Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: PvP (3)
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Because the guys who had been trying to snipe him suddenly grabbed him by the ankle, Min-jun could only finally enter the school building now, quite some time after hearing the gunfire.
‘Am I too late…?’
By the time he arrived late at the equipment room, it was already a scene from hell.
The corpse of what looked like a shooting club student, the floor splattered with blood, the equipment room in total disarray, and spent casings scattered everywhere.
All the circumstances pointed to the intense battle that had just taken place.
‘Damn it, whether it’s So-hee or Uncle Dong-gil, just stay alive somehow.’
The most worrying thing right now was that no sounds were coming from anywhere in the school.
That meant, whether good or bad, some kind of result had already been determined.
A bad premonition suddenly flashed through his mind.
But until he confirmed their bodies with his own eyes, he had to operate under the assumption that the two were still alive.
‘Nothing’s certain yet.’
He pushed aside the ominous thoughts and focused solely on finding them before anything else happened.
Min-jun began scanning the room, examining the traces of the battle.
Footprints stamped here and there, the direction the blood had splattered.
He didn’t have any expert knowledge on tracking traces, but he tried to piece together the evidence to read the situation of the fight at that time.
“They blocked it once, but then couldn’t overcome the numbers of the guys who pushed in afterward and got dragged away?”
It was a blessing in disguise.
Being dragged away meant there was a reason to keep them alive. So the chances were high they were still alive.
And why they hadn’t killed the two and instead dragged them off was clear.
“To use as hostages to catch me.”
The other side must have received a quest almost identical to the one he got.
For them to win, they needed not only the lives of those two, but also the life of the party leader—himself.
As he followed their tracks out, cold moonlight illuminated the hallway.
It would have been better if it were a bit darker, but there were enough shadows even now, so Min-jun slung the greatsword on his back and drew the [Silent Fairbairn-Sykes].
‘….’
Min-jun’s form melted into the hallway shadows, gradually losing its shape.
* * *
Choi Woo-young, the sports-haired male underclassman, approached Lee Jin-won, who was scanning outside from the school rooftop, and spoke to him.
“Jin-won sunbae, do you think we can take down that monster bastard? Even the vice-captain got done in by him.”
Lee Jin-won, who had been peering at the parking lot relying only on the moonlight since no streetlights were on, half-listened to Choi Woo-young before realizing what the underclassman meant and kicked him in the shin.
“Ugh….”
“That mean I’m below that Yoon A-rin bitch? Watch your mouth if you don’t wanna die, punk. Don’t you still get why I brought those guys here alive instead of killing them?”
Lee Jin-won nodded toward one side.
There, So-hee and Dong-gil, bound tight like mummies, were precariously standing on the rooftop railing, only about a handspan from the edge.
“Yoon A-rin failed because that youngest punk, that bat bastard, backstabbed her. But in the end, she charged head-on at that monster. What good is having a head if you don’t use your brain?”
As Lee Jin-won said that, he slightly loosened the rope in his hand, and So-hee and Dong-gil’s bodies tilted outward bit by bit.
“Mmgh!”
“Ugh….”
The two, gagged, let out groans, but Lee Jin-won kept a straight face even as he watched.
“Anyway, did you send the youngest?”
“I sent him right away as soon as he got here. But that traitor bastard—why send him to the captain instead of just killing him?”
“The captain will decide his fate….”
‘He’ll probably get eaten, though.’
Lee Jin-won swallowed the afterthought and stared at the parking lot.
Had it started from that day when they encountered a hornet the size of a house and survived?
The vibe coming from the captain had changed. Others might not notice, but he, who had been close to the captain, could sense that subtle difference.
At first, it was just a vague suspicion, but it gradually turned into certainty, and today he confirmed it with his own eyes.
Yoon Doo-sik writhing in pain before being ‘eaten’ by the captain.
‘Ugh, thinking about it makes me pissed off again.’
Of course, they themselves could be said to ‘eat’ people by stealing their time through murder.
