Level Up Machine

Chapter 36 Liberation (4)

[Checking the danger level of the surrounding situation.]

[Increasing the security level according to the danger level.]

[Error. Error. Unable to release the security level beyond level 3 in the current state.]

[Releasing the security level forcibly to respond to the emergency. This may cause an overload and result in temporary or permanent performance degradation.]

[Would you like to release the security level forcibly?]

“Ha, haha.”

Yeong-sik’s lips twisted into a smile.

From the moment he was surrounded by the Light Shield Guild members, he had been waiting to hear this mechanical voice. He had been desperately hoping for it. He had been yearning for it anxiously.

“What? That guy, he was still alive?”

One of the Light Shield Guild members, who had raised his sword towards the fallen Kim Gil-soo, turned his head towards Yeong-sik. A sneer was playing on his lips.

“Hey, have you gone crazy?”

He approached Yeong-sik, who was chuckling softly, and tapped him on the cheek.

Yoo Jin, who had been knocked away by Han Cheol-ho’s shield, shouted in an anxious voice.

“Yeong-sik! Run away!”

She shouted desperately with such a look on her face.

But she knew better than anyone that escaping in this situation was impossible. Her expression contorted roughly.

“Why, why always…

She remembered the time when the Salvator Guild collapsed due to internal strife. The despair of that moment, the memories of guild members who once laughed and chatted together now fighting desperately for each other’s lives, resurfaced.

A deep despair engulfed her entire body.

“Puhuh. Hey, he says to run away? Huh?”

Hearing her shout, the man burst into laughter and lightly tapped Yeong-sik’s cheek again. Despite his actions, Yeong-sik showed no reaction, no response, and continued to smile.

Seeing him like this, the man’s expression twisted harshly.

“What do you want me to say, you bastard!”

The man’s hand swung violently.

Thud.

Yeong-sik caught the man’s fist aimed at his cheek. A low voice emerged from his lips.

“Release me.”

“What?”

The man looked at him as if he was spouting nonsense at Yeong-sik’s sudden words.

And then.

Click.

At that moment, a sound like gears meshing emanated from Yeong-sik’s body.

Clank, clank, clank!

With the cold mechanical sound, Yeong-sik’s back opened up.

Dozens of round gun barrels emerged from his back, resembling a hedgehog with its quills raised.

“What, what the hell is this?”

The man wore a bewildered expression, utterly taken aback by the sudden turn of events. He wasn’t the only one; the members of the Light Shield Guild were all staring at Yeong-sik.

A red light flowed from Yeong-sik’s eyes.

“Wow… this guy’s got quite a unique skill, huh?”

The man, whose fist was held by Yeong-sik, forced a bright smile as he shouted. His words made the other guild members chuckle lightly. They thought Yeong-sik’s appearance was just a bizarre skill from a hidden class.

“Do you think you can beat us with that? Huh?”

The man said, trying to free his fist to grab his sword.

“What? Huh?”

No matter how much force he used, his fist remained firmly in Yeong-sik’s grip, not moving an inch. With a desperate expression, he tried to use his whole body’s strength to pull his arm free.

Yeong-sik’s red eyes focused on the man. The red light from Yeong-sik’s eyes grew more intense.

Zzzzzing.

“W-wait a minute…”

Sensing something wrong, the man spoke in a panicked voice.

But before he could finish, the red light from Yeong-sik’s eyes split his head in two.

“What, what is that guy?”

“A laser beam?!”

Chaos erupted among the Light Shield Guild members.

Yeong-sik, still with an emotionless and cold gaze, looked at them and spoke.

“Lock-on complete.”

His cold voice continued.

“Fire.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

At his command, the gun barrels on Yeong-sik’s back began to fire fist-sized missiles. In less than a second, dozens of missiles launched and rained down on the Light Shield Guild members.

Kwakakakakaboom-!

“Aaaah!”

“This is insane!”

An explosion as fierce as the one caused by Chae-rin’s Explosion spell swept through the surroundings.

However, Yeong-sik’s missiles were incomparable to her magic in that they accurately targeted only the ‘designated targets’ before exploding.

“Aaaargh!”

The limbs of the Light Shield Guild members caught in the explosion were torn apart. Horrific screams, reminiscent of hell, echoed through the forest.

“Missiles?”

“What the hell…”

A few Light Shield Guild members who miraculously survived the fierce explosions looked at Yeong-sik in disbelief.

Yeong-sik extended his left hand toward them.

Zzzz-ing.

A blue light began to gather in his palm. Seeing this, the men turned pale and started screaming as they ran away.

The blue light in Yeong-sik’s left palm exploded outward in a radial pattern.

Kwoooom!

“Aaaargh!”

The bodies of the fleeing men were caught in the explosion and were brutally mangled.

“What… what the hell is happening?”

Hong Seung-gal, who barely survived the barrage by deflecting missiles with his halberd, looked at Yeong-sik with a face full of terror. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Yeong-sik’s cold gaze turned toward him. The blue light emanating from his right hand aimed at Hong Seung-gal. A blue energy bullet shot toward him.

“Aaaah!”

Bang!

As soon as the energy bullet headed his way, Hong Seung-gal desperately rolled to avoid the attack. He looked at the spot where he had been standing and saw a deep crater over three meters wide, his face turning pale.

“What is he, some kind of Iron Man?!”

Cursing roughly, Hong Seung-gal threw down his halberd and started running away.

