I Became a Genius Swordsman in the Pretty Girl Game

“Nuna! Eyes! Don’t cover my eyes! I want to see too!”
“Stay still…”

Holding onto the whining little kid, Fen Miao tightly covered their eyes while staring at the backs of a man and a woman standing in front of her.

‘…The rescue team is here.’

As soon as she realized this mission was a trap set by the demons, she immediately requested rescue.
Honestly, she hadn’t expected a rescue team to actually be dispatched.
Even if one came, she thought it would take a long time to arrive.

After all, this place, Acapulco, was a port city located at the southernmost tip of Mexico.
Even with a spatial transporter to reach Mexico, it would take hours more by car.

Besides, she had always distanced herself from others, so she believed no one would volunteer for such a dangerous task to save someone like her.

Yet, here they were.

‘…Even Jin Yuha himself.’

Fen Miao felt a surge of emotions well up inside her.
It was the first time someone had come to rescue her.

The two people standing in front of her were reassuring, even from behind.
She felt certain that it was okay for her to simply shield the children’s eyes here.

Srrrrrng—

The two drew their swords simultaneously, like mirrored images.

Bang!

With a sound resembling a gunshot, they propelled their bodies forward.

Swish—

In the blink of an eye, the heads of the demons began to fall.

Each time a sword slashed, the demons let out shrill screams and collapsed.

“Monsters! They’re monsters!”
“Kill them!”
“Kill those bastards!!!”
“Aaaagh! G-guh!”

The demons foamed at the mouth and convulsed.

No matter how many daggers flew, no matter how many poisonous projectiles or arrows shot forth,
No matter how much magic and debuffs rained down—

Swish!

It was all cut down with a single sword, breaking through everything.

Could this even be called a battle?
No, it wasn’t.
This was a hunt.

A one-sided slaughter, trampling, and annihilation.
But because the targets were demons, the scene didn’t appear horrifying to Fen Miao at all.

‘I’ve heard the name Jin Yuha often enough, but…’

Was it really to this degree?

She had little interest in the world around her and didn’t browse the internet much,
but even she had heard of Jin Yuha’s achievements. She thought he must be extraordinary.

But seeing it in person, the gap was so vast it felt surreal.
Despite being fellow cadets.

Fen Miao felt both gratitude and an inferiority complex.

‘…But who is that woman?’

Her gaze shifted to the woman with an expressionless face standing next to Jin Yuha.

Even while standing beside Jin Yuha, she held her ground without faltering, dispatching the demons with nearly the same speed.

At that moment, one demon, terrified and having wet himself, turned and ran while shouting in despair.

“N-no…! Butcher Maniac!!! Only a madman would go against that lunatic! I-I’m getting out of here!!!”

But that attempt was futile as well.

Saaaaahhh—

At some point, cold ice spread across the ground, gripping the demons’ ankles firmly and refusing to let go.

“I don’t like that nickname,” the woman with black hair muttered as she walked calmly across the icy ground.

“That nickname implies I’m a killer.”

Her dark blade rose.

“D-damn it!!”

The demon clutched its frozen feet, its pupils trembling as its teeth clattered.

“I do not raise my sword against humans. Only against trash unworthy of being called human.”

Swish!

The demon’s lifeless head flew as its pupils lost all light.

Fen Miao’s eyes were seared with the image of Baek Seol-hee.

.

.

.

It took less than five minutes for my master and me to deal with all the demons.

Honestly, that’s only because I was enjoying working with my master for the first time in a while and took my time.

‘Well… I mean, when two near-transcendent beings team up, this much is inevitable…’

Hmph.

Looking around, it seems clear now—no one is left alive.
Still, these bastards really had been swarming here in droves.

“…They’re really persistent. Where on earth do these demon bastards keep coming from?”
“Hmm, they’re like cockroaches. Look away for just a day, and they swarm like this.”

It was during this casual conversation with my master, standing over the corpses of demons.

