Episode 5. The Unknown Man X (5)
It was when Ted had begun to rack his brains in order to properly deal with him.
"Hey! Where are you, X!"
"X! You bastard, did you mess with our guys?"
Two figures who appeared to be a Tanker and a Taoist—not Musketeers—were shouting out of nowhere and wandering the forest looking for Ted.
'?? Who are those small fries?'
Ted, who had tensed up for a moment, felt deflated.
The two men were continuously shouting the name X—which he presumed was what they called him—in this dark forest.
Through the narrow gaps in the trees, Ted, with his developed eyesight stat, could glimpse them.
And the moment he saw their equipment and behavior, he knew immediately.
That they were users of an extremely lousy level.
The two were approaching in Ted's direction without any guard whatsoever.
'First, I have to kill them.'
However, this shot required extreme caution.
'It could be a trap.'
There were two most important things in a fight between Musketeers:
Checking the opponent's location and the first shot.
You had to pinpoint where the enemy was and land the first bullet with devastating power.
'Killing both at the same time would be the most confusing method, wouldn't it?'
"Mosquito…"
Ted muttered something to Mosquito and looked around.
The crawling moonlight was still wandering, unable to find him. Ted kept his escape route in mind and aimed Black and White at a tree.
Bang—! —— —— ——
Soon, the bursting sound from Black and White echoed through the forest.
"Kuhk!"
"Kek!"
And the two lousy users died simultaneously.
'Good.'
Ted shot the Tanker-type user.
At the same time, using Mosquito, he killed the Taoist. The Taoist of around level 200 apparently had low life force, as it died instantly from damage in the 1,300s.
Ted smiled and left the spot. After all, the Eye of the Moon was still diligently searching for him.
But Ted's smile didn't last long.
Kwagagagakang—!
The enemy Musketeer began firing a skill.
Bullets imbued with magic spewed tremendous light and rushed in all directions.
Tornadoes followed the trajectory of the flying bullets, destroying everything nearby.
Truly, a destruction befitting a third-job advancement holder.
But it wasn't aimed at Ted; it was truly indiscriminate firing.
Ted was instead able to identify the bastard's location quickly because of it.
'So he was over there. But where is he shooting that skill? No matter how much of a third-jobber he is, his mana shouldn't be bottomless.'
Kwagagagakang—!
Kwagagagakang—!
Ted briefly wondered, but his face hardened as he watched the trees being destroyed.
'This crazy bastard is trying to level the entire forest!'
Indeed, at this rate, this meaningless suppression wouldn't last long.
Because a Musketeer's battle was like that.
An intention to eliminate such meaningless time and waste mana if necessary to find and kill him quickly.
'First, I can land one shot.'
Bang—!!
Ted fired one shot at him. The opponent belatedly noticed and tried to dodge, but dodging a bullet is no easy task.
The bullet flying from over 100 meters away struck his chest precisely.
But he didn't die. A user in the level 500s had basic health in the thousands.
On top of that, he had many means of protecting his body: armor, protective talismans, and artifacts.
Perhaps feeling it as a crisis, the opponent began firing skills wildly and running between the unbroken tree trunks of the forest.
'I can't hit him easily anymore.'
Still, this one shot must have dealt over 30% damage.
'What should I do?'
The tree shadows Ted used to hide from the Eye of the Moon were gradually disappearing.
This was bad. The moment he was discovered and received a swift attack, his chances of victory would diminish.
Ted began desperately racking his brains.
* * *
Rrrrrr—
A few days ago.
'Huu…'
A call came to Nam Yunho, who had been looking at a man's photo on the internet with satisfaction.
Angular jaw. Pot-lid-like hands.
He was truly a man overflowing with masculinity in every way.
"Hello."
—Yunho.
There were few who could call Nam Yunho—a man of thirty-eight and a recognized next-generation ranker candidate—like that.
It was none other than Chalsu, the guild master of Pateuk.
"Yes, Hyung."
—Go catch one person for me.
"…."
Roan, one of the foremost Moonlight Hunters.
