“Ack!”
“W-what the hell?! This orc is so strong… ack!”
“Hahaha! With my iron armor, he’ll be lucky if- ack! Damn! Ack! Why did you hit me three times… ugh!”
Gold smoke started wafting in the air from all directions. Of course, this smoke wasn’t from Sungmuk’s attacks; it appeared after users were killed in droves.
“O-Oh my god….”
It was a massacre. In contrast to his previous armor, Sungmuk was now wearing a long, flowing blue monk’s robe. Amid the hundreds of users surrounding him, Sungmuk casually advanced as if he was walking through an uninhabited area. Rather than Blue Steel, Sungmuk was carrying some other sword, which gave off a red glow. It didn’t seem to be a normal weapon.
“Hold him off for a moment, Adol.”
“What?”
Whether Adol was surprised or not, Cruze entered the crowd while holding her Beretta. Not all users were skilled in fighting, so many were running away. As she left, Adol soon lost sight of Cruze in the mass of people.
Beep!
Then, a window appeared in front of him.
[City Defense]
Time Limit: None
Defend the Guardian Tower!
An unexpected event has occurred! A monster has initiated an attack on Starting!
Sungmuk is leading an attack without any other monsters. The only enemy is Sungmuk. However, Sungmuk is the strongest orc and is a Freedom-Class Sword Sovereign! If he isn’t countered, a massacre will occur.
Caution!
1. If the Guardian Tower at the center of the city is destroyed for any reason, DIO will be shut down for 24 real-time hours.
2. If the Guardian Stone within the Guardian Tower is touched by Sungmuk, the length of DIO’s shutdown will be extended, reaching 168 real-time hours or a week.
3. Outside of this instance, DIO will be forcefully shut down if the Guardian Tower is ever destroyed, but users cannot damage the Guardian Tower.]
“What?! The game will be shut down if we lose?”
“This is crazy! And for a week?!”
Users started screaming and yelling everywhere, and it was apparent why. What other game was held hostage like this? Wasn’t this merely a passive-aggressive way of telling users not to play the game if they didn’t like it?
“Wait, do these guys not want to make money?”
“Well, to be honest, the gameplay is worth far more than what we pay for it. If this game was sold in limited supply, I’m sure they could easily charge one billion Won (one million USD) for each space and still sell out.”
“Ack, shut up! If we openly agree with that sentiment, then we’ll be dragged around by this damn company!”
The users were in an uproar, but for whatever reason, Sungmuk also stopped walking and stared ahead. It was as if he was reading the announcement. Soon, a wry smile started to appear.
“… Phew. So that’s how you want to play this, huh?”
Though he didn’t expect ‘them’ to be up in arms due to his sudden actions, he never thought that they’d take this as an opportunity to use him.
“Well, if you’re going to give me an assignment, I’ll carry it out.”
He lifted his sword once more. When Sungmuk initially fought the users, he didn’t bring this red sword because he felt he hadn’t mastered its properties. Now, though, he felt comfortable using this Divine Red Sparrow Sword.
Bam!
Sungmuk deflected an arrow that flew at him from an unknown location; he was being encircled by hundreds of users. The players realized they had no choice but to fight, so people who weren’t fighters moved to the rear while everyone else advanced to the front. Some users even made posts on the public forums to call for additional assistance, while the few that knew upper-level users started sending whispers to them.
“Gear 4.”
“The power of Darian’s Glory, I call upon you….”
“Silp. Selaim. Let’s go.”
“Anger that has stayed quiet up to now….”
The users started readying their weapons and chanting their spells. There were also those who summoned otherworldly existences or called upon their gods for help.
Whoosh.
Once the shock simmered down, a fighting spirit started to arise from the gathered users. Despite living relatively peaceful lives on Earth, these humans shouldn’t be looked down on. No matter what they did in real life, they spent countless hours fighting monsters in DIO. Within the 24-hour gameplay limit, most users had four for at least half of that time. Furthermore, DIO had been operating for some time, and while only half a month had passed, the users had already spent a little over six months in DIO.
“Not bad. You’re still all scrubs, but you’ll be high-leveled soon and become a formidable force.”
“Hahaha. Calling us scrubs… do you not see what position you’re in?”
“Wow, this monster has the nerve to call us out.”
“It’s not even an ogre or a sandworm. A single orc came to Starting and dared to challenge all of us?”
“Get him! Direct attacks first! Indirect attacks second! Go!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Bam!
