Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Python
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“Pfft!”
Cooking Day couldn’t hold back the laughter bursting out of him. Their guilds already had bad blood between them, and with the conflict over scouting Yuseong on top of that, there was no way Pattern would feel good about him sharing patterns.
But seeing that infuriating guy right in front of him losing his temper and freaking out like this—how could he not be satisfied?
Still, enjoyment was one thing, and battle was another. To make good use of the opening Yuseong had created for him, he drew back his bowstring.
‘He’s even better than I thought.’
Admiring Yuseong once more.
He’d figured he’d be the one helping, not the other way around.
Before loosing the arrow, he glanced at Yuseong. He was in the middle of killing another mercenary.
Feeling at ease, Cooking Day released the bowstring.
* * *
‘That makes three.’
Another mercenary fell to Yuseong’s hand. Four remained. The momentum they’d shown at the start of the battle had completely vanished.
Pattern kept sneaking glances at him from the side, as if hoping for help.
In fact, after Yuseong had once interrupted Pattern’s attack, he’d retaliated by hurling a few javelins at Yuseong.
But none of those attacks had landed.
‘Or maybe he’s looking for a chance to run.’
They wouldn’t want to risk the experience loss and main item drop either.
Pattern seemed aware of their intentions, though, occasionally glaring at them. Fleeing would make things messy afterward, plain as day.
In the end, the mercenaries had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep charging at Yuseong.
Bang!
The gun barrel spat fire once more. The target was Pattern again. A torrent of curses rang out. Yuseong let it flow in one ear and out the other as he turned the barrel toward the mercenaries.
The fight between Cooking Day and Pattern was evenly matched. Cooking Day kept a thorough distance, peppering Pattern with arrows. Pattern occasionally closed in successfully and pressed Cooking Day, but couldn’t finish him off.
Yuseong’s battle with the mercenaries, however, remained firmly in his favor.
Again. And again, the mercenaries fell to Yuseong’s bullets.
“…Haa! Damn it!”
The mercenary leader looked up at the sky once before hanging his head and letting out a deep sigh.
At the start of the battle, there had been six more like him, but now he was alone. The others had all died, leaving corpses behind.
If even seven of them together couldn’t win, how could he alone?
‘And those guys can’t help either.’
Pattern knew the situation too—his face was twisted in frustration. But whenever he tried anything, Cooking Day’s arrows blocked him.
‘Surrender? Or run?’
He’d considered it. But Yuseong might not let him go, and even if he did, it would earn Pattern’s grudge. He knew how arrogant and petty that guy was.
In the end, the only path left was to charge at Yuseong and die like the others.
The success bonus would be gone, but at least he’d get the promised pay.
‘At least I won’t be mocked for getting beaten one-on-one by that monster.’
He’d thought Yuseong was a monster, but experiencing him firsthand, he was something beyond that. It wasn’t for nothing that he’d won the war against Hers Guild. Those who saw this fight would praise Yuseong more, not mock them.
‘Let’s fight.’
With resolve, he raised his sword.
“Uwaaaah!”
Roaring loudly, he charged at Yuseong.
Tatata-tang!
Gunfire hammered his body. The attacks precisely targeted only his weak points—chilling no matter how many times he saw them. Having already given up on victory, he didn’t even check his HP via the status window.
‘It’s chunking away.’
He knew without looking.
But it didn’t matter. What did it matter if his HP dropped here? He didn’t even pretend to shield his head or dodge side to side to throw off Yuseong’s aim.
He’d tried every trick in the book. And the conclusion was one.
‘Useless.’
He didn’t have throwing weapons like Pattern either. His attacks meant getting in close and swinging his sword, even if it killed him.
So the only option left was to close the distance as fast as possible.
But of course, his final attempt failed.
Wobble!
His legs gave out, and his body pitched forward.
‘Ah, this is it. Dead.’
His HP must have hit zero. No strength left in his body, but his vision lingered. The leader looked at Yuseong.
‘Too far.’
Even if he could move his arms, he was too far to threaten Yuseong. It felt just like the gap between their skills.
‘Ah, this is so damn frustrating.’
As Yuseong turned his gaze from him to Pattern, he grumbled inwardly.
* * *
With the mercenary leader’s body vanishing, every last one of Pattern’s mercenaries was dead. The onlookers watched with keen interest.
“He won.”
“Man, he took them all out.”
Pattern had warned that getting too close would drag them into the fight, and the spectators had zero intention of ignoring that.
But they didn’t leave either.
There’d been no order to scram.
