Chapter 17: Chasing the Silent Swordsman

Catching Up to the Silent Swordsman

The viewers of Um Gildong asked.

So, what are you going to copy?
It was an all-time legend.
Choosing is a hassle.

The incredible physicality of the Silent Swordsman started from the blood demon purge and continued every moment.

It was impossible to find a moment where his physicality did not shine.

“Still, if I’m going to do it, I should pick the hardest one.”

Killing the executioner in the tutorial?

“That’s too much.”

Choosing the second field to kill the boss without the blood demon?

“That’s too much too.”

The chat room for Um Gildong ignited.

Oh, if that won’t work, what will? Haha.
Just give up.
I’m sorry for messing around; if you say you can’t do it now, we’ll let it slide.

Already ignited with competitive spirit, Um Gildong did not back down.

“The boss might be impossible, but the purge mission is doable.”

Just barely?
Um Gildong, barely a purge mission?

“Facing the demon spirits on a small boat.”

Huh?
Oh?

“With the condition of protecting the same amount of demon spirits on the small boat for the same duration as the Silent Swordsman.”

This is a bit tempting.
Sounds interesting.
I’m on board.

“If I succeed, I get a waiver for penalty number one from the roulette; if I fail, I spin the penalty roulette. What do you think? Deal?”

Deal.
Let’s do it.

Thus, after a full day of dedicated effort, the result was born.

[Catching Up to the Silent Swordsman (100 seconds)]

[by Thief Um Gildong]

For 100 seconds, the goal was to protect the small boat with low durability from the demon spirits or to defeat all the demons, featuring a simulation of catching up to the Silent Swordsman in a boat battle.

A total of 64 demons appeared.

The boat was a shabby small vessel.

The character had only minimal stat adjustments given.

It was a simulation where he challenged to perform the same achievements as the Silent Swordsman in the same conditions.

Feeling proud of the high level of completion, Um Gildong embarked on the first trial run.

As the small boat collided with the demon spirits, it swayed from the shock and then smashed his head against the boat’s edge, killing him instantly.

[RANK 01. Thief Um Gildong / Time Record: 3 seconds / Remaining Demons: 64 / Boat Condition: Intact]

[Sign: Died from hitting his head against the boat.]

Phobos’ selection: The ugliest death in the world, ranked number one.
V-tuber friends, even though I’m finishing up catching up to the Silent Swordsman here, I hope you can see the ending! Bye~
Fastest coffin-bound trip, haha.
Seriously, that was terrible, haha.

“A trial run, come on! Do you think you won’t fall?”

Um Gildong, embarrassed, reacted angrily for no reason, but he couldn’t help thinking that it was indeed tough.

The collisions between the demon spirits and the small boat were much more intense than he had imagined.

“Is this guy magnetized to the ground? How the hell is he holding on?”

The number of attempts quickly surpassed ten, but even after passing the first collision hurdle, his record never exceeded 20 seconds.

Crash! Smash!

Suddenly, spears surged from the water.

If he lost his footing or got pricked even once by the demon spirits’ attacks, he would be restricted in movement, falling beneath the boat or losing his life.

“Don’t come at me, you bastards!!”

With his legs tightly pressed against the boat’s railing and his center of gravity lowered, Um Gildong entered a slippery, evasive playstyle, swatting away only the incoming spears.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

What a coward!
Do you really want to win this badly?

“Uaaaaaa!!”

“Kyah!”

“Kyyaaa!”

Countless spears flew toward him from the demon spirits.

Crazy, haha. So many spears are coming up!
He’s using the stolen defensive technique from a ranker here, haha.
What a waste of skill, lol.

He gave up on holding steady with his legs or killing the demons.

Only desperate resistance for survival remained.

Despite his best record of 40 seconds, the boat suddenly creaked and split in half from the bottom.

