Before she could finish her train of thought, Cruze was hit in the head and was sent rolling on the ground. Surprisingly, she was struck by her own Berretta bullet. From a distance, her pet Wukong had fired at Sungmuk, but it had hit Cruze instead of him.
“He can deflect a bullet and make it hit another target?!”
Cruze cried out, utterly shocked. The situation seemed to be worsening as time passed. Since Sungmuk could deflect bullets and use them to his advantage, why would Wukong continue shooting? Fortunately, Cruze reacted quick enough to gather her aura power around her head and block the deflected bullet. If she hadn’t done this, she would have perished already, as the bullet had barely slowed down after ricocheting off the sword blade.
“You’re sturdy. It seems you have an excellent self-defense technique.”
“Delete! Loading!”
The Berretta in her hands disappeared, replaced by two M3A1 submachine guns. Without hesitation, Cruze pulled the triggers.
Bap! Bap! Bap! Bap! Bap!
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The bullets she fired were deflected back towards her. However, she expected this result, so she stomped on the ground and flew upward, avoiding the barrage. The perfect evasive move seemed like it had been practiced thousands or even tens of thousands of times, but while she was twisting through the air, she felt a chill run down her spine as she sensed something foreboding. When she landed, she started tumbling.
Bam! Bam!
Ping!
A deep crevice formed where she’d been moments ago as if a large sword had pierced it. If she hadn’t dodged immediately, she would have been slashed into two.
“Your senses are developed. Yet, it doesn’t seem like you acquired them after overcoming many life and death situations. Perhaps… are you what is popularly known as a genius?”
Though he spoke in a relaxed tone, Sungmuk was a fighter and competitor first and foremost. He was not going to reveal any openings or show mercy; he conveyed himself through blood and iron. Soon, his sword started emitting light.
Ping!
“Wukong?!”
Suddenly, a monkey twice the size of Cruze appeared in front of her, wielding a long golden rod that it used to block Sungmuk’s attack.
“Ah, this damn master. She acts like she’s so tough but couldn’t even run away properly.”
“Thanks. Hold him off for ten seconds!”
“What? Wait, this guy seems powerful enough to kill me ten times over within the next second, but you’re asking me to keep him occupied for ten seconds?”
“Stop complaining. Install Start!”
Cruze threw the two submachine guns and shouted. Soon, her aura started circulating around her, creating a fiery aura of flickering flames. Clearly, Sungmuk wasn’t just going to spectate, so Wukong took the initiative and plucked a few strands of hair from his head.
“Fu!” Blow.
“Clones… that’s an interesting skill.”
As Sungmuk lifted his Divine Red Sparrow Sword, the entire space seemed to fill with the scent of blooming plum blossoms, and as the blossoms appeared, cold energy started spreading.
Bam!
The clones that Wukong summoned were strong, and each carried a golden metallic rod. They could defend against Sungmuk’s sword attacks, which were shot towards their necks as if to instantly behead them. Ultimately, the clones were equivalent to upper-level users, but despite their power, they were no match for Sungmuk with his tremendous level advantage.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
“Kik!”
For the briefest of moments, sword light flashed. Sungmuk hadn’t swung his sword many times. With just a single strike, two lines were drawn, but they were enough to bisect seven of the ten clones. Once the clones were dispatched, they returned to their original forms as Wukong’s hair and flew back to him. Sungmuk was overpowering!
“Ugh! Next!”
Wukong ripped off another bunch of his hair and blew on them. Every strang turned into a clone.
Ping!
The ten new clones joined the remaining three for a total of 13 clones, but when a new batch of Sungmuk’s plum blossoms appeared, nine clones were instantly shredded. They tried attacking and defending with all their might, but it was futile; Sungmuk’s plum blossom attacks were accelerating. The clones couldn’t adjust, but Sungmuk was able to effortlessly discern their attacks and weaknesses, letting him launch many critical attacks.
“Master, hurry up! At this rate, I’ll be bald by the time you’re done!”
“Just a little longer! Only five seconds have passed!”
Wukong’s hands flashed as 20 more clones were produced. Unconcerned for their lives, the clones circled around Sungmuk and struck fearlessly. Additionally, after sending out the clones, Wukong made a move.
Clang! Bam!
“Kyak!”
