Chapter 18 : 3-Second Kill
Chapter 18: 3-Second Kill
Even though he’d narrowly dodged the first attack by a hair’s breadth, Baek Woohyun didn’t immediately counterattack.
If this had been the early version, simply evading that one strike would have been enough, but the mid-version Etinel he was facing now was different.
He knew this was a time to hold back.
Hwooong!
Sure enough, the situation unfolded exactly as Baek Woohyun had anticipated.
The moment Etinel realized its attack had failed to inflict any damage, it reacted instantly.
Bending the arm it had thrust out, it followed up with an elbow strike aimed at his head, the attack flowing like water.
A chain attack that connected so naturally it seemed like a single motion!
If he’d gotten excited after dodging once and recklessly attempted a counterattack, he would have been caught by the follow-up attack without fail.
“──!”
However, Baek Woohyun, who had been on guard, waited for his moment instead of attempting a counterattack.
Which meant there was absolutely no reason for him to get hit.
His eyes gleamed fiercely as he twisted his body again to evade even the elbow strike.
Like a predator that had finally caught its opportunity after waiting.
He reversed his half-twisted body back to its original position and thrust out his fist.
Kwang—!
A sharp blow that left no room for reaction!
His fist landed precisely on Etinel’s head, crushing its face along with its white shell.
This result was achieved not just through Baek Woohyun’s strength alone, but by using Etinel’s charging momentum against it.
휘청!
“──!”
Etinel staggered back from the heavy impact.
Naturally, Baek Woohyun wasn’t one to simply let such an opening pass. His fist shot forward as he closed the distance in an instant.
With a kwajik—! sound, the external skeleton shattered and the exposed internal circuits were crushed.
That ended the battle.
Etinel, its head completely destroyed, could no longer hold on and collapsed as if sitting down.
“······Whoa.”
“······Huh—”
—wait what
—???
—what the
The time it took to reach this point was barely a few seconds.
The battle ended far too quickly, and far too perfectly.
Even the noisy chat window fell silent for just a moment at the bewildering conclusion.
Kang Soyul and Park Geumhyeon, who had witnessed all of this firsthand, could only blink without saying a word.
“”······.””
Of course, neither of them had thought Baek Woohyun would lose to a mere intermediate training bot.
What he’d shown in his previous broadcast had been that overwhelming.
But who could have predicted he’d completely finish off an intermediate training bot in just a few seconds?
The thirty-five thousand viewers watching the stream were equally flustered.
The chat window, which had only briefly expelled short exclamations, soon began pouring out countless reactions.
—3-second kill what the hell;;
—intermediate training bot is so ez with no buffs lol
—not even early version but mid-version can’t last a few seconds, does that make sense? fuckkk
—wtf did I just watch
—[Perfect Being] was really a broken element lol
The viewers here were serious about Reverse Planet enough to have come all the way to Kang Soyul’s stream after seeing the hack controversy that had become a hot topic in the community.
Therefore, most of them had experience directly fighting mid-version Etinel, and knew well how strong it was, which made their confusion even greater.
Because the mid-version Etinel they had experienced was absolutely not an enemy that could be defeated in just a few seconds like this.
Especially not in close combat without using guns or supernatural abilities.
—but this isn’t a hack?lol
—I’d rather you just tell me it’s a hack······
—first time feeling a wall from watching a stream
—we’re both human so why am I so different from him? why am I the only one who sucks?
“It’s done.”
Whether the viewers were confused or not, Baek Woohyun looked at Kang Soyul and Park Geumhyeon with an indifferent expression.
His attitude suggested this was nothing particularly impressive, and in fact, that’s exactly what he thought.
For him, who had effortlessly fought his way through swarms of even stronger Etinels, this level was truly nothing special.
No matter how much weaker he’d become compared to when he was in that other world, losing to a mere mid-version Etinel would leave him with no face to show his comrades.
“Has the verification been completed?”
“Well, we didn’t detect any external program usage during this battle······ but the verification time was far too short.”
Park Geumhyeon said with a bitter smile.
It was obvious what people would say if they later submitted a three-second verification record to the official website.
They needed material that confirmed the use or non-use of external programs over a longer battle duration.
Plus, one show verification as well.
“If Baek Woohyun-nim permits, I’d like to conduct the verification a bit longer. Would that be alright?”
“Yes, that’s fine. It’s not particularly difficult.”
“Thank you. Then this time, please fight against an intermediate training bot the same way, but could you win using the method we specify?”
“A specified method?”
Baek Woohyun tilted his head and asked.
“Roughly what kind of approach should I take?”
“For example, if we specify ‘destroy in the order of right arm—left arm—head and win,’ you just need to win exactly that way.”
“Ah! To prove it’s not an auto-battle hack, right?!”
“Yes, that’s correct. Kang Soyul-ssi.”
Park Geumhyeon nodded in affirmation at Kang Soyul’s interjection from the side.
Since auto-battle hacks were basically proxy control methods by programs, the type of combat the hack user desired was impossible.
So simply deciding how to win before the battle and then fighting and winning according to that would prove it wasn’t an auto-battle hack.
However, what he didn’t mention was that the logs visible to him already clearly showed whether it was an auto-battle hack or not.
Meaning there was no need to go through this troublesome process just to prove it wasn’t an auto-battle hack.
Yet the reason he chose this process was simple.
‘Rather than explaining the logs to the viewers one by one, just having one battle like this will be much easier for them to understand.’
Isn’t it commonly said that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times?
