Surviving Restructuring

Intermediate Swordsmanship, Advanced Swordsmanship, and the Swordmaster course each demanded an absurd amount of time to complete. To be precise, eight hundred hours, two thousand five hundred hours, and five thousand hours respectively.

The lesson content itself was not disclosed at all, likely in the name of fairness. Even so, the posted course objectives were enough to give a rough idea of what awaited him. The objective of Basic Swordsmanship had been Know Thyself. Beginner Swordsmanship had pushed him to Overcome Your Limits. That of the Intermediate Swordsmanship was Challenge the Impossible.

Despite the open warning that the course would be anything but easy, Eun-Ho did not feel afraid. None of the trials and crises he had faced so far had ever been easy to begin with.

So what kind of “impossible” things have they prepared this time?

That was all he wondered.

I’ve made every preparation I can.

He still remembered the first time he took Beginner Swordsmanship. The moment he stepped outside, the classroom had transformed into a jungle. It had oppressive heat, Mealworms the size of cargo trucks, house-sized flowers, and swarming insects that attacked on sight. He had thrown himself in unprepared, relying solely on brute force.

Unlike back then, he decided to prepare properly this time.

“From here to here,” Eun-Ho had said calmly. “I’ll take all of it.”

“All of it?!” the Soeju Shop employee exclaimed in disbelief.

This was his way of doing things.

“Cold Resistance, Heat Resistance, Freeze Resistance, Fire Resistance, Lightning Resistance, Underwater Breathing, Anaerobic Breathing... Phew. Just what kind of hell are you heading into that you need all of this?” the clerk asked, looking utterly worn out as they gathered potion after potion.

While draining every Welfare Point he had earned from the last trial, Eun-Ho answered, “An unknown one.”

“I see. Then I wish you luck,” the clerk had replied.

Even though he had to spend a considerable number of points, he managed to squeeze out maximum efficiency from them. Right now, nothing was more precious to him than time.

Alright. Let’s go.

[You have entered the Intermediate Swordsmanship classroom.]

Eun-Ho stepped through the wide-open door.

[Brace for impact!]

Then, his vision went dark. As if blinking, reality momentarily faded, then returned in a rush of light. His eyes blinked reflexively as they adjusted to the brightness.

[A new rule has been applied.]

[Classroom-exclusive trait Heavenly Weight has been activated!]

Eun-Ho sank violently toward the ground, as though invisible hands had dragged him down with crushing force. His heart seemed to constrict under the pressure. As he wavered over which potion to use, a will stronger than any drug took hold.

[Emperor Cockroach’s Adaptability has been activated!]

[You partially adapt to the enhanced gravity reinforced by primordial tenacity.]

[Classroom-exclusive trait Heavenly Weight has been reduced to Hundredfold Weight.]

The crushing heaviness that had threatened to collapse his heart eased to something closer to severe muscle pain or a bad flu.

“Oh.”

Is this what they call impossible? It’s still manageable.

That thought didn’t last.

Thud!

Just then, the plain beneath his feet surged upward like a chick breaking out of its shell. From within, a snowman-like creature—half molten lava, half living flesh—burst into view.

[You have consumed the Ember of Endurance.]

[A temporary skill Flame Resistance(Lv. 1) has been unlocked.]

[Duration: 3 minutes 18 seconds.]

[Defeat the Lava Yeti!]

***

A vast expanse of bare rock stretched in every direction, not a blade of grass in sight. Lava poured out of the Yeti’s eyes, nose, and mouth, flowing like rivers of fire.

Through the scorching heat that made Eun-Ho’s eyes sting even from afar, a message appeared.

[Intermediate Swordsmanship course objective has been updated.]

[Completion condition: Defeat the Lava Yeti.]

[Meet the conditions and complete the course!]

That was all there was to it. Instead of having to grin through a hundred minor enemies, he only had to defeat a single target.

Eun-Ho couldn’t summon the Ice Golem outright because it would melt the moment it appeared. Even so, compared to the Beginner Swordsmanship, this seemed almost merciful.

