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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Leopard and the Buffalo - Part 3
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Crack!
The leg kick landed. It was the eighth one.
"Kuhk..."
Eventually, Lee Won-seok lost his balance and staggered.
In that very moment, Lee Hyun-wook rushed in.
He moved like flowing water, getting behind Lee Won-seok in the blink of an eye. He grabbed his waist and toppled him forward.
"Back mount!"
Someone shouted.
It was a position where one sits on the opponent's hips, immobilizing their lower body. And by taking the back like that, there was no risk of being caught in the 'Barbarian's' grip.
To borrow Cheon Myeong-ho's analogy, it was as if the leopard had climbed onto the rampaging buffalo's back, minimizing the risk of being gored by its horns while being able to aim for its windpipe.
"Ughhhhh!"
But the buffalo wasn't dead yet.
He thrashed his body as if trying to buck, attempting to throw the leopard off.
But...
"The hunt is already over."
Cheon Myeong-ho's single sentence decisively cut through the scene.
"What? Sir, how can you say that?"
Sergeant Kang Seong-chun, as well as Oh Sang-guk and Gwak Jin-cheol, couldn't understand at all. Lee Won-seok, that Barbarian, was so inherently strong that he looked like he could flip over and get up at any moment.
"Honestly, we still need to watch. He might reverse the position and beat him down instead."
However, Cheon Myeong-ho calmly shook his head.
"That brute is just like a water buffalo. All he knows is how to rampage, not how to defend his vital spots. On the other hand, that kid is like a true leopard, watching his prey's weak points, ready to sink his teeth in."
"A weak point...?"
The next moment, Lee Hyun-wook's arms moved like snakes, wrapping around Lee Won-seok's neck.
"Gah!"
Lee Won-seok flinched in surprise and thrashed, but his reaction was too slow.
"Ghk!"
A rear-naked choke, a technique that uses both arms to compress the carotid arteries and cut off blood flow to the brain, was locked in perfectly.
"Look at that. The leopard has finally bitten the nape of its neck."
"...Ah?"
"It'll be over in an instant. Like the fangs of a predator severing its prey's life..."
Lee Won-seok struggled, trying to grab and tear at Lee Hyun-wook's arms, but his forearms were unnaturally hard, and the grip wouldn't break.
This too was due to 'Rigidification'.
Rigidification alone increased his grip strength by nearly three times. His two arms, turned to steel, interlocked and clamped shut like a lock.
Lee Hyun-wook tightened the 'grip' with all his might.
'Add my ability to this, and it will never break.'
The good thing about Rigidification was that he could use his 'ability' on his own metalized body. Lee Hyun-wook focused 2,558g of force into his steel-like fingers, increasing his gripping power.
Screeeech!
It was so intense that it made a sound like scraping metal.
Scrape! Scrape!
All Lee Won-seok could do was offer futile resistance, scratching at Lee Hyun-wook's clothes with his fingernails.
"Kuh, keuk! Kuhh..."
Five seconds, six seconds, seven seconds... time passed,
Lee Won-seok's body went limp,
And soon,
Thud-
His thick arm fell limply to the floor.
"...Ah!"
The movements of both Players stopped at the same time.
"Hahaha! Yes, that's the true difference in 'class' I was talking about."
As Cheon Myeong-ho spoke, Lee Hyun-wook stood up.
He wasn't even out of breath, his face as calm as if he had just done a light warm-up. In contrast, Lee Won-seok lay stiff and motionless.
The one who had fallen and the one who stood...
Thus, with the winner and loser clearly decided,
"Crazy, no way. What is this...?"
Gwak Jin-cheol could do nothing but shake his head in denial.
He didn't want to believe it.
But Lee Hyun-wook's appearance right now was truly...
'...A leopard!'
He felt like a leopard that had hunted a buffalo twice its size, now resting its paw on its kill.
And when that leopard's eyes shifted to the onlookers,
"..."
Silence.
The training ground became as quiet as a library.
Step- Step-
As Lee Hyun-wook stepped down from the combat box, the crowd of onlookers parted to the left and right.
And at the end of the path stood a man in a combat uniform, Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho of the Black Tiger Unit.
He faced Lee Hyun-wook with a faint smile.
"Soldier, what's your name?"
Lee Hyun-wook looked at his face and checked the name tag on his combat uniform.
'Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho? Why is he here now?'
This was another person Lee Hyun-wook knew well.
