Chapter 105…
‘Kang Siwoo….’
How should I even define that guy?
A monster who suddenly showed up in Mangnyang Village and slammed all of our family’s wrestlers into the ground?
A weirdo who made a bet to take me with him even though he’d never seen me before?
A braggart who kept running away from me using movements even faster than mine—the fastest in the whole village—and then had the nerve to say, “If you want to catch me, keep following me,” as if that weren’t nonsense?
‘But strangely enough… I don’t hate him.’
Anyway, I tried incredibly hard to catch him.
No one should be faster than me. No one was faster than me.
So I overturned the entire village playing tag all night long, and even after arriving at the Academy, I ambushed him every chance I got.
‘But I failed every single time.’
Even in the moments when I was sure I had him, he slipped through my fingers perfectly.
So I was ready to give up on the promise. Just fool around a bit and go home.
But I couldn’t.
Because my pride got involved.
‘So I stuck close to him, trying to figure out why I couldn’t catch him…’
But no matter how much I watched, I couldn’t figure anything out.
Lecture, lecture prep, training useless little kids.
On repeat.
‘Like he was stuck in a hamster wheel.’
But finally!
Finally, an opportunity showed up.
He said he was going to China to conquer the Red Gate.
And he said he’d take me with him.
So this time I behaved myself and just followed him quietly.
I’d stopped ruining opportunities out of impatience when I was ten.
But then…
‘What the hell is he doing…?!’
Even when the Cheonsun Guild blatantly ignored him, he just brushed it off with some nonsense about “the time not being right yet.”
If it were me, I would’ve slugged them right in the face on the spot…!
…Wait, why am I getting angry on his behalf?
‘Really, ever since I met him in the village, I can’t figure this guy out.’
And then they even assigned us a weird lodging room at the end.
So for once, I was actually going to speak up about it.
Because it was going to affect me too.
But suddenly he said there was something interesting and told me to follow him…
And now—
“Of course. What weapon shall I spar with you in? Spear? Saber? Or perhaps a simple sword? Anything you want.”
Where did the rational person who’d been with me until now disappear to?
Now he was provoking them like a lunatic with a screw loose.
‘This is absolutely insane! This is gonna be amazing!’
A burly man, angered by the provocation, shouted at him.
I’d overheard earlier during the strategy briefing that this guy was one of the top swordsmen in the Cheonsun Guild.
“Don’t come crying later. Pick the weapon you’re best with!”
“The weapon I’m best with…?”
But Siwoo hyung didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. He walked over to the weapon rack, calmly scanning through the choices.
Then he picked up a wooden sword.
A wooden sword—not even a real blade.
“A wooden sword? Don’t joke with us.”
“Are you mocking me?!”
The burly guy and the guild members beside him flushed red with anger.
But Siwoo hyung weighed the wooden sword in his hand, completely composed.
“I can’t use a real blade for training, can I? And also…”
He glanced over everyone present and then spoke again.
What he said next shocked even me.
“One, two, three, four… Six of you? Training you one by one would take too long. Let’s do it all at once.”
I was a member of Korea’s representative Dokkaebi Guild.
I could tell at a glance that these guys were no pushovers.
And yet he told them to all come at him at once.
‘Is he—is he going to cause a disaster?’
The burly swordsman raised his weapon first. Then the spear user, greatsword user, dagger user, shield user, and even the guild member trained in martial arts—all flared up in anger.
Honestly, I agreed with them.
If I were one of them, I would’ve thrown the first punch before even getting angry.
“What…!?”
“Is he insane?”
“There’s a limit to how much I can tolerate just because he’s the guildmaster’s guest!”
“Guest? When did you treat me like a real guest? I remember being locked in a tiny room and fed scraps.”
“Ghhh…”
Well… he’s not wrong.
Hyung always hits hardest with facts.
“If none of you are going to make the first move, I’ll start.”
Thud—
Siwoo hyung stomped the ground.
The impact shook the training hall as he rushed forward instantly.
The air suddenly grew heavy.
‘It’s starting…’
I instinctively held my breath.
His movements were completely different from when we played tag.
Faster. Sharper.
His entire body was radiating the killing edge of a blade.
‘So he was just playing around with me back then…?’
The first target was the burly swordsman.
Swish—
Hyung angled the wooden sword, deflecting the blade while simultaneously pressing down on the man’s wrist.
“When you grip a sword, putting too much strength into your thumb and index finger stiffens your wrist. Like this…”
Tap—
He lightly struck the man’s wrist with the wooden sword.
The man dropped his weapon.
Even I, a kid, knew what that meant for a swordsman.
“What…?”
Before the man could even process what happened, Siwoo hyung was already approaching the next opponent.
“—Hup!”
“You got too close.”
