Chapter 114
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Wingsuit Plunge
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Wingsuit.
The gear that boasts top-tier danger among all extreme sports.
People often mistake it because of the "wing" in the name. It's not flying—it's just gliding down at an angle.
Turning into a human flying squirrel—
at speeds exceeding 250 km/h.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Jin's eyes flashed wide behind his goggles.
The moment he leaped from the transport plane,
the world unfolded vertically beneath him.
Was this what it felt like to stake your life on a controlled slide rather than a freefall?
His heart pounded like mad.
Meanwhile, the scenery filling his vision expanded endlessly.
Fwoooosh!
Altitude: 9,000m
Approaching Kwan-Gye Myeon airspace
At 9,000 meters in the high altitude near the Kwan-Gye Myeon barrier,
the ground stretched endlessly far below, and the distant horizon curved vast and wide. Jin gritted his teeth and spread his arms and legs.
Damn it!
The problem was, things never went as planned.
It was only natural.
To the wingsuit, it might look like a light glide, but in reality, it was a delicate and grueling act of enduring air resistance equal to your body weight across every inch of you, controlling direction and altitude solely with head and limb movements.
Even veterans who'd attempted and succeeded hundreds of jumps risked their lives on the slightest mistake—
and Jin here was a total newbie, without even indoor skydiving experience.
From one to ten,
everything felt awkward.
For reference,
back on Jin's home planet, the record for "highest altitude wingsuit flight success" was 7,600 meters.
Just jumping from the transport plane was already a challenge to the Guinness Book.
Back here at 9,000 meters in the sky.
Jin Evernight.
Here to shatter that record.
Pabababak!!
A knife-like gale at minus 60 degrees whipped his face relentlessly.
Jin poured all his strength into steadying his center.
His scant experience was compensated by senses honed through hard training.
Next up?!
Securing a stable posture like it was no big deal for a first-timer, Jin focused on the view through his goggles.
Ultra-wide AR display.
Standard issue for all Law Enforcers.
Not only did it function perfectly in bone-chilling cold, but its onboard AI tracked position in real-time via the screen, overlaying tactical holograms onto Jin's vision.
[Target Location Secured]
A voice pierced his ear as a red targeting line locked onto empty air below distant clouds.
A hazy silhouette.
A colossal mass defying perspective hung there.
The aerial fortress, Apophis.
That was when it happened.
[This is Chandler. All operatives' descent confirmed.]
Another voice drilled into his ear.
The clear voice identifying as Chandler belonged to the glasses-wearing officer who'd reported to the Colonel the day before.
The sole agent left on the ground, handling comms relay, rattled off like a machine gun.
[Lead operative: Currently descending at 8,100m, 246 km/h. Maintaining course and speed... 54.2 seconds to Apophis firing range.]
Here, "lead operative" meant Jin.
It wasn't intentional.
He'd just happened to end up at the tip of the V-formation.
Who cared?
As long as he flew straight. Jin lifted his chin stiffly and stared ahead.
Fwoosh!!
A wingsuit glides 2.5 meters forward per 1 meter drop, so theoretically it could cover 22.5 km purely on descent height—but Apophis was closer than that.
Much closer when entering firing range.
The fortress's outline sharpened gradually.
The dwarves' risen citadel, root and all.
And its 3,000 gunports.
[20 seconds!]
Apophis now revealed its full form.
Shrouded in fog-clouds like a cape.
It slowly turned its muzzles toward intruders nearing the no-approach zone.
It must have been a thunderous sound.
He couldn't hear it, but he felt it.
[10 seconds! Pilgrims, prepare!]
Closer, even closer.
[Everyone, get ready!]
The Colonel's transmission followed.
Jin gritted his teeth.
[3! 2! 1!]
──────────!!!
A deafening roar like the sky tearing open erupted.
Blinding white flash flooded his vision.
The streaking rings of fire weren't ordinary shells.
Condensed mana projectiles.
Mana shells, for short.
Every turret was an artifact.
Insane!
As Jin's eyes bulged at the overwhelming scale—
Wait, that moment.
…Moment?
Hold on.
Why is everything so slow?
Jin's eyes narrowed instinctively.
Out there, far off.
The ripple shockwave like a temple bell's toll,
the barrage blanketing the sky,
the fierce heat surging from muzzles.
All of it moved in slow motion.
Even he himself.
What the—?
It felt like time itself dragged.
Air density thickened.
Like plunging into glue.
At the same time, a voice brushed his ear.
[Pilgrim. Psychic Field deployed.]
The comms relay voice drew a hollow laugh.
One person did this?
Even knowing in advance, it was absurd.
Who wouldn't think so?
Realizing something encompassed Apophis's 3 km firing radius, controlling time's flow.
No, not time.
If it were, Chandler's voice from moments ago would've dragged like
suuuuuuuwuuuuwuuuupilグリム—
or whatever.
Then what?
He knew it wouldn't reach, but Jin glanced groundward anyway.
Pilgrim.
The grotesque being trapped in the Iron Maiden,
one of the city's five Omega-grade psychics.
Not just slowing shells—it slowed the massive Apophis itself. Beyond human limits.
They called it the pinnacle of post-humanity for a reason.
No wonder it was treated like a walking tactical nuke.
He realized anew—
[Snap out of it, everyone. Projectiles are slowed, not gone.]
Jin jolted alert at the Colonel's voice.
As he said, the shells hadn't vanished.
Just slowed enough to see—still hurtling straight at them right now.
Meanwhile, the Colonel continued—
[From now on, me, Q, and Elina will support. Don't freak out. You've all played those bullet hell games as kids, right?]
