Solo Swordmaster

Chapter 42: I Finally Found You

“Huff… Huff…”

He ran through a narrow road, sharply breathing.

Everything was pitch black save for a few run-down street lamps.

“Huff…… Huff…!”

Each breath the man took stung as if needles were pricking his throat.

His heart thumped like it was going to explode at any moment.

Still, he did not stop running.

He could not stop.

He did not know where he was. Why he was running, or who he even was.

He only knew he had to run.

Crash—!

“Kugh!

Tripping over a shard of metal amidst running his lungs dry, he fell to the ground and tumbled.

He had fallen so hard, his forehead was smeared with blood and one of his ankles dangled like there was something wrong with the bone.

But the man did not writhe in pain.

Instead, he started crawling, desperate to get even a little further away.

Krrrnk—

“……!”

But the sound of metal scraping against each other immediately made him freeze in place.

Don’t look back.

His head turned against his will.

He saw a scrap of metal screeching like a rusty tin doll.

The scrap that had caused him to fall looked like it belonged in a junkyard — insignificant and pathetic.

But his eyes widened.

The piece of metal junk was morphing.

As if going back in time, the rust was stripped from its surface as it slowly arose out of the ground.

A beautiful antique. It was giving off an eerie glow against the dark backdrop of the night.

Seeing it, the man unknowingly muttered, “a sword…?”

What was that sword?

What was it doing in a place like this?

Why did he trip over that?

But as soon as they came up, the questions within his mind disappeared just as quickly.

Shing—

The blade pulled itself out of its sheath as it floated in the air.

It gradually approached him, the tip of its crimson-stained blade looking at him.

He could feel his own eyes pop out from their sockets.

‘I can’t…!’

With instinctive fear, he continued crawling on the ground to get away.

But it was all in vain.

He was paralyzed.

Unable to move a single inch, his despair grew.

‘No way.’

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t run.

He couldn’t look away.

He couldn't even close his eyes.

The only thing he could do was watch the sword come towards him.

‘This can’t be real.’

He had worked harder than anyone else.

He had spent his days sparing his meals and his sleep.

He had torn himself away from the chains around his ankles and torn down the obstacles in his path.

He wasn’t number one, but he was able to reach a place where he could catch a glimpse of that glory.

This couldn’t be happening to him.

At least, if God was real, this absolutely could not be happening to him.

‘This has to be a dream.’

The sword came closer and closer.

The blade got bigger and bigger, as did his eyes.

It approached unwavering, straight towards them.

Looking at the bloody blade, he tried to convince himself.

‘This is a dream…!’

This isn’t real.

It can’t hurt.

I can’t die.

I won’t get cut.

It will all be in an instant.

As long as I wake up from this dream,

As long as I wake up…!

Squelch—

The sound of a spoon piercing into a pudding rang through the air.

***

“AAAAAARGH!”

Park Hyun-gun shot up with a scream, gasping for air.

His entire body was drenched in a cold sweat.

Reflexively, he patted his eyes.

Only after making sure that his eyes were fine did he regain some composure as he looked at his surroundings.

His chair had fallen backwards from him getting up.

Documents laid on his desk.

Familiar decorations and paintings hung on the walls.

Realizing that he was in the 『Infinity Guild』’s secretary office, Park Hyun-gun wiped the sweat off his face.

“When did I fall asleep…”

He couldn’t believe that a high-level player like him could doze off in his chair, regardless of how tired he was.

If anyone had seen him, he wouldn’t have been able to hold his head up.

But Park couldn’t feel that shame right now.

An overwhelming sense of relief he had never felt before had expunged all other emotions from his mind.

‘What an awful nightmare.’

Whether it was because of his uncomfortable sleeping position or fatigue from hard work, it was a dream he never wanted to have again.

If it indeed was from fatigue, he would seriously need to think about getting more sleep.

‘Hold on. What happened?’

Not long after his senses returned, he remembered that it was no time to be thinking about something as minor as a dream.

‘Was there any news from the Blue House?’

‘What about the Monarch?’

He had those thoughts before he had drifted away.

Remembering the reason he had to stay up this late doing work in the guild, Park bit his lips.

An entire day had passed since Lee Chun-gi stepped in to deal with Limon and his hostage situation at the Blue House.

At the time, he was sure that it would have all been over in an instant.

There was no matter that couldn’t be taken care of when the Infinite Monarch himself had stepped in.

