Chapter 14
Chapter 14: The Man Who Jumps Out of a Plane Without a Parachute
['ReverseBetLegendLol' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Points well earned, lol. Buuurp.
—Ah, that just went right into his mouth.
—God, I'm so jealous.
—How many times over did he even win?
The one and only viewer who had bet on the Newbie's win—Key Chain.
He had put in 200,000 and walked away with 2,600,000.
In an instant, his total assets had become 2,800,000 Won, and he was completely dumbfounded.
‘Honestly I clicked it by accident while dozing off, and it just… worked out like this?’
Coincidence had piled on top of coincidence.
It was simply that his luck had been extraordinarily good.
In the meantime,
Yu-na had calmed herself down and moved to the Training Grounds.
"No, seriously, guys. Does this even make sense? I got three-shotted. Three-shotted. And all headshots!"
—To be fair, something about that guy seemed off from the start.
—I searched his ID and nothing came up. Looked like an account that was just created.
"Right? That's exactly what I thought! He obviously hid the fact that he was hacking by pretending to be a Newbie!"
Yu-na huffed and aimed at the moving targets.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
With every burst of fire from the Laiki 10, targets fell one by one.
It took less than three seconds to empty an entire magazine.
The result: perfect score.
To pull off this kind of record using the gun with the worst accuracy—that placed her firmly in the top tier.
"Ugh, but the more I think about it, the more it pisses me off…… I felt like I could've beaten him if we went again, but he just up and left."
—Probably got banned.
—Yeah, looks to me like he got kicked for a ban.
—Honestly, who shoots a Peacemaker like that lol.
—Three consecutive headshots genuinely doesn't add up lol.
"You all saw it too, right? Firing that high-recoil gun one-handed? I know a few pros personally, and not a single one of them does it that way."
Yu-na grumbled as she swapped out her magazine.
Still unable to shake off her frustration, she repeated the shooting routine several more times.
And as she did, she recalled that person's username.
‘Said 'WillWinTournament,' didn't he? I signed up for this tournament too, so what if……’
The moment an absurd thought crossed her mind, Yu-na shook her head sharply.
But the possibility refused to leave easily.
‘No way, surely he wouldn't actually show up? That can't be right.’
She kept telling herself that as she continued her stream.
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Mu-yeong stepped out into the lobby and rubbed his wrist.
‘So this is what a real gun is truly like. It's on a completely different level from a toy.’
He had fired with a BB gun from the festival in mind, but the unexpected recoil had startled him completely.
It was almost like firing a cannon.
If he hadn't braced himself, he might have sprained his wrist.
The sound was the same.
The thunderous noise felt for a moment as though his eardrums were about to burst.
And yet these things were what the world's armies were armed with.
It made him freshly aware of just how remarkable modern technology truly was.
‘That aside—who was that woman earlier? Was she someone who helps with the tutorial?’
Mu-yeong's reason for logging in today was nothing special.
It had simply been to get a rough sense of what kind of game Battle Attack was.
So he had entered the Training Grounds and tried out various things—but there, a rather significant problem had arisen.
‘…… Why won't this fire?’
He pulled the trigger, but there was no response whatsoever.
He had done it exactly the same as when he had fired the BB gun, yet it would not work.
Wondering if it might be broken, he slammed it against the ground a few times, but it made no difference.
He was deeply flustered.
He wasn't even streaming, so he had no one to ask.
And so, as he tested each and every gun one by one, he finally discovered that something had changed with one of them.
[Peacemaker]
In truth, this too had been an accident.
Just like the others that refused to respond, he had smacked the body of it in frustration—and something popped out from the side.
Six suggestive holes.
Conveniently, there were similarly sized bullets nearby, and when he tried fitting them in, they matched perfectly.
And when he fired, it worked!
‘I finally found one that works.’
He had nearly been moved to tears.
It had been more difficult to handle than expected, but still—wasn't this something?
On top of that, it actually suited Mu-yeong rather well.
His entire life up until now had been spent swinging a blade.
So when he tried holding a rifle with both hands and aiming, it felt far too uncomfortable and stifling.
In that state, picking up the comparatively lighter handgun had put him at ease mentally.
‘On top of that, it's surprisingly similar to the way I handle a sword.’
