I Became a Swordsmanship Genius at the Academy

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The chaotic demon was completely obliterated.

Even a tiny speck of dust was left without a trace, disappearing as if it had never existed in the first place.

“……”

A stillness settled over the entire dimension.

The atmosphere that had been raging like a storm, and the space that seemed about to shatter, suddenly calmed as if nothing had ever been amiss.

The ferocious battle that just took place felt like a dream.

“Ilshin!”

“Lord Ilshin!”

Hanarin and Hazuki, having confirmed the demise of the chaotic demon, immediately dropped everything and ran.

They sprinted to the last place they had seen Kim Ilshin.

“Ilshin, Ilshin…!”

Hanarin looked around frantically, searching for Kim Ilshin.

Her dark expression and urgent gestures plainly revealed her anxious feelings.

“Where are you…?”

They faced the final blow of the massive and powerful chaotic demon.

Hanarin had no doubt that Kim Ilshin would prevail; indeed, her faith was confirmed, but they still hadn’t checked the most crucial thing.

Kim Ilshin’s survival.

That was more important to Hanarin and Hazuki than anything else in the world at that moment.

“Lord Ilshin! If you can hear me, please respond!”

Hazuki ran as hard as she could.

Having expended all her mana dealing with the chaotic demon, she had none left.

Unable to use magic, she had no choice but to run and see for herself with her own eyes.

“…Ah!”

Suddenly, their expressions brightened.

They spotted Kim Ilshin lying peacefully in the distance.

“There! There he is…!”

“Let’s hurry!”

The clash of colossal forces was beyond description.

In that fragile state, Kim Ilshin’s body couldn’t possibly withstand the backlash.

The fact that he was lying there unscathed meant that the manifestation had activated correctly.

“…He’s breathing. I don’t see any wounds.”

“That’s a relief…”

Kim Ilshin’s chest steadily rose and fell.

His breaths came in and out.

Finally, a sense of relief settled in Hanarin’s anxious heart.

“I’m so glad…”

“Yeah. Really…!”

Tears began to flow freely from both of them.

Hanarin cried loudly, her tears falling like raindrops, while even Hazuki couldn’t hold back her emotions at that moment.

Delicate tears streamed down Hazuki’s cheeks.

“…Th-this isn’t right.”

It didn’t last long.

Seeing tears fall onto Kim Ilshin’s face, Hanarin lifted her head.

They needed to calm down and take care of Kim Ilshin.

Hazuki quickly stopped crying and wiped her tears away.

“Is he just fainted…?”

“No. He seems to be asleep. It’s better to wait until he wakes up.”

“Okay. Let’s do that. The ground must be cold…”

Hanarin tried to lay Kim Ilshin’s head in her lap as before, but Hazuki was faster.

“This time it’s my turn.”

Though a bit flabbergasted, it wasn’t the important part.

Hanarin sat next to Kim Ilshin, watching his expression.

He looked peaceful.

However, fragments of memories still lingered in her mind, making her see the present intertwined with the past.

Hanarin examined Kim Ilshin’s body. Her gaze fell particularly on his hands.

His hands were roughened from arduous training.

The heart that had suffered alone from the knowledge of the future must be even more scarred than this.

“You’ve had a hard time until now.”

“Yeah. You must have been really tired.”

“…Is it okay now?”

To that question, Hazuki thought for a moment before answering while brushing Kim Ilshin’s hair away.

“We have to make it okay. It’s our job.”

“Yeah. It has to be… Oh?”

At that moment, Kim Ilshin’s eyelids fluttered.

It seemed he might wake up, but it wasn’t that.

“Is he dreaming?”

“Maybe.”

Hanarin tightly held Kim Ilshin’s left hand.

She gently caressed the faded gem of the manifestation that had worked hard to save him.

“……It must be a good dream.”

A dark sky. A warm breeze seemed to blow through the empty dimension, devoid of a single cloud.

Perhaps the dimension was responding to Hanarin, the creator’s, heart.

Hanarin and Hazuki exchanged smiles for a moment before quietly closing their eyes.

They imagined the happiness that was soon to come, waiting for Kim Ilshin to awaken.

*

“What is this?”

Meanwhile, Kim Ilshin could hardly hide his surprise at the scene unfolding before him.

A space filled with blue light. It looked similar to the passage he had passed through while shifting dimensions, but the color was deeper.

Unlike the time he only had to follow the path, he was now free to move.

Although there was nothing in particular to see.

It was just that he couldn’t feel his body’s sensations, as if he were in an out-of-body experience.

Kim Ilshin floated around, reflecting on the memories from before he arrived here.

