Chapter 180: New Members (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 180: New Members (4)
The reason Japanese attackers are famous lies in their interpersonal combat—PvP.
There’s even a rumor that they’re better at fighting humans than monsters, given how much they love testing their skills against anyone holding a blade. It wasn't for nothing that they used to pick fights with me back when I was making a name for myself, betting their lives in dungeons just to see who was better.
As a B-rank hero, Satomi has a wealth of experience in fighting other people.
Then there’s Hornet.
The blue-haired girl currently sitting down with a look of pure boredom would likely be ranked around B-9 in terms of raw skill. She’s on the verge of reaching A-rank, and her entire skillset was forged through combat against humans.
Unlike Satomi, who fought people in the controlled environment of a sparring arena for friendly matches, Hornet has experience fighting in disadvantageous and diverse life-or-death situations. The technique she used to attack Woo Jae-hee—firing compressed air—was something she developed specifically to kill people quickly in the field.
In short, these two are specialists in interpersonal combat in this world.
They are the perfect opponents to measure the growth of the Black Unicorn members I’ve been training so hard.
The win rate? I wouldn't say it's 100 percent, but I’m betting on Black Unicorn’s victory.
A professional athlete who only has experience fighting within set rules? A specialist who honed their skills in the underworld against human targets?
Neither can compare to a military standard.
The sheer volume of knowledge and accumulated experience between an individual and a national-level organization is incomparable. Tactics and techniques forged from massive amounts of data, and combat data refined through the deaths of countless individuals—combat polished through the repetition of these two factors overwhelms individual martial prowess.
Of course, that also depends on the user’s abilities and stats.
But I believe my girls can pull it off.
If they lose, we just supplement what’s missing. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over a simple friendly match.
Checking my excitement, I explain the rules of the engagement to the two of them.
"We’ll do 2-on-2 matches with 30-minute breaks in between. Hornet and Satomi will stay on the same team, while Black Unicorn will rotate members. It’s a friendly match, so don't overdo it."
"Yes, I understand, Captain."
"Why are we doing this annoying crap?"
Satomi answers without complaint, seemingly used to such things, but Hornet scowls and grumbles.
"To show you why you need a supporter. For the first round, A-young and I will be the team."
When I answer with a smile, Satomi’s eyes sparkle. She looks happy to experience supporter tactics firsthand, but then she seems to realize something. She flinches and asks me cautiously.
"Um... Captain? I mean no offense, but..."
"If you have an opinion, speak freely."
"Don't supporters usually need more people to draw out their full potential...?"
"Pfft. She’s asking why a weakling like you is stepping into a duel," Hornet sneered, speaking for her.
"A-Ah, no! That’s not what I meant!"
As Hornet mockingly translated for her, Satomi cried out in a panic, her voice rising. Hornet looked up at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes, ignoring Satomi's denial.
"I’m of the same opinion, though. You’re weak as hell."
"I'm strong in other ways."
"... ..."
Yeah, I phrased that wrong.
I could feel the gazes of not just Hornet, but Yoon A-young standing next to me, and Kwon Ye-jin, Lee Yu-na, and even Anna behind me, all boring into me.
Satomi, who was the only one failing to read the room, looked back and forth between us, sensing the awkward atmosphere.
"Ah, I said that wrong."
"Wrong?"
"You're on my side, why are you pressuring me?"
"If we're on the same side, watch what you say. Don't embarrass yourself in front of the new members."
Satomi and Hornet let out small chuckles, seemingly finding the sight of me being scolded by Yoon A-young amusing.
Yes, my bad.
"Anyway, she’s grown a lot, so it’ll be a good fight."
"You're pretty confident. Don't blame me if I put a hole between your eyes."
Hornet stood up with a smirk, patting the dust off her rear.
I gave them a moment to coordinate, but Hornet ignored Satomi’s attempts to talk.
"Just do whatever you want. I’ll adjust on my own."
"Huh? But I should at least know a bit about you, Hornet-san, so I can match—"
"Air compression skill, long-range, preferred distance is two and a half steps. That enough? It’s not like it’s my first time fighting alongside you samurai types."
She doesn't seem to be underestimating me, but she’s certainly relaxed.
Come to think of it, Hornet must have fought with different members every time while working as a fixer, so her ability to coordinate should be excellent. It’s better to assume they won't have any issues cooperating.
After explaining the tactics to Yoon A-young, I step into the arena.
I watch the two of them draw their weapons and prepare. As soon as the signal to start is given, I fire a bullet into the ground.
"That again?"
You act like you don't care, but you've watched a lot of my videos, haven't you?
