by Yoo Seong
‘The Silver Hand……’
It was the official name of the service provider that Ark was assigned to.
“There seems to be a strange atmosphere around the contract but don’t worry because we aren’t bad people. We have to spend a lot of time together until you gather metal parts worth 200 gold for Tori so we should get along. A workplace with a family like atmosphere. That’s what I’m aiming for.”
Clem showed his fangs as he laughed. A huge beast like alien with sharp fangs was talking. Normal people would tremble with fear from the atmosphere but……
Ark bravely gathered his courage and asked.
“What do I have to do?”
“What? That hamster, didn’t he tell you?”
Clem scratched his head with an irritated expression.
“Then do you know Nakuma?”
“Nakuma?”
“You also don’t know about Nakuma. So that hamster tricked you. Anyway, it isn’t bad even if you have no experience with fighting on the frontier.”
Clem said and explained.
“It is good that you met us before roaming the frontier. The Nakuma are unclear space creatures. No, they aren’t life forms…..anyway, they don’t have an original shape. But these guys like metal above anything else. They will instinctively look for metal and form their bodies around it. So they are almost like living androids. Anyway, Istana is full of Nakuma.”
A space life form that moved around and collected metal debris! If this was a fantasy setting then it would be similar to a type of zombie.
“Most of the Nakuma are handled by pioneers and the federation army. But there is an area they always avoid. Thus the Nakuma would multiply and in some cases they will threaten the safety of the city. We are a mercenary unit specialized in hunting Nakuma in those types of areas. The federation gives us a fee for handling the Kuma and we can also get income from the metal parts dropped by the Nakuma. We arrived in Nephalim a few days ago. I knew Tori from before so I asked him to recruit new workers in the city. Then Tori told me to buy supplies from him in exchange for introducing me to a worker.”
That was the reason Tori sold Ark.
“But you don’t have to worry about maintenance.”
Fortunately he was going to be paid.
‘Moreover, it is better to hunt with the Silver Hand since I don’t know anything about the Nakuma.’ If he hunted then he could organize all his work in Nephalim. This was the first time he was actually hunting in Galaxian after arriving at the frontier. If he was with experienced NPC’s then he didn’t have to worry about dying. It was also possible to receive metal parts to learn hacking. ‘Raising my level and collecting metal parts, isn’t it killing two birds with one stone?’
This was why Ark accepted it obediently. While Ark was lost in thought, Clem laughed and hit his back with a huge palm.
“Kuahahaha. What? Are you scared? A newborn chick has just arrived at the frontier. But for now you don’t have to worry. The Nakuma are easily taken care of with large weapons. And…..”
Ku ku ku ku, kong!
The bumpy truck stopped with a rattling noise and the door to the container opened. Clem snorted and raised his body.
“We’ve arrived. Everybody get down! Ready the supplies to start hunting immediately!”
“Hey, why are you just sitting there? Quickly help me carry the baggage!”
Ark exited the truck and helped the other soldiers carry the baggage. Supplies and large tents were built outside the truck. This was the outpost of the Silver Hand mercenary troops. But that wasn’t what caught Ark’s eye.
‘Swamp! This is the southern region of Nephalim!’
Ark had arrived at the swamp located to the south of Nephalim! Now Ark could understand Clem’s words. There was an area where pioneers and the federal army didn’t want to hunt the Nakuma. That was the swamp area where various penalties to agility were applied. A novice user would want to avoid hunting on terrain like that as much as possible. That’s why there were too many users in the northern hunting grounds! The users wanted to avoid the southern swamp area where a penalty to agility was applied.
‘This is another reason why I chose Nephalim!’
Ark had chosen Nephalim among the many cities. It was mainly for the swamp area located south of Nephalim. Most users wanted to avoid this area but Ark was different. Ark had just…..
Ark was thinking that when something interrupted him.
“Hey! The combatants are about to leave so clean and examine their equipment! We’ll be hunting the Nakuma immediately afterwards. Heksu, take the new worker and teach him. What do you say Ark? You will learn from Heksu from now on. All Attackers assemble!”
