A Legendary Korean Gamer Stuck in a Japanese Isekai – Chapter 23

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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‘That hurts.’

The sharp edge of the Japanese sword shallowly cut through the flesh I couldn’t completely dodge.

The sensation was like suddenly getting a paper cut, probably because the blade was so sharp.

Blood seeped from the wound, slightly staining my clothes and the ground, but soon the wound disappeared without a trace.

It was thanks to the dot-healing type recovery skill [Resurrection].

‘…The week spent rolling around with the knights was worth it.’

Even pro gamers wouldn’t have experienced a game with 100% sensitivity.

In a sense, it was as dangerous a setting as drugs.

Even for me, who had experienced various games besides the ones I built my career on as a pro, this was uncharted territory.

In that sense, though it was only a week, the training that was close to real combat was greatly helpful for adaptation.

Though calling it ‘warming up’ might be understating it – it was more like hardcore tag where you felt your life was threatened.

If I hadn’t had that experience, I might have lost right at the start.

‘The pain aspect is definitely hard to get used to.’

In a game with normal sensitivity, you can think calmly even until the moment of death.

But in this mysterious game with 100% sensitivity, the problem was that whenever cold steel dug into or cut through your body, you froze up like getting stiff when receiving an injection.

You needed to execute movements without delay between them perfectly, but pain was an impurity in judgment and action.

Unless you were a masochist, it wasn’t something to take lightly.

‘This kid is being vicious.’

I looked at the Japanese lunch kid who was pointing their sword at me with a fierce aura.

Killing intent.

The aura that had felt like mere hostility had now reached an occult level that could be called killing intent.

Not like a delinquent raising their voice angrily after picking a fight on the street, but like a knife-wielding murderer really trying to kill me.

It was an aura that made me feel an ominous premonition that I could physically die if I made a mistake.

‘Why are they getting so worked up over just a bet.’

Even as I frowned in displeasure at this situation, Japanese lunch kid watched me with ice-cold eyes without moving a muscle.

‘…Are Japanese people usually this fierce?’

This kid who looked like they should be writing their own character setting notes while going “kukuku” while wearing an eye patch and holding a box cutter, started giving off an atmosphere like some legendary serial killer once the fight began.

Hey, aren’t you confusing whether you should appear in a Japanese animation or a Korean noir film?

Although they seemed about 40cm shorter than the pretty boy delinquent, Japanese lunch kid’s presence felt much more overwhelming.

While the pretty boy delinquent’s killing intent was impulsive and unrefined like a dog barking on the street, Japanese lunch kid’s was like a predator slowly pressuring and approaching to hunt its prey.

‘It would have been nice if it wasn’t directed at me though.’

Japanese lunch kid, who had been catching their breath, moved.

From their footwork to their upper body and wrist movements. Everything flowed naturally as if it was one motion.

I too responded calmly without moving hastily.

Clang-!

The clear sound of metal striking metal rang out.

As the metal weapons clashed with full force, my hands stung.

At the same time, both Japanese lunch kid’s eyes and mine glowed.

I had the advantage in weapon range.

However, while Japanese lunch kid tried to close the distance, I maintained a precarious gap trying to maximize the range as we competed.

Suddenly blood splattered on my cheek.

It wasn’t my blood.

My gaze turned toward the hands gripping the Japanese sword.

‘…This guy doesn’t even have recovery. Don’t their hands hurt?’

Though it hadn’t been long, this duel had already exceeded 200 exchanges including the previous encounters.

Japanese lunch kid’s hands gripping the weapon must be in terrible shape even without looking.

‘Tough kid.’

The 100% sensitivity penalty applied not only to me but also to Japanese lunch kid.

It must have been painful, but they kept clashing with the same intensity as at the start without any change in expression.

‘I want them.’

In a situation where most users whined at the slightest pain, I wanted this kid who had both talent and the mental fortitude to endure a long fight until the end.

If only they weren’t so hostile toward me, they would be perfect since they were young and had plenty of potential for growth.

‘Ah- damn!’

When my concentration scattered for a moment, taking advantage of that gap, my thigh was cut.

Ah, this really hurts like hell. And they noticed that well.

As soon as they thought they had taken away my mobility, Japanese lunch kid immediately followed up by approaching.

“Kuk-!”

“What a shame. I was planning to make a big exchange.”

Japanese lunch kid grabbed their waist and stepped back.

On my side, my collarbone was additionally cut, but it was slowly healing due to [Resurrection]’s effect.

In reality it would be a serious injury that could leave aftereffects since bone was cut, but no matter how realistic, as long as it was just a game, besides slowly recovering with [Resurrection], it was at a level that could be treated without aftereffects using [Healing].

“Ready to give up yet? Once it became a long fight after failing to end it early, it seems the advantage is mine.”

Even threatening attacks and situations that I wasn’t used to at first became quite familiar as the battle continued.

For Japanese lunch kid to beat me, they needed to incapacitate me in one go without giving time for recovery, but now that I was familiar with their action patterns, I had no intention of allowing such a scenario.

In comparison, Japanese lunch kid only had one skill that handled sustainability, presumably [Samurai Spirit].

