WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Regression is Too Much
Chapter 053
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Choi Ji-won is too strong (4)
Ji-won's plan was simple.
Her opponent was an overwhelmingly powerful foe. It would be absurd to think she could hold back her strength and fight.
However, if she aimed for a weak spot right at the start of the battle—when her opponent's power was at its peak, the attack would most likely be blocked.
So, the first step was to clash with her full strength. Then, she would watch for an opportunity to strike a vulnerability. Her opponent was monstrously strong, but still human. There was bound to be an opening somewhere.
“Fwooo…”
Having roughly finished her calculations, Ji-won gripped the handle of Bung-bung.
Bung-bung was drawn as smoothly as flowing water. Just as the blade was fully unsheathed and its edge glinted in the sunlight.
Ji-won charged forward so quickly that it seemed as if she had simply vanished.
‘The head.’
She raised Bung-bung high above her head and brought it down with force.
It was a downward strike, a fundamental of fundamentals in both kendo and swordsmanship.
There’s a reason why it’s the first thing you are taught. It is simple, but just as efficient.
The motion that began at the tips of Ji-won’s toes traveled up through her waist and arms, and was perfectly transferred to the tip of her sword.
It was a perfect strike, without a single speck of wasted energy.
“Oh, quite…”
The master of the city drew her sword and easily deflected the intense downward strike, but.
‘The head.’
In kendo, the frontal head strike is the alpha and omega. If one strives to learn kendo properly, it is the first form that must be repeatedly mastered.
And Ji-won was confident in her ability to strive.
Whoosh!
Ji-won’s sword swung along the exact same trajectory as before.
“Do you take me for a fool?”
The master of the city twisted her lips, as if to ask if she looked like an idiot who would fall for the same trick twice, but.
“…Huh?”
Absurdly, the master of the city had to block the strike in the exact same way, with the exact same posture. The attack came in half a beat faster than the tempo she had anticipated.
The interval between retrieving her sword and swinging it again was ridiculously short.
‘The head.’
As if not to give the bewildered master of the city any time to think, Ji-won’s sword now swung in a diagonal line.
“Ugh…”
The master of the city took a step back, slightly twisting her waist.
Whoosh!
The sword grazed past her nose.
It was literally a paper-thin margin, a distance showing just how much of a natural talent the master of the city had for judging range, but…
“Keuk!”
She hadn't anticipated Ji-won’s roundhouse kick, which arose from the momentum of her sword swing causing her body to spin halfway around and extend her back leg. The master had to hastily block the attack with her right arm.
There was no power in that last diagonal slash. She had swung the sword with the kick in mind from the very beginning.
“…Hoo.”
The face of the master of the city, distorted in surprise, quickly regained its composure.
At first, she had intended to play around. That was why she had entered the battle with a relaxed mind, but…
This was a situation she had never imagined. A climber who had just reached the 2nd floor was displaying this level of skill? The white climber she fought about a month ago had far better stats and traits, but was a bit clumsy in utilizing them.
But this woman was different. Her stats might be inferior, but the combat sense she displayed was unbelievable.
However, instead of dwelling on this absurd situation, the master of the city decided to first calm her emotions.
She was a seasoned warrior, and as such, she knew very well that heated emotions were of no help in battle.
Having regained her composure, the master of the city began to fight by the book.
The basis of a fight between knights was a reconnaissance battle. If you know your enemy and yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
She widened the distance enough to not allow a critical hit, and gauged her opponent's skill by launching probing attacks.
“Kuh…”
As soon as the master of the city began to fight seriously, the situation was abruptly reversed.
In terms of physical ability, the master of the city was superior.
In terms of the depth of her swordsmanship, the master of the city was also deeper.
It was a disadvantageous situation for Ji-won from the start, and she had only been able to land a blow because the master of the city had been completely off her guard.
This time, a scene unfolded where Ji-won was being helplessly pushed back. When the master of the city took one step forward, Ji-won was pushed one step back. Scratches began to appear one by one on Ji-won’s leather armor.
To any observer, the master of the city was overwhelmingly dominant, but ironically, the inner thoughts of the two were the opposite.
‘…’
The master of the city gritted her teeth.
That woman is strange. She's bizarrely fast. There is more power behind her sword than it appears, and every time their blades meet, her hand tingles and aches.
She almost swore instinctively when she saw her dodge an attack from a blind spot, as if she had eyes in the back of her head.
At first, she had intended to overwhelm her with pure swordsmanship without using mana… but it wasn't going as she wanted.
Right now, the master of the city was ahead in terms of swordsmanship level.
But the more their swords clashed, the more Choi Ji-won was catching up to the master of the city.
Of course, if the master of the city started to use mana in earnest, the situation would flip 180 degrees, but…
Her pride in wanting to win with swordsmanship and the impatience of getting caught up were fighting fiercely in her mind.
‘I can do this.’
On the other hand, Ji-won and Bung-bung were smiling inwardly.
She had a trait that could tell her the location of a powerful enemy.
