Chapter 260. Each Person’s Const.i.tution (3)
The training of death started. It wasn’t even a metaphorical description but a literal one. Without exaggerating one bit, Chi-Woo had to die at least a hundred times while suffering through excruciating pain on a daily basis. An ordinary person’s mind would’ve broken down by now. But Chi-Woo had already accepted the possibility of death in his time at the cave and experienced greater pain there. Furthermore, he was aware that he wouldn’t truly die, so Chi-Woo managed to endure.
However, a person’s patience didn’t run on forever. It soon reached its limit, and after doing such intense training every day, it didn’t seem possible for Chi-Woo to remain completely fine. Fortunately, Chi-Woo didn’t just keep dying meaningless deaths. He tried very hard on his end and made great efforts to get used to striking with the correct posture that his teacher taught him. He was able to succeed seven to eight times out of ten in a safe situation, but when facing a threat, his chance of success dropped dramatically. Because he had to instinctively extend his fists in a hurry, it was difficult for him to succeed even one out of ten times under threat. He needed to fix this so that he could successfully strike his opponent with the correct posture whatever the situation was.
And perhaps thanks to the Golden Ratio S rank’s influence, Chi-Woo was able to make some progress. The more he died and the more he tried, his chances of success increased little by little. As a result, Chi-Woo was able to eventually make a proper counterattack one or two times instead of getting beat up one-sidedly. That wasn’t enough though. Even when his opponent backed away after getting hit, more enemies rushed at him from all sides. At this rate, it seemed he would never be able to fend off dozens of enemies at once.
Chi-Woo didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to taste this terrible pain that he could never get used to. And as strong survival instincts kicked in, Chi-Woo finally decided to contemplate harder. He was in a situation that he couldn’t escape and needed to fight at all costs.
‘What should I do?’
It would be difficult for him to hit all ten opponents with just ten strikes. He needed something else to escape the situation. That was what Chi-Woo came up with after dying 1,200 times. It was as both Philip and Evelyn said; Chi-Woo had the tendency to overcomplicate things. Thus, Chi-Woo decided to think of the simplest and easiest way to change his situation. The first method he thought of was to change his location. As soon as Chi-Woo’s form materialized, he ran until he found a corner and fought there. Surprisingly, this tactic was quite effective. Since instead of getting attacked from all four directions, he needed to only focus on two, he had more ease than before.
However, that only extended the time Chi-Woo endured, and the battle’s result didn’t change dramatically in the end. He soon realized that when facing opponents like the silver golem that was much bigger and heavier than him, backing into a corner was the same as committing suicide. Thus, Chi-Woo realized that there was a limit to utilizing the topography of his surroundings. At the end of the day, he had to improve his own skills if he wanted to survive. Realizing this, Chi-Woo thought deeply again.
‘What should I do now?’
His opponent didn’t die even after a proper hit. These were creatures that even Dalgil and Ru Amuh struggled to beat, and they had a tough life force. If he could, Chi-Woo wanted to pin the golem down and pound at it like crazy, but the situation didn’t allow for it. Thus, Chi-Woo decided that he needed something more that could inflict real damage on his opponents rather than just backing away like this. What did he need?
‘A sword…no, some trick…no, the things I can do right now are using the right posture and snapping technique…huh?’ Chi-Woo thought, and an idea came to his head. Keeping the right posture and the snapping technique were both means to maximize efficient use of energy and damage to his opponents. What if he didn’t use each technique separately but used them simultaneously? What would happen then? Chi-Woo imagined the scene and reenacted it.
Bam!
“Kaah!”
Previously, the thorn wolf flinched and backed away a couple of steps after being hit by Chi-Woo’s mana-filled strike; but now, it flew into the air and rolled onto the ground. The wolf staggered upwards, but fell again before it could take more than a couple of steps. It spewed blood from its mouth and shuddered like it was in great pain. It seemed like it couldn’t even regain its senses. Chi-Woo was stunned by the might of his new strike, and the sensation he had felt when making contact with the enemy still lingered in his fist.
The effect of combining his two techniques wasn’t even addition, but multiplication. 100 plus 100 was 200, but 100 times 100 was 10,000. The differences between the two were astonis.h.i.+ng. Though small, he was able to change the outcome of the battle. For the first time, Chi-Woo was able to take down two to three enemies with him before dying. If he had one-sidedly been beaten down before, it felt as if he was at least resisting till the very end now. Nevertheless, the fact that he kept dying in this training s.p.a.ce didn’t change.
