There Is No World For ■■

* * *

What exactly was talent?

When she was younger, Seti often pondered about the nature of talent. What was this so-called talent that caused her and her sisters to suffer and be tormented so much?

Even when she was whipped hundreds of times while trying to master the Flying Kick technique and when her hands were torn apart while learning the Heavenly Escape Sword Technique, she still couldn't understand.

What was so special about this damn talent that made her peers to be considered defective just because they couldn’t learn a simple kick?

What the hell was this talent that made her sisters get whipped daily?

But it wasn’t the so-called esteemed government or cruel shepherds who gave her the answer.

Instead, it came from three people with shining talents, the true geniuses that the government compared her sisters to.

The Vessel, the Saintess, Jeon Yunseong…

Talent… it was the light that drew the soul of a person.

It was the firewood of jealousy that burnt the heart, the moonlight that couldn’t be reached, and the constellation that led to the future.

On the day she realized this… she cried all night.

She cried because she hated the government for comparing her to those people. She cried while rueing for her sisters, who had also failed, and she cried while pitying herself for being born without talent.

And now, as time passed.

She felt like crying for a different reason.

* * *

When Seti asked him to confirm his talent, Dung Beetle agreed without much thought as he also wanted to confirm his own talent.

“Shall we start with the Flying Kick technique? Let’s see how well you've mastered it.”

As soon as they arrived at a suitable open space below the mountain behind the motel, which people rarely visited, Seti spoke first.

And seeing how she began by explaining the basics of the Flying Kick technique, it didn’t seem like she just planned on giving a simple demonstration.

How to channel mana through the muscles, how to move the muscles to obtain the correct posture, and where to focus the mana…

What she taught him was not that different from what Dung Beetle had discovered while experimenting on his own.

If there was a difference, it was that the mana needed to be circulated systematically not just in the lower body, but in the upper body as well.

The teaching was negligible, but it was of great help for Dung Beetle.

The more he understood how mana flowed through his body, the more ways he could apply it.

“First, show me the basic techniques.”

“Basic techniques?”

“The techniques. The techniques! Please demonstrate the moves of the Flying Kick technique that you already know.”

As soon as she said those words, Dung Beetle began to move his feet.

Starting with the most basic kick to the Feather Step, the Flying Kick, and finally, the downward strike called the Quake Stomp.

A series of Flying Kick techniques unfolded from his toes. He executed it smoothly, as if everything was one coherent technique.

“Uh….”

Once his demonstration of the Flying Kick technique ended, Seti looked at Dung Beetle as if she had just witnessed something incredulous.

After staring at him in silence, she suddenly asked him a random question.

“...Dung Beetle-ssi, have you ever thought about the true intention behind the Flying Kick technique?”

“True intention?”

“The essence, the meaning… to put it simply, what do you think was considered when creating the martial art? Well, something like that.”

Why is she asking me that? Dung Beetle frowned slightly, but Seti wouldn’t have asked that question without a reason.

After thinking about it seriously, he came up with an answer in his own way.

“I think it’s... connection.”

“...Connection?”

“Connecting the ground to the feet, then jumping to connect the sky to myself. Once the sky, the ground and I are connected simultaneously, the mana starting from the toes is connected to the top of the head in the same principle.”

“...”

“This is all I can come up with for the true intention behind the Flying Kick technique. I can’t think of a better way to express it.”

Dung Beetle, having given his answer, suddenly realized that Seti’s expression was one of shock.

Curious about why she was reacting like that, Dung Beetle asked.

“Is my interpretation really that bad?”

“...”

“I know my expression was lacking, so please speak frankly.”

Still speechless, Seti simply stared at Dung Beetle. She chewed her lower lip for a moment and then abruptly asked another question.

“Just be honest with me, you have trained in some other martial arts before, right?”

“No. The closest I’ve done is watching documentaries about Superhumans or something like that.”

“…This is cheating.”

She muttered something about a damn talented-prodigy for a moment before speaking again.

“Dung Beetle-ssi, your interpretation of the true intention behind the Flying Kick technique as ‘connection’ is… actually quite accurate. Your technique was also precise; it was as if you were reading directly from the secret manual.”

“…Really?”

“Really…? Is that all you can say? Seeing you treat it like it’s nothing special makes my circumstance sound a bit miserable.”

Seti uttered words she didn't mean and then walked toward the center of the open space where Dung Beetle had performed the Flying Kick Technique.

“I originally planned on helping you perfect the Flying Kick technique… but it seems like we can move on to the next step.”

“Next?”

“I’ll be teaching you a new martial art. It’s different from the Flying Kick technique and the Korean government is in the dark about this as well.”

Seti spoke as she assumed her stance: widening her stride with her right hand positioned ahead of her left.

It looked more like she was preparing to dance than a combat stance.

“This martial art is called… Surging Wave Technique. It’s a martial art discovered during China’s dimension exploration.”

Surging Wave Technique. For some reason, it vaguely felt like the unfamiliar name carried a hint of blood.

“Since the movement is a simpler martial art when compared to the technique, I’ll show you both simultaneously.”

The moment Seti began to move, Dung Beetle focused intently. Since this was his first-ever experience learning real martial arts, he was determined to not miss a single movement.

The martial art began with simple gestures. As she straightened her fingers, the edge of her hands sliced through the air. She moved as smoothly as if she were scooping water.

“The essence of Surging Wave Technique is to treat the mana within your body like water. The mana in your body should flow in the same manner water flows along a river.”

After saying this, Seti clenched her hand into a fist.

“After you create the river, you have the flood.”

Her muscles contracted, and the mana within her body began to move fiercely. The change was dramatic and intense, as if it would overflow at any moment.

