Chapter 186

KABOOM! KABOOM!

Explosions erupted in all directions.

Grrrk!

Kiiieeeek!

Red-eyed monsters and Idam’s forces were locked in a chaotic melee.

“Fight!”

“Swing! Stab! Clash! How have we held on until now! We can’t be pushed back here!”

The warriors of Idam were brave.

Like independence fighters who’d lost their homeland, they fought back, refusing to yield to the monsters’ momentum.

Feeling their fighting spirit—

“……”

I, too, raised my spear.

My opponent was the world’s 79th-ranked player, The Ruthless Zima.

‘Don’t let your guard down.’

No matter how confident I was, my opponent was a high-ranker.

I had no idea what kind of hidden weapon he might be concealing.

‘And right now, I’m all alone.’

If the system’s ranking calculation was truly fair, my ranking should’ve included the abilities of my Bones.

But right now, there were no Bones by my side.

They were each faithfully carrying out their roles across the battlefield.

With only my own abilities, this was the first time I was clashing with a high-ranker with my life on the line.

“Haap!”

With a powerful shout, my thighs exploded forward as I dashed.

“Hoh, I thought you were a Necromancer, but you’re charging in yourself?”

Zima lowered his stance and touched the ground with both hands.

Sssst!

Dark energy circled his body once with an eerie sound.

Sss-sss-sssk!

Then it rushed toward me along the ground.

‘If it’s on the ground…’

Should I just jump over it?

Taat!

Using my momentum, I kicked off the ground and sprang into the air.

At that moment, the eyes of a ranker in the distance glinted.

‘That person is…’

One of the rankers behind Zima.

World rank 150, Rapid Shooter Anastasia.

One of the Russian rankers.

Overshadowed by Andrey and Zima, she was still a woman renowned as an archer.

Swoosh! Swish-swish-swoosh!

Arrows fired in an instant flew toward my trajectory mid-jump.

The speed at which she nocked another arrow the moment she fired was no joke.

‘Well, now.’

I twisted my lips.

So we’re not doing this 1-on-1, huh?

It didn’t matter.

A joint attack in a battlefield situation was just excellent tactics.

“……”

Narrowing my eyes, I tracked the arrows’ paths.

I wanted to dodge, but being airborne made it difficult.

“Hmph! Don’t tell me you’re trying to bat them away?”

Anastasia burst out laughing.

“You think you can just bat them away because you want to? While you’re stuck in the air?”

Piiing! Thung! Thung! Thung!

Her hands moved without rest, no different from a machine.

Then—

Anastasia’s brow furrowed in an instant.

“……Hm? What is this?”

She felt an unusual presence from behind.

Swoosh!

“What do you think it is?”

A black figure appeared with the faint sound of wind.

The dagger in its hand shot toward Anastasia’s neck like an arrow.

“It’s the person who’ll be dealing with you.”

“Heup?!”

At the sudden strike, Anastasia twisted her body and kicked off the ground.

Naturally, she had no choice but to stop firing.

“……You are.”

Anastasia, having barely dodged, stared at the being before her.

“The Shadow Empress…! You’re that woman who just entered the rank right below me, aren’t you?”

World rank 151, Shadow Empress Ki Soyul.

“Hmm, I think I’ll be climbing a few more ranks soon, though?”

“Hmph, nonsense! You think you can dodge my arrows just because you’re an assassin?”

“Who knows. I have memories of dodging arrows until I was sick of them a long time ago.”

Sssst!

She slipped into the shadows again, moving to launch consecutive attacks.

‘Nice.’

Archers were a bad matchup against assassins.

Ki Soyul would give her a hard time.

And as for me, I didn’t have a problem with Anastasia’s arrows either.

If I couldn’t dodge them, I could bat them away.

And if they were too hard to bat away, I could just block them.

Fwoosh!

Instantly transforming my spear into a giant shield, I covered my body.

Tiiing! Tang! Tang! Taaang!

The arrows bounced off lightly.

Arrows from a mere rank 150 couldn’t pierce a Godslayer-class weapon.

“Woah!”

Floa, watching nearby, cheered.

“A weapon that transforms into a shield! Isn’t that a total cheat?”

Pajajeuk!

Sparks of electricity flew from her body again as she charged toward Bong Jaeyoung.

