Level Up Machine

Chapter 6 Forced Liberation (3)

The moment Nam Gi-tae saw the flames erupting from Yeong-sik’s arm, he instinctively twisted his body.

It wasn’t because he knew what Yeong-sik was trying to do to him.

He realized with an instinctive intuition that his arm was extremely dangerous.

A thunderous noise resounded.

Yeong-sik’s right arm, launched at high speed, headed toward Nam Gi-tae.

Seeing Yeong-sik’s right arm separate from his body and shoot towards him, Nam Gi-tae wore an incredulous expression.

Crack!
Yeong-sik’s right arm grazed Nam Gi-tae’s left shoulder.

The skin on his left shoulder split, and blood began to flow. A stinging pain spread down Nam Gi-tae’s left arm.

But he had no time to pay attention to that pain.

The fear that he could have died just a moment ago made Nam Gi-tae’s body tremble.

“Huff, huff…

Rough breaths escaped from Nam Gi-tae’s mouth.

He looked down at his shoulder.

Blood was continuously oozing from the split skin.

It was dangerous.

This time, it was really dangerous.

If he hadn’t instinctively dodged, that right arm would have surely smashed his head.

Nam Gi-tae felt a chilling sensation run through his entire body.

Even when he faced Orcs with a clumsy wooden stick or when he was surrounded by hostile organization members in the past, he had never felt his life in such danger.

‘What the hell is that bastard?’

Nam Gi-tae looked at Yeong-sik, who had shot his ‘right arm’ at him, with trembling eyes.

Yes, it was his right arm, nothing else.

He had never heard of anyone who could launch their own right arm like a rocket.

“Haat!”

Yeong-sik, while Nam Gi-tae was still in confusion, grabbed the sword that had fallen to the ground and rushed at him.

His face was twisted with a mix of anxiety and urgency.

‘I didn’t kill him with one shot!’

Yeong-sik bit his lip roughly and glared at Nam Gi-tae.

He knew he couldn’t handle the ten enemies at once.

There were too many of them, making it hard to find an escape route.

That’s why he tried to kill Nam Gi-tae.

From the faces of the surrounding enemies, it was easy to see that they heavily depended on Nam Gi-tae.

A group formed around a focal point.

Such groups would fall into chaos the moment that focal point disappeared.

So Yeong-sik resorted to lies.

He pushed Ara aside and tried to kill Gil-soo.

To catch Nam Gi-tae off guard and kill him with a single blow.

But he failed.

The moment Nam Gi-tae saw the flames bursting from Yeong-sik’s arm, he twisted his body to avoid the attack.

His reaction speed was almost beast-like.

‘I have to kill him as quickly as possible.’

With sharp eyes, Yeong-sik charged toward Nam Gi-tae.

If Nam Gi-tae died, his subordinates would fall into chaos.

Seizing that moment, he could take Ara and Gil-soo and run at full speed, possibly breaking through the encirclement.

For that possibility, Yeong-sik swung his sword.

The sword in his left hand was aimed at Nam Gi-tae’s head.

Though his movements were as rough as chopping wood, it was sufficient to kill a human, not a monster.

Nam Gi-tae was in a state of extreme confusion upon seeing his ‘arm’.

Yeong-sik thought that no ordinary person could dodge this attack.

“Huuh!”

Clang!
But Nam Gi-tae was no ordinary person.

He was naturally gifted in combat and had experienced many life-and-death battles.

Gangsters of the 21st century wouldn’t fight barehanded, so he was familiar with weapons being swung at him.

Thud!
Nam Gi-tae leaned back as if falling and kicked out.

His foot struck Yeong-sik’s abdomen squarely.

Yeong-sik swallowed hard and stepped back.

Nam Gi-tae, panting heavily, glared at Yeong-sik.

“You, what are you? Are you even human?”

He growled, staring at the cross-section of Yeong-sik’s right arm, which was composed of intricate machinery.

“Hyung-nim! Are you alright?!”

Seeing the blood pouring from Nam Gi-tae’s shoulder, his subordinates asked with pale faces.

Nam Gi-tae shouted in a fierce voice.

“Kill that bastard… No, capture him!”

He had intended to kill Yeong-sik but changed his mind.

He was curious about the secret of Yeong-sik’s right arm.

After giving orders to his subordinates, Nam Gi-tae stepped back cautiously.

He couldn’t predict what bizarre attack Yeong-sik would launch next.

