Chapter 23

Chapter 23. Swordsmanship Preservation Association

[Why is the Gallery Master suddenly asking around about magic?]

[Author: Life-and-Death-Realm-Warning]

[Back in the day, he seemed completely devoted to swordsmanship and wouldn’t even glance at wicked arts like magic.

But something’s changed.

The Gallery Master feels kind of unfamiliar these days…]

└ He spent all that time swinging a sword around, then learned magic and discovered a whole new world lol.

└ Ranked #1 by the gallery as the field most suited for the Gallery Master to learn.

└ Gallery Master: “A sword? Oh, you mean that stick you wave around? LOL why would anyone bother with that?”

└ A stick is a staff, and a sword has a blade, you bastard.

└ Explain the difference between the two.

└ What difference is there? LMAO.

└ You fucking bastards.

└ Wait, did the Gallery Master really abandon the sword? Wasn’t he learning it like crazy?

└ I used to like the Gallery Master…

└ Back when he was learning the sword, I did like him, yeah. Now I just really like him LOL.

└ I guess someone who becomes the Gallery Master of the Regression-Possession-Reincarnation Gallery really is smart. He dumped martial arts and chose magic.

└ Gallery Master, you’re abandoning the sword?

└ I never picked it up in the first place hehe.

└ Fuck, I taught you secret techniques, exclusive internal arts, sword techniques, movement techniques, and eye techniques. This is too much, Gallery Master.

└ Wasn’t this guy in the Harmony Realm? Someone like that passed down his exclusive martial arts, and the Gallery Master still abandoned the sword?

└ Fun fact about everything he listed: You need to be at least at the Absolute Realm to learn any of it.

└ He taught him stuff he couldn’t even learn LOL. This is why martial artists are hopeless.

└ Fuck, I think we just got dumped for someone else.

└ D-Dumped?

[Martial arts are seriously way better than magic…]

[Author: Near-the-Peak-of-Perfection]

[If the Gallery Master wants, I can personally create internal arts, sword techniques, and movement techniques just for him…

If the Gallery Master wants, I can personally teach him forms and give him tips…

If the Gallery Master wants, while he drinks, I can tell him stories from my 2,300 years of life as drinking snacks…

Please come back…]

└ Nope~ The Gallery Master’s heart already belongs to magic~

└ Is this really the Regression-Possession-Reincarnation Gallery?

└ No, this is the Regret-Chasing-Crematorium Gallery.

└ You should’ve treated him better while you still had him LMAO.

└ Why are these guys so funny? LOL. Why do they care so much about the Gallery Master learning their field?

└ Are you a mage?

└ I’m a cultivator from a xianxia world.

└ Ah… stay strong.

“Why is this place such a mess?”

Those were the first words out of my mouth after waking up.

Like usual, I opened the gallery to look for magic that might suit Arlin.

But the place was in complete chaos.

The gallery members had split into two groups.

One side was angry, while the other was happily mocking them.

The angry side consisted of martial artists.

The ones laughing and taunting them were mages.

I knew that the topic of discussion in the gallery could suddenly change without warning, but I had no idea why everyone was acting like this.

No.

I could guess the reason itself.

What I couldn’t understand was why they were fighting over something like this.

Still feeling confused, I made a post.

[Why is this place such a mess?]

[ㅇㅇ?]

Notifications immediately began ringing one after another.

The vibrations were more violent than usual.

That alone told me how heated the gallery had become.

Still half-asleep, I read the comments.

└ The gallery is always a mess though?

└ Seriously. We normally have depressed regressors posting diaries, psycho possessors proudly listing their criminal records, and kind reincarnators talking about their good deeds.

└ It did calm down a bit after the Gallery Master appeared.

└ And that peace exploded today LOL, all because of the Gallery Master’s wise choice.

└ Wise, my ass. How is abandoning martial arts and choosing magic wise, fucker?

└ Because it is wise LOL.

└ This place became a mess because of you, you traitorous bastard. Why are you pretending you don’t know?

└ Magic~ is just too damn awesome~ Martial arts~ are just too damn trash~ Why~ blame~ the Gallery Master~?

└ Those tildes are fucking annoying.

└ Looking at the gallery now, I suddenly realize how amazing the Gallery Master was for keeping these people peaceful for an entire month.

└ Surprise worship LOL.

└ Gallery Master LOL. The new worldbuilding topic he brought after 500 years was finally cooling down, so now he brought us another topic LOL.

└ Cooling down? It’s still boiling hot.

└ It’s still hot, but the Gallery Master hasn’t gone outside, so we can’t get any new Mystery-related topics…

└ What the Gallery Master must do to fix this situation:

└ Abandon magic and choose martial arts.

└ Learn cultivation arts and—wait, what the hell? Why are you so fast?

└ You think the Harmony Realm is a joke? LOL.

