TRPM 07

CHAPTER 07

The orcs kept swarming in, and I kept driving my bamboo sword into their throats.

The orcs had enough intelligence to use tools, but not enough to coordinate attacks, so they rushed me blindly. I dodged axes flying from every direction, guiding their swings to crash into the ground or into their own kin.

“Grrraaaakh!”
“Kreeeegh!”

Each time I swung my bamboo sword or avoided an axe, pig-like squeals echoed as another orc collapsed.

Of course, that didn’t just mean the number of orcs was dwindling.

No… this isn’t right. Slower, more natural.

What I sought in this dungeon was real combat—actual practice. I needed to imprint the techniques of my past life onto the body I had now.

Not a bad feeling…

My thrusts became more refined, more efficient.

And then—

Crack!

An orc’s head burst under my thrust.

“…”
“… Grugh?”

Even the orcs rushing me froze, sensing something was terribly wrong.

Meanwhile, I laughed, feeling my arm move exactly as I intended.

“Not bad.”

Resonance.

When my thrust pierced an orc, the impact carried a vibration close to the creature’s natural frequency. The vibration amplified within its body, tearing it apart from the inside.

Finding the natural frequency of a living being, unlike uniform materials like steel or glass, is difficult…

But my perception was far sharper than others’. It was possible for me. All I needed was to adjust the bamboo sword’s vibration as I struck.

And finally, this young body had become capable of it.

At that moment—

【User Han Gun-woo has completed a sword technique.】

【Searching for a suitable name…】

The Awakener System seemed to have recognized my thrust as a sword art.

“Huh. I wouldn’t call it a technique though.”

Sure, it was an efficient thrust, but calling it a formal technique felt off. The principle could be applied to other strikes, not just thrusts.

【Acknowledged.】
【Registering the skill as a type of martial art in the database.】
【Would you like to name it?】

“…Oh?”

“Right, now that I think about it—this must be the first time anyone’s actually used this in live combat. Until now, it was only theory.”

Of course. It felt easy to me, but in general, sensing a monster’s natural frequency and embedding the proper vibration into an attack was anything but easy. In my past life, a research group had attempted something similar using spears equipped with vibration devices.

“Just call it Resonance. That’s what it was known as before, anyway.”

【Martial art ‘Resonance’ recorded in database.】

The Awakener System logged the data. At first glance, it might look like it was just stealing my technique, but in reality, it was more like granting me the rights to it.

So if others use Resonance, they’d have to pay me a royalty… or something like that?

Not that I had ever received royalties in my past life. None of the martial techniques I created had caught on—too impractical for mages or knights. Even this Resonance was theoretically possible, but only a handful could actually wield it in combat. Expecting royalties was unrealistic.

Anyway—

“For the destructive power it has, the strain on my arm is negligible.”

I realized that Resonance didn’t burden me much at all, even as the terrified orcs stared.

Yes. That was how it should be. They should tremble in fear—not charge me blindly.

I readjusted my grip on the bamboo sword.

Now that Resonance is perfected…

It was time to recreate that scene from my past life—killing multiple orcs at once with a single Resonance strike.

I launched myself into their midst.

After that, the orcs trying to stop me literally exploded.

But I wasn’t just slaughtering them. I experimented—using Resonance from different postures, at different angles. There were failures, sure; some orcs survived a strike or two. But overall, I was satisfied.

Not a drop of blood hit me either.

Though their bodies burst apart and blood splattered everywhere, none sprayed in my direction. Even if it had, I could’ve cleaned it off with magic before leaving, but avoiding it entirely was preferable.

Now then…

The dungeon seemed to be nearing its end. Ahead stretched a vast cavern, many times larger than the passages I’d walked so far.

In dungeons, such caverns usually meant one of two things:

Either an overwhelming horde of enemies…

Or—

“You the boss here?”
“…Grrruk!”

—A boss monster’s lair.

Judging by the dungeon’s size, it was probably just a chieftain.

Of course, he wasn’t alone. Two orc shamans stood behind him, ready to cast buffs on allies and curses on enemies. In front, orc warriors clad in heavy armor and carrying massive shields blocked the way.