He was still very lacking. And it was a coincidence that he learned the next clue. While trying to block a fierce attack that came flying from his left mid-battle, Chi-Woo suddenly felt bloodl.u.s.t from the front.
‘Oh yeah!’ He responded a bit too late. He didn’t even have time to look back but instinctively stretched out his arm and swung his fist. He was about to execute the snapping technique when he suddenly felt a heavy feeling through his palm. Even in this urgent situation, Chi-Woo felt shocked. How could he have finished his snapping technique when he didn’t retract his fist? After the battle ended, Chi-Woo thought hard and replayed what had happened a moment ago over and over again in his head.
‘I definitely felt it…’ His arm had been extended to the maximum, and the area he was aiming for was the perfect distance away so that his snapping technique succeeded. It was then Chi-Woo realized that he had been trapped in false thinking, and there wasn’t only one way to do the snapping technique.
‘I just need to strike exactly at the mark,’ Chi-Woo thought. If he could, it wouldn’t matter if he retracted or not. But then what was the reason for retracting in the first place? Chi-Woo thought deeply about how even when boxers looked as if they were striking sloppily, the sandbags made great noises; and how even their jabs made fearsome sounds.
‘That’s it. It’s to make a series of hits. If I could also quickly unleash a string of attacks in a row…’ Chi-Woo thought of a different way to approach this battle again. Combining two techniques was a good idea, but he couldn’t use it as freely as he wanted due to the difficulty of doing both at once. No matter how much he got used to the techniques, there were limits to them with his opponents continuously attempting to break his posture.
What if he purposefully created an opportunity to successfully utilize both techniques at once then? For example, he could corner an opponent with snapping jabs, and when his opponent was caught off guard, he could try a combination of the two techniques. Of course, this was not as easy as it sounded. To do this, Chi-Woo needed to solve one essential problem; he was at a numerical disadvantage.
‘But if I could hit many at once…wait a moment.’
‘If I can retract as soon as I hit my mark…what about just brus.h.i.+ng past my target?’
‘I wouldn’t be able to do it with my right fist alone.’
‘Of course, then, I would have to be able to use my left fist and my two legs freely…’
‘No, not just my arms and legs…’
He would need to know how to utilize his whole body as a weapon, including even his elbows. The more Chi-Woo thought about it, the more ideas he had. ‘What will happen if I do this?’ he wondered, ‘Or what about this?’ Unlike before, when he trusted in one technique to do all the work, ideas stretched out of him and grew branches like a tree.
***
A month had pa.s.sed since Chi-Woo began training under Byeok. And the whole time, Philip didn’t stray from Chi-Woo’s side for even one moment and waited. It wasn’t out of a sense of loyalty. If he had nothing much to do, he would have gone to the streets to watch beautiful women there. But he stayed the first two weeks beside Chi-Woo out of concern for the latter. Philip worried that Chi-Woo would lose his sanity and humanity after dying a hundred times every day. Then, after some time, the number of times Chi-Woo died dropped significantly.
In the beginning, Chi-Woo would end up squealing and squirming on the ground within five minutes of the mental s.p.a.ce taking form. Then it became 10, 15, 20, and 30 minutes…and the time he endured within the s.p.a.ce increased more and more. It wasn’t only about the time he lasted. Philip could tell just by Chi-Woo’s posture and voice. Instead of floundering about until he died, he now made impactful sounds every time he swerved his arms and legs in the air.
Philip saw that Chi-Woo was finally doing a proper battle. And because he enjoyed seeing Chi-Woo continuously progress, he couldn’t leave his spot.
—…It’s amazing, mademoiselle.
Philip exclaimed after watching for a while.
—I told him to think so many times before, but it made no difference…
“It’s not really a surprise.” Byeok snorted. “He had been thinking in one direction for 20 years, you can’t expect him to think in a completely different direction suddenly.”
—That’s why you must have created a situation that forced him to think.
“That is the nature of living things. In a dire situation where their survival is threatened, their body is bound to push its limits.” Byeok snickered. It was then Chi-Woo grimaced after getting hit, and Philip’s eyes opened wide.
—Oh?
He gasped at what happened afterward.
***
On a battlefield where his life was threatened every moment, Chi-Woo experienced a very strange anomaly for the first time in his life. It happened after he got hit on his back from the left. He quickly flicked the attack away with his elbow, but the posture he had been barely managing to maintain crumbled. He was about to fall over as three thorn wolves rushed at him simultaneously and a silver golem extended its fist from behind. It was obvious what would happen next; he would fall to the ground, and his body would be chewed on and ripped to pieces… Yes, that was what was supposed to happen, but it didn’t.
