Chapter 39 : Hacker vs Hackphysical
Chapter 39: Hacker vs Hackphysical
“Fu-, fuck-”
The enemy player who’d barely escaped Baek Woohyun’s grasp and reappeared on the opposite side ground their teeth.
From their face flushed bright red, both anger and embarrassment could be felt.
It was a natural reaction if natural, having been beaten so terribly they couldn’t even think of surrendering.
All the more so with words they’d spouted while provoking before the ‘Duel’ started.
‘Can’t stay like this.’
However, realistically it was tremendously difficult to do something to beat Baek Woohyun in the current situation.
Because the time remaining until the next round started was merely ten seconds.
What could be done in that time was at most just tweaking the build a bit, and if it were a problem that could be solved by that, they wouldn’t have been so miserably thrashed in the first round to begin with.
The enemy player knew that fact very well too.
Having directly clashed, they could feel the gap existing between them and Baek Woohyun more than anyone, very painfully.
Yet the reason they endured without declaring surrender was only one.
‘No choice but to use that.’
Because they had something to rely on.
A perfect means that had never disappointed the enemy player until now.
[Time remaining until second round start – 10 seconds]
“······?”
The one who first noticed the change that occurred in the enemy player was Baek Woohyun.
While the expression full of anger and huffing remained the same, he realized everything else—in short, from standing posture to simple gestures—had all changed.
It was a minor change ordinary people might not have noticed, but was Baek Woohyun an ordinary person?
If he couldn’t even see through a change of this degree, fighting through that hell would have been impossible.
‘Completely changed.’
Baek Woohyun examined the enemy player with sunken eyes.
To his eyes, the earlier enemy player and the current enemy player looked like completely different people.
No, more accurately, they didn’t even seem human.
It even felt rather like facing combat with an Etinel.
‘Why?’
“Good, this time I’m going seriously.”
“······.”
Baek Woohyun didn’t treat the enemy player’s words as nonsense or snort dismissively like others watching the combat.
How could he deny it as impossible when he was directly watching with his own two eyes the change that occurred in the enemy player?
He cleanly erased the enemy player up until now from his mind. Intending to think of the opponent before him now as someone met for the first time.
[3 seconds]
[2 seconds]
[1 second]
[Second round, start!]
Tat!
The enemy player charging simultaneously with combat start.
While seemingly the same development as before at a glance, it was completely different in details.
Previously they’d charged thoughtlessly and their posture crumbled after the first attack was deflected, but this time it was visible they left room in reserve while striking in, prepared for being blocked or dodged.
Meaning they’d started their offensive to enable more active and flexible response.
“Uryah!”
Huwook!
Following the fist the enemy player thrust out, a blue trajectory was clearly carved in midair. It was clean and perfect straight punch that could appear in any martial arts textbook.
That wasn’t simply an expression mixed with exaggeration.
Accurate striking point, balanced center of gravity, force transfer minimizing loss—the enemy player’s first blow was perfect from any angle.
Would it be understood if it felt like something thrust by a machine rather than a person?
Saak—
Of course, this didn’t work on Baek Woohyun either.
He naturally deflected the enemy player’s fist to the side like before.
However, even after deflecting he couldn’t immediately counterattack, because as mentioned earlier, the enemy player’s follow-up response was far too perfect.
If he rashly went on the attack, he’d be zapped by lightning discharged from the other hand, and in that time the enemy player would leisurely withdraw.
There was no reason to attempt it in a situation where counterattacking only brought loss.
“Right, this is it!”
The enemy player with an excited face continued a storm-like barrage of strikes. Attacks through physical ability and supernatural ability skills harmoniously continued, pressuring Baek Woohyun.
It was an offensive where the intention to avenge being beaten helpless in the first round was clearly felt.
‘Much sharper and heavier than earlier.’
Baek Woohyun blocked or deflected the enemy player’s fierce strikes with a more serious attitude.
Each blow thrust out was distinctly sharper and heavier than before. Enough that a tingling impact would remain on the body if concentration wavered even slightly.
Additionally, the timing of using supernatural ability skills also became amazingly tricky. What more needed to be said when even Baek Woohyun couldn’t easily find openings?
Like he’d thought before combat started, it was as if they’d become a completely different person.
“Huha! How is it, hacker!”
Seeing Baek Woohyun who’d retreated avoiding blue lightning, the enemy player grinned and shouted.
“You got cocky after I went easy first round. Can’t do anything when real skill is shown, right? Getting wrecked, right?”
“······.”
Baek Woohyun didn’t answer the crude provocation.
He just lightly brushed off his hand to shake off the lightning’s afterimage, then quietly drew the military dagger at his waist.
And the moment he gripped that and looked at the opponent, the presence felt from him completely changed.
──.
Two eyes shining white and ominousness quietly settling.
From Baek Woohyun who’d seemed ordinary until now, strange eeriness oozed out. It was eeriness that made surroundings feel distant and breath choke when watching.
As if his existence had become tangible fear like ghosts or monsters in movies.
Meaning sinister menace circled like a murderer who stealthily appears in pitch-black night’s empty darkness to steal victims’ lives.
Like exactly that moment when Kang Soyul had unknowingly cried out to be saved—
“······.”
The enemy player who’d been sneering also noticed that and closed their mouth.
Well, they couldn’t help it having seen someone who’d been ordinary suddenly transform into something not human before their eyes.
Toward them swallowing dry saliva at throat-burning tension, Baek Woohyun slowly advanced.