Not a commander type then…

The orc chieftain glared at me and drew a massive sword. To him it was a one-handed blade, but by human standards, it was enormous—about as tall as my past-life self.

If I take a hit from that… even with my reinforced body, the shockwave alone could kill me.

Even grazing it could wound me. I had to avoid it perfectly.

And that was assuming a one-on-one fight.

If the others interfered, the shamans cursed me, and buffed the chieftain at the same time… avoiding his strikes would be much harder.

Orcs were deceptively agile.

“…Ha… hahahahaha!”

Unbelievable.

In my past life, I wouldn’t have even flinched at orcs. Yet here I was, tense.

Still—

Difficult, yes. Impossible? No.

I tightened my grip on the bamboo sword. At that instant, my body grew heavy—the shamans had cursed me. But I ignored it.

“Three.”

I darted forward, weaving between orcs. Even agile as they were, they couldn’t react to my footwork enhanced with inner energy.

The armored warriors tried to crush me with their shields, but—

“Two.”

I used body-lightening techniques to slip past them. Not perfectly polished techniques, but enough to evade until I reached the chieftain.

“One.”

I closed the distance and swung—not with Resonance, because the chieftain’s frequency was nothing like that of ordinary orcs. The bamboo sword couldn’t produce the vibration needed.

So instead—

I’ll smash him.

Leaping high, I brought the bamboo sword down on his head.

Since it had no blade, sharpness was out of the question.

Then I’ll crush it like a club!

Crunch!

The mana-reinforced bamboo sword crushed the chieftain’s skull—but the force shattered the weapon too.

“Grhhkk!”

I landed, snatched his massive sword from his failing grip, and—

“Hrrgh!”

Swung it in a great arc.

Whoooosh!

The blade cleaved through armored warriors, the dying chieftain, and even the shamans behind him—splitting every orc in half.

Thud.

As silence fell, I examined the chieftain’s weapon.

Better maintained than I expected.

Crude, unbalanced, and not sharp—but surprisingly durable. Not something I could carry around, though. I’d have to leave it.

But then—

Vrrrm…

Light gathered at the cavern’s center, forming something.

Right, the dungeon’s cleared. Time for the reward.

Scholars claimed dungeons were created by the Black Fog. But since clearing them always yielded rewards called “artifacts,” many argued something besides the Black Fog was at play.

The Black Fog wouldn’t hand humanity helpful artifacts. No—this is the Awakener System’s doing.

And since the System favored humanity, rewards usually matched the individual’s needs.

Moments later, the light solidified into a bracelet with a small gem, which dropped into my hand.

“…A bracelet.”

Easy enough to hide. I slipped it on, and it shrank to fit my child’s arm perfectly.

Then the artifact’s nature imprinted itself in my mind, and I couldn’t help but grin.

“A subspace artifact?”

The internal space wasn’t large—about the size of a big bag. Not rare, but expensive nonetheless. The System must have decided this was what I needed most.

“…Heh.”

I glanced at the chieftain’s massive sword.

With this artifact, I can actually take that thing with me.

A few hours later.

Outside the dungeon, teachers from the elementary school had gathered.

“Ugh… a dungeon in the school? What a pain.”
“Still, better here than in the middle of the playground. Imagine the kids wandering in—would’ve been a disaster.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”

They were all heavily armed. Most of the teachers were Awakeners themselves, qualified to clear dungeons.

“Everyone, prepare to enter!”

At the principal’s order, chatter ceased. One by one, they entered the dungeon.

And were stunned.

“…Ugh!”
“What’s that smell? Blood…?”

They found the corpses of orcs, already slain and scattered.

“Orcs?”
“This dungeon’s difficulty must be high.”
“No, look—they’re all dead already.”

Realization dawned.

That meant someone else had already entered—an intruder strong enough to defeat orcs.

And that someone had bypassed the school’s detection wards to sneak inside.

The principal frowned, addressing the tense staff.

“We’ll begin searching for the intruder. If no one is found by the end of the weekend, for the children’s safety, classes will be suspended for a week. Now, spread out.”

“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”

And so, the Awakener-specialized elementary school was forced into an unexpected closure.