Distortion Bullets and the Healer's Defeat

If I could just get my hands on a Dispel bullet, it might be the key to breaking through the barrier around Cartibes's egg.

"Whoa!"

I'd been here once before. Jenny seemed amazed, though.

If the operations room had a bit of an over-the-top Interstellar vibe, this place felt like Bruce Banner's lab.

Every inch of it was sleek and sophisticated—worlds away from my dingy one-room apartment.

Holograms and 3D models were displayed everywhere inside. All of them related to sniping gear or tactics and strategy.

While Jenny's eyes widened as she looked around in wonder, I zeroed in on 'Ammunition Research' first.

Over there were images of rifle barrels, gas regulators, and other firearm parts. That had to be firearm enhancement. Scopes were on this side. The sections were divided pretty intuitively.

There it was. Ammunition.

A screen showed images of various bullets. They looked the same shape-wise but came in different colors. Just like the white bullets, each probably had unique effects.

A long table stretched out with all sorts of tools on it. Looked like assembly equipment.

A small circular light appeared on the floor in front of the sector, along with the alert message. It meant step onto it, I figured.

Jenny hopped right into the circle. Her face lit up like she'd spotted something. "Huh?"

"What do you think? Can you research bullets?"

"Y-Yes! It says it's possible! And there's research exclusive to me too!"

Good. I'd been worried we needed a specialist agent, but that wasn't the case.

"Can you do Dispel bullets? Like the ones from the Creper fight I sniped in."

"Dispel bullets, Captain? Uh, so... Dispel... Ah! There it is!"

Damn it.

I knew it.

"How do you make them?"

"Um, it's super complicated! I don't fully get it yet, but it needs a ton of materials... and takes a long time!"

Then a message popped up.

As expected. Jenny gasped, "Eek!" But I could feel her burning determination. It'd be tough, but no choice right now.

It'd take about 12 hours, apparently.

The materials were mostly available from the Sniper Shop. Some from the Hunter Universe [Shop], and others from user listings in the [Auction House].

We'd also need a bunch of magic stones, but the top-grade ones I'd looted as spoils would cover it.

I bought the essentials right away. It dinged my funds a bit, but now it was just a matter of researching and crafting.

Conveniently, processes like smelting and processing seemed automated by the shelter system.

The issue was Jenny had to handle the 'assembly' herself. That's why all the tools were set up in front of the sector.

"It's all detailed here! I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠study it!"

The good news was it just involved following guided steps physically. A small status window appeared in front of Jenny.

I peeked—detailed breakdowns of components and how they manifested effects. Brain-melting stuff.

"...Uh, uh. So, like this here."

"Hold on, Jenny."

Before diving in, I asked about the 'exclusive research' she'd mentioned.

Seemed each agent had specific bullets they could research, and per Jenny, hers was just one: Muyoung Bullet.

This one required Jenny's mana infusion. Did that mean distortion magic was based on 'voiceless mana'?

I wanted to check its effects. Muyoung Bullet. Probably had some unique effect like Jenny's magic.

"Um... Reading this, it doesn't seem too hard! It finishes at step 1 of the Dispel bullet process! I just inject my mana then! I'll make a few midway!"

"Good. Then let's do the Muyoung Bullet at step 1."

Meanwhile, I couldn't just sit idle, so I headed to the [Training Ground].

Dispel bullets would take time, but hey, progress.

Sure, I could luck into a Dispel from white bullets right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now... but that was gambling. And if it was an incendiary? I'd be the World Tower bombing terrorist on the spot.

Now it was just a waiting game. Back to square one: honing my skills.

As I left the lab to head to the wardrobe next door, an email popped up.

Hunter Management Bureau mails were set to notify right in front of me now.

Solid call. No downside to prepping early.

Time for me to gear up. One shot, no mistakes.

High-rankers and hunter squads were positioned all around World Tower.

Cheon Seung-hyuk and the holy hunters at the top, near the spire.

Kim Chi-gon and other elites on the first floor or nearby, on standby.

"For real? The unregistered guy's coming?"

Kim Chi-gon asked with an uncharacteristically serious look. Kim Chun-gyu emphasized over comms it was classified.

- The Bureau plans to request his help, but you know how it is. Unregistered's a special, independent card. We go in thinking we'll clear Cartibes ourselves.

"I get it. I saw it with my own eyes. How do we strategize around someone whose attack timing we don't even know?"

- How's the situation there?

"What do you think? It's a shitshow."

Chaotic atmosphere. No clear start time.

One thing was sure: when it kicked off, it'd be a disaster. Meanwhile,

Seol of Hongmaehwa waited on a distant rooftop with her subordinates.

"Unregistered contacted the Bureau first."

"......"

The air turned icy. Her subs silently watched the tower's peak beside her. Then,

- Fwoooosh...

A mechanical mass landed on the rooftop across from Hongmaehwa. A massive alloy capsule.

Rank 6 = Mechanical Legion MARK-67

- Clank...

The capsule split apart on landing, reassembling in complex motions into a humanoid robot.

- Quick arrival. Mechanical Legion Master. Appreciated.

A rare mechanic awakener, MARK-67.

