◈ Episode 27

Taang!

Kim Hyun-hyun pulled the trigger immediately. The first shot pierced Walker's hand and shattered the oil bottle. The two additional shots struck him in the abdomen.

It was definitely a fatal wound. But instead of backing down, Walker threw himself into the 7th basement floor.

His other good hand reached for the handgun holster. He didn't have time to pull it out. Kim Yi-Hyeon charged forward fiercely, holding up his shield.

Kuang!

It hit the body like a tank. The distance between the walker and the wall was very close. The walker had to be shocked back and forth by hitting the wall.

"Ugh, ugh. Ugh...."

Walker was sprawled out with his back against the wall. Completely incapacitated. Kim Hyun-ah aimed his gun at the hole in the gas mask.

bang!

"...Huh. You fight so fiercely."

Robben, who had been preparing to provide covering fire, lowered his gun. He looked half-terrified as he watched the engagement.

"You saw that he didn't flinch even after being shot."

Kim Yi-hyeon took a deep breath as he sat up from his crouching position. The blood that had splattered on his hand was particularly glaring. It was proof that he was not yet ready.

'Come to your senses.'

I recalled the words I had said to Asterike.

Those who can do it do it. In a battlefield where hundreds and thousands of people are fighting, the scope of what a two-star agent can do is extremely limited.

Even Mary, who would have become a 5-star in the future, couldn't have died easily. The life of a 2-star is like a bug. If you don't want to die a foolish death, you have to be thorough.

― How do you beat up Walker? Hmm. They are annoying. From what I've seen, the only thing that works against them is 'shock'.

― What I mean is, even if you fight with your brain a little crazy, you still have consciousness, right? The brain sends signals and moves the body through the nervous system. So all you have to do is shake it.

― If that's too difficult and daunting… just smash your head in. That's what I do.

It was a script included in a side story. It was a scene where an elite agent from CellbroLogics Lab answered a question from a new agent and gave advice.

The person who made the statement was an agent who could suppress enemies with physical attack power added to their physical resistance, but unfortunately, Kim Lee-Hyeon did not have enough power to do so.

"Let's chat later. They keep coming!"

As soon as Bryce shouted, the walkers appeared. There were three of them. The White Fang agents opened fire as if they had been waiting.

A strange phenomenon occurred next. After a certain point, the bullets began to fly at an extremely slow rate.

'Is that a spell too?'

Kim Hyun-i did not know all of the Walkers' spells. In the game, Walkers with special abilities are lumped together under the name of 'Walker Speller'.

'Originally, it was a unit that inflicted magic damage with normal attacks… but that's not the case in reality.'

It was impossible for all abilities to be exactly the same, as if they had been copied like in a game. In the end, there was no choice but to improvise.

Kim Yi-Hyeon ran to the left and aimed at Walker from the side. He targeted the guy who wasn't holding a gun. He quickly fired a shot at his forehead.

The bullet traveled normally.

'I guess it's difficult to cover all sides.'

There are limits to spells. While it is certainly an ability beyond common sense, it is not fundamentally a very powerful force.

'People like Legion officers and Ast are special, they don't usually produce that much output.'

I figured it wouldn't be at the level of controlling kinetic energy coming from all directions. If that were possible, he would be an officer, not a walker.

The prediction was right. Walker stumbled as the gas mask landed on him. He suffered a mild concussion and was unable to maintain his spell.

One of the walkers belatedly fired a machine gun at Kim I-Hyeon. While he held on with his shield, White Fang poured bullets on the walkers.

No matter how strong Walker was, he was not unharmed when ten air holes were punched through his body. He collapsed and soon became motionless.

'There are four of us now.'

Even including those who had been killed by mercenaries and snipers, more than half of the Walkers still remained. No, even half was an overly optimistic observation.

'I guess there are about 70 or 80 people.'

I don't know how many of them will come over here, but I had to defend this location somehow.

The smell of gunpowder, gunshots, screams, and shell casings filled the air as a frantic battle ensued. The only consolation was that there were brief moments of respite.

Robben glanced at Kim Yi-hyeon while changing the magazine. Kim Yi-hyeon was also busy refilling [Ivory]'s ammunition.

If you re-make it with a spell, the ammo will be automatically replenished, but it consumes less ammo if you insert it yourself. The White Fang members also knew this because they heard it from me.

"Bryce. Since when has Hyun been like that?"

"What are you doing?"

"So… were you originally that good at fighting?"

The physical abilities themselves were not outstanding.

Although they may be superior to ordinary people, all of White Fang's members were trained warriors. In fact, Bryce was the most physically gifted of them all.

But I guess it would be better to call it a sense of battle.

The ability to prioritize your targets, shoot accurately at the right time, and mentally identify your enemy's vulnerabilities to devise a plan.

It was getting sharper day by day.

"What did you say?"

Bryce laughed, as if it was a joke.

"I was still a jerk when we first met, but I feel like I've grown a lot in a short period of time."

"It's too short a period of time for that to be the case."

"Well, think about it."

He shrugged.

"I tried it and it seems to fit well."

* * *

Phew.

The tip of the sword pierced the protective suit and stabbed the heart.

After a brief convulsion, his breathing stopped. At Snowfield's feet, the man who appeared to be the commander of the security force was dead, his eyes wide open.

"...ha."