“After the flood, you have the waves.”

WHOOSH! As Seti swung her fist, all the overflowing mana immediately gathered into her fist. The force was so tremendous that Dung Beetle, who was watching her, frowned.

“Just as the height of the waves increases with the depth of the water, the limit of Surging Wave Technique solely depends on the user’s mana and skill. Like this…!”

When she swung her fist down, the mana condensed in her fist struck the air.

!!!!!!

A silent shockwave spread out with Seti's fist as the epicenter. The grass in the surroundings was flattened all at once, and the leaves fell in droves.

It was a punch that had the same level of power as the Quake Stomp of the Flying Kick technique… no, even greater.

This… is a real martial art.

Covered in dust from the aftermath of the shockwave, Dung Beetle squinted and looked at Seti’s fist.

“How is it? Although it may seem a bit difficult since it revolves around mana manipulation, it’s a martial art with endless possibilities.”

Dung Beetle didn’t respond. To be precise, he couldn’t respond.

His mind was filled with thoughts of the mana applications he had just seen. He couldn’t think of anything else as intense thoughts ceaselessly flooded his mind, one after another.

He was in a trance.

It was a state that Superhumans commonly called enlightenment and awakening by Mages.

Unfortunately, Seti, who didn’t realize that, continued with her explanation.

“If you apply the Surging Wave Technique to the Flying Kick technique, even government officials won’t be able to recognize it easily.”

“…”

“Once you practice infusing mana into your weapon, you will be able to apply it to your weapon as well. And when you can release it externally, you will be able to imbue each strike with a wave.”

“…”

“Since I’m not particularly talented with mana, I’ve been putting it off… but you’re different from me, Dung Beetle-ssi… huh?”

Only after she reached that point did Seti realize that Dung Beetle was unusually unresponsive.

“Hello?”

Taking a closer look at Dung Beetle’s face, Seti saw that he was breathing calmly, his eyes unfocused, and his mana frozen as if he were dead.

Did he fall into a state of trance just after one demonstration?

She immediately realized the state Dung Beetle was in. Soon after, admiration, jealousy, and astonishment passed through her mind in turn…

“This is cheating.”

* * *

For the past few days, the Janitor Guild had been in a state of chaos.

The entire team of the top-performing foreman was murdered, and the operations director went missing the next day.

To make matters worse, even ‘that warehouse’ everyone knew about was burned down in a fire due to an unknown cause. Even the rarely seen branch manager appeared on-site, shuttling between the fire station and the police station.

While the lower ranks simply focused on their work without worrying, the more experienced janitors felt a vague sense of foreboding.

And that sense of foreboding peaked while cleaning the closed Pier 13.

The pier was covered in clammy filth, and there were piles of meat chunks and bodies that clearly belonged to government-affiliated suit-wearers…

It was evident that something unusual had occurred at the scene.

Moreover, the fact that no articles appeared on TV or the internet indicated that the higher-ups were directly suppressing the rumors.

- Pretend that you didn’t see or hear anything.

Sharing the same mindset, the janitors decided to turn a blind eye.

And once an oblivious rookie vanished without a trace after asking about the disgusting stuff, they stopped speaking altogether.

Of course, not all janitors remained silent. There were always those who didn’t value their lives.

And a prime example of one such person was Janitor Park Gusik.

Just like a drunkard who revealed everything on their mind while intoxicated, he too spilled out things he shouldn’t have after getting drunk.

- This city is insane, insane, I tell you! There’s a crazed killer on the loose, and the police haven’t even started investigating!

- Do you know how many people have been killed by this crazy killer? The ones that I could confirm are already dozens! Not just people, but even two elves!

- Damn it, the culprit who killed the Foreman must be the same one who turned Pier 13 into that. I’m sure of it!

The bar owner, who was already accustomed to the ramblings of drunkards, started by saying, ‘Oh my, this person is very drunk,’ and then naturally kicked him out of the bar.

- Arrghhh, filthy city. MacArthur here, MacArthur there. Damn it, is this a U.S. colony or South Korea?

In a state of stupor, Park Gusik staggered through Incheon’s night streets on his way back home—The old, musty semi-basement, his only refuge.

Creak.

The moment he opened the old, rusty door, he felt someone tapping him on the shoulder from behind.

“What the he— Ah!”

Irritated, he turned his head, only for his cheek to be pricked by something cold.

A sword. What tapped him on his shoulder wasn’t a hand but a straightened sword.

Seeing the sword, Park Gusik instantly sobered up, raised his hands above his shoulders, and spoke submissively.

“I-I can give you as much money as you want. The wallet’s in my right pocket, so please spare my life…”

“We’re not robbers.”

The person pointing the sword at him was a woman. A woman with a spine-chillingly beautiful voice on top of that.

“T-then, what is it that you want…?”

“Do you remember what you said at the bar earlier?”

“A-at the bar?”

Park Gusik racked his brain desperately. The moment he recalled what he had said, he felt terrified, as if the sky was collapsing.

The higher-ups? Are the higher-ups watching me?

He trembled and tried to beg for his life, saying that he had no intention of defying the government, that he had just been babbling nonsense in his drunken state.

However, before he could open his mouth, the beautiful voice shut him up.

“The elves who were killed.”

Elves? Hearing the unexpected word, Park Gusik turned around cautiously. Behind him, the shadows of two women stretched long.

The two figures were so slender that they could be mistaken for models. Park Gusik raised his head, ready to confront them if necessary.

However, the next moment, he immediately lowered his head since both of them had long ears that could not be seen on Earth.

“Tell me everything you know about those /genesisforsaken