Wukong had rushed forward to attack Sungmuk, but he now rolled on the ground with blood rushing down from the top of his head. While Sungmuk was preoccupied with clones, Wukong had used that opening to shoot the orc. Yet, Sungmuk had waved his Divine Red Sparrow Sword and deflected the oncoming bullet, sending it back to Wukong’s head. As soon as he heard the bullet hit the sword, Wukong moved his head and narrowly avoided death. If he were any slower, his head would’ve exploded.
“Oho, I thought you were the main body… I see. You left one clone behind to snipe me. Well, I guess even a clone can pull a trigger.”
“This damn monster!”
Wukong couldn’t believe what was happening. It was already astonishing that Sungmuk could deflect any approaching bullet. Yet, even after being surrounded by 20 clones all attacking simultaneously, Sungmuk had identified the single bullet and deflected it towards Wukong. How could he redirect its path so accurately? Wukong couldn’t ponder this for long, however, as Sungmuk started to approach him after instantly defeating his 20 clones.
“Alright, I’m done! Get Back! Install Complete. Loading…!”
Right at that moment, Cruze grabbed Wukong’s shoulder and flung him backward as she rushed forward. The aura that was circulating around her flew out into the air and created a holographic three-dimensional plane with points and lines.
Boom!
Without any hesitation, she started her offensive! An L-55 Smoothbore Gun fired 55-caliber 1200 mm rounds while an APFSDS armor-piercing missile shot towards Sungmuk. These were all state-of-the-art modern weaponry. The APFSDS armor-piercing missile, in particular, was created specifically to pierce through armor, and this sophisticated, deadly missile was sent toward a target that wasn’t even two meters tall. This single attack seemed like overkill for such a small living organism, but Cruze also fired 55-caliber rounds containing substantial aura energy. Even a row of armored tanks would’ve been mowed down by such a bombardment.
Ping!
“What?”
Alas, even with all that, the seemingly overwhelming attack was deflected. Of course, the attacks weren’t deflected back toward Cruze like her previous bullets, but Sungmuk’s sword art was formidable enough to send the attacks up into the air.
Crack!
As Sungmuk continued his sword dance, Cruze’s Leopard tank was cracked in half with the player still inside. She had put both arms above her head and created an aura barrier around her, so she’d surprisingly survived the attack; however, she had considerable injuries. Her arms started turning into gold-colored smoke. Though she blocked the attack, she couldn’t completely avoid the aftershock, and her body started trembling uncontrollably.
Cruze plopped on the ground as the tank turned into dust and scattered. Her abundant red hair, which had been held up in ponytails, was in disarray, and her two eyes were filled with tears. She wasn’t crying because she was in pain, as DIO’s pain control system perfectly protected users from any physical pain. Her distress came from understanding Sungmuk’s overwhelming power. It wasn’t something that she was even close to matching. While playing DIO, she had never felt utterly hopeless. Yet, in this battle, she realized that he was heads-and-shoulders above her. This wasn’t something that Cruze had ever imagined in her wildest dreams.
“Ah… ah… how could this be….”
Lacking the strength to stand, Cruze trembled on the ground. She was fully suppressed by Sungmuk’s overwhelming fighting aura. While DIO had an amazing mental controlling system, it didn’t entirely block all suppressive auras, such as fighting or killing intent. Blocking these would inevitably lower the user’s senses of their environment. As such, Cruze was feeling the brunt of Sungmuk’s fighting aura and had lost any sense of hope. She imagined playing DIO in fear after this inevitable death… to play a game with fear in one’s heart… though she might be embarrassed about these feelings later on, at the moment, she couldn’t lie to herself. Thus, her body shook uncontrollably. When he saw that she couldn’t muster an aura barrier to protect herself, Sungmuk swung his Divine Red Sparrow Sword with a disgusted expression.
“What a waste.”
“Cruze!”
Adol had just turned the corner into the alleyway, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Sungmuk with his sword across Cruze’s neck. It was difficult chasing after Sungmuk, but it had only taken Adol 30 seconds to find the two. Yet, in that brief period, Sungmuk had already defeated Cruze. Did this make sense? Adol had seen how powerful Cruze was, so he couldn’t believe that she’d succumb to defeat so easily.
“Was I expecting too much? Still, I’m extraordinarily disappointed. Why are you the same?”