One might say—what kind of nonsense is that.
But if he thought of it as extending his arm fully toward an opponent, then releasing sword energy or blade force from the tip—it was not so difficult at all.
In fact, he had already proven it by easily dispatching the NPC-like opponent who had been there to assist with one-on-one practice.
The rest was simply something to refine through actual combat experience.
‘If things go well, I might be able to synchronize it with my Footwork in the near future.’
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The next day.
Mu-yeong turned on his stream.
—Oh, he actually went live.
—MuMuMuMu.
—Love the daily streams.
—What game today?
Perhaps because of the ripple effect from Castle Defense—not even a full minute had passed before a hundred viewers had joined.
Waiting a while longer for more people to come in, Mu-yeong finally spoke.
"I was out yesterday and happened to see an interesting flyer. Battle Attack, I believe it was called. So I thought I would give it a try today."
—Nice, nice, sounds fun.
—Isn't that game basically just Veterans at this point though?
—It's gonna take serious physical ability though?
—Talking about physical ability with Mu-yeong lol.
—For real, everyone else might as well just pack it in.
"I'm not just going in for a casual try—I plan to enter the tournament."
—?
—Did I hear that wrong?
—Tournaments are on a completely different level, what are you talking about?
—What's a complete beginner going to do there?
—It'd already be a miracle if he doesn't get eliminated first round lol.
The overwhelming majority of opinions were negative.
And with good reason—Castle Defense and Battle Attack were entirely different genres.
Physical ability being a common factor was true, but when examined in detail, there were subtle differences.
Take, for example, an exceptionally skilled soccer player.
But no matter how fast his reactions or how sharp his situational judgment—could he perform at the same level in volleyball or basketball?
No.
He might reach a certain point, but in the professional world filled with top-tier players, he wouldn't even come close.
This applies to games as well.
Sure, playing casually is one thing, but a tournament might be a stretch—that was what most viewers thought.
['KeyboardWarrior' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Do you even know how to shoot? You said you spent your whole life in the mountains, right?
"I did try out the tutorial briefly yesterday. It seemed manageable enough."
—Oh, very thorough preparation.
—'It seemed manageable enough' <<< Mu-yeong's standard.
—Means he's already infinitely beyond what a regular person can do lol.
—The way he says it actually makes it kind of exciting lol.
['KeyboardWarrior' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—What gun did you use? If it's your first time, something with low recoil like an SMG would be better.
"I don't remember the exact name, but it was a six-round handgun."
—???
—??
—Don't tell me it was the Peacemaker?
—And that was manageable?
—How exactly? Lol.
The Peacemaker.
Also known as the Etiquette Enforcer—this gun was famous even to those who had never played Battle Attack.
The maestro of a magic trick where the muzzle flashes twice and an enemy vanishes just like that.
It was a staple guest star in highlight reels.
So iconic that they say there's no one who's seen it just once—only those who've never seen it at all.
['KeyboardWarrior' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—That was manageable? You could wreck your wrist with that thing if you're not experienced.
—He said it was just the tutorial though.
—If you're just blasting away in the Training Grounds, you might think that.
—He hasn't faced the real thing yet.
—Just wait till he gets into an actual match—he'll never be able to say that again lol.
There was a reason viewers were this confident.
The map size of the Training Grounds was only about 200 meters on each side.
But the map used in ranked games had walls stretching a full 3 kilometers to a side—several times larger at a single leap.
An environment that could never be conquered with a mere handgun.
"Let me just show you directly."
Unaware of that fact, Mu-yeong quickly logged into the game.
He tried to enter the Training Grounds the same way he had the day before, when someone stopped him.
['PowerDrink' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Hey; that's barging into someone else's room. If you want to practice, you need to create your own room.
"That's what I did yesterday though?"
—Huh?
—So then who was he with yesterday lolololol.
—Clearly caused chaos in some stranger's room lol.
—That person must've been so confused lol.
['PowerDrink' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Follow along slowly. Click 'Create Room' in the bottom left, set a password, then click 'Create.'
Following the donation instructions, a brand new Training Grounds was created.
A comfortable space to play solo.
