Chapter 83 : Dimensional Invader
Chapter 83: Dimensional Invader
From the moment Baek Woohyun faced the Hobgoblin, he felt a gaze clinging to him. It was a gaze that seemed to scrutinize every single movement.
Even when he only dodged without attacking, that gaze never left him. Rather, it observed even that with painstaking thoroughness.
As if even his monotonous evasions were worth learning from.
The strange thing was that he couldn’t sense even a hint of hostility from that gaze. Yet it wasn’t goodwill either.
Literally emotionless. Mechanical enough to feel like a surveillance camera. Despite clearly being from something alive that his senses could detect, it was like that.
Swish!
-Now he’s dodging without even looking
-Does he have eyes on the back of his head??
-The more I watch the funnier it gets lololol
-Must eliminate!!!! vs click
–Keeeeek!
‘What could the purpose be.’
The reason Baek Woohyun didn’t immediately finish off the Hobgoblin despite having the angle was precisely because of that gaze.
Because he thought the owner of the gaze watching him wanted exactly that. Perhaps to use the Hobgoblin as a sacrifice to gauge his full capabilities.
But seeing how it remained constant even as he only kept dodging, what the opponent wanted seemed slightly different from his expectations.
‘In that case.’
There would be no need to keep the rampaging Hobgoblin alive any longer.
Baek Woohyun, who had leaned back to dodge the jungle-do, swung it while gripping the scythe handle instead of the chain part of his chain scythe.
Since the Hobgoblin had been swinging each attack with full force in its fury, it couldn’t react to the sudden counterattack and gave up its left wrist.
The Hobgoblin’s left hand being severed with a chilling scritch sound!
–Kek?!
“─!”
Even as the Hobgoblin’s eyes widened in shock at seeing its own hand fall off, Baek Woohyun didn’t stop.
The scythe that swung wide from left to right slashed across the Hobgoblin’s belly. Judging by how deep it dug, it was clearly a slash that reached the intestines.
Just the amount of blood pouring out made it obvious it was a fatal wound.
The Hobgoblin that had been roaring vigorously knelt down on one knee. Its green face had turned pale as if sensing death.
However, Baek Woohyun had no intention of waiting even that brief moment. He thrust the scythe blade right into the forehead of the Hobgoblin that had stopped in the perfect position.
The Hobgoblin’s eyes rolled back and soon it collapsed backward with a thud─given its size, it was closer to a boom!
A natural result, with its torso nearly half-severed and the scythe having torn through its brain.
-Nice
-So satisfying~
-So clean lolol
-But seriously why did he only dodge instead of killing it??
-“We’ll probably see why he only dodged from now on, won’t we?”
-“I checked, and Hackphysical wasn’t paying attention to the Hobgoblin but somewhere behind it the whole time. There’s probably another enemy there.”
-“Another enemy… don’t tell me?!”
-Big one incoming ㄷㄷ
-Come on, no way it’s really an Invader lol
-They say ‘no way’ gets people killed
-If it’s really an Invader, isn’t the progression too fast
“······Phew.”
With the boss entity Hobgoblin dead, the Bukhansan Reverse World rampage was over. The portal that had connected to the other world would gradually lose power and disappear.
Therefore, all purposes for the emergency deployment here had been achieved, but Baek Woohyun considered the situation not yet over.
Because the owner of the gaze still watching him remained.
“Come out.”
As Baek Woohyun spoke firmly, a man walked out from the darkness as if responding.
The first thing that caught his eye was the man’s skin color. The pale blue was clearly an unnatural color that no human could possess.
Moreover, the two horns protruding from his temples further solidified the fact that he was a different species from humans.
On top of that, his upper body, completely bare, was covered in chaotic purple tattoos, and a strange power flowed across them.
A power clearly different from what Awakeners wielded─a very alien type of power. One that made you dizzy just looking at it for some reason.
Though his appearance resembled humanity, it was a form that clearly revealed he was a being belonging to another world.
‘Dimensional Invader…!’
Baek Woohyun narrowed his eyes at the appearance of a being called by various names depending on perspective: Dimensional Invader, Demon, or Otherworlder.
However, there wasn’t much surprise in his gaze at the suddenly appearing Invader.
Because with a large-scale rampage incident signifying full-scale intervention from the other world already occurring, he had considered it highly likely an Invader would appear.
This was also speculation based on experience from ‘over there.’ When large-scale rampages occurred, Invaders accompanied them with roughly seventy to eighty percent probability.
-“Wow, an Invader has finally appeared at this point.”
-“Everyone expected it, but seeing one actually come out is quite surprising. Normally you’d barely see one or two in the late stages.”
-At least it’s not a named Invader lol
-If an Invader appears already, what happens to the story?? ㄷㄷ
-The chat asking what happens to the story every time is seriously hilarious lololol
-Guys, did you know Hackphysical’s story is trending overseas?
‘Expected it, but surprisingly.’
Through process of elimination, the only being that could be the owner of the gaze was an Invader, so he had expected it, but Baek Woohyun couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
Because the Invaders he had fought ‘over there’ were generally quite emotional. So much so that it was hard to think of them as owners of emotionless gazes.
