Chapter 49 : Chapter 49
Chapter 49
The remaining distance between me and Kim Ju-han was two spaces.
Kim Ju-han was someone who used 25 million won without hesitation to move two spaces.
Kim Ju-han walked straight up and entered the space where I was staying.
“Bodhisattva Lee Ju-seong, I will ask as a matter of courtesy. Do you have any intention of surrendering?”
He was really asking as a matter of courtesy.
As proof, a paper fan was held in Kim Ju-han's hand.
I strongly pressed my clenched right hand with my wide-open left hand.
The sound of joints interlocking echoed vigorously from my right hand.
Crack!
“You just made a typo with your mouth. I think you misspoke ‘Do you have any intention of accepting if I surrender?’”
Kim Ju-han skipped even the forewarning that he would start and suddenly swung the fan.
Whoosh!
The wind derived from the paper fan split into several lumps and rushed in.
I had prepared perfectly.
I did not raise a guard and charged while inviting defenselessness.
‘I've reset the accumulated damage of Damage Doping. Literally, it's just a matter of advancing step by step while catching a breeze.’
I had told August that I would regularly activate self-harm triggers to maintain the physical enhancement ability at the maximum.
But in reality, I hadn't activated the self-harm trigger at all since copying the ability, and was currently enhancing my body by activating the self-harm trigger only when necessary.
Of course, August would know.
Nevertheless, since she didn't know when I would activate the self-harm trigger, she had to not neglect the act of recognizing me as an ally for a single moment.
While advancing, the sound of balloons popping came from the front.
Pop! Bam! Pop! Pop!
It was the sound made as the ability of Damage Doping annihilated the wind blades.
Every time damage accumulated, I felt my physical abilities being enhanced.
As a bonus, I felt like my proficiency in handling Damage Doping was also rising.
‘I've absorbed four shots worth, so my physical abilities have been enhanced twofold. I'll be able to take twelve more shots.’
Assuming the maximum damage I can accept is 100 percent, the current damage gauge could be said to be filled by about 25 percent.
A damage gauge that has risen once will drop little by little if no damage is received, and in 10 minutes, it falls to 0 percent and is completely reset.
It was the right answer to have reset the gauge in advance with the battle against Kim Ju-han in mind.
I spurred the charge thanks to my physical abilities enhanced twofold.
“Are you fanning me because you're worried I might be hot? How kind of you.”
When I provoked him openly, Kim Ju-han's face stiffened while remaining in the state of harboring a gentle smile.
He just wasn't showing it, but he must be feeling a sense of crisis inwardly.
In a little while, Kim Ju-han will enter my range.
Even so, no sign of trying to evade was felt from Kim Ju-han.
It was because of the stubbornness that he couldn't show a flustered appearance even to maintain an absolute-like image of always gracefully overcoming crises.
Kim Ju-han silently swung the fan back and forth.
Whoosh! Whooooosh!
The wind blades were annihilated by Damage Doping and became fuel that enhanced my physical abilities exactly as they were.
Literally, he was fanning to make the fire even bigger.
Just as a flame that swallowed the wind became even more intense, the power contained in my clenched fist grew uncontrollably.
Soon, it became a distance where I could reach Kim Ju-han if I extended my arm.
I extended my left foot long forward and pulled my right hand deep back to my shoulder.
“You'd better clench your teeth tight.”
The moment I was about to extend my fist, my body suddenly froze.
It was a feeling as if someone had pressed the stop button specifically for me alone.
It was a timing where, in the eyes of a third party, it would certainly appear as if I had failed to regain my balance suddenly while taking an excessive movement.
It was truly a pity that my body was frozen and couldn't move.
Because since I was frozen, I couldn't pull up the corners of my mouth and laugh.
‘I guess you've gained confidence because you succeeded once against No Tae-jin? But you shouldn't overuse it just because it's a success pattern.’
He must have used an ability to stop the movement of a specific target.
It's not Kim Ju-han's own ability.
An ability like motion stop, which can take an absolute advantage against a single target, cannot possibly lack a penalty.
Since no sign of taking a penalty was seen from Kim Ju-han right now, I could confidently say that there was no possibility of Kim Ju-han possessing various abilities.
It must be that one of the followers relatively close to me was committing a foul.
The people who met the criteria were two.
Two followers staying on the space three spaces away were the likely suspects.
A distance of three spaces here referred to the tenth Yut space where I had been staying until just now.
It corresponded to the starting point, the place where I had dropped needles while moving.
Kim Ju-han spoke triumphantly as if he had already grasped victory.
“It seems the aftermath of an excessive move has rushed in late? A crow-tit's crotch is torn when it tries to follow a stork.”
He was packaging it as me having self-destructed by overexerting myself, arbitrarily adapting the reason why my movement stopped.
Let him blabber as much as he wants.
That kind of nonsense, even if blabbered a hundred times, cannot match a single practice.
Ability to turn scrap metal into traps. Activation.
Kim Ju-han wouldn't have noticed, but needles were stuck upside down in the ground located between me and Kim Ju-han.
The needles turned into long wedges and soared obliquely.
Coincidentally, the damage gauge was reaching the critical point, so the wedge touched my body without being annihilated.
