Chapter 15
Chapter 15: How to Beat a Sniper with a Shotgun
Whoooosh!
High up.
Insanely high up.
High enough that looking down felt worse than peering from the peak of the Ten Demon Mountains.
Mu-yeong felt the air slamming against his entire body as he swept his gaze across the whole map.
A city dense with tall buildings, a swamp, sand dunes, and more.
Terrain suited to each concept was scattered here and there.
But as fascinating as it was, surviving came first.
'Where should I land to maximize my chances of survival?'
A thick forest? A snowy highland? Or bare sand?
Just then, what caught Mu-yeong's eye was a massive lake.
His instincts screamed.
That was the only place he could survive.
Mu-yeong twisted his body and began drifting toward it.
—No way he's trying to land in the water?
—Even so, you can't survive from this height lol
—If he lives, that's a zombie, not a human lol
—For real, that'd just be shameless
As the viewers half-believed, half-doubted, Mu-yeong finished adjusting his position.
He watched the lake rush toward him and drew power into his lower abdomen.
'From what I've felt so far, I can use up to three-tenths of my energy.'
Being a Hyper-FPS, Battle Attack seemed to have loosened certain restrictions compared to Castle Defense.
Mu-yeong immediately circulated his energy to his upper body.
A thin membrane like a barrier formed—and at that same moment, he slammed into the lake at tremendous speed.
Splash!
—Is he dead?
—Even if it's water, surviving that is wishful thinking.
—Then again, it's Mu-yeong, so maybe……
—Still, he probably took serious injuries at minimum lol
A dangerous situation where a bad landing could rupture his internal organs.
Everyone watched the surface of the water with bated breath.
Before long, bubbles came rising up. Blub, blub.
And then.
"Pfuha!"
Mu-yeong broke through the surface.
He swept his wet bangs back and began swimming toward shore as if nothing had happened.
—Is that actually a human being?
—He jumped out of a plane with no parachute and he's just—swimming??
—His body must be made of steel lol
—At this point, would he even survive a straight drop onto land?
—Deadass lol
Everyone had a corner of their mind that thought this might happen—but seeing him completely fine was still baffling.
In truth, countless Martial Artists had found themselves in this exact same situation.
Most died on impact.
Some survived, but were "alive" in name only.
Only a precious few had played on with moderate injuries.
But not a single one had moved around like Mu-yeong, as if nothing had happened at all.
—He's literally a robot lol
—You can't expect common sense from Mu-yeong.
—The bar for "common sense" is just way too high with this guy……
—But how did he survive without a parachute?
While Mu-yeong was swimming and reading the chat, a particular word caught his attention.
"Parachute? What's a parachute?"
—Well, you see……
—It's something you don't need.
—Probably better off not knowing?
—Oh, one's flying right above you at this very moment.
"Above?"
Mu-yeong looked up.
A massive shadow glided swoosh across his face just then, and he understood the moment he saw it.
The identity of that round piece of cloth drifting lazily through the air.
'……So the bag on my back wasn't just there for decoration.'
That's what it was for.
Even Mu-yeong—who rarely got rattled—couldn't help but let out a rueful laugh at himself this time.
He floated on the water for a moment, tracing the parachute's arc.
'It really does carry you far. Slow descent, too.'
—Lolololol
—So he just found out now lolololol
—You headbutted the earth without that thing lol
—Impressive, honestly lol
—I don't even know what to be surprised by anymore lol
It would be a lie to say he didn't feel a hollow pang.
But the pride of having achieved something impossible—the satisfaction of pushing past his limits—gave him a renewed burst of energy.
Mu-yeong resumed swimming toward shore.
.
.
.
.
Battle Attack has a system where you can loot anywhere on the map.
Heading to a hotspot increases the odds of finding good items—but that many more people converge there, sharply raising the risk of dying.
Going somewhere safe instead?
Low-tier items might drop, or nothing might drop at all.
Running into an enemy in that state meant losing was a foregone conclusion.
Unless your physical abilities were extraordinary, that is.
['JustOverThere' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—For now, let's loot the camp ahead? You need at least a gun.
