＜ Episode 60 ＞
“Ouch!”
With a small scream, a life died out and the body fell to the cold floor.
The sensation felt as his body stiffened was terrifying, but Zhao, with a nonchalant expression on his face, sank into the darkness to find his next target.
coo kung. coo kung.
“Stupids.”
Zhao laughed coldly at the sound of an explosion that echoed from a distance.
It was clear that there would be a fight between those who entered the dungeon, and imagining the image of them running rampant to kill their rivals, filled with greed, made them feel pathetic.
“You all die anyway.”
I already feel refreshed when I think of the despair my enemies will feel when I reach the center after winning such a scarred victory.
Considering the power of his party, he thought that at least a superhuman candidate would be able to boil, and he was collecting useful supplies from the bodies of his enemies who had become corpses.
– Can you hear me? Zhao.
Zhao narrowed his brows at the voice that penetrated his ears.
– If you can hear it, tap your neck twice with your fingers. then it will connect
“…You’re good at it, too.”
Fioren’s skill was evident.
Before leaving the center and entering the guerrilla warfare, Fioren would have patronized augmentation magic, and in between the augmentation magic, he would have quietly inserted a spell for communication magic.
The problem was that Zhao didn’t notice at all.
Zhao, an unmanned man who received all kinds of training in the military and mastered the martial arts of bayonets, can never be looked down upon if his magic skills are enough to fool his senses.
Even if it’s communication magic that’s hard to notice because the spell itself is so light.
Isn’t it a story that if you can hide this communication magic, you can do more than that.
Deciding to find out about Fioren, Zhao tapped his neck twice with his fingers, and that action acted as a trigger, and the magic was connected.
– What.
– ah! You’re connected. It was difficult if the distance was too far, but I’m glad.
– Tell me something.
Fioren laughed softly, as if Zhao’s feelings had been conveyed.
– Apologize first. But this is not what I wanted to do.
– What does that mean?
– I asked.
Zhao’s expression hardened at Lucas’ voice.
– Lucas?
– yes. Pei Lung. are you listening
– I’m listening.
Even Peirong’s voice interrupted the conversation, and only then did Zhao understand the meaning of the conversation.
– You seem to have noticed. yes. John is not here. It’s a story between us.
– Do you suspect John?
Lucas answered Fei Lung’s voice with a heavy resonance.
– yes. Let me tell you the story of how this happened. I hired John and put him on the team because I had some doubts.
The story of Lucas that started like that was simple.
John and Lucas met by chance in the slums.
I was intrigued by John’s ability, so I did a separate investigation, and I found out what was suspicious there.
That John appeared in Slum and the players appeared in Luna almost at the same time.
The fact that no one had ever seen him in the slums before that was enough to make him suspicious.
However, it was too late when John awakened this ability to conclude that he was a player, and even at this moment, countless people with unknown connections were flowing into the slum, so Lucas was putting John out of his priorities.
In the meantime, something happened to go to a dungeon on the outskirts of the slum, and Lucas, who just remembered John, recruited John to confirm his suspicions as well.
– The time when you awakened this ability is too different. Also, considering John’s bodily reaction when he spoke earlier, I don’t think he’s telling lies.
Zhao involuntarily nodded at Peirong’s words, but couldn’t help but be startled by Lucas’ words that followed.
– It’s been a while, but we’ve seen what a man named John is like. Do you think I’m weird when I say I’m in doubt?
– Uhm.
Peirung groaned, as if he couldn’t refute Lucas’ words.
John Doe.
A solver from the slums luckily awakened this ability and became a citizen of Luna.
He had a reputation for being neat and good at work, but that was all.
However, the John they experienced was not a man who could be dismissed as a simple fixer.
The ability to judge the situation, the ability to engage, the ability to use the opponent’s psychology to lead the situation to your advantage, as well as the mindset of not being vigilant until the very end.
There’s quick action and aggression.
Zhao knew many excellent soldiers, but none were as capable as John.
He’s probably the worst among the party when it comes to simple fighting skills.
In a one-on-one fight, no one in the group thinks he’ll lose to John.
but.
‘What if in real life?’
If there is a situation where people die and kill each other regardless of means and methods, no one in the party will be able to guarantee life or death in front of John.
At least Zhao thought so.
– He didn’t tell me about this ability until the end. I figured out roughly what kind of ability it was.
As they pondered like that, they heard Fioren’s grumbling voice in their ears.
I wanted to ask right away, but Zhao held back.
This gloomy, alienating mage will tell you with her own mouth without pressing her.
– It seems to be the ability to interfere with matter. I checked the wall that Doyle’s body was attached to, and the adamantium coating had completely changed to something else.
– Then you understand.
While fighting Doyle, Zhao took out the dagger John gave him and looked at it.
It’s a common military dagger, but the edge sharpened is extremely sharp.
Didn’t he cut Doyle’s body coated with adamantium like a piece of paper?
Although the blade completely went out with that one shot, its usefulness is second to none.
And it becomes a story that John can create these physically unstoppable means of attack with his own abilities.
Just when doubts about John began to grow in his heart, Peirung’s voice rang out.