Rather than explaining a hundred times while dissecting logs about why it’s an auto-battle hack, it was obviously better to just show them one battle with their own eyes.
“Oh, then can I specify it? There was actually something I wanted to see!”
“Kang Soyul-ssi cannot.”
“Huh? Why not?”
—so firm lol firm persimmon
—of course not;
—me! pick me!
—open donations plzzz
Kang Soyul’s eyes widened at the rejection without a moment’s hesitation.
“Well, because people might say we staged it or whatever.”
“That’ll come up even if you pick one viewer’s opinion, won’t it? And it’ll be the same even if we do it Team Leader-nim’s way. People who won’t believe it that far just won’t believe anything anyway.”
“Hmm— that’s certainly true.”
“Once you see the method I specify, not only will the auto-battle hack thing be clear, but those comments won’t even come up!”
At Kang Soyul’s strong insistence, Park Geumhyeon shrugged his shoulders as if he had no choice.
Her words certainly had a point.
Plus, he’d become somewhat curious about the battle method she wanted to see.
“Chain scythe! Win with the chain scythe! Cut off the right arm then the head!”
—chain scythe??
—ohlol seeing that again lol
—true if it’s chain scythe it can’t be auto-battle hack
—asking him to cut arm then head··· how brutal···
“Chain······scythe?”
“Yes! Chain scythe!”
Park Geumhyeon, who had unconsciously asked again, looked at Baek Woohyun with a strange gaze.
While the chain scythe was certainly a weapon that existed in reality, he was surprised that there was someone who actually used it.
Especially since using a chain scythe as a weapon in combat with no buffs meant he had to handle it at a similar level in reality as well.
‘Just what is this person’s identity?’
“Understood.”
Whether he knew Park Geumhyeon’s thoughts or not, Baek Woohyun calmly nodded.
Soon, gripping the chain scythe that had been hanging at his waist, he began spinning the blade part in circles using his wrist strength while holding the chain.
Hoong hoong hoong— The sound of air being torn briefly rang out.
Baek Woohyun looked at Park Geumhyeon with a gaze full of puzzlement.
“Aren’t you going to summon it?”
“Ah! Yes! I’ll summon it right now!”
As Park Geumhyeon’s fingers, which had been spacing out, rapidly moved through the air, Etinel appeared from the void.
Just like before, Etinel activated its red main sensors with a kiiing— sound.
However, this time, it was Baek Woohyun who struck first.
Swaeaeaek—!
The scythe Baek Woohyun had been spinning shot through the air toward Etinel.
Since he’d been spinning it with superhuman strength and thrown it with equally superhuman strength, its speed was truly tremendous.
Enough to give the conviction that an early-version Etinel wouldn’t have even been able to react before being torn apart.
Jjeong!
The mid-version Etinel was clearly an improved version of the early-version Etinel. Enough to deflect the chain scythe rushing toward it at tremendous speed.
However, that seemed to be its limit as it staggered back rather than counterattacking.
“Hup!”
Baek Woohyun wouldn’t leave such an opening alone.
He swung the chain like a whip. Then the deflected scythe moved as if alive. It struck at Etinel again, drawing a strange trajectory.
At the same time, he kicked off the ground hard and charged forward. To easily close the distance while keeping it in check through the chain scythe.
—yo what was that
—how did the scythe just move like that??
—crazy; I’m more curious about that than auto-battle or whatever;
—foreal lol who cares about hacks right now! the Gene (male) of chain scythes is right before our eyes!
Jjeong!
Baek Woohyun’s intention worked precisely.
Etinel allowed his approach defenseless while deflecting the scythe striking at it again.
Or perhaps it deliberately allowed it.
Kiiing—
Its two main sensors glowed red, identifying the enemy that had reached close range.
Those who saw this realized. It hadn’t failed to stop him—it hadn’t stopped him. Because only when he came close could it seize an opportunity.
As if to prove their thoughts correct, Etinel naturally straightened its posture and thrust out its fist.
“Ah!”
Did she feel they’d been caught by the lure strategy without escape?
Kang Soyul inadvertently cried out in surprise.
Of course, the situation didn’t unfold as she’d anticipated.
Chwareureuk!
As Baek Woohyun stepped back, the chain he threw wrapped around Etinel’s arm.
Then, as he gripped the opposite end of the chain and pulled, Etinel’s confident counterattack missed futilely and easily.
And into the opening thus exposed, the scythe descended like lightning!
Baek Woohyun, who had pulled the chain, had somehow also caught the deflected scythe and swung it.
Seogeok!
Etinel couldn’t evade this surprise attack.
Its right arm, bound by the chain, was helplessly severed and fell, and the battle effectively ended there.
Baek Woohyun was far too strong for a mid-version Etinel missing one arm to resist.
Seogeok!
He threw the chain to bind and stop its movement, then swung the scythe again to cut off its head, ending the battle.
Right arm followed by head—exactly the method Kang Soyul had specified.
“Phew···.”
—what did I just watch
—chain scythe is such a broken weapon
—nope~ if you beat it with fists it’s a 5-second kill~
—using a weapon makes you weaker? lol
“Waa—! See, I didn’t see wrong back then! You all saw how the chain scythe moved like it was alive, swish swish, right?”
“······Haha. I think I understand why you said the auto-battle hack talk wouldn’t come up.”
“Right? Right?”
Kang Soyul shouted excitedly, and Park Geumhyeon shook his head.
Even he himself had just watched the battle in a daze rather than watching to see if it was an auto-battle hack or not, so it was understandable.
Well, who wouldn’t have done the same?
A battle using a chain scythe, no less!