└ Wow, so people in the Harmony Realm even type faster? Damn.

└ The Gallery Master might see this and switch back to martial arts ㄷㄷ.

Even the post I made turned into a battlefield.

Still feeling like I was trapped in a dream, I entertained myself by watching the gallery members fight.

Time passed quickly while I browsed the gallery.

Since I had woken up before dawn, the sun had only recently risen above the horizon when Arlin woke up.

She had slept on the sofa with me.

As soon as she saw that I was awake, she came straight over.

“Did you sleep well?”

When I asked casually, she answered in her usual flat voice, sounding nothing like someone who had only just woken up.

“Yes. But Yuhyeon, are you looking at the gallery right now?”

“Yes. Do you want to look together?”

“Please.”

As usual, Arlin pressed herself against my side and looked through the gallery with me.

Browsing the gallery together immediately after waking up.

This had become part of our daily routine ever since I first met Arlin three days ago.

I gave her knowledge.

She used that knowledge to grow stronger.

Then, after becoming stronger, she would be able to protect me better.

It was a perfect cycle.

And from what I could tell, she had actually grown quite a bit compared to three days ago.

According to her, the power of her magic had grown from 12 Mado to 13 Mado.

I had no idea what kind of unit a Mado was, but it didn’t sound like a small improvement, so I had been happy for her too.

“Yuhyeon.”

“Yes?”

“What does ‘sibalnom’ mean?”

“Ah, that…”

Besides magical knowledge, I also taught her basic common sense from time to time.

Perhaps because she had originally been a Mystery, she occasionally acted as though certain pieces of basic common sense were completely missing.

The most embarrassing example had been when she suddenly barged in while I was taking a shower.

Even now, the memory was painfully vivid.

Anyway, that was how we had spent our time.

If I had to summarize the last three days in one sentence, it would be:

I taught Arlin a lot of things.

And while searching through the gallery to teach her, I naturally ended up learning some basic magical knowledge myself.

That gave me a sense of peace.

I realized that peaceful life had come to an end the moment Lee Yeonhee burst out of her room.

“Oppa! Look at this!”

She rushed over without even wiping the sleep from her eyes and shoved her phone screen in front of me.

A live MyTube video was playing.

The title was a single short line.

[Swordsmanship Preservation Association—We Finally Found Them!]

After reading the title, I focused seriously on the video.

The background looked familiar.

This place was—

the apartment complex.

Right here.

The very apartment complex I lived in.

Now I understood why she had shown me the video.

I immediately read a book to prepare some insurance, then quickly got myself ready.

I pulled up my hood, grabbed the Infinite Bag, and rushed toward the location shown in the video.

Arlin immediately followed behind me.

Even while running, I kept checking the screen.

The man in the video was saying something to his viewers while filming a group of men wearing armor and swords.

There was no doubt about it.

It was the Swordsmanship Preservation Association.

I pushed myself even faster and practically slid out of the apartment building before breaking into a full sprint.

Thanks to that, we managed to reach the association before the man on the stream could offer them anything.

Against the background of the walking path stood one man and a group of knights.

“Y-You are…?”

The man asked in surprise.

Instead of answering him, I asked a question of my own.

“What were you planning to trade with the Swordsmanship Preservation Association?”

“Excuse me?”

“Food, weapons, or information. It must be one of those. Which one were you trying to receive?”

He answered awkwardly.

“Food.”

I pulled food from my bag and tossed it toward him.

“This… What is this?”

A heavy bundle of food landed in his hands.

It was enough for one person to eat comfortably for about a week.

He stared blankly at the food as if he had been enchanted.

“I’ll give you that. In exchange, would you mind letting me trade with the association instead?”

“Ah, yes. Yes, of course.”

He turned off his phone and stepped backward.

A notification appeared on my phone saying that the live stream I had been watching had ended.

I walked past the man, who still looked somewhat confused, and stopped in front of the knights.

Arlin came up behind me and faced them as well.

Among them, the largest man, who wore the most ornate armor, looked between me and the man who had arrived first.

“Are you planning to sponsor our association in that young man’s place?”

“Yes.”

“Has this been agreed upon by both parties?”

The man carrying the food glanced at the sword at my waist and answered with a slightly regretful expression.

“…Yes.”

“I understand. Do you need an explanation regarding our association?”

I shook my head.

Then I asked the exact same question I had asked the Magic Preservation Association.

“That’s fine. But if I make a donation, instead of receiving swordsmanship or a sword as a gift, could I receive one of your association members?”

“Hmm…”

Unlike the Magic Preservation Association, which had accepted immediately, he hesitated.

Then he turned his head.

Toward Arlin.

His gaze was far from ordinary.

“Aha. I was wondering why a magic-user who doesn’t understand romance was here. I see you sponsored that association as well.”

The words that followed sounded even more ominous.