“The same? What the hell are you….”
Clang!
After shouting to Cruze, Adol was attacked by Sungmuk’s sword strike, and he swiftly raised his tower shield to block. However, there was a devastating amount of power in the strike, forcing Adol ten meters backward until he hit one of the alleyway’s walls. As he slid back, he left deep impressions on the ground.
“Oof!”
Now suffering from severe internal injuries, Adol vomited blood. His Tower Shield, which was a Mithril alloy that was imbued with multiple defensive spells, was turned into a hunk of metal. Adol was popularly known as a premier tank that could take any attack, but he was instantly neutralized from one strike. Sungmuk didn’t seem to have any interest in Adol, though, and he looked back to Cruze.
“Let me ask you again. Bitch, why are you the same? Why are you so weak? Half a year has passed… what have you done during that time?”
Killing intent was dripping from his voice. Sungmuk seemed tremendously disappointed. At the moment, Wukong was standing at a distance, and he and Cruze wouldn’t believe this, but Sungmuk had fought with only part of his true power. He had been accommodating Cruze, although there were obvious limits. Since he wanted to see what she was capable of, Sungmuk gave her some time to bring out her full powers and hadn’t launched any major attacks when he had the chance. However, Sungmuk realized that Cruze didn’t seem to possess any hidden talent or power.
“H-Hey! I got stronger! I’m three levels higher than before, and I also obtained a Master weapon! I haven’t acquired my Master skill, though….”
All users who reach Level 10 or the Master level were given the opportunity to acquire a Master weapon and skill. In Cruze’s case, she had gained the Master weapon, the Prism Ring, but this wouldn’t improve her fighting capability, as it primarily increased Cruze’s aura capacity.
Cruze had divided her overall aura, using part of it for her Data in the form of bytes, a popular modern computer operation packet. Currently, her overall data capacity was 15 gigabytes, and with the effects of the Prism Ring, she could increase her overall capacity to 20 gigabytes. Moreover, as the Prism Ring developed, her overall data capacity would be able to grow up to 100 gigabytes, though that wouldn’t be sustainable long-term and could only be used in short bursts.
However, all of this was futile.
Before she could finish her train of thought, Cruze was hit in the head and was sent rolling on the ground. Surprisingly, she was struck by her own Berretta bullet. From a distance, her pet Wukong had fired at Sungmuk, but it had hit Cruze instead of him.
“He can deflect a bullet and make it hit another target?!”
Cruze cried out, utterly shocked. The situation seemed to be worsening as time passed. Since Sungmuk could deflect bullets and use them to his advantage, why would Wukong continue shooting? Fortunately, Cruze reacted quick enough to gather her aura power around her head and block the deflected bullet. If she hadn’t done this, she would have perished already, as the bullet had barely slowed down after ricocheting off the sword blade.
“You’re sturdy. It seems you have an excellent self-defense technique.”
“Delete! Loading!”
The Berretta in her hands disappeared, replaced by two M3A1 submachine guns. Without hesitation, Cruze pulled the triggers.
Bap! Bap! Bap! Bap! Bap!
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The bullets she fired were deflected back towards her. However, she expected this result, so she stomped on the ground and flew upward, avoiding the barrage. The perfect evasive move seemed like it had been practiced thousands or even tens of thousands of times, but while she was twisting through the air, she felt a chill run down her spine as she sensed something foreboding. When she landed, she started tumbling.
Bam! Bam!
Ping!
A deep crevice formed where she’d been moments ago as if a large sword had pierced it. If she hadn’t dodged immediately, she would have been slashed into two.
“Your senses are developed. Yet, it doesn’t seem like you acquired them after overcoming many life and death situations. Perhaps… are you what is popularly known as a genius?”
Though he spoke in a relaxed tone, Sungmuk was a fighter and competitor first and foremost. He was not going to reveal any openings or show mercy; he conveyed himself through blood and iron. Soon, his sword started emitting light.
Ping!
“Wukong?!”
Suddenly, a monkey twice the size of Cruze appeared in front of her, wielding a long golden rod that it used to block Sungmuk’s attack.
“Ah, this damn master. She acts like she’s so tough but couldn’t even run away properly.”
“Thanks. Hold him off for ten seconds!”
