Chapter 4

Infinite Skill Copying with EX-Grade Interpretation Chapter 4

I stared at the enormous man before me.

Spirit? Presence? The flow of mana?

I couldn't see anything that grand. There was no way a mere scavenger like me would possess such an ability. Yet my ability reacted on its own.

─Crackle.

[This is a being of a higher level.]

[Unable to interpret.]

The man before me was a hunter. And not just any hunter, but a genuine one, on an entirely different level from rats like me.

“You look like an ordinary little rat... Hmm, and you did all this by yourself.”

The man adjusted his sunglasses and surveyed the corpses scattered across the office floor.

His gaze held neither admiration nor caution, merely curiosity. That made me even more uneasy.

─Squeeze.

I tightened my grip on my dagger.

I had a bad feeling about this.

More precisely, the unpleasant gaze that seemed to pierce straight through my heart weighed down my entire body.

“I came to collect the tribute, and look at this mess. Tsk, well... I suppose it doesn't matter. You, you're going to have to come with me. That way, I'll have something to tell my superiors.”

─Tap.

The man took a step forward. In response to that sound, I merely twisted my ankle slightly.

It was an extremely subtle movement, shifting my center of gravity toward the exit.

But then.

‘...!’

The man's right hand settled on his sword's scabbard.

He hadn't drawn it. He had merely placed his hand there, yet the air in the room suddenly turned sharp.

I instinctively knew that if I had moved even a little farther, if I had tried to take even a single step toward escape, my head would have been severed immediately.

Overwhelming. There was no other way to describe it.

And I instinctively realized one more thing.

‘I mustn't use Shadow Step.’

That uncanny sensitivity to the slightest presence or sound. I was certain that Shadow Step, at its current rank, couldn't completely deceive that monster's senses.

If I tried to force my way out, my back would be split in two on the spot. I had to save Shadow Step for the final moment.

“Good grief. What was I expecting from some bastard crawling around at the bottom?”

─Flick.

He flicked the cigarette from his mouth with his fingers. The cigarette butt traced an arc through the air before landing on the oil-soaked floor.

─Whoosh.

Flames erupted in an instant, and heat began filling the office.

Now, to leave this place, I would have to get past that man. If I stayed still, I would burn to death.

“Well, if I cut something off, you'll probably crawl along obediently.”

There was no choice.

─Tap!

I was the first to charge.

Hesitate, and I die. Let him seize the initiative, and I die even faster. The only way for someone who didn't know how to fight to survive was to stab the opponent before he was ready.

But.

─Cling!

The speed at which the man drew his sword from his waist was beyond what my eyes could follow.

It was so natural that calling it drawing a sword hardly seemed appropriate, like water flowing.

─Clang!

My dagger collided with his sword.

The instant our weapons met, a terrible pain traveled through my wrist and into my brain, nearly making me scream.

My entire body was thrown backward, and the scenery before my eyes flipped in an instant.

“Guh... Gack.”

“Tsk, strange. To think someone with this level of skill killed all these people by himself...”

The instant our blades met, some force sent my body flying backward, and his follow-up attack struck my stomach while I was exposed.

I rolled across the floor, every bit of air driven from my lungs by the pain. My consciousness grew faint, but I gritted my teeth and looked up at him.

He approached slowly, raising his sword high.

Just as the blade came crashing down, I kicked off the wall and threw myself sideways with everything I had.

─Boom!!

Where the sword passed, the concrete wall was torn apart like a sheet of paper.

If I'd been even a little slower, my body would have ended up like that.

“Ah, shit... Am I still hungover? Fucking hell.”

‘What a monster.’

I gasped for breath and stretched my hand toward him.

“Weakening.”

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

[Reducing the target's stamina and strength.]

The energy of Weakening swept across his body.

However, he merely shrugged once in irritation.

Against monsters and thugs, a single use of this skill had been enough to leave them practically crippled, but to him, it seemed little more than a slight sting.

Still, it wasn't completely ineffective. The tip of his sword trembled faintly.

“Some kind of petty trick? How irritating.”

“If once isn't enough...!”

His gaze sharpened. But I refused to back down.

There was only one thing I'd gained from living this filthy life. The determination to struggle until the very end.

As he lowered his waist and assumed a stance, I gritted my teeth and extended my hand once more.

“Weakening.”

[The skill ‘Weakening (B)’ is stacking. Its effects are accumulating.]

─Boom!

Once again, I narrowly avoided his sword strike.

Weakening's effects were faint, but they were definitely working. So if once wasn't enough, I'd use it twice, three times, and keep applying it until the very end. Eventually, an opening would appear.

This was the only way I could win this fight.

“Weakening.”

[The target's physical functions are rapidly deteriorating due to the stacking effects of ‘Weakening (B).’]

─Clang!

Our blades met for the third time. But unlike before, I wasn't thrown back helplessly.

The pressure was still enough to make my wrist feel as though it would break, but it had diminished to a level I could endure.

“Weakening.”

“You little bastard!”

“Weakening!”

I blocked, endured, and blocked again.

