“A sword, huh?”
Seeing the notification, Su-ho couldn’t help but smile.
Out of all the weapons, of course, it had to be a sword.
“I’ll finish this quickly.”
He thought it was actually a good thing.
In the Library of Mu-hak, where he had to fight against Mokuzan, who had mastered all kinds of martial arts, if the first round was a sword fight, then Su-ho could finish it faster than anyone.
With that thought, Su-ho reached for his weapon.
[Blood Weapon activated.]
As the skill activated, the Blood Sword appeared in Su-ho’s hand.
Mokuzan, too, was armed.
At some point, a steel sword appeared in its grasp, and Mokuzan stared at Su-ho for a moment before charging at him like an enraged bull.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
With each step, the Library of Mu-hak seemed to tremble.
But Su-ho didn’t dodge. He simply watched as Mokuzan charged at him like a bull.
Then, just as Mokuzan thrust its sword forward like a horn, Su-ho swung his sword in a single motion.
Clang!
The Blood Sword sliced through the air.
It collided with Mokuzan’s sword.
Screech!
To Su-ho’s surprise, Mokuzan’s sword snapped in half, with its blade sliced clean through the middle.
It seemed this was a first for Mokuzan.
Perhaps that was why?
[The Guardian of the Library acknowledges its defeat.]
[The gate has been cleared.]
[The MVP of the gate clear is ‘An Su-ho.’]
[Bonus experience awarded for MVP.]
[Bonus stat of 1 point awarded.]
[Level has increased.]
[All stats have increased by 1.]
[You have gained a bonus stat.]
To Su-ho’s surprise, the Guardian of the Library acknowledged its defeat, and at that moment, the gate was cleared.
Looking at the flood of system notifications, Su-ho recalled the Blood Weapon and said, “Truly, martial artists are different.”
The whole purpose of the Library of Mu-hak was to test the challenger’s abilities, so Mokuzan had no choice but to acknowledge defeat cleanly.
And Su-ho appreciated that.
Most gates involved boss monsters obsessed with killing, unlike Mokuzan.
After the gate was cleared, Mokuzan stood still, trembling for a moment, before freezing into position like a stone statue.
Su-ho walked toward the library and took a close look at Mokuzan.
“It’s solid.”
Touching it, Su-ho could feel the heavy, steel-like weight.
Even the broken sword blade was just as solid.
But despite that, the fact that such a sturdy steel blade had been broken meant that Su-ho’s Blood Sword was tougher.
“I didn’t even use a skill. This is pure physicality.”
Of course.
Even Gu Taek-su, the King of Martial Arts, couldn’t defeat Su-ho when it came to pure swordsmanship.
Su-ho nodded in satisfaction as he walked closer to the library.
The Library of Mu-hak contained numerous martial arts manuals.
As Su-ho looked around, he reached out, and a system notification appeared before him.
[Welcome to the Library of Mu-hak.]
[Having defeated the Guardian of the Library, you may now receive 1 book of knowledge from the Library.]
Just as Gu Taek-su had said.
The Library of Mu-hak granted knowledge to those who defeated the guardian, and this knowledge, of course, came in the form of skills.
Soon, a few options appeared before Su-ho.
[Swordsmanship]
[Footwork]
[Grappling]
The three options appeared before him.
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Su-ho looked at the last option and couldn’t help but smirk.
“Grappling, huh?”
He knew what Swordsmanship and Footwork were.
But Grappling?
Grappling wasn’t a martial art in itself, but a collection of other miscellaneous techniques. But just because they were classified as “miscellaneous” didn’t mean they were insignificant.
Su-ho never underestimated them. He knew exactly what skills could be learned from the Library of Mu-hak, and he already knew all the options available.
In fact, that’s why he decided to choose Grappling.
When Su-ho pointed to Grappling, the system confirmed his choice.
[You have chosen Grappling.]
[You have learned ‘Acupressure (B)’.]
With the system notification, the Acupressure skill was learned.
Su-ho smiled as he saw the notification.
“Finally, I’ve learned Acupressure.”
Acupressure was a technique that targeted specific pressure points in the human body to trigger special effects.
That’s why it was classified under Grappling.
Acupressure wasn’t a martial art or a footwork technique, so it made sense that it was categorized this way.
Su-ho confirmed the details of the newly learned Acupressure skill.
[Acupressure]
Those who learn Acupressure can see key pressure points in the human body, and by stimulating them precisely, they can trigger special effects tied to each pressure point.
It was a simple description.
Su-ho was sure this was the Acupressure he was familiar with.
That’s why he felt satisfied.
Although Acupressure was a fairly common technique in martial arts, in the post-cataclysm world, only a handful of people had managed to learn it up until the later stages of the cataclysm.
“There has to be a supply for there to be owners.”
Just as Su-ho closed the info window, a sudden flash of light enveloped the entire library, and the light began to coalesce into a small orb.
The orb floated in front of Su-ho and slowly transformed into a scroll.
[You have acquired ‘Library of Mu-hak’s Essence (S).]
An S-tier item.
Su-ho checked the information on the Library of Mu-hak’s Essence.
[Library of Mu-hak’s Essence]
Only those who have defeated the Guardian of the Library inherit it.
