8. Leopard and Buffalo – 3
—————==
T-Eok!
The leg kick hit. It was already the 8th.
“Tsk….”
In the end, Lee Won-seok lost his balance and stumbled.
At that very moment, Lee Hyun-wook rushed in.
He moved like water and went behind Lee Won-seok in the blink of an eye, grabbed his waist and made him fall forward.
“Back Mount!”
someone shouted
That was a posture that involved sitting on the other person’s waist and blocking the movement of the lower body. And if you hold the back like that, there is no fear of being caught by the ‘Barbarian’s’ grip.
To borrow Cheon Myeong-ho’s analogy, a leopard was able to ride on the back of a rampaging buffalo, minimizing the risk of being hit by the buffalo’s horns while simultaneously aiming for its throat.
“Ugh!”
But the buffalo is not dead yet.
He tried to shake the leopard off, as if he was kicking his hind legs.
however······.
“The hunt is already over.”
Myungho Cheon poured cold water on that scene with just one word.
“yes? “Senior, where on earth are you looking at?”
Boss Kang Seong-chun, Oh Sang-guk, and Kwak Jin-cheol couldn’t understand. This is because the Barbarian, written by Lee Won-seok, was so strong that it seemed like he would turn over and get up at any moment.
“Honestly, we still have to keep an eye on it. You might flip your position and beat it upside down.”
However, Chun Myeong-ho calmly shook his head.
“That big guy really looks like a water buffalo. They only know how to run amok, but they don’t know how to defend vital points. On the other hand, that fellow, like a real leopard, watches the vitals of his prey and prepares to ram his teeth into it.”
“If it’s a vital point…”
The next moment, Lee Hyun-wook’s arms moved like snakes and wrapped around Lee Won-seok’s neck.
“100 million!”
Lee Won-seok was startled and moved as if he were convulsing, but his reaction was slow.
“Oops!”
Rear naked choke is a technique that blocks blood flow to the brain by compressing the carotid artery with both arms.
“Look at that, the leopard finally bit the back of the neck.”
“······ah?”
“It is instantaneous. Just as the fangs of a beast suffocate the prey…”
Lee Won-seok wriggled and tried to tear off Lee Hyun-wook’s arm, but his forearm was so strangely strong that his grip did not loosen.
This was also due to ‘rigidization’.
The rigid body alone increases the grip strength by almost three times. The two arms that had turned to steel were interlocked and closed like a padlock.
Lee Hyun-wook tightened the ‘grip’ with all his might.
‘If my ability is added to this, it will never be solved.’
The good thing about being rigid was that you could use your ‘ability’ with your body made of metal. Lee Hyun-wook concentrated 2558g of force on his fingers, which turned into steel, and increased his grip strength.
Gi-gi-geek!
There was the sound of metal scratching.
Buck! Buck!
All Lee Won-seok could do was helplessly resist by scratching Lee Hyun-wook’s clothes with his fingernails.
“Wow! Kirch…”
Just like that, 5 seconds, 6 seconds, 7 seconds… time passed and
Lee Won-seok’s body sagging, and
soon his
chin and
his thick arms fell helplessly to the floor.
“······ah!”
The movement of both players stopped at the same time.
“ha ha ha! Yes, that is the real ‘level’ difference I was talking about.”
At the same time as Cheon Myung-ho’s voice, Lee Hyun-wook stood up.
He wasn’t even out of breath, but his face looked very calm, as if he had just relaxed for a moment. On the other hand, Wonseok Lee was stiff and could not move.
Those who fell and those who stood up…
When the winners and losers were revealed at a glance,
“This is crazy nonsense. “What is this…”
Kwak Jin-cheol could do nothing but shake his head and deny it.
I didn’t want to believe it.
But what Lee Hyun-wook looks like right now is really…
‘······leopard!’
I felt like a leopard hunting a buffalo twice my size and placing its front paws on it.
And as the leopard’s eyes moved to the onlookers,
“······.” The
static
training ground became quiet, as if it had become a library. As Lee
Hyun-wook
came down from the battle box, the crowd of spectators split to left and right.
And at the end stood Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho of the Black Tiger Unit, a man wearing combat uniform.
He faced Lee Hyun-wook with a faint smile.
“What is the soldier’s name?”
Lee Hyun-wook looked at his face and checked the name tag on his combat uniform.
‘Lieutenant Chun Myung-ho? Why is this person here now?’