“We won. I didn’t die.”

There was no sense of crisis or need to act.

He had successfully defended against the chaotic demon’s attack and witnessed the radiant light emitted from the manifestation at the moment of facing death.

It was undoubtedly the light of revival.

“Then this is…”

Whoosh.

At that moment, a small blue light orb appeared before Kim Ilshin.

The orb, about the size of a fist, joyfully darted toward him, swirling around him playfully.

It resembled a dog that had met its owner after a long time.

Though its identity was unknown, it was clear it bore no malice.

Instead, its wriggling movements gave off an inexplicable friendliness, as if it wanted to sniff him.

The light orb spun around in excitement for quite some time before gradually slowing down and coming to a stop right in front of Kim Ilshin.

“What a mysterious color.”

It seemed to blend the colors of water and sky.

A beautiful hue where coolness and warmth coexisted.

In that moment, a bright light spread from the center of the light orb, coloring the surroundings.

The light softly enveloped Kim Ilshin and simultaneously conveyed someone’s memories to him.

A god who learned that the dimension it had nurtured from the beginning was destined for destruction.

The way to oppose an irresistible fate was to summon a new destiny from another dimension, one disconnected from the very dimensions themselves.

To save its own dimension, the god used all its power to search for a worthy candidate, leading Kim Ilshin to this place.

However, something unexpected occurred in the process.

The distance from the dimension Kim Ilshin had been in was too great, causing too much power to be spent on bringing him over.

As a result, the god had transformed into the current light orb, unable to provide any assistance to Kim Ilshin.

There was nothing it could do but pray and wait.

And only after all was done did it appear before him, to convey its unexpressed gratitude and apologies.

Kim Ilshin felt the god’s emotions vividly.

A heart filled with overwhelming gratitude and guilt.

The god had watched over Kim Ilshin in this world without fail.

When Kim Ilshin suffered and wept, it writhed with guilt.

When he trembled with fear and anxiety, it regretted its inability to offer him even a small comfort despite having left him in this place.

Yet when Kim Ilshin accepted this world, the god was moved, and when he found happiness at the end of his journey, it too felt a shared joy.

But the unchanging truth remained.

The happiness Kim Ilshin had attained was gained through his own strength, but the one who caused him pain was the god itself.

…Therefore, the god wished for Kim Ilshin’s happiness more than anything.

The years spent suffering from its own selfishness.

If his wounded body and heart could heal even a little, everything it had would have been worth it.

Whoosh!

As everything was conveyed in that moment, with the last flicker of light blooming faintly.

“Ilshin!”

“Lord Ilshin!”

Kim Ilshin awakened.

*

When he opened his eyes, he saw Hanarin’s face, who was holding his hand tightly.

“How’s your body? Are you okay?”

After having literally come back from the dead, he felt as refreshed as if he had had a good sleep.

His wounds had healed completely, and all his abilities had returned.

Seeing her face made him want to tease her, but he refrained after noticing the tear stains beneath her eyes.

“I’m completely fine. Not even a hint of pain.”

“Really? You’re not lying, are you?”

“Why would I lie? It’s true.”

“I’m so relieved…”

Hanarin sighed from relief, and from above, a voice came from Hazuki.

As he tilted his head slightly, he noticed that Hazuki also had tear stains by her eyes.

“I told you I was fine! No wounds, and my mana is stable. You worry too much, sis.”

Yet her constantly observing gaze checking his condition betrayed her feelings.

Being cared for didn’t feel so bad. Especially when love lay beneath it.

But right now, he wanted to share different emotions instead.

“Where should we go for a trip?”

“A trip? All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. After finishing up work and once things calm down around here, I thought we could go on an adventure.”

He had been thinking this for a long time.

This world’s Earth had many wondrous landscapes, where various magical phenomena and strange natural environments intertwined in ways unnoticeable on the former Earth.

Since they hadn’t done so up to now, he wanted to take his time and explore slowly from now on.

As for the academy, he didn’t need to attend that anymore.

“I’m all for it.”

“Me too! I want to go!”

“Sis, aren’t you going to be busy with work? You’ve been gone a while, so there must be a lot piled up.”

“Ha! I can postpone it, can’t I? And you also have to work in your family, right?”

“I can just relay it to grandpa. After all, I’m still the successor.”

“Eh… Is that really okay?”

“If I explain it well, grandpa will be happy too, right? Isn’t that so, Lord Ilshin?”

The two, who had bickered a moment ago, quickly became excited, sharing various stories.

“Let’s go see the auroras! They say if we’re lucky, we might even see some meteorites!”

