Chapter 63 : Between Chaos and Order (3)
Chapter 63: Between Chaos and Order (3)
The fierce wind stung his eyes.
Lee Taebaek rolled his aching eyeballs upward.
The strip of sky had narrowed into a single straight line.
Dark silhouettes streaked across both sides of it.
A quick estimate told him there were at least twenty of them.
They really rounded up a lot.
“A ninja gathering, huh.”
Many organizations within the City hired ninjas.
Places that lacked the infrastructure to train their own Enforcer Hounds like MegaCorp generally outsourced the job.
Medium-sized corporations and even the City Government preferred employing them.
Damn it. Which bastards sent them?
The problem was that too many groups had a grudge against him.
Lee Taebaek had caused trouble almost everywhere.
He slowed his breathing into shallow, measured breaths.
The vibrations from Red Hare beneath him anchored his consciousness back to reality.
At the far end of the road, the exit shimmered like a tiny point of light.
If I can just make it there, I'll break through their encirclement.
Even if enemies were waiting beyond it, he intended to smash straight through them with Red Hare.
After all, they couldn't possibly know the upgraded motorcycle's new top speed.
The real problem was whether he could even make it that far.
Lee Taebaek currently had only one hand on the handlebars.
Even after slowing down, Red Hare was still traveling at 100 kilometers per hour.
Far too fast to rely on luck alone.
He couldn't simply grab the handlebars with both hands, either.
If the ninjas threw shuriken, he'd need his sword to knock them away.
He briefly considered opening his umbrella as a shield.
But blocking his own view above his head would have been the worst possible choice.
If that had been their intention from the beginning, they would have thrown the shuriken already.
Each ninja carried a katana.
Occasionally exposing their shuriken, they were clearly trying to bait him into opening the umbrella.
Their objective isn't to hinder me.
It's to kill me.
They hadn't even crossed blades yet, and they were already playing psychological games.
As expected of ninjas.
“The timing really is awful today.”
He'd thought today would be his lucky day.
Turned out it was one of those Korean death flags instead.
Just as Lee Taebaek clicked his tongue—
[Activating Autonomous Driving Mode.]
Geometric patterns appeared across the windshield.
Then the handlebars wriggled as though alive.
He was startled...
...but only briefly.
The mechanic had said she'd upgraded Red Hare's software.
Apparently, Autonomous Driving Mode was one of those improvements.
Lee Taebaek slowly released his grip.
Red Hare responded to its master's trust by maintaining a perfectly stable course.
“Outstanding.”
That single word became the starting signal.
The four leading ninjas accelerated.
The one running parallel with Red Hare suddenly overtook it before instantly dropping downward.
Screeeech.
The harsh sound resembled fingernails scraping across a chalkboard.
Dragging the tips of their katanas against the walls, they reduced the pull of gravity.
Sparks erupted wherever the blades passed.
Running at impossible angles, they began sprinting along the walls.
A pair of ninjas flanked him on each side.
Behind the gaps in their masks, optical lenses gleamed.
Dense compound lenses, like the eyes of dragonflies.
The moment Lee Taebaek's gaze met those insect-like eyes—
One of them threw a shuriken.
The spinning steel collided with his sword.
With one short slash, he knocked it aside.
Without hesitation, the ninja who had thrown it launched himself forward.
In the very next instant, his head snapped backward.
Lee Taebaek's blade pierced straight through his brain and burst out the top of his skull.
Retrieving the sword, I immediately lowered myself.
The corpse slammed against Red Hare's windshield before tumbling behind me.
Chaos erupted.
It must have collided with one of the pursuing ninjas.
My expanded perception instantly painted the entire battlefield across the back of my retina.
Three more ninjas kicked off the walls and leaped.
Even as blades closed in from every direction, I couldn't help feeling dumbfounded.
Didn't these people have any sense of camaraderie?
Their comrade had just died...
Yet none of them showed the slightest sign of panic.
They immediately continued the assault.
As though the dead man's usefulness had ended right there.
