What Did You Say Your Name Was?

What Did You Say Your Name Was?
Jjaeng-geurang!!

Hwarureuk!!!

What flew through the broken window was a bottle with fire on it.

Yeah, it's a Molotov cocktail.

Some crazy asshole is hurling Molotov cocktails right into the house.

And the guy popping into my head right now is Kwon Juhyeok, that otaku bastard.

"You fucking pig bastard!!!"

"My oppa wouldn't do that!"

"Bullshit! You guys are the only ones who knew I was here, so who else besides that otaku would pull a stunt like this?!"

"Th-That may be true, but...! My oppa isn't someone who would do something that puts me in danger!"

Whether he was just giving lip service or meant it, he is the guy who said he'd lay down his life for his sister.

Looking at it that way, Kwon Juha's words make some sense, but...

Still, apart from that bastard, nobody else has the info or the reason to chuck a Molotov cocktail straight into the room I'm in.

Of course...

"Oppa!!"

Right now, getting the hell out of here is a higher priority than figuring out who did this.

"Kim Minseo! Follow me!! You keep up on your own too."

Crawling out of the bed, I kicked the bedroom door leading to the living room as hard as I could.

Just in case someone was waiting to ambush me as I panicked and rushed out ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the room in a diversionary tactic.

"Well, guess ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they don't have brains for that much."

Nobody's in sight, but Molotovs must've flown in here pretty good too, because the sofa and TV are burning.

And so are the bags Minseo and I brought.

"No... The bags...!"

"You wait here."

"Oppa!!"

Running toward the burning sofa, I grabbed the warmed-up mace, short spear, and even Minseo's dagger, threw them toward the front entrance, grabbed the unburnt bottom of a bag, and swung it in a wide arc while spinning my body.

Hudududuk-

Picking up two T-shirts and a water bottle from the items spilled everywhere—not just at Minseo and Kwon Juha's feet, but all over—I unscrewed the bottle cap and poured it over the T-shirts.

Because covering your nose and mouth with a wet towel at a fire scene is pretty basic common sense.

Of course, aside from not inhaling toxic fumes, I don't know the exact benefits, but since most protagonists in movies do this, it's bound to be good for you.

Plus, you can buy this crap from the shop or find it elsewhere, so there's no need to linger on it.

"Cover your nose and mouth and follow me."

"What about you?!"

"Why even to me..."

"I can endure it with my trait. And you absolute must not croak until I have my way with you. Ah, fucking hell! I'm busy as hell right now, you gonna make me listen to useless bullshit?! Shut up and follow!"

Tadadat-

Running toward the front entrance where I'd thrown the weapons, I picked up the dropped mace and short spear, smashed the front door handle with the mace, and kicked it hard with my foot.

Bang!!!

There's nobody here for now either.

Instead, it's filled with black smoke—not from flames, but just enough to slightly obstruct vision.

And the fact that this place is full of smoke means that Molotov cocktails didn't just fly into my apartment; the floor below is on fire too.

"Cough...! Cough!! Juha... Juha!!!"

"Oppa!! I'm okay!!"

"Thank goodness..."

"Why the fuck are you crawling up here, you otaku bastard!!"

"Keohack!!"

I kicked Kwon Juhyeok in the stomach as he staggered up the stairs, sending him rolling down to the bottom.

Seeing him come up in that state, it doesn't seem like he's the one who set the fire, but...

"Why did you do that?!!"

"How long are we supposed to wait to drag this scrawny piece of shit down?! This is faster!"

"Still, to treat a person like that...!"

"Argue about it later, Juha-ssi. We need to get the hell out of here right now!"

"..."

Minseo, quick to grasp the situation as always, follows after me running down the stairs, comforting the whining Kwon Juha.

Anyway, if it wasn't this otaku bastard, then who the hell set the fire?!

That bastard Jeong Woobin surely went somewhere else, so he shouldn't have been able to chase me...

"Get up, you fat bastard!!"

"Ugh..!"

"What a retarded asshole..!"

Grab!!

Grasping the short spear in my left hand together with my right hand holding the mace, I grabbed the groaning Kwon Juhyeok by the hair and sprinted unhesitatingly down the stairs.

I don't particularly need to save this guy, but if I try to take care of him, Juha might end up in trouble because of it.

Helping this guy is just a way to prevent that kind of disaster.

"Urgh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

"Look at this bastard's staccato."

With Kwon Juhyeok's broken screams bouncing down the stairs, I made it safely to the first floor. As soon as I rushed out the partially open exit door, I raised the mace and short spear clenched together in my right hand high above my head.

Clang!!!

"Do you remember my name?"

"You little bastard..!"

The guy who brought his sword down as if to split my skull open is Jeong Woobin.

When the hell did this bastard tail me?!

"Argh!! This is for Hyunjun!!!"