And according to that trait, the woman in front of her was an unbelievable monster. That was the reason why Ji-won was so tense.
But she could tell after clashing swords directly.
She could win. The master of the city, without using mana, was not the monster she had thought.
Her opponent had superior strength and agility and the refinement of her technique was also superior.
But Ji-won was still growing. As she engaged in a battle of wits within split seconds, her brain felt like it was sparkling with inspiration.
What she had lacked was real combat experience against superhumans.
If this continued for just 10 more minutes…
Ji-won was confident she would win.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two figures, moving at super-speed, were entangled in a beautiful dance on the stage of the plaza, and sparks embroidered the air brilliantly.
“…I can’t see a thing. Can you see anything?”
“…”
I didn’t answer firefighter Cheol-jin’s question and just gave a small nod.
To be honest, I couldn't see well either. The movements of those two were so fast that I could only follow their trajectories as blurry afterimages.
Still, I could roughly grasp the situation. It seemed like Ji-won was winning slightly at first, but now she was being pushed back.
But she was holding on too well. This was a problem.
“Oh, ooh… that’s so damn cool…”
“Wow, holy shit… is this some kind of anime? Is this level of fighting for real?”
“Truly a legend…”
Leaving the admiring players behind, I couldn't help but grumble with dissatisfaction.
The plan from the start was for Ji-won to be pushed back.
Then, at a critical moment, she would land a fatal blow and just before she was gloriously taken out, I would step in to finish things off.
But Ji-won wasn't being pushed back as much as I thought. And the master of the city didn't seem to be letting her guard down either.
The plan had gone slightly awry.
The reason for this was simple.
‘…I think Ji-won is stronger than I thought?’
Choi Ji-won was too strong.
I heard that Michael Zetter was toyed with, so I naturally thought Ji-won would also be helplessly beaten.
But I didn't know if it was a good matchup for her, or if Ji-won was just that overpowered, to be able to fight on relatively equal terms with the master of the city.
Of course, seeing as lightning wasn't striking all over the place, it was certain that the master of the city was holding back…
Nevertheless, wasn't the fact that she could be a match like this in itself something that didn't make sense?
Ji-won. I've felt it since the tutorial, but what on earth is that woman?
Is this the majesty of the eldest daughter of an SSS-rank swordsmanship noble family? I feel like I've become an extra…
“Jun-ho-nim?”
My reverie was soon broken by firefighter Cheol-jin.
“Look over there.”
The two who had been fighting fiercely had, at some point, stopped.
“…I guess I can’t beat you with technique. You’re a real genius. And I used to be called a genius myself.”
The master of the city, rotating her stiff wrist, shook her head as if in disbelief.
It was because she had a gut feeling that if the fight continued like this, she would be the one to lose.
She felt like she had never seen someone with such perfect fundamentals.
Psychological warfare didn't work on her. Her sense of distance control was as excellent as her own, and whether her intuition was good or not, she blocked every single attack from her blind spots.
Even the depth of swordsmanship, where she held an advantage, had now been completely caught up to. Ji-won was predicting her movements, while the master of the city couldn't read Ji-won's.
To sum it up… she had completely lost.
“I’ll admit what I have to admit. In swordsmanship… I lost.”
But that voice was by no means the voice of someone who had admitted defeat.
“Hoo.”
The moment the master of the city closed and opened her eyes, her pupils began to glow with a faint blue light.
An electric current began to flow through her body and armor, and blue sparks swirled around the blade of the sword she held.
“From now on, I will use my mana in earnest. It will be completely different from before. My specialty is overwhelming magical power, you see.”
Swordsmanship was never my strong point in the first place. It’s no great feat that you won in that regard.
Just as the master of the city, having declared as much, was about to seriously assume her stance and engage in battle.
“Wait!”
Ji-won suddenly held out her palm, stopping the master of the city who was about to charge forward.
“…?”
“Hold on… there’s something I need to get.”
She stopped fighting and walked briskly towards firefighter Cheol-jin, who was watching the fight from an alleyway, and casually held out her hand.
“Give them to me.”
“…Yes.”
Firefighter Cheol-jin handed her the specially made leather gloves and leather vambraces he had prepared in advance. Ji-won naturally equipped the leather protectors on both hands and arms, then walked back towards the master of the city.
“…Leather?”
“Leather doesn’t conduct electricity well, does it?”
Bung-bung is a sword, and it's metal.
That meant that as long as Ji-won was holding Bung-bung, all of the master of the city's lightning would be drawn to it.
So what would happen to Ji-won's arm holding Bung-bung?
This was the master of the city who had subdued even Michael Zetter in an instant. There was no way Ji-won would be unscathed.
“So what I prepared… are these thick, special gloves and leather vambraces.”
Having decided to have a round with the master of the city, there was no way she would have come without any preparation.
Before coming to the plaza. She could feel the satisfaction of having pestered the liberated city residents.
“Shall we go again?”
“…Let us.”
Choi Ji-won and the master of the city.
The second round had begun.
Footnotes:
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