There was no technique to speak of. I simply endured. When his sword came at me, I blocked it. Whenever I could reach him, I applied Weakening.

It was a simple, brute-force method, but little by little, the possibility of victory grew.

“Weakening.”

[The skill ‘Weakening (B)’ has reached its maximum number of stacks.]

─Clang!

“Ghh...!”

This time, we were both pushed backward. Our physical capabilities were now almost equal.

The problem was how to fight.

It happened at that moment.

─Crackle!

[The difference in level has decreased.]

[Beginning interpretation.]

[Interpreting the target ‘Liam.’]

Sparks flashed before my eyes, and things I hadn't been able to see before began to appear.

The first time Interpretation had activated on a person was with Jo Cheolgu. Back then, it had allowed me to read the true intentions behind his words.

But this time was different. I could see his movements.

[Interpretation complete.]

[The target's experience has been understood.]

[Experience is being elevated.]

“Haha... There we go.”

I smiled at the blue window floating before my eyes and tightened my grip on my weapon.

[You have acquired the skill ‘Swordsmanship (D).’]

I assumed a stance.

Although I was holding a dagger, I could now sense what was wrong with my posture and corrected it.

The optimal stance for facing an opponent who was stronger than me and superior in swordsmanship.

“You bastard... What the hell? Where did you learn that stance?”

I merely smiled instead of answering.

“You think that half-assed imitation is going to work?!”

The moment his shoulder contracted, I shifted my body one step to the side.

And then.

─Whoosh!

Just as I had predicted. A thrust shot forward, piercing the space where I had been standing a moment earlier.

And that wasn't the end. When his leg twisted.

─Whoosh!

A diagonal slash.

I took another step backward, and the tip of his sword cut through empty air.

‘It's working.’

I was beginning to see how he would move.

No, that wasn't all.

Just by watching his attacks, I felt as though I knew how to deflect or redirect them.

Furthermore, my opponent was growing increasingly slower because of Weakening.

‘I can do this.’

He swung his sword again.

But I was already outside its trajectory.

At that moment, I extended the dagger I'd only been using to defend myself for the first time.

A thrust identical to the one he had used.

─Slash!

“Y-you bastard!”

The first drops of blood flew.

Startled, he forcibly changed the path of his sword and launched a diagonal slash.

But I already knew. I knew which muscles he would twist next and where he would extend his sword.

‘Feint a thrust, then counterattack!’

His sword turned horizontally. Its trajectory swept across at waist height. If I took it head-on, my upper and lower body would be separated.

But instead of retreating, I moved even deeper into his reach.

And then.

“Shadow Step.”

The moment his momentum reached its peak, I erased every trace of my presence.

“Huh...?!”

Liam lost sight of the target directly before him, and his sword sliced through empty air with nowhere to go.

Into that perfect opening, my dagger slipped beneath his chin.

“Goodbye, Mr. Genuine Hunter.”

Stab─!

A cold, heavy sensation traveled through my fingertips. The dagger pierced completely through his throat.

“Guh, hk...!?”

The sword fell helplessly from his hand. His legs, already weakened to the point of collapse by Weakening, finally gave way.

His enormous body slowly toppled over.

I stared blankly at the sight.

My breathing was ragged, and my heart pounded as though it would burst. My hands, my entire body, were trembling.

“Haha, I really won.”

A victory against someone I had never imagined I could defeat.

An indescribable thrill spread from the depths of my mind. The unbelievable sense of accomplishment briefly robbed me of my sense of reality.

And that wasn't all.

[Experience has accumulated.]

[The skill ‘Swordsmanship (D)’ has changed to ‘Swordsmanship (B).’]

[The skill ‘Trained Body (F)’ has changed to ‘Trained Body (F+).’]

Apparently, I had stolen his movements even during the battle just now, because the effects of my Swordsmanship skill had improved even further.

On top of that, I could feel that my body had grown stronger as well.

It had been only a brief moment, but I had become stronger.

Along with the satisfaction of victory, the pleasure of growth surged through my mind.

“Guh... Fuck, that hurts.”

My joy was short-lived. Excruciating pain rose from the area around my solar plexus, where he'd struck me.

It seemed one of my ribs might have cracked.

‘Even with Regeneration, this is going to take a while to heal, isn't it?’

Besides, the flames that had been consuming the place for some time had already reached the ceiling.

“I'd better grab what I can and get out.”

I took the sword from the fallen man's hand.

Its substantial weight and cold touch were incomparable to my dagger.

The intricate patterns engraved along the scabbard and blade told me that this was no mere decorative weapon.

“Something like this must be expensive.”

Who would've thought the day would come when I'd hold a proper sword like this?

Smiling at my unexpected gains, I also took the golden lighter from his clothes before setting fires throughout the remaining corners of the office.

“Goodbye, you motherfuckers. Let's never meet again.”

I left the office with the roaring flames behind me.

The shackles that had bound me for years were turning to ash and scattering away.

With this, the perfect crime was finally complete.

___________

Men dressed in white suits knelt in a row, holding their breath.