Snowfield drew her sword and exhaled. She was starting to feel tired. She looked around, wiping the blood off her sword.

The corpses of the security forces were piled up. They were frozen to the bone, or they were dead from excessive bleeding and shock due to amputations, or they were pieces of flesh that had died from punctures in vital points.

Snowfield wasn't unscathed either. The commander's skills were quite excellent. Thanks to this, his armor was dented and scratched here and there.

In other words, that was all.

He wasn't proud of the major he had established. He had no sense of accomplishment. He just swung his sword like a machine with an empty mind.

Now that my head has cooled down a little… all I can think of is my hometown. The last thing I saw was the scenery of the ashes fluttering in the wind.

That was Snowfield's talisman.

If it had been normal, she would have felt an indescribable anger. But for some reason, right now, she felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

"...."

I decided not to think too deeply about it, because it had nothing to do with the role I was asked to play.

The battle is not over yet.

"The enemy has already exhausted their stamina. Surround them and push forward!"

Other units of the security force came to fill the gaps, and support continued to arrive even during the fighting.

Snowfield looked down at the approaching enemies. As she surveyed the situation, she noticed something odd.

'Progress is slower than expected.'

The lowest level, which was the most dangerous, was easily cleared out with the Legion's special smoke screen. From then on, I thought Outlaws and Walkers would be enough. However, it seemed like they were having trouble somewhere.

There was a word that was lingering in my head.

- Take responsibility.

Responsibility. It was a word that didn't really make sense. In his long wandering life, the only person Snowfield had to take responsibility for was himself.

… … It's something I have to get used to.

Snowfield kicked off the railing and jumped down.

I rolled my eyes as I fell. It was an area of ​​strong resistance. It didn't take long to find it.

Basement 7. I found a familiar face.

fault.

Snowfield's feet settled lightly on the railing of the 7th floor underground. He looked around and saw that many walkers were lying on the floor of the passage.

There were about twenty casualties.

In total, they are a small number, but in terms of strength, they are a great loss. Each of them is worth more than three or four riflemen.

At the center of the massacre was a man. An unknown man who called himself a friend of the Caribbean.

"You didn't listen to my advice."

bang!

Kim Lee-hyun answered with a shot.

The bullets were inevitably blocked by the frost covering the armor. I didn't care and just threw away the remaining bullets and threw the gun away.

"Damn. Did the police get hurt in the meantime?"

"I guess so, you little rice-eaters!"

The men also fired bullets as if they were emptying the magazines they had just replaced. Snowfield was about to jump in with his feet.

"쏴!"

Kim Yi-Hyeon shouted while looking far upstairs. At the angle his head turned, Snowfield gave up moving forward and hid himself against the wall.

"...?"

Five seconds passed without a sniper shot being fired.

'I guess you learned it properly last time.'

Kim Yi-hyeon snickered at the sight of Snowfield's stooped posture. It was something he had never seen before in a game, for Snowfield to be so wary of a gun.

'You don't want to waste your strength on us, do you?'

From Snowfield's perspective, White Fang is nothing more than a tough weed. It's a small enemy that can be dealt with easily as long as you're careful not to mess up the spells. There's no need to take any damage.

In fact, the only thing special were the three bullets Mary had given her spell to, but Snowfield had no reason to know the details.

It was a good time.

The troops opened up the street. Naturally, the White Fangs were not the only troops guarding this place. Rather, they were a small force.

Thud, toodoodoo!

Other platoon members sent by Lotus Company laid down a barrage of bullets to pressure the enemy. Everyone was mindful of their distance from Snowfield.

The response to a battle with the Legion's 'Knights' was given before the operation even began. Do not approach, and do not allow them to approach.

'I wonder if that will work out as planned.'

Snowfield didn't stay dumb forever either. She lowered her upper body and began to slide across the floor.

It was an absurd speed that was hard to imagine from such a deformed position. He closed the distance between himself and the mercenaries in an instant while sticking to the wall and blocking their sniping.

"Fuck, what kind of monster is this…!"

"Ahhhhhh!"

Snowfield prioritized incapacitation over outright killing his enemies, cutting off fingers, arms, and sometimes shoulders with a single swing of his sword as he broke through enemy lines.

Kim Lee-Hyeon was able to figure out many things.

'The performance has definitely dropped.'

Compared to before, his movements have become dull. Above all, he is not using his spells aggressively.

Snowfield is also a human after all. He has been casting spells from the beginning and fighting more fiercely than anyone else, so there is no way his condition would be normal.

There was no change to the fact that he was as strong as a ghost. But that slight lag would have been fatal.

There's another monster here.

Snowfield sensed a gaze. A woman who had walked out of the cargo hold at some point was staring at him with golden eyes.

'... ...Chaste?'

White skin and horns. They were of the same species.

It wasn't that unusual. It was certainly rare to see my kind. There were only a few Pecatums living outside of the country, and Castus made up half of them.

However, they are not so rare that it is difficult to encounter them in one's lifetime. Snowfield has seen many of his kind as he has wandered the world. There were even some among the Outlaws.

In the past, I felt happy, but not anymore. Life in Pecatum was harsh, and there were many who thought of their own kind as targets for prey.

Snowfield had long since come to think of his fellow men as mere strangers. This time was no different. It was the moment when he was about to continue the battle in silence.

I heard voices.

"...disaster."

Then, the heat.

A blood-red flame burst out.