by Yoo Seong
“Heksu-nim! Ark!”
“Ark, you saved me!”
Heksu grasped Ark’s hand with a pale face.
“It was a natural thing to do as colleagues. What do we do now?”
“A request for help was sent to Captain Clem. We can only wait until the Attackers arrive.”
“How long will that take?”
“The answer hasn’t been confirmed yet. Wait a moment. Huk!”
Heksu trembled after manipulating the Nymphe.
“Right now the Attackers are hunting so it will take them 10 minutes to clean up and return.”
“10 minutes? I-isn’t that a serious problem?”
The Scavengers cried out and Ark tilted his head to one side before asking.
“Can’t we endure if we use the truck as a cover?”
“No, this truck is the problem. The Nakuma is an existence that collects metal parts in the swamp. That is why all the Nakuma are different sizes. The ones that collect more mechanical parts are larger and stronger. And this truck contains thousands of metal parts that we’ve collected from 3 days of hunting the Nakuma. If those guys capture the truck before the Attackers get here…..”
Kwa kwang! Kwa kwang!
There was a roar and the truck shook. The 3 Debris were pouring attacks from the opposite side of the truck. Heksu moaned as the truck shook.
“Oh my god! Those guys know what is inside the truck!”
“If they combine with the metal parts in the container……”
“We’re screwed! They’ll become even bigger and stronger!”
The Scavengers grabbed their heads and exclaimed. However, Ark’s scream was different from theirs. The container was filled with metal parts. The Debris would obviously form huge monsters if they got those parts. The Scavengers and maybe even Clem and the Attackers might not be able to handle them. However, Ark had a different worry. The Nakuma combined with metal parts. They could also reclaim metal parts. Only some metal parts would drop. The rest would just disappear. In other words, if they absorbed all of the metal in the container then some would disappear for good.
‘I will lose all the metal parts I collected!’
The metal he spent three days gathering would fly away. That’s what Ark was afraid of.
Kwa kwang! Kwadududuk!
Once again a banging sound was heard against the outer wall of the container. Ark and the Scavengers jumped with surprise. The Debris were aiming towards the container to obtain the metal parts. There were only a few metres left before they would break through. Heksu and the Scavengers were still pulling at their hair. They didn’t even have weapons and they couldn’t fight. The only one who could do something was Ark!
‘……I have no choice!’
Ark grabbed his revolver and dagger. There were 3 Debris. Their health was only 30% but they were still level 30. In the meantime, Ark was still level 15. He also couldn’t use the gun properly to deal damage to the Debris.
‘The odds are against me. But I might be able to lure them away from the truck with Swamp Walking. Yes, that’s the only way. All my efforts of the past three days will be undone if the container is broken. It is better to die to ensure that the truck survives!’
Ark grinded his teeth and prepared to exit from behind the truck. Suddenly a hand sprang out from the mud underneath the truck and grabbed his ankles. Ark was dragged underneath the truck as was able to identify the arm.
“Debris!”
A Debris had slipped underneath the truck! The Debris pulled Ark using one arm and attacked using a blade.
‘Oh, no! In this state it is likely to be a critical hit!’
Ark was distressed and instinctively fired his revolver at the Debris. Smoke covered the Debris’ head and a message window appeared.
-Headshot!
A headshot occurred when the bullet hit the head! But the message wasn’t reflected in Ark’s eyes.
“I-it hit!”
Over the past three days, Ark had practiced shooting until he got blisters and he never hit a target. But now he hit something. And it was the difficult headshot! Ark stared at the smoking Debris with stunned eyes.
“Oh my god! What on earth……?”
“Ark, it’s dangerous!”
Heksu screamed as he looked under the truck. The Debris pulling him was wielding its blade again. There was no room to avoid with the position Ark was in. But fear didn’t appear on Ark’s face. Ark pulled the trigger of the revolver as the blade flew towards him.
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
The shots were fired and the Debris’ arm broken. The ensuring shots hit the Debris in the head and the shoulder. Smoke appeared again from the headshot!
‘I found it! A way to shoot and always hit the target!’
An exhilarating sensation swept through his body.
‘I’m so stupid! I wasn’t trying to learn marksmanship for long distance attacks. I couldn’t damage the Nakuma and Debris with the dagger. There is no reason to shoot the gun from a distance. The point is hitting them with the bullet. So it isn’t necessary to stay 10 metres away to hit the can. If you can’t hit from a distance of 10 metres……’
“I will shoot from a distance that will guarantee a hit!”
Ark touched the revolver to the head of the struggling Debris. He pulled the trigger and there were continuous headshots. If the muzzle was forced to the head then it was impossible to miss. This was the method of marksmanship that Ark discovered.
-Your level has risen!
With that enlightening, Ark reached level 16 after 3 days. Ark became more inspired to fight the Debris after levelling up.
‘I can do it!’
Ark slipped out from under the truck and approached a Debris.
Kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang, kwa kwang!
Two Debris were still attacking the side of the truck. The outer wall of the container was already crumpled like tissue paper.
‘There’s no time left. I have to stop these guys!’