– What is rigid body art?
– Uhm.
Fioren let out a small moan.
– It was only for a moment, but John showed the power of a high-level physical ability. In addition, Doyle went crazy when he saw that it was a rigid body technique. Sounds pretty important, right?
– …that’s why I started to doubt John again.
Everyone listened to Lucas’ voice.
– Rigid body, yes. In other words, it is a body strengthening technique exclusively for those with special abilities. You could say it’s some kind of martial arts.
– ···what?
As if responding to Peirung’s voice of surprise, Lucas continued.
– Most people with special abilities have poor physical abilities. The same goes for wizards and shamans, but there is a way to cover it somehow. But he’s not talented.
A wizard or shaman can somehow find a way, whether it’s augmenting magic or asking for protection from the beings he draws his power from.
However, if a person with this ability does not awaken as a person with physical ability, there will be a serious demerit in their physical ability compared to those with other abilities.
– Rigid Body Art was devised to supplement that part. It’s a way to deal with auras with this ability.
It was rigid body art that was devised for those with such supernatural powers.
Those with special abilities who have acquired rigid body techniques may be able to demonstrate physical abilities beyond those of a warrior depending on how they use them.
Fioren’s voice flowed into Zao’s ears, who opened his mouth wide at Lucas’ explanation.
– But few people know about rigid body art. During the Great War, all of the data was lost, and the information that such a thing existed has been handed down, but only people in a decent position can access it. Zhao right now, didn’t you know?
Zhao, who belongs to the special operations unit and is tasked with finding players, has a fairly high level of confidentiality.
It was possible to read most of the material unless it was really prohibited, but if Zhao didn’t know about it, it was possible to realize how unknown the existence of rigid body art was.
– But John found the rigid body technique. And in the short time we headed to the arsenal to stop Doyle.
– There’s another secret safe inside the safe.
Lucas took Fioren’s words.
– Do you understand why I am suspicious? Of course, there is a point in John’s words. You said you’d met dying players and heard stories. Considering John’s skill, the player must have blown everything he knew.
Although it was only for a moment, Zhao, who remembered seeing John’s ability, nodded involuntarily.
If anyone caught John, he would have no choice but to tell him everything he knew.
– Players strangely know a lot of hidden things about Luna. It’s not strange to think that the existence of rigid body art was confirmed through such a player.
The troublesome thing for the players is that, despite the speed of their growth and the ideology of the chosen people, they dig into and prowl all over Luna.
Abandoned places, famous places, downtown areas, dungeons, even munpa or school government offices.
And since most of the places the players went to, things that were hidden or that they didn’t even know existed disappeared, so those who knew the players’ existence had no choice but to check what they had and build up their sense of touch.
– ··· Doyle is like that too.
Zhao narrowed his eyes at Peirong’s voice.
– Although he experienced it briefly, John is a meticulous man. Given its presumed ability to interfere with matter, finding a hidden vault is understandable. I don’t know what kind of information I got from the players, but it’s not an impossible category to understand.
He was suspicious of John, so he gathered the party, but Lucas was making excuses for John at some point.
In a way, it seemed like he was trying to convince himself not to become enemies with John, but Zhao could understand it.
To that extent, John was a dangerous man, and if he were an enemy, he could be said to be the worst.
At that time, Zhao’s heart also became complicated.
– or he himself is a player.
Fioren muttered in a meaningful tone.
***
It felt like Fioren, who had driven a nail of doubt into everyone’s hearts with a single word, was laughing on the other side of the communication.
It was a time when there was silence like death and I couldn’t express my complicated mind.
– So what are you going to do?
– ···Feelung?
Peirung’s heavy voice, which hadn’t expressed any particular opinion, rang out.
– You know the story about the suspicion that John might be a player. It’s definitely a grounded story. But so what?
A strong voice continued, as if he had made up his mind.
– It doesn’t matter if you’re a player or not. What matters to me is that a man named John Doe fought the enemy shoulder to shoulder with me. That’s enough.
– ···Orthodox unmanned people.
Fioren’s lamentation was heard, but Zhao paid no attention and focused on Peirung’s voice.
– I fully understand that players are the ones who need to be sorted out. But that will also vary from person to person. At least the man I saw, John, wasn’t a mindless killer. Although he tends not to get away with killing and enjoys fighting, it’s quite a departure from the players I’ve heard of.
– yes. He is a great field commander.
After clearing her mind, Zhao opened her mouth.
– Could be a player. But talent like John is too wasteful to have as an enemy. It’s not a person I can’t communicate with, so I’ll be able to embrace it somehow.
Zhao’s determined voice reached everyone’s ears, and Lucas made a decision.
– ···i get it. As for John, I’ll put it on hold for the time being and keep an eye on it.
– I plan to report to the superior and entrust John with some work. If you look at the way, you can definitely know the tendency.
– . . . you may regret it.
Although Fioren secretly advised, the rest of the party made up their mind.
At that moment when John’s life or death decision was being made without John’s knowledge, John narrowed his forehead and looked at the three cubic placed in front of him.
＜ Episode 60 ＞ End