“What? Wait, this guy seems powerful enough to kill me ten times over within the next second, but you’re asking me to keep him occupied for ten seconds?”
“Stop complaining. Install Start!”
Cruze threw the two submachine guns and shouted. Soon, her aura started circulating around her, creating a fiery aura of flickering flames. Clearly, Sungmuk wasn’t just going to spectate, so Wukong took the initiative and plucked a few strands of hair from his head.
“Fu!” Blow.
“Clones… that’s an interesting skill.”
As Sungmuk lifted his Divine Red Sparrow Sword, the entire space seemed to fill with the scent of blooming plum blossoms, and as the blossoms appeared, cold energy started spreading.
Bam!
The clones that Wukong summoned were strong, and each carried a golden metallic rod. They could defend against Sungmuk’s sword attacks, which were shot towards their necks as if to instantly behead them. Ultimately, the clones were equivalent to upper-level users, but despite their power, they were no match for Sungmuk with his tremendous level advantage.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
“Kik!”
For the briefest of moments, sword light flashed. Sungmuk hadn’t swung his sword many times. With just a single strike, two lines were drawn, but they were enough to bisect seven of the ten clones. Once the clones were dispatched, they returned to their original forms as Wukong’s hair and flew back to him. Sungmuk was overpowering!
“Ugh! Next!”
Wukong ripped off another bunch of his hair and blew on them. Every strang turned into a clone.
Ping!
The ten new clones joined the remaining three for a total of 13 clones, but when a new batch of Sungmuk’s plum blossoms appeared, nine clones were instantly shredded. They tried attacking and defending with all their might, but it was futile; Sungmuk’s plum blossom attacks were accelerating. The clones couldn’t adjust, but Sungmuk was able to effortlessly discern their attacks and weaknesses, letting him launch many critical attacks.
“Master, hurry up! At this rate, I’ll be bald by the time you’re done!”
“Just a little longer! Only five seconds have passed!”
Wukong’s hands flashed as 20 more clones were produced. Unconcerned for their lives, the clones circled around Sungmuk and struck fearlessly. Additionally, after sending out the clones, Wukong made a move.
Clang! Bam!
“Kyak!”
Wukong had rushed forward to attack Sungmuk, but he now rolled on the ground with blood rushing down from the top of his head. While Sungmuk was preoccupied with clones, Wukong had used that opening to shoot the orc. Yet, Sungmuk had waved his Divine Red Sparrow Sword and deflected the oncoming bullet, sending it back to Wukong’s head. As soon as he heard the bullet hit the sword, Wukong moved his head and narrowly avoided death. If he were any slower, his head would’ve exploded.
“Oho, I thought you were the main body… I see. You left one clone behind to snipe me. Well, I guess even a clone can pull a trigger.”
“This damn monster!”
Wukong couldn’t believe what was happening. It was already astonishing that Sungmuk could deflect any approaching bullet. Yet, even after being surrounded by 20 clones all attacking simultaneously, Sungmuk had identified the single bullet and deflected it towards Wukong. How could he redirect its path so accurately? Wukong couldn’t ponder this for long, however, as Sungmuk started to approach him after instantly defeating his 20 clones.
“Alright, I’m done! Get Back! Install Complete. Loading…!”
Right at that moment, Cruze grabbed Wukong’s shoulder and flung him backward as she rushed forward. The aura that was circulating around her flew out into the air and created a holographic three-dimensional plane with points and lines.
Boom!
Without any hesitation, she started her offensive! An L-55 Smoothbore Gun fired 55-caliber 1200 mm rounds while an APFSDS armor-piercing missile shot towards Sungmuk. These were all state-of-the-art modern weaponry. The APFSDS armor-piercing missile, in particular, was created specifically to pierce through armor, and this sophisticated, deadly missile was sent toward a target that wasn’t even two meters tall. This single attack seemed like overkill for such a small living organism, but Cruze also fired 55-caliber rounds containing substantial aura energy. Even a row of armored tanks would’ve been mowed down by such a bombardment.
Ping!
“What?”
Alas, even with all that, the seemingly overwhelming attack was deflected. Of course, the attacks weren’t deflected back toward Cruze like her previous bullets, but Sungmuk’s sword art was formidable enough to send the attacks up into the air.
Crack!
