Level Up Machine

Chapter 97 Revealing Divinity (2)

A young man with rough gray hair, exuding a fierce aura like facing a wild beast, walked towards Yeong-sik with a severely distorted expression.

“Felix. That’s too harsh.”

“Shut up, Leila. Isn’t what I said true? Huh?”

Felix, as the young man was called, spoke in a rough voice, glaring at Yeong-sik as if he didn’t like him.

“I didn’t like it from the beginning that they picked up a mere summoner, and you dare talk back to the captain? Huh? If you were knocked out by a monster for three days, shouldn’t you obediently follow orders?”

His tone conveyed a strong hostility towards the summoner. Hearing his words, Yeong-sik chuckled. Felix’s behavior seemed ridiculous, like watching a third-rate thug.

“Are you laughing?”

Felix’s expression hardened, clearly displeased with Yeong-sik’s reaction.

He grabbed Yeong-sik’s collar roughly, speaking in a fierce voice.

“Yeah. Occasionally, there’s an idiot among the eastern folks who thinks summoners are the best.”

“Felix!”

“Am I supposed to just watch those scraps from another world act all arrogant? No way.”

Felix bared his white teeth, twisting his mouth.

“Don’t think of us as the idiots from the East. If you were in the South, you wouldn’t even dare make a sound…”

“That’s enough, Felix.”

At that moment, Forte’s low voice echoed. Felix clicked his tongue and let go of Yeong-sik’s collar.

Turning to Yeong-sik, Forte spoke in a calm voice.

“Sorry for my subordinate’s rudeness.”

“No, it’s fine. It was somewhat amusing because he’s cute in his way.”

Yeong-sik raised a hand to rub his neck, smiling lightly.

“What… did you say…? You bastard!”

“Felix!”

Boom.

Forte stomped heavily. The deep sound reverberated in all directions. Felix flinched and lowered his head under her intimidating presence.

“I apologize for Felix’s rudeness, but please don’t provoke him too much.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I understand your concern for your guild members, but… you know how dangerous it is to wander around here alone, don’t you?”

“It’s okay. That’s my choice to make.”

“Hmm… We’ve sent out scouting parties to thoroughly investigate this area. But nothing has been found. I’m sorry to say this, but your guild members are likely…”

Forte spoke with a troubled expression.

It was only natural since she didn’t know the actual situation with Yeong-sik, merely assuming he was a survivor lucky to escape a monster attack.

“Still, I want to confirm it with my own eyes.”

### Chapter 97

### Revealing Divinity (2)

“If your determination is so firm, there’s nothing I can do. Do as you wish. We can provide you with a place to sleep tonight, so rest well.”

Forte sighed briefly as she said this. Yeong-sik lightly nodded in response to her kindness.

“Hmph. Even if you search for a hundred days, they’ll already be dead.”

At Felix’s continued words, Yeong-sik frowned. Up until now, Felix’s actions had seemed ridiculous, but now his words were quite aggravating.

Before Yeong-sik could say anything, Leila, who was also frowning, shouted first.

“Enough, Felix!”

“Ah, forget it. He’ll die wandering the forest alone tomorrow anyway. It’s not worth worrying about.”

Felix waved a hand dismissively and headed towards where the tents were set up. Leila watched his retreating figure with a deep sigh.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, there’s no need for you to apologize, Leila.”

Yeong-sik said, trying to calm his unpleasant feelings.

Although he wasn’t very fond of them, they had taken care of him while he was unconscious for the past three days. He didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.

“You must be hungry from not eating anything. Here, have some meat soup. There’s plenty, so let me know if you need more.”

“Thank you.”

Yeong-sik accepted the bowl with a faint smile at her thoughtfulness. Sitting next to him, Leila spoke in a heavy voice.

“Should I ask the captain to help you find your guild members? You know how dangerous it is to wander around here alone. It’s impossible unless you’re over level 100.”

“It’s okay. This is my responsibility, so I’ll handle it myself.”

Yeong-sik slowly shook his head at her concerned expression.

“Sigh. If you’ve come this far beyond the border, you must be quite confident in your skills, but confidence and arrogance are different. Among us, only the captain can wander around here alone.”

She sighed briefly as she spoke. It seemed she hadn’t considered the possibility that Yeong-sik might be a high-ranking player.

Well, considering that Yeong-sik was always surrounded by strong individuals, being a high-ranking player was an extremely rare status that only a few summoners could achieve.

Even though there were many natives in the Arnan Empire who had reached over level 100, compared to the total population, they were like a handful of sand.

“Thank you for your concern. But I’m not going without a plan, so please don’t worry too much.”

“Okay, understood. But if you change your mind, let me know. I can talk to the captain tomorrow.”

Yeong-sik nodded and ate the meat soup she handed him.

‘They must have come out of the dungeon by now.’

Yeong-sik thought, recalling the depth of the Forgotten Ones’ Tomb. Since the dungeon was cleared, there shouldn’t be any monsters, so they could come out even faster.

Given Tiria’s personality, there was no way she wouldn’t be looking for Yeong-sik, so the Salvator Guild members were surely scouring the area around the dungeon.

