Chapter 1 : Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Avalon

People quite like to bestow meaning upon things.

You can tell just by looking at the flood of profound phrases, pictures, or famous sayings.

Even if it brings about great changes in the world, they just say it anyway.

No, was that why they gave it even more meaning?

Avalon.

Avalon was one of those things. At first, it had no name.

It was just a black tower.

Then one day, as the tower's climbers began to bring back magic crystals that would change the world from that place.

From the moment the name ‘Avalon’ was bestowed upon the black tower, everything changed.

‘Well, giving meaning is nice.’

I also had a job that did something similar.

Though it was a bit far removed from Avalon.

SCRITCH, SCRATCH.

Inside a dark room. A tablet screen glittered.

It was only a blank white page, but as I moved the pen, a magnificent drawing was created.

I was in the middle of drawing an illustration packed with my personal tastes.

A ponytail, deep red eyes, and a black do-bok. A posture of drawing a sword from a scabbard hanging at his waist.

“What color sword would be good.”

After thinking for a moment, I drew in a burgundy-colored hilt and a blade so white it was clear enough to be transparent.

The man I drew was a Sword Master.

“A Sword Master would be devoted to training, and have a blunt yet belligerent personality.”

He would have a rigid personality, one that would not bend his will even for his lord if necessary.

But a man of loyalty who was more faithful than anyone, and would even risk his life to save his lord!

As I drew while assuming such a personality, the face that emerged was handsome and looked like he had quite a temper.

It was an illustration I had finished in a mere three hours.

However, I could not call it complete yet. Would you not say it could only be truly called complete once I gave it a name?

“What would be good.”

As I contemplated a cool name……. At a time like this, of all things, my Hongdae disease acted up.

“Your first name is Chun-sik, and since my family name is Park, you can be a Park too.”

Even though I drew him, he was truly handsome. But he was lacking by 2%.

What was he lacking. I could not feel the overwhelming presence befitting a Sword Master.

“Ah, he doesn’t have an aura, does he?”

Even real-life players had auras surging whenever they used their abilities, so how could a Sword Master, who was even greater than them, not have an aura?

It did not make sense.

I swiftly drew some cool effects around the illustration.

It was finally complete.

It was a scene of a red aura flickering around the man drawing his sword.

“He looks cool.”

I had already decided on his title.

“Red-Eyed Sword Master.”

The moment I was about to press the save button.

[The illustration has been completed.]

[Red-Eyed Sword Master : Park Chun-sik.]

“……Huh?”

A message I had never seen before in my life appeared on the tablet.

VWOOM.

[Save Red-Eyed Sword Master : Park Chun-sik?]

“……Yes.”

Without even a moment to grasp the situation, I saved the illustration I had just drawn.

Then, something amazing happened.

The tablet screen began to glow. Simultaneously, the illustration I had drawn started to break into pieces and scatter.

As if it were leaving for somewhere.

Before long, another message appeared. It was something I had heard of.

“It’s a status window, isn’t it?”

[Name] : Park Si-hoo.

[Level] : 1.

[Job] : Illustrator.

[Skills] : Illustration Creation 1Lv / Illustration Summon and Dismissal 1Lv

Illustration Fusion 1Lv (Locked)

[Saved Illustrations] : Red-Eyed Sword Master - Park Chun-sik (1Lv).

[Park Si-hoo has awakened.]

The status window and message that appeared a step too late.

They said that Awakening was a privilege that came suddenly and was given only to a very small number of people…….

That privilege had been bestowed upon me, who had been cooped up in a small room just drawing illustrations.

The job ‘Illustrator,’ which I was seeing for the first time in my life.

“……What kind of ability is this?”

If you surfed the internet, you could get a lot of information about the tower and awakened players.

‘They said that while there could be similar abilities depending on a player's disposition, there were no identical abilities.’

This meant that the job I had, ‘Illustrator,’ was one of a kind.

It did not look like an ability specialized for combat at a glance.

‘This means that as a player, I can go mine magic crystals from the tower.’

There are no useless jobs in Avalon. They are all helpful in clearing the floors of Avalon in some way.

The ‘Illustrator’ job must be the same.

After thinking for a moment, I nodded my head.

“If I was going to awaken anyway, something like this might be for the better.”

It was a huge relief that it was not a combat job.

In my entire life, I had never fought with anyone.

How could someone like me face monsters that were not even human.

I was supposed to fight monsters just because I got a few combat skills?

Especially when I had not even been going outside much lately.

Unless I was half-crazy, I could not do that.

“Should I be happy about this, or not?”

It was true that the income from the tower was lucrative, but it was all income earned with one's life on the line.

I did not want to make money by betting my life. I stared intently at the status window.

To climb the tower, one must have an understanding of their own job.

The most important among them were the skills I possessed. In other words, I had to find out what abilities I had.

It seemed the illustration I had just drawn had been ‘saved’ in a way to the status window. It looked like I could take it out and use it anytime.

“The Red-Eyed Sword Master……. Is that the illustration I just drew?”

I guess I would have to try summoning it to know for sure.

I decided to try using a skill as a test.

“Illustration Creation.”

[Illustration Creation cooldown: 479 hours 58 minutes 51 seconds remaining.]

“……What?”

I had heard that sometimes powerful skills came with a cooldown. But was Illustration Creation such a powerful skill?

Calculated in days, that was a whopping 20 days. I looked at the timer that appeared before my eyes.

‘It must be because I just saved the Chun-sik I drew.’

Circumstantially, this was the only answer.

Then what about the next skill?

There was Illustration Summon and Dismissal.

First, I decided to activate the summon skill.

