Our family, as a whole, consists of stoic individuals (TL Note: ‘Deom-deom-chung’ is a Korean slang term referring to someone who is generally calm, unexpressive, or unemotional.).
My father, my mother, and I—all of us were equally reserved in expressing our emotions.
There were no displays of affection, nor did we easily get flustered by ordinary events.
The sole exception was my younger sister; I once suggested that her unusually quirky personality meant she must have been adopted, and for that, I received thirty strikes to my calves.
That must have been when I was about seven or eight years old.
Was it perhaps ten years ago from today?
Today, for the first time in a decade, I was thoroughly scolded.
While, having become an adult this year, I wasn’t physically punished, sitting at the dining table for an hour, locked in a silent staring contest with my mother, felt like a form of torture.
All because I had entered the Tower’s first floor without a word.
The first floor of the Tower, where a brutal slaughter between monsters and humans unfolded.
A place where death was a very real possibility.
The phrase ‘to feel utterly ashamed’ truly existed for moments such as this.
Yet, if one were to abandon climbing the Tower during the tutorial, they would never again be permitted to enter it.
Therefore, I had no other choice.
I couldn’t simply discard the Martial God’s Talent.
Nor could I expose the fact that I had acquired the Martial God’s Talent.
As I’d mentioned before, I had gained the talent, but I hadn’t actually become the Martial God.
I had decided to keep it a secret from everyone around me until I possessed skills befitting the talent.
My family was no exception.
****
“Go on in.”
As the interrogation, punishment, and torture session concluded, I entered my room to find a mirrored vanity, a piece of furniture that certainly shouldn’t have been there.
Moreover, clothes that had been displaced from my overflowing closet now hung on a clothing rack.
It hadn’t been like that before. Absolutely not.
Even the wallpaper, which had been white when I left the house today, had subtly transformed into a fresh sky-blue, catching my attention.
Surely, the Martial God couldn’t have painstakingly redecorated every single detail.
‘A turning point in the world?’ ‘Causality?’ Had I perhaps meddled with something of that nature?
The thought of such concepts truly existing left me feeling rather perplexed.
And in my state of perplexity, I was greeted by Yodo, the Ghost Slasher.
‘So you’ve finally arrived?’
‘You’re rather late.’
“I thought you’d at least have some pride left. To think you’ve become a pathetic stalker. It’s truly regrettable how you ended up like this.”
‘I didn’t come here of my own volition!’
‘I simply regained consciousness and found myself here!’
After offering its excuse, the sword then ‘assaulted’ me with its observations.
‘I thought you were a complete tomboy, but this room is quite cute, isn’t it!’
‘What’s with this enormous teddy bear?’
‘Do you even sleep with it?’
‘Hah hah!’
‘A sword doesn’t have eyes, so how does it perceive its surroundings?’
‘Is it some form of ‘soul sight’ after all?’
‘Does that mean there’s an invisible phantom truly clinging to the sword?’
“So, are you Jinkuro? Or Orochi?”
According to the veterans of the Katana Gallery, the Ghost Slasher is a cursed demonic blade, having been bathed in the blood of both Jinkuro, the human swordsman who perished alongside it, and Orochi, the Ghost King.
‘So, who exactly is this noisy fellow?’
‘Hoh, so you know that tale as well?’
‘Indeed, it seems there’s nowhere my fame hasn’t spread.’
‘But I am the Ghost Slasher.’
‘Neither Jinkuro nor Orochi.’
‘I am a sword, neither human nor monster!’
“Ordinary swords don’t typically talk to people, you know.”
‘That’s because those paltry blades are beneath my level!’
‘I am the King of Katanas.’
‘No katana could ever be sharper or more durable than I!’
‘Now!’
‘So, quickly draw me and let us walk the path of the Ascendant!’
“No katana could possibly be louder than you. Not buying it. Not buying it.”
Rejecting the sword as if shooing away a persistent subway peddler, I then began to organize the items I had acquired from the Tower.
“Status Window.”
─────────────
■[Basic Information]
· Name: Chae Hyeon-jin
· Race: Human
· Gender: Female
· Age: 18
· Occupation: None
· Combat Power: 71
─────────────
■[Detailed Stats]
· Health: 11/11
· Mana: 9/11
· Strength: 12
· Perception: 12
· Intellect: 11
· Willpower: 11
◎[Free Distribution Points: 5]
─────────────
■[Talents]
· Martial God’s Talent
· Myriad Paths Converge
· Martial God’s Physique
─────────────
■[Skills]
· Throwing
· Basic Swordsmanship
· Martial Arts Net
‘What did I even do to reach 71 already?’
When I first opened the Status Window after receiving the Martial God’s Talent, my Combat Power had been 25.
I had initially considered that equivalent to two and a half adult men, so there was no room for confusion.
The Skill window, which had been utterly empty before, now displayed three skills.
Though ‘Martial Arts Net’ was merely a skill that allowed me to browse online forums (TL Note: ‘Gael-jil’ refers to engaging in activities on an online ‘gallery’ or forum, in this context likely a hunter-related one.).
My overall specifications had dramatically increased due to the permanent stat boosts accompanying the skills.
Did an increase in Strength from 10 to 12 mean I was 1.2 times stronger?
To gauge the extent of my increased strength, I performed a handstand.
Given my peak-level flexibility and balance, holding my body upright presented no difficulty whatsoever.
Only my now-longer hair obscured my face, obstructing my vision.
‘Then, a push-up in this position—’
‘—It’s hard.’
It seemed I hadn’t grown quite that strong after all.
