Episode 30.
『Disguise』
A trait that allows one to temporarily transform into a desired target.
Viewed from the perspective of martial strength, there is nothing particularly special about it, but it is a trait well-suited for operating as an information, infiltration, or assassination agent.
“Hoo—”
Even the boldest of tigers couldn’t help but be surprised in a situation like this.
Chairman Gang, letting out a deflated sound, widened his eyes.
Blocking his path.
“He is not someone the Chairman knows.”
“…It seems so.”
A low voice spoke, as if belatedly grasping the situation.
“What are you?”
Beside the bastard disguised as Song Yunsik, the voice of the old woman in her sixties that had been so just moments ago changed.
What changed wasn’t just the voice.
Tick, tick, tick.
Fragments covering their faces fell away like hardened clay crumbling.
Along with that, what was revealed.
Was not Song Yunsik and his wife, but a man and woman in their twenties.
“The disguise should have been perfect?”
“The disguise was perfect.”
“Then how?”
“What sixty-year-old’s hands are so smooth without a single wrinkle?”
“….”
Only then did they check the backs of their own hands.
They had changed their faces with the disguise, but had not been able to alter the wrinkles on the backs of their hands or their bodies.
That wasn’t because they hadn’t paid attention.
Ah, of course, part of it was their failure to notice like idiots, but the bigger reason was:
‘Because it hasn’t been long since they awakened.’
It was the early stage of awakened awareness.
No matter how much their trait had blossomed, that ability had its limits.
That was why they could perfectly disguise their faces but couldn’t change their entire bodies.
If they had been more meticulous, they would have prepared gloves and such, but unfortunately, these bastards weren’t that clever.
That too was evidence that they had yet to properly understand their own trait.
But being able to see through the disguise didn’t mean I could simply be happy about it.
Ssk, sssk—
Noise picked up by my hearing aid.
‘Five, no, six.’
Inside the house.
I could sense the presence of others besides the two in front of my eyes.
It was so faint that I wouldn’t have been able to detect it if not for the hearing increased by the hearing aid.
‘They know too.’
Why I came here—anyone who wasn’t a fool would know.
The Twin Dragon Sword.
They too knew of the existence of the Twin Dragon Sword, the relic that would reveal itself for the first time.
‘Have they already obtained it?’
No.
That wasn’t what was important right now.
Screech!
Using my Heelys, I quickly approached the bastard disguised as Song Yunsik.
The distance closed in an instant.
“!!”
The surprised bastard’s eyes widened.
‘Too late!’
As could be seen from his expression, I had seized the momentary gap.
And I was not an idiot who would miss that gap.
Thwack!
I immediately drove my fist into the bastard’s face.
Because I was wearing knuckles, the impact was not easily bearable.
Thud, thud.
Teeth fell to the floor like corn kernels.
Thud!
The bastard too collapsed onto the ground just like that.
“Hiiik!”
Seeing him fall, the other bastard tried to retreat.
Because the Disguise trait was for information and assassination agents, not combat.
Had they possessed something like a ki barrier, perhaps, but that was still a premonition that hadn’t occurred yet.
Screech.
Rolling the wheels, I approached in an instant.
“Hup!”
I let out a short ki shout and thrust my fist toward his temple, but.
Bam!
I failed to achieve my goal.
Sword.
A real sword, rarely seen in modern times, was blocking the path of the knuckles.
“Hap!”
A ki shout resounded.
Whish!
A real sword imbued with energy slashed toward my chest.
Using my Heelys, I slid back and dodged the attack.
No, I hadn’t completely avoided it.
The sensation I felt near my chest.
Ssk.
My clothes, cut by something sharp, were torn.
After securing a safe distance, I looked to the front.
A long-haired man in his thirties wearing loose black kendo gear stood holding the real sword with both hands.
‘A swordsman.’
One who wields the sword.
Of course, since he hadn’t been awakened long, the depth of his skill was shallow.
The problem was that the Awakened here weren’t only swordsmen.
Shwiiik!
