Chapter 19
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: PvP (2)
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Lee Min-jun dragged his greatsword, as tall as himself, and approached to face her, kicking up a cloud of dust that scattered into the blood-red sky.
“Yoon A-rin?”
“You even know my name? As expected of the youngest punk—that bastard must’ve spilled everything…? That idiot has no idea he’s digging his own grave—”
She continued, stomping the dirt ground with her worn-out canvas sneakers.
“Anyway, you’re Lee Min-jun, right, old man? My little brother got in a world of hurt because of that damn rock you chucked at us earlier today.”
“Nothing would’ve happened if you hadn’t started firing those guns. Why the hell are you killing people to steal their time? By killing Apostles—”
“Ugh, shut up. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Just like every old fart—always yapping away like this.”
Yoon A-rin grimaced, clacking her free hand like castanets.
“Cut the bullshit and come at me already. I’m busy as hell because of that dumbass brother of mine. Or… I’ll come to you.”
The moment she finished speaking, Yoon A-rin pulled the trigger in a surprise attack.
A swarm of buckshot pellets erupted from the muzzle, slamming into the broad side of the greatsword.
“Huh? Even a buckshot blast to the face at point-blank range doesn’t break it…!”
Yoon A-rin was stunned by the greatsword’s durability, beyond her expectations, but regardless of what she said, Min-jun—now right up in her face—swung the blade low across her panicked expression.
His firmly planted foot rooted into the dirt like an ancient tree stump, and the jet-black greatsword sliced horizontally through the space around its axis.
Whoooosh—
The dust whipped up by the sword wind fanned out in a massive arc.
However, having substituted bullets for her attacks, Yoon A-rin—who had poured all her points into agility—easily bent backward to dodge the sword.
Even as her loose gym clothes fluttered in the wind, her shotgun twisted at the waist toward Min-jun.
Boom! Click—
But the muzzle, now aimed skyward, spat pellets amid a burst of flame. Min-jun had kicked the barrel upward.
His level 11 Strength held more than enough power to shatter the gun outright.
Whoosh—
Yet Yoon A-rin’s nimble body absorbed the impact entirely.
According to Park Sun-woo, she’d always been short on Survival Time, but Min-jun could see why in her fluid movements.
‘She dumped all her Survival Time into Agility.’
Movements just like his own.
He didn’t know about her other stats, but her Agility level had to be at least 10 or higher.
‘But if that’s all she’s got… you’re dying here too, Yoon A-rin.’
As Min-jun licked his lips, the ground within a 10-meter radius around him flushed green.
Space Domination unfurled—a debuff zone skill that reduced movement speed and attack speed by 15% each.
Yoon A-rin instinctively sensed something off and kicked off the ground to create distance, but Min-jun’s Agility wasn’t low by any means.
He wouldn’t miss the opening from her slowed movements.
Bwoooom—
Four sword strikes rained down on Yoon A-rin in rapid succession.
She performed acrobatic feats, dodging the air-rending blade by a paper-thin margin, but it wasn’t the effortless evasion from before—it was a desperate scramble.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead only to be scattered by the sword wind.
‘This monster freak— is he for real?’
Yoon A-rin cursed inwardly while counting her remaining rounds.
‘Three shots.’
If she could just widen the gap, she could reload.
But considering that monster’s movements, no such opportunity would come.
That was why she couldn’t just spray and pray.
Desperate to buy even a little time, Yoon A-rin kept dodging the sword while opening her mouth.
“Old man, don’t you think you’re being too rough with a lady?”
“Got the breath for chit-chat now?”
Min-jun parried her words while relentlessly swinging the greatsword.
With each swing, his proficiency with the massive blade sharpened, and its hefty weight now converted seamlessly into speed even during direction changes, maintaining its momentum.
A crude hunk of metal meant for slaying monsters.
For a frail human, even a graze would snap bones.
‘If that hits, I’m done for.’
No matter how he swung it, that monster’s attacks were lethal, but her own chances to land a solid hit were few and far between.
There was no way that guy wielding such a brute-force slab had less Stamina than her.