“How about the kappa lodge halfway up Mt. Fuji? We can enjoy the mountain scenery and take a hot spring bath.”

“That name is weird. A kappa is a hideously ugly and fierce monster. What if it hears its name and comes looking for us?”

“Actually, the lodge’s owner raises a kappa, which is quite famous. They even serve guests food at their tables. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“Ew…”

It definitely sounded fun.

A world where meteorites could be found amidst falling stars, and where mythical creatures from folklore were real.

It was sure not to be boring. After all, a trip with those two could never be dull.

“I’ve always wanted to see a pink dolphin. They say the sea where they live shines in rainbow colors at night!”

“How about a vampire experience in Romania? You can be a vampire for six hours!”

“I like the ordinary too. A cherry blossom outing!”

“I agree! Let’s prepare a lunchbox together.”

“Great! Kimbap! Sandwiches! Inari sushi! Oh, and ramen!”

“…Do you think you can eat all that?”

“Yeah! Totally possible!”

Kim Ilshin watched the two and was filled with unexpected emotion.

The phrase “let’s go on a trip” held another meaning that only Kim Ilshin knew.

It meant choosing to stay here instead of returning to the world he embodied.

A place so far away that even the god of the massive earthly dimension would have to use almost all its power to reach it.

While it could be reached somehow, there would be no possible return.

“I’m not leaving.”

It was perhaps the obvious choice.

There were many things he missed from that place too, but not more than these two.

“……No, I can’t leave.”

Kim Ilshin chose a happy future with Hanarin and Hazuki.

He was confident it would be a choice he would never regret, no matter how many years passed.

“Oh, right!”

At that moment, Hanarin shouted urgently.

“How are we going to get back? We used up all our powers…”

“Now that you mention it, I didn’t think about how we would return.”

“Are we stuck here…?”

“Calm down. It’s okay.”

As Kim Ilshin stood up and waved his hand, a passage connected to the dimension was instantly created.

“Wow! How did you do that? Didn’t we use up all our powers?”

“Not really. It seems there was still a bit left when I woke up.”

“Hmmm… Do you think some of the chaotic demon’s remains entered Lord Ilshin?”

“Gasp. Could that be?”

“That’s quite possible.”

He played dumb, but Kim Ilshin knew the reason.

“If I give it all away like this, what am I supposed to do now?”

In the process of conveying his memories and emotions to Kim Ilshin, the god had inadvertently passed along many other things.

Those were everything it had as a god.

It had not reinstated its power and had generously given up its authority over the earthly dimension and even its status as a deity.

“That’s just too much.”

In truth, it would be a lie to say he had no resentment at all.

Nevertheless, it seemed a waste of time and emotion to dwell on such a past.

It was time to escape from anxiety and pressure and enjoy happiness.

He was busy smiling and sharing stories.

So the authority over the earthly dimension and the status of a god would only be hindrances.

Kim Ilshin intended to return those two to where they originally belonged.

“Oh, before that…”

Kim Ilshin used his divine status and authority to create a passage connecting the earth dimension and the castle’s dimension.

The distance between the two dimensions wasn’t too far, so it was no problem to make a path with some divine power.

He inscribed the entrance of the passage with the cover of his favorite novel, “The Song of Iron,” for Cheongmok to discover after he explored outside.

“It shouldn’t take long.”

Surely, his reunion with his cherished disciple wasn’t far off.

He already looked forward to the day he’d see how much his disciple had grown.

Once he finished his work, Kim Ilshin left just a bit of divine power for emergencies and gave back everything else.

“I need to heal the Sword Saint’s illness too.”

With that thought in mind, he double-checked the people beside him before asking.

“Shall we go now?”

“Sounds good.”

“Let’s go!”

The three stood side by side at the entrance of the passage.

Kim Ilshin was in the middle, with Hanarin and Hazuki snuggly beside him.

As they stepped across the passage, Kim Ilshin realized he had forgotten one more thing.

He hadn’t responded to the two.

“Once we cross, things will be busy again.”

He had dealt with the chaotic demon, but the repercussions of the great rift were not yet over.

The rift might have closed, but the monsters that had emerged from it hadn’t all vanished.

Dealing with them alone would take days.

He didn’t want to postpone anything again. So Kim Ilshin immediately opened his mouth.

“Hey, you two. Thank you, and I love you. Really.”

Hanarin’s eyes widened in shock, and Hazuki’s face turned instantly red.

The two suddenly turned their heads in surprise toward Kim Ilshin.

Kim Ilshin took each of their expressions into memory as he stepped forward into the future.

A future created together by the three of them would surely be filled with happiness.