I Became the Dystopian Swordsman – Chapter 013
A brief silence after the deafening roar.
Even through the thin haze of dust, I could sense their presence.
My senses expanded—my extrasensory perception activated.
I couldn’t easily explain these two things.
I just felt them.
An expanded world, one I had never perceived before.
The ideal trajectory of the sword and its movements stretched endlessly like a single line.
When I moved along that trajectory—
Something incomprehensible happened.
There was no panic.
In fact, it felt natural.
A clarity of mind, coupled with a boiling sense of exhilaration.
Far removed from the naive guilt of having killed someone.
Soon—
They reacted.
“Shoot!!!”
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Crack!
A barrage of bullets.
I couldn’t dodge them.
But I had already left that spot long ago.
From the moment I gripped my sword and entered combat—
My physical reflexes reached their absolute limit.
I wasn’t foolish enough to just stand and wait.
Instinctively, I counted the number of shots fired into the air.
And just as the barrage ended—
Ignoring the strategy I had set earlier—
“Now.”
I broke through.
My body launched forward as if the word itself propelled me.
Dozens of men came into view as I burst through the door.
Considering the numbers, abandoning the narrow passage was foolish—but I didn’t hesitate.
“W-what the—! Stop hi—!!”
“You f*ing bastard!!”**
Amid the crude curses, I lowered my stance.
I moved along the line—but that line was aimed at their throats.
Swiish!
Swiish!
I advanced.
I cut as I moved forward.
It wasn’t flashy or elegant.
Just ruthlessly efficient, without a single wasted motion.
If the world until now had been a first-person perspective reliant on sight—
Now, with my expanded senses, I stepped into a third-person world.
How I swung my sword.
How I moved.
How the enemy reacted.
Who was behind me.
What attacks were coming from the sides.
Every single detail was vividly mapped in my mind.
“Huu….”
Clang!
I blocked a machete swinging from the side.
Dodged a massive hammer descending from behind.
All while my eyes locked onto four men reloading their guns.
“M-monster!”
“Stop him! Stop him!! How are we getting pushed back with these numbers?! Hurry—!”
Swiish!
The noisy one disrupting my senses lost his head.
A brief lull.
In those few seconds of silence, no screams could be heard.
Only the dead—no wounded.
Then—
I lowered my stance even further.
The pressure on my thighs and calves intensified.
With that tension, I gauged the distance I could cover.
My muscles coiled like springs, compressed to their limit—
And at the peak of compression—
Explosion.
Whoosh!—Slick!
“H-huh?”
Swiish!
By the time I swung a few more times—
A beat later, arterial spray erupted.
The gunmen collapsed, still gripping their weapons.
Further combat was meaningless.
I couldn’t see it, but I knew.
The ragged breaths of those who had lost their will to fight.
Even the faint tremors of fear.
In contrast, my mind was utterly serene.
Even though it was my first time killing, no particular emotions surfaced.
So, there was no hesitation in my next move.
“R-run…!”
“Get out!!!”
I left no witnesses.
If even one of them escaped and reported back, they’d come for revenge—and that’d be a nuisance.
‘Twenty steps.’
That was enough.
No need to chase—twenty steps would suffice.
A sword swung along the ideal trajectory always drew blood at its end.
Slick!
A few, realizing escape was impossible, turned and charged at me instead.
Swiish!
Five fell at once.
Their sacrifice bought the last survivor a few seconds to flee.
But—
My leap was faster than his sprint.
Thud.
Slick.
Swiish!
He collapsed mid-turn, his back slashed open.
In less than a few minutes, dozens of corpses littered the ground.
But I couldn’t stop yet.
There were still stragglers at the main entrance.
Sasaki Ken.
He trembled with unease, fiddling with his ear.
“Why… why aren’t they following the plan?!”
He didn’t know what was happening, but the situation had deviated so far from the original plan that panic set in.
“Damn it, someone guard the supervisor’s post!”
“Huh?”
“He went out to fight, didn’t he? If this continues, the passage will be breached before the charging is even done. I need to go block it again.”
“S-supervisor?! That’s too dangerous!”
“You’d rather we all die together?!”
There was no other choice.
He was the one in charge here.
His hands and feet lost warmth, shaking like an alcoholic’s, but he knew—he had to go.
“Supervisor, please, c-calm down first!”
“Do I look calm to you?!”
Going alone was borderline suicidal.
But he didn’t have the courage to send someone else to their death.
Outwardly, he acted furious.
Acted capable.
Inside, he was screaming in despair.
Even now, writhing in that dissonance, no one stepped forward to join him.
‘Goddammit…!’
But then—
A frantic voice called out.
“S-supervisor! You need to see this!”
“W-what is it? Is it important?”
“That… that guy…”
“…Is he dead?”
An obvious conclusion, but his breath still hitched.
“No… I don’t even know how to explain this… It’s insane.”
“What do you…?”
“The gang members are being wiped out.”
An incomprehensible statement.
His body moved reflexively.
Not toward the second-floor window—
But the underground passage.
Running recklessly, he caught the metallic stench of blood at every corner.