‘I should just greet them briefly and leave right away.’

Thinking about his guild members who must be worried about him made Yeong-sik feel anxious. He regretted not bringing his communication orb in advance.

Yeong-sik stood up to tell Forte that he was leaving.

It was at that moment.

Ding ding ding!

“Monster! It’s a monster attack!”

Along with the loud ringing of bells, an urgent voice echoed. The troops resting in the tent quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed outside.

Grrr…

“It’s a Manticore.”

Fully armed, Forte frowned as she looked around the tents. A powerful elite monster in the 90-level range.

Among the troops present here, only she and Felix could handle such a creature one-on-one.

“Form up!”

“Charge!”

But there was no need to face such a monster one-on-one in the first place. They were an army, and an army is a collective that combines the strength of many to pursue maximum combat power.

Roar!

Three huge Manticores roared. The soldiers, with tense expressions, gripped their spears tightly. The Manticores, crouching low, glared at the troops who had formed a defensive line with their spears and shields.

The tension was so thick it could burst at any moment.

“Ha..”

Yeong-sik stood up and looked at the troops forming their defensive line. He felt a bit awkward standing idly by while everyone else was preparing for battle.

‘Since it’s come to this, should I lend a hand?’

Yeong-sik thought, rubbing the back of his left hand. He slowly walked toward the imperial troops forming the line.

“Hey, country bumpkin. Don’t get in the way and just stay put quietly,” Felix said, frowning as he noticed Yeong-sik.

Ignoring Felix, Yeong-sik approached Forte.

“I’ll help you.”

“Hmm. There’s no need for that. You are still an outsider…”

“Captain, since he insists, let’s trust him this once,” Felix said, twisting his mouth as if a good idea had come to him. He walked over to Yeong-sik with a swagger.

“Hey, country bumpkin. If you’re so confident, why don’t you try taking down a Manticore by yourself? Huh? You’re not going to say you’re scared to fight one alone now, are you?”

He tapped Yeong-sik’s cheek with one hand. His actions were beyond rude, prompting Leila to shout urgently.

“Felix! What the hell are you doing?! There’s a limit to dishonoring the imperial army!”

“Hmph. He’s going to die wandering alone anyway, so why bother?”

Yeong-sik pressed his hand to the cheek Felix had tapped. His patience, which had been barely holding on, was starting to wear thin.

Felix chuckled as he continued to speak.

Yeong-sik spoke with a calm expression. Leila, surprised by his words, looked at him with a worried expression and tried to say something.

But before she could speak, Felix’s loud laughter echoed.

“Hahaha! Great. You’re definitely accepting this, right? Don’t go back on your word later, country bumpkin.”

Felix grinned widely as he spoke.

“Boss! Give us the one on the right!”

“Sigh. Felix. What are you trying to do to the outsider…”

“You heard it too, boss? This bet was accepted by that guy himself.”

Felix chuckled as he took out his knuckles from his waist. Wearing knuckles on both hands, he glanced at Yeong-sik with a sneering smile.

‘I’ll go easy on him and let the manticore finish him off.’

Thinking that, he prepared to charge at the manticore on the right.

‘I’ll pretend to fight for a bit first…’

If he revealed his intentions too blatantly from the start, Yeong-sik might get scared and run away. Felix crouched down, his eyes gleaming sharply. As the muscles in his legs tensed and he was about to spring off the ground—

-Kwaaaang!

There was a sound like an explosion. Felix, with a bewildered expression, turned his head towards the source of the loud noise.

Yeong-sik’s body shot forward, almost as if it had elongated. The speed was incredible.

-Kehoooong!

The manticore roared as it saw Yeong-sik flying towards it.

Yeong-sik, who had drawn his blade, slightly crouched and spun half a turn in mid-air.

Sizzle.

Plasma gathered on the blade, forming a five-meter-long plasma cutter along the blade’s edge.

Swoosh!

The plasma cutter sliced the manticore in half. It died instantly without even a chance to scream.

With two security levels unlocked simultaneously, his body had become strong enough to compete with Tiria or Kang Ha-rin even without wearing a suit.

Manticores were no longer a match for him.

“What, what the…?”

“Ha…”

The soldiers of the Arnan Empire stared at Yeong-sik in disbelief. Even their captain, Forte, couldn’t handle a manticore so overwhelmingly.

– Woooooong.

-Ke, Kehoooong!

A blue energy bullet formed in Yeong-sik’s right hand. The two manticores, instinctively sensing danger, quickly turned to flee from him.

Yeong-sik narrowed his eyes, tracking their movements. The movements of the manticores began to appear slow.

Paang!

The energy bullet fired from his right hand pierced through the bodies of the two fleeing manticores simultaneously. He had aimed the energy blast along a path where their movements overlapped.

In the blink of an eye, three manticores were dead.

“What? Uh…?”

Felix, with his mouth wide open, looked back and forth between Yeong-sik and the manticore corpses in disbelief.

-Click.

The blade retracted back into his hand.

Yeong-sik turned and slowly walked towards Felix.

“Then now…”

A chilling gaze fell upon Felix. A low voice came from Yeong-sik’s mouth.

“Kneel.”