“Get him!”

“How dare you harm our boss!”

Although the period they had known each other wasn’t long, this bond was not something he could treat lightly.

Just as Yeong-sik had risked his life to protect him, Gil-soo thought it was now his turn to risk his life.

“Hmph! What’s this old man babbling about?!”

“Shut up and stay quiet, old man!”

They laughed as they watched Gil-soo trembling while awkwardly holding an axe.

Gil-soo looked to be in his mid-40s to late 50s.

While age didn’t matter in a situation where they were armed, it was true that he seemed laughable from the perspective of the young men.

“I’m still a vigorous man in my 40s, you bastards!”

With that shout, Gil-soo charged at Nam Gi-tae’s subordinates.

The axe in his hand swung with fierce momentum.

-Thud! Thud!

“Oh!”

However, having never properly fought in his life, the axe was not much of a threat.

One of them got behind Gil-soo and kicked him from the back.

Gil-soo’s body fell to the ground.

What followed was an endless barrage of kicks.

Curled up, Gil-soo desperately endured their attacks. The excruciating pain coursed through his entire body.

“St-stop it!”

Ara, witnessing the scene, rushed toward the men with a desperate expression.

However, with no proper weapon, there was nothing she could do against more than ten men.

One of Nam Gi-tae’s subordinates grabbed her from behind.

“Wow! Look at how soft her skin is!”

“Isn’t her figure just amazing?”

“Of course, she’s a model; she has to be this good!”

They leered at her with lecherous smiles, their eyes greedily scanning Ara’s body from head to toe.

Her beautiful appearance was one thing, but her stunningly curved figure ignited their excitement even more.

“Ahh! Let go, let go, you bastards!”

Ara twisted her body desperately with a panicked expression.

But the more she struggled, the louder the men laughed.

“To think a day like this would come…”

The thought of being able to actually hold the woman they had only seen on TV screens or magazine covers filled them with excitement, making them breathe heavily.

Their eyes gleamed with lust.

“Hey, now, should we… No. Do whatever you want.”

Nam Gi-tae started to say something to them but then shook his head and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Already, trying to forcibly stop his subordinates, whose passions had been ignited, could risk undermining his trust with them.

Nam Gi-tae, clutching his shoulder to stem the bleeding, looked at his subordinates.

“Hehehe.”

“Thank you, boss!”

His subordinates chuckled stupidly as they grabbed her shoulders.

“Aaah!”

She screamed with her eyes tightly shut.

Usually, she was a calm person who rarely got excited, but she couldn’t remain calm in this situation.

‘I’m sorry…’

Ara muttered in her heart as she looked at Gil-soo and Yeong-sik, who were lying on the ground.

They were going through this ordeal because she had become Nam Gi-tae’s target in the first place.

She felt a strange sense of guilt thinking that Yeong-sik and Gil-soo, who were innocent, were suffering because of her.

A tear trickled down her cheek.

“Stop it… you bastards.”

Yeong-sik, who was lying on the ground, breathing heavily, staggered to his feet.

The blow from the axe handle had not yet faded, leaving his mind hazy.

Yeong-sik looked at Ara, who was captured by the men, and at Gil-soo, who was twitching on the ground.

“Ah, uh.”

With a desperate expression, Yeong-sik stretched out his remaining left hand towards them.

But his left arm trembled powerlessly, unable to do anything.

A rage, as if his head was burning white-hot, surged through his body.

-Static.

The sound of static from an untuned radio reached his ears.

-Checking the danger level of the surrounding situation.

-Adjusting security level according to danger level.

-Error. Error. Unable to unlock security level beyond level 1 in current state.

-For emergency response, forcibly unlocking security level. This may cause overload and temporary or permanent performance degradation.

-Forcibly unlock security level?

Yeong-sik unconsciously nodded at the mechanical voice he heard.

-Forcibly unlocking security level.

-Click.

The sound of gears meshing echoed.

Red light emanated from Yeong-sik’s eyes. His back opened, revealing a mechanical device that pierced through his back.

It was a black, grotesque, and somehow eerie device.

“What the heck is that…”

Nam Gi-tae was stunned as he watched the scene.

He was sure he had seen that black weapon before.

However,

He hesitated to speak its name aloud.
It was an utterly absurd weapon that shouldn’t have appeared in the current situation.

“Gatling gun…?”

Nam Gi-tae muttered the name of the black mechanical device, his expression one of complete bewilderment.