Trying to shake them emotionally is pointless.
I'd planned to overcome the numerical disadvantage by buffing Mental Strength.
If I'd gone through with it, I would've gotten myself killed.
New strategy.
Not that I really had much of one to begin with.
Stab.
Slash.
Cut.
After fighting Dojon, my mana had long since run dry.
There was no choice but to fight with my body.
Lee Taebaek leaped upward.
Landing atop the saddle while balancing solely on the tips of his feet—
He swung his arm.
His sword collided with three katanas.
Their blades locked together as the three ninjas were shoved backward.
[Enhancing the caster's Strength stat.]
He boosted his Strength just before the collision.
Combined with Red Hare's speed, the impact multiplied dramatically.
He could almost feel their emotions traveling through the blades.
Their masks made their expressions impossible to read.
Still...
Yeah.
If you're human, you should be surprised.
You damn Japs.
The ninja on his left moved his hand.
Apparently reaching for another shuriken.
At that exact moment, Red Hare suddenly swerved sharply left as though it possessed a will of its own.
The ninja attempting to draw his weapon was ground against the wall.
The two on the right lost their balance midair.
“Guhhh!”
Using his own back like a paintbrush, the ninja painted a crimson mural across the wall as he screamed.
Lee Taebaek drove his fist forward.
The ninja smashed into the headlight before being thrown beneath the wheels.
Crunch!
Dragged beneath the front tire, the ninja was crushed into pulp.
Red Hare bucked violently like a roaring beast.
The shockwave knocked another ninja down as well.
Even so...
True to their reputation as ninjas, they gritted their teeth and endured.
Now he fully understood why every organization preferred employing them.
Facing them firsthand made it painfully obvious.
Individually, they weren't terrifyingly powerful.
But together...
They were an absolute nightmare.
They treated fallen comrades like discarded rags, smoothly alternating offense and defense without hesitation.
An incredibly troublesome enemy.
But then again...
He hadn't exactly lived an easy life either.
It had only been three months since arriving in this world.
A short time.
A long time.
Somewhere in between.
During that ambiguous span, Lee Taebaek had been ground down over and over again.
A brutal march through hardships that no one could hear without shedding tears.
And now...
It was the ninjas' turn.
“At least try not to let your hands shake.”
Lee Taebaek lifted his coat with his left hand.
The revolver hanging at his waist—
Colt MK5 Python—
Flashed into view before the muzzle erupted with fire.
Spent cartridges clattered against the walls and pavement.
Bullets punched through throats and foreheads.
Blood fountained as bodies toppled away.
His thoroughly warmed muscles twitched pleasantly.
Every joint moved as smoothly as though freshly oiled.
Good.
I'm getting warmed up.
He'd cleared every obstacle in front of him.
That meant they'd attack from behind next.
Being ninjas, they wouldn't hesitate for even a second.
It was obvious.
A moment later—
Scratch...
Scratch...
He heard feet running along the walls behind him.
Just as expected of those sneaky bastards.
But Lee Taebaek had already prepared a countermeasure through countless battles.
It had only taken a single breath.
Whoosh.
Balancing on the tips of his feet, he spun around atop the saddle.
The ninjas' insect-like optical lenses elongated into his vision before rapidly closing the distance.
Their shoulders blurred.
Three katanas thrust forward simultaneously.
Swift.
Sharp.
Perfectly coordinated.
Five blades filled his vision.
Standing precariously atop the saddle, Lee Taebaek deflected every strike.
Dozens of exchanges occurred in an instant.
It was as though a curtain of silver had formed between him and the ninjas.
Sometimes he twisted aside to evade.
Sometimes he exploited their charging momentum to throw them off balance.
Whenever they faltered for even a heartbeat—
He slit their throats.
The severed pieces were immediately ground into minced meat beneath Red Hare's front tire.
The ninjas had been reduced by half.
Ten remained.
By then, Lee Taebaek had crossed roughly half the road himself.
“You crazy bastards.”
Whether they were incapable of learning...
