I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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Whoa-

Between the Hyunwol Sword and Kim Il-sin, contrasting waves emerged.

There was a clear resonance rising from their clash.

Kim Il-sin contained that resonance within his sword and slowly brought it down.

It was a languid trajectory, reminiscent of basic training, striking the torso of a training scarecrow.

Puff!

At the same moment, the scarecrow’s torso burst open, and its contents spilled out.

It wasn’t a mere cut; it was an explosion of force from within.

This was the ability of the Wolgok-kyung, destroying the target from the inside out.

Its effectiveness had already been proven by shattering a hermit’s sword.

If it could shatter a sword laden with mana, then hitting a human body would yield even greater destructive power.

Confirming the results, Kim Il-sin placed down the Hyunwol Sword and clenched his fist, severing some of the mana circuit flowing through it.

He then sparked an independent wave of mana both from his fist and his body.

However, he soon stopped generating the wave and opened his fist.

Due to the high similarity between the two waves, the next step—collision of the waves—did not occur.

‘This still isn’t going very well.’

Martial arts inspired by the wave of the Hyunwol Sword.

From the very start, the premise was the collision of opposing waves, which made it difficult to unleash with one body.

“Hmm…”

After some thought, Kim Il-sin checked the time and headed outside.

Staying here any longer might leave him with insufficient time for a final check.

‘Today was history and tactical theory, right?’

Today marked the last day of theoretical subject exams at the academy.

Once he completed the last two subjects remaining, there wouldn’t be any more exams requiring mental effort.

Judging by the results of the exams he had seen so far, they were not bad. The practical evaluation was also fine.

He felt he could aim for a decent spot in the theoretical subjects.

‘Practical performance is more important than theory, though…’

He had already completed all the practical exams except for the duel. His grades had all been good.

All that remained was the duel, and it seemed an opponent would be decided today.

“…Oh.”

As he opened the door to the personal training room, a voice greeted him. It wasn’t Kim Il-sin’s voice.

“…Hello.”

“Oh, hey. Hello.”

As he was about to pass by, Seo Ye-ryeong suddenly greeted him.

Kim Il-sin responded as nonchalantly as possible and stepped outside.

‘Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?’

It had been three years since she had even talked to him, let alone greet him.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed they had been running into each other a lot lately. Even if it was coincidence, it was quite frequent.

“…That’s enough.”

Kim Il-sin muttered this and returned to the dormitory. The exam looming ahead was more important right now.

*

“Hmm…”

After Kim Il-sin left, Seo Ye-ryeong entered the personal training room and took out the paper she had tucked away.

Documents summarizing Kim Il-sin’s past.

These had been procured by an employee of her father’s guild, “Fungshin.”

Seo Ye-ryeong began rereading the documents. They tracked Kim Il-sin’s whereabouts from a time when he had vanished from the martial world.

The content was shocking. Even after reading it dozens of times, it still struck her.

To summarize, it stated that Kim Il-sin’s village had been annihilated by an attack from the Jeokcheon Church, and no survivors had been found.

Kim Il-sin had also gone missing at that time.

His sudden return coincided with the admission exam for Cosmo Academy.

‘He also passed the admission exam with high marks. So he must have been hiding his strength since the entrance ceremony… But what could have caused him to reveal his power all of a sudden?’

While there was currently no way to know for sure, Seo Ye-ryeong suspected it was due to the Jeokcheon Church.

If he had lost his family and everyone around him to them, that would provide ample motive for vengeance.

Moreover, the timing of when he began to show his strength coincided with the recent re-emergence of the Jeokcheon cultists.

‘And he received a request this time too.’

It was a request to deal with the Jeokcheon Church. It was said he had even knocked down a hermit during the mission.

This action further supported her assumptions about him.

‘I need to keep observing for a bit longer.’

Though it was highly likely, it was still too early to make a decision. She figured it would be wise to watch a little more closely.

Whirring!

As Seo Ye-ryeong attempted to exit the training room, the wind spirit, Haru, appeared before her.

It spiraled around the empty air in front of her and posed a question.

Haru asked whether she had submitted her request for a duel since the practical exam was coming up soon. Seo Ye-ryeong’s answer was simple.

“…I forgot.”

Caught up in her investigation of Kim Il-sin, she had neglected the most important thing.

The chance that Kim Il-sin wouldn’t have a duel opponent was low, so they would most likely be matched randomly.

She had missed another opportunity to achieve her goal.