And when he reached the end—
He witnessed the carnage.
“…Madness.”
Then, after the briefest pause—
He couldn’t hold back the nausea.
“Ugh—! B-blurgh!!”
He hastily covered his mouth.
What the hell happened here?
His legs gave out at the horror before him, but the supervisor who had followed steadied him.
“…This can’t be real.”
The supervisor wasn’t faring much better.
He didn’t vomit, but his pupils trembled violently.
“This… was all done by that guy, Kyle…?”
“L-let’s head back inside. The gang members at the main entrance are almost all dealt with too.”
When they said the door had been broken through—
When they said they had barricaded it again—
Sasaki Ken had assumed Kyle had allies.
But if this massacre was the work of one man—
Everything clicked into place.
“Just… what are you?”
The Monello Family members targeting the central control center numbered just over fifty.
Slaughtering the defenseless ones waiting at the main entrance felt trivial compared to the battle at the rear.
With the last enemy cut down, it was over.
“P-please… spare…”
Slick—
And at the end of the fierce battle—
“Hah… hah…”
Ding!
[+Slightly Fatigued]
The extrasensory activation faded.
My mind began to return.
I couldn’t fully grasp what I had just done.
The overwhelming stench of blood.
I barely suppressed the rising nausea.
Despite my emotions—
A notification surfaced.
A period marking the end of the situation.
Ding!
[Crisis at the Central Control Center]
[(Help)]
[Result: Stress Level +30]
[+Support Skill: Forward Slash (Lv.1)]
Ding!
[Cancelled: Forward Slash (Lv.1)]
[-Support Skill: Forward Slash (Lv.1)]
Ding!
[‘Legendary Swordsmanship Talent’ Effect Activated]
[+Support Skill: Onslaught (Lv.1)]
Ding!
[‘Legendary Swordsmanship Talent’ Effect Activated]
[Onslaught (Lv.1) >> Flash Slash (Lv.1)]
Ding!
[+Support Skill: Flash Slash (Lv.1)]
The system messages flooded in instantly.
After a quick glance, I wiped my face.
Staring at the carnage any longer would only make me sick.
I also put my glasses away for now.
-[Hawk’s Eyes]
+[Low Vision]
Separate from that, my heart raced at the unbelievable reality.
“So this… is the true power of ‘Legendary Swordsmanship Talent’?”
Annihilating a mafia force in moments.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but the trait’s ability far exceeded expectations.
However—
Now, I had to face the consequences.
The ignored system messages—
They began pouring in all at once.
[Stress Level +2]
[Stress Level +2]
[Stress Level +1]
[Stress Level +2]
[Stress Level +1]
…….
[Warning]
-Stress Level: 98-
At least that was fortunate.
Normally, a negative trait should’ve triggered by now, but I barely avoided it.
No matter how I looked at it, the increase was too low.
‘Does extrasensory activation suppress stress level growth?’
It must be an exceptional trait in many ways.
“Hah.”
I had killed people, but the emotional turbulence was less than expected.
I didn’t feel like I’d have nightmares like in dramas or movies.
No self-loathing, either.
My hands and feet trembled slightly, but—
Was it from killing, or the lingering adrenaline?
I couldn’t tell.
If I felt guilt, it’d be too weak a reaction for what I’d done.
At least, that’s how I justified it to myself.
I’d face worse situations eventually.
Now, what to do next?
Return to the central control center and finish the job.
But—
Out of habit, my hand moved swiftly.
A bag one of them had been carrying.
[+Leather Backpack]
I opened it and stuffed in nearby loot.
[+Regular Cigarettes], [Premium Cigar], [Hip Flask (Alcohol)], [9mm Handgun Ammo x30], [Nicotine Candy], [Tomahawk], [Stiletto Knife]
Some snacks, ammo, a tomahawk, and a 15cm knife.
An unavoidable habit.
Thoroughly looting the battlefield.
Because of that—
The emotions I had buried resurfaced.
But only briefly.
Ding!
[(Warning) Stress Level: 99]
“Hm?”
[‘High Metabolism’ Trait Activated]
“Oh…?”
This was bad.
I’d forgotten about this trait.
High Metabolism.
A debuff trait that continuously increased stress if I didn’t eat.
At this rate, a negative trait was inevitable.
‘Is there food in the central control center?’
I had to hurry.
I needed to get back and eat now.
Just as I was about to drop the bag and sprint—
“…Mr. Han?”
Ellie’s trembling voice came from behind.
“Uh…”
Plop.
Something fell from Ellie Wayris’s hand.
She stared at the carnage with a deeply disturbed expression.
“You… did this alone…?”
Shocked, she struggled to finish her sentence.
Given the situation, my eyes were drawn not to her but to what she had dropped.
A diet sandwich.
Some canned food.
Now that I looked, she seemed slightly different from before.
Her hair was disheveled, her clothes slightly torn.
“Are you going to eat?”
“Ah… yes.”
“Did you steal these?”
“Well, my card didn’t work.”
“You pass.”
“Pass what?”
“In many ways.”