His real name was Nam Yunho.
Listening to the request of Pateuk's guild master Chalsu, he felt that an opportunity had come.
"Then the contract ends with this job."
—What? Hey. Man, if you're so stiff and cut-and-dried like that, you're no good.
"If not, I won't do it."
—Aish, you punk… Fine. Do as you please. But I'll send two rookies along so they can gain some real combat experience.
An ultra-high ranker in the top 200s among 12 million domestic gamers.
Under normal circumstances, he wasn't someone who would be tied to an emerging guild like Pateuk.
But due to certain circumstances, he was indebted to Pateuk.
The condition was that he would move just once when the guild needed him.
And now, the very chance to end that contract had come.
"Hey! Where are you, X!"
"X! You bastard, did you mess with our guys?"
The Pateuk users who had followed him like that were complete rookies.
Revealing their positions by making noise in this darkness….
'These stupid bastards….'
But Roan didn't stop them.
'If they're men, they learn with their bodies.'
But at that moment, a gunshot rang out.
Gunfire from the one presumed to be X!
It had precisely killed the two users who followed him.
'The opponent was a Musketeer? But firing two shots consecutively… How perplexing.'
The flustered Roan failed to properly grasp the situation.
It was gunfire without even the muzzle flash—the weakness of a musket.
'Did he hide the flash and shoot two people down simultaneously? And he avoided the
Roan, who had stiffened his expression for a moment, smirked.
'But. He is no match for me.'
He began moving quickly through the forest.
"
And he fired the wide-area skill, Tornado Roulette, with his musket. It was the only wide-range attack he could fire with a musket, obtained upon his third job advancement as a Taoist.
Bullets containing tornadoes flew and began destroying the forest entirely.
'Now, where are you!'
Each shot consumed 15% of his mana.
This was an enormous mana consumption.
But he didn't care and kept firing
Firing repeatedly, soon more than half the forest disappeared.
He had blown away all the upper parts of the trees that would obstruct his vision.
Bang—!
But then, a bullet flew from X.
Flustered, he hurriedly deployed his
The transparent artifact blocked the bullet.
But then an anomaly occurred. The artifact shattered instantly, and the bullet pierced his body.
'What is this monstrous attack power! Is it X's finishing move?'
Roan, who had begun running between the unbroken tree trunks, felt tense from that moment on.
'Don't panic and take it step by step. Ah, I found X!'
At that moment, the
The moment he found his opponent, he used a talisman,
Name: Ted
Level: 150
Class: Musketeer
Crime Points: 5,600
Simple information popped up.
But upon seeing the information, his eyes strangely curved.
'Only level 150? How does someone at that level have such power… Huh? Wait, Ted? His nickname is Ted? This bastard, I don't know who he is, but some nobody punk dares to act so cocky….'
He had been marveling at the level, but suddenly his expression hardened.
He felt rage boiling from deep within his chest.
A unique alphabet symbol was placed on the chest of his leather armor:
[♥TSM♥]
It was the word indicating affiliation with the guild
'A worthless thing daring to use our Ted-nim's name and be a Musketeer… You insolent bastard! I'll really kill you!'
At that moment, the
But from then on, his mana began to refill.
'I'll kill him.'
Potions couldn't recover mana in such a short time.
It was his special ability,
'Kill. Him!'
Roan, thoroughly enraged, fired bullets at X and charged at him without hesitation.
* * *
"
Ted watched the bastard charging at him using a movement skill.
Ted, who was thoroughly versed in dozens of special abilities, instantly identified his opponent's ability.
'This has become troublesome.'
By now, his mana must have recovered to over 50%.
Ted moved and took refuge between tree trunks.
'But what is going on?'
The opponent's attack pattern had suddenly changed.
Until just now, he had seemed like he would clear the forest and snipe Ted from long range, but now he was closing in with powerful attacks.
Hwarururuk—!
The magic bullet of flame the opponent fired spread in all directions.
Soon after, a bullet made of ice shot out again.
The fire magic set the remains of the destroyed forest ablaze. It had blocked Ted's escape route.
