Past and Present
“The building’s collapsing! Get out of the way!”
The building designated as the capture point had its pillars crumbling one by one, slowly starting to collapse. Those heading toward Lee Chang-hyun and Kim Do-jun had no choice but to halt and watch for a moment.
“What happens if the capture point collapses?”
“It’s still glowing, so it probably hasn’t disappeared.”
How does the judgment work?
Yoo Hye-ju tilted her head in confusion, but she soon learned the answer.
[……8]
[17]
The countdown didn’t stop even as the capture point crumbled.
They’re trying to buy time somehow?
Yoo Hye-ju bit her lip. But it was a shallow trick. Seventeen seconds was plenty. The timer froze the moment someone entered the capture point.
“The countdown’s still going! No time—let’s go! Yoon Han-gyeol!”
“Got it.”
The building was still crumbling bit by bit, and the dust made it impossible to see even a step ahead. But it was an unavoidable choice.
And it wasn’t just the Yoo Hye-ju and Yoon Han-gyeol duo making that call. With time ticking down relentlessly, the other elimination mission participants—who had hesitated—were now charging into the dust cloud amid the collapsing building.
That was the moment.
Tatata-tang!
Pfshuk……
[Team B, Inara: Killed in combat]
[Team B, Hyunju Lee: Killed in combat]
[Team D, Kim Geonjung: Killed in combat]
Gunshots and the sound of something bursting. As Yoo Hye-ju charged forward, she glanced toward the source. The faces of applicants whose names she barely knew were exploding.
A gun……
A sense of crisis washed over her in an instant. It was an unexpected threat.
What the hell is going on? Visibility’s zero in this dust—you can barely walk straight……
Yoo Hye-ju couldn’t believe her eyes. It happened in seconds. In that brief time, elimination mission participants were dropping dead.
Pfshuk—.
[Team D, Hanul Lee: Killed in combat]
All the plans and countermeasures swirling in Yoo Hye-ju’s head turned to chaos in an instant.
How…… how do I……
She bit her lip hard. No solution was in sight. When the hell had that monster-like guy gotten his hands on such powerful firepower? How was he shooting so accurately in this dust cloud where you couldn’t see an inch ahead?
No matter how hard she racked her brain, there was no answer. She could only feel utter helplessness amid the bullets flying from the dust cloud.
If there’d been no dust cloud, it wouldn’t have been this terrifying. But in this haze, Lee Chang-hyun was an incomprehensible source of dread. Invisible, with gunshots muffled by the noise. The sniper beyond the dust was steadily picking them off one by one.
It was the terror of an overwhelming presence. Fear.
……It was agonizing.
But the gunshots mocked it all, clearing the battlefield before the dust could even settle. As if aiming for a total wipeout.
***
“I’m gonna keep collapsing the building. Can you cover me?”
Once the building fell, he’d start sniping immediately—no time to watch overhead. That’s why he needed Kim Do-jun’s help, even if just a little.
“Focus on the debris falling on me for now.”
It was a strategy already prepared. It didn’t take long to bring the building down.
As it crumbled, the battlefield was engulfed in dust. Exactly what Lee Chang-hyun wanted.
Even I couldn’t take this many head-on.
The key in one-versus-many was denying the enemy their numbers advantage. Controlling the battlefield was basic.
And this situation—terrible for most ranged dealers, with zero visibility in the dust and limited movement from falling debris—was Lee Chang-hyun’s ideal sniping spot.
Because his Piercing Eye skill let him see exactly where everyone was.
In an environment where they could barely move, they were little more than sitting ducks.
……But that’s not all.
Dust cloud with no visibility. Battlefield drowned in collapse noise. Lee Chang-hyun had been through this before.
That’s why he was even more at home here. Guns struggled in conditions where close dealers couldn’t fight properly, but for him, it was comfortable. Nostalgic, even.
Before his regression, the battlefield where he’d first achieved a heptaskill was just like this—amid a collapsing building.
***
Before regression. A stadium from some forgotten time and place. All he remembered was giving it his all.
The team was in crisis. Someone—anyone—had to step up and prevent a drop to 9th.
And on match day. Facing the top team RIX, they’d clawed to a 1-1 set score.
That’s when it happened.
7v1. Yet he hadn’t lost the will to fight. Much like now. Urban map. Turning it around with a gun.
I’ll win for sure. 9th place? No way.
The fire in his heart blazed on. The situation was hopeless, of course.
And then. They collapsed the building, just like now.
As everyone called it quits. His eyes calmly stared ahead. At the impossible problem. Breaking it into small pieces, tackling them one by one.
Bang!!
Bang!!
His breath trembled. Not from the record in sight. But because he’d hit his limit.
And in the decisive moment as the dust cleared.
Click-click……
……
Mana depleted, he couldn’t fire. A ranged dealer without ranged weapons. The end was obvious.
He’d been one step short. But that one step had carried over to now. And now, he could take it.
Click!
Bang!
Firing ether rounds infused with a bit of mana, not mana bullets. Saving mana to avoid past mistakes.
Mana was no issue now.
***
The capture mission wasn’t really about capturing. The point was just bait to force a fight. No one expected actual capture.
But that guy……
And not just that. How was he pulling off such precise shots in zero-vis dust?
One thing’s clear: he’s pro-level at minimum……
Absurd control—no, ranged DPS. And absurd accuracy.
Jo Ah-ra couldn’t call Lee Chang-hyun arrogant anymore.
Meanwhile, Lee Min-seok was grinning ear to ear.
“Juniors~ What’d I tell ya? I said he could use a gun, right? No one stands like that without knowing how to shoot. I spotted it during paperwork. Kid’s got potential.”
Lee Min-seok wasn’t the only one fired up. Live chat reactions were exploding.
This was 3rd division—academy league level—and articles were already out.
“The gun makes sense like you said, senior…… but I can’t wrap my head around hitting everything in that dust. Even with debris limiting movement……”
“Su-hyuk, you were close-range DPS, right?”
“Uh? Yeah.”
“To decide on guns from a young age, what skills would you need on awakening?”
Jin Su-hyuk frowned. He’d never considered it.
Like Ethan, just a freakishly huge mana pool?
“You might think, ‘Like Ethan, just a huge mana pool?’”
Lee Min-seok voiced his exact thought, making him flinch.
“But overseas, tons of players have massive mana pools. And they’re usually close dealers. Think intuitively: slamming a sword with mana explosion gives absolute edge from capacity alone. But ranged? Power drops at distance—swords or polearms can block, and accuracy’s a hassle. Not easy.”
“So you’re saying……”
“Yeah. That kid—Lee Chang-hyun—has a huge mana pool for guns plus some skill for accuracy.”
“Confidence to hit no matter the situation. That’s what he’s got.”
Jin Su-hyuk’s eyes widened.