Chapter 24: The Beauty of Survival is Playing Like Lu Bu (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 24: The Beauty of Survival is Playing Like Lu Bu (End)
He twisted his torso from side to side, and the sharp pain vanished completely.
“The Cotton Tree Bow, huh…?”
[It is a rare bow with incredible tension. When an arrow is fired, it is imbued with a faint energy of lightning.]
“Energy of lightning? I didn't feel a thing.”
It was absurd. He was the one who had been hit by it, yet he hadn't felt anything of the sort.
“Is this just a defective product?”
Even so, he didn't have the slightest intention of throwing it away. After drawing the bowstring a few times to test the weight, he strapped the quiver to his thigh and picked up the skill book.
[Skill Book: Rapid Fire. You can learn the technique that the Elf Zeke acquired through tireless effort. Would you like to learn it?]
He watched the skill book crumble into dust and vanish, much like a secret manual. Holding the bow and nocking an arrow against the wall, he found he could fire it with startling familiarity.
Swish-swish-swish!
After firing three arrows in an instant, his lips curled into a smirk.
“This is a hundred times better than a crossbow.”
It couldn't even be compared to a crossbow, which left the user defenseless after a single shot.
“The power is a bit disappointing, though.”
The crossbow he had used could bolt an arrow right through a wooden door, but the arrows he just fired only embedded themselves deeply without piercing through.
After stowing the bow in his subspace, Seo-un began farming again.
There’s only one team left in this village.
He had clearly seen six people descending, so it was certain that there was either one team or two solos remaining.
Once I wipe those two out, it’s over.
Now that he had gained a long-range attack capability, he felt his luck was still holding up. He was heading toward a row of houses along the main road to continue looting when he suddenly came to a halt.
He stood still for a moment, lost in thought, before his lips twisted into a grin. Instead of farming during this golden window of time, he began scouting the area for a specific location.
The line of sight is bad there. Over there, I can’t see the rear. Hmm… I guess that’s the only spot.
It wasn't a particularly large village, with about fifty houses clustered in small groups. In the center of the village stood a three-story temple featuring a Statue of the Goddess.
Seo-un cautiously made his way toward it. He didn't forget to check the state of the surrounding houses by peering through the windows as he passed.
The first team didn’t farm a single house, and the second team’s haul wasn’t that great.
He hadn't farmed many houses himself, either. Entering the temple carefully, he smirked at the items lying on the floor.
This place hasn't been touched yet.
He swept two recovery scrolls and a leather pouch containing beef jerky into his subspace and climbed up to the bell tower on the third floor. The area where a bell larger than himself hung was open on all four sides, making it the perfect vantage point to look down over the entire village.
Now, where are you?
Seo-un’s eyes grew busy as he scanned the surroundings. Crouching behind a low wall to hide his presence, he peeked out to observe. Soon, he spotted several houses with their doors standing open.
The open doors formed a trail, marking the path someone had taken from the back of the village toward the front. He focused his gaze on the closed house directly ahead of that trail and waited.
Sure enough, before long, the door to that house opened. A figure emerged, looked around, and quickly ran to the next house. Even from a distance, the hooded robe made it clear the person was a mage.
Then, a knight boasting a massive build and heavy armor emerged from the opposite house, a giant axe strapped to his back, and followed the mage into the next building.
Why do mages and knights always travel together?
Seo-un didn't know it, but this was a standard composition. In the world they came from, the pairing of a knight and a mage was common sense; if they had to move as a team, they naturally followed that logic.
At this point, the prey that suited Seo-un’s palate best was none other than mages.
Especially the ones without staves. They’re the easiest.
That didn't mean he was afraid of knights. However, knights were a class whose individual strength was harder to measure compared to mages or martial artists.
The man known as Gwang-gun, who was still vivid in his memory, looked no different from an ordinary knight in his heavy iron plate, but his strength was equal to that of a high-level martial artist. The way he had punched massive holes in people's bodies with a thin rapier made the back of Seo-un's neck go cold every time he thought about it.
Come to think of it, that guy’s armor did have a different luster.
It seemed different from this knight, who was running around clanking in armor that looked like a tin can.
