Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 29 – Jin Okrang Dragon Sword (02)

“…Kkueuung…!”

Seeing Chugeom enjoying watching me do something, I felt the urge to order something, as if a fire erupted.

“Darn it. Repeat the Twelve Chogeom in front of me.”

“That’s easy.”

While watching Chugeom unfold the Okrangcheon Sword to the Twelve Chogeom in a leisurely manner, I couldn’t help but feel irritated, but I couldn’t help but realize that this martial art belonged to Chugeom, and compared to Chugeom’s movements, I was still lacking.

A day-old puppy barks when it sees a tiger, but a wolf, like knowing how fearsome a tiger is and biting it as if aware, could once bravely confront the adversary without fear. However, as my enlightenment deepened, I realized afresh how skilled the adversary, 추검 (Chugum), truly was.

“Now… it seems we’ve moved beyond the relationship of killing and being killed…”

For now, I had to contemplate how to adorn the final blow.

In truth, even in my current state, the power of the final strike is not bad. It’s not bad, but somehow… it falls short of being called a decisive blow.

“If I just swing it down as it is, it might step on my foot and turn into a self-destruct technique, so I need to release the power. But is that the problem?”

Yet, accelerating up to the twelfth move and releasing the power to avoid injuring my foot in the end gave a somewhat feeble impression.

To others, it might look like a sufficient 패검 (Paegum), but as 옥랑천검 (Ok Lang Cheon Gum) matures, I couldn’t think of the twelfth move as anything but an insufficient half-move.

“Hmm…”

Was there no good solution?

For example, if the problem is injuring my foot…

“…Wait a moment.”

Halting 추검 (Chugum), who had completed up to the eleventh move, I began wielding my Cheonggang Sword.

From the first move 옥천냉검 (Ok Cheon Naeng Gum) to the eleventh move 옥랑천격 (Ok Lang Cheon Gyeok), I cast them continuously like flowing water. 추검 (Chugum) seemed somewhat pleased, but I didn’t just release the power moderately from the eleventh move to the twelfth move in 십일초식 (Sipil Chosik). Instead, I put real strength into it, using the internal energy I had.

“Are you out of your mind?! If that thing hits under your foot, your leg will break on its own…!”

‘Oh no!’

I got carried away without realizing it.

In the state of trance, as I continued the sword dance, I couldn’t avoid the thought that if I plunged the sword into the ground as it was, my foot would be crushed, and my arm would be broken due to the recoil.

‘How do I…’

So, at that moment, I did something a swordsman should never do.

I casually threw the sword, which contained tremendous internal energy, onto the ground.

With the recoil, as my body rose, the sword containing the secrets of the Okrangcheon Sword was thrust into the ground…

Kwaaah-!!

As if a bomb had been dropped, the cliff beneath my feet was completely shattered.

Of course, since I was propelled into the air by the recoil, my feet were unharmed, and my arms were intact from the recoil.

“This… this is…!! The inspector, wielding a sword…!”

Though I said that, even I was astonished by the power of this thrusting technique.

Okrangcheon Sword’s final twelve-second form.

Okyong Sword…

“No, Okyong Sword is not enough!”

In a state of great excitement, I pulled out the sword embedded in the ground up to the hilt and shouted.

“From now on, it’s the Jinokrangryong Sword!!”

…I don’t know what the characters are, but I’ll roughly fit them in later.

* * *

Once I got the idea, the process of creating the last cliff, the twelve-second form, was proceeding in an instant.

Usually, to reproduce a jackpot like this that exploded by luck, you would have to go through considerable trial and error. Fortunately, in front of me, the inspector was watching the whole process.

Based on the hints I provided, the inspector, who was at a higher level than me, was directly using the twelve-second form, pointing out mistakes and flaws.

Just like an engineer materializing an idea thrown by a planner, the inspector went mad with research as soon as the opportunity came for the completion of their swordsmanship.

Thud!

But unlike my momentum that shattered the ground, the inspector’s final Jinokrangryong Sword ended with the sword lightly stuck into the ground. It had changed to a method of swinging the sword, with the assurance that it wouldn’t matter if their own legs were shattered or if they never had to worry about stepping on their own foot.

“Indeed, thrusting down with power at the end creates tremendous force! With this level, even a perennial iron pillar can be split into two with a single stroke.”

‘Ah, that’s not how you do it.’

“Jin Ok Langryong Sword, was it? hehehehe… Not bad.”

It’s the Jin Ok Langryong Sword (眞玉狼龍劍). I roughly threw together the characters for “Ok” and some cool-looking ones to make it. I enthusiastically gave it a bunch of names when I was excited, but when my head cooled down, I thought it was embarrassing and considered changing it to another name. However, since it’s a cliff that’s not likely to be used anyway, I kept it.

‘Ultimately, it became an odd form, swinging the sword in circles, stabbing once, and immediately striking down…’

The problem is spinning it from the beginning, and even my Shi Sipcho form ends up doing one more spin, becoming a shape that spins like a top.