[RANK 01. Thief Um Gildong, 25 attempts / Time Record: 40.7 seconds / Remaining Demons: 64 / Boat Condition: Destroyed]

[Sign: Died after falling into the water when the boat broke and being pierced by multiple spears.]

“Gahhh! How am I supposed to last for 100 seconds?!”

Even watching it on video seemed impressive, but he never imagined it would be this tough.

It was as difficult as trying to block the arrows of a thousand archers for a minute by stealing a ranker’s defensive skill.

This is the technique you chose to steal. Endure it with sheer will.
This feels like the agony of the mirror shield technique.

This is it, haha. I enjoy seeing this guy suffer the most.

Fueled by the determination to crush the viewers who rejoiced in his failures, Um Gildong continued to challenge himself.

“If I just sit here without fighting, the boat can’t hold out. I need to reduce the number of demon spirits somehow.”

Risking danger, he launched his attacks, but he died faster in the first few attempts than while hiding.

He suffered sudden deaths dozens of times from spears that snuck up through his blind spots or pierced through the bottom of the boat.

The number of attempts quickly reached 100.

[RANK 01. Thief Um Gildong, 100 attempts / Time Record: 49.2 seconds / Remaining Demons: 51 / Boat Condition: Severely Damaged]

[Sign: Died after falling into the water when the boat broke and being pierced by multiple spears.]

[RANK 02. Thief Um Gildong, 97 attempts / Time Record: 49 seconds / Remaining Demons: 54 / Boat Condition: Severely Damaged]

[Sign: Caught by a demon spirit and dragged into the river, resulting in death.]

[RANK 03. Thief Um Gildong, 81 attempts / Time Record: 48.8 seconds / Remaining Demons: 53 / Boat Condition: Severely Damaged]

[Sign: A broken shard of the boat pierced his big toe, and while focusing on that, he couldn’t avoid a spear, resulting in death.]

“Aaaaah!! 50 seconds, 50 seconds, 50 seconds, 50 seconds!!”

Gildong Anamunakeryeom has donated 1,000 won!

49.2 seconds.

Slipping and dying is hilarious
Hey, this doesn’t seem promising. Let’s just spin the punishment roulette and call it a day. If we give up today, it’ll end with one roulette spin.
No way! After three days of trying and failing, I should have three penalty spins!
But isn’t it better than at first?

Compared to the first attempt, where he died in three seconds, this was much better.

But failing to avoid a slip even after 100 tries isn’t a good sign.

It proves just how disadvantageous fighting on a small, old ferry is.

“Ah, I’m so frustrated. I need to cool my head for a bit.”

Um Gil-dong took a break, putting on a song.

After stepping out of the virtual reality capsule and sipping a drink, he tried to loosen his stiff body, but his dark expression didn’t improve.

“Ugh, why did I even start this? I won’t clear it even if I try for a month.”

It was clear that without learning a few tricks, he wouldn’t have any chance of clearing it no matter how many attempts he made.

“This is ridiculously difficult. How did the Silent Swordsman manage this?”

Two hours into his attempt, he still hadn’t seen a chance of success.

Balancing, footwork, aiming to pierce the ghostly creature’s head in the water with a single strike, and the defensive techniques to bounce back attacks—all of it was dauntingly difficult.

Honestly, this felt even harder than mastering the shield technique.

“Is this guy a gymnastics athlete or what?”

After a long hiatus, COVID-19 reportedly re-emerged in 2050 with new variants.

Maybe he stopped being an athlete and decided to take on this game instead.

Such questions felt convincing given the difficulty of the challenge.

“Whatever, I’ll just go all out today.”

Day 1 of Silent Swordsman Challenge.

Attempt Count: 502.

Total Time: 12 hours 15 minutes.

[RANK 01. Thief Um Gil-dong: 480 Attempts / Time Record: 54.2 seconds / Remaining Ghosts: 48 / Ferry Destroyed]

[Cause of death: falling into the water when trying to jump over the boat.]

“Something’s not right here. Am I wasting my time?”