But he had literally ‘eaten’ a person.
And he hadn’t even hidden it from him. It felt like a warning. Like, this is what happens if you run.
“…Damn. Let’s wrap this up first and think later.”
Lee Jin-won shook off the thought and refocused ahead.
After entertaining the underclassman’s chatter for a few more minutes, Lee Jin-won spotted a silhouette standing in the middle of the parking lot.
Seeing the large something slung on its back, it was definitely that Lee Min-jun guy.
“Huh? Isn’t that the guy?”
“…Don’t make a fuss, quietly prepare to shoot.”
“Yes.”
At Lee Jin-won’s words, his direct underclassman Choi Woo-young had the first-years ready their shots.
Even amid that, Lee Jin-won didn’t take his eyes off the guy.
The bastard had appeared like a ghost right in the middle of the parking lot, but he just stood there blankly, doing nothing.
Lee Jin-won confirmed his underclassmen were ready and yelled loudly at him.
“You monster bastard, what’re you looking around for? The people you’re looking for are up here.”
“Mmgh!”
“Ughh—!”
His comrades seemed to have spotted him too and were trying to shout something, but with gags in their mouths, their voices wouldn’t reach him anyway.
Probably telling him not to worry about them and just fight.
“Hey, hey? At this rate, your comrades are gonna fall?”
“…”
“Hey, if you wanna save these people, drop your weapons on the ground and lie down quietly!”
“…”
“Fuck, do I look like a fucking idiot? This guy and that guy, everyone’s ignoring me.”
Feeling Min-jun’s silence as an insult to himself, Lee Jin-won scowled and shouted.
“Open fire!”
Bang! Bang! Click—
Bang! Bang! Click—
As soon as Lee Jin-won gave the order, flames and roars erupted from all directions, lighting up the dark night.
Once they’d expended all their loaded rounds, smoke rose from the red-hot muzzles.
As the thick smoke cleared, in the middle of the parking lot lay the guy, pitched forward.
“Ughh!!”
“Hngh— mmgh!”
His comrades, the first to spot it, wailed and thrashed, but Lee Jin-won pulled the rope to bring them down from the railing.
‘Now if I just send these two to the captain, it’s done.’
The captain was cruel and strangely changed, but his habit from school days of fiercely protecting his own made him the most reliable person in this hellish world.
Hand over these two, and he’d generously share time with those below.
Though things ended more easily than expected, good was good.
Lee Jin-won decided to think that way.
‘Yoon A-rin. If you were gonna die like this, why’d you piss off the captain?’
Separate from not liking Yoon A-rin, he’d acknowledged her skills to a certain extent.
But not only her, but all her underlings too—wiped out by that punk alone.
Something felt off about Yoon A-rin, whom he’d inwardly trusted, dying to such a green bastard, but the evidence of the guy’s death was too clearly laid out before his eyes to think otherwise.
‘If I get some time this time, maybe I should boost my stats too?’
He’d witnessed too many deaths already to feel sorry over a few club members dying.
With that final dilemma—ask for items or take time to raise stats—Lee Jin-won erased the last seeds of doubt.
“Jin-won sunbae! There’s someone here! Two of the kids are already down!”
“…What bullshit is that!”
Just as he was about to head back with the tribute for the captain, gunfire rang out along with his direct underclassman Choi Woo-young’s shout.
Lee Jin-won hurriedly looked around, and sure enough, the two farthest underclassmen lay collapsed.
“Damn it, everyone gather here!”
At Lee Jin-won’s shout, the underclassmen rushed over in a panic,
but
Stab. Stab.
“Gurk….”
Even amid that, a black silhouette appeared from thin air, and two more collapsed.
The black figure that killed the two first-years vanished back into the darkness in the blink of an eye.
“Back to back!”
By the time the club members finally gathered around him, only three remained alive, including himself.
As he frantically scanned the surroundings, his mind raced.