Ark headed towards the back of a Debris and pulled the trigger.
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
The Debris’ health went straight down from the continuous headshots. The Debris turned towards Ark and started fighting. This was different from the fight underneath the truck. The Debris’ movements were restricted under the truck so it couldn’t evade properly. It was easy to hit a target that stood still. However, this Debris was different.
It swung both its arms in an attack that was difficult to avoid at close range.
‘But…..I am Ark!’
He was a legend with a sword in one virtual reality game. Close combat was Ark’s battle territory!
Hwing! Hwing! Hwing! Hwing!
Ark avoided the blade with quick movements and pushed the muzzle of the gun to the Debris’ body.
“I’m sorry but I’ve seen everything.”
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
The Debris’ health was sucked out from the ensuing attacks. The Debris was resurrected with only 30% health. It was impossible with a dagger but it collapsed after just 3 minutes of being hit by bullets. But Ark wasn’t fine. Ark was an expert in close combat but he was still level 16. His Swamp Walking might’ve increased evasion but he still received a lot of damage.
Cheolkeok, susususuk.
Furthermore, the revolver only allowed 6 bullets at a time so he needed to reload a few times in battle. Therefore he had lost 70% health.
‘But now there is only one Debris remaining. If I focus a bit more during battle…..’
Ark turned towards the last Debris.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!
While he had been attacking its colleague, the Debris had been continuously firing at the container. There was a roar and the outer wall was destroyed. The metal parts in the container started flying towards the Debris like they were being attracted by a magnet. Then the Debris grew from 2 metres to 5
metres?
-Level 30….level 32….level 34…..
The level of the Debris through the infrared scope started climbing. It became stronger by absorbing the metal parts!
‘Oh my god! It is already that strong from dozens of metal parts…..’
If it absorbed the thousands of metal pieces then it would literally be a monster. Even if they managed to kill it, most of the metal would disappear.
‘No! I have to stop it!’
Ark rushed towards the Debris without thinking. He narrowed the distance with Swamp Walking and pulled the trigger when the muzzle was placed to the back of its head. The revolver fired out a bullet. The Debris wobbled from the headshot but only for a moment.
-Roaaaaar!
The Debris turned its huge body and swung its blade. It was a huge body. Ark hurriedly stepped back but he was still hit. Ark grabbed his side and moaned as the blade descended again.
‘What a tremendous attack! If I’m hit directly then I’ll die!’
The distressed Ark formed an X with the gun and dagger and blocked the attack. That was a mistake. The opponent was a 5 metres machine. The impact from such a huge body felt like his shoulders had broken. Ark was forced into the swamp as the blade pressed down. The defense posture stopped the blade but…..
‘Ugh! D-dammit! M-move!”
Ark had trouble even breathing thanks to that attack. There was no way he could throw off the monster and escape. That wasn’t the only problem.
-Level 36….level 38….level 40…..
The metal parts were still continuously being absorbed by the Debris. Every time the Debris’ size increased, the weight on him became even heavier.
‘Wrong. Is it going to end here……?’
Hopelessness appeared on Ark’s face.
Pepepepeng!
There was a series of explosions from the back of the Debris’ head. The shocked Debris stumbled and the pressure on his body disappeared. Ark rolled his body away and looked at the direction the noise came from. A group of warriors was approaching from one direction.
“This is the second time.”
In the lead was Clem!
“Captain Clem! The Attackers had arrived!”
Heksu and the Scavengers popped out from behind the truck. Clem looked at them before turning to Ark.
“But this time I feel compelled to say thank you. Thank you, squirt. Now get some rest.”
Space 9
Invader
From ships to small screws! All orders custom made!
“It’s only been 3 days?”
Ark looked at the sign with flashing eyes. It had been 3 times since he arrived at Nephalim and was tricked by the hamster into a sponsor contract and sold to a mercenary troop.
‘At that time I had wanted to shoot a bullet in the hamster’s head……’
Now he changed his mind. He thought it was like human trafficking at first but the Silver Hand was a surprisingly excellent experience. Clem might have an intimidating experience but he is a friendly and kind NPC. The only complaint was the small salary. That was probably the reason why Clem wanted to hire a worker. However, that dissatisfaction was resolved with the incident last time.
“Hmm, it might be a Debris but you managed to defeat 2 of them by yourself. You might not have the skill of an Attacker but…..we would’ve lost all the parts we gathered in 3 days if it wasn’t for you. You fixed our mistake so I should reward that. You will be an Attacker for the next hunt. Hey, Attackers! Do you have any dissatisfaction about this youngster being an Attacker?”
“No!”
“Okay. Then Ark will become an Attacker in the next hunt!”
“Yay yay! Yes!”
He had been promoted to an Attacker. While this was what Ark wished for, Heksu had become grumpy. The Attackers received double the salary of the Scavengers. It was 5% of the dividend. He was able to receive 5% of the huge number of metal components gathered from the pursuit hunting. He also additionally got tremendous experience! Ark obtained even more from the Debris’ appearance.
-A new skill (Common Occupation ☆) has been learnt.