"Revenge, my ass."

Whoosh!!!

While blocking the sword brought down by Jeong Woobin, a brand-new asshole swung a baseball bat aimed at my left side.

Seuk-

I raised my left hand to defend my left ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flank.

The left hand that had been gripping Kwon Juhyeok's hair.

Crack!!!

"Keohack!!"

The otaku's scream burst out along with the shattering baseball bat.

As expected, this bastard's head is hard as rock.

The baseball bat broke in a single hit.

So, is it my turn now?

Seuk-

Letting go of the hair I was gripping, Kwon Juhyeok slumped to the ground. I curled my slightly opened left hand back into a fist and swung it toward the right flank of Jeong Woobin, who was bearing down with his sword above my head.

Tadat-

Jeong Woobin quickly retreated backward. I slightly loosened my grip on my right hand to drop only the short spear, spun my body, snatched the falling short spear with my left hand, and swung the mace with my right hand, which I curled into a fist again.

Whoosh!!

Thud!!!

The face of the guy who dared to swing a baseball bat at me caved in by about half as he bounced away. As my body turned back to face the front, I quickly swung the short spear in my left hand from bottom to top.

Clang!!!

Jeong Woobin's sword, thrusting straight at my heart, bounced off. I brought the mace in my right hand down toward his skull, but—

Tadat-

Whoosh!!!

The guy once again nimbly threw his body backward and dodged my attack.

Fuck... Must've scraped together every last coin.

I hate to admit it, but Jeong Woobin right now is faster than me.

Agility 11 minimum.

Damn it, I was planning to raise my Strength or Stamina a bit this time...

'Shop, purchase Agility Level 11.'

[Purchasing Agility Lv.11 (230 coins).]

[Player information is updated.]

I didn't need to let the bastard know my stats, so I purchased the stat silently.

Oh, these coins are the ones I looted from Kwon Juha's comrades.

It's not enough to raise other stats, but I still have a little left over.

And for reference, if the required coins increased by 20 per level up to Level 9, from Level 11 to 19 it increased to 30.

In the case of Level 10, it was 40 coins, but for Level 20, it doubled to 80 coins.

Fuck, the shop stats go up to Level 100, but if the increase doubles every 10 levels like this, at Level 100 the increment alone is 20,480.

Add the steadily rising coin cost to that, and it'll easily exceed 30,000.

Is this supposed to make me level it up or not?

"You bastard, you hurt my comrades again..."

"You're a crazy son of a bitch. Who the fuck came looking for a peaceful guy to attack, and now you're bitching at me?!"

"You get a taste of the exact same thing!!!"

"Target the woman in the back!!"

"Kwon Juha is with them too! Be careful!"

Excluding the guys dealing with the zombies swarming from both alleys, five people rushed toward Minseo and Kwon Juha behind me.

Of course...

"Your opponent is me!!"

Jeong Woobin attacked me to prevent me from going to help.

Because of this, Minseo couldn't get my help nor could she escape back into the smoke-and-flame-engulfed villa.

Oh, you wondering what happened to Kwon Juha's other comrades besides this otaku?

They all ended up like that.

"Seoyoung!!!"

"Eonni...."

The ugly bitch lying on the ground, bleeding profusely.

The others are scattered everywhere too, probably ambushed the moment they frantically scrambled out of the burning villa.

Most of them aren't moving at all, as if they croaked.

"Is this really the time to worry about others?! We're the ones in danger!!"

"I'll take care of that bitch! The rest of you, grab Kwon Juha!!"

The guy who failed to settle things with Minseo the other day and subdued her with Jeong Woobin's help started fighting Minseo one-on-one, while the remaining four swung their weapons at Kwon Juha, pressing in on her.

And man, are they pushovers without weapons? Even though they're manageable opponents, they look like they're struggling just dodging attacks.

Yet, even in the middle of all this, this bastard is seriously...!

"Hey you, otaku bastard!! Are you just going to let your sister die?! "

"Juha...! Arghhhhh!!!"

At my shout, the otaku who had been collapsed on the ground with blood streaming from his nose forced his body up and rushed to help Kwon Juha with a wild scream.

If that guy says he'll die in her place, she should be able to hold out for a bit.

"You shouldn't have the luxury of getting distracted!!!"

"Sorry, but I do. That luxury."

But this bastard is a crazy son of a bitch too.

Seeing him pull such a reckless stunt where all his comrades could die just to kill me, especially when the people blocking both roads look precarious.

And the reason these guys tried to grab that ugly bitch to find out Kwon Juha's hideout was because of the stolen water and food—are they really willing to give all that up and set fire to the villa just because they want to kill me that badly?

Why? Just because I killed one of their group?

I honestly don't get it at all.

Well, no need to actually understand it.

Swish!! Swish!! Whooosh!!! Shick!!!