The spear wielder.
It was obvious he wanted to create distance to use his weapon’s reach, but Siwoo hyung slid along the spear’s shaft and stepped right inside his guard.
“In combat, the most basic fundamental is ‘distance.’ And yet a spearman failing to control distance…? Start over.”
“Ugh…!”
Thud!
The wooden sword slammed horizontally into the spearman’s abdomen.
He hit the floor immediately.
The remaining guild members, who had been watching arrogantly with arms crossed, finally rushed in.
“This bastard…!”
Whooosh—!
The greatsword user swung with the intent to cleave him in half.
Crack—!
But Siwoo hyung simply sidestepped and struck his shoulder with the wooden sword.
The man dropped.
“If you want to utilize the weight of a greatsword, you must loosen your shoulders instead of tensing them. Use wrist and arm flexibility.”
My eyes widened.
I expected him to be strong, but this was beyond anything I imagined.
“He’s insane… absolutely insane.”
Even my father—the guildmaster of the Dokkaebi Guild—never gave off this kind of feeling.
Father was strong, but… not stylish like this.
“Damn it—go together!”
“Shit…!”
With the greatsword user down, the dagger user and shield user charged simultaneously.
But hyung looked unfazed.
“If you’re going to swing a dagger at that angle, why even bother with a blade? I can block it just like a fist… Like this!”
Tap tap tap—!! Thud!
He parried the dagger strikes with his empty hand and stopped the shield rush with a kick.
“And if you’re using a shield, why attack with the flat side? The edge is far more dangerous.”
“Ghhh!”
Then the martial artist rushed in with a punch.
Hyung blocked all his punches and kicks with just a single wooden sword.
“Your attacks are too honest. Don’t think of just your hands and feet as weapons. Your entire body is a weapon in martial arts.”
Hyung wasn’t just fighting them.
He was training them—correcting their footwork, angles, weapon handling.
A violent, physical, real-time lesson.
And it worked.
Their movements noticeably improved.
But the fight became fiercer—and then quickly ended.
“Then I’ll start taking this seriously.”
He kicked a fallen staff upward, smashing it into the dagger user’s shin.
Crack—!
“Argh!”
Then he switched between wooden sword and staff mid-air, sometimes using neither and relying entirely on strikes with his body.
“Holy crap…”
I muttered without realizing.
He looked like someone born for battle.
No wasted movement at all.
‘Seriously, what is he? How can someone fight like that?’
The six guild members were being pushed back hard.
Their faces stiffened.
Being lectured by one guy was already humiliating, but being utterly crushed…?
So they exchanged looks.
‘Those bastards… planning something?’
Even I knew what they were thinking.
He’s just a Tamer.
He hasn’t used any class skills.
If we use ours, we can win.
It was obvious on their faces.
‘These idiots…’
The burly man enveloped his sword in energy.
Sharp sword aura surged.
Others activated their own skills—spear aura, flaming greatsword, enhanced dagger, shield energy, and martial reinforcement.
“Blame your arrogance. Giving us advice like that…”
“We’ll get punished later if we must. But we’ll land one hit on you.”
Six different combat auras targeted Siwoo hyung at once.
I felt suffocated.
Even for him, taking all six attacks at once was dangerous.
“No…!”
I tried to jump in.
At that moment—
Rumble—!
KRRRACK—!!
A red light flashed behind Siwoo hyung.
Then a massive centaur wielding a giant spear appeared.
“Master. Kill all?”
I recognized it from the news—the Roar of the Red Spear.
The beast blocked all six attacks in a single massive sweep.
“Ghh—!”
“Argh!”
The guild members were knocked flat instantly.
Their faces were priceless.
Fully drained of color.
“So now you want to do this seriously?”
Siwoo hyung’s voice echoed coldly.
The pressure from him and the centaur made all six freeze.
Even I had trouble breathing.
‘Holy crap… so this is a Tamer’s power? This is so damn cool!’
My heart pounded.
Cool.
Cool enough that I wanted to learn it.
Then—
WEEEEEEEOOOO—!!!
“……!”
“……?!”
“Air raid! Everyone to your positions!”
“Enemies! Move!”
Sirens blared throughout the guild headquarters.
An emergency alert.
The guild members who had frozen earlier immediately snapped into motion and disappeared, like machines receiving input.
This kind of situation was ingrained into their bodies.
“Woojin, follow me!”
Siwoo hyung ran off after them, clearly knowing something.
We reached the fortress wall.
“Hyung, what’s going on?”
“……”
He didn’t answer, watching the roads between the buildings intently.
“I didn’t think it would be this bad…”
His expression hardened instantly.
Bad signs flashed in his eyes.
And then—
They appeared.
Not beasts.
But nearly a thousand people.