Ark stared at Clem with a bewildered expression after hearing his cry.
“W-wait a minute. I’m staying here?”
“Huh? So?”
“I’m not participating in the hunt against the Nakuma?”
“Nakuma hunting?”
Clem looked doubtful at Ark’s question. Then all of this body hair quivered as he cracked up laughing.
“Kuahahaha. That’s why you were so nervous in the truck. Didn’t I tell you not to worry? I told you. We aren’t bad guys. We’re mercenaries specializing in hunting Nakuma so we wouldn’t bring a newborn chick to the hunting ground. I don’t need Attackers but a Scavenger.
“Attacker? Scavenger?”
“Yes, the Silver Had is divided into Attacker and Scavenger. Attackers fight. We hunt Nakuma. And the Scavengers will clean everything up. Didn’t I tell you? Our main source of revenue is the metal parts dropped by the Nakuma. However, it is difficult to reclaim the metal parts dropped in the swamp. Therefore we need to increase the number of Scavengers. So you just need to collect the loot. There are a lot of chores at the base but at least you don’t have to worry about dying.”
“T-that is a problem!”
Ark shouted angrily. Once again, the reason Ark thought he was fortunate was because the Silver Hand was a mercenary troop. He thought he could gain experience and metal parts. But now all he had to do was collect the loot? In the end he had to obtain metal worth 200 gold without eating any experience? Furthermore, the attackers in the Silver Hand could also collect loot while battling. He was wasting a lot of time to gain experience while learning the hacking skill.
“I am a warrior!”
“Warrior?”
Clem continued watching Ark. And he burst out laughing.
“This child didn’t even know what the Nakuma was and now you want to hunt them?”
“T-that…..I might not know about the Nakuma but I’m still a warrior. I know that I’m lacking. However, I’m still a warrior. This is a warrior’s pride. I can’t just search through the muddy ground. I won’t blame Captain-nim even if I die so make me an Attacker!”
Ark stared into his eyes and strongly insisted. Clem’s face also became quite serious.
“You won’t bear a grudge even if you die…..that’s not the problem…..”
Clem scratched his beard with a perplexed expression. He nodded after a moment.
“I am also a warrior. I can’t ignore your pleading as that would kill your warrior’s pride. Okay, if you have this much confidence then I’ll test you. Hey, didn’t we catch some Nakuma as research material for the federation? Bring me a small one.”
“Huh? Why would you…..”
“It’s entertainment, entertainment. Don’t you want to see what a newborn chick does against a Nakuma for the first time?”
“Yes, I understand.”
An Attacker laughed and walked towards a container in the base camp. He manipulated the door lock and it slid to one side.
“This is a Nakuma. This one is the weakest in the vicinity.”
Clem introduced as a metal object in the form of a spider walked out. The metal was the Nakuma, a type of robot zombie. It really suited the mechanical zombie label as it waddled awkwardly.
“If you can handle it alone then I will al
low you to be an Attacker. How about it? Can you do it?”
“Of course.”
Ark attached a machine to his left eye and smiled. At the same time, his view turned green and blurry and he could clearly see the Nakuma.
-Infrared Scope
Item Type: Vision support equipment
The infrared scope allows you to distinguish between things clearly even at night. In addition, life detection capabilities have been loaded so you can recognize the combat capabilities of the enemy. This is an essential equipment for pioneers on the frontier.
+ Night vision
+ Enemy level confirmation
It was an equipment he purchased in the commercial area of Nephalim. The price was 5 gold. It was a taxing price but the infrared scope was the only way for users who hadn’t received body coating to use ‘night vision.’ It also allowed him to confirm the enemy level and health. As stated in the information window, it was a necessity for beginner pioneers. He identified with the scope that the Nakuma was level 13. He wasn’t an opponent for Ark who reached level 15 on R-14.
‘The muddy ground? Ha! This might be my first time on the frontier but I’ll show them that they can’t ignore me. What is this? I am Ark. I’ll show them what kind of user I am!’
