Level Up Machine

Chapter 17: Joining the Guild (1)

‘What kind of bastard is this?’

Jung Chan-hyuk looked at Yeong-sik with an expression of disbelief.

Seeing how quickly he discarded the card he was given, it was clear he wasn’t clueless.

No, even if he was clueless, he wouldn’t fail to realize that the current situation was desperate.

Yet, he suddenly hurled curses at him?

It was like plucking the whiskers of an angry lion, not a sleeping one.

“What’s with that dumb look on your face?”

Yeong-sik continued to provoke Jung Chan-hyuk.

His reason for provoking him wasn’t simply because he didn’t like him.

Anger made people rash, and rash actions created openings.

Yeong-sik was aiming for that opening.

‘The situation is the worst.’

Yeong-sik thought, glancing around.

Including Jung Chan-hyuk, there were five people surrounding him.

They all wore armor emblazoned with the golden shield, the emblem of the Light Shield Guild.

There were fewer people surrounding him than when Nam Gi-tae had confronted him, but the situation was worse.

It was because of the level difference between them.

‘They’re probably over level 30.’

Yeong-sik looked at the people surrounding him with a tense expression.

Since they were members of the Light Shield Guild, which ranked within the top six, it was highly likely their average level exceeded 30.

Thinking about the level gap between them, Yeong-sik felt a sense of despair.

“You bastard. I was being nice to you at first, but you don’t know your place, do you?”

Jung Chan-hyuk’s face twisted with rage as he glared at Yeong-sik.

Yeong-sik, instead of backing down, provoked him even more.

“After failing miserably with your obvious tricks, you crawl around like a dog and still act like you’re something special?”

“What did you say? You son of a…

Jung Chan-hyuk’s eyes flared with anger as he spewed curses at Yeong-sik.

Yeong-sik stared back at Jung Chan-hyuk, who was hurling all kinds of insults at him, with a sharp gaze.

‘The key is how effective my attack will be now…

Defeating Jung Chan-hyuk and his subordinates in a head-on fight was impossible.

He had to gain the upper hand with a surprise attack using Rocket Punch.

‘Even if I gain the upper hand, it’ll be tough.’

Given the concept of levels, there was a high probability that Jung Chan-hyuk wouldn’t die even if he took a Rocket Punch head-on.

If that happened, he wouldn’t even be able to escape.

Yeong-sik bit his lip anxiously.

‘Can I forcefully unlock the security level like that time?’

Yeong-sik recalled the time he faced Nam Gi-tae in the past.

In that desperate moment, he forcefully unlocked the security level and swept away the surrounding enemies.

Forcing the security level to unlock resulted in overload.

Overload caused permanent power reduction and accompanied terrible pain, so he usually avoided choosing forced release. But now wasn’t the time to be picky.

‘How do I do forced release?’

Yeong-sik looked down at his body with a frustrated expression.

He knew that the option for forced release would appear in dangerous situations.

However, he didn’t know how dangerous or desperate the situation needed to be for it to activate.

“Let’s see how long you can keep running your mouth.”

Jung Chan-hyuk gripped his sword tighter and lowered his body.

Yeong-sik raised his left arm to react to his movement.

But.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Yeong-sik’s body rolled across the swamp.

Jung Chan-hyuk approached at an unbelievable speed and kicked him in the stomach.

Yeong-sik, bent like a bow, was flung backward.

“Ugh… Ice Boom!”

While Yeong-sik and Jung Chan-hyuk were talking, Ara, who had been casting a spell, launched her magic at Jung Chan-hyuk.

Jung Chan-hyuk swung his sword at her magic.

Boom

Her spell was dispersed by the gust from his sword.

Ara looked at Jung Chan-hyuk with a pale, terrified expression.

“Th-this is impossible…”

“I’ll deal with you later, so stay out of the way.”

Jung Chan-hyuk, more enraged by Yeong-sik than interested in Ara, said this and turned towards Yeong-sik who was lying on the ground.

At that moment, Gil-soo charged at him with a fierce yell.

“Smash!”

“Hong, Smash.”

Jung Chan-hyuk, apparently of the same warrior class as Gil-soo, used the same Smash skill in response.

Gil-soo’s axe and his sword were both enveloped in a blue light.

However, even though they both shone blue, the light from Jung Chan-hyuk’s sword was far more radiant and bright.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

Gil-soo’s axe was split in half.

“Where do these low-level weaklings, who aren’t even level 10, think they’re crawling from?”

Jung Chan-hyuk said in a low voice, his face twisted with disdain.

His current level was 46.

As he said, Yeong-sik’s group, at barely level 7, couldn’t possibly match up to such a high-level opponent.

Just because someone had a high level didn’t mean they would always win, but that was only if the level difference wasn’t too great.

The level gap between Yeong-sik and Jung Chan-hyuk was close to 40.

Even if Jung Chan-hyuk fought naked and barehanded, Yeong-sik wouldn’t stand a chance.

Jung Chan-hyuk approached the fallen Yeong-sik and kicked him in the stomach.

*Thud!*

“Ugh…”

Yeong-sik’s body rolled on the ground.

His body, soaked in mud, was a complete mess.

Jung Chan-hyuk looked down at him with burning eyes and spoke.

“How about now? Do you still think you can talk back arrogantly?”

Yeong-sik looked up at him with his mouth tightly shut.

Yeong-sik’s right arm slowly lifted.

In his slowly rising right hand, his middle finger was extended.

Seeing this, Jung Chan-hyuk’s eyes flipped.

“You bastard!”

