Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Volume 1
Chapter 27 : Once I Finish This Round, I’ll...
A diary was, by definition, a record of one’s own experiences.
If the black book’s ability was “keeping a diary,” then was the assassin before his eyes also a kind of record?
If the assassin could be recorded by the black book, then what about other things?
Or rather, other people?
The more Muen thought about it, the more excited he became.
“In that case, doesn’t this mean I have the ultimate bargain-bin version of the Sharingan? As long as I record other people’s techniques, I can just learn them for free through this method without even paying tuition!”
“And with an opponent and environment this realistic, I can definitely master skills even faster!”
“With a cheat this powerful, what is there to fear from the protagonist?”
Muen’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, as though he could already see a future in which he trampled the protagonist underfoot, beat down every villain, married a rich beauty, and reached the pinnacle of life!
“Ah.”
Unfortunately, before he could decide whether he wanted to marry the gentle, elegant rich beauty type or the sharp-tongued, scheming older-sister rich beauty type, he saw the assassin flash in front of him once again.
Then she raised her dagger.
“Damn it.”
Muen had no chance to react at all.
He could only spit out a curse in helpless fury.
And so, his head fell once more.
...
“Again!”
His consciousness returned to reality.
Before Muen could even properly savor the lingering aftertaste of death, he slapped a hand straight onto the page of the black book.
“I refuse to believe it!”
...
In the black space, Muen opened his eyes.
The assassin was still standing in the distance, a little over ten meters away, in exactly the same position as the first two times he had entered.
But Muen knew that, to the assassin, that distance might as well not exist at all.
“So my goal right now is to learn that footwork of hers?”
That skill, the one that let her flash forward more than ten meters in an instant, truly made Muen covet it.
If he had it, then if nothing else, his chances of escaping alive would rise enormously!
“At least give me a weapon.”
Muen looked around at the empty surroundings.
“How am I supposed to fight her barehanded?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Muen felt something cold appear in his hand.
He lowered his head and found that it was a dagger.
The exact same dagger the assassin held in her hand.
“So it really can only reproduce things that have been recorded?”
Muen was not skilled with daggers.
But that did not matter.
The assassin’s dagger techniques were also worth learning.
Muen raised his head, a smile curving at the corner of his lips.
Compared to the bunch of overpowered monsters around the protagonist, Muen might only have been a useless fool, but he was still the son of a Duke.
The foundation laid down by his status since childhood placed him among the very best of his peers.
The fact that, in terms of warrior rank, he could still remain not far behind the protagonist even after she had begun to truly come into her own was proof enough.
Against the real assassin before him, he naturally would not have had even the slightest chance of victory, but...
“Right now, you are nothing more than a remnant recorded by the black book.”
Muen reversed his grip on the dagger and lowered himself into a fighting stance.
“So be a good girl and hand over every technique and skill you have!”
...
The assassin was only a recorded remnant constructed by the black book, so of course she did not respond to Muen.
She could only attack him in the same silent manner she had in life.
“Here she comes!”
Muen’s gaze sharpened.
Just as before, the assassin stomped down hard with the little leather shoe on her foot!
Her figure instantly vanished, though she had not truly disappeared.
She had merely moved so fast that she escaped Muen’s sight for an instant.
So by the time she reappeared, she was already right in front of him.
“You think the same move will still work on me?”
Even a pig would react after being killed twice by the same move, let alone a person!
So the moment the assassin moved, Muen had already predicted it—her target would absolutely still be his neck!
Their difference in rank and strength was far too great.
There was no way he could match her in raw reaction speed, but he could predict her move!
Thus, the instant the assassin vanished from his field of vision, Muen immediately tilted his head to the left, narrowly dodging the fatal strike that came from the right and aimed precisely for his carotid artery.
In truth, it did not matter whether the assassin had been aiming for the artery or not, because every time, her sharp dagger simply cut Muen’s neck clean through.
But no matter how sharp a dagger was, it had to touch its target in order to kill!
What difference was there between a dagger that could not hit anything from a toy?
Seeing that the assassin seemed to pause for a moment after her dagger missed his neck, Muen could not help revealing a smug grin.
“Well? Even if the gap in strength is huge, all I have to do is use my brain a little, and I can still—”
Muen never finished that sentence.
Because he heard the shriek of wind.
It was the sound of a blade cutting through the air.
The dagger had indeed missed, but the assassin had not changed her move, nor had she retreated to reorganize her attack.
She had merely loosened her fingers.
The dagger spun in her palm like a fluttering butterfly.
Then she clenched it again, but the dagger was no longer in the same position.
What had been a forward thrust became a reverse grip.
And so, the blade that had just brushed past Muen’s neck circled back around and returned once more.
“Damn—”
Before Muen could even finish cursing, the dagger had already plunged with perfect accuracy into his carotid artery.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
His consciousness faded.
...
“Damn it.”
Muen’s eyes snapped open.
There was still lingering fear in them from the sudden death.
“So even its in-the-moment reactions are identical to the real person?”
When the real assassin had tried to kill Selicia three days ago, she had not casually tossed in a flashy knife flourish at the end.
In other words, the maid’s actions in that dark space had been the black book’s own reconstruction of the “record,” responding on the spot.
“Is the black book’s reconstructed records actually this terrifying?”
After understanding that, Muen was not frustrated in the least. Instead, a trace of excitement rose in his eyes.
The more realistic the record was, the greater its use to him would be!
Muen looked up at the clock on the wall.
“So the flow of time is the same. Hah... which means I only lasted three seconds?”
“Again!”
Muen slammed his hand onto the black book once more.
...
“This time it was five seconds. Not bad. Keep it up!”
“Again!”
...
“Ten seconds!”
“Again!”
...
“Damn it, I should have blocked that sweeping strike instead of dodging it!”
“Again!”
...
“Damn it, a knee strike? She can even use knee strikes?”
“Again!”
...
“Damn it, a groin kick? That is shameless! She is already that much stronger than me, and she is still fighting like this?”
“Again!”
...
“Young Master, dinner is ready.”
To take care of Muen, Ann had personally brought his meal over and knocked on the door.
“...”
“How strange. Why is there no answer? Did he fall asleep?”
Ann did not continue calling out to him.
Instead, she naturally opened the door herself.
Her gaze swept over the room.
The desk showed signs of having been used, so it seemed the young master had not simply been sleeping the whole time.
After placing the food on the table, Ann turned to look toward the bed.
There, she could see Muen wrapped tightly in his blanket, rolled into a ball.
“Sigh, he is already this old, and he still sleeps like a child.”
“He must have only just fallen asleep. I should not disturb him.”
After thinking it over, Ann left the food on the table, casually cast a small warming spell on it, and then quietly withdrew without making a sound.
After Ann left, a head suddenly popped out from the blanket-wrapped ball.
Muen opened his bloodshot eyes and stared at the fragrant dinner, muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear.
“One more time. Just one more. Once I finish this round, I’ll get out of bed and eat!”