Chapter 44 : Incident
Chapter44: Incident
“Keep your interest away from my junior, will you?”
Lee Yujin snapped while standing in front of Baek Woohyun like a mother bird protecting her child.
Of course, there was no way Choi Hyeongcheol would obediently comply. If he was going to back down at a warning, he wouldn’t have spoken up in the first place.
He raised the corners of his mouth and, as expected, ignored Lee Yujin. It was a truly shameless attitude.
“Instead of just suffering at the Management Bureau, how about becoming corporate-affiliated? Even if you stay there, you’ll just work yourself to the bone and have nothing to show for it, right?”
“……”
“I’m just concerned as a senior who left first. If you come over to a corporation, your entire life changes, you know? You can even get out of that rat-sized dormitory.”
“……”
“What, are you mute? Why aren’t you answering?”
‘There’s a smell of blood.’
Despite the continuous solicitation, Baek Woohyun gave no answer. He just quietly stared at Choi Hyeongcheol.
Because between his provocative attitude, there was an unconcealable smell of blood. It was a smell that could only seep into one’s body after killing many people.
Among corporate-affiliated people, there was only one type who would do work that made the smell of blood seep into their bodies.
‘A hunting dog, is it.’
Perhaps reading the meaning of refusal from Baek Woohyun’s silence, Choi Hyeongcheol, who had briefly twisted his expression, spoke while trying hard to seem nonchalant.
“Well— I guess you’d want to refuse right now. But if you change your mind, tell me anytime.”
“……”
“Oh right, not just Junior but Senior Lee Yujin too, contact me if you want to come over to a corporation! I’ll be waiting!”
“No thanks!”
Choi Hyeongcheol and his group left while grating on Lee Yujin’s nerves until the very end.
Lee Yujin, who had been glaring at that sight, soon relaxed the strength in her eyes. Because getting angry from behind at someone who already left was nothing but a waste of emotions.
She swept back her hair and let out a deep sigh.
“Haa—”
“It seems you don’t have a very good relationship.”
“Yeah, well. It’s a bad connection.”
Lee Yujin smiled bitterly.
“He was the first probationary agent I handled. After receiving a scout offer from a corporation, he ran out saying he didn’t want to become Management Bureau-affiliated. The problem is that in that process, he spread malicious false rumors about the Management Bureau all over.”
Lee Yujin gritted her teeth saying that because of that, the Otherworld Management Bureau needlessly became the subject of gossip. Because there was a lot of talk about it back then.
People gossiped saying there’s no smoke without fire when a person who was a probationary agent cursed them to that extent.
For Lee Yujin and the Otherworld Management Bureau, it couldn’t help but be an extremely unfair incident.
Even though not a single truth existed among the things Choi Hyeongcheol spouted back then, credibility was given just because he was a probationary agent…
“I even covered up all the accidents he caused during his probation, but there’s a limit to repaying kindness with enmity!”
Perhaps getting angry again thinking about it, she fanned herself with her hand for a moment with a flushed face.
Lee Yujin, who shook her head from side to side, smiled brightly.
“Alright, let’s end the unpleasant talk here! Right now we have practical training ahead, so let’s focus on that! I’ll put in tons of spirit! Let’s go, fighting!”
“…Fighting.”
“Isn’t this the first time the story between Lee Yujin and Choi Hyeongcheol has come out this detailed?”
“Yes, it’s the first time. When I did it, it just glossed over with something like there was some unpleasant business.”
“Then it’s practically certain, isn’t it. That the Fully Responsive AI influences not just NPC reactions but a much wider range.”
-But does anything change even if more story comes out?
-No meaning. Just checking how substantial the background story isㅇㅇ
-If it’s Planet Earth, they might have hidden something else
-It’d be legendary if another Fully Responsive AI-level easter egg comes out
Baek Woohyun and Lee Yujin, who finished their final equipment check, stood in front of the Reverse World entrance.
Then the entrance, which rippled more violently in response to the two people’s presence, soon opened wide. Enough for not only them but several more people to enter.
However, despite getting that big, the world beyond couldn’t be seen at all. It was just filled with only gray light.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
The two who passed through the gray membrane and stepped inside the Reverse World faced a short passage.
The passage, about 10 meters long, stretched straight in one line, and on the opposite side existed a ripple like the one they entered through.
The incident occurred when they had passed about halfway through the passage.
Rumble—!
“…?!” “Ah!”
A heavy reverberation transmitted through the entire passage!
At the same time, the passage around Baek Woohyun and Lee Yujin began to distort. It was a scene like a building that received a huge impact collapsing.
Lee Yujin, who was startled, urgently reached her hand toward Baek Woohyun, but before it could reach, the gray light swallowed her.
Baek Woohyun, who was watching that sight, was also swept up by the gray light in an instant.
“……”
Soon when his vision was secured again, Baek Woohyun realized he was in a forest. A forest full of ash-colored trees that had lost their color at that.
It was easy to figure out what situation he had encountered. Because there had been several similar incidents on ‘that side’ too.
Something like falling somewhere inside the Reverse World as the passage collapsed from external impact was a fairly common experience when living as a contract worker.
‘I got separated from Lee Yujin.’
Even if he had grabbed Lee Yujin’s outstretched hand at the moment the passage collapsed, the result would have been the same.
Because it was impossible to fall to the same place across a distorting space just because of mere physical contact.
This wasn’t just speculation but an experience story. Meaning it was a story he personally experienced on ‘that side.’
‘By the way.’
“……”
Baek Woohyun, who suddenly scanned his surroundings, smiled coldly.
With his two eyes changed to inverted eyes, he drew his dagger without saying a word.