CRACKLE.

[Do you wish to summon the Red-Eyed Sword Master Park Chun-sik (1Lv)?]

“Yes.”

[First-time summon initiated. Determining the summon's configuration values.]

[Personality values have been applied.]

[New personality values have been added.]

[Behavioral values have been applied.]

[New behavioral values have been added.]

I just blinked and stared at the status window.

The messages went on a few times, doing their own song and dance.

CRACKLE.

Suddenly, red magical power rushed in from all directions.

Just before the small room turned completely red, I felt a presence in front of me.

Someone appeared before my eyes.

SHWING-!

A pure white blade revealed itself, piercing through the red mist.

Startled, I stepped back a few paces. If it had extended just a little further, the blade would have torn the wallpaper.

At the same time, messages like an electronics user manual covered my vision.

[Resummon Cooldown : 24 hours.]

[Summon Duration : 6 hours.]

[If the summon dies while summoned, the illustration will be destroyed and can never be resummoned.]

[Upon leveling up ‘Illustration Summon and Dismissal,’ the resummon cooldown and duration will be readjusted.]

[The illustration's level rises along with the Illustrator's level, and its power increases the higher it is.]

Soon, the red mist disappeared and the figure's outline was revealed.

From within it, two blood-red pupils stared at me.

“Are you, my lord.”

“Eh? Your lord?”

I immediately scrunched up my face.

It was because I was puzzled by the sudden talk of being a lord. In the first place, that title was incredibly cringey to hear in the 21st century.

And…… why was he speaking so informally?!

Ah, of course, I had no intention of picking a fight. He looked stronger than I could imagine. I was extremely intimidated right now.

“I asked if you are my lord.”

Well…… since it was true that I had summoned him, it would not be wrong to call me his lord, right?

Having finished my thought, I opened my mouth briefly.

“Ye-yes. What about it?”

“…….”

SWOOSH.

The being that revealed itself through the mist.

He looked exactly like the illustration I had drawn. The illustration was alive and moving!

It breathed and moved its body. It even scrunched its face.

“I see.”

SHWING!

He sheathed the sword he had drawn and then knelt on one knee before me, bowing his head.

“Red-Eyed Sword Master Park Chun-sik! I greet you, my lord.”

“Yes……!”

“I will cut down everything that stands in my lord's way.”

“I-I, too……. look forward to working with you.”

He naturally raised himself.

He was a little taller than me, with a sturdy build. The fighting spirit reflected in his eyes was one that even an S-Class player would envy. He twitched his thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows.

After looking my body up and down, he clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.

“However, I can already see things that are blocking my lord's path.”

“W-what are they?”

“Your pathetic body and lazy attitude.”

He seemed to be talking about my body, which had been cooped up in a small room, completely divorced from exercise.

I did not have the type of constitution to gain weight easily, so I was not fat, but I was not sturdy either.

This Chun-sik fellow exposed my shameful part as soon as we met. What a jerk.

“……W-what’s wrong with me?!”

“In that state, you would be torn to death just by going to the 1st floor of Avalon. My lord, you are pathetic.”

“You’re the one who’s going to be doing the fighting anyway, so why do I have to……?”

In the web novels I had read, the summons did the fighting and the protagonist had it easy……?

But my summon had a slightly different feel to it.

“You, my lord, show no dignity befitting a lord. A lord should possess strength befitting their station! They must have endurance and tolerance in equal measure. However, my current lord shows none of those things.”

……That was too harsh.

Why in the world was the dignity of a lord necessary in 21st-century South Korea?

I wanted to argue that, but when I saw the guy's face with his eyes blazing, the words died in my throat.

“But do not worry. For I am here! I will personally step up and train you.”

He looked towards the door with motivation.

“No. Wait! I summoned you to fight in my place, so why do I have to get involved in the fighting? Why do I have to train too?”

“In Avalon, it would not be strange for anything to happen. Therefore, you must build up enough strength to at least be able to protect yourself. Then, you will naturally attain the dignity of a lord as well.”

“…….”

Why was he so eloquent? A guy who had probably held nothing but a sword his whole life.

“Are you concerned? Hmph! Do not worry. I promise to assist you with my life.”

The guy approached me. His red aura flickered ominously.

“H-hey, let’s talk about this first!”

“The monsters of Avalon do not communicate, my lord. Talk is useless.”

“No, but still!”

“The jokes are over.”

But I had been serious this entire time from the very beginning?

GRIP-!

“Chun-sik……. Let go.”

I tried lowering my voice to match the ‘dignity of a lord’ that the guy was emphasizing, but it had no effect at all.

“Very well. You may treat me comfortably, my lord. I shall treat you with deference.”

“But you're carrying me on your back? Is this what you call treating me with deference?!”

“This is separate from the training.”

That Park Chun-sik fellow. Just as you would expect from a Sword Master, his grip strength was no joke.

Even through my sleeve, I could feel his hard, calloused palm.

As I was being carried on his back, something suddenly occurred to me.

‘Wait. It said personality values were applied…… don't tell me……?’

Did it mean the things I had muttered while drawing earlier?

No matter how I looked at it, that was the only thing I could surmise.

Devoted to training. 2. A blunt yet belligerent personality. 3. Also, a rigid personality that would not bend his will, even to his lord, if necessary!

However, 4. More faithful than anyone. 5. A man of loyalty who would risk his life to save his lord!

In other words, this guy's current actions towards me.

Were clearly the result of the personality values I had decided on being activated.

If I had known this would happen, I would have made him a homebody.

No, then I guess he could not have become a Sword Master.

……Anyway, I was screwed.