I'll Show You the Difference in Ranks
“Don’t go down too easily. I have no intention of letting you off with just this.”
Lee Hyunseung spoke in a low voice to Moon Cheol-woong, who lay collapsed on the ground. Moon Cheol-woong still hadn’t fully registered the situation he was in.
Me… I’m the one on the ground? His opponent was a gunner—the very gunner he had looked down on and despised. He himself was a swordsman. Even accounting for a gap in rank, the inherent value of their professions was on completely different levels. The possibility of his defeat was something he had never even imagined.
Yet the searing pain radiating from the top of his foot kept hammering home that this was reality.
“What the hell… did you do to me?”
Moon Cheol-woong had witnessed the moment with his own eyes. Lee Hyunseung had pulled the trigger, and he had been hit. But comprehending the sequence was nearly impossible. The speed of the shot, the velocity of the bullet—it was absurdly fast. And it wasn’t merely fast.
What kind of insane power is this? Fuck…
Moon Cheol-woong had wrapped his body in mana for protection. Normally, even at a low level, mana-reinforced flesh formed an incredibly strong defensive barrier. Firearms that relied on explosive gunpowder should not have been able to inflict serious damage. Mana defenses were typically only breached by skills or spells that also utilized mana.
Yet Lee Hyunseung had used no mana at all. He had simply pulled the trigger, and Moon Cheol-woong’s mana barrier had been pierced straight through.
Staring at the swordsman’s face—twisted with equal parts disbelief and terror—Lee Hyunseung let out a laugh that sounded almost pitying.
“Is it that strange? That a guy who only fiddles with guns could inflict meaningful damage on a swordsman like you, and even punch straight through your foot? So now the situation doesn’t make sense?”
Lee Hyunseung shook his head slowly, then pulled the trigger again.
“Don’t bother trying to understand. I never tried to understand all the shitty things you’ve done either.”
Click.
The trigger snapped back, and the bullet roared out.
Bang—!
The shot streaked forward and slammed into Moon Cheol-woong’s thigh this time.
“Ughhhhhhhk…!”
The Confusion Cartridge effect did not activate.
Lee Hyunseung didn’t even glance at the groaning swordsman. He simply read the message and muttered to himself.
“I definitely remember the Confusion Cartridge effect being around two percent…”
When a bullet struck an enemy, there was roughly a two-percent chance of inflicting the confusion status. In other words, out of a hundred shots, the opponent would be confused about two times. Because game probabilities operated on independent trials, firing a hundred rounds didn’t guarantee exactly two activations. It might trigger once in ten shots, or fail to trigger even after three hundred. Still, the more bullets you fired, the higher the cumulative odds became.
“Well, it doesn’t matter how many shots it takes. I’ll just keep beating you until the probability fires.”
“W-what are you even…?” Moon Cheol-woong gasped, clutching his leg. Given his massive frame, it seemed he hadn’t neglected training; even through extreme pain he maintained a degree of composure.
Lee Hyunseung found that attitude extremely displeasing.
Bang—!
Bang—!
Baaaaang—!
The next bullets tore through the back of his hand, his forearm, and his fingers.
“Kyaaaaack—! Fuck—! Stop it, you crazy bastard—!”
Even as he writhed in agony from the gunshots, Moon Cheol-woong’s curses never ceased. The belief that Lee Hyunseung was merely a gunner—and therefore inferior—had been burned too deeply into his mind. Foolishly, he didn’t realize his screams were only provoking the very person causing his suffering.
Crack—!
Bang—!
Lee Hyunseung deliberately avoided vital points, firing instead at areas that would inflict maximum pain without killing his target. After dozens of consecutive shots, blood streamed from Moon Cheol-woong’s entire body. He no longer screamed.
More accurately, he could no longer scream.
His whole frame shook violently, as if in shock from the overwhelming pain. The extreme stress caused his eyes to lose focus, pupils drifting apart like a cross-eyed doll.
“P-please… s-s-spare… m-me…”
Moon Cheol-woong begged for his life in a slurred, broken voice, unable to form proper words. On an instinctive level, he finally understood. Lee Hyunseung wasn’t playing around. This man truly intended to kill him.
He probably hadn’t expected such extreme violence. After all, any student enrolled at the academy would normally fear suspension or punishment and restrain themselves. Yet Lee Hyunseung acted without the slightest hesitation, like a wild stallion, turning a person into minced meat without a trace of fear. Even when Moon Cheol-woong was clearly at risk of bleeding out and dying, the trigger kept being pulled.
