I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game-Chapter 275: Asa (2)

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Water droplets fell from the closed ceiling, echoing in the pitch-black darkness. All that could be seen was endless, inky blackness.

Honestly, I was still baffled. To suddenly imprison someone and tell them to endure extreme hunger—what was that even supposed to mean?

‘What kind of training is this...?’

This wasn’t swinging a sword, refining sword techniques, strengthening the body, or mastering mana control. It was just a crude endurance test against hunger?

This would only wear down my body without providing any real training. With no end in sight, I had no idea how long I’d have to endure this hunger.

‘What a waste of time.’

Having been through my master’s grueling training, this seemed utterly nonsensical to me.

‘Even if she’s my master’s master, this doesn’t seem right... I need to get out of here and have a talk with the Sword Sovereign.’

With that resolve, I extended my hands into the void. It wasn’t a large space; I quickly reached the wall of the pit.

‘Considering I climbed a cliff to get here, this should be a piece of cake. I might even be able to jump out with just one leap.’

Recalling the face of the Sword Sovereign as she peered down at me from the hole, it didn’t seem that deep.

Taat!

I kicked off the ground.

Hop!

But my jump barely lifted me an inch off the ground.

"Huh?"

Puzzled, I placed my hands against the wall. The surface was smooth, as if it had been cut with a blade.

‘Hmm, there’s nothing to grip here. Guess I’ll just use my strength!’

I focused all my strength into my fingertips, trying to carve a grip into the wall.

Thunk!

“Argh!”

But my fingertips didn’t penetrate even a centimeter. Instead, the recoil left my fingers stinging.

"What the...?"

Realizing something was off, I drew my sword and slashed at the wall.

Shing!

The sword swung feebly, and the wall didn’t even get a scratch.

"What’s going on...?"

I inspected my body and my eyes widened.

Even though my mana had been somewhat suppressed here, I could still use it. But now, it wasn’t moving at all.

In fact, I couldn’t even feel a trace of it. The mana I had always wielded as naturally as breathing had vanished, leaving me with an eerie emptiness. On top of that, my physical abilities had plummeted to a level far below normal.

Yes.

It felt as though I had reverted to my old self, before I possessed this body—before there were monsters, demons, or hunters—just an ordinary person in the modern world.

"...This is really bad."

I scratched the back of my head, frustration coloring my voice. Was I really going to be stuck here, imprisoned?

"No, wait, I still have my subspace tattoo."

Thanks to several upgrades from Rina, my subspace tattoo had become spacious enough to store quite a few items. It held a significant amount of supplies, including food and water, for emergencies like this.

"Let’s see, how much do I have?"

I tried to open the subspace tattoo, but it didn’t respond. I realized with a start what this meant.

"Oh, right. The subspace tattoo is powered by mana, isn’t it?"

I had forgotten, as it didn’t require much mana to operate. But the subspace tattoo also relied on mana as its energy source.

So, to sum up my current situation:

Ordinary human body.No mana.No food.Sword skills weakened.In other words, I was forced to undergo this strange training devised by the Sword Sovereign.

Once I realized there was truly no way out, frustration began to rise within me.

I had been forced into this bizarre training without any explanation of what it was meant to achieve.

Not even a single word of discussion!

"Tch, well... there’s no other choice. I’ll just have to go along with it, however long it takes."

Grumbling, I plopped down on the spot.

Thus began the strange ordeal I called training, but it felt more like imprisonment.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

“Damn it... What the hell is this...?”

How much time had passed? Honestly, I had no idea.

In this pitch-black darkness where day and night were indistinguishable, the only sound was the drip of water /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ droplets hitting the ground.

At first, I was okay. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Sitting cross-legged with my eyes closed, I tried to organize my thoughts. I even found this tedious training somewhat tolerable.

I reviewed the teachings I had received from my master.

"Always keep your center of gravity low, and pay attention to the direction of your back foot. That way, you’ll have more freedom for your next move."

I also revisited the main and side stories of this world.

"Is Alice’s personal story really about awakening the Sword Sovereign’s sword?"

And I thought about the characters I had encountered in this world.

"Gukbap, Ppoppi, Shin Se-hee, Senior Ga-eul, Sophia, Ichika... Master... Rina? Never mind, let’s leave the magic brat out of it."

I reflected on everything I had gone through, evaluating whether I had missed anything or if I could have done better. This time was actually quite useful.

"Hmm, no matter how I look at it, the Gulliver’s Travels episode was a bit much. I’m just glad I got through it quickly."

Looking back on the past and planning for the future made the time fly by.

"I’m getting sleepy."

When I got tired, I took a short nap.

"Yawn... What else should I think about today...? I feel like I’ve covered everything..."

Upon waking up, I continued my thoughts.

But eventually, I hit a wall.

Growl...

"Ah..."

My stomach was protesting loudly.

The thirst was manageable, thanks to the water droplets falling from above. But hunger was a different story.

"I’m so hungry..."

The words slipped out of my mouth unconsciously. But no matter how much I groped around, all I could feel was the hard ground—there was no food to be found.

The hunger grew more intense, making it impossible to think about anything else. The only desire that surged within me was the urge to eat something, to chew and swallow.

At first, I denied it.

"Shouldn’t they let me out by now? This doesn’t seem like effective training. How long do I have to keep doing this pointless exercise?"

But the ceiling remained silent.

 Next, I became angry.

"Sword Sovereign! Let me out! I don’t want to do this inefficient training anymore! What is the point of this? Hey! Sword Sovereign! Let me out!!"

Frustrated by the overwhelming hunger, I yelled at the ceiling.

But the Sword Sovereign didn’t open it.

 Then, I tried to bargain.

"Yuri, Do-hee! Are you there? I feel like I’ve been in here forever. You’re looking for me, right? I’m here! The Sword Sovereign locked me up! Please open the ceiling! My phone isn’t working either!!!"

But my party members didn’t open the ceiling.

 After that came depression.

"...Seriously, what did I do wrong?"

My throat had become hoarse from repeatedly calling out to people, screaming for help. Even catching water droplets on my tongue had grown tiresome.

I stared up at the unyielding ceiling and muttered curses.

"Damn it... What the hell is this...?"

What had I done to deserve this suffering? I was just a pitiful outsider who had been thrown into this world without reason.

Yet, despite being doomed from the start in this messed-up world, I fought daily to survive—swinging my sword, battling terrifying monsters, and fighting demons who saw human lives as worthless.

Why was I being treated like this?

Suddenly, tears began to well up in my eyes.

 And finally, acceptance.

"Am I... really going to die like this? Wow, this is a pathetic way to go... Damn it... This world sucks..."

Lying flat on the ground, I stared up at the closed ceiling and muttered weakly.

Death seemed very close now.

My head was spinning, my vision was blurry, and even my fingers felt too weak to move.

No one would expect to die like this—in a pit, not eaten by monsters or cut down by a blade, but from sheer hunger.

"Hah... Hah... Hah..."

A hollow laugh escaped me, full of disbelief.

Then it happened.

Thunk.

I heard something fall next to my ear. It was a dull sound, different from the constant dripping of water.

"Am I hearing things...?"

Even so, I weakly reached out and felt around the ground near my head.

And then.

Something touched my hand.

With trembling fingers, I felt it and soon realized what it was.

"...Why is this...?"

What I held in my hand was a calorie bar—the very snack my master often used as a meal substitute.