As he watched, the two finished looting the cluster of houses on one side and began cautiously making their way toward the other side, their guard fully up. That was the area where Seo-un had wiped out the two previous teams, leaving many houses already searched.
When the two entered the first house and came back out shortly after, looking flustered and discussing something while scanning their surroundings, Seo-un couldn't help but chuckle.
They saw that the farming was already done. They must be conflicted. I know that feeling all too well.
He remembered his first game, wasting time in deep contemplation after seeing a house with the lights on. However, unlike Seo-un, these two showed quick decisiveness, moving together from house to house without wasting time.
When they approached the temple where he was hiding after clearing dozens of houses in thirty minutes, Seo-un’s lips curled. He had intentionally left behind items like hidden weapons and useless arrows among the loot scattered near the temple entrance.
He could hear their voices as they chatted, checking the arrows and the hidden weapons inside the leather pouches one by one.
“There’s no bow, so is there any reason to keep these arrows?”
“You never know when a bow or crossbow might show up as loot.”
“I suppose so.”
The knight nodded at the mage’s words. He had no intention of firing puny arrows himself, but for a mage with a frail body and a fatal weakness in close-quarters combat, a bow wasn't a bad backup weapon.
As they finished scouting the first floor and headed up to the second, their voices grew louder.
“Do you really think the enemies moved to another area?”
“Yes. There were clear signs of someone’s presence, but since they’re nowhere to be seen, they must have moved on. There was likely a fight, and they probably lost a teammate. Knowing they’d be in a two-on-one situation if they met another enemy, they would have tried to leave the village as quickly as possible.”
The knight nodded again. As the two reached the top of the stairs, the items placed in the center greeted them. The moment they saw several scrolls, a longsword, and a bow, they smiled and stepped quickly toward the loot—
Swish! Clang! Thud!
Seo-un, who had been hiding in a corner behind the stairs, unleashed his Fist Qi with a Penetrating Strike. The mage’s shield shattered, and his spine snapped instantly. He collapsed without even letting out a scream.
Belatedly, the knight drew his axe and spun around, swinging it as he charged at Seo-un. Just as the two-handed swing was about to split Seo-un’s crown, the knight’s body was sent flying sideways, slamming into the wall.
A loud metallic crash echoed as the iron armor hit the stone. The crumpled plate at the knight’s ribs stood as a testament to the power of the blow he had just received.
As expected, Concussive Strike works better than Shattering Strike against guys in iron plate.
The strikes of the Boundless Fist could be broadly categorized into four types. Even when using the same basic form to throw a punch, one could imbue it with four different properties: Spinning Strike, Shattering Strike, Concussive Strike, or Penetrating Strike.
The purpose of the Concussive Strike was to spread the impact throughout the opponent’s entire body and force them backward. For knights protected by full-body armor, a Penetrating Strike—which would bypass the armor to deliver a sharp internal shock—was actually more effective. However, Penetrating Strikes carried a higher risk of counterattack, making the Concussive Strike ideal for testing an opponent’s skill.
The knight, unable to properly lift one shoulder due to his crumpled side, glared at Seo-un.
“Chest Off.”
Clank! Clatter!
As soon as those words left the knight’s mouth, his eyes burning with ferocity behind his visor, the armor covering his torso split in half and fell to the floor. He rotated his arm while holding his axe, his lips twisting as if he finally felt comfortable.
“You use interesting techniques. Are you an illusionist?”
“I wonder. What do you think?”
The knight was naturally confused; he was certain his axe had split the opponent’s head, yet he had been struck in the ribs from a blind spot. However, showing no intention of backing down, the knight surged with even greater momentum and lunged at Seo-un.
“Rush!”
Faced with a knight closing the distance in an instant, Seo-un used a side step. Based on his experience facing that "Rush" skill before, he had judged it to be a decent linear movement, but weak against lateral evasion.
The knight, who had intended to swing his axe as soon as he closed the gap, gritted his teeth as he saw Seo-un lightly circle around him.
“Wheel!”
The moment the word "Wheel" left his mouth, Seo-un, who had been about to throw a punch, retreated and ducked low.
Whoosh!
A sharp wind accompanied by a terrifying sound grazed over his head.
What a barbaric technique.