"That place?"
Not far into his walk, a cluster of three small buildings appeared before Mu-yeong.
All doors were shut, and there was no sign of anyone.
He entered the building at the front.
Creak.
Lying on the floor was a single rifle, a few magazines, and a round ball-like object.
But the Peacemaker Mu-yeong was looking for was nowhere to be found.
He turned to leave with a look of disappointment, but the viewers stopped him.
—You're not gonna pick that up?
—That's a pretty decent gun.
—It'd be way better than going barehanded?
—Grab the grenade too.
"I don't know how to use it."
Mu-yeong's reply flooded the chat with question marks.
['Acorn Jelly' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Wait, didn't you mess around with stuff at the training grounds? So why can't you use it?
"No matter how many times I pulled the trigger, everything was dead. Either it's broken, or it doesn't suit me—it just feels off."
—This guy can't……
—Shoot a gun?
—Then how did he use the Peacemaker?
—Probably stumbled onto the simplest one by accident?
—Fair enough, reloading a magazine and chambering a round isn't something you'd figure out on your first try……
The viewers let out sighs laced with pity.
This was, in every sense, peak hardware with a completely blank software.
He'd clearly shoot up to pro level if they trained him—but the problem was time.
The tournament registration was opening in just two days.
One week after that, the first qualifying match would kick off.
Including today, that left only nine days.
Technically, that was a decent stretch—but given how much he needed to learn, it was realistically brutal.
—Where do you even start with teaching this guy?
—Even if you explained it all, it'd still be hard. It's not a game you win with just shooting.
—For real, you'd have to memorize terrain, power spots, all of it.
—Plus, with all the veterans showing up, half-assing it just means getting stomped.
—And for good reason—even the fiercest Martial Artists were helpless against guns.
The bullet was incredibly small, yet it traveled well beyond the speed of sound—there was simply no way to block it.
There were those who said you could wrap yourself in an Energy Blade—
But in the modern era, those who reached that level were vanishingly few.
"I'll check the next building too. The Peacemaker might be there."
The second building was three stories tall.
With far more rooms, it gave reason to hope for better items—but……
"Nothing."
—Wait, there's a shotgun right there.
—This guy doesn't know what that is.
—Sucks to be you, go tell him yourself lol
—He's deeply in love with the Peacemaker, so he won't touch anything else.
['WhyDoesntThisMakeSense?' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—For those just joining: he literally won't use anything but the Peacemaker lol
—Someone said he breaks out in hives if he uses anything else~
—The streamer's basically being held hostage right now—use the Peacemaker or die
—Running to the police as we speak lol
Crash!
Just then, the glass window in Mu-yeong's room shattered.
A bullet flew in along with the shards and buried itself in the wall right beside him.
—Oh no
—That's a sniper.
—He's in some back-corner spot and already running into someone?
—What do we do omg
In an instant, goosebumps rose across Mu-yeong's entire body.
He had sensed something incoming—but only barely.
'Much faster than I expected.'
If it hadn't missed just now?
There might be a hole in his body.
Still, he calmly observed the shattered window.
Judging by the angle it came from, it was clear the shot was fired from a hill beyond the house.
To confirm, Mu-yeong slowly extended his arm out and pulled it back.
Bang!
A second bullet flew in the moment he pulled his arm back.
But that exchange was enough to roughly pinpoint the enemy's location.
Mu-yeong smiled and picked up the shotgun from the floor.
—What are you gonna do with that against a sniper?
—He doesn't even know how to shoot.
—Just run.
—Terrible idea.
A shotgun versus a sniper rifle at mid-range.
Any three-year-old could tell you how that fight ends.
Of course, being a Hyper-FPS, a headshot didn't mean instant death.
From 100 HP and 100 Shield, it'd only bring you down to 50 HP.
The problem was the reverse applied too.
Getting hit by a shotgun wouldn't kill you in one shot either.
['MaliciousCamper' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Bro, you wasted a ton of time coming out of the lake. That guy's had time to kit up. This is way too disadvantageous;
['Hehehehe' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—If he's good at drag-shotting, you could get hit even with movement. Just bail to somewhere else.