The first thing that was launched at Sungmuk was a lance. More specifically, it was a magic lance. Its user was mounted on a galloping horse in a full set of heavy armor, and they were able to put a significant amount of force behind their charge.
Ting!
Sungmuk swung his sword and deflected the oncoming charge, but he couldn’t counterattack. Since he was surrounded, attacks started coming in from everywhere. Considering how these users didn’t really know each other, it was surprising to see how well they collaborated.
Sss!
A sword-wielding user smashed his sword down toward Sungmuk’s flank, accompanied by another player beside him who cut his sword upwards. On the orc’s other side, a user swung a large ax-like weapon. At that moment, a brown spear also stabbed forward from the general vicinity, and a blade was slashed sideways. While this was occurring, there were short-range attacks being launched by crossbows and others who attacked Sungmuk from his rear.
Whoosh.
However, in the midst of all these attacks, Sungmuk casually moved his sword.
Ping!
A line was drawn in the air. Sungmuk’s blade slashed toward and deflected the first user’s downward strike before continuing toward their throat, cutting through it effortlessly. Since he still had time, Sungmuk moved to avoid another user’s upward strike.
Additional lines continued to form. The next to fall was the ax-wielding user, as Sungmuk’s slice easily passed through their attack and beheaded the player. Shortly after, the female spear-user and the sword-slashing older man were caught by the orc’s circular attack, dying instantly.
Then, the young male user who was shooting his crossbow split in half, along with the bolt that he had fired. Soon, a single plum blossom appeared in the air.
Click.
The Divine Red Sparrow Sword started sparking as it was being sucked into its scabbard. Though Sungmuk had created numerous lines with his sword slashes, everything happened in less than the blink of an eye. He had accelerated his thought process, and with such a firm foundation, Sungmuk could act in a seemingly effortless manner with a serene expression. What he just unleashed was a sword art move that he’d recently developed. Before this, the skill was only theory; this was the first time that he actually unveiled it.
/Mysterious Sword Art. Dividing Clear Mirror Water./
Boom!
The area around Sungmuk was instantly filled with a golden fog. Everyone understood what this meant. The hundred or so users that had surrounded Sungmuk had been killed, and the gold smoke they released had created the fog-like scene. The countless users that had stood there just moments ago were now thoroughly erased, leaving only Sungmuk standing.
“Oh my god….”
Adol couldn’t help but pant. The martial arts that Sungmuk exhibited were beyond imagination. Despite seeing it with his own two eyes, Adol couldn’t understand it. The orc hero was already a being that Adol couldn’t confront, and now, he’d become more powerful!
Ting!
When Sungmuk was about to launch himself at the stunned users, he stopped. This was because there was a sneak attack coming from behind him. Unfortunately, Sungmuk wasn’t injured, as he had swung his sword backward to deflect the oncoming bullet.
“Ha. You’re here.”
Bam!
Sungmuk charged like a missile. As soon as he lightly stomped on the ground, his body rushed forward and pierced through the air. He had crossed the sound barrier when he had taken that single step.
“Oh shoot, Cruze! Watch out!”
Since he knew full well who had launched the sneak attack, Adol rushed toward Sungmuk. Undoubtedly, this was a perilous situation, and he was probably taking a route where he’d die without being capable of any resistance.
“Gear 5!”
Yet, Adol didn’t think twice. In this world, he was not Oda Yusei; he was Adol Christine! Moreover, as a sword and shield fighter, Adol Christine would never back down from a fight.
“Let’s do this.”
Adol’s body was instantly covered in full plate mail armor, and he felt himself accelerate. He was flying towards a high-rise building that Sungmuk had just entered.
***
Cruze fell into confusion.
“No way! How was he able to deflect that attack?!”
Everything had progressed perfectly. Cruze had fired an aura-concentrated bullet from a kilometer away, giving Sungmuk no chance to sense the attack. She had also shot him when his back was turned, but Sungmuk had blocked the bullet with a single swing.
“Without looking, he blocked my bullet… how? It’s not like I shot an arrow. There’s no way the sound reached him before the attack landed, so how did he sense it?”
While she ran to seek cover, Cruze organized her thoughts. After reaching a high enough level, it wasn’t difficult to deflect a bullet. Since they flew in a straight line, if someone could detect the direction of the muzzle, the finger that pulled the trigger, and the shooter’s breathing pattern, they could easily block a hundred bullets, let alone one or two. Even Cruze could do this, and she was no expert swordsman. For a master like Sungmuk, this sort of defense was a piece of cake. However, the unexplained issue remained. How did Sungmuk deflect the bullet while seemingly lacking every requirement needed to do so?