The longer the fight dragged on, the worse it got for her.
‘In the end, I have to shove it in first.’
If she just kept dodging, death awaited her.
For the first time, Yoon A-rin thrust herself into the path of an incoming sword strike.
The greatsword was powerful, but that meant it was heavy too—swinging such a massive lump had to create openings.
“Fuck! Die!”
Her flying kick slammed into his gut, carving out a split-second gap.
In that fleeting moment, Yoon A-rin closed in and her shotgun roared flames toward Min-jun.
* * *
She’d sacrificed flesh to take bone, but the aftermath of Min-jun’s superhuman kick—far beyond human strength—hit hard.
The pain she’d never felt before in her life wasn’t just hurt; it felt like something was fundamentally wrong.
Too dazed to even wipe the blood trickling from her mouth, Yoon A-rin fixed her gaze forward and saw Min-jun dangling his left arm, soaked in blood.
‘He blocked that in the middle of it all?’
His defense was insane enough to tank buckshot after giving up an arm, but that insane reaction speed responding in a split-second was clearly beyond human limits.
‘Even so, he’s injured. That hasn’t changed.’
She didn’t know how he’d scored it in Korea, but the green slug round she’d barely gotten from Captain Ki-hyuk.
Click—
Seizing the moment he faltered from his wound, she chambered the ‘slug round’—pure kinetic energy that shredded most bulletproof vests.
“Block this with that hulking body too. I’m curious how it’ll go.”
Click.
Pulled trigger. Hammer sprung. The instant it struck the bullet.
Min-jun suddenly slammed his greatsword into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt toward Yoon A-rin.
“…!”
Yoon A-rin panicked but calmly aimed where Min-jun had been and fired her final shot.
KABOOM!!
She sensed her victory as a silhouette crumbled amid the dust.
‘….’
Dust-choked sports field.
Standing alone, Yoon A-rin first checked the spoils of her successful hunt.
The monster’s gear looked impressive, but more than some unusable brute-metal slab, she craved Survival Time right now.
‘Please….’
Hoping it hadn’t gone into items or stats, that plenty remained.
Yoon A-rin desperately checked her wrist’s Survival Time.
‘…Huh?’
But… despite slaying someone stronger than anyone she’d met, her wrist’s Survival Time hadn’t budged.
“Fuck, what? Why no time—”
Her frantic gaze shot to the system message that should’ve appeared in her vision.
Her thrill of victory cooled rapidly.
‘Did that monster have almost no Survival Time? No, the system message should still—’
Just before her mind, through a brief denial, whispered the unbelievable truth.
Whoooosh—!
Min-jun burst from the dust where the buckshot had vanished.
The one she thought had fallen had dropped low, chest nearly to the ground, and charged straight at her.
Slash—!
“…Hah, fuck. In the… end… like this…”
With Yoon A-rin’s dying gasp, blood gushed along the red line carved by the diagonally upward greatsword slash.
Ding—!
[You have committed murder.]
[Karma value decreases.]
[You have defeated the Murderer.]
[Karma value increases.]
[You have eliminated ‘Yoon A-rin’ and stolen 128 hours.]
[Body Change Rate: 80%]
[Strength, Stamina, and Agility levels have increased by 1.]
“Hoo….”
Min-jun panted raggedly as he poured the Red Potion—bought for 500 hours—over his arm.
He’d taken down a tough opponent, but compared to dealing with those three snipers on the sports field outskirts, this made seven.
More than half the enemies remained.
“Direction was that way?”
When he’d burst through the administrative office window. Recalling the gunshot, he started moving.
Boom! Boom! Bang-bang-bang—!
But at that instant, gunfire echoed from the school building.
‘….’
Min-jun turned direction, his blood-soaked footsteps sloshing forward.
* * *
Dong-gil, So-hee, and Park Sun-woo—bound in handcuffs—had escaped the nurse’s office before being trapped and hidden in a first-floor storage room.
‘Damn. Damn. Damn.’
Something had gone terribly wrong.
No matter what happened, his own survival came first, so he’d mustered the courage for that action—only for it to boomerang back.
