Long Live the King (3)
In battle, certain truths become painfully clear. My strength, agility, and skill—they had all already begun to surpass the limits of humanity. I could tell just from the way I’d blocked that powered exoskeleton-assisted push kick moments ago. It was an attack never meant to be stopped by human hands. Lee Chae-rin had intended to seize the initiative with that single strike, but I had blocked it. Though the impact had sent my body flying, I remained uninjured.
Boom. Rumble—!
Still, that didn’t mean I could afford to underestimate her. The Preacher, the Holy Warrior, the Centurion… even the Serpent of Eden, whose sheer mass and strength dwarfed mine by a hundredfold, had all fallen to me. It wasn’t because I was special. I was special, but that special quality had no bearing on life or death. What had let me win was strategy, wit, willpower, fleeting moments of luck, and the refusal to let that luck slip away.
My body couldn’t stop blades or bullets. Even I would die if I took a clean hit. Just like the Preacher had.
Crash! Clang—!
That was why I never let my guard down. My mind settled. A calm descended as the excitement drained away. The power exoskeleton wrapped around my body added twenty points to my strength. It was bulletproof in its own right, and every punch I threw carried the weight of a blunt weapon. Each strike shattered concrete walls like plywood, snapped human bones, and crushed flesh. I couldn’t allow even a single attack to land cleanly. I had no idea how strong her regeneration was, and if she suffered an injury too severe to trigger it, she would die anyway.
What I possessed. What my opponent possessed. I factored everything into the equation. What mattered wasn’t some flawless plan, but wit and adaptability. Fighting experience against a skilled martial artist—especially one who wasn’t a zombie or a variant—was rare. What I needed was experience. I had to absorb the techniques already fused into me and melt the experience that wasn’t originally mine into my own body.
With my field of vision vastly expanded by Nanggojisang, I charged forward. My sharpened hearing picked up the faint mechanical noise. The low hum of servo motors. In perfect sync with that sound, I twisted my body with heightened focus.
Rumble—!
The grazing fist was vicious. It punched a hole through the wall and ground away at the edges. A jab impossible for normal human perception to see and dodge. Every jab she threw carried lethal force. Even with a body that had transcended human limits, a direct hit would rupture and tear me apart. So I dodged them all, blocking only when necessary to keep contact to a minimum.
Jab, jab, jab. One-two. A relentless barrage. I deflected the incoming fists with my elbow raised, twisted my waist to evade, and minimized my upper body movement to slip away. Uppercuts, hooks, straights—the same. Even while trying to keep me from getting inside her punching range, her fists surpassed those of any infighter. A hook that merely grazed the reinforced steel door tore it clean off. A straight punch left a hole in the door when I dodged. An uppercut I thought I’d avoided still drew beads of blood on my skin.
Her kicks were no different. Sharp, snapping middle kicks. A clumsy kick check would lead straight to a fracture. I dodged. When I bent back to avoid a high kick, a low kick followed. It was like solving an extremely difficult puzzle. Yet my elevated intelligence neutralized the complexity. I calculated. Lee Chae-rin’s moves, her attacks, her intentions.
The Gamilbokgeom floated at the edge of my vision. Even though I could read her intentions, it didn’t make things any easier. If I’d had a sword in my hand, things might have been different. Nevertheless, I stubbornly stuck to close-quarters combat.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
I fired off a push kick. She twisted her waist to dodge and countered with a hook that rattled my guard. My hand went numb from striking what felt like an iron plate. But Lee Chae-rin was already rushing back in after being pushed away.
The cramped laboratory. The moment I slid forward and ducked low at the end of my dash, a leg wrapped in power armor burst through the wall. The equipment emitted a constant servo-motor hum as it shattered walls, shattered glass, and scattered debris. The only part of me that could block the incoming strike was my left arm, protected by its gauntlet. But defense was a bad move. I realized it the instant we clashed.
Even among those with Advanced-level martial arts, not all were equal. If Advanced could be further divided, Lee Chae-rin clearly stood at the very top. Whatever the reason—some trigger, training, fundamentals, or raw power—she was the kind of person who fell just short of Master. Even if my level was higher, she had the experience. Blocking recklessly would only let her turn it against me. I could die in an instant.