Because I had stuck them upside down, the blunt part on the opposite side, not the sharp part of the wedge, struck my chest.
Thwack!
I felt quite a bit of pain, but this pain was exactly what I had wanted.
I can't move on my own?
Then it was a matter of making myself move by using a third force.
The wedge pushed me back greatly to the side.
At the same time, a mass of wind blades passed through the place where I had been standing.
Kim Ju-han expressed curiosity and ridicule toward my resourcefulness in succession.
“Did you use two abilities just now? Either way, the result does not change.”
The result does not change... I wonder if that's really the case?
“Aaaaaack!”
Blood was splattered along with a scream in a Yut space some distance away.
In a place exactly three spaces away, a fat-bodied man was dead while bleeding.
Five wedges were stuck in the man's body.
Coinciding with the follower's death, my stiffly frozen body began to move.
“How petty. Did you think I wouldn't know you had a follower bind my movements?”
Finally, the smile completely vanished from Kim Ju-han's face.
As if replacing the empty space created by the vanishing smile, his face was dyed with fear.
I didn't care what kind of expression he was making.
Since he would be crushed beyond recognition by a single punch anyway.
When I swung my fist toward Kim Ju-han's face, Kim Ju-han immediately curled his body up and lay prone, then covered his head with both hands.
“Aaaaahhhhh!”
The fake shell named a smile broke, and the fragile contents, which were overwhelmed even by taking care of his own life, popped out.
‘Thankfully,’ my extended fist did not reach Kim Ju-han.
A Go stone intervened between me and Kim Ju-han.
It was the same as when No Tae-jin and Kim Ju-han fought.
The Go stone instantly increased in volume and took the form of an ancient Chinese soldier.
The soldier received my fist instead of Kim Ju-han.
Bang!
A sound like an explosive going off occurred at the point of competition, and the soldier doll was shattered into pieces.
Like a ceramic work an artisan threw at the wall in a rage, saying it wasn't right.
November walked up with steady steps and gave a judgment.
“You have committed a foul, Mr. Lee Ju-seong. It is a foul to lay a hand on a player in another unrelated space.”
“Ah~ that's because they used a foul first. They applied an ability to me from the outfield and bound my movements, you see.”
“A foul can only be judged as a foul when the foul has been proven. At least as far as I, the referee, can see, there appears to be no problem.”
“Hmm, even if I want to prove it, the party who committed the foul is dead... Haha, it can't be helped. I'll accept the foul penalty.”
A 300 million won fine. And return to the starting point.
Thinking only about what was lost is a third-rate way of thinking.
In my head, the work of classifying what was gained was already taking place.
The biggest harvest was, as expected, destroying Kim Ju-han's authority.
With that single blow just now, the image of a noble savior was completely shattered.
Right now, the only living creature before my eyes was just a selfish and miserable old man.
I spoke as I placed my hand on Kim Ju-han's cheek.
“Earlier, regarding Mr. Tae-jin's matter, you asked if the referee was making a biased judgment for our team, didn't you? I'm glad it's been revealed that it wasn't biased.”
And I tapped his cheek with my palm.
As if appraising the value of a cheap antique.
“So why do you go and try to drag it into a foul match? You should have chosen your opponent before trying.”
Whatever it is, one shouldn't act petty.
There's a thrill in doing things boldly.
Even if that happens to be a foul.
I clearly engraved the difference in caliber and then leisurely returned to the starting point.
At the starting point, August stared at the shattered soldier doll and spat out a word bluntly.
“I can do that much too.”
I suppose you could.
Since it was originally your ability.
My battle with Kim Ju-han ended, but the right to throw the Yut once more was not given to Kim Ju-han.
Because it was a return to the starting point due to a penalty for a foul, and it wasn't because Kim Ju-han had won.
In other words, it meant my turn would come back first while he hadn't gotten any further from me.
It was a distance more than enough to catch up.
I belatedly settled the ‘grin’ I had postponed because my body was frozen earlier.
“Heh.”
August witnessed the corners of my mouth pulled up and shook her head.
“I finally know what you're planning. I feel sorry for Kim Ju-han, who ended up as your opponent.”
August was casting a pity vote for Kim Ju-han, who had turned me into an enemy.
I thought she had a surprisingly soft side for someone with a cool impression.
Because personally, I don't feel even a shred of pity for Kim Ju-han.
Even before that, I wasn't even treating him as an opponent.
Just as we don't treat the steak or grilled fish on the dinner table as an opponent.
Those are merely prey.
The followers I am currently counting the heads of also appeared as nothing but prey in my eyes.
“Eight people remain. If I catch up to all of them, I'll be able to pocket 800 million won.”
It was a head count that could record a 500 million won surplus even after subtracting the 300 million won penalty.
No, that's not enough.
I'll even strip away the possession amount Kim Ju-han has.
To do that, catching up to the followers was first.
Me, in the position of the hunter.
Kim Ju-han and the followers, in the position of the hunted.
Separate from the game hosted by the organization, a mini-game I devised had begun within this game.
I clenched my left hand and pressed it strongly with my right palm.
The sound of joints interlocking came from inside my left hand.
Crack!
“Solo tag. Start.”