'What's with this bastard?'
Ted leaped out from among the tree branches the moment the bastard wasted his skill.
And in 0.2 seconds. After confirming him through the scope in that brief time, he fired.
It was his patented skill, Inzoom.
Bang—!
The bullet fired from 30 meters away pierced the bastard's forearm. And even that was because the bastard had read the trajectory and dodged.
But the bastard didn't pull back and fired his musket at Ted.
'Huh?'
At that moment, Ted felt puzzled.
A technique of raising one's arm, checking the scope very briefly, fixing it, and then firing.
It was Inzoom, a technique he had created, his and his alone.
'Did he see it on YouTube or something? Come to think of it, his movement skill too….'
He was using it somewhat similarly, if not exactly the same.
But the moment Ted saw his movement skill, puzzlement sprouted.
A movement skill that traveled short distances without any restrictions or effects.
At a glance, it was extremely similar to
Ted raised his evaluation of him slightly.
'He is truly no ordinary bastard.'
Leaving aside Ted's honest(?) impression, the opponent was an outstanding Musketeer in terms of movement skill, marksmanship, skill utilization, and even special abilities.
Bang—bang—bang—!
The bullets fired in succession all contained magic.
The bullets shattered tree trunks and grazed Ted's body. His life force began to drop sharply.
'I need a shield to block those attacks!'
Ted hid behind the only giant tree trunk remaining in the forest.
The tree was enormous. It was so thick that over a dozen adult men would have to embrace it just to reach arms around.
"Hiding in a place like that is useless! You cheap knockoff bastard!"
The opponent standing on the other side opened his mouth for the first time.
'Knockoff? What is he talking about….'
Ted didn't reply to those words. Because talking during battle was something only amateurs did.
He simply assessed the situation coldly and racked his brains.
'His life force is below 40%.'
With his attack power, he could kill with one shot to the head. But the opponent knew that too, so it wouldn't be easy.
'Then I need to land two bullets. One of them is possible with Indomitable.'
Piercing through a gap using Indomitable. If that worked, one shot would definitely get through.
Ted had merely 20% life force remaining.
But if Indomitable was applied, he would be able to withstand several shots for 30 seconds.
The problem was that if the opponent started using his movement skill, it would be unlikely for Ted to land additional hits.
Because he still couldn't overcome the stat gap created by a massive level difference of 400.
'I have to make the opponent let his guard down twice. If one shot is with Indomitable, what should the other be?'
Ted frowned and scratched his head.
Mosquito? That was nowhere near enough for this situation.
While Ted was agonizing, the opponent aimed his musket at the tree.
"Come out from whichever side. You cocky bastard."
Kiiiiing…….
Soon, a mass of white light descended from the sky and began to gather on his gun.
It gradually grew stronger.
Ted clicked his tongue as he saw the moonlight moving above the tree trunk.
'Wow, this is crazy. It must be something like
The bastard seemed to be gathering powerful lunar energy into a bullet, intending to kill Ted along with the tree in one blow.
'The charge time was about 15 seconds, right? If I hesitate now, I won't be able to reap the benefits of Indomitable.'
There were two choices.
Going out to the left to attack, or to the right. But the moment he went out, the incompletely charged Moonlight Bullet would be fired.
That alone would trigger Indomitable on his frail self.
But if he stayed still, when the Moonlight Bullet finished charging, the tree would explode and Indomitable would trigger at the same time.
Then he would lose the chance for one ambush shot.
Then, something came to Ted's mind.
'…I don't know if this will work, but….'
Ted hastily took out a D-grade skill orb from his inventory.
An exclusive skill orb,
'Pull aggro just once!'
It was a waste to use and discard it here. It was only Goblin Summon, but he could sell it for money.
If he earned money, he might have a chance to buy a good exclusive skill orb from the auction house someday.
But it was better than dying pointlessly, receiving a death penalty, and going to the underworld for a week.
Ted inserted Goblin Summon into Black and White's socket.
And he shouted quietly.
"I only need aggro once…