If he’d wanted them gone, he’d have said so directly.
And truthfully, Pattern had no intention of forcing the players away. Confident to the brim, he wanted the spectators to spread word of this battle’s process and outcome far and wide.
And in that intent, at least, he succeeded perfectly. Though the result was 180 degrees from what he’d wanted.
“Never fails to impress.”
“Those guys looked pretty high-level. And he beat seven of them, not just one or two.”
People’s attention focused squarely on Yuseong.
“The guy who smashed Hers Guild before? That’s par for the course.”
“Still, he made it look too easy. The special ammo, right?”
“Probably.”
“He’d only used stuff like Strong Round occasionally till now, and suddenly?”
“Too expensive, I bet. Famous for being cheap, after all.”
“Now?”
“That’s Cooking Day stuck to him. Alchemy ranker. Must’ve gotten it from him.”
“That’s Cooking Day?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“First time seeing him in person. But why’s a guy like that fighting alongside Yuseong?”
“Who knows? Opponent’s Pattern from C.O.T.S., and Jeotdaero and C.O.T.S. are notoriously at odds. Probably caught in the feud?”
“Pattern? That guy?”
The spectators were thrilled by the high-level battle rare to this area, but they didn’t know exactly why these two groups were fighting.
Nor did they care to dig deep.
For outsiders, it was just entertainment.
“With this, Cooking Day and Yuseong’s side wins, right?”
“Yeah. Pattern’s struggling against just Cooking Day—what if Yuseong jumps in?”
“Even if Yuseong just snipes special rounds from afar, he’s screwed.”
“C.O.T.S. always pissed me off, and this feels good. Should I upload it online and spam hate comments?”
“Excuse me, could you hold off on that?”
A voice suddenly came from behind a spectator who’d been giggling while badmouthing Pattern and C.O.T.S. alike. The two turned around.
Two people stood there. One wore common gear for the area—not much level difference, it seemed.
But the other was different.
Armor and sword that screamed high stats to anyone.
The spectators hesitated, sizing them up. Their faces went white at the C.O.T.S. emblem on the chest, and paled further upon seeing the uncovered face.
Not a menacing look. Rather, a gentle smile that, paired with handsome features, could disarm anyone’s guard.
But the two spectators, knowing who he was, could only freeze.
The smile in his eyes felt like the reaper’s scythe falling from the night sky.
* * *
“What now?”
Cooking Day said. No mockery in his usual tone. Flat as could be. But that scraped at Pattern’s nerves even more.
“This bastard thinks he’s already won?!”
“No. We have won, at this point.”
He almost wanted to ask how they could possibly lose.
“Don’t make me laugh!”
He’d tried being nice, suggesting they call it quits, but all he got was hysteria.
Like he’d go easy with some grand connection here.
‘If dying’s what you want.’
His bowstring was already drawn taut. As he pondered which skill to use,
Flash!
Light flared in the corner of his vision.
‘Skill? Who…’
No time to finish the thought. He hurled himself aside desperately.
Kwaaaaang!
An explosion rocked where he’d stood. From the blast and effects, it wasn’t Pattern’s attack. Pattern couldn’t use a skill like that.
‘No—didn’t come from Pattern’s direction at all!’
On second thought, it seemed to come from the spectators’ side.
‘One of the onlookers could use a skill like this?’
He hadn’t looked closely, but he’d glanced before the fight started—no one at that level.
Newcomer, then.
‘C.O.T.S. reinforcements.’
Most likely. But doubts crept in.
‘Here? And using a skill like that?’
Haven’t ID’d them yet, but definitely stronger than Pattern. Maybe a C.O.T.S. ranker.
‘A ranker here? I’m here for personal interest—rankers have no reason to move. Is Yuseong worth that?’
The thought reaching Yuseong startled Cooking Day.
‘Wait, what about Yuseong?’
If it really was C.O.T.S. backup, they’d likely targeted Yuseong too. He hurriedly scanned for him.
“Yuseong!”
Fortunately, Yuseong wasn’t dead. But as he’d feared, Yuseong had taken a hit.
His armor was shattered, wounds covering his body. A clear big loss.
But thankfully, not all HP gone. Yuseong was quickly opening his inventory and chugging a potion.
Seeing that, Cooking Day sighed in relief.
Then he noticed Yuseong’s eyes, potion in mouth, fixed on one spot. Cooking Day followed his gaze.
“You…!”
Spotting one player, Cooking Day panicked.
Right. It made sense if it was him who’d unleashed that skill. But that only made his presence here more baffling.
“Python.”