'He's the one who will soon recruit Sergeant Choi Young-jun and train him to be the best.'
He had heard that he'd made three personal visits to recruit Choi Young-jun into the Black Tiger Unit.
This seemed to be the first of those visits, and it appeared he had stumbled upon this duel by chance.
"I am Corporal Lee Hyun-wook of the 1st Company."
Cheon Myeong-ho extended his hand for a handshake.
"I am Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho, a raid tactics instructor for the Black Tiger Unit. That duel just now was quite impressive."
Then he took a business card out of his inner pocket.
"As a corporal, you must be thinking about your path after discharge. Are you perhaps interested in 'Special Warfare Raids'?"
Gasps of admiration erupted from all around.
"Wow..."
"Crazy, is that for real?"
Special Warfare Raids referred to high-difficulty special missions among those that dealt with monsters.
To put it simply, they were a special forces unit under the A.M.T. While they were publicly known for missions like assassinating boss monsters or infiltrating and destroying dungeons, their detailed assignments were a state secret.
"That's... a scouting offer from the Black Tiger Unit, right? Right?"
"I-It seems so, but he probably doesn't know he's an F-rank, right? Seriously, does that make any sense?"
The onlookers let out laments, as if they couldn't understand it at all.
They had just witnessed the unbelievable scene of an F-rank taking down a D-rank... but no matter what, for an F-rank they considered far beneath them to receive an offer from the Black Tiger Unit was beyond unbelievable—they didn't want to believe it.
"I'm sorry, but I'm an F-rank Player."
Lee Hyun-wook said as much and didn't take the card. But Cheon Myeong-ho paid no mind and pushed the card toward him.
"In my eyes, I see a warrior before I see an F-rank."
A warrior.
Lee Hyun-wook knew well that this grand word from Cheon Myeong-ho's lips was not mere flattery.
The Black Tiger Unit valued an individual's judgment and combat sense more than their Player abilities when recruiting agents.
They would even exclude an S-rank Player from an operation if they lacked teamwork.
'Ironically, that's what made the Black Tiger Unit strong.'
The special ability to conquer an A-rank dungeon with a team of C-rank Players—that was the Black Tiger Unit.
In other words, as an organization that cultivated true 'specialists,' fighting in the Black Tiger Unit meant you were an elite warrior.
'A place you couldn't enter just because you wanted to, no matter how high your rank; a place you had to be chosen for... And a place that would later lead the most significant operation in the history of South Korea's A.M.T, the
In short, it was a place of honor.
But Lee Hyun-wook had no intention of staying in the military.
'The military is inevitably insular.'
He couldn't fight against the Villain organization while staying in such a restrictive place. Unable to act freely, he would be held back at crucial moments.
"...Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, are you going to make me keep holding this?"
At Cheon Myeong-ho's insistence, Lee Hyun-wook took the business card.
"Thank you for thinking highly of me. I'll think about it."
Lee Hyun-wook saluted and walked past him. Then, as if he had no lingering attachments, he walked out of the training ground.
Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho watched him go with a faint smile. He clicked his tongue as if in regret.
"An F-rank, an ill-fated genius... how fitting."
Once Lee Hyun-wook was gone, the onlookers began to murmur again.
And from among them, a wisp of gray smoke rose. Its source was, of course, Gwak Jin-cheol's mouth.
He felt as if he hadn't just taken one solid blow, but at least a few more.
"Sergeant Oh, w-what in the world just happened?"
"..."
Oh Sang-guk didn't answer Gwak Jin-cheol's question.
"...Sergeant Oh Sang-guk?"
Oh Sang-guk said nothing, watching Lee Won-seok, who was slumped against a wall, blinking his eyes.
More precisely, he was looking into Lee Won-seok's eyes, which were filled with fear and on the verge of tears. Though he had regained consciousness, he seemed unable to make sense of things, muttering strange sounds and trembling.
In that moment, a shiver ran down his spine.
"Fuck..."
If Oh Sang-guk, if he himself had been in that spot, could he... have won?
He swallowed a dry gulp.
"Jin-cheol. I don't know either. I have no idea what just happened, what this is..."
In the end, he couldn't say anything more.
Meanwhile, nearby were the members of the Support Squad, the 5th Squad.
Specifically, Ahn Min-tae and Park Jun-mo.
"Hey, Jun-mo, this isn't a dream, right? Right?"
Ahn Min-tae was also dumbfounded.