The atmosphere in the room had long since passed its breaking point. It was a powder keg that seemed ready to explode from the smallest spark.

At the end of that dreadful silence stood an enormous man.

Every time he spoke, an oppressive weight bore down on the men's shoulders.

“Liam died in the back alleys of District Twelve.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a subordinate beside him threw something onto the floor. It was a charred wrist.

“A third-grade hunter, one who was on the verge of reaching second grade, came back as a corpse from some back alley?”

It was an unbelievable story.

As difficult to believe as an elephant being bitten to death by a rat.

“I clearly only sent him to collect an item... And all that came back was this burnt piece of a wrist. What bastard dared to lay a hand on Liam?”

The man's voice was low and steady.

It wasn't explosive rage, but a kind of killing intent that had congealed into something cold.

That made his subordinates even more terrified.

“Was it another organization? No. None of those dying organizations would dare touch Liam. If there were one, there's no way I wouldn't know about it.”

After all, that place had already been completely dealt with and was merely waiting to be absorbed.

Yet the outcome had gone wrong. Ultimately, there were only two possible reasons.

Either an enormous unforeseen variable had appeared in an instant, too quickly for them to notice.

Or the organization had grown so complacent that it could no longer filter out even this level of information.

Neither possibility was pleasant.

But right now, something else mattered to him above all.

“And you're saying that disappeared too?”

“Y-yes. That's...!”

Crunch─!

The man's thick fingers clamped down on his subordinate's shoulder.

With the sickening sound of bones shifting out of place, fresh blood flowed down the sleeve of the man's suit.

Even so, the subordinate who had been reporting couldn't utter a scream.

Fear greater than the pain was choking him, leaving him rigid like a doll whose senses had been paralyzed.

“The item is gone. A man I personally trained is dead. Do you understand what that means?”

The man shook the blood from his hand and added coldly.

A close aide standing beside him quietly bowed his head and accepted his anger.

“We will find whoever did this and uproot them completely. We won't allow anything like this to happen again.”

“Good. If you're going to crush them, make sure you do it thoroughly. Make them never even dare think about touching our property again.”

The middle-aged man surveyed the kneeling men one by one.

Wherever his gaze landed, the men bowed their heads even lower.

“Send the men out. Beat down every suspicious bastard you find. If they won't open their mouths, make sure they stay closed forever. Whatever it takes, drag the culprit before me.”

“Yes, sir!!”

“And make absolutely sure you recover the item. Your lives depend on it.”

With those final words, the man put a cigarette in his mouth and left.

Only after the heavy door closed did the men finally release the breaths they had been holding.

A small storm was beginning to rise in the once-quiet back alleys.

For now, it was little more than a faint breeze. But storms of this kind always began very small.

_____________

“Guh, I seriously feel like I'm dying.”

Regeneration was healing my body, but I still felt heavy.

Even the slightest movement made me feel as though my entire body wanted to scream.

Nevertheless, I had to keep walking without a destination.

‘If I collapse in an alley like this, I'm finished.’

Who knew what would happen to me if I collapsed in the back alleys?

Simply waking up the next day would probably be a miracle.

That was why I had to force my exhausted body to keep moving through the alley.

“He really got me good.”

I lifted my shirt slightly and looked down, revealing a deep blue bruise.

And that wasn't all.

Perhaps merely clashing swords with him had been too much, because I could barely put any strength into my fingers.

It seemed quite a bit of cartilage had been worn away.

“Haha... It's fine. This is enough.”

Even so, I didn't feel bad. No, I felt fantastic.

In my hands were the stacks of cash I'd taken from the safe, the mysterious blue gemstone, and──

“Where do you even get a sword like this?”

Even the sword used by the hunter who had tried to kill me.

It was clearly no ordinary weapon.

He had been a much higher rank than me, yet even for someone like him, this weapon had seemed almost too good.

I ran my hand over it before drawing it from its scabbard.

─Crackle!

“Ugh...”

At that moment, my vision began to shimmer. Before I could react, my ability activated.

[Activating the ability ‘Interpretation.’]

[Deciphering the fragments of memory dwelling within the item.]

[Someone's Sword]

─A sword engraved with plum blossoms.

─A sword once used by someone from the ── Guild.

─Contains memories. (Unable to interpret)

─Crackle.

[Warning: Insufficient information for interpretation.]

“Insufficient information?”

Until now, there had been nothing I couldn't interpret. No, more precisely, there had been times when I couldn't read something because my level was too low, but never because there was insufficient information.

I set the sword down beside the bed and closed my eyes for a moment.

‘It contains memories... but I can't see them right now.’

Every time I read an object containing memories, I gained something.

The characters written in blood in the canyon, the white spheres containing souls, the sage's message.

“Ugh... Ah, to hell with it.”

─Thud.

I set the sword down and forced my aching body to move once more.

“That old man should know.”

The Sage of the Back Alleys, a cunning old fox who had lived a fucking long time. Whatever other nicknames people called him, he was the most knowledgeable person I knew.

It seemed it was time to pay him a visit for the first time in a while.