Mechanical Legion handled DPS, tanking, and mobility. Fresh from dungeon cleanup, already here.

"Situation. Dungeon. Cleared."

TOP 7~20 were still delayed, handling provincial dungeons.

Then Hae-dong, trying to link up with Kim Chi-gon at the base, leaped high and landed by MARK-67.

"Ha! Everyone! This is my fated rival, the machine man! See him? Cool, right? Huh? Signal's weird? Why?"

- Static.

"Wha—hey? This ain't right?"

Lucky it was a machine—no expression. Instead, it jammed Hae-dong's signal, killing his live stream.

"Defense line. Established? Dokgakchon."

"Huh? Uh... just catch any bad guys that pop out, yeah? Anyway, why's my stream glitching? Can you fix it?"

Ignoring Hae-dong, MARK-67 revved its engines, hovered, and circled the tower peak.

"Energy. Fluctuating. Danger level. Critical. Apostle elimination. Priority. Yoon So-i Hunter. Nearly done?"

MARK-67 coordinated with Kim Chun-gyu, deploying hundreds of attack drones around World Tower,

and set up anti-air interceptors to block fragments spreading across Seoul.

"Bombardment prep. Complete."

Missiles, drones, recon radars, even elemental mana emitters—deployed building by building. Instant Seoul defense line.

Mechanical Legion's top goal: minimize Seoul damage. Cartibes pinpoint strike second. But

MARK-67 had one more concern.

"Combat safety. Secured. Seoul. Safe."

As a strategic asset solidifying its place in Korea,

its national utility outshone any private guild, earning unrivaled Bureau support.

......Until recently.

"Two shots, but I made them first! Dispel bullets will... take longer! Sorry!"

The low-completion Muyoung Bullets: two ready.

Presented as a skill, like white bullets.

Consumable skill, no cooldown.

"I messed up 'cause it was too hard..."

"No, you did amazing!"

Jenny looked deflated. But way faster than expected. I sure as hell couldn't do it. Mages must have quick wits.

Cartibes battle felt imminent. Dispel bullets weren't ready, but we had something from the lab—a new variable to internalize.

Set to 'current location,' placed 20 aerial bots on the ghoul rooftop.

Muyoung Bullet's trait mirrored Jenny: distortion. No clue what that meant exactly, so I fired one at the aerial bot cluster.

- Fwish...!

- Thud!

Hit an aerial bot. No explosion, no destruction. Just a muffled pop. Then,

- Vrrrrmmm...

"!!!"

Incredible sight. Space around the hit bot warped like Jenny's magic, heat-haze style,

- Vrrrrmmm...

Holy shit. Nearby bots got sucked toward the impact like a black hole, converging en masse. Not just that.

- Crunch. Cruuunch. Crunch.

Caught in the massive gravity well, bots smashed into each other, shattering. Parts crumpled, fused—violently compressing into a giant robot sphere.

After a minute sucking everything in the narrow radius to one point, the effect ended. The massive orb of robot wreckage plummeted to the ghoul rooftop.

- Thud...

So densely packed it held spherical shape even after impact.

"What the hell...?"

Dunno about much else, but great for clumping small flying bastards... Problem was no friend-foe distinction—just warped space itself. Where to even use this?

"Alright... Got a decent bullet at least. Time to exit and plan strategy."

I cracked the window, gazing at distant World Tower. Cartibes was in there. Then,

Jenny sidled up.

"Huh, what? You can leave your post now?"

"Yes! It said put it in some machine, and wait an hour!"

Perfect. Time to scout distortion points ahead.

Safe spot + likely Cartibes location + won't get caught.

I'd marked a few points in training that hit all three.

- Vrrrrmmm...

Distortion point forming in the corner.

But unexpected snag.

- Pop!

As I tried entering, the point vanished.

"Huh?" Jenny looked at me, flustered.

"Distortion point won't form...! Why is this happening...? I'm still such an idiot!"

No. I'd seen this before. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠In the Creper fight, no nearby points—barely snagged one mid-mountain. Limited me to frontal shots.

Barrier mentioned—emitting similar energy? I'd picked points farther than then, half-expecting this.

Meant the barrier was stronger.

I directed Jenny to another point. Much farther. But,

- Pop!

Again. Two, three more tries—all failed. Jenny near tears, but I went with my last backup point.

Definitely far. Even for me, a stretch to snipe from there.

My fault, ultimately. Anyway, reform point there.

- Vrrrrrmmm...

"Ooh! It worked!"

"Good job, Jenny."

So, this far, huh.

Lucky Dispel bullets were coming soon. Shatter the barrier, and we'd have huge momentum. My role mostly done.

Plus, this odd Muyoung Bullet attack option.

"Yeah. Let's do it. Distance? Whatever. I'll drill till I nail it."

"Yes! Captain can do anything!"

Best if no hatch. If it does, latest and weakest possible. Either way, one answer.

My skill.

Jenny headed back to lab when time was up,

and I re-entered [Training Ground] to grind skill and application. Then,

- Ding!

Bureau status mail.

Hourly updates since proxy showed. I skimmed, about to train, but

"What."

I froze mid-step reading it.

Simple content.

Yoon So-i lost.

End