[Noun] A short, thick stick. Usually used to hit people or livestock.

This was the dictionary definition of a cudgel. The Watchguards paused when they saw the weapon in Specter’s hand.

‘I expected the training curriculum to cover combat training…’

‘But why a cudgel all of a sudden?’

‘...He’s not planning to hit us with that, is he?’

‘No way...’

Even though they doubted that he would actually do that, their nervousness showed on their faces.

Swoosh! Swoosh! 

The Watchguards all turned to look in one direction.

“W-what? Why are you looking at me?” Arthur Green was their leader, as well as the strongest Player in their ranks. He felt pressure along with a sense of betrayal as dozens of pairs of eyes stared at him.

They were a close-knit group and even considered each other family. When Arthur had been captured by fiends, they had even been loyal enough not to hand him over to them.

‘I thought we were close…!’ 

But they turned their backs on him in the face of Specter-nim’s cudgel…

‘You’re our leader, aren’t you? You should go first.’

‘You’re also the strongest…’

‘Captain, you gotta set a good example.’

Arthur eventually stepped forward as his entire body trembled.

Swoosh! Swoosh! 

Specter spoke as he swung his cudgel, “Come at me like you’re gonna kill me. Think of me as your parents’ sworn enemy.”

“...You want me to come at you with killing intent?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah…”

“Even with your power, isn’t that dangerous?”

“Dangerous? For me?” Specter grinned. At his level, he could easily take down the Watchguards with a single chopstick. The only reason he had made a cudgel out of darkness was to fire them up. But to think that they were worried about him. 

“Don’t worry about it and just come.”

“Then, I’ll go slowly...”

“It’s fine if you go fast.”

Arthur got into position, hesitant. Most Players used a physical weapon as their main damage-dealer, but Arthur didn’t.

‘My main skill is telekinesis anyway.’ 

Because of that, he always used a flashy weapon to distract his opponent. The more his opponent paid attention to his weapon, the easier it would be for him to use telekinesis.

“Here I come!” In an instant, Arthur pulled out his belt.

Thwack! 

It sounded like a paper crane was flying as his belt transformed into a sword. It was a flexible yeon sword made out of steel[1].

“You better be careful!” Arthur called out. He took a powerful swing.

Swoosh! 

The yeon sword was thin, light, and flexible. Its trajectory was hard to read because even a slight breeze could knock it off-kilter.

‘A yeon sword. It’s supposed to draw my eyes to it so he can use his telekinesis.’ 

It wasn’t a bad idea, but it was too common. Around 80% of telekinetic Players used a similar strategy.

‘It only makes the opponent warier, because it’s obvious that there’s gonna be some sort of surprise attack.’ 

Arthur wasn’t outstanding with the yeon sword either.

‘It’s too obvious. He’ll probably try to ambush me in the middle of the battle with smaller weapons.’ 

Not all opponents were stupid. Right now, Specter was playing the role of an enemy that was ruthless, smart, and intelligent.

Thwack! 

He struck the side of the sword with his cudgel. As it bent and flew in toward his face, he cut through the blade with his magic-enhanced hand.

Slice! 

“Wha…!” Taken aback, Arthur tried to retreat to create distance between them, but the cudgel drew a swift arc and struck his side.

“Gah!” It was powerful enough to knock the breath out of him and make him spit. With no other choice, Arthur used his telekinesis as his body flew through the air. Four throwing knives shot out from beneath his clothes, aiming for Specter’s pressure points.

‘Just as I expected...’ 

Battles between Players were usually a strategy game for using their skills. The most important thing was finding out your opponent’s skills while not letting your own be discovered.

‘But if you just reveal your skill like this…’ 

If you didn’t manage to kill them with the first hit, your chances of winning would go down.

Crack! Crack! 

Specter struck the throwing knives using his cudgel like a baseball bat, and they crumpled to the ground.

“10 points for swordplay, 10 points for acting, and 20 points for reaction time,” he said.

“Ugh…” Arthur looked frustrated. Of course, Specter had been able to handle him that easily because he already knew what his skill was. But Arthur already knew that…

‘This is the same helplessness I felt when I fought the fiend pretending to be Mr. Jang a few days ago…’ 

His opponent hadn’t let his guard down even when he pulled out his revolver as if he knew Arthur had something else hidden up his sleeve.