"I've been wondering if I'm dreaming since my shift early yesterday morning."
"Wow, then that guy really..."
Ahn Min-tae, as Lee Hyun-wook's junior in the squad, had always been friendly with him, but honestly, he never really trusted him.
He saw him less as a senior he could trust and follow on the battlefield and more like a nice older brother. For the past year, that thought hadn't changed one bit.
"Really, truly..."
But that same person had started acting strangely a few days ago, and then this morning, he'd suddenly achieved something incredible.
Even then, he had thought it was just a coincidence.
But now, he had no choice but to admit it.
"...He's really, really changed."
The man had changed overnight.
And completely, at that.
***
A gate appearing on base.
A duel observed by an officer from the Black Tiger Unit.
These two incidents, happening in a single day, were enough to shake up this small society. The fact that the protagonist of both events was the same person, and an F-rank Player at that, meant the repercussions were significant.
"...G-Good work."
As Lee Hyun-wook walked down the hallway, he could feel that he was being greeted more often than usual.
The soldier who had just greeted him was a private from the 2nd Squad who would normally have pretended not to see him and walked right by, but now he glanced over before bowing his head.
Besides that, there were countless stares and whispers, all of which were quite bothersome.
'This has gotten bigger than I thought.'
He hadn't intended to completely hide the fact that he'd changed, but it was just as troublesome if things got too noisy.
'Still, there's no need to hit the brakes.'
Since things had come to this, Lee Hyun-wook thought he should change everything around him even faster. All eyes on him meant it would be easier to bring about change.
And that was when he entered the barracks.
"Corporal Lee Hyun-wook."
Someone approached him.
It was his direct junior, Ahn Min-tae.
His expression was quite different from when he had confronted Lee Hyun-wook about his conflict with Gwak Jin-cheol. Back then, he had protested, full of defiance; now, his face held a sense of awe.
"Um... I have just one question. What's your secret?"
"Hm?"
"The secret to how you could change so much overnight. Honestly, I still can't believe it."
At Ahn Min-tae's serious question, the entire 5th Squad turned to look at Lee Hyun-wook. It seemed it wasn't just Ahn Min-tae who was curious.
'They're bound to be curious. Someone in the same situation as them has completely changed their fate, so they'd naturally desire the same for themselves.'
And it was, in fact, possible.
Lee Hyun-wook could tell them how.
"As you've seen, you just have to work out every day. Do 100 pull-ups and run 3km a day."
"..."
Everyone wore skeptical expressions at his answer. Some even looked as if they felt deceived.
Lee Hyun-wook chuckled and continued.
"What I mean is, don't trap yourself within the artificial limitation of ranks."
"So you're saying ranks don't matter at all?"
Ahn Min-tae asked, tilting his head.
"Ahn Min-tae, what did you see at the training ground today?"
"Ah..."
At those words, Ahn Min-tae nodded his head vigorously, as if he'd been struck.
Even after clearly witnessing the lowest rank, an F-rank, defeat and knock out a D-rank... he had still asked as if ranks were an absolute value.
"Everyone thinks that anyone from the 5th Squad will lose any fight. Why? Because our ranks are low."
The 5th Squad, also called the Support Squad, was considered the weakest group of Players in the company.
The reason was very simple.
They were either considered incapable of growth, like the F-ranks Lee Hyun-wook or Park Jun-mo, or they had 'Level Growth Traits' but were effectively excluded from combat because their traits had low combat efficiency, giving them almost no opportunity to raise their levels...
"But think about it carefully. These ranks aren't defined by this unknown game. They're just labels we've arbitrarily attached."
Ahn Min-tae nodded again, staring into space as if he'd realized something.
"Now that you mention it..."
One day, the world suddenly turned into a 'game'.
Humanity still doesn't know the reason or purpose of this transcendent game.
However, they are adapting to this unknown game and creating their own 'rules'.
"...Just as you said, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, you could say that many of these things are, in a way, nothing more than a kind of 'social system'."
The game only grants Players random traits in the first place; it doesn't specify their qualitative level. In other words, 'Player Ranks' were a rule created artificially by humans, a kind of 'caste system'.
Right now, it's accepted as a rational standard, but,
'In a few years, the rediscovery of F-ranks will expose a fatal blind spot in that caste system.'
That was why Lee Hyun-wook was against the Player rank system. Because it created a kind of stigma.
"And Park Jun-mo, you."
"Private Park Jun-mo! Yes, sir!"