As smoke billows from the ground, Hornet sneers and fires compressed air. Even though the smoke obscures her vision, she possesses wind-related skills, giving her an excellent Presence Detection ability that allows her to perceive her surroundings through air currents.
The same goes for Satomi, who has honed her martial path through things like the Mind's Eye.
As I dodge the pinpoint snipes of compressed air, Satomi enters the smoke with her eyes closed and swings her katana at me.
Are you serious? She’s really fighting with her eyes shut?
Clang—!
Yoon A-young blocks Satomi’s blade, which was guided by an incredible sense of presence. Immediately, a blast of compressed air is fired at her.
"Tch!"
Yoon A-young clicks her tongue and rolls across the ground to dodge the compressed air falling vertically rather than horizontally.
That’s it. That’s why I chose Hornet.
And it’s also why she’s called Hornet.
Besides the small holes she leaves between people's eyes, she moves freely through the air by detonating compressed air. She isn't exactly flying, but she moves in zigzags by changing angles mid-air, giving her three-dimensional movement that grants her superior evasion and mobility.
But she’s not faster than a bullet.
Bang—!
As I aim my gun upward, air compresses around Hornet simultaneously. The bullet is stopped in mid-air by a solid wall of wind, and Hornet gives a sharp grin.
Rattle!
Suddenly, wire-like tentacles sprout from the bullet frozen in the air. Hornet’s eyes widen for a split second, but she kicks the air to escape without much trouble and fires back with compressed air.
I deploy a barrier in the air and provide support to Yoon A-young, who is being pushed back by Satomi.
"Acceleration, 5 seconds. Get ready."
As I fire a bullet at her feet and speak, Yoon A-young attacks by creating Ice Pillars.
Satomi moves her sword freely with simple flicks of her wrist, barely moving her body as she deflects the Ice Pillars. Wary of Yoon A-young’s acceleration, Satomi momentarily creates some distance.
The bullet embedded in the ground glows, accelerating both of them.
Satomi seems momentarily flustered, perhaps not expecting to receive the acceleration herself, but her hands don't stop moving her blade.
Though both are accelerated, Yoon A-young continues to be pushed back, finding it difficult to withstand Satomi’s quickened blade.
"Acceleration, 15 seconds."
I block Hornet’s carpet bombing and turn my muzzle toward the two of them.
"...!!"
When the acceleration triggers again without delay, Satomi is startled and barely manages to block Yoon A-young’s sword.
"This... will certainly be good training..."
Satomi gives a strained smile, looking troubled.
Support like acceleration can be extremely dangerous if not maintained properly, as it messes with a hero’s senses. Just like Satomi right now.
Only Yoon A-young had her acceleration triggered without delay upon being hit by the bullet. Satomi, having returned to normal after moving so quickly, becomes momentarily sluggish as her senses struggle to adjust to the loss of the buff.
And Yoon A-young isn't the type to miss such an opportunity.
She seizes the momentum and presses her advantage, putting pressure on Satomi.
Bang! Clang!
"I won't fall for that again."
Even though I fired from behind her, Satomi swung her sword with lightning speed, deflecting the bullet aimed at Yoon A-young without even looking.
"That’s a shame. You fell for it again."
Satomi gasps as her sword suddenly feels heavy.
With her excellent Presence Detection and skill, of course she would deflect the bullet.
Satomi, now hit with a debuff, had been busy fending off Yoon A-young’s attacks when she failed to adapt to the sudden acceleration buff. Yoon A-young lunges through the opening and thrusts her sword.
"What are you doing?"
Hornet drops between the two from the air and detonates the compressed air gathered in both hands.
Boom—!
With a loud explosion, the three of them are blown back in their respective directions, righting their postures before hitting the ground.
"Thank you. You saved me."
"If you're thankful, take down that brat first. I’ll handle him."
Despite her carpet bombing, Hornet hadn't had much fun with me, so she switches targets and tells Satomi to deal with me.
Having already been hit by my buff attacks, Satomi nods at Hornet’s instruction to eliminate me first and charges toward me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
As Yoon A-young chases after Satomi, Hornet sticks to her side and fires compressed air.
Yoon A-young twists her body quickly to dodge the air blasts and fires Ice Pillars, but Satomi activates her ability without even looking, moving a second sword she hadn't drawn yet.
Should I call it a skill perfectly suited for a country that loves swords?
Though it’s a mana-heavy skill, she can freely manipulate materials recognized as weapons. It’s what they call the Flying Sword Technique in China.
The sword, shrouded in blue mana, knocks away the Ice Pillars, and Satomi pursues me without any hindrance.