Something approached while cutting through the wind.
‘Arrow!’
I identified it as a projectile through the flow of the air and the noise.
I leaned my upper body back as if lying down, and.
Pat!
I could see the arrow brush past above my forehead by a hair’s breadth.
Along with the single arrow, figures revealed themselves outside the house.
Six, including the swordsman who blocked my attack and the archer who fired the arrow moments ago, surrounded the area.
I quickly swept my gaze over them.
‘Three swordsmen, two archers, and one more.’
I quickly identified their traits through the weapons in their hands.
The only question mark was the middle-aged man with bare hands.
The man in his forties wearing a gray bucket hat stood at the very rear of the formation, glaring at me.
“Black Moon?”
“….”
As expected, no answer.
But they revealed blatant hostility and took up their weapons.
Through that series of actions, I could clearly tell what these bastards wanted.
Grr-grr-grrk—
The two archers taking positions on the right and left, drawing their bowstrings.
It was a difficult situation.
If I were alone it might be different, but Chairman Gang was beside me.
An existence bound to be a hindrance in this brutal battle.
“…Don’t worry about me and fight.”
An ordinary chaebol would have undoubtedly pleaded to be protected.
But this bold tiger well knew his own situation, his position.
“How could I not worry. There’s no way.”
Chairman Gang was an important comrade to overcome the apocalypse with.
And the current situation wasn’t that threatening to me.
Ssk.
I took out the weapons I had hidden inside my padded jacket.
Two long guns.
『+99(★) American Classic 760
Classification: Firearm (Airgun)
Durability: 15/15
Unique Effect: None
Enhancement Effect (9/99): Infinitesimal increase in bullet power
Enhancement Effect (15/99): Minute increase in bullet power
Enhancement Effect (20/99): Very small increase in bullet power
Enhancement Effect (30/99): Small increase in bullet power
……
Enhancement Effect (99/99): Moderate increase in bullet power
Max Effect (Max): Small increase in bullet power, speed, and accuracy
Transcendence Effect: Maintains air compression intensity with moderate probability
Description: A hunting and survival air pistol. Powerful enough to hunt small wild animals.
Through Transcendence enhancement, it has become a fairly powerful air pistol capable of hunting large wild animals.』
An American airgun that normally couldn’t be brought in.
But who was my backer?
Chairman Gang of the Taewang Group.
Through him, I had smuggled in various types of airguns, and held two of them in my hands.
A question that arises here:
Couldn’t I just use a real gun?
Unfortunately, guns were items that couldn’t be enhanced.
I had some idea as to the reason.
In conclusion, a Transcendence-enhanced airgun was more powerful than a real gun.
Especially the one I was holding now possessed abilities focused on increasing bullet power.
“Wha…!”
The surprised archer tried to release his tightly drawn bowstring, but I was faster than him.
Pa-pang, pang!
Compressed air inside the cylinder sprayed out, pushing the small lead pellet.
“Keok!”
“Kkeoheok!”
Just before the arrows were fired, two lead pellets flew and pierced the wrists of the two archers.
The power of a Transcendence-enhanced airgun was enough to kill wild boars or bears.
Piercing the fragile skin of a human was no trouble at all.
Along with screams filled with pain.
“Uwaap!”
Swordsmen letting out ki shouts charged.
That they could charge without fear even after seeing firearms proved they were quite accustomed to combat.
“Your courage is admirable, but….”
It was a reckless act.
Pang, pa-pang!
I turned the muzzles and fired bullets at the charging swordsmen.
Pew-pew-pew!
“Kkeueuu!”
The bastards who had their knees pierced collapsed.
This was the power of firearms.
Perhaps if enough time passed and their traits evolved, but for now, they couldn’t withstand guns, weapons of modern civilization.
Of course, there were some exceptional cases.
“It’s over!”
The middle-aged man wearing the bucket hat.
He was glaring at me while making a gun shape with his fingers.
“No way…?”
Seeing that pose, something immediately came to mind.
Oong-oong-oong!