Close Marksmanship (User, Passive): An essential basic marksmanship technique in Galaxian.
Various guns can be used in Galaxian like rocket launchers, long range sniper rifle, shotguns, close range assault rifle, SMG (Sub machine gun) and portable hand guns. If you master the performance of a wide range of weapons at 100% then the probability of survival on the frontier will increase.
Marksmanship was registered as a skill after the battle with the Debris.
“Plus……”
Ark sent a warm look towards his heavy bag. The Silver Hand had collected about 2,500 metal parts in three days. Original Ark worked as a Scavenger so he only received a 2% share. That was 50 pieces. But now Ark’s bag contained 550 metal parts! Ark’s achievement in killing the Debris was recognized and he received the 20% bonus metal parts. It was worth looking through the swamp for 3 days! Therefore he didn’t feel like shooting Tori anymore. Of course, that didn’t mean Ark was grateful. He was able to receive 100% results from the mercenary troops thanks to Ark’s efforts. The hamster had just happily sold him. Furthermore, Ark was deceived with his sweet talk and entered a provisional contract of 200 gold……
‘I might not want to shoot him but I can still kick his fat stomach! But I can learn the hacking skill and then terminate the contract. Until then I just have to endure it. It won’t take a long time now that I’m an Attacker.’
Ark imagined kicking the hamster as he entered Gear.
-Critical Hit! You have received a surprise attack!
He felt an impact to his side and a red warning message appeared.
“Huk! W-what is this?”
Ark grabbed his bleeding side and turned his head with surprise. And some guys flocked out of the junkyard and pushed Ark. Ark fell down and raised his head with surprise.
“Y-you…..”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ll make you regret it.”
“…… Mald!”
Ark glared at Mald. He was the gangster who confronted Ark at the plaza and was arrested by the androids. Mald shook his dagger as blood fell and growled.
“Bastard! Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you?”
“Ugh, you…..are you crazy? This is a city. This…..”
“City? Heh, do you think I care about my reputation anymore? It doesn’t matter if I become chaotic inside the city or outside. It won’t change. You miscalculated if you thought I would leave you alone. It doesn’t matter if I end up in prison as long as I can kill you.”
“A visitor? Are you a visitor?”
The Tori entered the junkyard. His eyes widened as he saw Ark bleeding heavily.
“Eh? Ark? And……blood? What, what the?”
“Don’t you know him?”
Mald angrily stared at Tori. Tori looked wildly between Ark and Mald and said.
“Oh, no! I-I don’t know! I don’t know him at all!”
“Then get lost!”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll do that! So please take care of that quickly!”
Tori turned around and quickly left.
‘That damn bastard…..!’
Ark glared at the back of the hamster’s head.
“This is the ideal chance. We’ve been waiting for you in front of Nephalim’s gate. Because you’ll have no choice but to pass through the gate. And I finally found you in the vicinity of the gate a short time ago. But do you know the reason we followed you to this place? You haven’t registered with the fairy yet.”
Ark cringed at the end of Mald’s words. Ark had returned to Nephalim but he hadn’t registered with the Fairy yet. He was in the city so he thought he didn’t need to hurry.
“You seem to have been hunting quite a bit while avoiding us. And you ate quite a bit of experience? Therefore
if you die before registering with the Fairy then you’ll be completely turned into jelly.”
It had been three days since he had encountered Mald and his gang. No, Ark had completely forgotten about Mald until now. He had gained almost no experience while working as a Scavenger. He gained a level from defeating the Debris but it wasn’t that much experience. Dying then would’ve been okay…..
“So we waited for a good opportunity for a deserted place. If you’re here then you will die before the androids arrive.”
Mald shook his dagger and stepped closer to him. The 4 henchmen also surrounded Ark. 5 thugs were encircling him with knives! And Ark……
“Hah, you guys really are boring. It doesn’t matter if it’s inside the city or outside? You want to kill me? You seem to be using your head a little bit. If you kill me then all 5 of you will be chaotic? Isn’t that common sense? Won’t you rot in a prison cell if you become chaotic? Yet it is fine? It is huge damage no matter how you think about it.”
“Don’t be cocky. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten? I was locked up for 2 hours and wasted 30 gold already. No, I don’t care about money. You stirred the wrong opponent. Don’t think it will end with one time. I will continue to kill you in the hunting grounds and the city until you quit the game.”
“Try it.”
Then a voice filled with laughter was heard from behind him. Mald turned around with confusion and paled.
“What, what the? These guys…..”
“This punk doesn’t have any manners. You should spend some time with adults.”
The person smoking a cigarette and speaking was Clem, the leader of Silver Hand! And 15 people aiming their rifles at Mald’s gang were standing behind Clem. They were the reason why Ark was calm. Ark was still a part of the Silver Hand. The Silver Hand had only returned to Nephalim because the contained was filled with 3 days of hunting and in order to replenish their supplies. While Clem went to visit the federation to receive the reward for hunting Nakuma, Ark had gone to Tori to learn the first part of the hacking skill. Clem then went to the junkyard to repair the broken container and procure supplies. Mald had messed with him on the wrong day.