Feeling my heart pound for some unknown reason, I responded with calm precision. The analysis was finally complete.
The moment Lee Chae-rin approached without even wiping away her flowing sweat—
Shwaaaaack—! Crack!
A low kick accelerated by servo motors. If I dodged, a roundhouse would follow. If I took it, my bones would shatter. I had seen her kicks many times now. They were ferocious. But I had also seen them enough times to finally read them.
I caught it directly with my leg. A kick check. The instant I received it, I rotated my body before the impact could travel through me. It didn’t break. Faster than the shock could fill Lee Chae-rin’s eyes, I twisted at the waist and fired a roundhouse kick. A swift, fluid kick conversion unique to taekwondo. It was possible because taekwondo was one of the few martial arts that allowed countering kick with kick.
Lee Chae-rin crossed her arms to block, seemingly caught off guard.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
“Kh…?!”
Her body was shoved back and she let out an involuntary grunt. Thanks to the weight of her exoskeleton, she didn’t fall or fly away, but without it she certainly would have. But I didn’t stop. Before she could recover from her confusion, I closed the distance. One step, two steps. At the end of my stride I leaped, driving my knee forward.
A flying knee strike.
Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrunch—!
The flying knee slammed into her crossed forearms. Lee Chae-rin’s body crashed into the wall, and the crushed surface groaned as it spat out fragments. Now? No, too early. After seven consecutive strikes I needed to catch my breath. So not yet.
The moment I finished my judgment and leaned back, a push kick whistled over my head. Lee Chae-rin’s counter. The leg that had kicked folded immediately, aiming for my foot. I twisted away from it while simultaneously throwing a hook.
Crack!
It landed on the bulletproof exoskeleton, but the power was undeniable. My strength was 26. It was no different from wearing an exoskeleton myself. Moreover, it was a left hook thrown with my gauntleted hand. The effect was clear.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
Ragged breathing. A furrowed brow. Even the exoskeleton’s shock absorption couldn’t completely suppress the force—power equal to or greater than her own. Even though the strike had landed on a protected area, the predator’s method of increasing injury rate made Lee Chae-rin’s face twist in pain.
But I didn’t stop. I rode the rotational force of the hook, twisted my waist, and fired a roundhouse kick.
Crrrrunch—!
It slammed into her crossed arms and the forearm she’d raised to protect her head. The instant her body stiffened, I twisted with everything I had.
“Ah—”
I pulled my leg close to my body and spun. At the end of the spin, my back faced her. A posture that would normally be dangerously exposed. Yet I moved forward without hesitation. A back kick. Kim Chae-hyun’s technique exploded.
Kwa-gwaaaaaaaaang—!
Lee Chae-rin’s body, along with her exoskeleton, shot backward, smashing through the wall and tumbling out of the laboratory. The test subject with the hole in its head lay coldly on the floor, unresponsive even to the intruder.
Lee Chae-rin staggered to her feet, gasping for air. She clutched her side, face twisted in pain.
“…Are you not worried?”
At the same time, something rose at the corner of my vision.
Gamilbokgeom. The President’s trait had relayed Lee Chae-rin’s thoughts to me. If I had accessed the system through a different method instead of the status window, Gamilbokgeom would have taken a different form. I caught my breath while looking at the increasingly familiar phenomenon.
I didn’t recklessly pursue her. I raised my guard. Instead, I answered.
“Not really.”
Lee Chae-rin stared at me with her usual expressionless face, then—
“Even if you die, you’ll take several with you. That would be a gain.”
She burst into laughter.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“It’s the truth. Why would I care if a crazy bitch like you dies?”
So I didn’t waver. Instead, I took a stance.
“And… this isn’t the time to be worrying about others.”
I wasn’t fooled. The brief pause to catch her breath was more urgent for her than for me. She was exhausted. It was easy to imagine what was happening at the end of this corridor where the other bodyguards were. Released test subjects. Swarming zombies. Bodyguards firing guns amid the chaos. Her vest was empty. No pistol in sight. The rifle was also spent. The exoskeleton remained, but she had no other weapons. All she had left was the exoskeleton itself.