“Yo! Joo Donghoon! I’ll handle this moronic Steel Fist somehow, so don’t you worry about him!”

KABOOM! KABANG!

Wind whipped around Floa.

“Uhahahat! Let’s have a fun fight!”

Amid the tearing air, Floa’s laughter mixed with Bong Jaeyoung’s roars.

Steel Fist was taken care of.

So now I just had to fight Zima again.

Hwiik!

This time, I turned the shield into a sword.

And landed at the same time.

From that landing, I dashed forward again.

“Hoo, hooo!”

I steadied my breathing before it could turn ragged.

I ran, cooling a heart that threatened to overheat.

And after dodging Zima’s dark energy—flying in again—with a ssst! of Shadow Art—

Hwoong!

I unleashed a strike.

A horizontal slash.

“Damn it all!”

Zima hurriedly kicked off the ground and retreated.

My sword regretfully grazed the edge of his cheek.

‘So close.’

If it had gone just a little deeper, it would’ve been a critical hit.

Zima looked just as startled, his lips trembling.

“……You, you’re pretty good?”

Then he thrust his fist straight toward me.

“Then, let’s see you take this!”

The Ruthless.

Secret Art.

Black Dragon Wave!

Skwaaaaaa!

A black dragon’s energy erupted from his fist with a deafening roar.

‘Oh, this is a bit…’

This would hurt like hell if it hit.

My blood running cold, I stepped onto a shadow and slipped left.

And—

Kwagagagaga!

A violent surge swept past where I’d been like a tsunami.

The ground behind it was gouged out, leaving a massive crater.

‘Horrifying.’

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

Was that his ultimate skill?

It had to be, right?

Come to think of it—

The Black Sword had hers.

Absolute Unrivaled had his.

Everyone had their own ultimate skill, but I was the only one who didn’t.

‘Well, I am a Necromancer.’

A Necromancer holding a weapon and going toe-to-toe with a high-ranker in close combat—asking for more would be greed, wouldn’t it?

Still, I couldn’t help being envious.

Humans were greedy animals by nature, after all.

There was no need to pretend it was strange.

Greed was what drove me to improve.

“You brat.”

It was then that the Elder muttered softly from the void.

– “Shall I teach you one as well?”

‘Yes?’

I blinked.

‘Teach me what? A Secret Art?’

No way.

You could teach me something like that?

– “One of those skills?”

– “You punk. What do you take the Ten Thousand Arts for? The number of skills you have yet to learn is a mountain. You didn’t get arrogant thinking you’d learned everything after just that, did you?”

‘No, then you should’ve told me sooner…’

– “I have to teach you slowly so you’ll respect me. Otherwise, you’d just keep trying to climb all over me, wouldn’t you?”

Skwaaa!

Dodging the black energy fired again, I muttered inwardly, aggrieved.

‘No, when have I ever tried to climb all over the sky-like Elder! I am wronged!’

– “Heh heh. If you couldn’t talk, you wouldn’t be so detestable.”

Maybe he liked the phrase ‘sky-like.’

The corners of the Elder’s mouth rose toward the heavens.

– “Now, concentrate. I shall teach you.”

‘Yes, Elder!’

I focused on the battle, my eyes shining.

How long had it been since I’d received his teachings?

‘It’s going to be a cool skill, right?’

– “Of course!”

The Elder thumped his chest.

Thump! Thump!

– “I can guarantee it. It might be a bit taxing to use, but given your fighting style, you’ll have no choice but to use it for the rest of your life.”

===

At that same moment—

‘Heuk, huueuk!’

Inside Bong Jaeyoung’s body, his consciousness was gasping for breath.

‘Grrr, shiiit.’

Beeeeep!

A strange sound rang in his ears.

‘What is this—what the hell is this situation?’

He was out of his mind.

He’d clearly been fighting the red-eyed monsters day and night.

But at some point, he’d lost control of his body to someone else.

Why was I…

moving on my own?

Why am I swinging my fist—

KABOOOM!

—at that woman emitting electricity?

Please stop.

Stop it! I said stop!

‘Guuuuhk!’

A crushing pain stabbed into his brain.

The more he tried to regain control, the more it felt like some unknown energy was rapidly gnawing away at his mind.

