Chapter 48: Revolution (6)
The God of Guardians compressed his body until he shrank to the size of a slightly large adult man.
Then, from his two hands, multicolored Shinsu began to form—strange, mysterious waves of power I had never seen before.
"Here. This is Shinwonryu. Regulars receive permission from a Floor Guardian to manipulate Shinsu, but you must realize that you were born with that authority from the start."
He suspended a Shinwonryu-made "room" in the air.
Immediately, the room sucked in all surrounding Shinsu like a vortex, condensed it into a single point, and detonated.
Even after exploding, it continued to shine and release shockwaves—a display of both immense power and impressive duration.
"Did you see, boy? This is the foundation of Shinwonryu. You dominate the Shinsu within a space, claim it as your own, and compress everything into a single point before detonating it."
"Hmm…"
It certainly looked like a technique I had never seen…
But something about it felt familiar.
My own Shinsu control technique also dominates the surrounding space's Shinsu and continuously absorbs it into my body.
Different in execution, sure—but the principle of dominating space and drawing in Shinsu was the same.
As I frowned in thought, the God of Guardians mistook it for confusion and gave an encouraging smile.
"Well, learning it all at once would be impossible. First, you must make this space your own. That realization is the gateway to Shinwonryu. Want me to demonstrate again?"
"No, that's not it. I meant… is that all?"
"…Hm?"
He tilted his head as if he had heard wrong.
I decided to show him directly.
I revealed the actual form of my Roots that I had spread throughout the hidden room—demonstrating how I'd already dominated the space's Shinsu and had been drawing from it nonstop.
"Isn't this basically the same? Controlling the space and absorbing the Shinsu."
"…"
The God of Guardians simply stared at me in silence.
Why was he so shocked?
Don't tell me…
"Unbelievable…"
"Wait a sec."
Something clicked.
If what he said was all there was to Shinwonryu… then this might actually be easier for me than expected.
I'd been using Roots to dominate Shinsu in spaces for nearly four years.
Dominating a space was second nature to me.
I used Roots to claim space and absorb Shinsu—but this time, I attempted to shape a room that itself dominated space.
The first attempt failed.
Creating a normal room and then trying to make it dominate space didn't work.
I would have to create a room that was already capable of domination from the moment it formed.
The God of Guardians stared at me with wide eyes and a hanging jaw, but I ignored his gaze and tried again.
'Still not working…'
Honestly, "dominance over space" is an abstract concept.
Even I don't really understand how I've been doing it.
If someone asked me to explain it, I simply couldn't.
It's like solving a math problem without understanding the proof behind it.
I couldn't translate the abstract idea of space domination into a concrete technique—Roots could do it easily, but they used a fundamentally different system.
Still, I wanted to adapt that concept into Shinwonryu.
"Could you show me Shinwonryu one more time?"
"Alright. You learn quickly… No, not quickly—how do you know how to dominate space before I even teach you…?"
"Pre-study advantage," I replied casually, watching the Shinwonryu forming in his hands.
And then I noticed something.
'There's no core?'
No—rather than lacking a core, the Shinwonryu itself acted as the core.
A normal Lighthouse-style room gathers dense Shinsu into a center point, forming a nucleus.
Shinsu density drops as you move outward from the center.
But Shinwonryu had no such nucleus—because the entire Shinwonryu was the nucleus.
If Shinwonryu itself is the core… then what is it gathering?
The answer surfaced instantly when I recalled his earlier explanation.
"Shinwonryu itself becomes the core, and that core dominates the space's Shinsu."
"…Don't tell me… you already grasped the principle?"
Once Shinwonryu forms, it becomes a core within the space, dominating and pulling all Shinsu toward itself.
So that was the mechanism.
With the clue in hand, I acted immediately.
'Don't gather Shinsu into a core—Just create the core itself.'
The moment I formed the room with that intention, everything felt different.
A completely new, mysterious sensation—And the clear feeling that I was becoming imprinted into the space.
So this is why Shinwonryu is best learned after a Revolution.
Instead of my usual pure white Shinsu, the room began to glow in multicolored light—Almost identical to the God of Guardians' Shinwonryu.
Which could only mean one thing.
"This is Shinwonryu… right?"
"…Heh. Yeah. That's it."
I raised my multicolored Shinsu blade high, letting it hover like his demonstration.
FLASH—
It shone so brightly it almost hurt to look at—
Then absorbed all Shinsu in the room, before exploding in a violent burst.
Just like his Shinwonryu, the explosion left behind a fierce storm of Shinsu that continued to rage for a long while.
"Alright, now—"
"STOP RIGHT THERE! I've been telling you for a whole year—CONTROL YOUR POWER!"
I froze mid-motion, having been about to create and detonate fifteen Shinwonryu blades at once.
Reluctantly, I lowered my hand.
Tch.
