The Heavenly Demon Shoots a Gun (1)

My prediction was not wrong. The moment I returned home, I dove straight into the world of Hwaryong Muin and met Baru, Baekju, and Jongsen. Their answers were identical to what the dragon had told me. A world without the Dao could not exist. If anything appeared to lack the Dao, it simply meant my own realm was not high enough to perceive it.

“Would you show me once? I believe I could make an educated guess then.” Jongsen asked, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. Unfortunately, I could not show him. My physical body inside Hwaryong Muin was simply too weak. No matter how fiercely I burned my in-game life to circulate internal energy, replicating the same feat proved far too difficult.

In any case, I asked them how one might see what lay inside that empty space. Their answers were the same. See more.

“Even a martial artist finds it difficult at first to sense the internal energy dwelling within their own body. Yet with accumulated experience, they naturally come to perceive it, do they not? The principle is identical. The more one sees and experiences, the sharper one’s ability to perceive becomes.”

Come to think of it, compared to when I first awakened the ability to see the Dao, far more things were becoming visible to me now. When I observed the real world with my physical body, the movement of energies was so clear it felt as if the entire world was laid bare.

In the end, the conclusion was that I needed to train diligently in Taoist magic. Only then would I learn what existed inside spaces that appeared empty, and only then would I discover how to destroy it. To be honest, the desire to simply pour all my power into smashing it apart was not entirely absent. But I had no idea what consequences that might bring. I doubted a single island vanishing would be the end of it.

Regardless, the answer was to see and experience more. And for that, I possessed the perfect tool. VR games. This device, which allowed me to accumulate vast experiences in a world nearly indistinguishable from reality, was currently my best option. Hadn’t the worlds within Apis already taught me about the power called mana that I had never known before? In Sky’s End I had witnessed and experienced magic, and in Dawn Escape, which I played with Enly not long ago, I had faced creatures known as zombies. Since every game let me explore a new world, what could be better for seeing and experiencing more than gaming?

Moreover, it had the added benefit of letting my viewers experience a wider variety of things through my streams.

Having decided to try various games, I immediately posted on my broadcast board asking viewers to recommend games they thought I should play. Despite posting in the early morning, comments flooded in within moments.

Among them, the recommendation that received the most votes was the gun-based game Enly was currently grinding her teeth over.

Since I had watched Enly play it several times, I already knew what kind of game Epic Legend was. Simply put, you dropped onto the map with nothing, scavenged weapons and armor, and fought to be the last survivor among dozens of players. I had started with zero background knowledge, but after seeing viewers who were annoyed by Enly’s antics give advice, I had picked up quite a bit of miscellaneous information.

I had already been curious about it, and since the viewers wanted to see me play, there was no reason to refuse.

“So the game I’ll be playing today is Epic Legend. I’ve already installed it and finished the basic tutorial. That means I can jump straight into real matches.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve learned a lot from watching Enly’s streams.”

Lately I had even caught myself muttering that it might be better to just watch Enly’s broadcasts, so there was no need for concern.

“First, let’s warm up before we begin.”

Entering the training ground, I started by moving my body lightly. It was far stronger than an ordinary human’s, but that was all. It was not the body of a martial artist. Without mana or internal energy, it was merely strong. Since I had almost no training in handling energy, the world’s energies appeared only faintly.

That said, growth was impossible here. The state of one’s body in this game was fixed. In this condition, I would have to practice distinguishing energies.

After finishing my adaptation to the body, I picked up a suitable firearm from those scattered on the floor. This was probably what they called an assault rifle. I remembered it was one of the weapons Enly preferred. I couldn’t recall the exact name, though.

With the assist function on, I fired a few shots. My body naturally assumed the proper stance. I roughly understood the intention. It was designed to minimize recoil as much as possible.

After that, I switched between various firearms, confirming the optimal ways to fire them, then turned the assist function off and repeated the process. Once you understood what the stance was aiming for, imitating it wasn’t particularly difficult.

It didn’t take long to grow familiar with the weapon known as a gun.

At the same time, I etched into my eyes the various energies that appeared whenever a gun was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fired. Distinguishing exactly what each one was still difficult, but I would grow used to it with continued observation.

