Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Purchase Window
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“Huff! Huff!”
Yusung breathed heavily. Blood dripped from the sharp gash on his shoulder down to his fingertips. And that wasn’t the only wound. Claw marks were etched all over his body.
‘If only the reinforced exoskeleton had external armor…’
But wishing for what he didn’t have only left him feeling empty. At least he hadn’t been hit in any vital spots, and the beast’s claws weren’t poisoned. That was a small mercy.
Yusung glared at the beast in front of him.
It was covered in wounds too. Blood spurted nonstop from the bullet holes riddling its body, soaking the ground.
The beast’s agility had kept Yusung from landing solid hits on its vitals. A few rounds had slammed into its face, but it hadn’t gone down.
Just as Yusung had thought, one or two shots to the vitals wouldn’t cut it.
Still, he’d managed to pump dozens of bullets into its other parts, slowing it down.
He could definitely nail the vitals on this black beast now.
But there was one major problem.
‘No ammo.’
He’d burned through all the rounds he’d brought. And with how short he already was, dumping dozens of shots hadn’t helped. The gun in his hands was just an iron club now.
The black beast, meanwhile, was still nimble. Charging in relying only on the reinforced exoskeleton wasn’t going to win this.
His strength gave out.
Even if he survived this, the fallout from wasting dozens of bullets would hit hard. Could he scrounge up more ammo before running through his home stash?
‘This is my lot in life, after all.’
No matter how delicious the food he ate or how much awe the NPCs showed him in virtual reality, the ground under his feet was this garbage world.
All the hope and joy he’d felt lately meant nothing.
His thoughts reached that point, and his grip slackened naturally. A life dragging on like trash without a shred of hope—what was the point in keeping it going?
Maybe ending it cleanly here wouldn’t be so bad.
But Yusung gritted his teeth.
‘Don’t be ridiculous! I swore back then!’
No matter the situation, he wouldn’t let go of his will to live. Even if an unavoidable death closed in because it was all too much, he’d struggle until the very last moment.
Yusung tightened his grip on the gun again.
But stoking his will to live didn’t conjure a way out of this mess. He was still in danger.
The badly wounded black beast was holding back out of caution, but the instant its attack instinct overrode that wariness, Yusung was done for.
‘I wish it would just run away…’
Fat chance. Monsters and beasts never fled from humans, even if it meant dying.
‘What do I do?’
If he just had a few bullets.
That’s when it hit Yusung as he racked his brain.
His eyes suddenly widened.
* * *
Yusung’s existence had steadily become known to people. He’d made his mark on viewers through various streamers’ broadcasts, and edited clips they uploaded spread the word further.
Even if they were just videos from newbie streamers with little influence, Yusung’s skills were eye-catching enough.
Day by day, more people learned about him and took interest. His attention level rose accordingly.
Even when he wasn’t logged into the game.
It climbed bit by bit, steadily, even as he hunted beasts for food. And finally, his attention level broke past 1,000.
The threshold the strategy guide had mentioned—the point where a certain purchase window would first open.
* * *
Yusung blinked. A translucent window popped into his view, and even in the heat of battle, he blanked out for a moment.
‘What’s this?’
It looked awfully familiar. He’d seen it just yesterday.
The problem was, this garbage reality shouldn’t have anything like it.
‘Why’s the game window…’
A translucent panel identical to the ones in-game. For a split second, he wondered if he was still inside the game.
But that doubt faded fast.
The filthy dirt, the acrid stench, the murky sky, the black beast poised to lunge, and the pain throbbing all over his body—they all screamed this was stark reality.
Snap!
The black beast caught Yusung’s distraction and charged. Yusung flinched and tore his eyes from the game window.
-Roar!-
The beast bared its fangs, going for his throat. Yusung had dodged bites so far—even claw scratches—but one chomp from those teeth wouldn’t end with just injury.
“Urk!”
He barely evaded. It was the closest the beast’s fangs had come in the whole fight, sending chills down his spine.
‘Still, it’s definitely slowed down!’
If the black beast were at full strength, his head would be gone by now.
But without ammo, even this state was unbeatable.
Not anymore, though. One possibility had just opened up.
His eyes locked on the game window still floating in front of him. His gaze fixed on one word among the text.
〔15.5x121mm Rounds〕
Exactly what he wanted most right now. The thing that could turn the iron club in his hand back into a weapon.
Yusung reached out to the window like he was buying an item in-game.
Honestly, it was insane. As if touching it would make the item appear like in the game. This wasn’t paradise VR—this was hellish reality.
