters they favored.

But, <The Sky of the Apocalypse>, a Sponsor whose only Incarnation was Lee Jun-Kyeong, still wouldn’t give him any proper sponsorship.

When Lee Jun-Kyeong frowned at this unfair treatment, <The Sky of the Apocalypse> sent down a message, its voice sounding a little serious.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> encourages you.][1]

It was only then that Lee Jun-Kyeong rolled up the corners of his mouth and smiled. “Let’s go.”

Their preparations for war were only just beginning. The first thing that they had to do to prepare for the war to defeat the Demon King was simple.

“To Japan.”

They were bound for Japan.

1. The encourage here has the connotation of “encourage you to handle it yourself” in Korean. ????