Most martial arts, if you exclude internal energy and just look at the form, involve swinging the sword awkwardly in an awkward stance. While this is a decent level, watching the Chugum spin with all its might, I couldn’t help but smirk involuntarily.

Wooooong-!

But the strike of the Chugum, cutting through the air, and the wind scattered around after a few seconds, looked absurdly powerful compared to the appearance of an old man with a battered face spinning around and striking down the sword.

As if compensating for the lack of the actor’s own action in a Hollywood movie with CG and effects.

Clack, clack.

After spinning in circles for days with the Jin Yong Langryong Sword, the Chugum, as if realizing something, called me.

“This method should work.”

“……”

“Instead of letting the inner strength pulled from Dahnjeon flow to the fingertips, put it all into the sword and just let the arm follow. It’s not swinging the sword as an extension of the arm but putting the body into the extension of the sword.”

It was a suggestion to load all the inner strength into the sword to strike down, as if carrying a burden so heavy that it couldn’t be overcome.

‘An extremely attack-focused swordsmanship.’

When learning the Cheongsim Yurigumbeop, the words of my master, that the origin of swordsmanship lies in the efficient swinging of fists in Gwonbeop, seemed like a direct collision, but since Master’s Cheongsim Yurigong and Chugum’s Ok Langcheon Sword were completely different martial arts, I accepted it.

“I never thought the Twelve-Second Form I had in mind vaguely would be completed by someone else’s hands… It feels strange, but not bad.”

I hope he doesn’t show a pleased expression. Strictly speaking, we are in a business relationship. Chugum entrusted me with the completion of swordsmanship as an outsourced task, and I provided ideas. Chugum then created swordsmanship based on that and shared it.

However, even though it had been almost a year since we were together… I had developed some attachment, but deep down in my heart, I still harbored animosity towards this person, hoping that someday I could cut them down and move on.

But that’s all over now. Once the Okrangcheon Sword is complete, Chugum will surely let me go. From Chugum’s perspective, it would be more beneficial to focus solely on training to complete their own Okrangcheon Sword, rather than bothering with kidnapping me.

“But…”

Although I had learned the Okrangcheon Sword, I didn’t feel like I had truly “become stronger.”

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Sure, I could do more things now that I had learned sword techniques, but it felt more like acquiring additional auxiliary abilities in a game.

Of course, by learning Chugum’s Okrangcheon Sword instead of modifying and using the limited Cheongsim Yurigwonbeop, I could reach a higher level more quickly. However, I still didn’t feel significantly stronger than before.

“I need to learn more.”

I need to steal more of Chugum’s sword techniques.

I have to learn the Okrangryong Sword that he has created this time, and I have to train to the point where I can freely use the Jinokrangryong Sword that I created.

I will encounter hardships and train slowly. I shouldn’t think that this world is as easy and convenient as a novel, where everything revolves around the protagonist.

I am not the protagonist of this world.

I may push myself to the limit, like Bangyuseong, until I am comfortable with dying, but I am not invincible. I live in a precarious world where even a slight mistake can cost me my life, like a blade that can cut through flesh and neck.

Is it because I thought that this was a world from a novel and that I could manipulate it as I pleased, without paying the price for my mistakes?

Ouch.

The long sword scar on my right hand and the countless scars on my left arm were proof of that.

Even openly antagonizing an organization with formidable power that could still somewhat overwhelm the entire martial arts world was nothing but putting her in danger.

“I need power.”

At least enough to confront a high-ranking member of the Heukwoldang.

“Chugum.”

“Hmm. Do you have something you’re curious about?”

“If I were to engage in a life-or-death struggle with a high-ranking member of the Heukwoldang in my current state, what would my chances of winning be?”

Upon hearing those words, Chugum stroked his beard and fell into deep contemplation.

“Well, I know for a fact that you’ve learned the Okrangcheon Sword, so it should be easier to handle. And I also know your weaknesses, so we should consider the standards of others.”

Closing his eyes, Chugum pondered. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for him to open his mouth.

“Completely nonexistent… there’s no denying it.”

“Is that so?”

“Even ants and bees can pose a slight threat to humans depending on the situation.”

His words suggested that compared to the high-ranking members of the Heukwoldang, my skills were no better than a scavenger’s.

“That’s a sharp statement.”

“It’s the reality, so what can we do?”

“It’s been about a year since I came here, right?”

With just one year, my talent was insufficient to steal the Okrangcheon Sword.

Despite Chugum blatantly showing me the way and even helping me with my training, I still fell short.

“Okrangryong Sword. Show it to me again.”

“Do you feel like it? I thought you would beg me to let you go right now, considering it’s you.”

It was just a cold judgment.

Instead of being chased and attacked by the Heukwoldang every day without having time to train, I decided to strengthen myself a little more and confront them head-on.