Even this was closer to a final flash of light before death rather than a recovery skill, so their attacks were starting to become duller.

“…Monster bastard. You’re not even a zombie or troll.”

Thanks for the compliment.

Seeing you say that, are you starting to sense that you’ve lost?

But I was definitely surprised.

Japanese lunch kid must have hidden their strength during user sparring matches, because when the duel started, they showed movement and judgment of a different dimension.

‘Does this make sense?’

15 years old.

About 17 in Korean age?

A mere kid that young fought on par with me?

Actually, considering my current situation, the difference between Samurai and Priest wasn’t that big.

In my case, even without having skills suited for a dealer, I already had broken stats at this stage.

Rather, it was amazing that they endured this far against me with excellent sense and skill usage, even though any Samurai would have such a big difference in basic stats.

But.

‘Strange.’

It was strange.

Japanese lunch kid’s fighting style seemed full of contradictions.

It didn’t make logical sense.

Clang-! Chang-!

‘Too skilled.’

When fighting an opponent, various pieces of information come in.

While they had talent, their fighting style was too skilled.

Solid fundamentals and techniques shown in between.

It felt not like a talented young kid with flashes of wit, but like a veteran user with thousands of hours of playtime.

Chang-! Clang-! Ugh-!

‘Did they play a similar game?’

A game similar to this crazy one?

If such a game existed, I wouldn’t have not known about it.

Moreover, when Japanese lunch kid first sparred with other users, while they adapted faster than others, there was definitely an awkward feeling too.

Clang-! Clang-!

‘Their techniques couldn’t have been learned from instructors either, since there was hardly any contact.’

Besides Japanese lunch kid, some others pretended to be lone wolves, having little contact with other users or NPCs.

‘Then that means they figured it out on their own.’

Should this be considered talent?

Honestly, they were unpredictable.

Monster bastard-!

‘I’ve never seen talent that lacks wit but abnormally quickly masters fundamentals before.’

Even more than me.

Who’s calling who a monster?

Do you know who I am in front of you?

Ah- their breathing is disrupted.

Clang-!

Finally, the Japanese sword that couldn’t withstand flew away.

“Kuh-uh-hat-! Keck-!”

“You lost, right?”

If it was going to end like this anyway, you made us both work so hard.

Though that means you’re capable, so that’s actually good.

I pinned the Japanese lunch kid down in a mount position and looked down with a slight smile.

Japanese lunch kid’s eyes turned toward their hero’s weapon, the Japanese sword that had been knocked away.

“Ah, no you don’t.”

“Aagh!”

Clang-!

A hero’s weapon can be recalled to hand no matter how far away it is.

It was a rule I had used well until recently, so how could I forget.

When I pressed their wrist with my knee like I would crush it to the bone, they let out a painful scream and dropped the weapon that had returned to their hand.

“Ugh…ugh…”

“Wait, Kid-nim! Don’t be too harsh! They’re still a child!”

“…Did you not see what that child did to me?”

I pointed to the cut marks all over the uniform provided by NPCs, and the scabs that had hardened though healed inside those marks, even though the wounds themselves had recovered.

“Still, Kid-nim, since you’re an adult, you shouldn’t be too harsh with a child!”

“I actually almost lost at the beginning, surprisingly.”

“You won in the end, so it’s fine!”

“…It really hurt though.”

I grumbled at Luna who wouldn’t praise me while looking down at Japanese lunch kid struggling under me.

Dirt-stained and disheveled hair.

Their white skin that seemed to have had little exposure to sunlight was slightly flushed and covered in sweat, probably from the breathless battle.

Moreover, sweat had pooled in their collarbone exposed through the disheveled uniform.

In that state, they looked up at me with tear-filled eyes and a resentful expression.

That resentful expression combined with their pitiful atmosphere was awakening the beast-like sadistic tendencies hidden inside me…

Holy moly.

What the hell.

No homo or anything.

What am I thinking right now.

I shook off the terrible thoughts that had filled my head for a moment.

They’re a guy. And even a high schooler.

Wow.

What the hell.

Self-loathing and self-hatred wrapped around my body, threatening to explode.

I’m just a normal heterosexual.

‘…This kid just had to look weird.’

Though it was ugly even to myself to blame a kid who was just a high school student after thinking such things on my own, honestly it was such an enormous bomb that I couldn’t endure without doing so.

While I was organizing my thoughts with deep breaths, whether knowing my efforts or not.

“Kuk…kill me.”

Don’t. Don’t do that kid.

Stop making me feel weird things.

Seeing them turn their head away with closed eyes as if resigned, I sighed and flicked their forehead.

“What do you mean kill. Is this a death match? You got too into the mood. Come to your senses now.”

I got up from sitting on them and quietly cast [Healing] so no one could hear.

[Healing]’s light clung to Japanese lunch kid’s body, healing their wrist that had made strange sounds and their scratches.

As the light wrapped around their body and healed them, I gave a slight smile to the kid who was looking up at me with a dazed expression.

“The duel bet. I won, right? Do you acknowledge it?”

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