I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 268: Forest of Sword Sacrifice (3)

Taebaek Mountain Range.

The mountain range that runs along the spine of the Korean Peninsula.

Among them, Taebaek Mountain, located in Gangwon-do, has long been revered as a sacred mountain by the Korean people.

At the same time, this mountain was the site of a long-ago gate explosion, where a ‘Drake’ took up residence.

Although a subspecies of the dragon race, Drakes are wingless monsters resembling dinosaurs. They possess immense strength, but their numbers are few, and as long as their territory isn’t invaded, they generally don’t descend from Taebaek Mountain.

And crucially, unlike the valuable Fire Dragon (Hwa-ryong) mentioned by Utopia on broadcasts, Drakes didn’t provide useful materials. As a result, hunting Drakes by scouring Taebaek Mountain was considered a losing proposition.

There was an unspoken agreement that provoking them was not worth the trouble, and so Taebaek Mountain was tacitly recognized as the Drakes' territory, leading to a decade of coexistence between humans and Drakes.

For the past ten years, human footsteps had all but disappeared from this region. Deep within the uninhabited mountain, a large traditional Korean house stood mysteriously.

Surrounded by clouds, the spacious training ground exuded a mystical atmosphere, reminiscent of a place where an immortal might reside.

On the wooden porch, a woman lay languidly on her side, propping her head on her hand with a bored expression.

The woman, lightly holding a smoking pipe in her mouth, appeared to be in her early thirties at most. She had a mole at the corner of her lips, and her hair was elegantly pinned up, giving her a seductive look.

There was a time when the world praised her name.

The world’s strongest swordsman. The master of the sword. The emperor of the sword.

The Sword Sovereign (검제).

She exhaled a long, lazy sigh, releasing a stream of white smoke from her mouth.

At that moment.

“Hm...?”

She tilted her head slightly.

“A visitor is coming...?”

For some reason, she had that feeling.

Her intuition was usually spot-on.

Over the past ten years, the only visitors to her home had been Rina the Demon Sorceress, that little mage, and the expressionless sword-wielding girl the mage had brought along.

“No, this time it feels a bit different...”

With a groan, she sat up, muttering her granddaughter’s name.

“Malsook-ah—”

At her call, a girl peeked out from behind a tree.

White hair. Blue eyes. And a cold demeanor.

The girl puffed her cheeks in annoyance and spoke in a small voice.

“Grandma, I told you not to call me that name.”

Ha.

The Sword Sovereign let out a dry laugh.

“What else should I call you if not Malsook?”

“...Alice.”

“Alice, my foot...”

The Sword Sovereign frowned at her granddaughter’s words.

Kim Malsook.

She wasn’t related by blood, but the Sword Sovereign had raised her as her own granddaughter.

Originally, she had pretty brown hair and brown eyes, but ever since the decision was made to send her to the Academy next year, she had dyed her hair white like an old woman’s, put in blue contact lenses, and even changed her lovely name to the strange moniker “Alice.”

She had been a timid and easy-to-raise child, but as she grew older, she became incredibly stubborn.

“Did you finish today’s training?”

A nod.

“I practiced with the sword. And the spear.”

“...The sword.”

The Sword Sovereign pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“You awakened with a spear affinity. Why are you using a sword?”

“Because you’re the Sword Sovereign...”

...The only silver lining, perhaps, was that despite her growth and impending enrollment at the Academy, Malsook still admired and followed her grandmother.

Even though she was somewhat off-track, the fact that she wanted to emulate her grandmother by using a sword wasn’t entirely displeasing.

‘But Malsook should be using a spear...’

Alice had practically no affinity with the sword.

‘How am I going to make her use a spear...’

The Sword Sovereign sighed, shaking her head as she mulled over the problem.

“Whatever... it’ll be fine.”

She disliked dealing with troublesome things, after all.

‘When she goes to the Academy next year, that little mage Rina can handle it...’

In the end, she decided to leave it to someone else.

Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she spoke.

“Oh, and it looks like we’re going to have some visitors soon. Can you prepare to welcome them?”

Alice’s eyes widened in shock, and her pupils quivered.

“...What!? V-Visitors!?”

The path up to Taebaek Mountain was steep and treacherous.