The moment we both took our stances, her powered suit kicked off the floor.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
A linear charge. A form that declared she would no longer retreat. She was slightly shorter than me. Tall for a woman. The exoskeleton was solid, and its output rivaled my own. It was far harder than my bones or hide. Unlike me, its output didn’t drop when damaged. As long as it didn’t break, it remained constant. But linear movement was its limit.
The push kick flew in the instant she charged. My heightened perception and Nanggojisang read the motion. I twisted to dodge. As I dodged, I extended my arm and pushed her leg away. Scraaaape. The moment part of her leg touched my gauntlet, the technique had already taken root in my body. Judo. A martial art I had never shown once since the fight with Lee Chae-rin began. I had engraved my fighting style into her with everything I had.
Taekwondo. The Preacher’s striking. The Centurion’s shooting and the CQB that came from military experience. That was why she had overlooked it. Overlooked it and attacked. Among the martial arts fused into me, excluding the Preacher’s, the one I had used most was judo.
Grabbing her leg, I twisted my body as if ripping Lee Chae-rin’s entire frame off the ground.
“Ah—”
With Lee Chae-rin’s startled voice, I seized her thigh and ankle at the same time, twisted with all my strength, and threw her.
A sweeping hip throw.
Kwa-gwaaaaaaaaaaaang—!
Lee Chae-rin smashed through a table in the corridor and slammed into the floor. She had protected her head with her arms, but her eyes were spinning. The rising speed, the ruptured eardrums, the churning stomach. The opening created lasted only a split second. A gap that would vanish before she could even take a single breath. Before she could even swallow the breath that had been forced out of her, I pressed the attack.
The moment Lee Chae-rin flipped her body and rose quickly, I was already right in front of her. Breath drawn to its limit. Left foot planted. Right arm pulled back as far as it would go.
Swallow Drop: Allows consecutive attacks proportional to Strength.
And since there were no restrictions on heavy martial arts with Swallow Drop, within my expanded Nanggojisang field of vision, I scanned the parts of her body not covered by the exoskeleton. Seeing me already within arm’s reach, she let out a bitter laugh.
I cut through the rising regret and extended my leg long.
Thuuuuud—!
A back kick exploded toward her. The kick delivered with the tip of my foot shattered her unprotected ribs and slammed Lee Chae-rin into the wall. She vomited blood and coughed up a groan. The moment her wide eyes turned toward me, I was already moving. I gathered the power created by retracting my leg. I twisted my waist powerfully and unleashed a spinning back kick.
Crack!
It struck the already broken ribs. They bent. Before Lee Chae-rin could regain her senses, I twisted again and slammed my left elbow into her head.
Thuuuuud—!
Her head snapped violently. Blood sprayed. Teeth scattered. Crack. Thump! I still didn’t stop. Absorbing the recoil with my waist, keeping my balance, I drove my right elbow into her side. A choked gasp. A body that bent. I clenched my fist. Three strikes remained.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
The hook I threw smashed into her face. Crunch! I pulled my fist back and drove another punch down onto her head as it tried to straighten. At the end of it, I clenched my fist, twisted my waist powerfully, and thrust upward.
Crunch—!
An uppercut. Her skull shattered. Blood scattered. When her destroyed head caused Lee Chae-rin to stagger and collapse—
Greed activated!
Presidential Security Service Bodyguard, Lee Chae-rin
Advanced Dagger Mastery
Possessed Martial Art: Kickboxing
└Push Kick: Delivers a kick with acceleration. Greatly pushes back the struck opponent or collapses their stance.
Stats
Strength: 28(5)
Agility: 28(6)
Intelligence: 17(1)
Perception: 24(1)
I steadied my ragged breathing as I looked at the status window filling my vision. Suppressing the unpleasant feeling that rose up, I turned my eyes away from the convulsing Lee Chae-rin. Once again, the one who had survived was me. And as always, that was what mattered most.