Not charging like before, but one step at a time, leisurely.
The enemy player’s face, which had hesitantly retreated at that strange atmosphere, fiercely contorted.
“Think you’re something for acting mysterious?! [Lightning Arrow]!”
The enemy player shot out a long-range restraint supernatural ability skill while simultaneously thrusting their fist toward approaching Baek Woohyun.
The intention was to continue the offensive with the fist thrust afterward whether hit by [Lightning Arrow] or even if dodged or blocked.
Seogeok—
However, Baek Woohyun quite simply hacked apart the enemy player’s offensive.
After dodging [Lightning Arrow] by a hair’s breadth, he even unhesitatingly cut the forearm with his dagger while passing by like a graze against the approaching fist.
Moreover, not once but multiple times.
Having only passed by the side very briefly, the enemy player’s forearm was already cut four or five times.
“Urk!”
While the enemy player screamed, they also folded the other uncut arm and swung their elbow. To strike Baek Woohyun’s brow who stood close.
It was tremendously fast yet appropriate response, but also felt somehow unnatural. Because expression and action didn’t match each other.
With their face shouting startled, the body was showing appropriate response fitting the situation.
If it were reality, one would think they’d reacted as accustomed to their body despite being surprised, but here was inside a virtual reality game.
In virtual reality games, unlike reality, there existed things where another person—accurately a program, but anyway something else—moved the body instead.
The illegal unauthorized program Baek Woohyun had been misunderstood as using before, namely things called ‘hacks.’
“······.”
Baek Woohyun noticed the opponent was using a hack, but didn’t care at all.
Because whether they inflated their skill using hacks, gained popularity facing other hackers with it—it was all fine by him.
It had no particular meaning, and nothing would change.
The one thing important to him now was purely only tearing apart the enemy.
Seogeok!
Baek Woohyun, who’d also deflected the elbow flying right before his nose by a hair’s breadth, moved his military dagger without hesitation.
The jet-black blade cleanly severed wrist, forearm, and even shoulder. Precisely dissecting along muscle grain, enough that blood spurted belatedly!
By the time the enemy player feeling their arm completely dismantled screamed “Uwak!”, Baek Woohyun had already withdrawn and created distance.
“Ueueu—”
The enemy player with both arms blood-soaked groaned while standing awkwardly.
Since it was a virtual reality game it wasn’t painful, but the feeling of their arms being cut by a blade multiple times was definitely not pleasant.
There’d also be some influence from feeling dizziness about the situation to come afterward.
“···What the, fuck···. Just what are you, you—”
The enemy player looked at Baek Woohyun like facing some incomprehensible thing.
Their showing such reaction was natural too.
Wasn’t this a situation where they’d even mobilized the cheat called hack?
They should have won overwhelmingly as always, yet the actual result was the exact opposite, so they couldn’t help but be bewildered.
They would have at least understood if they’d fought somewhat equally.
If treating Baek Woohyun as also using a hack, it wouldn’t be strange for combat to somehow take place.
Yet the current situation was complete defeat no matter how favorably expressed. Having lost both arms without inflicting proper wounds on the opponent, there was no more appropriate expression.
“······.”
Baek Woohyun still didn’t answer.
Not solely because of Jeong Nayeon’s advice to ignore whatever was said.
Though that was certainly one reason, more so it was because he didn’t feel the slightest value in dealing with the enemy player.
Wasn’t there no reason to mix words with a guy who was at most merely a hacker?
Seogeok!
There was no way the enemy player, neutralized with both arms hacked apart, had means to block the military dagger Baek Woohyun swung.
Therefore, the blow that followed was rather close to execution. Or a death sentence dropping the neck of the prisoner called hacker sniper bug.
The enemy player with neck severed collapsed futilely without even thinking to do anything, and over that corpse appeared the always emotionless system message.
[Second round ended]
[Winner: Baek Woohyun]
[Loser: (Anonymous)]
[Final record – Baek Woohyun 2:0 (Anonymous)]
[Final Winner: Baek Woohyun]
[Final Loser: (Anonymous)]
Baek Woohyun, who’d returned to the battle preparation room, looked down at the stage hologram in the room’s center.
Now having easily finished without incident through ten regular games and even the first ranked game—at least, that’s how it was for Baek Woohyun—his evaluation of ‘Duel’ could be summarized in exactly one phrase.
‘Boring.’
Repetition of simple labor unable to feel any sense of crisis. To Baek Woohyun, ‘Duel’ content was no different from that.
He’d been slightly expectant wondering if something would change when it became ranked games, but seeing the first opponent, it seemed it’d stay the same for a while.
Of course, the story might change if he continued win streaks to become higher rank. In the tier called the so-called ‘heavenly realm,’ even pros were said to meet casually.
‘Conversely, until then it’s ultimately just repetitive labor.’
Baek Woohyun sighed with an unpleasant expression.
Because he who’d once fought risking his life against monsters approaching transcendence felt like showing off strength fighting ordinary people.
If it weren’t while climbing rank, it wouldn’t be strange for controversy to arise saying civilian massacre or whatnot, so it wasn’t wrong to say showing off strength either.
‘Well, can’t help it.’
Unless there was a super account that could freely set tier, it was ultimately a process that had to be gone through until reaching high tier.
However, Baek Woohyun decided to proceed through that process more quickly and boldly. Through the method called overwhelming victory unable to be challenged.
It was the moment a golden tower that would never crumble, a win streak record where the word impossible naturally came to mind, began.