Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Pistol Catcher
"Quiet."
That was Mu-yeong's first impression the moment he stepped into the city.
There were massive buildings and wide roads stretching out in every direction, yet not a single person in sight.
He swept his gaze around, but couldn't sense even a small shadow.
Mu-yeong paused for a moment at the eerily desolate scene.
—You're an easy target if you just stand there.
—Someone's probably lining up a headshot on you right now.
—One shot won't kill you, so it's fine.
—Still, better to keep moving.
Mu-yeong started moving again and stepped into the shop right in front of him.
He walked a full loop around the store, but the items he wanted didn't turn up.
Instead, there were bandages and things that looked like blue cups everywhere.
"What are these for?"
—Those are called Shield Balls
—they let you refill your shield once it's broken.
—Think of it like armor.
—Each one restores 25. Yeah.
—And bandages are for when your shield's completely gone and your actual health starts draining.
—Both are important, but it's better to carry more Shield Balls.
In short, they were his lifeblood.
Life was important.
Mu-yeong nodded and began stuffing them into his bag one by one.
But the capacity wasn't much, so he couldn't carry all that much.
Looking around, he spotted another bag lying on the floor nearby.
He slung it over his shoulder and packed the remaining Shield Balls in as well.
['FirstAndOnlySlave' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Carrying 2 bags doesn't get heavy? That'll tank your mobility, probably not worth it?
In a typical game, inventory slots and stack limits were fixed.
A bag might hold 8 items, with one slot fitting only 60 bullets—that sort of thing.
But Battle Attack, with its pursuit of high freedom, had none of that.
You could strap bullets all over your body and walk around with 1,000 rounds.
You could sling on 5 bags, load them up with items, and play that way.
In fact, plenty of people did exactly that in the early days.
Some builds even gained popularity as quirky gimmicks, but in the end, they all faded away.
—I'm gonna stuff myself with bullets and shoot forever!
Dead before he'd used even 10% of them.
Cause of death: moved like a slug and got beaten to a pulp by the enemy.
There was one like this too. The Suicide Bomber—who walked around festooned with grenades.
The prime example would be Beggars' Gang beggar, Choo Geol-gae.
—If there's anyone in this world faster than me, step right up!
He was a master renowned for his Lightness Technique.
Quick-thinking too—the moment a situation turned against him, he'd flee immediately. So how did he attack?
His strategy was carrying a heap of grenades and scattering them like rain.
Not just throwing them recklessly either—he calculated each one, eliminating the very space for his opponent to dodge.
Sometimes he'd even deliver one directly, slipping it straight into an enemy's pocket.
That was how he climbed all the way to the Grand Master Tier—so why did he disappear?
Because enraged players figured out the counter.
—That bastard is infuriating. How do we kill him?
—He's so fast it's hard to even aim at him.
—What about taking him on with a machine gun?
—A machine gun?
The method was this: shoot the grenades.
A player who'd tried it by accident made the discovery—grenades in close proximity would detonate in a chain.
Meaning, hit just one and it was an instant kill through chain explosions.
The effect was unmistakable.
[Choo Geol-gae -> WhatShouldIEatForLunch — Blown to Pieces]
A line like that appears in the kill log?
Every single person in that game lit their eyes ablaze and grabbed a machine gun.
The moment Choo Geol-gae was spotted, they'd unload on him without a second thought.
No matter how exceptional his footwork, it was impossible to dodge a hail of bullets.
And considering he was carrying grenades all over his body……
Bang!
[Choo Geol-gae — Blown to Pieces]
That rumor spread far and wide.
Unable to use his grenade tactics any longer, Choo Geol-gae's tier kept dropping, and having lost interest, he eventually quit the game.
That was how the data piled up, leaving only the orthodox playstyle behind—that was Battle Attack today.
The viewers understood this, which was why they were trying to stop Mu-yeong from overdoing it.
['FirstAndOnlySlave' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—You won't even use that much anyway. Seems better to carry just the right amount?
"It's not particularly heavy, so it's fine."
Mu-yeong brushed it off as nothing and stepped back out of the shop.
Even after a minute had passed, the streets were unchanged.
A scene as if time had frozen.
Then—faint but unmistakable—two consecutive gunshots rang out.
It didn't end at one or two; they fired several more times.
—Sounds like a fight broke out somewhere?
—This looks like a sniper duel on a rooftop.
—Let's hurry up and get up there.
—They won't be able to secure a clean kill on each other, so the fight'll drag on anyway. Yeah.