This person was also someone Lee Hyun-wook knew well.
‘He’s the person I’m going to recruit Sergeant Choi Young-joon and raise as the best.’
I had heard that he tried to take Choi Young-joon to the Black Tiger unit.
This seemed to be his first visit, and he happened to be watching this duel training.
“I am Corporal Lee Hyun-wook of the 1st company.”
Chun Myung-ho held out his hand and asked for a handshake.
“I am Warrant Officer Chun Myeong-ho, Raid Tactics Training Center for the Black Tiger Unit. “The duel just now was quite impressive.”
Then he took out a business card from his inner pocket.
“If you are a corporal, it would be time to think about your career path after discharge. Are you interested in ‘Special Operations Raid’?”
Admiration erupted from all sides.
“and······.”
“Is this crazy?”
A special warfare raid refers to a special mission of high difficulty among missions dealing with monsters.
To put it simply, it was a special unit belonging to the AMT, but it was known to the public that it was in charge of missions such as assassinating boss monsters, infiltrating dungeons, and blowing up dungeons, but the detailed mission was a national secret.
“You’ve just received an offer to scout for the Black Tiger Unit, right? Right?”
“It seems like that, but maybe you don’t know that it’s F-class? Do you honestly make sense?”
All the onlookers let out laments that seemed incomprehensible.
I just witnessed an unbelievable scene where the F-Class beats the D-Class… But even so, the fact that the F-Class, whom they considered to be far below them, receives a love call from the Black Tiger Unit is beyond unbelievable and I don’t want to believe it. It was there.
“I’m sorry, but I’m an F-level player.”
Lee Hyeon-wook also said that and did not accept his business card. However, Chun Myeong-ho didn’t care and held out his business card.
“In my eyes, he looks like a warrior before being F-class.” Lee Hyun
–
wook also knew well that the grandiose words that came out of the mouth of the warrior Cheon Myeong-ho were not mere words.
When selecting agents, the Black Tiger unit values individual judgment and combat sense rather than player ability.
Even S-class players were excluded from the operation if they lacked teamwork.
‘Ironically, that’s why the Black Tiger Unit was strong.’
The special feature of conquering A-level dungeons with a team of C-level players was the Black Tiger Unit.
In other words, as an organization that trains true ‘specialists’, fighting in the Black Tiger Unit means being an elite warrior.
‘No matter how high the level of play, you cannot enter just because you want to. It is a place where you can only belong if you are chosen… And it is also a place that later leads the most meaningful operation in the history of Korea’s AMT called the [Bihyeongrang Plan].’
In other words, it was a place of honor.
However, Lee Hyeon-wook had no intention of remaining in the military.
‘The military is inevitably closed.’
I couldn’t stay in a closed place and face a group of villains. Since he could not act freely, he would be caught at the decisive moment.
“······Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, do you plan to keep holding this?”
At Chun Myeong-ho’s prompting, Lee Hyeon-wook accepted the business card.
“Thank you for a good look. Let me think about it.”
Hyunwook Lee gave a salute and passed him by. And as if he had no regrets, he left the training ground.
Warrant Officer Chun Myeong-ho looked behind him with a faint smile. He spoke as if he was sorry.
“He’s an F-class unlucky genius… so perfect.”
As soon as Lee Hyun-wook disappeared, the onlookers began to murmur again.
And a line of gray smoke rose from between them. Its origin was, of course, the mouth of Kwak Jin-cheol.
He felt like he had not eaten one full meal, but had at least two more.
“Oh Sergeant, how did this happen?”
“······.”
Oh Sang-guk did not answer Kwak Jin-cheol’s question.
“······Sergeant Oh Sang-guk?”
Oh Sang-guk was looking at Lee Won-seok, who was leaning against the wall without saying a word and blinking.
To be precise, I saw the eyes of Lee Won-seok, who was terrified and weeping. Although he came to his senses, he was shaking and making strange noises as if he still couldn’t tell the truth.
At that moment, I got goosebumps.
“Fuck…”
If Oh Sang-guk had been there, would he have been able to win?
He swallowed dry saliva.
“Jincheol-ah. I’m not sure either. “What on earth happened? What on earth is this?”
He couldn’t say anything at all.
Meanwhile, there were also members of the 5th support squad nearby.
To be precise, it was Ahn Min-tae and Park Jun-mo.
“Hey Junmo, isn’t this a dream? yes?”
