Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: If You Call Me Noona
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The ambush had failed.
But that single failure didn't lead to a crisis.
"What the hell...?"
Slice.
I severed the neck of the man right next to Chairman Park.
With one axe swing, I cleanly cut through his cervical vertebrae, the surrounding muscles, and ligaments.
So it wasn't my axe or my attack that was at fault.
The ambush failed because of Chairman Park's skill.
"Fuck."
"Chairman!"
The Revival Society thugs snapped out of it and began counterattacking.
Some rushed to Chairman Park, while the rest charged at me.
'Butcher knives, skills, butcher knives, skills.'
Was there a special reason for it?
Every weapon they wielded was a long, slender butcher knife.
I quickly scanned with my eyes and set my priorities.
Whoosh.
I lowered my stance and leaped toward them.
They were mostly low level 10s.
Only Chairman Park stood out with a much higher level.
Which meant I was far faster.
Thud―
"Guhhh!"
I dodged a straight thrust from one blade and targeted the guy trying to ready a skill first.
Then I shot one leg forward and spun my body.
One blade tore through my collar as it passed.
Bam.
I smashed one guy with my elbow.
He flew off with his neck twisted.
"Grab him! Tie him down!"
"S-skills aren't working!"
"What?"
Something felt off.
But it vanished quickly.
'Magic Resistance.'
My level 30 general skill.
That's part of why I planned this ambush.
If the level gap is big enough, it can nullify the opponent's magic-based skills entirely.
Now, in real combat, I could really feel why Jang Ho-seop called this skill 'broken'.
Roar.
But it couldn't block something like that.
Red smoke rose from one man's head.
What the hell was a Fundamental Skill anyway?
"Keep..."
Anyway, I charged at the man reaching out toward me.
Just in case.
"Block him! Block him with your bodies if you have to!"
"H-how...?"
So I was still the wolf charging into the flock of sheep.
They should be the ones afraid, not me.
"Gaaahhh!"
Arms severed, ribs shattered.
Chests caved in as they collapsed.
While I was swiftly cutting down the Revival Society thugs like that...
"Rush him all at once!"
Chairman Park had recovered.
His fat body came charging in earnestly.
'Tackle?'
With both hands outstretched toward me, it looked like he was trying to grab hold somehow.
No thought of defense.
'Skin hardening?'
I guessed at his skill.
Judging by the aura's magnitude, Chairman Park was over level 15.
My axe hadn't cut him, and he got right back up from major impacts.
So his Fundamental Skill and general skill were probably the type that hardened his skin and gave resistance to impacts.
Grab.
"Huh?"
I seized a nearby man's collar and hurled him at Chairman Park.
How do you fight someone with high defense?
This was a new skill for me.
"Get out of the way!"
I decided to knock him down first.
Keep hammering, and he'd break eventually.
Bam.
"Kuhak!"
But Chairman Park body-slammed the man I'd thrown, catching him.
No mercy even for his own guy.
The man spat blood and came flying back at me.
"Die!"
I'd planned to sidestep Chairman Park's tackle.
But the returning man threw off my timing a bit.
Chairman Park's hand grabbed my collar.
"Now!"
Emboldened by his shout and actions, the Revival Society mob surged at me all at once.
Chairman Park trying to unbalance me.
'But he's stronger than me too?'
I had no idea why Chairman Park was grinning.
I gripped his wrist and wrenched it outward.
"Grrrrr!"
Chairman Park toppled.
I kicked his ankle.
Bam.
"Hup."
A numb pain shot up from my instep.
So he could reinforce his whole body's skin.
Anyway, taking down this giant was a success.
Crash.
The moment he fell, I rolled once myself.
Several blades grazed past; one sliced a long gash down my back.
I recovered my stance and swung my axe wide.
Crack.
One swing felled two men.
Swish.
I dodged a blade coming at my gut and headbutted the guy's face.
Bam.
Then I stomped the instep of the man hugging me from behind with my heel.