Mu-yeong, who was starving for action, immediately focused his hearing.
‘200 meters ahead—white building and the grey apartment block beside it.’
Target confirmed, Mu-yeong broke into a full sprint.
He headed first for the apartment, which had more things to grab onto and climb.
Leaping off the ground, he seized a railing.
He threw his weight into a jump, and with each one, he scaled one floor at a time, whoosh after whoosh.
—Wait, he's not taking the stairs?
—There's even an elevator?
—This apartment block is 20 floors!
—He's insane lol.
Distance to the rooftop: approximately 50 meters.
A height that would send fear through any human being—but to Mu-yeong, who had already fallen from a plane, it was nothing whatsoever.
If anything, his eagerness to fight only made him climb faster.
—Ugh…… I have a fear of heights……
—This looks like parkour videos on Newtube lol.
—At least those guys go up slowly. This is something else lol.
—And he's even got a shotgun and 2 bags on his back lol.
Contrary to everyone's concerns, Mu-yeong was completely steady.
He reached out and grabbed the rooftop railing—without a drop of sweat on his hands—and that was the very moment.
Bang!
At the same instant, the person on the apartment rooftop crumpled to the ground.
A scope glinted once from the building across.
‘Over there.’
He ducked swiftly.
Fortunately, it seemed they hadn't spotted Mu-yeong, because no bullet came flying.
Hugging the wall, Mu-yeong moved toward the body and took the bag lying beside it.
Rummage, rummage.
Shield Balls, bandages, grenades……
As he pulled out items one by one, the sensation of cold metal came from the very bottom.
He yanked it out, and a gleaming silver Peacemaker appeared before his eyes.
"Found it."
—Wait lol.
—This drops here?
—Oh, but this one even has an Enhanced Barrel attached.
—That's an incredibly rare attachment, how did they even get that lol.
"Enhanced Barrel?"
—It's an attachment you can slot into the Peacemaker
—it removes the damage falloff based on distance.
—Yeah. You can shoot from one end of the map to the other and it's a fixed 50 damage.
—It's a completely broken item, but nobody uses it because the gun itself is too bad lol.
—Because you still have to hit your shots lol.
So there's something like that too.
Mu-yeong's expression turned curious as he gave the Peacemaker a light tap.
All 6 rounds were loaded into the cylinder.
“How considerate.”
Mu-yeong gave his thanks to the departed player, who had left behind only their bag.
Then he slowly rose and peered over the edge.
‘Now then, shall I try taking that one too?’
.
.
.
.
"Okay, got one!"
On the rooftop of a building somewhere.
Yu-na pulled her eye away from the scope and cheered.
She'd won after a fairly fierce back-and-forth exchange.
—She's honestly pretty bad too lol.
—For real, how do you lose when you shot first?
—But her opponent is Yu-na.
—If you're going up against a Master, you deserve to die. Yeah.
The reason Yu-na was out here like this was simple.
She was warming up in a casual game before queuing into Ranked.
That said, she wasn't playing seriously.
If she went all out in a casual game full of beginners, it would be nothing short of a one-sided slaughter.
Yu-na, who had her own sense of sportsmanship, was using the gun she was least confident with.
"Still, I shaved off about half their health, so they shouldn't be too sore about it."
Yu-na rolled her neck with a crack and rummaged through the bag she'd set down.
She picked up a Shield Ball and pressed it against the spot she'd been hit.
Whoooosh……
Blue light wrapped around Yu-na's entire body.
At the same time, her shield increased by 25.
After repeating it a few more times, she picked up the sniper rifle again.
"Right then, where's my next target? They must have heard the shots and should be watching this way by now……"
Yu-na pressed her eye to the 6x scope and swept the surroundings.
And then she spotted a shadow moving at the spot where the previous fight had taken place.
"They came over to loot the items."
‘Caught you.’
Yu-na grinned and steadied her breathing.
She placed her aim directly above the railing and did nothing but wait for the enemy to show their head.
Three seconds later, a tuft of hair began to appear.
‘Here they come, here they come, here they come.’
She rested her finger on the trigger.
And the moment they made eye contact, she was about to fire—
Bang!
"Huh?!"
—a hit marker appeared.
Not one she'd caused, but one showing she'd been hit.
—??
—???
—Their reaction speed is insane
—Absolute tryhard.
—Met their match lol.
Yu-na hastily dropped flat on the ground.
Refilling her shield, she said in a flustered voice,
"Wh-What? I just lost half my health in one shot?"
—Looks like they already knew your position too.