"It's fine."
Mu-yeong brushed off his viewers' worries.
Then he crept down to the first floor, flung the door open, and broke into a sprint.
A glint of reflected light flashed from the expected position.
—There he is.
—That's where the scope just shone.
—That camping little—lol
—Let's hope he's not targeting the viewers?
He already knew from his time at the training grounds.
That when you lock eyes with a high-magnification scope, it catches the light for just a moment.
He instantly threw himself sideways.
Pfft!
A bullet buried itself right where he'd been standing.
Mu-yeong rolled once, then charged forward without losing a step.
—He dodged it??
—Wait—
—Is he really going in??
Remaining distance: roughly 200 meters.
The enemy, growing frantic, pulled the trigger the moment his gun was chambered.
But there was no hitting Mu-yeong, who only ran faster with every step.
Sensing the danger, the enemy switched to his secondary weapon.
An SMG.
—Emergency!!!
—Up close, that thing is no joke.
—And that concludes today's broadcast of Mu-yeong's stream. Thank you all for your love over the years……
—Bail while you still can!
Mu-yeong wasn't without a plan.
Before the barrel could swing his way, he leapt into the nearby trees.
At a speed that would embarrass a monkey.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Bullets sprayed wildly.
Even so, there was no hitting Mu-yeong as he leapt between the branches.
On top of that, the dense leaves obscured his silhouette—clean aim was impossible.
'He'll run out of bullets soon. I'll wait for that moment.'
Before long, a clicking sound came from the enemy's gun.
Mu-yeong seized the opening and closed the gap in one burst.
Gripping his shotgun tight, raising it high.
He swung a home run straight at the panicking enemy's head.
Clang!
[40]
You might wonder why only that much damage.
But if you swung hard enough to kill someone and they actually dropped dead in one hit—where's the fun in that?
For the sake of entertainment, the developers had deliberately capped melee attack power.
Exactly five hits to kill.
Clang!
He struck the back.
Clang!
He broke the legs.
Clang!
He slammed the gut.
—I mean lolololol
—He's beating a sniper to death with a shotgun lol (literally beating him)
—Shotguns really are the king of melee lol
—Just wailing on him lol
Only one hit left.
As the enemy desperately stretched both hands out to block—
Mu-yeong's shotgun swung precisely toward his face.
Clang!
The moment it connected, an enraged male voice erupted.
"HOW—how does a person MOVE like that?!"
—Lolololol
—Lololololol
—That last line is so funny lol
—Relatable though, which makes it funnier lol
—Who told him to pick a fight with Mu-yeong? lol
Mu-yeong stared at the fallen man's corpse and tilted his head.
"What was that voice just now? I could've sworn I heard it."
—It's a system where you can say something for about three seconds before dying.
—You can use it for last words or to curse someone out.
—There's compilation videos of reactions like that on Newtube and they're super popular.
So that's how it works.
Hearing the enemy's voice really was entertaining, he had to admit.
Mu-yeong smirked and crouched down.
The bag the man had left behind sat there on the ground.
He opened it to find a large sniper rifle and the SMG from just now.
"Nothing special."
He'd held out a small hope for something good—but.
Mu-yeong stood up, his face etched with disappointment.
Still, the game had started with 60 players.
It was too early to give up.
Mu-yeong grabbed the shotgun and rose to his feet.
"So where should I go next? Somewhere with a lot of people, ideally."
['EyeEyeEyeEye' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—The first circle's already shrinking, so you'll probably want to head to the city up north? Also heads-up—go outside that boundary and you die from the gas.
—Yeah, the city's probably your best bet.
—But it's a camping paradise so watch out for rooftop snipers.
—You watched that whole fight and you're still saying that?
—He'll probably just beat them all up lol
The city, huh.
Must be that place he saw from the sky.
Mu-yeong glanced up and to the left as he walked.
[Second Gas Release in 02:00 — Survivors Remaining: 42]
The headcount had already thinned into the low forties.
Mu-yeong broke into a run.