“...What am I supposed to do now?” Arthur asked.

“Get up,” Specter replied.

Arthur stood up, stumbling. He had only been hit once, but his side still throbbed.

‘It didn’t break any bones… So why does it hurt so much?’ 

It was because the darkness element generally penetrated through all defenses. Specter was reasonable enough to not break any bones, but the damage the strike inflicted still lingered. Obviously, it would take longer for Arthur to recover.

“I don’t mind giving you advice here and there, but I can’t do that for the rest of your life.” Specter gestured with his finger. “You have to find your own weaknesses and fix them. All powerful Players must do so.”

“I’m still a Ranker…”

“Are Rankers these days this weak? It wasn’t like this back in my day…”

Arthur had nothing left to say. He tossed aside his broken sword and took out his revolver. “Can I use a gun?”

“You can use a missile if you want.”

“Here I come!” Arthur swiftly kicked off the ground. His movements were flashy as he started to run around Specter. The Watchguards watched with wide eyes.

“He’s fast!”

“You’re telling me this is all thanks to the effects of a week of basic stamina training?”

“His lower body strength has completely evolved—that’s why he can go so fast.”

Their observations were correct. Not far off, Arthur himself was experiencing the changes in his body the most.

‘What the… I’m going super fast.’ 

It had only been a week. With the use of the expensive potions, he was able to reach this level in a week when it easily should have taken two months.

‘All we did was run…’ 

They hadn’t done anything else. All they did was run until they threw up, collapsed, and fainted. But even with just that, he could feel that he had gotten stronger.

Woosh! 

Arthur started to move even faster. With the newfound strength in his lower body, it wasn’t even hard to change directions.

‘If I can move like this…’ 

He was sure that he’d be able to easily take out most fiends.

‘I can feel the difference’. 

Arthur’s eyes sparkled. He had once wondered if Specter’s training methods were too simple and unrefined, but he didn’t feel that way anymore.

‘I believe in you...’ 

Now, he fully believed in Specter’s methods. Even if the training was arduous and painful while it was ongoing, there would be a grand prize waiting at the end.

‘He said that those who work hard have time on their side.’ 

This meant that time would always be on Arthur’s side. Because from that moment, he decided that he would never slack on training…

Slam! 

Specter pushed him over, knocking him out. “Why are you running around in circles like that? Whether you use your pistol or not, you should’ve just attacked me. In a real battle, no one would just stand by and watch.”

‘That’s… true…’

‘He’s not wrong…’

The Watchguards unwittingly nodded along.

***

Specter’s battle training lasted from morning to night. During that time, not a single Watchguard managed to even touch him.

“Just how much more skilled is he?”

“Why are you surprised? Our opponent is Specter-nim.”

“But still… He was still recovering his strength until just a few weeks ago.”

“If a tiger gets sick, can a rabbit defeat it?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

Players were pure… no, they were prideful. Even if their opponent was a legendary Player, they would still feel bitter if they spent the whole day being beaten up.

Defeated, the Watchguards started to go over their matches with serious expressions on their faces.

‘Why did I get hit? Well, I guess it’s because I’m weak…’

‘Specter-nim isn’t even going faster than us.’ 

‘He’s using the same level of speed and strength as us. I’m sure of it.’ 

Despite this, they hadn’t even been able to graze him. Why was there such a big difference in skill when they were supposedly equal? The Watchguards looked for the answer as they started analyzing the videos they had recorded. It was their first time analyzing their combat techniques like this since they had become Players. Most Players had probably never done this either.

‘My breathing got cut off here. That’s why there was more strain on my body overall.’

‘I made too many unnecessary movements here, so I couldn’t even dodge a slow attack.’

‘My skill is good for momentarily blocking the opponent’s vision. But a smart opponent will be able to estimate roughly where I am. In that case, it might be better to create distance when I distract them…’

It was an unfamiliar experience. It was easy to observe other people and give them tips, but it was hard to be objective with yourself. If it weren’t for Specter, they probably would have never had this sort of experience. This training technique was also systematically used in big Guilds for their newbies.

