chapter 6
6 – Episode 6
“Find her quickly! We have to tear her limbs apart before the boss comes here, so that we can survive!”
“I will search as quickly as possible. But I can’t sense any signs at all…”
“I told you to thoroughly search around where that bastard died earlier! You useless idiots.”
A man with massive muscles shouted irritably, hitting his subordinates. The man was anxious. He had to find the assassin hiding here at all costs before the leader and boss of the raiders arrived.
At first, they had underestimated her as a woman and handled it carelessly, resulting in the loss of over five comrades. Although new raiders could be easily recruited, considering the time it would take to train and educate them, it was a devastating loss.
“Five people dead because of just one woman? Damn it… How the hell do I report this?”
A woman who killed the leader’s son and even other raiders was hiding here. She couldn’t leave until she found and killed her. It wasn’t a matter of choice. If she left this woman as she was, she would be killed by the boss for sure.
Either die at the hands of the boss or find and tear the woman apart. In a situation of either/or, it was rational to choose the latter. It didn’t matter if it took a week or a month. She wouldn’t leave this place until she killed her herself and confirmed the body.
“Search every nook and cranny! If there’s anywhere they could be hiding in the cave, even underwater, dive in and search!”
.
.
.
The girl checked the floating community in the air. She pondered while looking at her nickname, “killer,” written on it. In the distance, she could hear the noisy sound of the search party approaching, and her heart started pounding like crazy.
She briefly wrote a farewell message on the community. There was no time to write a long story. Just a simple thank you to the administrator. And a farewell to the community friends who had comforted her.
During the time she was being chased by a gang of looters of about [중] size, the community supported her. Whenever she felt hunger, boredom, fear, regret, frustration, despair, and various other emotions, she wrote on the community to vent her feelings. And the strategy was quite effective. Not only did she survive for five days in a cramped space with no one else around, but she was also lucky enough to get in touch with the administrator and even had elixirs to eat.
She was lucky. No, it wasn’t just luck, but it made her wonder if something more miraculous could happen. Since being incarnated here, Choi Ye-bin hadn’t received proper help even once for over a year. She had survived for a long time thanks to her ability to determine the truth of other people’s words, but it wasn’t because of her ability that she gained allies or obtained hidden artifacts.
She rolled around like a dog to stay alive. She killed people because she didn’t want to die. The guilt faded over time, and all that was left was the instinct to survive.
“Why did I have to be incarnated in a place like this?”
She resented it hundreds, thousands of times a day. No one would know how hard she had tried to survive on her own for over a year in this world where looters roamed around with a woman’s body. No, maybe the people in the community might know. She had written quite a lot about herself.
She briefly complained about her situation. She organized the number of memorized items she possessed.
6 poisoned darts, 3 repair knives, 3 daggers, and various other small weapons existed. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a reasonable, no, rather good number. The more items she memorized, the more advantageous she would be in long-range combat, but on the other hand, her movement and combat would be restricted due to the increased weight. Since she had to carry the memorized items in her body, there would inevitably be slight differences in her movements.
She selected unnecessary weapons. Traditional weapons like a deadly mace were placed in advance where the enemies would come. It wasn’t to target their feet. After all, the shoes would protect them from the mace. The goal was to make them fall to the ground during the battle.
It didn’t matter if they fell on their palms, back, thighs, legs, or anywhere else. As long as she could provoke a stab, the set mace would serve as a highly efficient weapon in terms of volume.
“This should be good.”
She chose her position. All the traps that could be set were already in place. Now, all that was left was the battle. The waiting time wasn’t long.
Thump.
She heard the sound of someone approaching, accompanied by the sound of stepping on the mud in the cave.
She had already given up on the option of hiding until the enemies left. They were crazy people who had been hunting her for five days in this place. This exploration battle would not end until either she killed them or she was killed. If she had to fight, now was the perfect time while her body was intact thanks to the elixir.
She immediately ran towards the man who had just turned the corner and stabbed him with her dagger.
Thunk!
With a chilling sound, the man collapsed to the ground. But immediately, a strange sound reverberated.
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep!
Like a siren. Looking at the man’s hand, it seemed as though he had pressed some kind of special device just before dying. Choi Ye-bin quickly pulled out the device from the man’s hand and destroyed it. But it was too late. Numerous footsteps were approaching this location.
Taking a deep breath, she urgently dragged the corpse further inside. A human body could serve as an excellent shield. Not only could it stop thin arrows, but even simple daggers and even swords. Especially in a situation with no cover, there was nothing better than a person to block long-range attacks.
“Now that we know their location, kill them right away! Capture them, tear them apart, and bring them to me!”
Along with the man giving orders, voices and footsteps of numerous people entering the deep cave could be heard.
“Ugh!”
As soon as one man approached, he immediately threw a dagger. Only two daggers remained. She had to refrain from long-range throwing now.
“You… you bastard!”
Another excited man started to charge forward. It was lucky for her. For her, the opponent who pushed forward alone before sufficient support arrived was just a moving scarecrow.
Thunk!
She stabbed the dagger and pushed forward. She pushed the corpse onto the man who was following behind.
“Ah… aaah!”
The man fell and his hand was pierced by a deadly trap on the ground. Soon, he turned pale and died.