On the night of a full moon, challengers may once again enter the Library of Mu-hak.
“Just as Gu Taek-su said.”
The Guardian of the Library was similar to the Sword Emperor in terms of attributes.
You could only fight using the weapon designated by the library, and if you lost the fight, the library would acknowledge your defeat and hand over a manual.
However, unlike the Sword Emperor, who only had one thing to offer, the Library of Mu-hak had a lot to give to challengers.
That was why Gu Taek-su had become the King of Martial Arts in the end—thanks to the Library of Mu-hak’s Essence.
“So, it means I can return on a full moon to enter again.”
While Acupressure was a nice skill to learn, Su-ho still had much more to gain from the Library of Mu-hak.
Among them were more techniques, like Footwork and other miscellaneous skills. But the one he was most interested in was the ultimate martial arts manual, considered the Library of Mu-hak’s greatest treasure.
“Now, should I head out?”
Having obtained what he wanted, Su-ho decided to leave the gate.
***
Outside the gate.
The members of the Detection Department were pacing nervously in front of the Library of Mu-hak gate, waiting for Su-ho.
The gate, which should have posed no problem at all, had suddenly led to Su-ho’s disappearance, and that left them with no choice but to worry.
Especially Jeong Cheol-min, who was in a panic.
“This is crazy...”
He understood the situation with Iron Valley.
He had entered the gate himself.
And when things went wrong, he was the first to back out.
But this time, the situation was completely different.
There was no data... no, an unexpected variable had occurred in this gate.
So, it was impossible for him not to feel anxious.
“What if something happens to Su-ho?”
Ah.
Just thinking about it was terrifying.
That was why Jeong Cheol-min had nothing left to do but pray to a god he never believed in.
Did he believe in Su-ho?
Of course.
But no matter how much belief he had, it didn’t stop the fear.
Then, it happened.
“Ahh!”
“The gate line! The gate line is collapsing!”
“No way?!”
The commotion spread among the people.
At those words, Jeong Cheol-min reacted immediately.
And sure enough, he saw the gate line slowly vanishing, and a chill ran down his spine.
“N-No way!”
At that moment, someone appeared from the gate.
It was Su-ho.
Su-ho, looking as casual as someone who had just been out for a walk, stepped out of the gate with a relaxed expression.
“Ah, so you guys were all waiting here.”
“Su-ho!”
People crowded around him.
Among them, Jeong Cheol-min was the first to rush to Su-ho.
“Do you know how worried I was? What happened?”
With a slightly awkward smile, Su-ho replied to Jeong Cheol-min’s heartfelt worry.
“Well... It seems like my mana suddenly surged, and that’s what caused all this. Luckily, the gate itself wasn’t too difficult, so I was able to make it out safely.”
“Ahh... Thank god... I’m so relieved...”
“You were really worried, huh? Haha... Sorry about that.”
“Worried? Of course! I was really, really worried. My legs are still shaking.”
Seeing Jeong Cheol-min so genuinely relieved made Su-ho feel a little guilty.
Even though he knew what kind of gate this was before approaching, seeing Jeong Cheol-min breathe a sigh of relief made Su-ho feel a tiny bit guilty.
Su-ho smiled awkwardly and said.
“Well, I made it out safely. But... What about the field evaluation?”
“Is that really important right now? What matters is that you made it out alive.”
“That’s true, but...”
After all, it was still a test, right?
Afterward, Su-ho strongly suggested doing the evaluation at another gate, and of course, he earned a perfect score again.
‘Finally, the Special Department.’
After taking the evaluation at another gate, Su-ho left early and headed home.
Now, the only remaining training department was the Special Department.
And naturally, Su-ho wasn’t too worried about the evaluation there.
The Special Department was the most favorable place for him.
Once home, Su-ho quietly opened his status window.
[An Su-ho]
Level 75.
And 99 Red-tier Strength stats with 2 bonus stats.
All of these had come from the Library of Mu-hak.
Su-ho deliberately avoided distributing his stats.
He wanted to enjoy the moment when his stats would finally rise to Orange-tier.
So, for now, he allocated one bonus stat into Strength.
[Your Strength stat has reached 100.]
[Your Strength stat has grown further.]
[Congratulations! Your Strength stat level has risen and is now Orange-tier!]
His Red-tier Strength stat had become Orange-tier.
At the same time, the stat value of 100 was reset to 1, and the red border turned to orange.
Next to it, instead of the "R" symbolizing Red-tier, an "O" symbolizing Orange-tier appeared.
Seeing the notification, Su-ho chuckled in disbelief.
He had felt the same way when he first obtained the Red-tier stats, but this growth rate was truly ridiculous.
*“I wasn’t even at 1-star, and I’m already at Orange-tier...”
With this growth rate, Su-ho felt confident that he wouldn’t lose to anyone in this life.
“No, maybe I could even clear the first Cataclysmic-tier gate by myself.”
He was confident.
It was a gate he had already cleared once.
Could two attempts be too difficult?
Though, going solo would require additional preparation.
Su-ho invested his remaining bonus stat into Mana and closed his status window.
Just then, his phone rang.
He checked the caller ID and got up.
It was a call from Pi Seong-yeol.