The Martial God’s Physique merely offered high potential for growth; it didn’t instantly grant me an incredibly powerful body.
With no other option, I lowered the difficulty by attempting push-ups from a prone position, only to find my chest hitting the ground before my arms could fully bend.
‘Training oneself is certainly no easy feat.’
‘I roughly understand it now. My current level.’
I was still a long way from reaching the level of a monster that had abandoned its humanity.
Combat Power 71 was likely a figure calculated not just from my pure physical stats, but also factoring in the potential use of Basic Swordsmanship and Throwing.
Nevertheless, the intuitive notion that I had become more than twice as strong upon exiting the first floor than when I entered it made me feel quite pleased.
“Hoo-hoo.”
The Free Distribution Points I received after clearing the Frenzy 1st Floor.
With no immediate urgency, perhaps I should hold onto them and observe the situation.
For today, I would rest, and use them when I returned to the Tower tomorrow.
Then, to conclude the day, a bath.
“Ah, so refreshing.”
“?”
Of course, it wasn’t because I loved the demonic blade so much that I brought it with me to the bathroom.
After showering outside the tub while filling it with hot water, I was about to step in when I noticed that insane sword had already submerged itself.
Since it hadn’t opened the bathroom door and walked in, it must have teleported.
Defying the laws of physics.
“A sword is made of metal, can it really go into water?”
“Aren’t humidity and moisture the natural enemies of metal?”
‘Didn’t I tell you not to compare me to those mere common blades?’
‘Would a demonic blade, already drenched in blood, rust from a bit of water?’
“Then why are you in there sheath and all?”
‘Well, because if you don’t draw me, I can’t get out of the sheath.’
I stared intently into the bathwater.
Fortunately, it hadn’t turned into muddy water or a bloody broth.
‘That Yodo fellow, it seems to have been cleaner than I thought?’
Indeed, if it had been dirty, my bed would have been the first to turn into a mud pit.
Filling a bathtub with a single faucet takes quite a long time.
After much deliberation, I decided to simply get into the tub with Yodo.
This was because I neither wanted to refill the water nor give up on my bath.
Still, I felt compelled to speak my mind.
“Getting into the tub first without your owner’s permission. You rude, ill-mannered blade.”
And so, my first day entering the Tower came to an end.
****
The next day.
I awoke to a rustling sound.
The sound of someone rummaging through my closet.
‘A thief.’
“Hey. I’m borrowing some clothes.”
‘This girl.’
‘Not even asking for permission.’
‘She’s already wearing them and informing me as she leaves.’
The girl, whose eyes met mine, sauntered over to me and then abruptly stared intently at my face.
“Were you always this pretty?”
‘Well, I am naturally a bit superior.’
My sister was one year younger than me.
She never called me ‘Unnie’ (TL Note: ‘Unnie’ is a respectful term used by a younger female to address an older female.), always just ‘hey,’ the ill-mannered girl.
Still, being the only lively, sensitive, and aggressive one among our stoic family members, she always brought a little vitality to our otherwise quiet household.
‘See? I knew this girl was adopted!’
‘Suddenly, I felt unfairly treated about that day I got thirty strikes to my calves.’
The girl suddenly pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures of me.
“Hey! That’s a violation of my portrait rights!”
“I need to check if my eyes are playing tricks on me or if you’re really that pretty.”
‘From the way she’s talking, it seems she’s posting it somewhere.’
The screen of the phone she held out read:
[Class 2-2 Group Chat / Members: 25]
(My photo, secretly taken head-on this morning)
– Wow, super gorgeous.
– Thanks for the eye candy this morning.
– Are you even the same person as us? You look like a different species.
– Hyeon-jin senior’s class, as expected.
– Is this your bare face????
– Tell her to debut already and stop wasting that face!
“Why do I have to be judged by my juniors first thing in the morning?”
“Your lips are twitching.”
I promptly deleted my photo from the group chat.
The cries of those who saw the messages belatedly were visible.
– What was it? What photo?
– Ye-jin posted a photo of Hyeon-jin senior.
– Why am I the only one who didn’t see it? So unfair.
– No, why did only you guys get to see something so good?
– Exactly, you should’ve checked the chat sooner, lol.
‘It seems my eyes weren’t mistaken after all.’
I then spoke to my sister, who was once again internalizing the fact that I was pretty.
“Don’t be too envious. Still, for a face like yours, you did put in some effort.”
“This b-!”
Enraged by my indirect jab, my sister immediately tried to land a retaliatory punch to my stomach.
‘But who was I?’
‘The owner of the Martial God’s Talent.’
Her spectacular stomach punch was caught by my open palm just inches from my abdomen, turning her attempt into a failure.
“You’ll need at least another ten years of training to defeat me. Though by then, I’ll be a million times stronger.”
“Eek!”
My sister trembled with fury, seemingly incensed that she had been unable to exact her desired retribution upon me.
“Noob cut!”
As much as I wanted to say “bug cut,” I softened my words, knowing that doing otherwise would lead to her tattling to Mom and dragging me back to the ‘table of truth’ for another session.
“I’m letting you off because I don’t have time!”
My sister, who was clearly fleeing after being utterly defeated by me, used the excuse of having no time.
But seeing her steal clothes and head out, it seemed she genuinely did have plans.
She was truly diligent, even on a winter break morning.
It’s quite astonishing how such an ‘E’ (TL Note: Referring to an extroverted personality type, contrasting with the ‘I’ or introverted type of the rest of the family.) could have been born into our ‘I’ family.
However, I also had plans to go out today.
I intended to visit the Tower again.
How exciting to wonder what kind of growth awaited me this time!