Jeong Woobin presses me, relentlessly thrusting and swinging his sword without a break.

Using a short spear would make it close, but his attacks with a light sword are actually faster than mine with the heavy mace.

And above all, I can't deal with him half-assedly.

If he happens to feel a sense of crisis and calls over even the guys fighting the zombies, it could turn into a total shitshow with humans and zombies mixed together.

Or he might run away.

To prevent that from happening, I need to kill him in one clean blow.

That's why I'm just pretending to be pushed back and dodging his attacks, waiting for that golden opportunity to kill him in a single strike.

Of course, this much is already plenty though.

Because the bastard's attack style is just that simple.

Tak-

If I step forward just a little bit like this and lean my body, the bastard's gonna swing.

Whooosh!!

As expected, it doesn't stray from expectations.

If I dodge that attack and pull my body back slightly, he'll thrust his sword aiming for either my head or heart.

Like this.

Whooosh!!!

What is he, some kind of AI? Why is he so simple?

Twisting my body sideways to dodge the sword he thrust in, I raised the mace in my right hand up to the height of the sword that pierced the empty air, preparing for the horizontal sweep that would follow.

Clang!!!

"Huuu-am!!! Ow, sorry. Why'd a yawn suddenly pop out?"

"You son of a bitch!!!"

I wasn't trying to provoke him on purpose, but at my real yawn bursting out in that exact moment, Jeong Woobin started wildly swinging his sword in an X-shape with maximum force.

"Stupid bastard."

The fight was already over the moment I figured out Jeong Woobin's attack patterns, but since the bastard fell for the unintentional provocation, things got even easier.

Whooosh!!!

The sword swinging from the upper left to the lower right of my front.

Matching that attack, I swung my right hand holding the mace.

Clang!!!

The sword—which could be swung lightly and quickly, but stood no chance against the mace in a clash of strength—easily bounced off, and the bastard's right arm flew wide open diagonally.

His right ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chest completely exposed.

Tak-

Whooosh!!!

Stepping forward with my left foot toward the bastard, I thrust the short spear in my left hand straight toward his empty chest. Like a guy with Agility equal to mine, he quickly moved his right foot behind his left foot and twisted his right shoulder back as if pulling it to dodge my attack.

Swish!!!

My short spear pierced the empty air, but since I had already anticipated that he would dodge my attack, I immediately retracted the short spear and raised the mace in my right hand high with all my might.

The bastard also tried to counterattack by pulling his bounced-off sword toward his body, but with my mace starting to crash down above his head before he could, he had no choice but to pull his head and body back and retreat.

"Gotcha, you bastard."

"..."

The bastard's eyes grew wide as my figure dropped lower and lower beneath his eye level.

The reason I'm dropping lower than his eye level is simple.

Because what I was aiming for from the very beginning wasn't his head, but his feet.

Whooosh!!

Crack!!!

"Argh!!!"

The mace embedded squarely onto the top of the bastard's foot.

Along with a horrifying sound, the bastard's foot was completely crushed to the point where the asphalt road he was standing on caved in slightly.

What a retarded piece of shit.

Even at the same speed, dodging and defending in accordance with an opponent's attacks is an extremely difficult task.

Even so, the reason I didn't get hit by his attacks even once is because the bastard only targeted vital points concentrated on the upper body, like the head, heart, neck, and chest.

The reason I succeeded in attacking him is because I targeted a body part he never expected.

Of course, guiding his movements this way played a huge part though.

You really gotta use your brain even in a fight.

"Arghhhhh!!!!"

Whether he hasn't given up yet even with his left foot crushed, or if this is his last desperate struggle.

Jeong Woobin brings his sword crashing down toward my head as I'm squatting almost on the ground.

This bastard's aiming for just one hit till the very end.

Tuk-

Grab!!

Catching the handle of the mace dropping to the ground and the tip of the short spear already hooked behind the back of his knee with my right hand, I pulled hard with both hands.

Hwaak!!

Along with his legs shooting up into the air, the bastard's body flipped backward and floated into the air, and naturally, the sword tip falling toward me vanished as well.

Tuuk!!

"Tsk..!!"

A small groan popped out from the mouth of Jeong Woobin, who sprawled out flat onto the road.

And at the same time, the short spear plunged right into his right arm holding the sword.

Puk!!!

"Arghhhh!!!!"

"No!!!"

"Woobin-hyung!!"

"Woobin-ah!!!"

"Everyone, save Woobin first!!"

Jeong Woobin's comrades, only now grasping the situation, hastily turned their bodies and rushed toward me to save this guy, but—

"You're too late, you retards."

Grab-

Seuk-

Picking up the mace I'd laid down for a moment, I grinned broadly down at Jeong Woobin, who was no longer screaming and was instead looking up at me with eyes full of terror.