The Red Bear of Russia
The incident had begun an hour earlier.
May, when the sunlight grew stronger.
The air in Siberia remained cold.
Even while basking in the sun, a chill clung to the skin, and white vapor curled from the corners of mouths.
“Achoo.”
“Analyst Thomas, are you all right?”
“I let my guard down because it’s early summer. I must have made a mistake.”
Thomas, a Gold-rank player.
Having chosen a ranged attack class, his physical abilities weren’t particularly high.
If he had been wearing equipment it might have been different, but in a short-sleeved shirt, enduring the cold would be difficult.
“You should put on some spare clothes.”
“I suppose I must. If I catch a cold or something……”
The moment Thomas turned around—
“You call this breeze cold?”
“How weak. This is why outsiders are useless.”
A group of skinheads approached.
Men and women alike had shaved their heads clean, strange tattoos etched across the bare skin.
Shin Junseok stepped forward, eyes wary.
“Who are you people?”
“You don’t even recognize the Russian Guardian Knights?”
“Typical Easterners.”
“You can’t even handle this much cold, yet you claim you came to help our country?”
“Go back to your own nation!”
Killing intent flickered in the skinheads’ eyes.
Ah, I remembered now.
During the First Great Erosion, these guys had been running wild too.
“Neo-Nazi scum.”
I swept my hair back and stepped forward.
“Neo-Nazis?”
“Idiots who go on about Slavic racial superiority.”
“Haha.”
Shin Junseok let out an awkward laugh.
Right. Russia had always been like this.
After the Soviet Union collapsed and the country opened its long-locked doors, it became a nation riddled with problems.
One of them was the rise of extreme nationalism and neo-Nazism.
“Weren’t the Nazis German?”
“Hitler may have championed it, but Nazism is still a political ideology.”
“It’s rather distasteful, calling it a political ideology.”
Hong Yunsu frowned.
“I’m only speaking in terms of classification. It doesn’t change the fact that they’re trash, so don’t worry about it.”
Extreme ideologies were never welcomed anywhere.
Neo-Nazis were no exception.
The men and women with shaved heads who called themselves the Guardian Knights had been a fringe group in society.
That is, until the Tower of Babel appeared.
In the world before the Tower, money had been the measure of power.
Because it was a capitalist society.
But once the Tower sent invitations to people all over the world, players became the new measure of strength.
“It became a society where nobodies could puff up their chests.”
“You. Did you just insult us?”
“At least you understood that much.”
“You……!”
One of the skinhead men swung a club.
Mega Bash
An orange glow enveloped the club.
Just before it could collide with my head—
Polar Night surged up from beneath my feet and coiled around the weapon.
“Team Leader Han Suchang.”
“Y-yes?”
Han Suchang, who had only just noticed the club a beat late, replied in surprise.
He wasn’t a player, just an ordinary person.
There was no way he could have properly seen the attack from a skinhead whose physical abilities far exceeded those of a normal human.
In times like this, it was necessary to remind him of the situation.
“We were attacked first.”
“I-I see.”
Han Suchang nodded with a dazed expression.
The skinhead gripping the club struggled with all his might.
“Let go! I said let go!”
The Polar Night did not waver.
Scanning him with the Thousand Eyes, I saw he was only at the level of an ordinary Bronze-rank player.
The fact that he couldn’t even think of releasing the club made him look like a novice.
“So from here on, our actions will be considered self-defense.”
“There won’t be any diplomatic issues either. All of our movements are being recorded.”
As expected.
He grasped my intent immediately.
“You heard it clearly—self-defense, right?”
“What the hell are you talking about!”
“You’ll understand once you experience it yourself.”
I couldn’t use martial arts, body techniques, or magic.
These guys were far too weak.
If blood was spilled, it could cause international problems.
Instead—
“It’ll hurt enough to make you wish you were dead.”
Body of Darkness activated.
Darkness Domination activated.
I released Polar Night at maximum output.
The entire group of skinheads fell within its range.
“What is this black stuff?”
“Shake it off!”
“Damn it, what the hell are you doing……?”
Struggle all you want.
I wasn’t sure if they could shake off the authority of the Goddess of Night, but—
I controlled the Polar Night with sheer will, coiling it around the skinheads’ legs.
Crack—!
Their legs twisted at grotesque angles.
A beat later, the skinheads screamed as agony finally registered.
“Graaaaaah!!!”
“I’ve seen enough of your skills.”
The skinheads staggered as their legs broke.
The Polar Night split into dozens of strands and wrapped around their entire bodies.
“Pathetic.”
I hadn’t used martial arts, body techniques, or magic.
These skinheads were so weak that it was difficult to finely control my strength.
If I had used the Responding Dragon Emperor Fist, their bodies would have been torn to pieces.
While I was at it, I decided to use this as training to control my power with Polar Night.
“The Russian Guardian Knights aren’t finished with just us…….”
“Don’t bark. It’s noisy.”
Polar Night sealed the mouth of the skinhead who kept babbling.
“Ivan’s been taken down.”
“They got Boris too!”
“You bastards, aren’t you afraid of the Russian Guardian Knights?!”
More skinheads came rushing in.
“Seniors, please stay back. I’ll handle this on my own.”
“Stepping in ourselves would probably be more merciful, though?”
Shin Junseok clicked his tongue.
