Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: 32. Decoy Terrain Principle (2)
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“My God.”
Having confirmed the identity of his opponent, Young-woo was greatly shocked by two facts.
The first was the mobility of the Hwanghae First Sword.
Even though Hwanghae Province was adjacent to Kaesong, they hadn't taken the Iron Horse Negeug straight here at full speed.
‘Of course, it wasn’t a full sprint. Still, for someone who started from Hwanghae Province to already spot me…’
That meant the opponent’s mobility was nearly double the Iron Horse Negeug’s normal cruising speed.
And the second was.
Screeeeech!
“Crazy…!”
The long-range sniping that had been steadily targeting the Negeug.
It seemed like they planned to completely seal off its mobility before slowly cooking them.
In stark contrast to the shouts demanding he offer up his neck right away, the actual engagement was being conducted with utmost rationality.
‘Not your average opponent. It shows they’ve subdued plenty of people with a bow.’
Watching another arrow barely graze the Negeug’s ear, Young-woo glared at the Hwanghae First Sword, who was already drawing the bowstring again.
‘First, I need to close the distance. There’s no answer like this.’
Because the opponent was persistently targeting only the Negeug instead of Young-woo, the Golden Flash’s sense seizure hadn’t activated.
Thus, if he kept allowing the sniping like this, getting hit was inevitable sooner or later.
“Let’s go full throttle. We need to make them attack me instead of you for a chance at victory.”
When Young-woo pointed at the Hwanghae First Sword on the hilltop and spoke to the Negeug, it snorted hard as if understanding.
Snort!
Then it immediately broke into a full sprint toward the Hwanghae First Sword.
-Kweeeee!
As the Negeug let out a long cry and charged at high speed, the Hwanghae First Sword flinched while preparing the next attack.
“What…?”
Because the black Iron Horse’s approach speed was far faster than expected.
Boom boom boom!
By the time the Negeug had covered over two hundred meters in the blink of an eye, the opponent’s facial outline finally came into clear view for Young-woo.
The Hwanghae First Sword appeared to be a petite woman in her mid-to-late twenties, and peculiarly.
‘What’s that?’
There was a holographic interface floating near her right eye.
In a form that looked just like a sniper rifle’s scope.
‘No way, an actual scope?’
Young-woo couldn’t help but think so.
He had been wondering how she managed such precise shots from that far away.
No matter how high one’s sense stat was, there had to be limits, right?
But if she had equipment that augmented her vision or eyesight like that, it changed everything.
Boom!
-Kweeeee!
The Negeug, now having the enemy who’d been targeting it within striking range, bellowed in rage, and with it, Young-woo menacingly extended the Iron Shell Cutter.
Flash!
「Iron Shell Cutter」 - Mutated Spear
【Ignores 50% physical damage reduction.】
He planned to pressure the opponent using the weapon’s longer reach compared to normal arms.
‘If they handle it better than expected, I’ll have to create some variable with the Black Sword somehow.’
As the distance to the Hwanghae First Sword rapidly closed, Young-woo confirmed that the Dragon’s Legacy belted at his waist was glowing red.
Meaning the opponent was also a human of Grade 2 or lower.
Meanwhile, the Hwanghae First Sword, seeing the South Joseon Supreme Swordsman charging in like a cavalryman, unleashed a venomous shout.
“How dare you…! Die, you bastard!”
Creak!
Now the distance was quite close, and even Young-woo could hear the sound of the bowstring being drawn.
And this time, for the first time.
「Sense stat temporarily increased from existing 1400 to 3,000.」
The golden flash seized the opponent’s senses.
By a whopping 1,600 points.
“Huh…?”
Young-woo’s eyes widened.
It was the highest sense among all the Supreme Swordsmen he’d encountered so far.
Probably because she mainly used a bow?
‘Even so, to have poured so many points into sense?’
Of course, it was good news for Young-woo.
Given his trait that unconditionally halved and stole the opponent’s sense, this was a fight he couldn’t lose.
Swooooosh…!
As Young-woo’s sense soared to 3,000, the Hwanghae First Sword seemed to sense something off.
“……?”
Not only did she originally have a whopping 3,200—not 1,200 or 2,000—but using a precision weapon like a bow made her immediately notice the issue with her own sense.
“What bullshit are you pulling right now.”
Even as she said it, she released the bowstring aimed at Young-woo’s chest.
Twang!
Then, from the seemingly empty front of the bow, a flash gleamed.
Ziiiiing!
Suddenly, a silver-white arrow materialized and shot toward Young-woo.
“……!”
A speed comparable to a fired bullet.
With the distance between them now down to tens of meters, the arrow struck Young-woo’s chest without fail.
Claaaang!
“Argh!”
Startled, Young-woo cried out.
It was the first time in his life he’d been hit by an arrow, and above all, his chest stung terribly.
‘Damn, even with all this gear stacked, I can’t dodge an arrow flying right at me from up close.’
「Golden Oath」 - Legendary Cuirass
【Reduces enemy attack power by 50%.】
「Rock Guardian」 - Mutated Gem
【Slot: Reduces all physical damage.】
「Agility」 - Mutated Ring
【When sense is the highest stat, gain 10% damage reduction.】
But it was precisely because he had “stacked” such gear that he survived.
The situation Young-woo brushed off with regret was, to the Hwanghae First Sword, an impossible miracle.
‘That shot just now… it definitely hit, right?’
Hwanghae First Sword, Park Seol-hwa09.
She gazed with fearful eyes at the unforeseen development.