"You almost died this morning. You know that, right?"
"Uh..."
Park Jun-mo remembered. The goblin, his pathetic response, Lee Hyun-wook's greatsword...
"Ah, yes, that's right. If it weren't for you, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, I..."
Then he hung his head limply.
"You ask for a secret? Forget everything else and just stop slacking on your training just because you're in the Support Squad. Forget changing overnight; you won't even be able to protect your own lives."
Ahn Min-tae nodded in agreement at the sharp remark.
"...That's right. There was Sergeant Kim Ho-jong being evacuated, and back when I was a private, Corporal Park Ho-min, who was a fireteam leader, was killed in action by a kobold ambush. The casualty rate for the Support Squad, which is considered relatively safe, is higher than you'd think."
'As expected, once you prove your ability, your words carry more weight.'
Just a few days ago, they might have scoffed and dismissed it as serious nonsense.
But this wasn't just simple advice. It was a kind of 'foreshadowing'.
'Because tomorrow evening, something like that is going to happen.'
The reason Lee Hyun-wook was giving this weighty, long-winded speech was all because of that incident.
Tomorrow, the first 'operation' since his regression begins. A gate will open in the 1st Battalion's garrison area, and an emergency dispatch order will be issued.
During that operation, in the rear where the Support Squad is stationed—a place considered relatively safe—a major incident will occur.
'A moment will come when the Support Squad, too, must fight for their lives.'
But in that moment, the Support Squad of that time was not prepared.
In the end, they faced a terrible outcome: five seriously injured and one dead. Even Lee Hyun-wook himself had suffered a 7cm-long gash on his thigh.
'This time, even with me here, someone could still get seriously hurt.'
However, if the squad members would just pull themselves together a little...
'...I can turn this crisis into a huge opportunity this time as well.'
That was Lee Hyun-wook's judgment, and the significance of this weighty speech.
At that moment, a message appeared before his eyes.
- Metal Absorption has been completed. (Mana Stone)
* Controllable metal weight has increased. : 91g
* Total mana has increased. : 11
- Controllable metal weight: 3,099g
By absorbing the mana stone obtained from hunting the goblin, he had increased not only his controllable metal weight but also his total mana.
'With this much, I should be able to move 10 daggers at once.'
***
The next morning,
Lee Hyun-wook went to the battalion armory to receive the 'special reward' from the battalion commander, just as the company commander had told him.
"Salute! Good to see you, sir. I'm here to receive my item reward."
"Oh, you're here! Our F-rank hero, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook!"
The man in charge of the unit armory, First Lieutenant Oh Jeong-tae, greeted Lee Hyun-wook in a somewhat exaggerated voice.
"Ha, I heard what you did this morning! You were lucky, congratulations!"
"Yes, I was quite lucky."
"Yeah, yeah, it's lucky enough you didn't die, but to catch a Goblin Shaman on top of that, that's a jackpot!"
He said, chuckling. But it wasn't a sneer. He was genuinely happy for him.
'Oh Jeong-tae, a D-rank Player who was like a pitiable neighborhood big brother. He'll probably be discharged soon, as if being kicked out...'
Within the A.M.T, Players in management or administrative positions like this were not treated very well. Since the A.M.T was thoroughly focused on combat efficiency, this treatment was perhaps to be expected.
It was the fate of one who, despite being an officer, couldn't fully realize their potential.
"Well then, let's go pick out your special reward!"
Rumble-rumble-rumble-
As Oh Jeong-tae turned a lever on the wall, the floor inside began to open, and a cool breeze wafted up.
An underground facility with a 'barrier' device designed with magic engineering—that was the battalion armory, where hundreds of items were stored in a space of about 700 square meters.
Thump!
The iron door, dozens of centimeters thick, opened completely with a heavy sound.
"Sorry, but I can't give you time to shop leisurely. You have to choose within 30 minutes. Otherwise, the security system will go off, and I'll get an earful from my superiors."
He didn't need 30 minutes anyway. He had already decided.
Like the stigma of being an F-rank, a weapon bound by rules arbitrarily set by humans lay dormant here, and its hibernation was originally scheduled to be quite long.
Until the legendary figure named Choi Young-jun happened to grasp its hilt.
But this time, its awakening was scheduled to be a little earlier.
'There it is.'
A single sword caught Lee Hyun-wook's eye.
It was the moment for the seasoned leopard to grow sharp claws.