「[Sub Quest – PvP]
Difficulty: C-
Clear Conditions: ‘Mang-san High Shooting Club’ ambushes ‘Min-jun and Kids’.
Fulfill the following to lead your party to victory.
① Eliminate ‘Min-jun and Kids’ party members (0/2)
② Eliminate ‘Min-jun and Kids’ party leader ‘Lee Min-jun’ (0/1)
Time Limit: None
Rewards: Karma +1.5, 800 hours
Failure: Death」
He’d already been pissed off enough at the guys who ignored and bullied him daily.
So he thought this was his chance to switch sides… but he never imagined it would trigger the quest.
‘In the end, I have to kill these bastards to survive…? Fuck, for real. How the hell do you kill that monster freak? And C- difficulty?!’
Even as he thought that, it irked him that the two in front of him were worrying about that monster.
“Min-jun will be okay, right?”
“Didn’t So-hee say last time there’s no need to worry about the team leader?”
“But this time it’s not Apostles—it’s a gang of murderers armed with guns.”
‘No one else to worry about, so you worry about him?’
It was absurd.
According to his predator-sensing radar, that guy was an off-the-charts freak.
Unfathomable strength. He could precisely sense from him the same vibe he got from the ‘Captain.’
‘If that guy’s an overt beast, the Captain’s a black-hearted viper. Huh? Wait.’
An idea flashed in Park Sun-woo’s mind.
‘What if the Captain and the monster kill each other off?’
Then he’d be free and complete the quest too.
Killing these two here? Piece of cake if the chance came.
“What’re you thinking? Your face says it all.”
“Huh? Oh! I was just worrying about Min-jun hyung too.”
“Hmm, didn’t seem like it…”
‘Damn, her instincts are sharp.’
The short-haired woman had suddenly called him out, startling him, but his quick crisis response got him past it safely.
“Anyway, So-hee, you seem to space out a lot, but I ate my share in violent crimes as a detective, you know? No need to worry.”
“…Old man, you’ve got a sneaky boastful side, huh?”
“Hey! Boastful? Besides, they’re not the only ones with guns. Look—I’ve got one too.”
As the graying old man swept back his suit jacket, a silver revolver gleamed in its holster.
‘Gotta watch out for that old guy.’
“Whew… Anyway, once this quest ends, we need to hunt too and rack up Survival Time. We can’t keep being dead weight for Min-jun…”
The short-haired woman sighed, shaking her head.
Thud. Thud.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the hallway.
At once, the self-proclaimed detective clamped a hand over his mouth and pressed against the wall; the woman called So-hee followed suit, holding her breath.
- It’s not the team leader. More than one set of footsteps.
- Then it’s them?
- Seems like. Let’s stay quiet till they pass.
As the two stopped whispering, muffled voices drifted from beyond the wall.
[Jin-won hyung told us to do it, but is this even worth it?]
[Right? We just need three. Why not all rush in together and win? No idea why we’re circling around like this.]
[The vice-captain and Jin-won hyung fight all the time. Probably why.]
[Ugh… What bullshit…. Whatever, I’m done. Let’s patrol quick and grab some ramen.]
‘These are the kids riding Jin-won hyung’s line. So… the vice-captain’s crew must be fighting the monster.’
The reason these guys were patrolling the school… had to be hunting So-hee and Dong-gil here.
Once more, a spark flew in Park Sun-woo’s sharp mind.
‘Opportunity.’
Park Sun-woo immediately thrashed and yelled through his gag.
“Mmph…! Mmmph!! Mmph!”
- Shut up, you punk?
“Mmph! Mmm…”
He bit the cop geezer’s hand hard, freeing himself, and shouted.
“Hey! In here!! I’m trapped in here!”
“You little—?!”
‘No… I—’
The moment he yelled, a sharp blow to his nape cut off his words, leaving them circling in his mouth.
‘There are people in here….’
As Park Sun-woo’s consciousness sank into the abyss.
Boom! Boom! Bang-bang—!
A barrage of gunfire rang in his fading ears.