Chapter 2

 

Right.

Is there anyone in this world who understands Vertical Slash better than I do?

Such a phenomenon was naturally to be expected.

At first glance, the system that overtook the world might seem like a villain or an evil game assistant, but it surprisingly had a high level of understanding and observation for individuals, granting rewards with great fairness.

In other words, as long as you have a high understanding of a skill, it would be recognized as such.

‘The reason I could wield the Formless Sword was because of that.’

It wasn’t because I obtained a special skill and reached the realm of Body and Sword as One.

Since choosing the path of the sword, Suho trained in swordsmanship every day without rest to become stronger.

As a result, not only did he become the world’s greatest swordsman, but he also gained the system’s recognition, reaching the realm of Body and Sword as One and acquiring the skill called Formless Sword.

However, Suho found the system’s result somewhat disappointing.

Even though he was called the Sword God, the skill rank granted by the system was merely B.

Of course, he understood.

‘You can’t judge everything based on just one instance.’

Especially with physical techniques.

So no matter how outstanding your talent was, the system rarely recognized the initial skill as above B rank.

Of course, there were exceptions for special skills.

But the acquisition of simple techniques was mostly at B rank.

So if you wanted a higher rank, you had to prove yourself accordingly.

There might be such a thing as beginner’s luck.

Suho then swung the rod horizontally, cutting down the nearby goblins.

 

 

He acquired the Horizontal Slash skill following the Vertical Slash.

Once again, the rank was B.

Suho then thrust the rod like a spear.

 

 

Thrust was the same.

This time, he swung the rod diagonally.

 

 

Every time he swung the rod, a new skill appeared.

Right.

This was indeed the world he knew.

Then it happened.

 

 

Upon acquiring three types of slashes and Thrust, they were integrated under the name ‘Basic Swordsmanship’.

It was a natural progression.

The system had a rule where certain skills would automatically integrate for efficiency once they were combined.

But again, the rank was B.

However, this was better.

It was easier to level up a unified skill than multiple scattered skills.

‘Basic Swordsmanship…’

Seeing the name Basic Swordsmanship brought a nostalgic smile to his face.

After all, even swordsmen who made a name for themselves started with Basic Swordsmanship and developed their own unique sword skills.

In that sense, the swordsmanship Suho used was named after himself—’Suho Sword’.

Of course, Suho intended to create Suho Sword this time as well.

‘No, there’s no need to create it. My swordsmanship is already Suho Sword itself.’

Suho swung his sword a few more times, quickly dispatching the goblins.

Then, a new system notification appeared.

 

 

Level up.

And I haven’t even chosen a class yet.

The firefighter, startled by the sight, asked.

“Are you a player?”

“Not yet.”

“What?”

Suho ignored the firefighter’s repeated question.

He didn’t even think of looting the goblin’s corpse.

Right now, that wasn’t important to Suho.

Instead, he called up the class selection window he had postponed earlier.

 

 

The class selection window appeared before his eyes.

It was only later that it was revealed how the class selection could be postponed.

There were no system penalties for not choosing immediately.

So in the future, it became common sense to take an aptitude test conducted by the association before choosing a class.

Of course, Suho had chosen Warrior and become a swordsman, reaching the realm of the Sword God from the start, so it was a fitting choice.

That’s why he tried to select Warrior earlier.

Because he thought he could grow faster than anyone else by walking the path he had already trodden.

But he soon shook his head.

No matter how familiar the path was, he knew how powerless and weak the title of Sword God was when it came to crucial moments.

‘If only I could cure all poisons…’

He had eaten the heart of Venom, known as the ultimate antidote, and thought that poisons would no longer be an obstacle.

But Suzuki’s All Poison surpassed the immunity granted by Venom’s heart.

So Suho’s attention kept going back to the Healer.

‘What if I could become a healer greater than Isabella?’

Of course, there’s a perception that Healers are weak.

In fact, they have few attack skills, and most of their skills are related to defense, healing, and buffs.