No matter how much the game window shimmered in his vision, it made more sense that extreme danger had made him snap than some game system manifesting in real life.
But Yusung didn’t hesitate.
He had no room for choices right now.
His finger touched the game window.
Something flashed. Yusung stared in shock at the box that appeared on the filthy ground.
‘No way!’
He’d hoped, sure. But he hadn’t believed it.
‘Maybe I really have lost it.’
No time to doubt himself now. Yusung bent down and snatched the ammo box.
-Roar!-
The black beast lunged again.
‘It noticed I’m out of ammo.’
It wasn’t stupid. It had to know Yusung had no more means to attack.
But that was only true up until a moment ago.
Rip!
He tore open the ammo box in a hurry. Most rounds spilled onto the ground, but he clutched the ones he needed.
He pulled the magazine and started loading rounds. The beast menaced him, but his hands didn’t shake.
If he couldn’t control his body perfectly in crises like this, he wouldn’t have survived this long.
-Raaargh!-
Whoosh!
A sharp claw raked his face.
Clack!
Fangs snapped right next to his nape.
But even then, the magazine filled steadily with rounds.
Click!
He slammed the magazine home and racked the slide to chamber a round. The metallic clack rang out, and the simple club transformed back into a deadly weapon.
Bang!
The muzzle flashed again. Blood sprayed from the black beast’s face.
-Kyaaak!-
It tumbled to the ground, thrashing its head in agony. Yusung looked down coldly and chambered the next round.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out in succession. The slowed black beast couldn’t dodge the hail of bullets to its head.
-Kaaaak!-
With a dying screech, the black beast finally collapsed.
It stopped moving completely, but Yusung didn’t relax. He pumped a few more rounds into its head for good measure.
Ammo was precious, but this wasn’t a cow or pig. Skimp on shots and approach to check, and it might rip out his throat.
Fortunately, the black beast didn’t twitch after the bullets.
It was dead.
“Haaaaah~!”
Yusung exhaled deeply, squeezing out every last bit of air from his lungs.
That had been close. Top five closest calls yet, probably.
But he’d survived this one too.
Still, right now, doubt outweighed any joy at staying alive.
‘What the hell is this?’
Yusung stared at the game window still hovering before him.
It had given him ammo, saving his life. But it was something that flat-out couldn’t exist in reality.
‘…Better get out of here first.’
He’d made a racket fighting the black beast for quite a while. Another one might show up.
Especially not today. No more fights.
‘Gotta grab those, though.’
He quickly scooped up the rounds that had spilled when he tore open the box.
With all the ammo recovered, he hurried away from the scene.
Only the traces of fierce battle and the black beast’s sprawled corpse remained in the eerie silence.
* * *
Luckily, no other beasts crossed his path on the way back to his hideout. He checked for any around, shut the heavy iron door, and only then did Yusung finally unwind.
‘I survived!’
Slumping against the iron door, he zoned out for a bit. The tension draining away brought a flood of mental fatigue.
Normally, he’d tidy up quick and crash, but not tonight.
That game window was still casually floating there. He needed to figure out what it was.
The game window hung in front of Yusung. An ‘X’ in the corner probably closed it.
But he didn’t dare touch it.
‘What if it doesn’t open again after I close it?’
Just the fact that it could supply the ammo he desperately needed made it invaluable.
He checked the window’s contents first.
The first thing that caught his eye was, predictably, the 15.5x121mm rounds. The things that had pulled his life back from the brink.
But that was only clutch for the immediate crisis. What really grabbed his attention was something else.
“Black bread…”
Yusung mumbled the word from the game window like an idiot.
Black bread. Impossible to forget. The thing that had taught him what real ‘food’ was like, after surviving on beast meat worse than garbage. The fact that he couldn’t eat it in reality had been so infuriating.
But there it was, in the game window. If the rounds had materialized for real, black bread probably could too. No— he was almost certain.
His hand drifted toward the black bread without thinking, but he stopped.
‘No. Not yet.’
He needed to learn more about this game window. He barely pulled his hand back. If he hadn’t gotten used to good eats in-game, he couldn’t have held back like this.
The list wasn’t just black bread.
White bread, the gun he carried in-game, its ammo, even potions.
‘I haven’t actually gone insane, right?’
He shook his head. He couldn’t figure out what this window really was.
“If only it had a strategy guide explanation like in the game…”
That’s when he muttered his complaint.
【Do you need help?】
His body froze at the sudden voice.