The battle continued. With restrained movements, she killed quite a few men, and the traps had a modest effect, killing only about two people. The problem was that she had thrown one of the two remaining daggers in an emergency situation. Even more problematic was that the enemies no longer approached at close range.
The bastards surrounded Choi Ye-bin, keeping a distance of about 20 meters. They also realized it. That a one-on-one fight with the girl in front of them was not possible, regardless of the dangers of the space that might have traps. But even if they did, there was no simultaneous rush.
Seeing more than ten bodies on the ground, they instinctively felt it. That the one who pushed forward first would die.
There are no looters who sacrifice individuals for the sake of the group. There is no room for loyalty for those who take away other people’s belongings to sustain their lives. Thanks to them, her position became ambiguous. More than 20 men gathered, forming a shape that restrained Choi Ye-bin. The cave was not wide enough for a siege, and they continued an uncomfortable standoff. Occasionally, some men threw swords from a distance, but instead, Choi Ye-bin used the weapons thrown by the enemy to throw back with overwhelming speed and accuracy. After two people died, the enemy stopped throwing weapons altogether.
“Surrender! The confrontation will only lead to our victory! Our leader can use magic. Once our leader arrives, you, no matter how skilled you are, will be helpless and humiliated, and eventually die. It would be cleaner to surrender now and let us kill you.”
The situation was dire. Even a magician who was not present at the scene was about to join in.
“Should I approach? No, it’s impossible… Even if it’s me, it’s impossible to charge straight ahead in a line and kill over 20 people.”
In the end, the confrontation turned into a prolonged battle, and soon, the sneering laughter of a man could be heard from behind. The man held a staff with a skull symbol and was dressed in a fancy robe.
“Leader!”
A man who appeared to hold a high position greeted the leader with a bright smile. However, the person referred to as the leader didn’t seem too pleased. The leader simply smiled.
“L-Leader, why are you like this?”
Thunk!
A mass of magical energy flew and pierced the man’s head. As if bidding farewell to the lifeless corpse, the leader gave a sign.
“I told you to tear your body apart before I arrived, but you’re still foolishly engaging in this confrontation?”
[Chapter] The leader of the looters, on a larger scale, targeted each of the others one by one.
“If it weren’t for this month’s collection, I would have killed all these useless bastards. Useless scum.”
Soon, the man stepped forward and began to chant a spell.
Swish!
Choi Ye-bin immediately threw a memorized spell, but it bounced off with a clattering sound.
Checkmate.
With over 20 men guarding the leader, who is a magician, and long-range attacks being ineffective, charging forward is impossible. Moreover, the enemy is in the midst of casting a spell with tremendous power.
It’s over.
There is no way out.
Her endless struggle for life will end with about 15 corpses scattered on the ground and a river of blood. Looking at the angry face of the leader, she won’t die gracefully.
However, despite all that, the girl did not give up the fight.
Even as a huge block of ice formed in the air, the girl raised her dagger. She was trying to deflect the ice magic as it shot towards her.
“You stupid girl.”
Upon seeing her, the leader of the raiders didn’t say much and simply unleashed his magic.
The sharp-edged ice rushed towards the girl. She tried to deflect it with her dagger, but the blade broke and the ice came closer to her.
With her eyes wide open, the girl foresaw her impending death.
“I’ll die cleanly.”
Without being tortured by the enemy or suffering any humiliation, she would face a clean death. Perhaps it could even be called an honorable death.
Just before the thread of her life was about to be severed.
“What’s this…?”
The ice, suspended in mid-air, stopped. It completely froze just before reaching her.
Then, the sound of footsteps and a sigh reached her ears.
“Haah…”
She turned her head and saw the administrator pressing his head as if it was throbbing.
“Why are you here…?”
When the girl asked the question, the administrator answered.
“The great wizard, Mac Douglas, does not ignore a girl in distress.”
“But didn’t you say earlier that you were going to live alone and leave me?”
“Hmm…”
The administrator wanted to argue back but decided against it. Well, there was no point in lying here, as they would be able to tell. Instead, he spoke briefly.
“My heart has changed. Thanks to your endurance, I have collected enough mana and have some spare.”
As the administrator spoke, the leader of the raiders, who had been observing him, shouted angrily.
“Get out of here right now. Otherwise, I’ll tear you apart along with that woman.”
Immediately, the administrator burst into laughter and replied.
“You? With your pathetic magical skills? The size and power of your magic are not the problem, they’re just sloppy. They’re so trashy that I can’t even bear to look at them. The formulas are so simple, there’s no need for calculations.”
The leader of the raiders, who had been insulted by the worst humiliation from a magician, immediately placed his hand on one of his subordinates and absorbed his life force to the very end.
“Gulp… Gulp…!”
The subordinate’s body quickly withered and died. And the energy was transferred to the leader’s body.
“Speak up again. What’s so great about my magic skills?”
“Dark magic, huh? It’s a method that pathetic people use to go beyond their original abilities.”
“Until you beg me to kill you, I’ll torture you to death.”
Soon, mana began to gather in the leader of the raiders’ staff. But…
“Cancel.”
Crash!
With just one word from the administrator, the calculations of the subordinate were instantly destroyed.
As the leader of the raiders became flustered, the administrator walked slowly towards him and said.
“Say it again. Who’s going to kill whom? You? Me?”
Eventually, a vast amount of mana began to overflow from the administrator’s hand.