‘Damn, was there another one besides Lee Min-jun? No, the quest window said three total including him….’
He hurriedly opened the quest window to check progress.
「[Sub Quest – PvP]
Difficulty: C-
Clear Condition: ‘Mang-san High Shooting Club’ ambushes ‘Min-jun and Kids’.
Complete the following conditions 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
Tip) Murders occurring during quests have relatively less impact on Karma.」
‘What…. Lee Min-jun isn’t dead? No, clearly—’
Stab. Stab.
“Grk….”
Fsssh—
While Lee Jin-won had momentarily looked away at the quest window, the two underclassmen behind him clutched the spurting blood from their throats and fell.
Bang! Bang!
Lee Jin-won belatedly pulled the trigger at the silhouette, but once again, it vanished like a ghost.
No traces remained on the rooftop.
‘Fuck, I don’t know what happened, but it’s definitely that bastard.’
Lee Jin-won quickly ran to grab his comrades as hostages, but
Swipe—
He felt the cold touch of metal at his throat, and a whisper came in his ear.
“Where’s your captain? Tell me, and I’ll kill you painlessly.”
* * *
Min-jun pressed the dagger closer to the guy’s subtly trembling Adam’s apple.
“Cl-clearly, I saw him get riddled with bullets and turn into Swiss cheese.”
“That’s none of your business.”
Min-jun glanced at the black camouflage ring on his finger.
An item he’d bought while reorganizing at the police station not long ago. He’d thought it’d come in handy someday, but hadn’t expected to use it so soon.
「[Dummy Ring]
Price: 2,000 hours
Grade: Uncommon
Info: Summons a dummy with the same appearance and aura as the wearer for 5 minutes
Cooldown: 24 hours」
The trail leading to the parking lot had been too obvious, so he’d used [Shadow Step] to follow and discovered the guys waiting in ambush.
He’d turned their trap against them using the Dummy Ring.
If they’d been a bit more thorough, it could’ve been dangerous, but in the end, Dong-gil and So-hee were just hostages and didn’t seem badly hurt, so he could consider himself lucky all around.
“Tell me quick, Baek Ki-hyuk? Where’s that bastard—”
Boom—!!
That’s why…. While threatening the guy, he completely failed to notice the sudden ambush from someone.
Min-jun flew from the blow and crashed into a pile of stacked desks and chairs on one side of the rooftop.
“Ugh….”
By the time Min-jun extricated himself from the pile, a burly male student with sharp features was holding Lee Jin-won by the collar, glaring this way.
“Who says old habits die hard? No manners or morals.”
“…?”
“Quest or not, ripping open the bellies of the guys I’ve been carefully raising without my permission? One or two, fine, but 16 is too much. Well, thanks for leaving the youngest, at least.”
“Ca-captain…, I. I listened to you well, sunbae. I’ll keep listening. Please—”
Thud! Thud! Crack!
Baek Ki-hyuk didn’t even let Lee Jin-won finish, swinging the shotgun in his hand wildly to mercilessly bash his head.
Then, licking the blood off the barrel, he turned to Min-jun.
“You took all mine, old man, so it’s fair if I take yours, right?”
With that, he aimed the shotgun at Dong-gil and So-hee, still bound and lying there, but Min-jun, now in front of them, blocked the shot with his greatsword.
“We have to kill each other anyway to end this, so why not fight me first?”
“Hmm, rushing a meal ruins the flavor…. Not a bad idea. I’ll head there first, so follow me to the athletic field.”
With that, the guy vanished, and Min-jun used his dagger to free So-hee and Dong-gil.
Now free, the two stared blankly at Min-jun’s face in shock, but he ignored it and said what he needed to.
“I’ll explain everything later. While I deal with that guy, evacuate to a safe place.”
“L-leader, right? You’re alive?”
“Yeah. Hide somewhere safe. I’ll be back soon.”
Min-jun reassured them like that and leaped off in the direction the guy had flown.