Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Another Player
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"Ughhh! Mmm!"
As if on cue with the strange groans, Kang-seok's hips and rear began to move bizarrely. His twitching, back-and-forth, up-and-down motions were quite a pitiful sight.
He'd tried shifting his center of gravity to match the directional keys, but it seemed that wasn't the way.
'Besides, there's no guarantee a special move will even come out.'
Forcing down his embarrassment, Kang-seok looked around again. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, no one was watching his antics.
"I'll deal with this later."
It wasn't something to give up on entirely, but it wasn't worth obsessing over either.
Kang-seok picked up two sheaths from the floor that seemed to be a decent fit and put away his swords.
The Supreme Lord's Sword and the Flying Swallow Phoenix Sword.
The Dark Destiny Lord's top was covered in loops and straps for attaching pouches, so there were plenty of places to hang his weapons. After securing both swords to his back, Kang-seok pulled out another torch.
He returned to where he had first collapsed.
The dead monster and the skeleton collapsed on top of it—which, by all appearances, had slain the beast—were quite intriguing, but he had no desire to get close enough to investigate.
Swallowing dryly, Kang-seok walked past the corpse and back into the corridor.
He had woken up in a place he'd never seen before, his body transformed.
How would a normal person react in this situation?
It would be rare for someone to be so panicked they couldn't do anything. There might be some delay, but eventually, they would have to move. They were a living being, after all.
Truthfully, Kang-seok was anxious too. Waking up as a superhuman was a pleasant fantasy, and it would have been great if it had actually happened, but this was different. He was in an unknown place, transformed into an unexpected form.
The corridor wasn't very long. It seemed he had collapsed somewhere in the middle of it.
Looking around again, he saw that the corridor also bore clear signs of a battle. The fight between the monster in the room and the hero—as he'd decided to call him—must have been incredibly fierce.
At the end of the corridor was a large, wide staircase. Were there at least fifty steps? He had to raise the torch high just to make out the top.
Kang-seok cautiously began to climb the stairs. His body felt incredibly light and brimming with strength. As a test, he tried a small jump and cleared more than seven steps at once. Considering it was a standing jump, his leaping ability was simply surreal.
"Don't tell me I can double jump or air dash too?"
Double jump and air dash, two of the basic moves in *God of Fighting Online*.
A double jump was exactly what it sounded like: jumping again in mid-air. An air dash was launching oneself forward or backward in the air.
These were moves only possible in a fighting game that completely ignored the laws of physics, but perhaps... perhaps this body could do it.
Kang-seok bit his lower lip slightly. He felt a strange mix of tension and excitement.
'Alright, I'm jumping.'
He fixed his gaze on the top of the stairs. He lowered his stance, putting power into his legs.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
It wasn't Kang-seok. The scream came from the top of the stairs, beyond the door.
Kang-seok moved on reflex. He bounded up the stairs in a single leap and threw the door open.
It was a square room.
With torches on the walls and in the corners, and the room itself not being too large, there was plenty of light.
A monster was dragging a woman away.
It was large and black. It had the head of a bull, and one of its two white horns, which pointed toward the sky, was broken. Its body was covered in severe wounds, bleeding profusely.
The monster had the woman by the ankle. The woman being dragged across the floor was excessively flamboyant.
A very large, crimson officer's cap sat atop her shimmering platinum blonde hair. She wore a black, leather-like officer's coat, but ridiculously, underneath was a white bikini. The proper military boots she wore only added to the incongruity.
That was all he could take in at a glance. There was no time to observe or think any further.
"Kruuuuungh!"
With a great roar, the monster threw the woman it was dragging toward Kang-seok.
Dodge.
Catch her.
In that split second, Kang-seok chose the latter. He managed to catch the woman, who was flying toward him without even a scream. The impact was heavy. Not because the woman was heavy, but because the monster's throw was so powerful.
"Huh?"
His body lifted into the air as if by magic. Since he'd been standing in the doorway, the moment he was pushed back, he was over the stairs.
Steep stairs. Open air above them.
A situation where, by the laws of gravity, he should have tumbled down the stairs.
Kang-seok kicked at the air. He rose as if he'd kicked off an invisible floor, and the strangeness didn't end there.
His body shot backward. He moved several meters, as if he'd performed a great backward jump.
And a stable landing.
Landing on his feet midway down the stairs, Kang-seok let out a ragged breath. He couldn't quite comprehend what he had just done.
A double jump and an air dash.
Kang-seok looked up. The bull-headed monster poked its head out from the top of the stairs. Seeing Kang-seok standing there, it roared once more. It began to charge violently down the steps.
Kang-seok moved.
Instead of turning and running, he leaped. He kicked off the air again and moved backward. Twice in a row, in fact.
He even did a cool somersault before landing on the floor. The woman in his arms, her face pale, was hiccuping uncontrollably. The monster, seemingly surprised by his movements, had stopped on the stairs.
Kang-seok made a quick decision. As he set the woman down, he drew the swords from his back.
The monster was exhausted. Wounded. It was already severely injured.
So he could win. With the body of the Dark Destiny Lord, a body capable of not just double jumps but air dashes, it was definitely possible.
Of course, he was scared. It wasn't that he felt no fear. Just looking at the beast's panting face made him want to run. But he couldn't retreat. Behind him was a dead end, after all.
Kang-seok let out a long breath to calm his nerves. The monster, shaking off its confusion, raised the brutish-looking axe in its right hand.