“Huff! Huff!”

Overwhelmed by fear, his breath caught in his throat. Running through the densely wooded forest, he glanced back to check if he was being followed.

Yeong-sik stood still, showing no intention of pursuing him.

“Damn! Damn! Damn! What the hell is this, what’s happening?!”

Hong Seung-gal, now in a state of panic, screamed in desperation. There was no way he could stay sane after witnessing someone he thought was dead suddenly rise and launch missiles in every direction.

Hong Seung-gal ran with all his might. His body staggered as if it might collapse at any moment while running through the rough forest path.

Even though he looked like he was running away in a pathetic manner, he was a warrior over level 70. He wasn’t going to tire that easily.

“Huff, huff… This should be far enough, right?”

He muttered as he looked back in Yeong-sik’s direction. Yeong-sik was now so far away that he was no longer visible. Hong Seung-gal let out a deep sigh of relief, thinking he was finally safe.

“Huh…?”

At that moment, he noticed a red dot of light on his arm. It was similar to the light seen when a laser pointer is aimed at something. The light slowly moved from his arm to his shoulder, then to his chest.

“Wait, this is…”

Hong Seung-gal’s expression stiffened. Scenes from movies he had seen on Earth flashed through his mind.

“Could it be a sniper…”

Bang!

Before he could finish his sentence, a faint gunshot was heard, and a fist-sized hole was drilled into his chest. A mouthful of blood poured from Hong Seung-gal’s mouth.

“Cough!”

Spewing blood, Hong Seung-gal collapsed to the ground. He looked at the spot where Yeong-sik had been with a trembling expression.

“W-what the hell is that bastard…?”

With shaking hands, he touched his chest. His consciousness began to fade. Summoning his last bit of strength, he spoke.

“Why are you in a different genre…”

With those words, he lost consciousness.

Han Cheol-ho stared with a grim expression at the being that had massacred all his subordinates in an instant. He had used his Radiant Shield to withstand the missile impacts, but completely blocking the shockwaves had been impossible.

He swallowed hard as he looked down at his armor, which had been torn to shreds in various places.

“Who are you?”

Han Cheol-ho asked Yeong-sik in his characteristic low voice.

Yeong-sik, who had been gazing intently at the forest where Hong Seung-gal had fled, turned to face him. The red light still shone from Yeong-sik’s eyes.

“I don’t know.”

Yeong-sik answered in a calm voice. It wasn’t an evasive response because he didn’t want to reveal his identity; it was as if he genuinely didn’t know who he was.

“Hoo.”

Han Cheol-ho took a deep breath, holding his shield. His eyes gleamed sharply.

‘No matter who the opponent is, they can’t unleash such powerful attacks repeatedly.’

Yeong-sik had massacred his guild members in less than a minute, bombarding them relentlessly.

Being able to continue such attacks without rest? Even if a high-ranking elite were here, it would be impossible.

‘Then the opportunity is now!’

With this thought, Han Cheol-ho charged towards Yeong-sik, raising his Radiant Shield and slightly crouching his body.

“Charge!”

Brilliant white light burst forth from his body. He poured all his remaining mana into this one skill, his body shooting forward like a wedge of light.

Yeong-sik watched Han Cheol-ho’s approach and stomped his foot fiercely. Dozens of barrels on his back spewed flames.

Han Cheol-ho’s charge, infused with every last bit of his mana, seemed laughable in comparison to the terrifying speed at which Yeong-sik’s body shot forward.

Boom!

The ground where Yeong-sik stomped collapsed. His speed surpassed the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom that devastated the surroundings. Just his movement alone caused a near-catastrophic event.

“Radiance!”

Han Cheol-ho activated the rare skill contained within the Radiant Shield. Dazzling light erupted from the shield, forming three layers of white shields in front of him.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

The impact alone shattered one of the shields. Han Cheol-ho swallowed hard at the shock that shook his entire body.

Yeong-sik swung his right arm, smashing into the light shield.

Bang!

The second shield broke apart upon collision with his right arm.

“It’s useless!”

Seeing that Yeong-sik couldn’t break through the shields in one go, Han Cheol-ho shouted in a rough voice. He raised his shield high, intending to strike Yeong-sik’s head.

Click!

At that moment, Yeong-sik’s right wrist bent forward, revealing two barrels from his wrist.

Bang!

A shotgun blast fired from the barrels, shattering the third light shield.

“Hah.”

Han Cheol-ho stared at Yeong-sik with a bewildered expression. Now, he was shooting a shotgun from his hand? He couldn’t make sense of what was happening.

‘But still…’

Han Cheol-ho brought down his raised shield. Regardless, Yeong-sik had managed to break through his ‘Radiance’. The fact that his shield, which even rankers struggled to penetrate, had been shattered in mere seconds was unbelievable, but it didn’t matter much.

Han Cheol-ho believed he was the victor in this fight.

Shuuuuuuk!

“Huh?”

Just as Han Cheol-ho was about to strike down on Yeong-sik’s head with his shield, his expression froze. A jet-like burst of flames exploded from Yeong-sik’s right elbow.

Han Cheol-ho’s face stiffened at the sight.

“No way…”

Feeling a surge of anxiety, Han Cheol-ho’s movements slowed.

A sly smile appeared on Yeong-sik’s lips.

“Wait a moment…”

Han Cheol-ho began to speak, his voice filled with disbelief.

But before he could finish, Yeong-sik’s right arm shot towards him.