Jung Chan-hyuk charged at Yeong-sik with a furious expression.

His sword was raised high. Yeong-sik, aiming to take advantage of Jung Chan-hyuk’s complete loss of rationality due to anger, prepared to use Rocket Punch.

But then.

*Clang!*

Before Yeong-sik could use Rocket Punch, a mysterious figure suddenly appeared and deflected Jung Chan-hyuk’s sword.

“Ugh?! What, what the…?”

Jung Chan-hyuk staggered back, his hand numb from the shock, and stared at the figure who deflected his sword.

It was a woman with short, rough-looking red hair.

She glanced at both Yeong-sik’s group and Jung Chan-hyuk with a displeased expression.

“What are you doing to a novice summoner?”

She asked, glaring sharply at Jung Chan-hyuk.

Seeing her face, Jung Chan-hyuk flinched and muttered.

“You… Choi Yu-na…?”

Choi Yu-na.

Though not a ranker, she was a considerably strong individual and quite famous in the Elnot Kingdom.

Her fame wasn’t just due to her strength. The influence of the guild she belonged to played a significant role.

“A Salvator Guild member is still alive?”

Jung Chan-hyuk’s expression was one of astonishment, while Choi Yu-na’s face twisted in a grimace.

Salvator Guild.

It was once one of the top four guilds, back when there were not three but four major guilds.

But now, it was a fallen guild that had disappeared.

“Seeing that emblem… You must be from Light Shield.”

Choi Yu-na glared at Jung Chan-hyuk and his subordinates’ clothes, her eyes sharp.

Light Shield had a notorious reputation, quite contrary to the image its name suggested.

It was a guild.

She looked at Jung Chan-hyuk and his subordinates with a disgusted expression.

“I can guess what you were trying to do.”

She muttered, looking at Ara among Yeong-sik’s group.

Having lived in this world for five years, she knew all too well what happened when a female novice summoner with exceptional looks appeared.

Human trafficking wasn’t that rare in this world.

Although it was illegal according to national law, the laws were ambiguously applied to Earthlings, so the government didn’t step in to help.

Some native nobles even deliberately turned novice summoners into slaves to buy them.

“You disgusting bastard.”

Choi Yu-na said, glaring at Jung Chan-hyuk with cold eyes.

Though she had seen countless horrific things over the past five years, she could never get used to such vile desires.

At her low voice, Jung Chan-hyuk flinched and took a step back.

Even if she wasn’t a ranker, Choi Yu-na was estimated to be at least level 80, a formidable force.

She was not an opponent he could win against.

“If you touch me, my guild won’t let it slide. Why don’t you just quietly go on your way?”

Jung Chan-hyuk asked, trembling slightly.

He knew how pathetic he looked, but there was no other choice in this situation.

If he went back empty-handed, Hong Seung-gal would kill him, and if he fought Choi Yu-na, the result would be the same.

His only option was to use the guild’s name to pressure Choi Yu-na and take Yeong-sik’s group.

“Hong, how pathetic. Well, that suits someone like you.”

“L-Light Shield Guild! Do you think Salvator is still the same as before?”

“…If you utter that again, I’ll rip your mouth open.”

At the mention of Salvator, Yu-na spoke in a harsh voice.

She drew twin daggers with red blades from her waist.

Seeing her draw the daggers, Jung Chan-hyuk shuddered and urgently spoke.

“Okay, okay! But you know what it means to get tangled with a big guild, right?”

Yu-na fell silent at his words.

He wasn’t wrong.

Light Shield was quite a large guild, and clashing with such a guild was tantamount to suicide.

She bit her lip roughly and glared at Jung Chan-hyuk.

‘If only our guild was like it used to be…’

If the Salvator Guild were as powerful as it once was, fledgling guilds like Light Shield wouldn’t have dared to show their faces.

However, now her guild had dwindled to fewer than ten members.

If her hasty actions created enmity with the Light Shield Guild, it would be troublesome for her as well.

“All right, if you understand, just go on your way. You know the rules of this world, don’t you?”

“Bullshit. What rules?”

Yu-na glared at Jung Chan-hyuk with a rough expression.

The word “rules” that he mentioned annoyed her immensely.

She looked at Yeong-sik’s group with a hesitant expression.

After thinking for a while, she let out a deep sigh.

“You still haven’t learned your lesson after all that?”

She muttered words that seemed directed at no one in particular and turned toward Jung Chan-hyuk.

Jung Chan-hyuk paled at the clear murderous intent in her eyes.

“W-wait a minute! Do you know what you’re doing right now?!”

“Of course, I know very well.”

Yu-na replied, twisting her lips into a grin.

A fierce flame began to burn along the red blades of her twin swords.

The flames were so intense that they brightly lit up the gloomy swamp.

“Eek!”

Jung Chan-hyuk and his subordinates trembled in fear.

It wasn’t hard for them to realize that they couldn’t possibly match her, given the overwhelming magic emanating from her swords.

“If I kill all the trash here, there won’t be any problems, right?”

She licked her lips and muttered in a low voice.

Hearing her, Jung Chan-hyuk shouted in a desperate tone.

“If—if I disappear, Brother Hong Seung-gal will…!”

“Hong Seung-gal? You’re one of that bastard’s underlings? Then there’s no need to hesitate.”

Yu-na’s expression twisted into a grimace as soon as she heard the name Hong Seung-gal, and she glared at Jung Chan-hyuk.

“Die, you disgusting scum.”

She growled, kicking off the ground.

Flames erupted along her path as she moved.