“Guuh—!”
“Hm? Fen Miao?”
“Th-thank—”
“Ah, no need for formalities. That’s not even your character, is it?”
“…Oh? R-really?”
“Yeah, we’re both second-year cadets anyway, aren’t we?”
“…Y-yeah, we are.”

Hmm.

I observed Fen Miao, nodding with a timid demeanor.

A small frame, sharp, upturned eyes, and gray hair cascading to her shoulders.

Seeing characters I liked in the game appear in reality like this always reminds me:
This isn’t a game—it’s real life.

She’s the type who is intensely shy with strangers.
Though expressing that shyness by drawing her sword is a bit extreme, it makes sense.
She’s someone who’s been deeply scarred in the past.

She’s like an unsocialized stray cat.
In the game, if you approached her too familiarly upon first meeting, she’d bristle and hiss at you.

‘Fen Miao was the type who only interacted through words like “Go away,” “Shut up,” and “So what.”‘

If you got a bit closer, her responses evolved to, “Don’t bother with me.”

‘So you had to approach her slowly, like opening a can of tuna and stepping back to let her come closer.’

But looking at her now, it seems I don’t need to go through all that trouble.

And I had another trump card in my favor.

Just look at her now.
Blushing furiously and stealing glances at my master, unable to tear her eyes away from her.

She has a synergy of “Demon Hatred” and “Sensitive Sense of Smell,” so she instinctively reacts to the scent of demon blood.

In the game, one way to raise Fen Miao’s favorability was to provide information on hidden demon locations.

And next to me?

The person who makes demons tremble in fear and wet their pants just by hearing her name.

She must have instinctively realized that she was someone she should follow.

‘Who needs catnip when my master is walking, talking catnip.’

Heh—

But her words diverged slightly from what I had expected.

Thud.

Fen Miao suddenly knelt and bowed before my master.

“Please, take me as your disciple!”
“I no longer take disciples.”
“T-that’s…!”
“Give up. My only disciple is Jin Yuha.”
“…Guuh!”

Fen Miao lifted her head, her panicked eyes darting between me and my master.

‘…When two people who aren’t great at communicating meet, things get a little off track.’

My master rarely says unnecessary things, and Fen Miao isn’t the best with words—she just blurts out whatever’s on her mind.

It seems I need to mediate here.

“Um, Fen Miao. You might not become a disciple, but you can still follow her.”
“…What?”

.

.

.

“There’s something called the Demon Slayer Squad? I didn’t know.”
“Not surprising. It’s a group that must never let its identity be discovered by demons. So, interested?”

Honestly, I didn’t even need her answer to know.
As soon as she heard it was a group specializing in hunting demons, her cheeks flushed, and she couldn’t keep still.

Then, my master, who had been standing with arms crossed and a blank expression, spoke.

“Think carefully. Once you join, you won’t be able to live the same life as before.”
“…The same life as before?”
“Yes. Eating will mean surviving on calorie bars for sustenance. Wearing clothes will mean enduring over a month in the same outfit. And sleeping? Forget about having a fixed place to rest.”
“…”
“Even after enduring such hardships, we can’t guarantee you wealth or fame. Do you still want to join the Demon Slayer Squad?”

It had been a long time since I’d seen my master speak so much at once.

‘But master, the calorie bars are just because you find meals inconvenient…’

Convenience foods these days are really advanced, you know.

“…I can do it. No, I want to do it.”
“Hmph, I hope you’re not saying that out of a reckless impulse.”
“I need to find the demon bastard who killed my family and avenge them. Beyond that, I’ll kill every last demon in this world.”

Fen Miao spoke with a fiery determination in her eyes.

“…Tch, all talk.”

Then my master turned and started walking away.

“…Huh?”
“What are you doing? Let’s follow her. That was her way of accepting you.”
“T-that was her accepting me?”
“Yeah, she seems to like you quite a bit.”

Fen Miao opened her mouth in disbelief.

“…Where are we going?”