Ahn Min-tae was also stunned.
“I’ve been thinking about whether it’s a dream since yesterday’s early morning shift.”
“Wow, then that guy is really…”
Ahn Min-tae was close to Lee Hyun-wook as he was a senior and successor in the squad, but honestly, he did not trust him very much.
Rather than a senior I could trust and follow on the battlefield, I thought of him as just a good older brother. That thought hasn’t changed one bit over the past year.
“Really, really…”
However, I thought that such a person had become quite strange a few days ago, but this morning, out of nowhere, he said that he had made a huge contribution.
Even back then, I thought it was a coincidence.
But now I had no choice but to admit it.
“······It’s really changed.”
A person changed overnight.
Perfectly too.
***
The two incidents that occurred on the same day as the duel training attended by the Black Tiger unit executives were enough to shake up this small society
.
And since the main character of the incident was the same person and even an F-grade player, the repercussions were significant.
“······Thank you for your hard work.”
As Lee Hyun-wook was walking down the hallway, he felt that he was receiving more greetings than usual.
The soldier who had just said hello and passed by was a private from the 2nd squad who would normally have just passed by, but now he looked at me and bowed his head.
Besides that, all the stares and whispers were quite annoying.
‘It turned out to be bigger than I thought.’
I didn’t intend to hide the fact that I had changed too much, but it would be a hassle if I made too much noise.
‘Still, there is no need to step on the brakes.’
Lee Hyun-wook thought that since things had already come to this, he needed to change everything around him faster. The gathering of eyes also meant that we could make changes more easily.
And that was when he entered the dormitory.
“Corporal Lee Hyun-wook.”
someone has come
The successor was Ahn Min-tae.
His expression was quite different from when Lee Hyun-wook asked why right after he had a conflict with Kwak Jin-cheol. At that time, I protested with a feeling of repulsion, but now I felt a sense of awe.
“I will ask you just one thing. What’s the secret?”
“huh?”
“The secret that can change so much overnight. To be honest, I still can’t believe it.”
At Ahn Min-tae’s rather serious question, the entire 5th squad looked at Lee Hyun-wook. It seemed to be a question not only Ahn Min-tae, but everyone was curious about.
‘I can’t help but wonder. Since someone in the same situation has changed their situation, they will probably want to do the same.’
And it’s actually possible.
Hyunwook Lee could tell you how.
“As you can see, you just need to exercise every day. I do 100 pull-ups a day and run 3km canter.”
“······.”
At his answer, everyone put on a puzzled expression. Some even looked like they had been deceived.
Lee Hyun-wook laughed and continued talking.
“So what I mean is, don’t confine yourself to the artificial limitations of grades.”
“So you’re saying that grades don’t matter now?”
Ahn Min-tae tilted his head and asked.
“Ahn Min-tae, what did you see at the training ground today?”
“ah······.”
At those words, Ahn Min-tae nodded his head as if he had been beaten.
Even though I clearly saw the scene where the lowest grade, grade F, defeated and knocked out grade D… I ended up asking questions as if the grade was an absolute value.
“Everyone thinks that whoever belongs to the 5th squad will lose no matter who they fight. Because the grade is low.”
Squad 5 These are called the support squad and are considered the weakest players in the company.
The reason was very simple.
Like Lee Hyun-wook or Park Jun-mo, who are F-rankers, they believe that ability growth is impossible, or even though it is a ‘level growth characteristic’, they are virtually excluded from battle due to the characteristic’s low combat effectiveness, so there are almost no opportunities to raise their level…
“But think carefully. This rank is not defined by this unknown game. It’s just a label we put on ourselves.”
Ahn Min-tae looked into space and nodded once again as if he realized something.
“Come to think of it······.”
One day, the world suddenly turned into a ‘game’.
Humanity still does not know the reason and purpose of this transcendent game.
However, we are adapting to this unknown game and creating our own ‘rules’.
“······As Corporal Lee Hyeon-wook said, quite a lot of things can be seen as nothing more than a kind of ‘social system.’”
In the first place, the game only gives players random characteristics and does not specify their qualitative level. In other words, the ‘player level’ was a kind of ‘status system’ with rules artificially created by humans.
Although it is now accepted as a reasonable standard,
‘a few years later, the rediscovery of the F grade revealed a fatal blind spot in the status system.’
That’s why Lee Hyun-wook was against the player rating system. Because it creates a kind of stigma.
