Liberate (5)
Crack!
The roughly spinning right arm struck Han Cheol-ho's face dead-on. His features caved in grotesquely under the inhuman force. His body tumbled across the floor, neck snapped at an unnatural angle.
2/28
"Hoo."
Yeong-sik let out a short sigh as he raised the elbow where his right arm had detached. The arm that had pulverized Han Cheol-ho's head floated up from where it had landed far away and slotted perfectly back into place.
Click.
Yeong-sik gazed down at his right arm snapping back as if it had a mind of its own, his lips pressed into a tight line.
3/28
This forced liberation had granted him power beyond comparison to before.
What the hell am I...?
Yeong-sik stared down at his own body, unable to comprehend it.
He wasn't the only one plunged into confusion.
"Wh-what the...?"
Yuna, who had been flung back by a shield strike mid-battle with Han Cheol-ho, gaped at Yeong-sik in horror.
Han-seong and Chae-rin were just as stunned.
4/28
They all stared at him with complex expressions blending fear, curiosity, and bewilderment.
"Yeong-sik... what are you...?"
Bae Han-seong approached unsteadily, his voice trembling as he asked.
Yeong-sik turned to answer—but before he could speak, a mechanical beep droned into his ear.
Chik.
5/28
Overload initiated due to side effects of Forced Liberation.
Physical functions will be permanently reduced due to Overload.
"Urgh, ahh."
Yeong-sik's eyes bulged wide. A massive current raced across his skin. Agonizing pain scorched his mind white—far more intense than last time.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"Yeong-sik!"
6/28
Bae Han-seong called out desperately to Yeong-sik, writhing on the ground in torment. He reached out toward the man screaming and twisting like a madman.
"Hold on a second."
Kim Gil-su blocked him. This wasn't the first time he'd seen Yeong-sik like this. He knew from past talks what could happen if anyone touched him now.
7/28
"Gil-su, do you know what's going on?"
Han-seong eyed him warily. For a guild member to hold information the others didn't? In the worst light, it bordered on betrayal.
"...There's a reason for that. I'll explain."
Seo A-ra spoke up, glancing worriedly at Yeong-sik screaming on the floor.
Yuna, Chae-rin, and Han-seong's gazes turned to her.
8/28
A-ra took a deep breath.
"I don't know the details either, but... Yeong-sik isn't a normal human."
Han-seong and Yuna didn't react much. Anyone could see that from what they'd just witnessed.
But there were too many oddities for that to fully explain it.
"But Yeong-sik... he eats food, shows emotions—"
9/28
Han-seong recalled their time together, his face complicated.
Gil-su slowly recounted everything from their first meeting to now.
As his words continued, Yuna, Han-seong, and Chae-rin's faces filled with shock.
"So... he has no memories of himself, and his body's a machine?"
"That's right. So even he doesn't know his true identity."
10/28
Yuna stared at Gil-su in disbelief.
He understood her look perfectly but had no more answers. It was all true: Yeong-sik's amnesia, his mechanical body instead of flesh and blood.
"No way I can believe—"
"Haa, haa."
11/28
As Yuna grimaced and started to retort, Yeong-sik rose unsteadily from the floor. He wobbled like he might collapse any second.
"Yeong-sik!"
A-ra hurried to him, touching his shoulder with a worried frown.
Chik.
"Kyaa!"
His skin burned like red-hot iron. A-ra yelped at the pain shooting through her fingertips and staggered back.
12/28
Yeong-sik turned to her, speaking in a faint, breaking whisper.
"I-I'm... fine."
He held out a hand to keep her back. But his face said otherwise. In truth, he was far from fine.
"Grgh?"
A groan of agony escaped him. Scorching heat, like his body was melting, swept through every inch.
13/28
Fatal anomaly detected in summoner's body.
Level cap reduced by 5. All stats permanently decreased.
"No... way..."
Already struggling with Overload's aftermath, Yeong-sik faced this thunderbolt message.