Ark grasped his dagger with a confident look. Then the red ray of the Nakuma that was sweeping the area touched Ark.
-Life detected! It is an enemy! Remove it!
There was a beeping sound and the upper part of the Nakuma rotated. But Ark wasn’t stressed. There was no need to be tense.
“Enemy? Heh, didn’t your robot sensors identify that I’m stronger than you?”
Ark suddenly rushed towards the Nakuma and swung his dagger. Ark’s body glided across the swamp. It was the Swamp Walking he learnt from the Charenjok! This was the reason he chose Nephalim. The swamp south of Nephalim seemed like the best hunting ground for Ark.
“Huh! That guy, such movements on a swamp……”
“He wasn’t just talking nonsense when he mentioned the warrior’s pride?”
Clem and the Attackers whistled with a surprised expression and started murmuring.
‘The surprising thing will be from now on. This is my first battle on the frontier! I’ll show a hot performance!’
Lightning fast! It was his first battle since leaving R-14 so he charged in quickly. Then both arms of the Nakuma broke off and a bunch of pipe like objects popped out.
“Eh? W-wait! W-what is that? Guns?”
Ark burst out with confusion. The pipe like object was a Gatling gun that was commonly seen in war movies. Ark alternated between looking at his 20 cm dagger and the Nakuma’s gun.
“H-hey, is this a joke? It must be a decoration……”
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
The Gatling gun started revolving and fiercely firing bullets.
“…..This isn’t a joke!”
Ark hurriedly threw his body towards the ground and rolled. A bullet hit his thigh and he felt a sharp pain as well as losing 3% health.
“Ugh! Dammit, that gun! This is a trick!”
Ark stared at the Nakuma with an absurd expression. While selling items in Nephalim square, he had heard that fighting in Galaxian was trickier than other games. But who would’ve expected a level 13 monster shooting a machine gun? It would’ve been absurd in reality. However this was a game. One hit also reduced his health by 3%.
‘It is a machine gun. If I’m hit by a barrage of bullets then I will lost 20~30% health instantly.’
The opponent was 2 levels lower than him so he thought it would be easy. However……
“Phew, isn’t this exhilarating?”
A smile flashed on Ark’s face. He had been living in medieval times so he panicked after seeing a gun. But if he thought about, it was very different and exciting. Using a gun was different from bows and magic. He had only experience archery and magic so he felt refreshed seeing a gun. Of course, he was still confident that he could deal with it.
Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!
Then the Gatling gun revolved and the Nakuma started firing again. Ark lifted his left arm and shouted.
“Shield!”
A blue light appeared from his wrist. The identity of the blue light was a transparent, hexagonal shaped shield! It was the high density energy shield that he received from Bhurad on R-14. Unlike the medieval shield, this one could be worn as a bracelet and the glasslike surface even altered with the movement of the enemy.
Tting! Tting! Tting!
Once the shield expanded, sparks flew on the surface and the bullets bounced back. Of course, the energy of the shield was reduced but the value wasn’t that big. The energy was only decreased by 1% every time it was hit. The graphic effect of the shield was different when it blocked the bullets compared to the space bugs but it still blocked the damage Of course, it was a Gatling gun so he couldn’t just ignore it……
‘I’m not going to politely be hit by the bullets.’
Ark held up his shield and rushed towards the Nakuma. The Nakuma fired blindly but Ark moved in a zigzag pattern and it didn’t hit. Fortunately Ark could approach the Nakuma without receiving any damage. Ark appeared under the Nakuma’s nose and laughed.
“It’s my turn now. You machine zombie!”
Snap!
Blue sparks flew when he swung his dagger. It was the first time Ark saw it but he could understand the source of the blue sparks. When looking through the infrared scope, the Nakuma had two life force gauges. One red and one blue. The attack just then had decreased the blue gauge. He heard in Nephalim that this was the shield gauge that all androids had. He was surprised about the 2 gauges but the blue one quickly decreased by 15%. It was a surprisingly weak shield.