“Good. I’ve roughly grasped the feel of it now. Let’s begin.”

Leaving the training ground, I immediately started the game. The mode was solo. The simple rule was to be the last survivor among sixty players.

Not long after hitting match, a window appeared before me and the surrounding scenery changed. I was high in an empty sky. As I looked around, I saw the other players who had started with me doing the same. Since I was a complete beginner, the others around me were likely beginners as well. Or perhaps some were veterans pretending to be newbies after seeing me start the game. Either way, it didn’t matter. No matter how familiar they were with the game, it would be enough to simply take their heads.

Although I had never played it myself, I had seen plenty. I chose an appropriate landing spot and descended. Then I entered a building to look for weapons, but all I found were grenades, health recovery items, and bullets.

“Unlucky from the start.”

I had heard that securing a firearm at the beginning was crucial. Oh well. I was thinking of searching elsewhere when I sensed a presence outside the door. Between the footsteps came the sound of a gun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being readied.

I take back what I said about being unlucky. It seemed someone was kindly bringing me exactly what I needed.

The door burst open and our eyes met. He seemed unaware of my presence; his reaction was slow. His pupils trembled once. Only after recognizing me did he raise his gun barrel. Wasn’t he giving up all his advantage that way?

By the time his finger reached the trigger, I was already standing in front of him. I struck the barrel aside with the back of my hand, then slammed my palm into his chin, forcing his gaping mouth shut. Seeing his body lose balance and fall backward, I pursued. I stomped down on the head of the fool who still hadn’t grasped the situation.

Tough one. An ordinary person would have died from that. I repeated the motion several times, grinding him beneath my foot, before his body finally collapsed limply to the floor.

“What can you do? You can only blame your own weakness.”

Those lacking in skill would naturally be weeded out. If he gave up and dropped out of this trial, that would be his own ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sin.

*

Sung-myeon Kim, a user who had played Epic Legend for a long time, had occupied the high ground and was surveying the area below. In this game, plays like occupying high ground or setting ambushes normally didn’t yield great results. There were simply too many ways to counter them. However, it was different in the beginner zone where newbies gathered. They didn’t know the counter methods, and even if they did, they couldn’t utilize them properly. When a high-tier player like him came down with the intent to harass, no one could stop him.

Another newbie had popped out. He wasn’t even considering that someone might be aiming for him; he was just running while staring at the map. It was practically advertising “please shoot me.” The smell of fresh newbie was overwhelming.

First, land a shot to the head and then play with him. Since he was a newbie, once attacked he would panic and wouldn’t even be able to find where the attacker was, right?

Thinking that, Sung-myeon Kim pulled the trigger the moment the newbie suddenly stopped moving.

Bang!

The bullet he had fired while predicting movement naturally missed.

What? How did he notice? He didn’t seem to have realized my position, did he? A coincidence? Yeah, it must be a coincidence.

He put his eye back to the scope to shoot the newbie again and saw the newbie staring straight at him.

“Damn. Is that bitch using an alt too?”

Confirming that his next shot had also missed, he calmly prepared for the following sequence. The distance was still far. If he landed two or three hits before the opponent closed in, taking them down wouldn’t be hard.

However, his bullets never reached the opponent. One shot. Two shots. Three shots. Every bullet fired at the opponent—who was charging in at a speed far faster than normal, using some kind of technique—missed completely.

“What kind of movement is that!”

It wasn’t his fault. The opponent’s movement was simply unnaturally good. It looked exactly as if they were watching the bullets and then deciding where to step. No, what tier alt account is that? How is movement like that even possible?

Realizing the distance had shrunk dramatically, he chose to flee rather than fight. First enter a building, secure a favorable position, then use a skill—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

At the voice coming from beside him, Sung-myeon Kim turned his head and met a pair of black eyes staring at him.

What? When did they get next to me? I didn’t hear any footsteps or anything?

As multiple questions flashed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠through his mind, a gun barrel was thrust before his eyes. The opponent smiled as they pulled the trigger.

Fuck. This is definitely a hack.