“And you, Park Jun-mo.”
“Private First Class Park Jun-mo! Say yes!”
“I almost died this morning. know?”
“uh······.”
Park Jun-mo remembered. The goblin’s own pathetic response is Lee Hyun-wook’s great sword…
“Oh yes, that’s right. If it wasn’t for Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, I would…”
Then, helplessly, he lowered his head.
“What’s the secret? Just leave everything behind, be a support squad, and don’t neglect training or training. Let alone change overnight, I won’t be able to save even one of your lives.”
Ahn Min-tae nodded and agreed with those words, which were like a warning.
“······you’re right. Not only has Sergeant Kim Ho-jong been evacuated, but Corporal Park Ho-min, who was the division commander when I was a private, was killed in a kobold raid, so the casualty rate of the support squad, which is thought to be relatively safe, is higher than expected.”
‘Once you’ve proven your abilities, the weight of your words changes.’
If it had been just a few days ago, I might have scoffed and moved on, saying it was serious bullshit.
But in fact, this was not simple advice. It was a kind of ‘hint’.
‘Because that’s what’s happening tomorrow evening.’
The reason Lee Hyeon-wook gave such a heavy-handed speech was all because of that incident.
The first ‘operation’ after the regression begins tomorrow. The gate opens in the guard area of the 1st Battalion and an emergency dispatch order comes down.
During the operation, something serious happens in the rear, where the support squad is located, where it is thought to be relatively safe.
‘There comes a moment when the support squad also has to risk their lives in battle.’
But at that moment, the support squad was not ready.
In the end, five people are seriously injured and one person dies. Even at that time, even Lee Hyeon-wook suffered a 7cm tear in his thigh.
‘This time, no matter how much I am there, someone could get seriously hurt.’
However, if the squad members come to their senses just a little…
‘… this time again, we can turn this crisis into a tremendous opportunity.’
That was Lee Hyun-wook’s judgment and the significance of this weighty speech.
At that moment, a message appeared before my eyes.
– Metal absorption is complete. (Mana Stone)
* Steerable metal weight increased. : 91g
* Total mana amount has increased. : 11
– Controllable metal weight: 3099g
By absorbing the mana stones obtained from hunting goblins, a considerable amount of metal control weight has been increased, as well as the total mana amount.
‘With this amount, I can move 10 daggers at the same time.’
***
The next morning,
Hyunwook Lee went to the battalion armory to receive the battalion commander’s ‘special award’ as he had heard from the company commander.
“Thank you for your loyalty. “I’m here to take over the item reward.”
“Oh, you’re here! “Our F-class hero, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook!”
Lieutenant Jeong-tae Oh, the man in charge of the unit’s armory, greeted Hyun-wook Lee in a somewhat exaggerated voice.
“I heard what happened early in the morning! “You’re lucky, congratulations!”
“Yeah, I was pretty lucky.”
“Okay, okay, I’m lucky that I didn’t die, but I also happened to catch a goblin shaman, so that’s awesome!”
He chuckled as he said that. But it wasn’t really a joke. He was truly happy.
‘Oh Jeong-tae, a D-level player like the poor neighborhood brother, will probably be discharged soon as if he were kicked out…’
Within AMT, players in these managerial or administrative positions were not treated very well. Since AMT is strictly focused on combat efficiency, it was probably a natural treatment.
These were the words of a person who, despite being an officer, could not fully utilize his potential.
“Now then, let’s go pick out a special reward!”
Ku-gu-gu-gu-
When Oh Jeong-tae turned the lever on the wall, the inside floor began to open and cool air came out.
An underground facility with a ‘barrier’ device designed through magic engineering, it was the battalion armory, and hundreds of items were stored in a space of approximately 700 m².
thud!
The tens of centimeters of the iron door opened completely and made a heavy sound.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you time to shop leisurely. You have 30 minutes to choose. Or the security system goes off and calls come from the top and peck it.”
I didn’t even need 30 minutes anyway, because I had already decided on it.
A weapon that would have been bound by the rules arbitrarily defined by humans, like the stigma of being classified as F, was sleeping right here, and its hibernation period was supposed to be quite long.
Until Choi Yeongjun, a legendary figure, happened to hold the hilt of the sword.
But this time, its wake-up time was scheduled to be a little earlier.
‘It’s right there.’
A sword caught Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes.
It was the moment for the experienced leopard to grow sharp claws.