Because he sensed that enemies were here.
And even in a formation clearly surrounding him at that.
Fwip!
Did they realize they were discovered because of Baek Woohyun’s action?
Spider monsters that had been hiding between the ash-colored trees simultaneously shot pure white spider webs. Not just from the front and back, but some even aimed at his flanks.
The situation where attacks came simultaneously from multiple directions seemed dangerous at a glance, but Baek Woohyun’s expression was cold and composed.
Since he had already noticed the enemies’ existence, there was no reason to be flustered.
His body, which seemed to tilt forward for a moment, shot out at rapid speed with a bang! sound.
He kicked off the ground with superhuman leg strength and rushed toward the spider monster in front.
Because he rushed while lowering his body close, the spider web coming from the front naturally missed, and this was the same for the other two spider webs.
The three clumps of spider webs just collided with each other and stuck together in the empty air where no one was.
=Kieek!
The spider monster in front let out a fierce roar and spewed out spider webs again. Pure white spider webs spread like a net and assaulted Baek Woohyun.
A situation where an ordinary person would have no choice but to be wrapped in spider webs without exception!
However, was Baek Woohyun an ordinary person?
This level of danger was merely at an embarrassingly insufficient level to be called threatening to him.
Whoosh!
Baek Woohyun lowered his body even more, low enough to look almost like he was lying flat on the ground. Accordingly, the spider web that was trying to wrap around him barely grazed above his head.
What was amazing was that even so, he advanced while perfectly maintaining his speed. Despite lowering his body to a level where it seemed impossible to run.
It was a technique created by the power of his superhuman body that kept accumulating more and more starting from [Perfect Being].
“—!”
Crack!
Thus, Baek Woohyun, who finally reached in front of the spider monster, swung his military dagger held in a reverse grip.
The dagger’s blade, which contained all the rushing force intact, cut through from the spider monster’s head to its rear in one stroke.
The carapace that would have blocked even one or two bullets was of no use. It was simply cut like cutting tofu before the dagger’s blade.
Tap!
=Kieek!
Baek Woohyun, who avoided the mucus spurting from the spider monster that would soon be a corpse, moved without stopping. The next target was the one that shot spider webs aiming at his flank.
The spider monster, which let out a cry like scraping metal at its kin’s death, shot out spider webs. It was a reaction as if that was all it knew how to do.
Well, if it had some stronger means of attack, this spider monster wouldn’t have been designated as small-scale lower rank.
Crack!
Baek Woohyun, who avoided the spider webs flying toward him by lightly just twisting his body, aimed at the spider monster.
Thus, the result was not much different from the first spider monster. The carapace was torn helplessly, and even the pink flesh was mercilessly ripped apart.
Although it wasn’t cut cleanly in half because the dagger’s blade was short, that absolutely didn’t mean the spider monster survived.
It wasn’t a creature that could survive while split open from head to rear.
-Just piercing right through the back
-Amazing fact) spiders aren’t insects
-He even dodges bullets, no way spider webs would hit him~
-But does anyone know how he noticed before being ambushed?
“Noticing before being ambushed? Actually, Hackphysical also showed that in his first broadcast.”
“Did he?”
“Yes. Back then, Hackphysical showed detecting two Etinels that were far away. It passed quickly so it didn’t become much of a topic though.”
-Is there a hidden bonus effect in [Perfect Being]
-ㄴㄴ If that were true it would’ve been revealed during intense research
-Isn’t it something like sound play?
-If the net-casting spider made sounds we would’ve known too
=Kiek, kieek!
Perhaps gripped by fear because two of its kin died in an instant, the last remaining spider monster urgently started scurrying away to escape.
Instead of bothering to chase after it, Baek Woohyun threw the military dagger he was holding. The dagger that advanced cutting through the wind pierced its target without exception.
The spider monster with the dagger lodged in its body through its rear collapsed with a thud before long.
“……”
Baek Woohyun, who leisurely approached and retrieved his military dagger, frowned. Because sticky mucus was stuck all over the dagger.
He, who roughly shook off the mucus stuck even to the handle, raised his head and looked at the sky.
As expected, like other places, the faded sky looked like it was covered with a gray membrane. Actually, that expression wasn’t very wrong either.
This place, the Reverse World, was a copy made by cleanly cutting just a part of the real world, and it was blocked with barriers so you couldn’t go beyond the determined size.
“Now what to do…”
The choices Baek Woohyun could currently choose could be said to be two.
One was to move with escape as the top priority goal as he heard from Lee Yujin before entering the Reverse World.
And the other was to join up with Lee Yujin who would be somewhere and move with the purpose of clearing the Reverse World according to plan.
Of course, the choice he would make was practically as good as decided.
If he was an ordinary probationary agent, if this was really his first practical training, and if it was a reality where everything ended with just one death, he would have chosen the first option without needing to say more.
But he was a monster who had surpassed hundreds of battlefields, and this was nothing but a virtual reality game where you could start over anytime even if you died.
Which meant.
It meant there was no problem at all even if he rampaged as much as he wanted.
“…Good.”
Baek Woohyun, who made his decision, took a big step forward.
The forest dyed in ash color would be full of countless insect-type monsters, but there was no hesitation whatsoever in his steps.
It was such natural confidence. Because for him to fall in a mere place like this, the battlefields he had experienced were far too harsh.
Moreover, this was even a Reverse World he had already solved once on ‘that side.’
With eyes changed to inverted eyes shining, he advanced.
The superhuman who had been wearing the shell of a probationary agent finally began to move in earnest.
To deliver destruction to all enemies he faced—