The opponent had used his body as an axis to spin the axe in a full circle. Had Seo-un stubbornly insisted on his attack, his upper body might have been cleaved in two.
Seeing him retreat, the knight’s momentum began to build. Perhaps thinking he had won the battle of strength, the knight didn't hesitate to drive Seo-un back with a series of large, aggressive movements.
The attacks were clearly visible, but finding an opening to counter was difficult. The thought that he would be the one receiving a fatal wound if they traded blows wouldn't leave his mind. As he continued to dodge and retreat, his back eventually hit the wall.
The knight smirked and raised his axe high over his head, swinging it down with an expression that said this was the end. At that moment, Seo-un’s form seemed to flicker, and he suddenly split into two.
The knight, hesitating with wavering eyes, brought his axe down toward the Seo-un that had appeared on the left.
“Tch!”
Usually, when he used the afterimages of the Illusionary Steps, his true body was never discovered. Having lost this gamble, Seo-un took a step forward. The wall was behind him anyway; there was nowhere left to retreat.
Spinning Strike.
There is no defense in the Boundless Fist. Every defense is also an attack, and the closest thing to a defensive form was the Spinning Strike. He wasn't sure if he could deflect such a ridiculously large axe, but he couldn't just stand there and let it split his skull.
As the knight brought the axe down with enough force to make the veins on his forearms bulge, Seo-un thrust his fist forward, closing the gap by a hair's breadth. It was a mere fraction of a second, but for the two of them, time seemed to stretch.
Just before the blade of the axe could hit his head, Seo-un’s fist rotated and struck the axe handle. The weapon was pushed about twenty centimeters to the side, narrowly grazing Seo-un’s shoulder before slamming into the wall and floor.
Thud-thud!
In that interval, two fist strikes slammed into the knight’s sturdy, barrel-like chest.
“Urgh!”
At a glance, they looked like light boxing jabs, but the knight who received them felt entirely different. It felt as if his internal organs were being hammered. The shock felt like his trained body was being whittled away, forcing him to stumble backward repeatedly.
“You’re not an illusionist, you’re a pugilist.”
Belatedly regretting his hasty judgment, the knight adjusted his grip on the axe, holding it in front of his body with newfound caution. Though it had only been two hits, dark bruises were already spreading across his chest where Seo-un’s fists had landed.
He’s still standing after taking two Shattering Strikes?
Seo-un was equally shocked. Until now, he had finished off almost every opponent with a single Shattering Strike. It was a martial art with the distinct drawback of requiring the guts to thrust a bare-handed attack into a dangerous opening, but its power had never disappointed him. Seeing an opponent take the Boundless Fist with his bare body, Seo-un also held his arms out, becoming cautious.
As if acknowledging each other’s strength, the two stood for a moment, locked in a stare-down, before lunging at each other simultaneously.
The knight, who had been using vertical attacks, swung his axe diagonally for the first time, as if trying to uppercut Seo-un’s neck from below. He was clearly wary of the Spinning Strike he had just encountered.
Instead of deflecting the axe with a Spinning Strike, Seo-un bent his knees to narrowly dodge it and moved into the knight’s personal space. However, the knight spun again, rotating his axe.
I’m not backing down this time!
Taking another step forward, Seo-un got so close he could feel the knight’s breath. It wasn't the blade of the axe that came flying at him, but the handle.
Concussive Strike!
Boom! Crack!
With a sound that didn't seem possible for a collision between a fist and iron, the knight lost his grip on the axe, and an ominous sound echoed from Seo-un’s elbow. At the same time, Seo-un thrust his other arm forward as the knight tried to retreat.
Seo-un’s fist was faster, striking the throat of the knight, who was a full head taller than him.
“Gah!”
The knight’s face turned beet-red as he clutched his throat, his breath hitching in a choked groan. Having taken a surprise blow to his soft neck—unlike his well-trained pectoral muscles—the knight sensed his impending death. He stared at Seo-un with wide eyes, his mouth working soundlessly.
Whatever he was trying to say, Seo-un had no hobby of watching a suffering opponent die slowly.
A follow-up strike crushed the knight’s head. Soon, the corpse vanished, leaving behind two wooden supply boxes and a cluster of Vitality.