“I contained my presence perfectly, which means he used some other approach….”
Sensing the direction of the muzzle, the finger that pulled the trigger, and the shooter’s breathing pattern: these requirements were equivalent to saying that someone shouldn’t be capable of deflecting a bullet. With its outstanding speed of 3,500 kilometers per hour or 900 meters per second, a bullet was so fast that it was nearly impossible to see and take action, even if it was fired directly in front of someone.
For someone that transcended the limitations of living beings, deflecting such a bullet would be child’s play, but otherwise, that attack should have exceeded anyone’s abilities.
Having a reaction speed quick enough to spot bullets was inconceivable since nerves had restraints. Even if someone’s senses were accelerated and they deflected a bullet, that should only be possible if they were looking at it. Sungmuk, though, had acted without even looking at the projectile. If he had dodged or blocked with a self-defense technique, Cruze wouldn’t have been as surprised. Yet, Sungmuk had his back turned at the time. Didn’t this mean that he knew the exact direction and location of the bullet?
“If it’s going to be like this, perhaps I should use long-ranged heavy artillery attacks-”
“It’s been a while, little girl.”
“…!”
Just when she was about to turn a corner, she was met with a shadow. A gust of wind blew around Sungmuk for a moment, as if he had flown at a frightening speed before suddenly stopping. There wasn’t even the slightest tremor in his body, though.
“Ugh… Wukong!”
Ting!
At that moment, Cruze fired another round, but the bullet bounced off Sungmuk’s lightning-quick sword swing and hit a nearby wall, leaving a fist-sized scar. While she knew what she had just seen, Cruze couldn’t believe it. How the hell could Sungmuk deflect a bullet like that? With his gaze fixed on Cruze, Sungmuk stood tall.
‘Wait a minute… he didn’t look away? His gaze has always been fixed on me….’
Cruze suddenly realized something. Sungmuk’s blind deflection of the first bullet and Cruze’s recent attack meant that he did not rely on his sight to determine the projectile’s location.
Ting! Bam!
“Kyak!”
“Ack!”
“W-what the hell?! This orc is so strong… ack!”
“Hahaha! With my iron armor, he’ll be lucky if- ack! Damn! Ack! Why did you hit me three times… ugh!”
Gold smoke started wafting in the air from all directions. Of course, this smoke wasn’t from Sungmuk’s attacks; it appeared after users were killed in droves.
“O-Oh my god….”
It was a massacre. In contrast to his previous armor, Sungmuk was now wearing a long, flowing blue monk’s robe. Amid the hundreds of users surrounding him, Sungmuk casually advanced as if he was walking through an uninhabited area. Rather than Blue Steel, Sungmuk was carrying some other sword, which gave off a red glow. It didn’t seem to be a normal weapon.
“Hold him off for a moment, Adol.”
“What?”
Whether Adol was surprised or not, Cruze entered the crowd while holding her Beretta. Not all users were skilled in fighting, so many were running away. As she left, Adol soon lost sight of Cruze in the mass of people.
Beep!
Then, a window appeared in front of him.
[City Defense]
Time Limit: None
Defend the Guardian Tower!
An unexpected event has occurred! A monster has initiated an attack on Starting!
Sungmuk is leading an attack without any other monsters. The only enemy is Sungmuk. However, Sungmuk is the strongest orc and is a Freedom-Class Sword Sovereign! If he isn’t countered, a massacre will occur.
Caution!
1. If the Guardian Tower at the center of the city is destroyed for any reason, DIO will be shut down for 24 real-time hours.
2. If the Guardian Stone within the Guardian Tower is touched by Sungmuk, the length of DIO’s shutdown will be extended, reaching 168 real-time hours or a week.
3. Outside of this instance, DIO will be forcefully shut down if the Guardian Tower is ever destroyed, but users cannot damage the Guardian Tower.]
“What?! The game will be shut down if we lose?”
“This is crazy! And for a week?!”
Users started screaming and yelling everywhere, and it was apparent why. What other game was held hostage like this? Wasn’t this merely a passive-aggressive way of telling users not to play the game if they didn’t like it?
“Wait, do these guys not want to make money?”
“Well, to be honest, the gameplay is worth far more than what we pay for it. If this game was sold in limited supply, I’m sure they could easily charge one billion Won (one million USD) for each space and still sell out.”