—You were making all that noise shooting—it'd be weirder if they didn't know.
—Was that just a lucky hit?
—Honestly looks like luck lol.
"You think?"
Fully healed, Yu-na shifted positions and popped her head out again.
Bang!
"Ugh?!"
Another 100.
The moment she showed her head, she got hit.
In truth, that level of reaction speed could sometimes be seen at Yu-na's tier.
Running into someone like that in a casual game was a bit surprising, but the real problem was something else.
"But that gun sound—isn't that a Peacemaker? Right? Right?"
—No way lol.
—They're 150 meters apart, what do you mean Peacemaker.
—That thing can't even mount a scope, stop making things up lol.
—Embarrassing yourself by making excuses.
"No! It really was a Peacemaker sound! I'm a Master—you think I can't tell something like that? Look, watch!"
Yu-na raised her hand.
Bang!
The same sound rang out, and her shield dropped by 50.
Only then did the viewers start to believe her.
—Looking at the damage, I think that has an Enhanced Barrel on it?
—No sniper makes a sound like that. The DMR12 has more of a heavy thud, and the Scout is lighter.
—That actually sounds like a Peacemaker lol.
Opinions converged, but the mystery remained unsolved.
How on earth was someone landing three consecutive hits at this distance?
And with no magnification—completely open sights.
No matter how you thought about it, it was an absolute impossibility.
"Oh damn, I picked the wrong fight. That guy's probably hacking."
—Just run.
—There's no answer to that.
—You have to retreat.
Having made her decision, Yu-na finished her preparations to withdraw.
"If I open the rooftop door and run, I'll get caught, so I'll jump off the opposite railing. Open the parachute and get as far away as possible."
—Yeah, that's way better.
—Even if you go to the first floor, they can shoot you from above, so it's hopeless.
—The next safe zone is shrinking anyway, so we had to move eventually.
Yu-na pressed herself completely flat against the ground and finished moving to the opposite side.
Then she ran through a simulation in her head.
‘Now I just need to go at an unexpected moment and flip right over.’
She clenched her fist tight and acted on it immediately.
She grabbed the railing and flipped her body over in one smooth, fluid motion.
Or rather, tried to.
Bang!
The instant she was briefly airborne, her shield shattered.
Meaning she'd taken a headshot.
She had expected this much.
After all, she'd be gone beyond the building in 0.1 seconds anyway, so as long as she survived it wouldn't matter—
Bang!
"Huh?"
Her vision turned grey.
Her body stopped moving.
For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
‘Don't tell me……he hit me in that split second?’
With barely any of her head even visible?
How?
She'd thought it surely couldn't be, but it really was a hacker?
Watching the ground rush up to meet her, Yu-na let out one final shriek.
"You absolute hacking bastaaaard!!!"
.
.
.
.
—Lolololol.
—Lolololol.
—She's so pissed lol.
—Dolphin frequency, unhinged lol.
—Getting headshot twice at this range—she had every right to feel that way lol.
Even Mu-yeong burst out laughing at the scream that was closer to a death wail.
"Quite the powerful set of lungs."
—She's probably not sleeping tonight lol.
—And just like that, one player is gone……
—Battle Attack active user count: -1 lol.
—This is why veterans shouldn't come into casual games lol.
—Veteran (Level 1, First Match).
After enjoying the wave of laughter, Mu-yeong looked behind him.
Green toxic gas was rolling in, steadily closing the distance.
"Time to move on."
—Yeah, the distance is big so you need to hurry.
—But if you go down the stairs, the timing might be a bit tight?
—Then let's try riding the parachute down as practice.
—Oh, that's a good idea.
Good thinking.
After all, this wasn't a game he was only going to play once—it was better to get the hang of things early.
Mu-yeong gave the parachute bag on his back a couple of taps.
"How do you use this?"
['Instructor' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—There's a button on the lower left—press that and it opens automatically.
He felt around, and sure enough, there was a small round button he could press.
Mu-yeong nodded and charged toward the railing without hesitation.
He leaped off with all his might and immediately pressed the button hard.
Fwhomp!
Something snapped wide open.
At the same time, a drop of water fell on top of his head.
"Hm?"
Before he could even figure out what it was, Mu-yeong began plummeting headfirst toward the ground.
Far from gliding through the sky, it felt like he was falling even faster.
The last thing he registered was a donation with a regretful tone.
['Instructor' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Oh, right. That doesn't work when it's wet.
Thud!
37th place.
That was Mu-yeong's result from his first casual game.