It was then Chi-Woo realized something was different this time. What should have happened to him in a couple seconds wasn’t coming. ‘Was…one second always this long…?
The thorn wolves were motionless in the air like time had stopped. That wasn’t all. Chi-Woo felt his vision widen. Though his two eyes were facing the front, he could grasp the whole area in one glance even after with his synesthesia and extrasensory perception abilities sealed.
‘What happened?’ Chi-Woo was confused. ‘What’s going on…?’ Was he dead? But his body responded differently. It seemed to be telling him that it wasn’t over yet. He was still alive, and in his current state, he could still survive. It was loud and clear in his mind.
Thump!
Not long afterward—in the moment where his heart thumped more clearly than ever—Chi-Woo extended his hands and touched the floor. He still couldn’t understand the situation, but he went along with the way his body directed him. Eventually, time unpaused, and the thorn wolves rushed forward again. Using one of his feet as support, Chi-Woo twisted his waist like he was about to do a handstand and drew a large trajectory with his feet.
Kehkeh!
His feet swung in the shape of a crescent moon and kicked the thorn wolves. It was a magnificent sight, but the battle was still not over. The silver golem’s relentless punches were approaching. Chi-Woo’s body led him again. Instead of returning to his original posture, Chi-Woo maintained his stance and pushed off the floor after filling his hands with mana.
He flew into the air as if he was swept by a rough whirlwind until he was above the silver golem. While maintaining the posture he had used to kick away the thorn wolves, Chi-Woo added more speed and spin to his movements. He spun around and struck his feet exactly onto the golem’s neck. Bang!
An explosive sound rang out and shook the ground. Then, when Chi-Woo landed, the floor shook widely once more. The silver golem failed to withstand the impact and toppled over.
Spark! Blue currents jittered around its neck. The golem seemed to be greatly damaged as it failed to get up again. Chi-Woo stared blankly at the result of his actions. He had just done the perfect kick using rebound power and flexibility, with rotational force added on top of it.
***??????????ℯ?. ???
After the battle ended, Chi-Woo left the Image Representation s.p.a.ce and immediately got into a lotus position to meditate. His body felt hot. Heat exuded out from his nostrils, and his body felt like it was dominated by a mysterious sensation. No, this wasn’t something that had been done for him. It was a state he achieved by himself. He was sure of it.
‘Just now…I was able to perfectly control my body…!’ As a result, he was able to execute movements that would’ve normally been unimaginable for him. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but he couldn’t forget this sensation right now. He needed to digest it to the best of his ability, and he quickly observed the inner parts of his body to do this. And thus, he soon felt the transformations that had taken place inside.
When Byeok first asked him:
—What sound do you hear from your body?
Chi-Woo responded that it was the sound of his exorcism mana. The second time she asked, he answered that it was the thumping of his chest. But he realized now what kind of answer Byeok had wanted. He felt it now. This wasn’t simply the sound of his heart. They were the sounds of his left ventricle receiving blood filled with oxygen and his right ventricle pumping blood into the lungs, as well as the sound of blood flowing across his entire body. This was energy, and right now, vital energy was overflowing in his body.
Like how he maximized the energy he expelled with the snapping technique, one could also control one’s energy more efficiently. This was the key to the movements he had showcased just before in the last battle.
‘Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’ This was probably what his master wanted to tell him from the beginning. And he had been frustrated because all he knew was the snapping technique; he didn’t know any of the core foundations of battle.
“What sound do you—” Byeok was about to ask the same question when Chi-Woo suddenly got up from his spot. He clenched and unclenched his fists, folded and unfolded his arms, and kicked his legs. Byeok lowered her jaw slightly seeing Chi-Woo’s movements. Then, after observing him for a while, a soft smile tugged at her lips.
There was no need for her to ask the question anymore. She knew Chi-Woo was probably too focused on checking the types of energy that were expelled when he moved different parts of his body, including his muscles, muscular fibers, bones, and overall skeleton. This wasn’t an ability that Chi-Woo gained after a set process. It didn’t even manifest as an ability in his user information either. Whoever the student was, though, this skill was what Byeok taught foremost, especially for species like humans who had a clear physical limit.
‘He did it in the end. Thank goodness,’ Byeok thought.
This skill would be the very foundation of his learning from now on. Although Chi-Woo still had a long way to go, he had managed to take a great leap forward. In a world teeming with unbelievable monsters like Liber, Chi-Woo gained the power to fight against those in it. And he didn’t gain this power from some imperfect, unstable G.o.d, but through his own efforts as an ordinary human.