“Ack, shut up! If we openly agree with that sentiment, then we’ll be dragged around by this damn company!”
The users were in an uproar, but for whatever reason, Sungmuk also stopped walking and stared ahead. It was as if he was reading the announcement. Soon, a wry smile started to appear.
“… Phew. So that’s how you want to play this, huh?”
Though he didn’t expect ‘them’ to be up in arms due to his sudden actions, he never thought that they’d take this as an opportunity to use him.
“Well, if you’re going to give me an assignment, I’ll carry it out.”
He lifted his sword once more. When Sungmuk initially fought the users, he didn’t bring this red sword because he felt he hadn’t mastered its properties. Now, though, he felt comfortable using this Divine Red Sparrow Sword.
Bam!
Sungmuk deflected an arrow that flew at him from an unknown location; he was being encircled by hundreds of users. The players realized they had no choice but to fight, so people who weren’t fighters moved to the rear while everyone else advanced to the front. Some users even made posts on the public forums to call for additional assistance, while the few that knew upper-level users started sending whispers to them.
“Gear 4.”
“The power of Darian’s Glory, I call upon you….”
“Silp. Selaim. Let’s go.”
“Anger that has stayed quiet up to now….”
The users started readying their weapons and chanting their spells. There were also those who summoned otherworldly existences or called upon their gods for help.
Whoosh.
Once the shock simmered down, a fighting spirit started to arise from the gathered users. Despite living relatively peaceful lives on Earth, these humans shouldn’t be looked down on. No matter what they did in real life, they spent countless hours fighting monsters in DIO. Within the 24-hour gameplay limit, most users had four for at least half of that time. Furthermore, DIO had been operating for some time, and while only half a month had passed, the users had already spent a little over six months in DIO.
“Not bad. You’re still all scrubs, but you’ll be high-leveled soon and become a formidable force.”
“Hahaha. Calling us scrubs… do you not see what position you’re in?”
“Wow, this monster has the nerve to call us out.”
“It’s not even an ogre or a sandworm. A single orc came to Starting and dared to challenge all of us?”
“Get him! Direct attacks first! Indirect attacks second! Go!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Bam!
The first thing that was launched at Sungmuk was a lance. More specifically, it was a magic lance. Its user was mounted on a galloping horse in a full set of heavy armor, and they were able to put a significant amount of force behind their charge.
Ting!
Sungmuk swung his sword and deflected the oncoming charge, but he couldn’t counterattack. Since he was surrounded, attacks started coming in from everywhere. Considering how these users didn’t really know each other, it was surprising to see how well they collaborated.
Sss!
A sword-wielding user smashed his sword down toward Sungmuk’s flank, accompanied by another player beside him who cut his sword upwards. On the orc’s other side, a user swung a large ax-like weapon. At that moment, a brown spear also stabbed forward from the general vicinity, and a blade was slashed sideways. While this was occurring, there were short-range attacks being launched by crossbows and others who attacked Sungmuk from his rear.
Whoosh.
However, in the midst of all these attacks, Sungmuk casually moved his sword.
Ping!
A line was drawn in the air. Sungmuk’s blade slashed toward and deflected the first user’s downward strike before continuing toward their throat, cutting through it effortlessly. Since he still had time, Sungmuk moved to avoid another user’s upward strike.
Additional lines continued to form. The next to fall was the ax-wielding user, as Sungmuk’s slice easily passed through their attack and beheaded the player. Shortly after, the female spear-user and the sword-slashing older man were caught by the orc’s circular attack, dying instantly.
Then, the young male user who was shooting his crossbow split in half, along with the bolt that he had fired. Soon, a single plum blossom appeared in the air.
Click.
The Divine Red Sparrow Sword started sparking as it was being sucked into its scabbard. Though Sungmuk had created numerous lines with his sword slashes, everything happened in less than the blink of an eye. He had accelerated his thought process, and with such a firm foundation, Sungmuk could act in a seemingly effortless manner with a serene expression. What he just unleashed was a sword art move that he’d recently developed. Before this, the skill was only theory; this was the first time that he actually unveiled it.
/Mysterious Sword Art. Dividing Clear Mirror Water./
Boom!
The area around Sungmuk was instantly filled with a golden fog. Everyone understood what this meant. The hundred or so users that had surrounded Sungmuk had been killed, and the gold smoke they released had created the fog-like scene. The countless users that had stood there just moments ago were now thoroughly erased, leaving only Sungmuk standing.