I'll try it later in another room.
"Then let's move on to the next stage of Shinwonryu. This was just the basics, right?"
"…Sorry, but that's as far as I can teach. As a Guardian—not an irregular—I can't go beyond this. Shinwonryu doesn't have preset stages. The user adapts and evolves it to fit themselves."
"No next stage?"
"It's not that there isn't a next stage—it's that you must create it yourself. Shinwonryu shares only its foundations. Everything beyond that differs entirely from user to user. For example, Khun Eduan's Shinwonryu and your father's Shinwonryu are completely different techniques. Same with the other Family Heads and Zahard."
"With time, you'll naturally craft a Shinwonryu that belongs only to you."
"A personalized Shinsu control art, basically. Custom-made for each person. In that case, let's skip ahead—anything else you can teach me?"
"I do know a few reinforcement arts… but that Root technique of yours is far superior. You have no reason to learn the rest."
So that was that.
This was the last thing the God of Guardians could truly teach me.
A bit disappointing, considering how comfortably I'd grown stronger under his guidance for nearly a year.
Now the Revolution was complete, and I'd learned Shinwonryu. In that case…
"Well then. Teach me one last thing."
I grinned wide—wide enough to show my fangs—as my hand drifted to Baekya at my waist.
The God of Guardians stared at me with a look of deep annoyance, pressing a hand to his forehead.
"Haa… I thought only Eduan and Yurin were this battle-obsessed among the non-regular types…"
Despite his grumbling, Shinwonryu formed in both his hands.
He really was easy to convince. Which was why I planned to visit this room often before reaching the Last Station.
"I'm not holding back, so be prepared!"
"Hah! Says the same person who told me to control my power every day!"
Two Shinwonryu blasts flew at me, and I responded with a massive Shinsu blade formed from my own Shinwonryu.
Then I drew Baekya and charged, beginning our spar.
....
"~♪♬♪"
I hummed unconsciously—unable to contain the good mood that came with achieving more than I expected.
Not only had my Shinwonryu and Shinsu abilities improved, but I had gained an unexpected reward:
Arie-style swordsmanship.
—Hmm! Reminds me of the Sword of Souls!
That's what the Guardian God said during our duel.
While fighting with Shinwonryu-enhanced swordsmanship, I realized something huge:
The Arie clan's mysterious swordsmanship was fundamentally based on Shinwonryu.
Meaning: Shinwonryu was the missing piece needed to perfectly master Arie's techniques.
Once I applied Shinwonryu to my swings, the results were immediate—that famed Arie swordsmanship, monstrous in its own right, turned out to be incomplete without Shinwonryu.
Who would've thought?
In short, I could now wield my blade far more skillfully.
I'd been stressed about my swordsmanship recently, so this was a massive breakthrough.
With more practice, I might even reach perfection.
....
"So you were here."
"Hm? Ah—Maschenny."
She landed before me with a light jump.
Now that I saw her up close… she looked a little more mature than when we first met.
Maybe I did too.
I greeted her with a smile and asked why she had come.
"We're about to reach the Floor of Death. Are you getting off?"
"Nope. Zahard's Princesses are banned from entering the Floor of Death, right?"
"…How you know that, I don't know. But yeah—so what?"
"What do you mean 'so what'? I'm not leaving you behind."
I didn't have any real reason to get off anyway.
Nothing there benefited me—unless I planned on eating a Red Bari or something.
Which I didn't.
Right then, the doors in front of us opened, and Haegyeol the conductor's voice echoed through the train.
....
—Attention, passengers of the Hell Train. After much running and running… we have arrived at the Floor of Death. To be honest, I personally don't want to be here either. By protocol, we must stop here for several days… but I do not recommend stepping outside.
On this floor, the outside IS hell, and this train IS heaven."
.....
Through the open doorway, I caught a sight of the outside—and it looked even darker, more sinister, and more dangerous than the webtoon version.
Horrible weather.
Shinsu turbulence so rough it made my skin prickle.
Just as Haegyeol said—I had no intention of leaving the train.
Better to stay here and eat with the others.
The bento boxes sold a few cars back were surprisingly good.
"Maschenny, want to grab something to eat with m—hm?"
Her expression was… strange.
What was that about?
"Haha… don't tell me the scenery scared you—"
—BZZT—!—
The sound of crackling electricity.
My body reacted instantly.
After being electrocuted by Maschenny several times on this train, I'd developed reflexes.
Just hearing the noise caused my body to dodge on instinct.
Swish—
"Hah! Dodged it this ti—huh?"
There was no attack.
So now I just looked like an idiot who flinched at nothing.
A fake-out?
"Hmph. Pathetic. You get shocked so often you jump just hearing the sound now?"
"…."
Maschenny smirked with a venomous little grin, then walked off to another car.
Ha…
She really wasn't easy to handle anymore.
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