Chapter 6
A spray of red blood burst across the screen.
Chaeho clicked the mouse and paused the video.
On the desk sat an empty cup noodle container, dried soup stains crusted along its sides.
He rubbed his face with both hands and stared hard at the monitor.
It was the bodycam footage he had recorded yesterday inside the E-rank dungeon.
It was supposed to be a glorious record of the first time he had used his skill in actual combat and wiped out an entire goblin group without suffering a single wound.
Yet after replaying the footage dozens of times, Chaeho's expression remained stiff.
He repeatedly tapped the spacebar and slowed the footage down to 0.25x speed.
On the screen, two goblins launched a surprise attack from above and below.
The view from the camera attached to his chest briefly moved half a step backward before advancing again.
The tip of his sword appeared at the bottom of the screen and pierced through the chest of the fallen goblin.
Immediately afterward, it swept across the neck of the goblin beside it.
At the time, he had thought the fight went quite well.
No.
Since he had finished them without taking a single injury, it had obviously been a great result.
But unlike what he had felt during the fight, the shaking camera and the path of his sword recorded at normal speed were brutally objective.
"I could've cut this down even more."
When the goblin's blade approached, the ground and the monsters in the footage moved half a step farther away.
That was the brief retreat he had made yesterday.
Moving outside the attack's path had been the right decision.
However, he then had to close the distance again before counterattacking.
It was an unconscious survival step burned into his body from his days as a porter, when even a single monster claw touching him could mean a fatal injury.
At the time, he had thought that half-step backward was the best possible choice.
But when he watched the slowed footage again, he could see that there had been room to move even less while still remaining safe.
"If I'd just twisted my body in place beforehand, I would've been completely in its blind spot."
Chaeho calculated the angle in his head.
Considering the goblin's center of gravity had already shifted forward, twisting only his ankle would have been enough to dodge.
Then there would have been no need to step forward again.
He could have thrust his sword immediately from where he stood.
That unnecessary retreat and advance had wasted precious time.
He opened the notebook on his desk and wrote down the numbers.
From what he had felt during the battle, he had kept the skill active for roughly one second.
But what if he had minimized his movement?
0.6 seconds would have been more than enough to read the attack and move into position.
He had thrown away 0.4 seconds for nothing.
"That's insane. I only get ten seconds a day, and I'm wasting it like this."
Other people might laugh at him for obsessing over a mere 0.4 seconds.
But with a skill that controlled the fleeting moments between life and death, 0.4 seconds was an enormous resource directly tied to survival.
Chaeho clicked his tongue and stood up.
The ramen broth had already gone cold, with a thin layer of grease floating on top, but his appetite had disappeared long ago.
He put on the worn jacket hanging over the chair and picked up the bag containing his cheap equipment.
If he understood the problem with his head, then he had to fix it with his body.
Inside the cave, the cool smell of earth mixed with the stench of rotting blood and stabbed at his nose.
Chaeho breathed heavily as he lowered his body into a crouched stance.
"Kieeek!"
A goblin holding a bluish blade screamed and charged from the front.
The tip of its crude sword shot straight toward Chaeho's solar plexus.
Normally, this was the moment when he would twist his body and take a large step backward.
His muscles instinctively screamed at him to retreat.
Suppressing that instinct, Chaeho gritted his teeth.
Thoom.
A heavy vibration struck his mind.
The flow of the world slowed until everything seemed trapped inside thick mud.
The twisted wrinkles around the charging goblin's nose became frozen like a photograph on Chaeho's retina.
He could even clearly see every yellow droplet of spit suspended in the air.
Forcing his feet to remain planted on the ground, Chaeho twisted only his left ankle slightly.
It was the smallest possible movement, shifting his upper body barely half a step to the side.
The goblin's rusty blade passed so close to the collar of Chaeho's jacket that it almost brushed against it.
The distance was close enough to make his skin crawl.
Now.
He released the skill.
Paht!
The world returned to its original speed.
Because the goblin's attack had stabbed into empty air, its center of gravity pitched heavily forward.
And because Chaeho had never stepped backward, the distance for his counterattack was perfect.
He didn't even need to extend his arm fully.
He simply made a light thrust.
Stab!
The short thrust pierced cleanly through the goblin's throat.
"Keurk..."
Blood poured from the goblin's mouth as it collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Chaeho flicked his wrist to shake the blood from his sword, then checked the status window in front of him.
Only 0.4 seconds had been consumed.
It was definitely lower than yesterday's record.
"Haa... haa..."
Ragged breaths burst from his lungs.
It wasn't simply because he had exhausted himself physically.
Forcing his concentration to its absolute limit for that brief instant and then releasing it placed an enormous burden on his brain.
A splitting headache struck him, while the leg muscles he had forcibly prevented from retreating trembled uncontrollably.
"No. This still isn't enough."
This level wasn't good enough.
He needed to completely erase his survival instinct.
The moment he activated the skill, he had to follow only the most efficient possible path.
Chaeho tightened his grip around his sword and once again walked deeper into the dark cave.
From within the darkness, the gleaming eyes of monsters welcomed him.
For the next several days, Chaeho moved back and forth like a madman between deserted low-rank dungeons and an old private training facility run by the Association.
Whenever he entered the training center early in the morning, the employee working the shift would always tilt his head at him.
"Chaeho Hunter. Are you buying another full-day pass today?"
"Yes. Training Room Five is empty, right?"
"It is, but... aren't you exhausted? You've been showing up first thing every morning for days now. You've got dark circles under your eyes."
"If I want to make a living, I have to work myself hard. When would I have time to rest?"
Chaeho replied calmly as he handed over his card.
The employee shook his head while processing the payment.
"Still, don't overdo it. I'm starting to worry you're going to break all the machines in Room Five."
"If I break them, I'll pay for them. Have a good day."
After receiving the receipt, Chaeho immediately walked through the corridor toward the training room.
Clank.
The heavy iron door closed behind him.
Standing in the middle of the empty training room, Chaeho placed his equipment bag on the floor.
His goal here was simple.
He would cut away every exaggerated movement that appeared whenever he activated his skill.