‘Well the opponent is a level 13 monster.’
Ark’s confidence rose as the shield gauge gradually reduced. Furthermore, the battle situation had instantly changed. The Gatling gun fired 10 bullets at once. However, there was a long gap between shots. So the Nakuma was almost defenseless after firing a round. Therefore Ark managed to start a close combat fight with his dagger that was disadvantageous to a gun battle. It became monotonous once he discovered the attack pattern of firing the Gatling gun.
“This is fighting with just a dagger and no skills?”
It had been a long time since Ark experienced a tedious fight like this.
Snap, snap, snap!
He thrust his dagger from side to side while dodging and the Nakuma’s shield was eventually crushed to pieces. Now the only thing left was the health!
“I’ll turn you into scrap iron and will sell you to the junkyard!”
Ark quickly moved from side to side and attacked. And…..confusion appeared on Ark’s face.
“W-what is this? It barely reduced any health?”
One attack had decrease 15% of the shield’s durability. Therefore Ark had expected to decrease the Nakuma’s health by a similar amount. However, those attacks had only reduced it by 10%. It meant each strike only did 3~4% damage.
‘Then the body has higher defense than the shield?’
Ark had learnt taekwondo for several years so close combat was his specialty. Ark had showed sufficient battle sense and used close combat fighting while avoiding the Nakuma’s attacks. Despite his evasion, he still received some damage. He didn’t have any skills yet so he had to expect a certain level of damage. He had lost 40% health. By the time he destroyed one of the gauges, his health was on 50%. He had calculated that he could defeat the Nakuma as the battle progressed. However, the defensive power of the main body was even higher than the shield. Then he received huge damage to his side. He was in a defenseless state and 10% health was cut!
‘I made a mistake. I have no chance in a frontal confrontation. I can’t win!’
The most basic ability for users was being able to determine victory or defeat in a user. If he only had 1 health left then it was likely the user would run away to increase changes of
survival. However, this battle wasn’t simply a problem of whether he lived or died. This was to determine whether he could become an Attacker instead of a Scavenger so he could earn 200 gold and experience! It wasn’t a battle he could run away from.
‘I have to endure until the end even if I die!’
Bbok!
Ark attached an octopus to his head. It was the Charenjok’s Token that healed 1 health every 3 seconds for 10 minutes! Bbok! Bbok! Bbok! Bbok!
-You have recovered 1 health
-You have recovered 1 health…..
His health was restored little by little.
‘That’s it. If this is attached then my odds will increase a little bit!’
Ark rotated his body and kicked the Nakuma’s back. He thought he could paralyze the Nakuma for a second but….it was a tremendous mistake.
-You have hit an android and injured your leg.
Ark was the one damaged instead! The android was a machine so kicking metal would obviously injure the man. The collision ended up injuring his leg. Ark never thought the laws of physics would be applied and it ended up a disaster! Ark collapsed to the ground because of the shock from his injury and the Nakuma swung a blade towards Ark’s chest.
‘Dammit! I’m screwed!’
Ark looked at the Nakuma’s blade with hopeless eyes.
Tung-!
There was a roaring sound from behind him. The back of the Nakuma’s head exploded and it stumbled to one side. Ark reflexively turned his head and his mouth widened. Clem was kneeling approximately 10 metres behind Ark with a cigar in his mouth. The deafening sound came from the rifle he was holding and the rifle then fired again.
Tung-! Tung-! Tung-!
Whenever the blast occurred, there was an explosion to the back of the Nakuma’s head. The Nakuma received several shots from the rifle and struggled weakly in the mud.
“Do you now grasp the situation, Scavenger?”
Clem put away his rifle and smiled at Ark.
“You seem to have some skill with sword fighting. But this isn’t the medieval age. Who would risk their lives with a dagger these days? Now, listen carefully. Direct strike weapons like swords are effective against shields. But you’re screwed if you attach the body of a mechanical creature like the Nakuma with a sword. Just like now.”