Thuuuuud—!

The Yeti raised its red left arm. Lava poured down from its shoulder, spilling along every finger joint like bloody tears. The lava pooled at its fingertips, boiling like thick blisters.

Plop—

Then, a single drop fell. From it emerged a helmeted lizard, with legs wrapped in greaves and a tail of roiling red magma.

[Defeat the Lava Soldier of the Snowfields!]

“Enemy! Burn! Burn it all!”

Blazing magma hurtled forward. The soldier sharpened both arms into blades, embers dripping from its raised tail as it closed the distance in a flash.

“Acce—” Eun-Ho stopped himself mid-word.

Let’s save it.

Behind the lava soldier, the Yeti had raised its right arm, this one formed of snow and ice instead of lava.

First...

He leaped aside to evade and shouted, “Summon Ice Golem!”

The ground shook as the Ice Golem emerged, slamming into place.

“Block it!”

Leaving the Golem to handle defense for the moment, Eun-Ho brandished his sword. Cold, azure flames flickered along the blade’s curve. The sword hummed, swelling as if it meant to swallow even the clinging heat itself.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heart pounded with a sharp, exhilarating tension. Steadying himself, Eun-Ho slipped behind the lizard, which had arrogantly wrapped its tail around the Ice Golem’s ankle.

“Ice! Doesn’t work!” cried the lizard.

Then, Eun-Ho slashed, making the armor split in half and crash to the ground. His aim was the space between the tail and the waist, where the tailbone should have been.

Swoosh—!

He was sure his blade cut cleanly through, but it rejoined. Not because the lizard had discarded and regenerated its tail, but because it was lava.

“So it didn’t cut?”

The viscous liquid making up its form allowed no interruption at all.

If it’s the same as lava, then...

Eun-Ho halted his attack and retreated. At the same time, items in his inventory flashed through his mind like lightning. Meanwhile, the Yeti began shedding snow.

Snowflakes formed at its chest, scraping softly as they moved. They slid over its shoulders and down its arms, growing larger until they became a full snowball that dropped to the ground.

[Defeat the Flame Yeti Soldier!]

A massive white bear appeared, clad in armor that covered it up to the belly. Its head was crowned with a green helmet, and in its hands rested a spear over three meters long.

“So there’s two of them,” Eun-Ho muttered.

Good thing he’d saved Acceleration. With the pattern clear, he dealt with them individually, spending twenty seconds on each.

Just as that thought formed, a drop of lava and a snowball fell at the same time from the Yeti’s hands.

Plop.

Again?!

[Defeat the Lava Soldier of the Snowfields!]

[Defeat the Flame Yeti Soldier!]

There came another pair.

[Defeat the Lava Soldier of the Snowfields!]

[Defeat the Flame Yeti Soldier!]

Then, not too late, another pair formed.

[Defeat the Lava Soldier of the Snowfields!]

[Defeat the Flame Yeti Soldier!]

...

Across the empty wasteland, Lava Soldiers and Yeti Soldiers spread like mold. Looking at that scene, one word came to mind.

Seeds.

On a stage of absolute nothingness, the Lava Yeti was creating countless soldiers as if it were reenacting Adam and Eve. It was a sight worthy of awe, but Eun-Ho had no room to admire it. After all, those lives would grow into his enemies.

No wonder it takes eight hundred hours just to clear one of these.

This wasn’t a battle that could be won on stacking resistance stats alone. Even now, as pairs of soldiers continued to multiply, he couldn’t properly close the distance to the Yeti.

“Graaaaah!”

The Ice Golem was clearly struggling as well, melted bit by bit by the swarm of lizards clinging to it. On top of that, Eun-Ho’s movements were still hindered by the enhanced gravity. It was shaping up to be a brutal fight.

[One hour has passed since the start of the lecture!]

Then I’ll speed things up to save time.

“Enemy! Defeat!”

“Me first! Defeat!”

“No! Me first!”

“I’m first,” Eun-Ho said flatly.

With that single sentence, he shut down their meaningless chatter and moved.

Whoosh—!