Or whether they believed his stamina had finally reached its limit...
He couldn't tell.
But they charged him once more.
“Hey, you bastards. Even flies mourn each other more than you do. Are you really human? How can your comrades keep dropping dead without a single flicker of emotion?”
“……”
“That's beyond ruthless.”
Not a single ninja blinked.
Not one retreated.
Their suicidal charges almost inspired admiration.
The ninjas continued pursuing him while scraping their katanas against the walls.
Wall-running was their greatest strength.
So...
He'd simply take that strength away.
Lee Taebaek stretched both arms outward.
His fingertips touched the walls.
His fingerprints were scraped away.
[Nerfing the wall's durability.]
The concrete's physical properties changed in an instant.
It softened into sludge.
The walls trapped the ninjas mid-leap.
Their feet sank deep into the concrete up to their ankles.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Colt MK5 Python barked repeatedly.
One shot.
One kill.
Four ninjas were pierced cleanly through the forehead.
With their feet swallowed by the concrete, they dangled lifelessly.
Having successfully defended himself, Lee Taebaek immediately launched a counterattack.
Because he'd buffed Agility, he remained faster despite surrendering the initiative.
Every muscle expanded and contracted precisely as needed, obeying every command issued by his brain.
At the same time, he buffed Mental Strength, forcing himself into the utmost concentration.
His brain cells felt as though they were burning alive.
But watching enemy limbs fly through the air made enduring it worthwhile.
“You damn Japs!”
Lee Taebaek roared.
His voice wasn't swallowed by the wind.
Instead, it carved itself directly into their eardrums.
“Korea always wins against Japan! That's the rule, you idiots!!”
“……”
He had no idea why he'd suddenly shouted that.
Probably just adrenaline flooding his system.
Still...
The battle cry sent his own morale soaring.
As for the Japanese bastards?
Their masks twitched.
There we go.
Those bastards definitely got pissed off.
Let's see how long you can keep pretending to be silent.
Two ninjas shoved aside the corpses of their comrades with their shoulders before charging again.
If anyone embodied the phrase ready to die without hesitation...
It was them.
Had the part of their brains responsible for fear stopped functioning?
Like Russian nesting dolls...
No matter how many he killed, more kept appearing.
Still...
Their numbers had decreased.
From twenty...
Down to six.
The last surviving ninjas launched their final desperate assault.
Lee Taebaek fired first at the closest one.
The ninja tilted his head.
The bullet missed.
Taking advantage of that opening, Lee Taebaek thrust his sword.
The blade passed effortlessly through the mouth of the ninja standing directly behind him.
Instant death.
The one who had dodged froze in place.
As Lee Taebaek withdrew his sword, he sliced deeply through the neck.
The ninja instinctively clutched at the wound.
Blood sprayed through the gaps between his fingers like water from a squirt gun.
It splattered across the optical lenses of two nearby ninjas.
Instinctively, both reached up to wipe away the blood.
It became the final action of their lives.
Slash!
Only three ninjas remained.
Originally there had been four.
Apparently, one had fled while everyone's attention was elsewhere.
Out of twenty...
Sixteen had willingly thrown away their lives.
It was only natural that at least one of them still possessed a shred of humanity.
The remaining three seemed to have caught the fear as well.
Their pursuit noticeably slowed.
They continued chasing him almost mechanically...
But the determination and intensity from before had vanished.
“You bastards should've been like this from the start.”
Their will to fight had broken.
Turning his back on them once more, Lee Taebaek sat down properly on Red Hare.
Vrooooom—!
At the exact same moment, Red Hare reared onto its front wheel before surging forward.
Horse and rider moved as one.
Together, they shot through the exit.
Meanwhile, the surviving ninjas merely clung to the walls like spiders and watched.
Silently...
They stared at the motorcycle's taillight disappearing into the lone beam of light.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Having escaped successfully, Lee Taebaek savored both the joy of survival and the reward that came with it.
Kill people—
No, bugs—
And you gained EXP.
Games really were the best.