"WOAH! How did you know that I could use Arcane Shield on other people as well?"
"I didn't know, I just trusted that you were going to do something."
After a brief pause, Jin-soo blushed, "Just say that you love me already."
Hyun-woo glared at Jin-soo, "..."
[System Message]
+1 Point
"No way it's only worth one point. That's just daylight robbery."
"Almost all the monsters are. The only way for others to clear this floor is to kill a thousand of them."
Hyun-woo, however, knew of a hidden dungeon in the forest somewhere. "There is an easier way to do it though."
"Of course, you know the easier way around it."
By now, Jin-soo had realized the guy he teamed up with was anything but ordinary. He knew things that shouldn't be known. Unnaturally calm while the world he knew burned in flames.
A thought crossed Jin-soo's mind. This guy just knows everything.
The mood lightened from the previous terrors after some banter between them.
After they covered some ground, suddenly, the wind stilled. Leaves unmoving, and then bushes rustled from ahead of them.
"Look who we have here," a voice called.
From behind the trees stepped a man covered in steel armor, his great sword dragging a groove in the dirt as if it weighed double his own body. A deep, red scar ran from chin down to his neck, a mark that screamed of violence. Eleven others followed.
"What are the two of you doing out here?"
These guys were up to no good. In the novel, there were many scenarios where players teamed up in large groups to tyrannize and boast their power. Most of the time, it went according to their plan.
Hyun-woo didn't need to ask who they were. Their faces and actions showed the kind of people they were. Unfortunately, this time they chose the wrong people to mess with.
Hyun-woo knew talking with these people would yield no result but he chose to try anyway.
His gaze sharpened. These were no explorers, they were hunters. "I'm not a nice guy," he said, hand steady on his hilt. "So if you want to back out, now's the time."
The death stare made a few of them waver, but not enough to make them back off.
The ring leader stepped forward, way too confident with numbers alone. "That was a great warning but you two should worry about yourselves first." "What can the pair of you even do against the twelve of us?"
The time between when the tower first showed up, till now and even for eternity, as long as this race was alive, this kind of thing would happen countless times. All of them too unpleasant to speak about.
"...Sigh."
"Jin-soo, let me deal with them."
"Okay. You aren't …gonna kill them though are you?"
"Maybe."
For a moment, Hyun-woo's fingers brushed the hilt but he let it go. Some lessons didn't need a sword to be taught.
Three guys lunged forward, steel flashing, their arrogance blazing.
The first came with a heavy swing right off the bat. Hyun-woo stepped aside, caught the man's wrist mid-swing, and twisted. The sword clattered to the ground, followed by a punch to the gut that sent him collapsing with a heavy thud.
The second charged right after, roaring. Hyun-woo slipped past his wild swings, the blade cutting through empty air. At point-blank range, a single left hook sent him crashing down.
Another guy, shield cracked and spear trembling in hand, froze for a heartbeat too long. Hyun-woo stepped forward and kicked him square in the shoulder, launching him through the trees. Only the splintered stumps were left standing behind.
In just a matter of seconds, three were down. The remaining were left dazing at this sight.
The forest went quiet after the brawl. Right after, Jin-soo cupped his hands around his mouth. "You rock! Get all of them."
Hyun-woo faced the others, took a few steps towards them. "So, who's next?"
The armoured leader with increased frustration clenched his jaw. "GET HIM YOU USELESS IDIOTS!" He planted his polished great sword in the ground and rested his hands atop the hilt.
Six more rushed him from all directions and from behind them, a few arrows arced through the air. The shafts streaked past in a blur as Hyun-woo ducked, pivoted, and twisted aside them.
He slipped between sword swings and gauntlet strikes alike, his movements sharp and measured.
He swept a man's legs out from under him, driving him face-first into the dirt, then stomped his back. An uppercut cracked another's jaw, followed by a roundhouse kick that dropped him cold. A sharp elbow to the neck left the last one gasping for air.
Steel thudded onto the dirt one by one. Bodies dropped like flies.
The last man, terror-stricken, swung wide in desperation. Hyun-woo parried, grabbed his collar, and slammed him into the dirt.
Dust burst up around him with a heavy thump.
Jin-soo whistled low. "Remind me never to piss you off."
The forest fell silent again, broken only by the sound of ragged breathing and falling leaves.
Hyun-woo exhaled slowly. "Only three remaining, huh."