34-16

Chapter 16 – Sword Saint 

Sword Saint 

Her day begins and ends with training. 

But she wasn’t a training fanatic from birth. 

When she first awakened her trait, [Path of the Sword], as a child, she only practiced swordsmanship about an hour a day. 

Playing with friends was more fun than training, and training felt boring and tedious. 

She grew up in a wealthy family. 

Her father was a recognized businessman, and her mother was Russian. Her father had traveled briefly to Russia, and they fell in love at first sight. 

Not that her family fell apart or became poor her family is still well-off, their assets steadily growing. 

The reason she became obsessed with training lay within herself. 

As a child, she went to school like everyone else just a private school for the wealthy. 

‘That boy from when I was young...’ 

She was a kind child. Not a bad kid pretending to be good, but genuinely good-hearted. 

Seeing others in pain made her feel pain too, and she wanted to help. 

Even if it caused her trouble, she wished people could escape suffering and find happiness. 

‘I wonder if he’s doing well...’ 

There was a boy at her school who was bullied a perfect target for the immature kids, since he was ugly, dirty, and smelly. 

But she knew he looked that way because of his trait; more than anyone, he wanted to change his appearance. 

She even washed his hands with soap herself when they were alone. 

She’d eat with him when he was alone, talk to him when he was by himself... 

Some might mock her for “pity,” but she didn’t mind even pity was better than nothing, and she wanted people to treat him kindly. 

He always seemed so precarious to her. 

But the world didn’t go as she hoped. 

The more she befriended him, the more those who secretly liked her joined in the bullying, and soon she herself became a target. 

She didn’t give in, trying even harder to help him... 

  Lena, Dad doesn’t want you to get hurt anymore... 

At her parents’ insistence, she had to distance herself from him. 

So... she transferred to another school, feeling she had “lost.” 

Why did I lose? I could have saved him if I hadn’t given in to the bullying... 

The biggest reason was that she didn’t want to worry her parents. 

No parent would stand by if their child was being bullied. 

So, how could she avoid worrying them, even if bullied? 

First, by becoming strong mentally and physically, so she wouldn’t be crushed by bullying. 

And then, to give her parents and others “faith” in her. 

Ah, that person won’t be shaken by these things. These things can’t hurt her. 

And to the bullies, make them realize it’s pointless and give up. 

She gained a firm conviction at a very young age. 

From then on, her goal was simple: 

To become someone others could have “faith” in. 

The method was “training,” which she’d always hated. 

Many people in the world never get results from “training” alone, 

But her trait, [Path of the Sword], meant that if she followed the path, she’d eventually reach the ultimate. 

In other words, the more she trained, the stronger she became a crazy trait. 

Of course, there were ups and downs, but the graph always pointed upward. 

As long as she tried, “today’s me” would always be stronger than “yesterday’s me.” 

She never missed a day of training, and before adulthood, she reached near S-class skill. 

The Association contacted her, and she joined to defeat villains who harmed innocent citizens. 

And what she felt after joining was “surprise” she too had been a frog in a well. 

The world was vast, and there were many stronger than her. 

Magic, sorcery, physical abilities, even swordsmanship. 

But she didn’t despair. 

She simply kept “training.” 

After five years, she unofficially earned the title “Strongest in Korea.” 

But she wasn’t happy. 

Even if she was the strongest one-on-one, villains were clever and evil, often taking innocent lives hostage. 

She often struggled with whether to catch the villain or save the citizens. 

She didn’t want to have to make such choices. She just wanted to catch villains and save people. 

To do that, she needed to be even stronger. 

To save hostages, she had to rescue them before the villain could harm them. 

So she trains every day. 

Someday, to catch all villains and bring peace to the world. Maybe she really could. 

And today, she learned of a new villain threatening the world in a new way. 

‘Lee Jinwoo...’ 

Coincidentally, the same name as the boy bullied in her childhood. 

The one she couldn’t save because she was weak. 

‘A villain is evil and must be punished.’ 

But the Lee Jinwoo she knew as a child was a victim, not a villain. 

Ten years can change everything; he was a victim then, but maybe not now. 

Still, what made her hesitate was... 

‘If I had saved Lee Jinwoo back then... maybe you wouldn’t be a villain now.’ 

No, she couldn’t even be sure the villain Lee Jinwoo was the same person. But if, by chance... 

‘If villain Lee Jinwoo is that same Lee Jinwoo...’ 

Could I cut you down...? 

[Breaking news. The Association has revealed a new villain.] 

[His name is Lee Jinwoo, recently in the news, right?] 

[Yes, he’s a cult leader, and his “Ja-Ae Cult” reportedly has about 30,000 members.] 

[Lee Jinwoo is said to have a special superpower. What is it?]... [The cult approaches women, promising to make them prettier so the leader’s power is probably related to that.] 

[And all the cult followers are women, known to dress very provocatively. It’s believed the leader Lee Jinwoo’s power turns ordinary women into extremely lewd ones and brainwashes them.] 

[The cult’s rapid growth is said to be due to the fanatical devotion of its followers. Is that true?] 

[It’s not confirmed, but most experts believe so.] 

[The cult’s building is valued at about 200 billion won. Even for a rich individual, that’s a huge amount to amass so quickly.] 

[Wow... 200 billion? That’s an enormous sum to gather in such a short time.] 

[Yes, it’s evidence the cult used its followers’ money.] 

(...) 

[They say the cult targets women with appearance complexes or who want to be prettier, luring them into the cult. But you don’t need that your current self is beautiful enough, so please don’t get sucked into a cult and leave your normal life.] 

[This has been OOO News. Thank you.] 

“Hmph, saying that now... all it does is advertise our cult.” 

It’s too late. 

Even now, my followers are increasing rapidly, and it’ll only get faster. 

‘The image of my followers is “victims of a cult leader.”’ 

So the Association will almost certainly come for me first. 

‘No matter how much others try to reassure you about your looks, it’s just empty words.’ 

If they really believed it, people like me wouldn’t have been hurt. 

Saying that now is just mocking the wounded. 

‘If I get caught, is it game over...?’ 

“Jinwoo-nim, I’ll make every preparation possible. Please don’t worry.” 

“...Yeah.” 

The endlessly multiplying slutty gal army, move out.