Body trembling uncontrollably as he begged for mercy, Moon Cheol-woong received only a muttered response.
“Fuck independent trials or whatever—I’ve fired nearly a hundred rounds and it still hasn’t triggered once.”
The reason Lee Hyunseung wanted the confusion effect so badly was simple. When it activated, it brought not only extreme pain but also a blackout phenomenon. A blackout meant the victim couldn’t clearly remember what had happened to them. Like getting blackout drunk, cursing out a friend, then waking up with only a hangover and no memory of the insults.
He needed that blackout to erase evidence. Dozens of bullets had already been pumped into Moon Cheol-woong. The swordsman was on death’s doorstep. If he went around telling people what had happened, suspension would be the least of Lee Hyunseung’s worries. National-level sanctions would be inevitable.
But there was no problem. He had already used the signal-jamming artifact Jeong Eunseo gave him to disable the CCTV. The only remaining evidence was Moon Cheol-woong’s memories and the countless bullet wounds on his body. Both could be dealt with.
Bang—!
Lee Hyunseung’s expression had gone completely flat as he continued firing.
At that moment—
Ding—!
The Confusion Cartridge effect has activated!
The target hit by the bullet is inflicted with the Confusion status!
Status Abnormality: Confusion has been applied!
Confusion: The target will feel extreme pain for a set duration. Additionally, upon the pain’s conclusion, a portion of memories regarding events before and after will be erased.
Nice. Finally—! Lee Hyunseung thought.
At that exact moment, Moon Cheol-woong’s horrific scream tore through the air.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack—! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…!”
His agony did not last long. He lost consciousness after wetting himself in terror.
Step. Step. Step.
Lee Hyunseung walked over to the completely knocked-out swordsman and whispered into his ear.
“Your memories will be wiped soon anyway, but I’ll say it clearly so listen well. Don’t act up again. Next time I won’t go easy like today. I might just kill you without anyone ever knowing. Understand?”
Moon Cheol-woong gave no reply. He couldn’t. He was unconscious.
Lee Hyunseung raised his arm and brought it down on the swordsman’s head.
Crack—!
Phew… Yeah, that should be enough.
Lee Hyunseung exhaled slowly, then pulled a potion from his pocket.
A high-grade recovery potion. When applied or consumed, it restores physical damage.
Effect:Restores damaged tissue. Can even regenerate lightly severed body parts.
He slowly poured the potion over Moon Cheol-woong.
Even if his memories are gone, if his body looks like that, an investigation is inevitable.
Moon Cheol-woong’s current state was little more than a lump of mangled flesh. His entire body had been shredded by bullets; his arms and legs were barely attached. He had looked like a mummy on the verge of death.
Sizzle.
As the potion touched his skin, Moon Cheol-woong’s body began to recover at a visible rate.
His body is back to normal and his memories are gone. There won’t be any future trouble.
Even though the memories had been erased, the terror would remain engraved in his body. Fear operated on instinct rather than recollection. Because of the information his body—not his brain—now remembered, Moon Cheol-woong would fear Lee Hyunseung from this day forward.
Lee Hyunseung gathered his belongings, dragged the unconscious swordsman to a suitably secluded spot, and left the area without looking back.
The next morning in F-class, Instructor Son Sae-beom addressed the students.
“Moon Cheol-woong is absent today. He said he’s feeling unwell and will rest for a day, so keep that in mind.”
She sorted through some documents, then continued.
“Also, today is the application period for the Class Annihilation Match representative. Does anyone want to be F-class’s representative?”
At her words, the students exchanged glances but no one raised their hand with confidence.
At that moment—
Swish.
Lee Hyunseung lifted his hand.
Murmurs rippled through the room.
What?… Isn’t he a gunner?
Why would someone who uses a gun try to be the representative…?
Even if this is F-class, a gunner as rep is pushing it…
The same disdain and contempt that always followed the word “gunner.” But it didn’t matter. They would all shut their mouths soon enough.
Instructor Son Sae-beom nodded.
“Only one applicant. In that case, we’ll skip the usual vote. Everyone will enter the arena together and fight. The last student standing will be chosen as representative. Any objections?”
When ten or more students applied, the representative was chosen by vote. When fewer than ten applied, the F-class representative was decided through a free-for-all battle. The final survivor earned the position.
Lee Hyunseung smiled inwardly.
From now on, there’s no need to hide my strength. Get ready. I’ll show you exactly what the difference in ranks looks like.