Hornet chases Yoon A-young, Yoon A-young chases Satomi, and Satomi chases me—a fun game of tag begins.
I do my best to hinder Satomi by firing bullets and scattering buffs and debuffs everywhere.
"Seriously, you're so annoying. Why are you so good at running away?"
Hornet grumbles, her senses seemingly scrambled after getting caught in a buff trap.
The fluctuating stats disrupt the combat senses the two have built up over the years, while Yoon A-young consistently receives buffs to suppress them.
In the end, the two gave up on me entirely and pounced on Yoon A-young, but they still lost.
"Haa... haa... As expected, the Captain is amazing."
Satomi looks up at me with an exhausted face and smiles.
"No, it’s not me; Black Unicorn is what's amazing. And now, Satomi and Hornet are part of Black Unicorn too."
At my words, Satomi nods vigorously, looking pleased.
I glance at Hornet, who is sprawled out on the ground; she turns her head away with a look of utter dissatisfaction.
So dishonest, as always.
"We’ll rest for 30 minutes, and then Ye-jin and I will team up for the next fight."
"...She said she was a Defender, right?"
"Yep, I'm a Defender. Nice to meet you."
When Kwon Ye-jin answers brightly, clearly wanting to be friendly, Hornet glares at me before turning her head away again.
This time, I even took out the attacker.
Thinking it would be a disgrace to lose here, the two of them give it their all from the very beginning.
They press the attack while being as wary as possible of buff traps, but I have no intention of using the same tactics.
Kwon Ye-jin toughs it out, holding her shield against the onslaught of their attacks.
Most of the bullets I fired were healing magic, and Kwon Ye-jin received a continuous stream of heals and buffs until the end of the fight, holding her ground until the very last moment.
"Hmm... shall we call it a draw?"
"Haa... haa... Draw, my ass. This was your goal from the start... whew... haa, haa... wasn't it?"
"Supporting is about drawing out the target's strengths to the fullest, after all."
Attacking consumes a surprising amount of stamina.
Hornet, who was forced into a war of attrition by Kwon Ye-jin’s focused defense, panted heavily, clutching her aching side. Satomi, who had used mana-heavy skills in hopes of a quick resolution, was also drenched in sweat and exhausted.
"You said it was about drawing out strengths, but Ye-jin-san’s skills are also quite formidable."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Seeing Kwon Ye-jin answer brightly without even lowering her guard, Satomi gives a wry smile.
"Honestly, I’m surprised. A-young-san was the same, but even when I try to break your posture, you recover immediately, so I can't find an opening. On top of that, the Captain’s support never stops, making the battle so difficult. Have the others learned this way of fighting as well?"
It’s only natural she’s impressed, considering I put them through rigorous training to recover their posture using Han So-ye’s deflection skill.
I nod and point to the other two.
"Yes. It’s best to experience it firsthand. Your next opponents are Yuna and Anna."
"Not the Captain?"
"I told you. It’s not that I’m strong; it’s that Black Unicorn is strong."
They shouldn't think Black Unicorn is only strong because of me. They need to experience the other supporter, Lee Yu-na, to truly acknowledge Black Unicorn itself.
I made sure to drain their stamina beforehand just in case, but I hope they don't think I'm being too unfair.
Under the guise of being generous, I let them rest for an hour before starting the spar again.
The result was a victory for Lee Yu-na and Anna, though it was a close call.
After all, they are the two with the highest stats, having re-cleared dungeons specifically tailored for Black Unicorn. Furthermore, Anna can raise all her stats through Demonization, and Lee Yu-na is a supporter who can also act as a sub-attacker.
While Anna has a slight weakness in interpersonal combat, her stats become much higher once she undergoes Demonization, and Lee Yu-na coordinated the battle with excellent instructions.
"We lost."
Satomi bows her head and admits defeat.
"Even though we were a makeshift team, Hornet-san coordinated with me as if we had fought together many times. Honestly, I didn't think we would lose, but everyone is amazing. So this is the party the world is watching. I’ve learned a lot."
"Let’s climb even higher together."
"Yes. Thank you for choosing me."
After receiving her polite greeting, I look at Hornet, who is sprawled out again.
"I'm not fighting you anymore."
"Why?"
"That busty duo was at least worth fighting, but fighting you is just annoying."
Hey now—I didn't fight that unfairly.
I have plenty of even more vicious tactics, so why the attitude?
"I... have to agree with that."
Even Satomi gives a wry smile, agreeing with Hornet. The other party members also nod in agreement.
No, really, this was the mild version!
Seeing my party members exchanging looks as if they’d found common ground, I could only stand there in disbelief.