Yoo Heeyeon - The Unjust False Accusation
Thud.
Lee Hyunseung crushed Shin Junho's tentacles and spoke, his voice calm and cold. "You just missed your last chance."
"Don't get cocky, you worthless piece of trash...!" Shin Junho tried to regenerate again, but it was still impossible.
The gun is infused with some strange power. How the hell does he wield that kind of strength?
The Unique-grade weapon Lee Hyunseung was using wasn't merely powerful inside the stage. It was a highly threatening piece of equipment even in the outside world. On top of that, it contained divine power—the complete opposite of demonic energy—which left Shin Junho at an overwhelming disadvantage.
This can't be... Stop fucking with me....
Shin Junho denied reality. Until just moments ago, Lee Hyunseung hadn't been able to do anything against him, right?
When Lee Hyunseung had used his basic weapon, he possessed no mana. That meant he could only cast extremely limited spells while chewing mana stones and suffering their penalties. But now, thanks to the +15 mana boost from Arne's Automatic Pistol, he could use magic freely without needing those stones. The weapon also raised all his stats while he held it and infused every shot with the Goddess's divine power. No wonder he seemed impossibly strong.
Items were undeniably crucial in battle. Looking at it another way, it also proved just how exceptional both Han Seonggil—who had endured so long with basic weapons—and Lee Hyunseung truly were.
Tatadat!
Lee Hyunseung broke into a run. He could have simply shot Shin Junho from a distance and ended it. But he didn't want that.
As painfully as possible.... He wanted to make him suffer as much as he could.
Shin Junho had genuinely tried to kill both Lee Hyunseung and his companions. Someone like that needed to be shown exactly what it meant to cross him.
Swoosh!
In an instant, Lee Hyunseung closed the distance and brought his gun down like a club, smashing Shin Junho's toes to pulp.
Shin Junho staggered, then began to scream.
"Gr... grrrrrrrr... grrrrrraaaaaaaaagh—!"
The pain seemed to arrive in waves, intensifying with every tenth of a second. Even with much of the damage reduced by demonic energy, the agony still tore through him.
"It hurts... it hurts... I'm telling you it hurts! It feels like my foot's on fire—like someone's stabbing me with a knife over and over!"
The fact that even simple attacks caused such pain came from the correction effects attached to every Gunner skill. For Lee Hyunseung, whose abilities were Legendary-grade, nearly every skill carried an additional damage bonus. Because those bonuses stacked, he could pile on absurd amounts of pain.
Lee Hyunseung knew this perfectly well.
Shin Junho swung a desperate hand at the one who had crushed his foot.
Whoosh—!
Kwaaaaang—!
But it was futile. Between the Unique-grade weapon and the Gunner's Agile Steps skill, Lee Hyunseung was simply too fast.
Swish.
This time Lee Hyunseung crouched low and slammed the gun into Shin Junho's shin.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!
Thududuk—!
Flesh scattered as the shin bone shattered completely.
Sssssk—
Kuuuuuuung—!
With no strength left in one leg, Shin Junho dropped to his knees. Lee Hyunseung took aim at his thigh and fired.
Bang—!
Pow—!
The bullet tore straight through. Blood sprayed in every direction.
Shin Junho had stopped screaming. His face had gone deathly pale, his eyes losing all focus. If you had to visualize the expression "his mind going blank," it would look exactly like this.
Gulp.
Jeong Eunseo, watching from a distance, felt goosebumps ripple across her entire body.
I knew he was strong, but... this strong?
Just by switching weapons, he displayed this level of power. It was unbelievable. For a normal person, moving from a basic weapon to Unique-grade would usually double their strength at most. But Lee Hyunseung didn't seem two or three times stronger—he felt exponentially more powerful.
Just what is his ability...?
Even though she tried not to wonder, she couldn't help it. Weapon Master? No... if that were the case, he would've used other weapons too.
A Gunner who swung his pistol like a hammer, crafted weapons, and dominated even in close quarters. She didn't know exactly what his Legendary-grade Gunner class could do. But one thing was certain.
Unique.... He was the one and only Gunner in the entire country—no, in the entire world—with no equal.
Kwaaaang—!
Kwaaaaaang—!
Crack—!
Lee Hyunseung's brutal assault continued. It went on so long that anyone watching would instinctively want to tell him to stop. Occasionally the sharp crack of gunfire rang out, but Shin Junho's screams had ended long ago.
Swish.
Jeong Eunseo slowly approached Lee Hyunseung. He was muttering like a man possessed.
"Die... die... just die....."
Crunch—!
Squelch—!
He pounded Shin Junho relentlessly, as if trying to turn him into ground meat. Jeong Eunseo wrapped her arms around him from behind and spoke softly.
"That's enough... you can stop now. It's over."
Only then did Lee Hyunseung snap out of it and look down at what remained of Shin Junho.
"Huff... huff... huff....."
Every limb from legs to arms had been crushed. Blood and flesh were scattered everywhere. The occasional twitching of muscle fibers suggested he was still alive. Or rather, could this even be called living? It was hard to say.
Whether it was rigor mortis or simply terror, his body kept trembling. But one thing was clear.