Thud.

As Seo Ye-ryeong stepped outside, she plopped down on the adjacent bench.

It would take quite a while before the despair in her eyes would fade enough for her to get back up.

*

“Hey, did you see it? It was hellishly difficult.”

“I don’t know. What was the answer to number 21?”

“That was number 3, idiot.”

“Damn, I put number 4….”

Finally, the exams for the theoretical subjects had finished.

Now that most of the exams were over, the atmosphere was still tense, as expulsion loomed overhead.

Some students were calculating the grades necessary to avoid being expelled.

For them, the upcoming duel exam would be of utmost importance.

“The duel list is out~”

At that moment, the supervising teacher walked in holding a bundle of papers.

This was to announce the opponents for the duel exam, scheduled for tomorrow.

“Whew, why is it this guy of all people?”

“This might actually be manageable….”

The students who received their notifications displayed a variety of expressions.

Since they needed to prepare strategies based on their opponents, it could be said that the duel exam officially began from this moment.

‘Who could my opponent be?’

Kim Il-sin also opened the notification he received to check his opponent.

[3rd Year Class 1, Baek Ha-yeon]

[3rd Year Class 3, Namgung Hyuk]

[3rd Year Class 3, Namgung Min]

His duel opponents were these three. They had been selected as the top performers among the students who applied.

Though it was uncertain if more than three had applied for the duel.

‘I doubt there would really be any benefit in dueling me.’

This was due to an established system aimed at reducing the skill disparity between duel participants.

Even if someone won against an opponent with significantly lower grades, they would receive hardly any points.

And in the unfortunate event of losing, they would incur severe penalties.

This implied that the three of them had no reason to request a duel with Kim Il-sin.

‘Baek Ha-yeon is one thing, but what’s with these two?’

Baek Ha-yeon, who had suddenly asked for a duel last time, was somewhat predictable; she seemed to have a reason to challenge him.

However, he had no idea why the Namgung brothers requested a duel.

They hardly shared conversations, nor did they have overlapping classes.

‘There’s no need to refuse…’

Refusing would lead to penalties, and afterward, he’d have to face an opponent assigned randomly.

It seemed more advisable to proceed with the current list rather than risk that outcome.

If they were opponents he couldn’t win against, he would have declined without hesitation.

But now, he felt confident that he could at least handle the Namgung brothers and even Baek Ha-yeon, who had been the top performer.

His first duel opponent would be Baek Ha-yeon. It would happen tomorrow.

‘There’s something going on tonight, but it isn’t anything to stress over…’

For now, he decided to focus on his training.

*

“Ugh…”

Late at night, after finishing his training, Kim Il-sin lay down in bed after taking a shower. His entire body ached.

It was due to his usual grueling practice sessions with Hercules, the bull-headed training partner.

Yet, owing to his body adapting, he wouldn’t face any issues during tomorrow’s duel.

It was just that the current ordeal felt overwhelming.

“Whew….”

As he covered himself with the blanket, the scenery outside reflected on the window next to the ceiling.

‘I wonder if the barrier is over there.’

Though invisible, a massive barrier created by the Jeokcheon Church lay far to the east of the academy.

It was a barrier intended to ambush the great heroes arriving at the academy for the duel.

That great hero was Baek Ho-san, Baek Ha-yeon’s grandfather.

But there was no need for concern.

This was because Baek Ho-san would handle the attackers without sustaining any injuries.

In the game’s story, it was just a minor event that was glossed over.

With the current power of the Jeokcheon Church, no matter what they did, they couldn’t bring down Baek Ho-san.

It was a strategy that could never succeed, even in the highly flexible [COSMO].

‘…I kind of want to see it.’

It was disappointing not to be able to witness Baek Ho-san’s swordsmanship in action.

He had reached a level that could be considered unrivaled.

However, among the Jeokcheon Church cultists, the ‘key’ was a vital resource held only by those with high operational importance.

Without it, they wouldn’t even be able to enter the barrier.

It wouldn’t be sensible to charge into their lair just to acquire the key.

Even if he went, there was no guarantee that he’d acquire one.

‘It’s better to give up.’

Thinking this, Kim Il-sin closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

*

Hours later, in the late night, Kim Il-sin awoke.

He felt an unknown phenomenon taking place within his body.

The flow of mana felt unusual.

The mana in his heart and lower dantian gradually solidified, eventually becoming as unyielding as a stone.

However, there was no issue using mana.