How did he end up like this?

‘……’

Right.

It started from that moment.

When he decided there was no longer any point—

When the overwhelming numbers and power, the constant harassment, and the strange space of the Gotham rankers finally crushed his will to fight.

[You have been afflicted with ‘Oppression’.]

[All stats are reduced by 30%!]

[Warning! Warning! Warning! Vile Dokgo is infiltrating your body!]

That Vile Dokgo Andrey had claimed he was spreading had entered his body.

‘Crazy!’

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t believe it.

Was that even a plausible skill?

A skill that could control his body at will…

‘That’s too much of a cheat!’

There was no way something that ridiculous could exist.

But—

He’d already been caught.

His whole body ached as if it had been beaten.

His head throbbed as if it would split open.

“Just die already! You monster bastard!”

And on top of that, just how painful were the fists of the electricity-emitting woman?

Kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

His ribs, his abdomen—

And then a precise strike landed on his groin.

The problem was that he felt every bit of it.

‘Shit… not there…!’

His consciousness clutched his lower half.

He could endure pain anywhere else, but getting his balls busted was truly unbearable.

‘Please.’

Tears welled in Bong Jaeyoung’s eyes.

His physical body drooled, but inside, he was bawling his eyes out.

‘I was wrong. I was wrong about everything!’

He regretted it sincerely.

Why the hell did he act up?

If he’d just stayed quiet, this dogshit situation wouldn’t have happened.

What glory and riches did he think he’d gain by picking a fight with Joo Donghoon?

‘Guaaaaaah!’

No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to take his body back.

At the same time, Bong Jaeyoung realized something.

‘Normally, I would’ve already been dead, with only my body remaining.’

Like those monsters charging like zombies over there.

His body, too, should’ve become a monster like them.

But there was another reason he could still think and feel pain like this.

It was because—

‘My brain is made of iron.’

Shit.

Did that even make sense?

People called him Steel Fist, but Bong Jaeyoung’s whole body had always been as sturdy as iron.

And because of that, even his brain had become hard—maybe that was why he was still like this.

How ridiculous was that?

‘Just… kill me instead.’

Brrrr.

The folds of Bong Jaeyoung’s brain trembled minutely.

His consciousness turned toward Joo Donghoon, fighting nearby.

The man who’d beaten his out-of-control self to a pulp just a moment ago.

‘Heuk.’

The bones throughout his body throbbed.

It still hurt, but the places Joo Donghoon had hit were especially agonizing.

‘He was strong.’

He’d honestly looked down on him because his Unique Ability wasn’t close-combat.

‘Have I ever been beaten like a dog like that in my life?’

Even if his body had been out of control, he’d been exerting far more strength than his usual self.

‘And yet…’

He got wrecked.

Not just wrecked—overwhelmingly wrecked.

‘Is this what it means to be a high-ranker?’

Why hadn’t he understood?

That the position of a high-ranker wasn’t something you got by playing Go-Stop.

He should’ve known that better than anyone.

‘Damn it, it’s no wonder people tease me for being a blockhead with an iron head instead of a stone head.’

Bong Jaeyoung’s consciousness kept his gaze fixed on Joo Donghoon.

‘Alright, I admit it.’

I admit it.

‘I’m sorry. I honestly looked down on you. It was unusual for you to suddenly become a high-ranker, so I found it absurd. And I was jealous because it seemed like Kwon Soye and Im Sujin, the rankers I brought, were only paying attention to you. It’s funny and petty, right? That’s why I did it. I shouldn’t have. I’m the one to blame. I deserve to die, but…’

Please.

‘No matter how I think about it, this isn’t how I should die. Shit. In a foreign land. It’s not right to die while being controlled by these insect-like villains. How did I even climb to rank 101? How much effort did I put in…!’

Bong Jaeyoung didn’t want to die.

‘Save me.’

Whether you kill me or save me—I don’t care.

Please, get me out of this pain!

‘……’

Bong Jaeyoung’s consciousness clenched his fists tightly.

‘If you save me… and furthermore, if you let me live…’

He made a decision.

‘I’ll swear on my fists…’

He resolved himself so desperately he was willing to bet his fists—his very symbol.

‘That I will devote my all, and follow you.’