Can You Sleep at That Level? (2)
In the dense, overgrown forest, the trees shook with a constant rustle. Squealing grotesquely, an orc appeared. This bipedal, somewhat intelligent demi-human had unfortunately not been granted human rights by the gate investigation team. Judged as actively hostile to humans, incompatible in values with humanity, and impossible to reform, orcs and their relatives were classified as targets for extermination. On top of that, they yielded excellent magic stones as resources, so humans were even more aggressive in hunting them.
An arrow flew in from somewhere and pierced the charging orc’s head, killing it instantly.
“Pioni! Bullseye!”
“Yahoo!”
I was evaluating Siwoo and Pioni while they hunted orcs. That didn’t mean I was sitting idle; I collected magic stones from the monster corpses, so I was still contributing to the party. I pulled the magic stone from the orc’s body, slipped it into my backpack, and returned the hunting arrow to Pioni.
“Good! That’s enough for now. Let’s take a break.”
“Whew… I knew it would be a forced march, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad…”
“I can still keep going!”
Siwoo collapsed right where he stood. His greatsword clattered to the ground, and the light armor layered over his school uniform scraped faintly. After four straight hours of hunting everything from F-rank goblins to D-rank orcs, it was understandable. In contrast, Pioni still looked fresh. It was actually stranger for a modern human to operate more efficiently than an elf in forest terrain. Every step and every breath had piled up over four hours without rest.
“Hmm… the results are better than I expected.”
Siwoo’s claim that he had trained hard for a year didn’t seem like a lie—his stats were quite high. If his level had been 1 at the entrance ceremony, he was now level 10. His stats leaned heavily toward strength, agility, and stamina, making him a classic vanguard type. Since he wasn’t overly specialized in any one area, there were plenty of builds I could apply. Pioni, on the other hand, was around level 3—the standard level after clearing the tutorial. Her stats looked like they had been auto-assigned, so there wasn’t much to comment on. Once her equipment matched her level, she would become overwhelmingly strong.
The conclusion was clear: I needed to focus more care on Siwoo right now.
“Hehehe…”
“What… don’t look at me with those eyes…”
“Put this on, and that, and…”
The first build was the Tin Can Man.
Clank. Clank.
Siwoo was covered in iron from head to toe. It looked similar to medieval knight armor, but because it had been designed for non-humans, the plates were far thicker and much heavier.
“This… it’s hard just to walk in it… Sky?”
“No, this isn’t the end!”
The core of the tin-can build was abandoning evasion entirely and simply taking every hit. That was why I brought out that weapon.
“Wait, this is a gun! Where did you even get this?! And isn’t this straight-up illegal?!”
A gun nearly the size of a grown person was mounted on Siwoo’s shoulder. The weight was so immense that his feet sank slightly into the ground.
“Not at all. I bought it legally in a country where firearm purchases are permitted, stored it in my dimensional backpack, and took it out inside the gate. Completely legal.”
“Just because it was in the bag, it’s not illegal?”
“The inside of the bag is another dimension. I only carry the entrance with me. I’ve never possessed it on South Korean soil.”
It sounded like a bizarre loophole, but dimensional backpacks weren’t common items. The precedent had been created by high-ranking hunters who used top-tier lawyers. Right before the government lost the case, they had negotiated: anything could be taken out inside gates, just not brought onto the mainland.
“What kind of law is that…? And don’t tell me there’s even more illegal stuff in that bag?”
“Ahem… anyway, it’s legal, so let’s test it on that orc. Pioni, please step back.”
“Okay. I will!”
The orc facing Siwoo wore various ornaments, making it look different from a regular one. This was an orc chieftain—a variant that was stronger and more intelligent than the norm.
It was briefly confused by the shiny human shape, but soon charged at the unknown gleaming object. Siwoo pulled the trigger on the recklessly rushing orc. A deafening bang slammed into their eardrums as the area below the orc’s shoulder simply vanished. The powerful recoil pushed Siwoo back slightly, but he remained standing.
“Kyiiiiik!”
