“Shin-woo, are you alright?”
“Yeah, fortunately, the President controlled the power, so I didn’t get hurt too badly.”
“Still, the President seems to have gotten incredibly strong, huh?”
“Yeah, she really was amazing.”
Ryu Shin-woo appears to have returned to his original spot and is talking with his friends.
‘He doesn’t seem too shaken. Thank goodness.’
“Hey, where did you get that staff?”
“Consider it a trade secret, Ayul.”
‘Still, Ryu Shin-woo. Ryu Shin-woo……’
Just to escape from Kang Ayul’s incessant questioning about the source of the staff, I’ll close my eyes for a moment and think carefully about the role Ryu Shin-woo plays in the original story……
…
…
…
(Excerpt from “Academy Swordmaster”)
“Cough!”
A stream of deep red bl**d trickled from the corner of Ryu Shin-woo’s mouth.
“Haa… Hey, stop wasting healing agents on me. You’re not like Ecclesia, skilled in recovery magic, so it’s unlikely that would help anyway.”
“Prep… please get up, Predecessor!”
Sakura, standing beside him, clutched at Ryu Shin-woo’s collar, tears streaming down her face.
“Hmm… I’m sorry, I intended to survive until the end, but this is tougher than expected.”
Ryu Shin-woo’s vision began to blur.
“What’s that look for? Even the President’s younger sister and the Vice President can only do so much… leave this to me, hurry and finish the fight. And come back victorious, without fail.”
As if already accepting his fate, Ryu Shin-woo peacefully closed his eyes.
“Cha-aang!”
“Grgh, what speed on those sword cuts…!”
Turning his head, you see Kang Ayul and Yoo Eun-ha barely managing to block a devastating attack from Mephisto.
“Ugh… reaching our limits now!!”
Seong Ah-rin and Sakura, who have already expended all their mana destroying Mephisto’s barrier and now lie sprawled out, are being protected by a barrier erected by Ecclesia surrounding them.
Honestly, the situation is not good.
<Choice>
[……I’ll definitely come back victorious.]
[I won’t let your sacrifice be in vain.]
But you have no choice but to rise.
“Right, that’s a good answer worthy of you.”
The fallen Ryu Shin-woo’s eyes began losing their light, growing dim.
Now, you grasp your weapon.
“Quaaaang!”
“Aaak?!”
“d*mn…!”
An enormous shockwave erupted, and beside you, Yoo Eun-ha and Kang Ayul, now severely wounded and bleeding heavily, fell.
Did the glance at them cost you, but as you regain focus, the black tentacles that stole someone’s life are already at your face…
“Eun-ha, catch this!”
Seemingly at her limit, Kang Ayul threw the remaining mana sword to Yoo Eun-ha.
“Slice!”
Yoo Eun-ha caught the blade and severed the black tentacle that had reached toward you.
“Hurry up, don’t just fall here!”
Now you face what you must cut down.
A massive black snake with nine heads… no, now only four heads left.
-I leave the academy in your hands.
For Eve Meitner, CEO, who sacrificed her life to complete the barrier to keep that monster from entering the real world.
-I leave the cadets in your hands. Although we’re not bl**d-related… my younger sister, Eun-ha, too.
For that person who, even in her deteriorated state due to Yoon Seong-ho’s continuous brainwashing, entrusted the students to you asking for their safety while sacrificing herself by enduring the monster’s attack, never to return… you must absolutely defeat this here.
[Mephisto!!!]
As you shout, the black snake turns its gaze to you.
<Choice>
[This is the end!]
[Together with everyone, I’ll bring you down!]
…
…
…
‘That was how it unfolded, and then the boss battle started.’
That scene is so familiar, the dub and the visuals from back then immediately come to mind.
‘When I think about it, that was such a long scene.’
There were a few reasons I couldn’t skip it, but that scene occurred right after Yoon Se-ah’s d*ath in the original.
If the main heroine was chosen as Sakura, Ryu Shin-woo would receive the attack in Sakura’s place and d*e early on in the battle, unless he survived with just one of his arms severed.
‘Anyway, in both cases, he’s unable to participate in the battle, so there isn’t much difference.’
Anyway, since I’ve ended up reminiscing and even thinking through the entire scene, I might as well consider Ryu Shin-woo.
‘Leader of the Na Seon Guild, Ryu Seong-ho’s younger brother.’
That single sentence describes him best. He’s often used as a substitute when Ryu Seong-ho isn’t available for recruitment, and in many ways, he can be considered an SSR-grade character, akin to a budget version of the UR-grade figure, Yoon Seong-ho.