‘Looks like everyone learned something…’ 

Seo Jun-Ho smiled under his mask. He swung his cudgel without even looking to the side.

Crack! 

“Ow!”

“It might come faster than I thought…”

The day when the evolved Watchguards entered the world, that was.

***

One week of basic stamina training. One week of battle training. The training curriculum was unmatched. But when the two weeks ended, the Watchguards’ spirit had changed.

‘They have better lower-body strength, they have better looks in their eyes, and their stamina has improved.’ 

As they looked up at Specter, their eyes were filled with boundless faith and respect. His cudgel had hurt, but his beatings hadn’t been senseless.

‘He only did it so that we could learn...’

‘The beatings had a deeper meaning behind them.’

‘Maybe he didn’t take in students in the past because he was too soft-hearted to beat them up.’

They misunderstood him greatly, but they couldn’t put down their rose-tinted glasses. Even if they saw Specter picking his nose, they would probably think that there was some deep meaning behind it.

“Two weeks isn’t a long time, but it’s not short either,” Specter spoke as he looked upon the Watchguards lined up in front of him. “Thank you for following me without complaints.”

The Watchguards sniffled and bit down their lips. It had been hard, but their time and effort had paid off. They had gone through a lot, and their stamina had greatly improved as a result.

“But don’t think for a moment that your training is over.” Specter looked each of them in the eye. “When I finished training Gilberto with this curriculum, he came back to me half a year later.”

“...Half a year later?”

“Yes. He kept running until he reached his limits and he also spent a lot of time hunting.”

The Watchguards swallowed.

“After half a year… What happened to my father?” Arthur asked, sounding nervous.

Specter shrugged. “When he came back to me, the grades of all his skills had increased by one or more.”

“The grades of all his skills…”

“One or more?!”

Their jaws dropped. Gilberto hadn’t been some natural genius. He had started at the bottom just like them, or maybe even lower.

‘I thought I would die after two weeks of this training…’

‘But he did it for an entire six months. He must have an iron will...’

‘Players like the Gray Envoy don’t just appear out of nowhere.’

‘He was just a normal Player, and all he did was train himself.’ 

Hope blossomed in their chests. With a precedent already in place—maybe they could also become the protagonist of a story.

“But even if we can just run on our own, isn’t it hard to gain battle experience?”

“Why do you think that?” Specter asked. “There are even stronger monsters here than on Earth.”

“...Then Gilbert-nim trained with monsters?”

Even though they called it battle training, their lives had never been in danger when they fought Specter. But monsters were different. A small mistake when fighting them could mean death.

‘He was probably scared.’

Even though they had a lot of experience hunting monsters, they usually fought monsters that were significantly weaker than them. Fighting monsters stronger than you with your life on the line was completely different.

“Are you guys all thinking what I’m thinking?” Arthur asked.

“Of course...”

“Even if we’re not thinking the same thing, I’ll do as you command, Captain.”

Specter hadn’t expected them to react like this. They looked calm, and their eyes were filled with determination.

“Specter-nim.” Even though the training was over, Arthur still called him ‘Specter’ instead of ‘Uncle.’

“What is it?”

“You won’t be able to contact me for a few months. Please explain this to my father.”

“...You guys are gonna do isolation training?” Specter’s eyes softened as he looked at the Watchguards. If one person gave up, two or three would follow. “It’s gonna be hard.”

“But we still have to do it.” Arthur looked determined. “I realized that the fiends are much stronger than I thought. We’re just a bunch of little fish in a big pond.”

“We’re Players. We can’t just live in someone else’s shadow forever.”

“We have to get stronger.”

Specter laughed out loud for the first time as he looked at them. He was proud of them. The Watchguards looked at him quizzically, not understanding why he was laughing.

‘If you guys are able to meet my standards once you finish your isolation training…’

Then, Specter would lead the Watchguards himself. He had never led a team because he didn’t like the hassle of it, but he had never encountered a group of people so hopelessly stubborn either.

‘I can’t just leave them to die...’ 

They might just become his first team.

1. A general term for flexible swords that were used in ancient Asia. ☜