“It’s still coming?”
Even after losing an arm, the orc chieftain charged at Siwoo without hesitation. He fired again, but the second shot only erased the other arm. Now armless, the chieftain closed the distance instantly, eliminating any angle for another shot.
“Damn it…!”
He dropped the gun immediately and swung his fists. But the armor was so heavy that his slow punches were all dodged. The orc circled him, kicking and headbutting every part of the plates.
“Kweeeit!”
“There’s no damage! But it’s way too inconvenient!”
The orc chieftain danced around Siwoo’s attacks, kicking wildly. Siwoo couldn’t land a hit or dodge, and the orc couldn’t deal any real damage. A complete stalemate.
“Siwoo! Use your ability! If you can drop objects quickly with gravity, couldn’t you apply the opposite effect to the armor?!”
Abilities usually awakened easily in crisis situations. There was no real evidence for it, but that was how it always worked in manhwa and anime. Siwoo’s eyes widened as if something had clicked.
“Of course…! I can do that!”
He stopped paying any attention to the orc’s attacks and began concentrating. Intangible mana surged around him.
“Now!”
At Siwoo’s shout, the intensified gravity drove both him and the armor deep into the earth. The orc chieftain’s headbutt carried it straight into the ground as well. Maybe it had worked?
“This is completely useless! Anyway, get me out of here!”
“Wait, are you seriously telling me to wear this?”
“Yes. I am completely serious.”
“Awa wa wa…”
“But that’s…”
Pioni had turned as red as a ripe tomato. The reason the elf girl was blushing so furiously was the next piece of equipment Siwoo was holding.
In my previous life, many games had an outfit that symbolized veteran high-level players. It appeared across every genre, and the more a game emphasized precise control, the more people wore it. Its name was…
“…It’s a see-through outfit!”
Panty Man. To be exact, it was a transparent bodysuit, so becoming Panty Man was simply a side effect and differed slightly from the traditional meaning. You could layer other clothes underneath, but the effect would drop by the covered area. For maximum efficiency, one had to commit to being Panty Man.
But the performance was real! It was practically weightless and gave massive boosts to other stats. The downsides were zero defense and a sharp drop in charm. Female characters actually gained charm, but that was likely a game correction, so it didn’t count.
“I won’t wear it! I can’t wear it! You’re not just giving this to me to tease me because you wouldn’t wear it either, right?”
“Huh…?”
“Isn’t that obvious? No sane person would wear something like this! So you’re just messing with me!”
Me… messing with him?
“No. I’m not joking at all. Hand it over. I’ll show you myself.”
“No, you shouldn’t wear it either!”
“I’m serious. It’s not part of my own build, but if necessary, I would wear it.”
“No way! I’ll wear it instead, so stop!”
“You’re just saying that. I’ll demonstrate, so give it here!”
A tug-of-war over the transparent outfit began. Did he think I treated stats as a joke? The amount of effort I had poured into managing ability values, and still did!
“Hehehe… Now… if I show you for just five minutes, you’ll believe me, right?”
I started to lift my hoodie with one hand to take my clothes off first. Siwoo quickly blocked me.
“Someone please help…!”
Just as I was about to snatch it away using body reinforcement, someone acted. Surprisingly, it was Pioni.
“Hey… lewd stuff isn’t allowed!”
The bowstring twanged. A green arrow struck the ground beneath the transparent outfit and exploded into a violent gust. In the confusion, the nearly weightless garment flew off somewhere into the distance.
“No! I even enchanted it with magic resistance, so I can’t track it now!”
“Nice! Pioni!”
And so my specially made transparent outfit was lost forever.
“By the way, Pioni, don’t elves wear revealing clothes? That outfit was actually less revealing than some of yours, so I didn’t think you’d react this strongly?”
“Wow… it’s completely different! It was exposing the navel so blatantly!”
“Is that… considered different…?”
Even after blowing the clothes away, the elf remained tomato-red from her neck all the way to the tips of her long ears, as if the embarrassment still lingered.