It was also strange to casually discard the portal they had worked to create just to gauge his capabilities.
‘A difference in personality?’
“······.”
While Baek Woohyun was lost in thought, the Dimensional Invader that had walked over with thud thud steps stood before him.
Then it slowly clenched its fist and took a stance. As if saying let’s have a bare-fisted match.
Seeing that, a slight furrow formed on Baek Woohyun’s brow. This too was a situation that had never occurred even once ‘over there.’
The Invaders he knew were ones who only cared about the dimensional war. To the extent of leaving no room for anything else.
Naturally, there was no way they would step forward suggesting a bare-fisted fight like now. How could beings who wouldn’t hesitate to ambush for victory do such a thing?
Therefore, the Invader before his eyes now was quite alien. From observing him by throwing the Hobgoblin at him, to attempting bare-fisted combat─everything.
‘Well, fine.’
Baek Woohyun put his chain scythe into Shadow Storage and clenched his fists, taking his stance.
While he was flustered by the Invader’s strange behavior, that absolutely didn’t affect his purpose.
He just needed to think about killing all beings originating from the other world and making this place safe.
In fact, if you thought about it, this was better.
It was easier to kill someone who stepped forward boldly to fight like this rather than hiding behind and causing trouble.
Whether that process involved bare-fisted combat or fighting with weapons, what difference did it make? In any case, the result wouldn’t change no matter how they fought.
“······.”
“······.”
A heavy silence flowed between Baek Woohyun and the Invader.
The two people in somewhat similar stances─though it was unclear if one should call them both people─glared sharply at each other.
Their expressions showed full intent to instantly pounce and bite at the slightest opening.
Dash!
“─!”
“─!”
Baek Woohyun and the Invader rushed at each other with surprising simultaneity!
The fists they extended toward each other collided precisely with bang! Like what’s commonly called a ‘Fist Bump.’
Of course, unlike a fist bump that’s a sign of friendliness, their fists were full of killing intent to kill the opponent.
“-Tsk.”
As a result of their fists colliding head-on like that, the one who stepped back was Baek Woohyun.
His level was still low and his ability build wasn’t completely established, so he lacked the power to face the Invader head-on.
Unlike invasion entities that were closer to tools sent for invasion, Invaders were the real military power of the other world, so it wasn’t incomprehensible.
Baek Woohyun also knew this fact, so he wasn’t flustered by being pushed back.
Rather, he was even feeling puzzled by the fact that despite colliding head-on, he had only been pushed back this much.
If it had been an Invader he faced ‘over there,’ he wouldn’t have just stepped back a few steps but would have been sent flying.
‘Strange.’
The Invader rushed at him with an attitude of not caring at all what Baek Woohyun was thinking.
The bastard that charged forward stomping its feet threw a punch that poured all the generated force into it as if hammering down. A heavy strike that made a whoosh! sound in the air.
Not an attack attempted with just physical ability, as the tattoos covering the bastard’s upper body glowed brightly purple.
Having already clashed fists once and felt the power contained within, Baek Woohyun naturally chose evasion.
Rather than trying to forcibly block it and taking damage for no reason, dodging from the start was a far wiser decision.
The Invader’s thrust punch barely grazed past his ear as he tilted his body greatly to the left.
A truly paper-thin dodge!
“─!”
Overcoming crisis brings opportunity.
Baek Woohyun fearlessly dove into the Invader’s open guard from extending the punch.
The distance was too close to throw punches or kicks, but such a trivial problem couldn’t be any obstacle to him.
Whether the distance was far or close, he had countless means to attack either way.
Boom!
A single strike that gathered force in one place using the weight shift generated from a strongly planted step and the acceleration of each joint that started from it!
A recreation of the One-Inch Punch, or Chon-gyeong, that had once sent away someone using the same build in a ‘Survival’ PVP match in one blow.
A strike powerful enough to shatter all ribs with just one hit aimed at the Invader.
However.
Kwang!
“···!”
-“No way he blocked that?!”
-“I thought it was over, but the Invader blocks Hackphysical’s One-Inch Punch! The battle is progressing very interestingly!”
-How did he block that
-I seriously thought it was over too;
-Were Invaders always this good at close combat?
-Don’t know?
Baek Woohyun’s fist was blocked by the forearm the Invader had thrust in at some point.
Though a sound rang out that was hard to think came from flesh and blood bodies colliding, it was merely a loud noise.
His intention to strike the ribs and finish them off was completely thwarted, and at that point the failure of the Chon-gyeong was basically confirmed.
Chon-gyeong was a strike that only displayed its power when stabbing into gaps like an awl.
But it was still too early to be disappointed.
Just because one attack was blocked didn’t mean the fight was over.
Since the opponent had shrunk back blocking the Chon-gyeong, the initiative was still his. How he used this to lead the fight was important.
Making a quick decision, he put great force into his fist touching the Invader’s forearm, and simultaneously with stepping back from the recoil, attempted a kick.
Swish!
***