Chapter 4
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Bandit Hunt
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The cool touch of the artifact gripped in his hand felt reassuring, but reality was far from kind.
Jinwoo clutched his empty stomach and coldly assessed his situation.
'The weapon is top-tier, but everything else is at rock bottom.'
His funds were depleted, and all the information he had was locked away in his head.
How was he going to survive in this vast Eldorado?
He needed to secure food, shelter, and supplies right away.
After rummaging through the enemies' corpses for water and rations, Jinwoo racked his brains in the shade.
'Next stop—there!'
The mental map pointed to the nearest settlement.
A pioneer village standing alone in the lawless wasteland: Blackstone!
It was the main hub for early quests.
The Blackstone Village he reached after several days of trekking was caked in dust and exhaustion.
A rickety saloon and a sheriff's office.
A handful of shops—that was the whole tiny village.
But to Jinwoo right now, it was no different from an oasis in the desert.
He headed straight for the bulletin board at the village entrance. Bounty posters.
There was no surer way to scrape together starting funds.
And right on cue, a system window popped up before his eyes.
Infamous bandit gang holed up in the canyon near Blackstone. Threatening village supply lines and preying on travelers.
Boss 'Iron Jaw' Borgo: 5,000 gold + additional reward per gang member killed
"Not bad at all."
Jinwoo nodded, right on track with what he'd expected.
It came with a few hurdles, but for the money...
It was the perfect difficulty for him right now.
Shk! Shk!
His vision turned red. Jinwoo moved without hesitation.
Two silent streaks of blue light sliced through the darkness toward the crosshairs.
Two bandits crumpled without even a scream.
Jinwoo lowered his smoking barrel—no, not even a wisp of smoke rose—and scanned the narrow, damp cave interior.
'Being real makes it bigger than in the game, huh.'
Two full days since infiltrating the Red Death Squad's lair.
He'd been picking off the outer guards bit by bit with guerrilla tactics.
But the deeper he went, the more their numbers exploded geometrically.
The endless cave twisted like an ant colony.
Blackstone Bounty: 'Red Death Squad' Extermination.
Progress: 68%
'Still over 30% left.'
If it weren't for the Infinite Ammo Pistol, he'd have bailed long ago.
Jinwoo caught his breath as he pocketed the coin pouch from the fallen bandit's belt.
That's when it happened.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A rumbling shook the earth from deep in the cave.
Heavy footsteps.
Moments later, a massive shadow emerged from the darkness.
A hulking brute over two meters tall.
Clamped to his jaw was a tin guard—the source of his moniker.
"You! The rat scurrying around in my turf!"
The bandit boss had arrived.
Iron Jaw Borgo.
In his hands was a hand cannon loaded with a shell the size of a man's head.
Kaboom!
Jinwoo dove behind a boulder on instinct.
The shell exploded without warning, pulverizing where he'd stood.
"Kahaha! Hiding won't save you!"
As if that wasn't bad enough, dozens of bandits poured out from every corner of the cave at Borgo's roar, howling as they swarmed.
Jinwoo was perfectly surrounded in an instant.
'So the main base is further in.'
Shk! Shk! Shk!
Even as bullets rained down, the bandits' momentum didn't falter.
The encirclement only tightened.
"Red Eye... tch, still on cooldown."
He was getting the hang of using it,
but the cooldown was still a drag.
At this rate, infinite ammo or not, the hail of bullets from all sides would turn him into Swiss cheese.
'Even with a cheat weapon, this body's still squishy.'
Fantasy genre, sure—but at its core, it was a Western.
Get shot, and you die.
A do-or-die moment.
As Jinwoo desperately searched for a breakthrough, a lightning bolt of memory flashed through his mind.
'Back in Rising West, this quest was infamous as the 'grinder' for noobs.'
Early players' limited ammo and gear were powerless against their human wave tactics.
Even Red Eye had limits for breaking through.
A brutal setup you couldn't clear head-on!
But every game had exploits.
'Right—this cave floor!'
His eyes snapped wide as the memory clicked. He glanced back and forth between the ground under his feet and a specific spot on the cave ceiling.
A cold smile crept across his lips.
He saw the path to reversal.
"Yeah, this terrain. Now I remember."