Even when he received a report that deafening eruptions and blinding flashes of light rang through the air one after the other…

Even when he heard the chaos abruptly stop…

His faith did not falter.

But after a full day had passed, he could not help his growing unease.

‘Where is the Monarch, and what is he doing?’

Limon should have already been taken care of once the deafening noises stopped.

So why hasn’t he returned?

Knowing Lee Chun-gi’s high priority on reporting procedures, Park could not wrap his head around this sudden lack of contact.

He had even sent in Tracers, but the results were unsatisfactory.

Even

Even with 「Clairvoyance」 and 「Catechism of the Stars」, it was impossible to spy on what was going on at the Blue House.

Almost as if even the great Constellations themselves feared to witness it.

“…I really am tired, aren't I…”

How could the Constellations fear anything?

Park muttered to himself, laughing at his ridiculous thoughts.

He went straight to calculating a new plan, and came to a simple decision.

‘I have to look into this matter.’

If he doesn’t hear anything back by the following morning, he would go as far as deploying the 『Infinity Guild』attack squad to investigate the Blue House personally.

Of course, he didn’t have the authority to order the guild around since he wasn’t the vice guildmaster.

But he did have a way to make him take action.

‘The vice guildmaster is crazy about items… I’m sure he’d be happy to do it if I handed him some Grand Duke-rank items from the guild warehouse.’

This was a clear breach of authority beyond that of a secretary’s.

But as he had always done such things before, Park didn’t care about such a minor issue.

Busy thinking of what items he would give out, he took his phone out.

But before he could even make the call, he froze in place.

“Just to make sure, let me ask you something.”

***

***

“…!”

It wasn’t only because of the unfamiliar voice he heard in the secretary’s office that was definitely empty just moments ago.

“Is your name ‘Park Hyun-gun’?”

Before he knew it, the windows were wide open.

“L-Limon Asphelder?”

He was aghast seeing the white-haired man staring at him from the windowsill.

“What am I, your friend? Did you just call me by my name without introducing yourself first, you fuck?”

“How did you…?!”

Limon Asphelder should have been killed by Lee Chun-gi. So why was he here, perfectly alive and well in front of him?

Amidst his shock and confusion, Park subconsciously reached under his desk.

“I wouldn’t expect help to arrive if I were you.”

Park Hyun-gun flinched.

Not only was he caught trying to press the emergency button, Limon had also brought something to his attention.

His surroundings were eerily quiet.

Yes, it was late into the night, but…

It was as if everyone else had vanished.

“What did you do?

“That’s none of your business.

How did Limon Asphelder get in here?

What did he do to the other guild members?

Limon completely dismissed the countless questions he was trying to ask.

Resting his chin on his hand, Limon spoke.

“All you have to do is answer one question.”

“What the…”

He didn’t deserve to ask questions. He was only to answer.

Just as Park was about to burst out in rage at Limon’s dismissive attitude—

“Are you the one who held the children of Hanbit Orphanage hostage, the one who made Na-kyung a suicide bomber?”

He felt his blood run cold as soon. He hadn’t seen that coming at all.

Limon stared at him with anticipation.

Seeing those unnerving eyes, Park knew.

His answer would determine his fate.

It was pure intuition, a feeling he would have normally shaken off with a laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Aside from his intuition, there was also no rational reason to admit his own faults.

It certainly wouldn’t do him any good.

“You don’t?”

Limon tilted his head to the side as if that wasn’t the answer he had expected.

Gaining confidence, he added on, “The Monarch took care of anything regarding your matter. Some orders didn’t go through me.”

“So the Infinite Monarch is the one who ordered my death, and you don’t know a thing about the orphanage or Na-kyung?”

“That is correct.”

“Hm, really?… So you don’t know, huh.”

Park didn’t even bat an eyelid as Limon gravely nodded.

People didn’t know of this, but his

People didn’t know of this, but his 「Counterfeit God’s Alias」 was a unique skill as powerful as an absolute skill.

No tracer could see through his lies, let alone Limon when he didn’t have a single skill.

For a while, Limon just stared at him

And he laughed.

“Pft, hahaa….”

Laughter slipped out of his mouth as his shoulders shook.

It was a quiet breath escaping his lungs at first, but it got louder and louder until it eventually turned into a full on roar.

“Bwaaahahahahahahaha!”

He laughed uncontrollably for what felt like ages until he stopped abruptly.

Looking at Park Hyun-gun like his prey, he snarled.

“So it was you.”

——

——