[Uh, sir... I sucked at those games.]
[That's why you're on the ground, Chandler.]
Hahaha. Laughter echoed, and something from behind wrapped Jin's wrists.
Whiiiish—!
A sharp whine and spinning gust—a mini whirlwind.
Aerokinesis.
The Colonel's wind-manipulating psychic power reaching the team.
Oh?
Realizing it was a jetpack-like push aligned with his palms—
his body, floating in the air until now, began accelerating.
Right then.
Jin, boldly regaining speed, unwittingly yelled "Uwaaaah!" and dove into the hail of shells.
Fwoooosh!!
Wingsuits normally couldn't ride air currents.
With your whole body as rudder, fine maneuvers were impossible—but that was before the Colonel's support.
The whirlwinds on his hands made the impossible possible.
Whiiiish!!
Now adjustable hand angles enabled dramatic turns.
And so, bullet hell game start!
"…!"
As Jin twisted, the first shell grazed past by inches.
Air churned violently.
A second shell closed in fast.
Jin flicked his center with minimal motion—the shell barely missed.
Then, an explosion rocked behind him, blooming a shockwave heat-flower.
Screeeee!
Using even the blast's push for another burst, Jin stabilized with wrist whirlwinds and leaned in.
Incoming shells from different angles collided.
Kaboom!!
But Jin was already clear of the blast radius.
Crackle!!
The spin enveloping him sharpened his already razor reflexes even further.
His subsequent maneuvers were acrobatic artistry.
Ugh! Dodge left.
Whoa! Dodge right.
Flipping mid-air, "Uwaaaah!"
Spinning, wheeelp, gonna puke. For real.
Life's a tragedy up close, comedy from afar, right?
This moment.
Jin was dying in his dizzying whirlwind world, but his dazzling 3D maneuvers were undisputed best—even over the Colonel.
[Lead: Vertical distance to Apophis 1,100m! Horizontal 1,400m!]
Snapping to, he'd pierced over half the firing range.
But the issue: He'd pulled too far ahead.
Grrrrrind!
Slow as they were, 3,000 mana guns finished reloading and spat fire at Jin in unison.
Kaboom!
In that instant, Jin's gut screamed: Can't dodge this.
No matter how slowed, shells were shells.
Muzzle velocity 1,000 m/s, even quartered—still nearly double an MLB ace's fastball.
Come on!
Facing the barrage locked solely on him, ramping spin to all-or-nothing—
[Gravity.]
His body suddenly lightened, shooting skyward.
No need to check—Q's intervention.
No panic; he used the whirlwinds aggressively to soar higher.
A massive explosion erupted beneath his feet.
Kaboom──!!
Fast despite slowdown, blast pressure chased as a fire pillar.
But it didn't touch.
Invisible force blocked it like a wall.
[Go, Jin!]
"Yeah!"
Flipping mid-air past Elina's comm,
blood rushed to his head naturally.
Ocean of clouds.
Heaven and earth inverted.
At the end: Apophis prepping its third volley.
Muzzles angling skyward.
Kaboom!!!
Ears ringing from the roar, the incoming shell—Jin didn't dodge.
Not because he trusted Q or Elina.
Bust through!
Now's the time!
Impulsive but resolute judgment.
Whoooosh!
Fierce winds swirled around Jin's headfirst-dive body.
The wrist whirlwinds expanding their domain.
Then, thunderous rumble with purple lightning flickered within.
Like a cumulonimbus.
Of course, not the Colonel's doing—this was Jin's own power.
Dragon Ascent.
Usable upon reaching mid-2nd Hierarchy,
Kendrick's signature ultimate, unleashed from Jin's hands.
Cracklecrackle!
Lightning spear spun wildly.
Near-perfect imagery.
Abnormal mana nearing 3rd Hierarchy.
Bolstered by the Colonel's power.
Whoooosh!
In an instant, Jin became the storm's eye. No footing in empty sky, but generating spin purely from torso—he endured the rampage as his wingsuit burst POP! POP! from wrists onward.
But he didn't care.
...One revolution!
......Two!
.........Three!
Wrapped in amplified torrent, he plunged into the shell-filled vision's center.
"Hup!"
Forcing mana on the verge of runaway, he thrust hands toward his imagery's path.
Thus.
The final grand spin.
..............Four!
The next moment.
Kraaaaboom──!!
Thunder shredded the sky in zigzags—
in electroshock-induced time warp illusion.
Dragon Ascent's afterglow swallowed thousands of shells.
Crack.
Clear fractures hurled back to the heavens.
Kaboom──!!!
[Insane! Hey! Can you hear me?!]
[Jin—!]
Q and Elina screamed in unison at the skin-tingling distant blast.
Fwhoosh!
Something plummeted diagonally through choking smoke.
"Whoa! Shit! Wait! Hold on!"
Gulping frigid air, yelling desperately—it was Jin.
Wingsuit trashed, whirlwinds gone, missile-diving—far-off Q's eyes bulged with veins.
[Parachute! Deploy parachute! Idiot!]
"It won't opeeeen!!!"
Yanking the ripcord for dear life, Apophis's surface rushed at Jin in real-time.
Blink?
No way. Landing technique at this speed?
Optical illusion or not, the now nose-close ground—Jin sucked in breath, squeezing every ounce of strength into the line.
"Please!"
Simultaneously, the pack on his back POP! ejected the chute—
vast fabric ballooning against drag.
Kabooooom──!!
Somewhere on Apophis's surface.
Pale smoke shot straight up.
Thus.
Jin Evernight.
Landed successfully, somehow.
Unofficial Guinness record achieved.