Particles of light gathering at the middle-aged man’s fingers.
“…Ki Bullet?”
『Ki Bullet (氣彈)』
A trait that concentrates the mysterious power of ki into one point and fires it in the form of a bullet.
Although it takes time to gather ki, its power and speed surpass those of firearms.
Pa-pang!
The Ki Bullet fired by the bastard cut across the atmosphere, rushing toward my left chest at ferocious speed.
‘Too late!’
Tremendous speed.
It was something the current me couldn’t handle.
Thwack!
I had no choice but to take that devastating blow head-on.
“Yoon-chan!”
Chairman Gang’s surprised voice pierced my ears.
But.
“Sorry about this, what do I do?”
I had staggered slightly from that tremendous power, but I was fine.
“Wh-what?!”
The middle-aged man unable to properly connect his words from surprise.
But that was a natural result.
I had felt quite threatened by the appearance of the Black Moon.
So I had already worn two insurances inside my padded jacket: an anti-slasher vest and a bulletproof vest, both Transcendence-enhanced.
If he had aimed for the head instead of the heart, a different result might have come out, but he was unlucky.
Pa-pang!
Because a lot of air had already been expended, its power had dropped a little, but the lead pellet was still strong.
Thwack!
“Kek!”
It pierced straight through the bastard’s fingers.
The drawback of the Ki Bullet, as seen just now, was that you had to shape your fingers like a gun.
But due to this attack, most of the bastard’s fingers were severed.
He would never be able to use Ki Bullet again.
*
Thwack!
I went around the fallen bastards one by one and knocked them out.
There was much I wanted to ask immediately, but there was something I had to do first.
I entered the house together with Chairman Gang.
I had prepared for the appearance of any remaining enemies, but fortunately, the bastards outside were the last.
“Yunsik!”
Inside the room, Song Yunsik could be seen tied to a chair, restrained.
“….”
Bleeding profusely as if having suffered terrible torture.
“Hoo—”
Beside him was the corpse of his wife who had passed away after suffering miserably.
‘They tortured him to get some information.’
Of course, I had a good guess as to what information they wanted.
“Kkeueuu….”
When the gag in his mouth was removed, a groan burst out.
Unfortunately, his body was heavily damaged.
He was enduring with tremendous willpower, but if left like this, he would reach death before long.
“Wait a moment.”
I held back Chairman Gang, who couldn’t control his emotions.
“Take this.”
I took out something wrapped in foil and brought it to his mouth.
『+99(★) Gongjindan
Classification: Consumable (Medicine)
Durability: None
Unique Effect: Recovers an infinitesimal amount of ki
Enhancement Effect (9/99): Recovers a minute amount of ki
Enhancement Effect (15/99): Recovers a very small amount of ki
Enhancement Effect (20/99): Recovers a small amount of ki
……
Enhancement Effect (99/99): Recovers a moderate amount of ki
Max Effect (Max): Temporarily alleviates all pain
Transcendence Effect: Temporarily recovers a large amount of ki
Description: A tonic made by blending medicinal ingredients beneficial to the body, such as deer antler, angelica, and corni, into musk obtained by drying the substance secreted from the scent gland of a musk deer.
Through Transcendence enhancement, it has gained the effect of temporarily recovering a large amount of ki, allowing one to cross the threshold of death.』
If left like this, he wouldn’t last long.
But if fed a Transcendence-enhanced Gongjindan.
“Keulreok!”
He spit up the clotted blood stuck in his throat.
“Ch-Chairman….”
Only then did he spot Chairman Gang and open his eyes wide.
But I couldn’t wait for their dramatic reunion.
“Elder. What is the reason they harmed you?”
I had some idea, but it was only a guess.
I had to hear the truth from his mouth.
“….”
Song Yunsik’s gaze shifted not to me, but to my side.
Chairman Gang, recognizing that gaze, nodded.
“…They asked about the whereabouts of the Twin Dragon Sword.”
It was as expected.
But it was by no means welcome.
Because it was now certain that they, like me, knew information about the future.