Scalding lava and icy snowballs flew toward him like explosives, but he dodged them all in one fluid motion.

“Activate,” he said.

He grasped a soft, black item in his hand. In response, a dark ripple spread from the feather touching his palm, flowing outward like a wave. Following that, wings attached themselves to his back as if they had always been part of him. Glossy feathers wrapped around him before unfurling wide. Thus, Eun-Ho took to the air.

Below him, the Lava Soldiers and Yeti Soldiers grew smaller and smaller.

“Flying?!”

Above their heads, Eun-Ho calmly combined the final potion he had prepared.

***

「One hour has passed since the start of the lecture!」

The classroom had fallen into an eerie silence.

The assistant instructor focused entirely on the announcement echoing through the empty space. “It’s going to be hard.”

That bastard had confidently declared he would finish everything within ten thousand hours. However, training for four hundred and twenty days while sleeping only four hours a day was no easy feat. What he’d calculated was an optimal route with not even a single hour of buffer. One day of stomach trouble alone would spell total failure.

“But even if he gives up midway, it’ll still help.”

That was how training worked. Nothing seemed to change for a long time, and then growth came all at once, in sudden leaps. Even if he didn’t reach the final destination, he’d likely climb a step or two. If he quit, then he quit.

Until then, the assistant instructor would wait, because such was an educator’s duty. Suppressing the strange trembling in his fingertips, he continued to observe from a distance, calm as a lake.

What Eun-Ho did next shattered the instructor’s silence in a single second.

He let out a shrill cry. “That lunatic! What is he doing right now?!”

Thud—

Eun-Ho had pulled out a drum barrel nearly as large as himself, filling it to the brim with hundreds of bottles of water.

Glug—

Then he poured in a pale, milky potion and stirred it vigorously.

“That potion is!”

It carried a strange hue, shifting between pure white and soft pink. The fragrance was so sweet that even through a mask, Eun-Ho’s eyes grew half-dazed. Ants and flying insects were already gathering nearby.

The assistant instructor recognized the potion. It was a tonic distilled from the essence of a sperm whale, infamous for provoking enemies and drawing overwhelming attention.

[Foam Mirage Energy Tonic]

- An energy tonic made by blending Sperm Whale Oil with Mermaid Foam.

- Upon consumption, physical stamina stats are doubled for thirty minutes, and the skill Taunt(Lv. 1) is activated, drawing enemies’ attention.

- Caution: it may attract unwanted attention as well.

The ingredients were outrageously expensive, which meant gathering that much would have cost a fortune.

“He diluted it with plain water to increase the volume?!”

But why?

Eun-Ho already had the attention of every soldier as he was.

Is it for the Stamina boost? But then diluting it makes even less sense.

The more diluted a potion, the weaker its effect when consumed. It would only be understandable if he hadn’t known that.

Eun-Ho making such a basic mistake?

The instructor frowned, unable to connect the dots. As if answering that frustration, Eun-Ho calmly made a remark.

「Turns out pheromones work just fine even if you only spray them.」

Spray? What are you thinking?

Eun-Ho then flew past the mass of soldiers and straight over the Lava Yeti’s head.

Whoooosh—!

He dumped the entire barrel directly onto the target he was meant to kill all at once.

“Enemy? Enemy?!”

“Defeat target?!”

The White Bear’s tongue twisted uselessly and the lizard’s tail wandered like a Möbius strip.

Then finally, as their nostrils flared and their eyes went slack, the assistant instructor dropped the sword he had been holding.

“Enemy! Defeat!”

“Charge!”

Clang!

He couldn’t bring himself to pick it back up. In an instant, the Lava Soldiers and Yeti Soldiers turned feral. Then, just like a swarm of starving locusts, they melted their creator, froze it, then melted and froze it again until it was completely destroyed.

「Class complete!」

「You have fulfilled the completion requirements for Intermediate Swordsmanship!」

“...Damn.”

Eun-Ho had completed Intermediate Swordsmanship class in eighty minutes, which normally took an average of eight hundred hours to clear.