But just a while ago, Suho had easily acquired swordsmanship skills while fighting goblins.

Thanks to the system’s fair evaluation of his abilities.

Therefore, he thought.

If I can acquire swordsmanship skills this way, do I really need to choose the path of a warrior again?

The answer was no.

‘Skills acquired based on talent can be used freely regardless of class, just like I acquired swordsmanship skills earlier.’

However, the abilities Healers possess were mostly acquired purely through the system’s help, not based on talent.

No matter how devout one was, they couldn’t heal patients with mere prayers.

So Suho finally made his decision.

 

 

Suho nodded to the system’s question.

Then a light enveloped Suho.

 

 

Suho finally became a Healer.

Simultaneously, the system opened its armory to grant a welcome gift.

Suho’s choice was naturally a sword.

He chose a longsword of suitable length and weight.

 

 

There was no need to check the details.

It would have the lowest attack power and durability.

But it was better than an iron rod.

Suho then checked his status window.

“Status.”

 

 

Suho looked at his meager status window.

It was only natural since he had returned to the past.

After a brief contemplation, Suho invested 2 points each into Strength, Stamina, and Magic.

The reason for distributing bonus stats to Magic was simple.

‘Ultimately, recovery skills are based on Magic.’

In the world, the skills of Healers are called Holy Arts, while the skills of Mages are called Magic. However, the real name of Holy Arts as recorded in the system is Divine Magic. That’s why it is influenced by magic power.

As a result, most Healers invest most of their acquired stats into magic power. Since other stats increase by one each time they level up, they focus on magic power.

But Suho didn’t do that.

‘To me, being a Healer is just a secondary role—my main focus is still swordsmanship.’

Of course, as a Healer grows, they can cover for their lack of stamina and strength with various buff skills. But that’s a story for later.

No matter how much Suho was a Sword God from the future, he needed a certain amount of basic stats to regain his full strength from his prime.

After distributing his stats, Suho approached the firefighter who was staring at him blankly.

“It might hurt a little, but bear with it.”

“What? Ugh!”

Without any hesitation, Suho pulled the arrow out of the firefighter’s body. Blood gushed out, and Suho immediately used Light of Healing on the wound.

 

 

Light of Healing.

A very basic skill that every Healer possesses.

But it wasn’t a skill that would become obsolete at higher levels.

Most skills, the simpler their descriptions, the more powerful and intuitive their effects.

For example, the ‘Light of the Holy Spirit’ used by Isabella.

‘She said that skill also started as Light of Healing.’

Once the firefighter’s wound was fully healed, he looked at Suho in a daze and asked,

“You’re even a Healer?”

“I am now.”

“What?”

“Well then, take care.”

Having treated the wound, Suho had no more time to chat with the firefighter. Without hesitation, he turned and looked at the gate portal that had appeared in the middle of Sindorim Station intersection.

Goblins were still swarming around, and it seemed the hunter players had not yet arrived.

He saw this as a good opportunity.

In the case of unpredictable, uncharted gates, if you timed it right, you could enter first.

‘If my memory is correct, I should be able to clear this gate even at my current level.’

In the case of uncharted gates with no prior entrants, you could predict the internal environment and difficulty based on the monsters the gate spawned.

Of course, Suho knew exactly what kind of gate this was.

In the past, Suho had almost died because of this gate.

So this time, he decided to clear it himself.

From another perspective, this gate was like a nemesis that nearly took his life.

Cutting down the goblins approaching him, Suho stepped into the gate portal.

 

 

 

 

A brief system notification.

That’s all the information provided.

Uncharted gates that no one had entered before were unkind enough not to reveal such information to players.

So, players were reluctant to challenge uncharted gates with no previous entries.

If you entered recklessly and faced an unexpectedly high difficulty, it could mean instant death.

As Suho stepped in, the gate portal closed.

Now, there were only two ways to reopen the gate portal.

The player inside either dies, or clears the gate.

But whether this was a dream or reality, it didn’t matter.

Suho had no plans of dying.