The Dark Destiny Lord was a speed-type character specializing in swift attacks. His advantage over the monster right now was, without a doubt, his speed.
Kang-seok dashed forward. The monster raised the hand gripping its axe high.
The distance closed in an instant. He could see the monster's eyes.
The stairs weren't very wide. The monster was huge. Dodging left or right would still leave him in its range.
The monster swung its axe. Kang-seok leaped. He jumped straight up, higher than the monster's head, and spun his body. He brought his sword down on the monster, which had exposed its back while swinging the axe.
"Kuhak!"
An unexpected sensation traveled up the blade. The monster's back split open, and dark red blood gushed out.
But the monster didn't die. Kang-seok quickly dropped into a low crouch. The monster's axe sliced through the air where his head had just been.
He hadn't dodged because he saw it coming. It was pure luck.
"Uoooh!"
Kang-seok lunged forward, swinging his sword. The monster, its posture broken from suddenly swinging its axe backward on the stairs, staggered badly and finally tumbled down to the bottom.
Kang-seok pursued it. He had to land a fatal blow and finish it off now.
As Kang-seok bounded down the stairs, letters of light once again appeared in his mind.
←↖↑↓→←↑↓+HS
Supreme Lord's Sword
'Not that one! A smaller one!'
The most basic move. A standard command found in any fighting game.
Then, something flashed through his mind.
↑↖←+S
Flying Swallow Strike: Down
A downward slash.
The motion formed naturally in his mind. He felt like he knew how to use the skill.
Kang-seok's gaze fell on the monster. As the beast scrambled to its feet, Kang-seok charged, quickly swinging the sword he'd held behind his back.
The tip of the blade didn't touch the monster. But a streak of blue light followed the sword's path. The monster's chest split open with a crack.
"Uoooooh!"
Landing in an awkward stance, Kang-seok threw himself forward and stabbed the monster in the chest. It was an attack that relied more on his body weight than his strength.
The sword pierced through the already open wound and sank deep. The monster couldn't take it anymore and fell backward.
"Hah, hah..."
Panting heavily, Kang-seok raised his head. The monster wasn't moving. Its glassy, vacant eyes confirmed its death.
"Khah."
Letting out another long breath, Kang-seok pushed himself up. He heard the sound of hiccups.
Not far away, the woman sat on the floor, hiccuping and trembling.
The crimson officer's cap and coat, the pure white bikini underneath, the brilliant platinum blonde hair, and a beautiful, pale face with striking blue eyes.
There was almost no one in the world who would walk around dressed like that. But Kang-seok knew a place where women dressed like that were abundant.
An overly flashy appearance.
An outfit that no ordinary person would ever wear.
Kang-seok lowered his sword. After sheathing the blade, which remained pristine despite having been plunged deep into the monster's body, he slowly approached the trembling woman.
"Uh, um. Are you okay?"
He tried to sound as friendly as possible, but the woman flinched, her shoulders tensing.
It was only natural that she couldn't respond properly, having just been dragged away by a monster, not some thug. Moreover, if Kang-seok's suspicions were correct, she would be in an even more confused state.
"I-I'm, I'm... hic."
The woman couldn't stop hiccuping. At least she wasn't sobbing her eyes out.
Kang-seok patiently moved a little closer to her. He held out his empty hands and spoke.
"My name is Choi Kang-seok. And you are?"
At the sound of a clearly Korean name, the woman's eyes widened. Kang-seok focused on her reaction, waiting for her answer.
"S-Seong Yu-jin. My name is Seong Yu-jin."
After barely managing to answer, the woman cautiously studied Kang-seok.
'A Korean, just as I thought.'
Instead of replying, Kang-seok gritted his teeth internally. His guess had been right, but he couldn't be entirely happy about it.
A woman transformed into a game character, just like himself.
What in the world had happened?
Who was behind this?
Kang-seok took a deep breath.
To be honest, Kang-seok was also very confused. Having just fought an unknown monster, his adrenaline was still pumping.
But he tried to remain calm. He looked down at Seong Yu-jin, who was huddled on the floor, looking up at him.
Choi Kang-seok.
Seong Yu-jin.
In any case, they had introduced themselves. Now, what should they talk about? What should he say first?
Kang-seok brought a hand to the back of his head. Even he thought it was a crazy thing to do, but he felt an urge to confirm something first.
After a moment's hesitation, Kang-seok suddenly held out a sword to the woman.
"Here, try holding this sword."
"What?"
Startled by Kang-seok suddenly drawing his sword, Seong Yu-jin blinked with a blank expression. It seemed she didn't quite understand what he had said.
It was an understandable reaction. A man who had just defeated a monster had suddenly approached her, introduced himself, and then asked her to hold his sword.
Kang-seok knew his actions were strange. Maybe his first-ever real fight had scrambled his brain. But he had already started. He pushed the sword a little closer to Seong Yu-jin.
"Please."
"Oh... okay."
Seong Yu-jin reluctantly took the sword. Kang-seok lowered himself to meet her gaze and asked.
"Does anything come to mind? Like arrows or something?"
What Kang-seok wanted was confirmation.
He had woken up looking like a game character and had even gained game-like abilities. Was the same true for Seong Yu-jin?
Seong Yu-jin didn't answer right away. Her eyes darted around in confusion several times before she finally spoke.
"Um, uh... this might sound crazy, but."
Seong Yu-jin lifted the Supreme Lord's Sword in front of her face. Her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke.
"I can see the weapon's attack power."