This Actually Works
The moment Lee Geun-taek blocked the axe with his shield. In that most dangerous instant, he let his guard down and thought too easily,
'I've got him—.'
But that wasn't the reality at all.
It had been so long since he'd faced a top-tier hunter that his instincts had dulled. He should have predicted it wouldn't end with just that one move.
Lee Geun-taek burst into mad laughter, unleashing an invisible surge of mana that swatted away the gunfire.
"Excellent! Now we're finally equals. Come at me properly now!"
A numbing shockwave rippled through his entire body. Kim Do-jun and Yoon Han-gyeol, hidden nearby, flinched as they felt it too.
'But... our overwhelming advantages haven't changed.'
Blocking that first perfect shot had been unexpected, but he never assumed things would go exactly to plan anyway.
Plan B was always ready: awaken one more statue.
With that in mind, he realigned his aim on another statue's crack, refusing to stop after the first block and unleashing a barrage of shots.
But this time, it didn't go as smoothly.
Lee Geun-taek was using his Air Anchor for mobility, blocking even shots not aimed at him with his shield.
'...Damn.'
"It might work once, but not twice! Got anything else up your sleeve?"
His plan to hit another crack and awaken more statues was thwarted in an instant.
But Lee Chang-hyun saw through it.
Lee Geun-taek was locked in battle with one massive statue giant while also having to block every single bullet from Lee Chang-hyun—an absurd situation. They weren't equals at all.
That bluff was just empty posturing. Lee Geun-taek wanted him to focus fire again, forcing a one-on-one duel.
'Not playing your game.'
Of course, piercing Lee Geun-taek's flawless defense with his superior mobility to keep targeting other statues was no easy feat.
'But what about this?'
A ricochet shot—firing at the bullets Lee Geun-taek had deflected with his shield. It was the legendary sniper prowess from the survival game rearing its head once more.
Bang—.
Clang!
Lee Geun-taek, caught completely off guard, could only stare in disbelief.
'That guy...?'
In that moment, the deflected bullet struck perfectly into the statue's crack, awakening yet another one.
Lee Geun-taek scowled at the sight but quickly regained his stance.
'He's dead set on taking down the giant completely...'
He seemed resolved. It was obvious he couldn't properly fight while the giant kept interfering.
But this moment—right as Lee Geun-taek turned to attack the giant—was Lee Chang-hyun's chance to breathe.
"Han Ji-su, Yoon Han-gyeol. You hearing this? Jin-seung's bringing the kids soon. You know what to do, right?"
"Yeah."
It was time to speak into the connected earpiece. Time for the next step.
Meanwhile, the remaining four on the Red Team were steadily growing by taking down minions without issue.
With fewer members, they got a larger share of resources, allowing more growth.
Of course, they'd still lose hard to a group of seven who'd grown moderately, purely due to numbers.
'Sigh... no idea what we're supposed to do with this growth.'
Lee Chang-hyun's Red Team remnants faithfully hunted minions.
The Gods' Battlefield didn't spawn particularly strong minions, so it wasn't tough...
But every massive rumble and vibration from Lee Chang-hyun's direction filled them with unease.
Still, Kim Jin-seung—the last of the four—had no choice but to trust him.
'You're all I've got left, Jin-seung.'
'Sigh... no helping it.'
That was the mission he'd accepted: farm minions and resources without losses. Avoid Yoo Hye-ju's Blue Team. Flee if they met.
'Even mapped out the escape route...'
Kim Jin-seung glanced at the path Lee Chang-hyun had marked.
'Did he predict we'd run into them?'
'And that prediction hit the mark perfectly...'
Now in the map's center after farming, Kim Jin-seung's group naturally bumped into Yoo Hye-ju's Blue Team.
Yoo Hye-ju wore a faint smile.
"Not losing this time."
She seemed to have some special strategy to catch Lee Chang-hyun.
'Doesn't matter—he's not even here...'
Kim Jin-seung's action was predetermined.
"Fall back!"
Just as Lee Chang-hyun instructed—retreat along the set route.
With four sharing resources instead of seven, their growth was superior. Retreating was easy...
Blue Team was reduced to chasing chickens.
'Lure them just right, he said?'
They kept enough distance to stay in sight but not caught—perfect baiting as Lee Chang-hyun wanted.
Kim Jin-seung couldn't help feeling puzzled even as he followed orders.
'This gonna work, Lee Chang-hyun...?!'
A simple lure like this—did he have something prepared? Then why boast about taking down Chairman Lee Geun-taek?