She had just seen her arrow not pierce the opponent’s chest but bounce off the golden armor.
Then she should at least knock him off his mount.
Boom, boom!
Yet that bizarre South Joseon Supreme Swordsman was still riding in after taking the arrow.
Rubbing his chest as if the spot merely throbbed.
‘No way, he can survive an arrow to the chest?’
The reason Seol-hwa’s main weapon was the bow was largely because she had been an “archery” athlete before the Reset.
The Olympic event called “recurve archery” in South Joseon.
The bow’s advantage was, without a doubt, one-sided murder.
Even if the first shot was blocked or missed, she could fire three or four more while the enemy closed in, and thanks to that, Seol-hwa had never been exposed within an opponent’s range until now.
But now, for the first time, she’d met someone who took her arrow without spilling a drop of blood.
‘M-maybe it just grazed him…?’
Creak.
Seol-hwa hastily drew the bowstring with a terrified expression.
Then, realizing the Iron Horse was already upon her, she gave up on the follow-up attack.
Because the South Joseon Supreme Swordsman atop it was swinging a brutishly massive spear.
Whiiiiiish!
An attack of immense power just from the sound.
Enough to tear a body in half on a graze, so Seol-hwa hurriedly rolled backward, leaping high into the rear.
Taat!
Was distance only on the ground? She could create plenty of sniping range even airborne.
‘Head this time!’
As Seol-hwa, leaping over ten meters into the air, aimed her bow again at the opponent, Young-woo, who had seen it, suddenly shot up into the sky.
Flash!
Even higher than Seol-hwa, in fact.
「Climber」 - Mutated Pants
【Leap distance tripled.】
Young-woo had reached a level where he received gear buffs for every action.
“Urk.”
Seol-hwa, trying to re-aim at the opponent now above her head, furrowed her brow against the stabbing sunlight.
And in that moment.
Whiiiiiish!
A pitch-black trajectory poured down from Young-woo in the sky.
The Black Sword’s blade, extended to 6 meters, had been swung.
“Argh!”
Seol-hwa, who had only considered the spear’s range until now, thrust out her bow to block the sudden attack.
She had no other way to fend off the opponent’s sword midair.
Thus, inevitably.
Claaaaaaang!
Young-woo’s Black Sword clashed with Seol-hwa’s silver-white bowstring, transmitting tremendous pressure to her.
“Eek!”
Having spent most of her earnings on sense and gear, she couldn’t exert power in such direct strength contests.
In the end, Seol-hwa barely clung to life as she crashed to the ground, and soon after, Young-woo descended atop her, black cape fluttering.
Clank!
As Young-woo landed with a metallic sound, Seol-hwa drew Early Bird from her waist for a desperate final strike and swung.
Whish!
But even this was easily read by Young-woo.
This time, he didn’t even swing his sword, simply stomping down on her Early Bird with his foot.
“Give up.”
Young-woo’s close-quarters combat prowess was unmatched.
As Young-woo stared down plainly at her, Seol-hwa, gazing back up at him, suddenly spat.
“Ptoo!”
But even this was blocked by Young-woo raising his Black Sword.
“Ha.”
In the end, Park Seol-hwa let out a hollow laugh and slumped her body.
At this, Young-woo scanned the surroundings for any other North Korean Supreme Swordsmen before asking her.
“Did you come alone? Did you rush here in anger right after hearing about the title leak?”
Seol-hwa shot back sharply with a ridiculous expression.
“You think I’d hold a meeting and come late? Don’t I need to get it back quick?”
Fair enough—with the asset leak alert and the thief’s position moving south in real-time, sitting idle would’ve been laughable.
‘Then other Supreme Swordsmen might be on their way too.’
Moreover, having fought the Hwanghae First Sword here meant his position hadn’t changed for a while… They might be rushing in now, thinking this was their chance.
“Anyway… I didn’t mean to provoke on purpose, so sorry about that. The stigma’s put me in a bind too.”
As Young-woo said this and glanced around again, Park Seol-hwa, realizing this South Joseon bastard was waiting for the next prey, widened her eyes.
“You bastard. Talking all nice while waiting for more, huh?”
Young-woo had no intention of lying, so he nodded.
“Yes. You all come charging in with such fine gear. Grateful, in a way.”
As Young-woo reached for the silver-white bow still in Park Seol-hwa’s hand, a tooltip appeared in his vision too.
Flash!
「White Saturation」 - Epic Bow
【Sense stat applies to arrow power.】
【Power increases with arrow range.】
“First bow I’ve gotten, but watching you use it earlier, it looks pretty useful.”
Especially perfect for Young-woo, whose strength and sense fluctuated wildly.
Arrow range was ultimately based on strength, after all.
And just as this one had troubled him with sniping at the start, he could subdue future North Korean powerhouses with this bow too.
“Any last words? Like a city in Hwanghae you absolutely have to protect?”
As Young-woo asked for her final words, Park Seol-hwa ground her teeth.
“You win one round and get cocky already! You’re done for today too, you bastard! Soon…!”
“…….”
No real last words, it seemed, so Young-woo moved to swing his sword.
Hesitate.
But he paused for a moment.
He’d almost forgotten one very important thing.
“Fine, then hear me out for a sec.”
“……?”
“Nothing major, but this battle is conducted with the support of the pan-universal weapon brand Doggo!”
“…Huh?”
“I am Earth’s human, Gyeongbuk’s, Gangnam’s, Kaesong’s strongest—Jeong Young-woo07!”
With that, Young-woo’s blade sliced through the Hwanghae First Sword’s neck in the blink of an eye.