Since no human had set foot here in years, the trees and bushes had grown over the trails, and territorial battles between monsters had altered the terrain unnaturally. The old saying that even a mountain changes in ten years held true.

Chairman Rina had given me a compass, saying it would be helpful in finding the way.

So far, I had been following it, but the path the compass pointed to was more of a cliff than a trail.

Of course, even a sheer cliff wasn’t particularly difficult for an Awakened being who had surpassed human limits.

That is, it shouldn’t have been.

“Huff, huff... Jin Yoo-ha! This place is weird...!”

“Ugh! I feel it too... My body doesn’t seem to be moving as I want.”

Yu-ri and Kang Do-hee, clinging to the cliff like barnacles, shouted to me, drenched in sweat.

Kang Do-hee was in the lead, followed by me, with Yu-ri bringing up the rear.

While Kang Do-hee was making steady progress upward, Yu-ri was struggling a bit.

‘This is strange indeed...’

Just as they said, I hadn’t noticed it at the base of the mountain, but as we climbed, the flow of mana had become noticeably sluggish. It felt like my physical abilities were being significantly suppressed.

I wondered how Ichika would have fared if she were here.

‘With the disruption of mana flow, Ichika might have struggled too... If we run into a Drake now, it’ll be a real headache...’

Especially since we were stuck ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) clinging to the cliff with limited mobility.

Just as the thought crossed my mind.

─ Kreeee...

A foreboding sound echoed through the air.

Ha.

I looked up and let out a dry laugh.

‘This is why you should never tempt fate.’

Peeking over the edge of the cliff above us was a black dinosaur, drooling from its jaws.

The Drake opened its massive jaws and charged down the cliff toward us.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

The beast descended vertically, embedding its thick claws into the cliff face. Its large head and sharp teeth were menacing.

“Prepare for battle, everyone!”

I shouted to my party members.

“Huff!”

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

Kang Do-hee began climbing the cliff even faster, while Yu-ri, clinging to the cliff, looked panicked, unsure of how to use her shield in this situation.

Seeing her expression, I realized I had made a mistake.

‘Ah, I should’ve given clearer instructions.’

What should we do now? I quickly racked my brain for the best course of action given the situation.

I turned my head downward and shouted.

“Yu-ri! Throw your spare shields into the cliff face!”

“Spare shields!?”

“Can you do it? We need to create a foothold to fight from!”

Yu-ri, who had been panicking, nodded resolutely.

“Got it!!”

After her shield broke during our previous trial, Yu-ri had started carrying extra shields in case she lost or broke the one she was currently using.

“Ugh...”

With a grunt, Yu-ri gripped the cliff tightly and swung her leg upward. Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Crash!

Crash!

Using all her strength, she kicked the cliff with her foot, embedding her leg into it, mimicking the Drake’s descent.

Even with the mana flow disrupted and her physical abilities suppressed, Yu-ri was still Utopia’s tank.

When it came to holding her ground, she was confident she wouldn’t lose to anyone.

With her legs firmly planted in the cliff, Yu-ri slowly stood upright.

“Hoo...”

Letting out a low breath, she pulled out a round steel shield from her spatial tattoo.

Now standing horizontally on the cliff face, Yu-ri braced herself against the wind blowing through her hair.

She gripped the shield tightly and twisted her body, throwing the shield with all her might, like a baseball player.

“Hmph!!!”

Whirrr!

Thud!

The shield embedded itself deeply into the cliff at an angle.

Yu-ri then continued to pull out and throw more shields into the cliff.

Whirr!

Thud!

Whirr!

Thud!

Whirr!

Thud!

Meanwhile, Kang Do-hee, who was climbing up the cliff, and the Drake descending toward us were getting closer.

“Throw one toward me too!”

I shouted to Yu-ri.

“Got it!!”

Whirr!

Thud!

The steel shield landed right in front of me.

‘Good.’

I gauged the distance between the shields embedded in the cliff, then steeled my gaze.

‘This should be usable as a foothold. As expected, Yu-ri knows exactly what I need.’

In dangerous moments like these, Yu-ri was always the most reliable.

I landed on the shield with a light step.

Tap!

Then, I drew my sword and kicked off the shield.

The impact sent the shield plummeting down.

“My... My 729,000-won shield—!!”

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Yu-ri’s voice, filled with anguish, echoed up the cliff.