“Oh my god….”
Adol couldn’t help but pant. The martial arts that Sungmuk exhibited were beyond imagination. Despite seeing it with his own two eyes, Adol couldn’t understand it. The orc hero was already a being that Adol couldn’t confront, and now, he’d become more powerful!
Ting!
When Sungmuk was about to launch himself at the stunned users, he stopped. This was because there was a sneak attack coming from behind him. Unfortunately, Sungmuk wasn’t injured, as he had swung his sword backward to deflect the oncoming bullet.
“Ha. You’re here.”
Bam!
Sungmuk charged like a missile. As soon as he lightly stomped on the ground, his body rushed forward and pierced through the air. He had crossed the sound barrier when he had taken that single step.
“Oh shoot, Cruze! Watch out!”
Since he knew full well who had launched the sneak attack, Adol rushed toward Sungmuk. Undoubtedly, this was a perilous situation, and he was probably taking a route where he’d die without being capable of any resistance.
“Gear 5!”
Yet, Adol didn’t think twice. In this world, he was not Oda Yusei; he was Adol Christine! Moreover, as a sword and shield fighter, Adol Christine would never back down from a fight.
“Let’s do this.”
Adol’s body was instantly covered in full plate mail armor, and he felt himself accelerate. He was flying towards a high-rise building that Sungmuk had just entered.
***
Cruze fell into confusion.
“No way! How was he able to deflect that attack?!”
Everything had progressed perfectly. Cruze had fired an aura-concentrated bullet from a kilometer away, giving Sungmuk no chance to sense the attack. She had also shot him when his back was turned, but Sungmuk had blocked the bullet with a single swing.
“Without looking, he blocked my bullet… how? It’s not like I shot an arrow. There’s no way the sound reached him before the attack landed, so how did he sense it?”
While she ran to seek cover, Cruze organized her thoughts. After reaching a high enough level, it wasn’t difficult to deflect a bullet. Since they flew in a straight line, if someone could detect the direction of the muzzle, the finger that pulled the trigger, and the shooter’s breathing pattern, they could easily block a hundred bullets, let alone one or two. Even Cruze could do this, and she was no expert swordsman. For a master like Sungmuk, this sort of defense was a piece of cake. However, the unexplained issue remained. How did Sungmuk deflect the bullet while seemingly lacking every requirement needed to do so?
“I contained my presence perfectly, which means he used some other approach….”
Sensing the direction of the muzzle, the finger that pulled the trigger, and the shooter’s breathing pattern: these requirements were equivalent to saying that someone shouldn’t be capable of deflecting a bullet. With its outstanding speed of 3,500 kilometers per hour or 900 meters per second, a bullet was so fast that it was nearly impossible to see and take action, even if it was fired directly in front of someone.
For someone that transcended the limitations of living beings, deflecting such a bullet would be child’s play, but otherwise, that attack should have exceeded anyone’s abilities.
Having a reaction speed quick enough to spot bullets was inconceivable since nerves had restraints. Even if someone’s senses were accelerated and they deflected a bullet, that should only be possible if they were looking at it. Sungmuk, though, had acted without even looking at the projectile. If he had dodged or blocked with a self-defense technique, Cruze wouldn’t have been as surprised. Yet, Sungmuk had his back turned at the time. Didn’t this mean that he knew the exact direction and location of the bullet?
“If it’s going to be like this, perhaps I should use long-ranged heavy artillery attacks-”
“It’s been a while, little girl.”
“…!”
Just when she was about to turn a corner, she was met with a shadow. A gust of wind blew around Sungmuk for a moment, as if he had flown at a frightening speed before suddenly stopping. There wasn’t even the slightest tremor in his body, though.
“Ugh… Wukong!”
Ting!
At that moment, Cruze fired another round, but the bullet bounced off Sungmuk’s lightning-quick sword swing and hit a nearby wall, leaving a fist-sized scar. While she knew what she had just seen, Cruze couldn’t believe it. How the hell could Sungmuk deflect a bullet like that? With his gaze fixed on Cruze, Sungmuk stood tall.
‘Wait a minute… he didn’t look away? His gaze has always been fixed on me….’
Cruze suddenly realized something. Sungmuk’s blind deflection of the first bullet and Cruze’s recent attack meant that he did not rely on his sight to determine the projectile’s location.
Ting! Bam!
“Kyak!”