"Aaaargh!"
While I was cleaning up the Revival Society thugs like that...
I felt Chairman Park's aura receding into the distance.
"Ha..."
I turned and saw Chairman Park fleeing hard.
Along with the red-flame-headed man.
I took some wounds, but I killed the entire Revival Society group that had been heading back to the market.
Leveled up too.
I immediately gave chase to Chairman Park.
"Block him! Block that bastard!"
The problem was that the market guys had all come swarming out.
The red flame on that guy's head must've been a distress signal.
'Thought it was a shitty skill...'
The Fundamental Skill awakeners were forming a human wall.
Thanks to the red-flame head and their torches, the distance they blocked looked like it was burning red.
Like the gates of hell.
'Even skipped the trap?'
Lee Jang-su had made traps by nailing boards.
If I'd spotted it, I could've just jumped over—the size allowed it.
He'd laid them on the path to the market, but some nails were bent.
'Chairman Park stepped on it, but...'
The bloody nail looked like the red-flame head's doing.
The bent one was from Chairman Park.
His skill probably wasn't consciously activated but constantly maintained or auto-triggered.
"Hey? That guy..."
I kept walking, pondering Chairman Park's skill inwardly.
Toward the direction where the arrogant-faced men from the market earlier held their weapons.
The guy who'd taken a bribe from Jang Ho-seop during the day pointed at my face.
"You bastard. You were here earlier!"
I didn't get it.
Why did these guys all use informal speech from the start?
Guys who'd only killed a few goblins acting like they owned the world.
"Kill him! Whoever kills that bastard gets promoted to expedition team straight away."
Chairman Park yelled from behind his men.
"Wooooah!"
"Kill him!"
"Fuck, first come first served."
The expedition team seemed to be the group expanding territory.
Apparently a big reward.
The market faction charged at me with boosted morale.
I was just one guy.
"Hoo."
I took a light deep breath and charged back at them.
The Revival Society elites were already all dead anyway.
Among those left in the market, few exceeded level 10.
I didn't think I'd lose.
Dodge and strike.
That was it.
The gap between the market faction and me was wider than between a child and an adult.
So I won.
"Hah... hah..."
Tougher than expected.
My whole body was soaked in blood.
I picked up the axe I'd dropped earlier.
'Skills really are full of variables.'
Turning the ground to mud.
Suddenly a barrier appearing in empty air.
There were a few skills not targeted at me directly.
Those ignored Magic Resistance and grabbed my ankles.
So among the blood running down my body, some was mine.
No fatal wounds, though.
At least the level up improved my condition a bit.
As I caught my breath and rested briefly, Jang Ho-seop approached.
"Bro. You okay?"
"Fine. You?"
"I'm good too."
Jang Ho-seop had joined the fight midway.
Not per our plan, but he'd signaled secretly, and I'd nodded.
To shorten the time.
The dangerous skill users were already dead, and he'd played it safe, hit-and-run style.
"That thing."
"I'll go with you..."
The market entrance came into view.
Unlike daytime, it was deserted.
"Nah. I'll go alone. Bring the others."
I took the torch from Jang Ho-seop and entered the market.
It was quiet.
Despite the huge fight nearby, ordinary folk were all inside buildings.
I headed for the most heavily guarded structure.
Bam.
I followed the massive aura.
Chairman Park was inside.
"Fuck!"
Chairman Park ambushed from behind the door.
No, I knew, so not an ambush.
Crash.
I grabbed his wrist and slammed him to the floor.
"Who the hell are you!"
Then I twisted the gripped wrist once around.
Snap crack.
"Gaaahhh!"
I couldn't help laughing.
"What? Bones don't harden too?"
I'd kept thinking about Chairman Park's skill.
How would it fare against non-impact attacks?
Did his flesh and bones harden like his skin?
His wrist and elbow had spun fully around, so no.
"S-stop."
As I grabbed his other hand, Chairman Park begged.
"W-what do you want? We can talk..."