Killing intent gleamed in Jinwoo's eyes.
The perfect plan to drown the Red Death Squad without leaving a single one behind.
"Ha! So you're alone after all! Your little rampage ends here!"
Iron Jaw Borgo slung his hand cannon over his shoulder and bellowed triumphantly.
As the dozens of bandits closed in, Jinwoo feigned terror and screamed, bolting deeper into the cave.
"Aaaah! I don't wanna die! Spare me!"
"Puhaha! Pathetic little rat! Boys, chase him down and drag him back alive! I'll chew off his limbs myself!"
At Borgo's command, the bandits howled and gave chase.
Jinwoo ran for his life without looking back.
Until he hit a dead end.
"Huff... huff..."
The end of the cave, no way out.
Jinwoo leaned against the wall, gasping for air.
Behind him, bandits appeared with torches lit.
Finally, Borgo's massive silhouette stepped out of the shadows.
"It's over, you cowardly rat!"
Borgo aimed his hand cannon at Jinwoo and sneered.
"Wanna cry some more? Cat got your tongue from fear?"
"No."
Jinwoo steadied his breath and flashed a grin at the taunting Borgo.
"The ones screaming will be you."
"What?"
The instant Borgo's face twisted in rage, Jinwoo raised his pistol and pulled the trigger.
Shk! Shk! Shk!
Blue flashes hammered a specific spot on the cave floor in rapid succession.
Not just a warning shot. Jinwoo had targeted the cave's weakest rock stratum—the key to the whole strategy.
Rumble...!
Dust and pebbles rained from the ceiling.
"Wh-what?! The cave's collapsing!"
"You idiot! Digging your own grave! I'll send you to hell first!"
Borgo, not grasping the situation, squeezed the hand cannon's trigger at Jinwoo.
That was the moment Jinwoo had been waiting for.
Kaaaa-BOOM!
The shell's massive shockwave from slamming into the cave wall became the detonator.
The already weakened stratum screamed as it gave way.
Crack-crack-CRACK!
The entire cave floor where everyone but Jinwoo stood spiderwebbed with fissures.
"Aaaagh! The floor—the floor's caving!"
"Help!"
With screams, the floor dropped away like a giant pit trap.
Dozens of bandits were helplessly sucked into the darkness below.
Jinwoo impassively gazed down at the hellscape he'd created from his safe perch on solid rock.
"Kieeeek!"
Soon, horrific shrieks echoed from the pit.
"Aaaah! Stoneworms!"
"Nooo! I don't wanna get eaten!"
The massive centipede-like monsters nesting beneath the cave floor stirred to life.
The stoneworm swarm went wild at the sudden influx of prey.
The carnivorous horde tore into the screaming bandits, ripping them apart.
"Urk... wh-what the..."
Borgo, barely clinging to the cliff, muttered in disbelief at the carnage.
His men were already stoneworm chow.
His terrified gaze turned to Jinwoo above.
Jinwoo aimed his pistol right back.
"You planned this from the start...!"
"Boss, Iron Jaw Borgo. Bounty: 5,000 gold."
Jinwoo stated it matter-of-factly.
"Farewell. I'll give you a quick end, just this once."
"No! Spares...!"
Shk.
Borgo's plea cut off under a single blue flash.
A neat hole pierced his forehead.
The giant's body plummeted limply into the stoneworm den below.
Blackstone Bounty: 'Red Death Squad' Extermination completed.
Total Reward: 9,000 gold
A dazzling golden message lit up his vision.
Jinwoo nodded in satisfaction and left the bloodbath cave behind.
Blinding sunlight greeted him outside.
His pockets, stuffed with loot from wiping out the Red Death Squad, felt nicely heavy.
First goal: perfectly cleared.
'Pretty good with combat now. Next...'
He patted the Infinite Ammo Pistol at his hip.
Time to move beyond mere survival and aim bigger.
'Gotta prep for the main scenario. Start by tracking down that guy...'
Kellogg's face—the comrade he'd parted with at the Nomade Salt Mine—flashed in his mind.
"We said we'd turn this shithole world upside down."
A smile spread across his lips at the grand ambition.
It'd be a dangerous, daunting road, but more than worth challenging now.
Jinwoo stepped toward the distant horizon once more.