['PowerDrink' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—And one last donation. This game gets heavy targeted harassment, so it'd be a good idea to use Streaming Mode to hide your username.
"Thank you."
Excellent advice.
With settings properly configured, Mu-yeong began moving in earnest.
He picked up the same-looking gun as the day before and walked toward the targets.
—Nervous, nervous.
—Is he actually going to show us?
—I'd call it a miracle if he hits even 3 out of 6.
—With Mu-yeong's standards, he'll hit at least 3 lol.
Countless targets, swinging side to side.
Mu-yeong exhaled long and slow, then stretched his right arm straight out.
‘Let us say that what I'm holding is a sword.’
I am about to release energy toward six enemies in total.
One per shot, one per opponent.
Mu-yeong scanned the positions and movements of the targets with hawk-like eyes.
The moment he was focused enough to hear his own heartbeat, he pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
—???
—What is this guy doing?
—Wait, he's firing the Peacemaker like it's an automatic?
—He's so done lol.
—Classic beginner lol.
Everyone laughed and thought—well, what did you expect?
A complete novice at that, not even a skilled player. Mu-yeong.
Someone who probably couldn't even control the recoil properly going on a rampage like this……
—Wait.
Just then, the heavy smoke cleared.
In the brightened field of view, the targets—exactly six of them—had all been knocked down.
Every single one with a hole through the head.
"Did I not say so? That it was manageable."
At Mu-yeong's confident words, everyone was left completely speechless.
—Is this real?
—This actually works?
—Is this a hack?
—I genuinely have no words lol.
—Just what kind of place is the Martial World……
The viewers had just grasped that the talk of a tournament was not some hollow dream.
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['MochaBread' has sent a 100,000 Won mission.]
—You know the Training Grounds and the real thing are completely different, right? Starting now: 50,000 Won per kill in a regular match.
There will always be skeptics who refuse to believe even what they've seen with their own eyes.
But if they're willing to pay for it—there's nothing more welcome than that.
Especially when it's a generous sum like this.
"Accepted."
But the reaction in the chat was lukewarm.
—Safe assets: on.
—Lololol.
—Wonder how this'll go.
—I don't think he gets even 1 kill.
—Can he even make it through that part?
—Shhhh.
—Hey now.
Battle Royale genre games have an almost clichéd starting sequence.
Falling from a high-flying aircraft.
Players drop themselves down directly to the location they want to start at.
The problem was that Battle Attack did not support automatic parachute deployment.
100% manual—you had to open the parachute yourself and fly down.
But a Martial Artist with no experience whatsoever doing this for the first time?
The outcome could only be one thing.
—Oh, it's starting lol.
—Here we go here we go here we go.
—Let's see lol.
[3] [2] [1] [Game Start]
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The moment the loading ended, Mu-yeong opened his eyes.
Inside a jolting, rattling aircraft, roughly sixty people were crammed in tightly together.
The crimson-lit interior felt like being locked in a cage.
‘Can I just fight everyone right here?’
Something seemed different from what he had heard.
He was clearly told it was a massive map where you go at each other and brawl……
Just then, the door at the rear slowly began to open.
Creeeeak……
The interior flooded with light, and the scenery outside came into view.
The sky.
And not a still sky—but one rushing past at tremendous speed.
Before he had even finished assessing the situation, several people suddenly shot to their feet.
And then, with great force, they leapt straight into the open air.
"……Huh?"
Whoosh—and they were gone. Mu-yeong's thoughts ground to a halt for a moment.
—Lolololol.
—Lololololol.
—This is genuinely a face of someone who has no idea.
—Got him, got him.
—If you don't know, you die lol.
The headcount was dwindling fast.
Sensing that staying still was not an option, Mu-yeong made his way toward the exit.
Whoooosh!
The biting roar of the wind pierced his ears with vivid clarity.
No matter how resilient a Martial Artist may be, falling from this height would leave nothing to recover.
Unless one had reached the realm of the legendary Sky-Treading Step.
Whoosh!
In the meantime, someone beside him jumped.
He looked back—barely anyone remained.
If he lingered any longer, he would be the last one out.
‘Let's just throw myself at it.’
Mu-yeong swallowed hard and leapt boldly.
Without knowing how to open a parachute.
Without even knowing a parachute existed.