"You. I want you."
I twisted it too.
While hearing his scream, I twisted one ankle as well.
"Knew you'd run. Shouldn't have been so greedy."
The messy room.
In the center, two large bags.
"Mana stones... you've hoarded a ton. Spirit stones too? Gold? Like gold, huh?"
These two bags were his greed.
The magic binding his ankle.
"Bro."
Right on cue, Jang Ho-seop arrived with the group.
"Take this."
"Got it. Seems like there's a separate warehouse too. What do?"
"As much as we can carry. You judge."
I left the looting to the group.
Spoils were important, but something more so.
Grabbing Chairman Park's intact ankle, I dragged him to the center of the market street.
"Guh... why are you doing this? Who the hell are you?"
Chairman Park asked through the pain.
Voice full of confusion.
No wonder—from his view, it was like lightning from a clear sky.
"You'll see. And drop the informal speech."
"What? I'm at least twice your..."
I twisted the intact ankle.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
Chairman Park screamed again.
People peeked out windows at the noise.
"Stylist! Stylist lady!"
I called for my stylist.
Raised my voice.
"I'm here! Come out!"
Candle-like flickers gradually increased.
People emerged from alleys in the market lanes.
"Yoon Bom! Come out!"
When I yelled for the third time...
"Yi Hyun."
She finally appeared.
My stylist.
She approached me.
Wearing a hood like a sackcloth.
"Why are you doing this to me? Look over there."
Sweat streaked my stylist's face.
Her nails were bruised, bloodstained on the knees of her pants.
"Who the hell is that woman..."
"You messed up my stuff first."
"No, I don't even know who she is."
People murmured.
Was that really Chairman Park, so helpless?
Amid it, my stylist reached me.
"Yi Hyun. Sis... waited for you. Did good, right?"
"Yeah. You did great."
I let go of Chairman Park to hug my stylist.
But she blocked me with her hand.
"Sis stinks... sorry."
I laughed.
Her words told me everything.
My stylist wasn't broken.
I'd gotten my stuff back safe.
"Stylist. Come with me."
My stylist gazed at me steadily.
"Sis. If you call me sis. How many years has it been?"
I met her eyes straight on and answered.
"Yeah. Noona. Come with me."
"Didn't say to go informal..."
I pulled her into a hug.
A foul stench rose.
I loved it.
My stylist—no, Bom noona had always been like that.
'Call me noona instead of stylist?'
I was young then, and so was she.
Bom noona always smelled nice.
Baby powder, soap-like.
When I went to the salon, she'd smile brightly and give me snacks.
'No can do.'
I tried keeping distance from noona.
Her voice, the way she stroked my hair—everything got to me.
I tried not thinking of her as mine.
"Tough, huh?"
"Nah? Noona's always been a bit dumb anyway? Wasn't tough... I'm fine."
"This jerk. What to do with him?"
Noona frowned briefly.
"Whatever Yi Hyun wants. Don't care."
"Yeah."
"But why informal all sudden? When I said informal's fine before, you wouldn't."
Back then, she wasn't noona yet.
Just my stylist.
"She's mine now."
"Pfft... what's that. You used to say your stylist back then too."
No.
I'd thought of her as mine even back then.
"Bro! Got everything."
The group emerged, huge bags on their backs.
I wanted to savor the reunion more, but work wasn't done.
"Noona. Let's go for now. To my place..."
Noona kept staring at my face.
Then an unwelcome voice sounded.
"Oh my, Yi Hyun? It's Yi Hyun, right? Sai-hyun."
Bom noona's mom.
She pushed through the crowd.
"You. Used to deny it before. You two are like that, right?"
"Mom..."
"Aigoo, always so reliable. Ah, heading to Yi Hyun's place? Still living there?"
The auntie tried following us casually.
And Bom noona's gaze left me for the first time.
Felt bad.
"Noona."
I leaned down.
Whispered in her ear.
"Ditch her. That's not your mom."
Bom noona's body stiffened.