How perceptive.
People like them would immediately raise their heads the moment they sensed even the slightest opening.
When you stepped on them, you had to crush them without mercy.
You couldn’t afford to give them any room.
Even in an era where potions and healing skills could recover most injuries—
The fear etched into their minds wouldn’t be so easily erased.
The self-proclaimed “Guardian Knights” had gathered in numbers exceeding a hundred.
Most were between Silver and Bronze rank.
Occasionally, a Gold-rank player was mixed in among them.
“All the better.”
Even Golds weren’t so weak that a single hit would kill them.
While I was smashing through the endless wave of skinheads—
Serge appeared.
A man whose head reached a full head taller than mine.
He looked down at me with eyes filled with killing intent.
Piercings in his nose and ears.
Unknown tattoos densely covered every inch of exposed skin.
So he had been abusing his body like this even back then.
“You’ve got some nerve, Easterner! Thinking you can show off your skills? That won’t be enough—get lost!”
Serge glared at me.
Haah.
I let out a short sigh.
“Russia’s Red Bear. There seems to be a misunderstanding……”
Hong Yunsu stepped forward with an awkward smile, but—
“Misunderstanding, my ass!”
Whoosh—!
Serge’s fist stopped right in front of Hong Yunsu’s forehead.
Hair fluttered from the wind pressure.
Staring at the fist that had halted a hair’s breadth away, Hong Yunsu’s cheek twitched.
“Shouldn’t you at least hear us out?”
“Be grateful I didn’t crush your skull with my fist. That’s mercy.”
He wasn’t listening.
That had been his attitude even before the regression.
I tapped Hong Yunsu’s shoulder and pulled him back.
“Looks like we’ll have to communicate the same way after all.”
“What did you just mutter, Easterner?”
“I said let’s talk, baldy.”
“……This is a fashion statement, not baldness!!!”
The fully exposed scalp flushed red.
The moment Serge let out an enraged roar—
Responding Dragon Emperor Fist activated.
I struck him with a fist infused with inner energy.
Serge’s body flew dozens of meters and slammed into a wall.
“G-Guildmaster, this is……”
“I told you. I’ll handle things here.”
“Serge is Russia’s number one ranker. Are you sure this is all right?”
“I have a plan.”
This was a situation I had experienced even before the regression.
To have a conversation with this guy, you first had to open his ears.
And to do that, you had to cool down his overheated head.
“Fine, Easterner. You want a fight, is that it?”
Serge, still embedded in the wall, shouted.
“He took that attack and he’s still fine.”
“Does that mean he reacted to it?”
The two rankers let out exclamations of admiration.
A fist-shaped bruise lingered on his forearm.
Serge had reacted to the Responding Dragon Emperor Fist I had unleashed as a surprise attack.
“Come at me.”
“You’ll regret this.”
The two-meter giant, Serge, rose to his feet with a menacing grin.
Riiip!
Serge tore off his shirt with his right hand.
His upper body was laid bare.
Multiple tattoos densely covered his chest.
—How unsightly.
“Those are all magic circles.”
A Magic Warrior who had mastered both magic and close combat.
That was Serge’s class.
His unique ability, Dual Talent, was also related to the Magic Warrior class.
“He uses auxiliary magic and debuffs through the tattoos carved into his skin.”
Power of Ogre
Windwalk
Shield
Damage Condenser
……
In the time it took to draw a single breath, ten auxiliary spells had been applied.
So the tattoos weren’t just for show.
While Serge prepared for battle, I didn’t stay idle either.
“Goddess.”
—Understood.
The blessing of the Goddess of Night and Piotr’s blessing.
And then I applied the Shackles of Wrath on Serge.
Clang—!
Dark mana coiled around his ankles.
“Tricks like that won’t work on me!”
Serge’s figure blurred.
Blink × 2
He used Blink consecutively.
In an instant, he closed the distance I had created with the Responding Dragon Emperor Fist.
To think he would offset the “no charge” penalty attached to the Shackles of Wrath like this.
That’s Serge for you.
“Easterner! This is payback for that punch earlier.”
A powerful wind rotated in the shape of a blade around his forearm.
Raging Storm
Superhuman Strength
Aura
A skill that combined magic, body techniques, and Aura.
A mysterious technique that only a Magic Warrior could use.
A powerful combo on par with Rene Davis’s Fusion Qigong.
However—
“It was the same back then too.”
To me, who possessed memories from before the regression, it wasn’t particularly surprising.
Because the moment he used consecutive Blinks—
My counterattack had already begun.
Using my right foot as an axis, I spun my entire body.
I pushed away Serge, who had closed the distance himself, with the Black Tortoise Rock Press.
An attack timed to strike before his Magic Warrior technique could display its full power.
The rotating wind and Aura became entangled, reducing their effectiveness.
“Y-you……”
Serge groaned as he was pushed back.
He would probably try to escape with Blink again, but—
I interfered with the spatial coordinates in the vicinity using Polar Night.
Since magic that manipulated space was sensitive to even minor changes, this much was enough to disrupt it.
“You can come as you please, but—”
Light Rat’s Advance activated.
Among the first twelve forms of the Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts, it was the technique that could be executed the fastest.
“Leaving won’t be so easy.”
I thrust the Light Rat’s Advance into Serge’s exposed torso.