Whiiiing—
His demonic form had reverted to human, yet there wasn't a single uninjured spot left on his body. Even if he survived, he would never move or speak normally again.
Thud.
Lee Hyunseung collapsed where he stood. Then he raised his gun and aimed it at Shin Junho.
Last Bullet
He would kill him for certain. He would end him completely. He lifted the gun with that thought, but—
Grab.
Jeong Eunseo stopped him.
"Shin Junho deserves to die, but if you kill him now, we won't learn the truth behind this. We need to know whether he was acting on someone's orders or did this alone. At the very least, we must find out who put him up to it."
It was a logical point. Based on the fact that Shin Junho had used the Demonic Orb (Mahwan)—an item distributed exclusively by Hilleon—Lee Hyunseung had already guessed he was following their orders. But that was only speculation on his part. Nothing was more reliable than hearing it directly from the man himself.
Lee Hyunseung lowered his gun and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Jeong Eunseo gave him a bright smile. "I'm perfectly fine. Thank you so much for saving me."
Lee Hyunseung walked over with heavy steps and stopped in front of Han Seonggil. In a low voice, he asked, "You awake?"
"Of course... I am...."
Han Seonggil's body still trembled from the aftereffects of overusing his Berserker trait. He looked like moving was difficult, but he didn't seem to have suffered any critical injuries.
"Did you... go easy on me?" Han Seonggil asked.
"On what?"
When Lee Hyunseung looked genuinely confused, Han Seonggil glanced at the wreckage that was Shin Junho and continued. "Back in F-class. The first time I came looking for you, picked a fight, and we battled. Did you hold back?"
That day when Han Seonggil had suddenly shown up spoiling for a fight. Even after using his Berserker trait, he had been utterly defeated. He hadn't received any life-threatening wounds, but now that he had seen Lee Hyunseung overwhelm Shin Junho so completely, a question remained: if he had truly wanted to, could he have killed Han Seonggil back then?
Lee Hyunseung answered firmly. "I didn't hold back. I fought with everything I had. The difference now is that I have the weapon advantage."
Han Seonggil stared at him suspiciously, but Lee Hyunseung's serious expression eventually made him nod. "If that's true, then that's a relief... And next time, don't casually steal my opponent. It pisses me off."
"Yeah. Sorry."
With those words, Han Seonggil finally closed his eyes, as if he could rest easy now.
"What a monster. How were you keeping your sanity through all that?"
Lee Hyunseung muttered to himself, then surveyed the area. The concentration of demonic energy in the air was fading, and mana was rushing in to fill the void.
Whooooosh—!
Before long, a gate leading outside had formed.
"L-look! A gate appeared...!"
It carried Yoo Hanbeom's mana signature. He must have confirmed the internal connection and created a rescue gate linking the stage to the outside.
"Let's go."
Lee Hyunseung hoisted Han Seonggil onto his back and stepped through the gate without hesitation. Jeong Eunseo followed right after, and the others who had been hiding emerged one by one to enter the gate as well.
Step. Step. Step.
Yoo Heeyeon, who had been watching from afar, also headed toward the gate.
It was an indescribable feeling. Just what was this strange, murky emotion?
She didn't understand why Lee Hyunseung had saved her. She didn't understand why she had helped him, either. He was nothing but an obstacle—a wall standing in her way. A talentless nobody who had stolen the top spot on the written exam. To Yoo Heeyeon, that was all Lee Hyunseung had ever been.
She closed her eyes. She recalled the moment he had risked his life to block Shin Junho's attack and protect her. She pictured him coughing up blood, face twisted in pain.
I must have lost my mind.
Had she felt pity for him? That couldn't be. Their social standings were worlds apart. He was an orphan with no guild to inherit. In the rigid class system, he stood at the very bottom of the pyramid. She, the daughter of the Artemis Guild leader, existed at its absolute peak.
What useless thoughts.
Lee Hyunseung was just a stalker. Nothing more. Repeating that to herself, Yoo Heeyeon stepped through the gate.
Whoooosh—
Flash—!
A brilliant light engulfed her, and then she was back in reality.
The moment Yoo Heeyeon emerged from the gate, a massive crowd surged forward. At its center stood Yoo Hanbeom and Kim Heera.
"F-Father... Mother...."
Only now, feeling the relief of having returned safely, did she try to run to them.
But Yoo Hanbeom's expression was ice-cold.
Why? She couldn't understand it. His daughter had nearly died and come back alive—yet his reaction made no sense, no matter how cold he usually was.
"Yoo Heeyeon."
He simply spoke her name.
She stared at him blankly. His voice dropped even colder.
"I warned you. I told you not to use external power during this exam."
"What...? What are you saying...?"
Yoo Heeyeon looked up at him, utterly confused. But he simply gazed down at her and continued.
"As I said before, effective today, I am stripping you of your position as successor to the Artemis Guild."
"Ah...."
Her father's frigid reaction. The way everyone around her looked at her like she was trash. In that instant, Yoo Heeyeon understood everything.
She had been framed with a false accusation.
"I... I didn't do anything like that...."
Even as she tried to defend herself, everyone around her simply stared down with cold, unforgiving eyes.