They were almost at the promised spot.
Bang bang bang!
A few gunshots rang out.
"Lee Chang-hyun!"
Obvious who fired. But the result was unexpected.
A crack split a nearby massive statue, stones crumbling down.
"...!"
Both Kim Jin-seung's four and Yoo Hye-ju's group froze in shock.
The statue shattered, revealing a giant that swung its weapon wildly.
"Kyaaak!"
"What the—?!"
And it wasn't just that.
'Chairman Lee Geun-taek...?'
He'd gone ahead to fight the chairman, and sure enough, Lee Geun-taek was battling a massive giant too.
The most absurd part? No sign of Lee Chang-hyun's group despite the gunshots.
But his voice came through the earpiece, confirming they were close.
"Melee chaos now. Can you keep it up?"
"Not for long!"
Kim Jin-seung was dumbfounded but instantly realized Lee Chang-hyun had orchestrated the whole mess.
'What the hell did you do...?!'
Astounding—and reassuring, since he was an ally.
"Three minutes. That's all I need."
"What're you gonna do in three minutes?"
"You'll see."
With that, Lee Chang-hyun went silent.
Sigh... no one else pulls this crap.
Well, they acknowledged each other. But next time, he'd make it clear: equals in cooperation, not hierarchy.
Awaken two or more giants to distract Lee Geun-taek from our fight. That was step one.
Then Kim Jin-seung lures in Yoo Hye-ju's group to awaken a rear giant, sparking melee chaos. Step two.
'In that chaos, assassinate Yoo Hye-ju's group first. Step three.'
Even with their current growth, taking down Lee Geun-taek—who was handling two giants—was unlikely without a finishing blow.
So...
'Use Yoo Hye-ju's Blue Team as fodder for our growth.'
Hunters League let you grow not just from minions, but from killing opponents.
Kim Jin-seung's four Red Team drags, Yoo Hye-ju's seven Blue Team, and the freshly awakened rampaging giant—a perfect three-way melee brawl.
"Do-jun, Han-gyeol. Biggest chance while they're still hidden. You know."
Invisible Cloak worked best undetected once. After, enemies wised up, effectiveness dropped.
Plus, the vanguard like him hadn't grown from minions—if they couldn't land fatal first strikes, they'd be overwhelmed fast.
"Signal, and we hit together."
First sniper shot was deadliest unseen. Follow-up chaos from sniping made the next ones land too.
If it went to plan, sniping alone could drop two-plus, flipping the field instantly.
"3, 2, 1... "
On zero, Kim Do-jun and Yoon Han-gyeol burst from Invisible Cloak, ambushing Yoo Hye-ju's group mid-giant clash.
The moment Blue Team noticed—the instant the duo closed in.
Bang!
A battlefield-splitting gunshot blasted one of Yoo Hye-ju's teammates away.
Clean kill.
"Ngh...!"
Yoo Hye-ju grimaced at the sudden ambush but quickly composed, shifting tactics.
"Dodge giant clashes max. Stick to Red Team in the melee!"
With that, her famed Holy Ground activated, yellow light rising from the earth.
'Holy Ground... healing field.'
She planned to dig in and fight to the death.
Couldn't let that happen. No battlefield easier for gunfire than melee chaos.
Once more.
Bang!
Target: Yoo Hye-ju.
But...
Clang!
Her mana gear, Mana Shield, activated instantly, blocking the bullet.
Yoo Hye-ju sneered.
"You think I came without sniper counters?"
...Fair point.
Maybe he'd underestimated her. Time for reflection...
But no, he had options.
Stuff like this happened pre-regression too.
Half a dozen ideas came to mind instantly.
For this battlefield...
'Mana Bomber.'
What if he crushed a Mana Bomber, mixed a bit into Ether, and fired? That old idea resurfaced.
No reason not to try.
He'd prepared expecting it. Crushed a Mana Bomber by hand, loaded into synthetic Ether, chambered.
Felt heavier... but fine.
And...
Boom—!
Aiming at Yoo Hye-ju again, the result was incomparable.
Bazooka-level firepower. It shredded her Mana Shield and one-shotted her.
Team voices crackled over earpiece.
"Chang-hyun, what the hell did you shoot?!"
"You shoot that?"
"Dude, that's insane—did you really load a whole Mana Bomber like I said last time?!"
Yoon Han-gyeol, Kim Jin-seung, Kim Do-jun's voices.
Only then did reality sink back in.
'This actually works...'