As Sungmuk continued his sword dance, Cruze’s Leopard tank was cracked in half with the player still inside. She had put both arms above her head and created an aura barrier around her, so she’d surprisingly survived the attack; however, she had considerable injuries. Her arms started turning into gold-colored smoke. Though she blocked the attack, she couldn’t completely avoid the aftershock, and her body started trembling uncontrollably.
Cruze plopped on the ground as the tank turned into dust and scattered. Her abundant red hair, which had been held up in ponytails, was in disarray, and her two eyes were filled with tears. She wasn’t crying because she was in pain, as DIO’s pain control system perfectly protected users from any physical pain. Her distress came from understanding Sungmuk’s overwhelming power. It wasn’t something that she was even close to matching. While playing DIO, she had never felt utterly hopeless. Yet, in this battle, she realized that he was heads-and-shoulders above her. This wasn’t something that Cruze had ever imagined in her wildest dreams.
“Ah… ah… how could this be….”
Lacking the strength to stand, Cruze trembled on the ground. She was fully suppressed by Sungmuk’s overwhelming fighting aura. While DIO had an amazing mental controlling system, it didn’t entirely block all suppressive auras, such as fighting or killing intent. Blocking these would inevitably lower the user’s senses of their environment. As such, Cruze was feeling the brunt of Sungmuk’s fighting aura and had lost any sense of hope. She imagined playing DIO in fear after this inevitable death… to play a game with fear in one’s heart… though she might be embarrassed about these feelings later on, at the moment, she couldn’t lie to herself. Thus, her body shook uncontrollably. When he saw that she couldn’t muster an aura barrier to protect herself, Sungmuk swung his Divine Red Sparrow Sword with a disgusted expression.
“What a waste.”
“Cruze!”
Adol had just turned the corner into the alleyway, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Sungmuk with his sword across Cruze’s neck. It was difficult chasing after Sungmuk, but it had only taken Adol 30 seconds to find the two. Yet, in that brief period, Sungmuk had already defeated Cruze. Did this make sense? Adol had seen how powerful Cruze was, so he couldn’t believe that she’d succumb to defeat so easily.
“Was I expecting too much? Still, I’m extraordinarily disappointed. Why are you the same?”
“The same? What the hell are you….”
Clang!
After shouting to Cruze, Adol was attacked by Sungmuk’s sword strike, and he swiftly raised his tower shield to block. However, there was a devastating amount of power in the strike, forcing Adol ten meters backward until he hit one of the alleyway’s walls. As he slid back, he left deep impressions on the ground.
“Oof!”
Now suffering from severe internal injuries, Adol vomited blood. His Tower Shield, which was a Mithril alloy that was imbued with multiple defensive spells, was turned into a hunk of metal. Adol was popularly known as a premier tank that could take any attack, but he was instantly neutralized from one strike. Sungmuk didn’t seem to have any interest in Adol, though, and he looked back to Cruze.
“Let me ask you again. Bitch, why are you the same? Why are you so weak? Half a year has passed… what have you done during that time?”
Killing intent was dripping from his voice. Sungmuk seemed tremendously disappointed. At the moment, Wukong was standing at a distance, and he and Cruze wouldn’t believe this, but Sungmuk had fought with only part of his true power. He had been accommodating Cruze, although there were obvious limits. Since he wanted to see what she was capable of, Sungmuk gave her some time to bring out her full powers and hadn’t launched any major attacks when he had the chance. However, Sungmuk realized that Cruze didn’t seem to possess any hidden talent or power.
“H-Hey! I got stronger! I’m three levels higher than before, and I also obtained a Master weapon! I haven’t acquired my Master skill, though….”
All users who reach Level 10 or the Master level were given the opportunity to acquire a Master weapon and skill. In Cruze’s case, she had gained the Master weapon, the Prism Ring, but this wouldn’t improve her fighting capability, as it primarily increased Cruze’s aura capacity.
Cruze had divided her overall aura, using part of it for her Data in the form of bytes, a popular modern computer operation packet. Currently, her overall data capacity was 15 gigabytes, and with the effects of the Prism Ring, she could increase her overall capacity to 20 gigabytes. Moreover, as the Prism Ring developed, her overall data capacity would be able to grow up to 100 gigabytes, though that wouldn’t be sustainable long-term and could only be used in short bursts.
However, all of this was futile.