‘During the final boss battle in the storyline where Sakura is chosen as the heroine, Ryu Shin-woo sacrifices himself protecting her when she’s in danger. In every other case, he survives.’
Surprisingly, Ryu Shin-woo holds a significant role within the world of “Academy Swordmaster.”
Back when he was younger, Ryu Shin-woo was constantly compared to his older brother Ryu Seong-ho, an S-rank hunter, suffering from excessive attention and jealousy, which led to a form of bullying he endured.
Due to that, he developed a somewhat rebellious streak, which showed in his actions. Skipping classes and secretly watching the first-year students, he once spotted a cadet who had applied acid onto Sakura’s practice bow during a mock battle.
When the mock battle began, the acid-treated bow shattered under the weight of the opposing student’s hammer, causing Sakura to collapse, bleeding heavily, before fainting.
In that moment, Ryu Shin-woo could only watch, afraid that stepping in might cause issues. It wasn’t as if he had a chance to intervene anyway since the protagonist would have been the one to carry Sakura off to the infirmary.
However, after witnessing other cadets mocking the unconscious Sakura, Ryu Shin-woo may have seen parallels with his own past of living under the shadow of his brother, Ryu Seong-ho. From then on, he quietly began watching over her from afar.
First, he informed Sakura via a note about the acid-laden bow, and later, he procured a more durable bow from the guild and discreetly placed it in her locker.
When Sakura triumphed over her rematch opponent with the new bow and basked in her newfound confidence, many users, myself included, started speculating about a potential connection between the two.
The protagonist’s first encounter with Ryu Shin-woo happened when the latter confronted them, assuming they were one of the bullies tormenting Sakura. The protagonist, however, mistook Ryu Shin-woo for one of the older students bullying Sakura and challenged him to a duel.
‘This is a battle where players can influence the outcome, creating two branches.’
If the protagonist loses, Sakura’s route is sealed. If they win, it increases Sakura’s favorability and grants the right to recruit Ryu Shin-woo as an ally.
After the duel, win or lose, once the truth behind the bullying incident involving Sakura was uncovered, Ryu Shin-woo acknowledged the protagonist and started demonstrating his worth as the 4th strongest second-year student.
Later, he joined the same club as the protagonist and became a supporting character who occasionally helped out with comic relief and reliable backup.
Though he didn’t hold the front lines with overwhelming power, he had an ultimate move where he could absorb enemy damage for 4-5 seconds before releasing it, playing a helping role when the protagonist was pushed to their limits alongside Kang Ayul.
‘Really wanted to see how far his skills had improved, so I even pulled out my staff to fight him… and he fell in less than a second.’
If I had used my full strength intending to k*ll him, Ryu Shin-woo would have suffered a severe wound, a.k.a. the “donut” move—where he’d likely have had his belly split open. Though it was a mock battle, d*ath wouldn’t have occurred.
Launching the very basic void magic ‘Magic Missile’ instead proved to be a wise choice.
‘Hollow magic could probably break through barriers too…’
Even without the staff, a Magic Missile can shatter medium-grade barriers. With the staff’s enhanced power…
“Alright, Ayul and Seo-yoon! Step forward!”
“Ayul, it’s a rematch. If you surrender now, we can end this without any further pain.”
“Haa… Unfortunately, I can’t lose today. I’m definitely winning.”
As if my reminiscing took too long, the final mock battle of the day between Kang Ayul and Lee Seo-yoon had begun.
“Hmm… I thought that last move would be the finishing blow.”
“Regrettably, today’s my lucky day. Still, your blade seems sharper?”
The mock battle between Kang Ayul and Lee Seo-yoon was expected to result in a narrow victory for Lee Seo-yoon, but to everyone’s surprise, Kang Ayul emerged as the winner.
‘ <Sword Saint’s Blessing (S)> is genuinely broken.’
Recalling her past defeat by swordsmanship, this time Kang Ayul faced Lee Seo-yoon relying solely on raw sword skills without any mana-infused blades.
Though slightly at a disadvantage, Kang Ayul’s attacks, enhanced by <Sword Saint’s Blessing (S)>, gradually wore down Lee Seo-yoon’s defenses.
In the final moments, Ayul swung a giant mana blade, forcing Lee Seo-yoon to leap into the air. Ayul capitalized on this moment, cleanly splitting Seo-yoon’s sword and body in half, claiming her victory.
“After class today, meet me here.”
“……Alright, then.”
Watching Kang Ayul’s ecstatic smile without diminishing, I could only clutch my head in exasperation.