14/28
His face twisted savagely upon reading it.
Of all things, my level cap drops.
Amid the horrific pain ravaging him, his mind reeled at the level cap reduction.
He could endure the Overload pain, even accept lost levels and permanent stat drops.
But a level cap reduction? Dire news.
Levels were the easiest power metric to raise here. His already modest cap dropping further was no small loss.
15/28
Is this Overload's side effect?
Yeong-sik glared at the floating message, face contorted.
Having used more weapons this time, he'd expected worse backlash than before.
But never this—a shaved level cap.
Can't be helped.
16/28
He arduously lifted his head to check the guild members. Many were injured, but none fatally.
Imagining their fate without his forced liberation was easy.
No more forced liberations from now on.
Yeong-sik eyed his new level cap of 30.
This time was unavoidable, but if such crises kept demanding it, things would get messy—possibly fatal from overload.
17/28
"...Yeong-sik?"
A-ra called his name softly, worried by his silent reverie.
Confirming the body-melting heat had cooled slightly, he turned to her.
"Just thinking for a sec."
18/28
"...You okay now?"
"Better than before."
Yeong-sik staggered forward. His body swayed dangerously.
Gil-su rushed to support him.
"Forced liberation again, like last time?"
"Yes. No other choice."
Yeong-sik answered hoarsely.
Gil-su looked bitter. No real options, sure—but seeing him suffer gnawed at him.
19/28
Yuna approached slowly.
"I heard some from Gil-su ajusshi. But..."
Her face brimmed with wariness, suspicion outweighing gratitude for her rescue.
"Your body being a machine... that's true?"
20/28
She eyed his now-normal human form.
Yeong-sik nodded stiffly.
"Yes. It's true."
He detached his right arm at the elbow. The cross-section revealed no flesh—just tangled machinery.
"?Hah."
Yuna and Han-seong stared, deflating in shock.
Yeong-sik addressed them.
"Sorry for not telling you sooner. Sounds like an excuse, but... I planned to soon."
21/28
"Ooh?"
"?w?"
"Too unbelievable to just blurt out."
Yeong-sik gave a wry smile.
Yuna and Han-seong nodded unconsciously. Yeah—hard to say or believe.
"...So the amnesia is real too?"
22/28
"Yes. First I remember is waking in the Tutorial space. Nothing before."
Yuna sealed her lips at the distant emotion in his eyes. She couldn't imagine losing all self-memory.
"I don't know why my body's mechanical, or if I'm even human."
Yeong-sik stated flatly.
Yuna and Han-seong's faces grew complicated.
23/28
"Got it. I'll believe you—for now. Owe you our lives anyway."
Yuna sighed deeply. Her savior from Light Shield deserved better than baseless suspicion.
And he doesn't seem inhuman at all...
Yeong-sik had shown too human a side to reject over his body.
Better than those trash heaps.
24/28
Yuna glanced at the mangled Light Shield corpses.
Trash baring greedy fangs at the weak. Flesh or not, were they truly human?
"Hoo. We'll head back to the guild and tell unnie your story. Leave it to her judgment."
25/28
Another deep sigh from Yuna. Yeong-sik nodded with a faint smile.
"Before we go, let's grab what we can. Plenty of rare-item weapons here."
"Ugh... you wanna talk loot now?"
Yuna shot Han-seong an incredulous look. He shrugged.
"Business is business. Our guild funds aren't flush enough to leave money behind."
26/28
"Tch. Fine."
At his words, the group decided to loot first.
Gil-su insisted Yeong-sik rest, so as he sat on a nearby rock, Chae-rin approached.
"Um, Yeong-sik oppa..."
She called cautiously. Yeong-sik tilted his head curiously.
Yuna, picking up items nearby, glanced over, wondering what she'd say.
27/28
"Oppa, by any chance... you single?"
Her loaded words froze the air solid.
28/28