ALL NOVEL chapter 7
A Slightly Strange Guest (2) – [Eat Kills Two]
007.
In status measurements, what ordinary people usually pay attention to are the stats that intuitively come out as numbers.
For adult men, if it’s 110, it’s considered top-notch for the general public, 120 is on par with professional athletes, and if it goes up to 130, it’s among the elite, while surpassing 140 is evaluated as nearly reaching the limit of human capability. The world record is held by the Decathlon world record holder at 147.
However, even from such world record holders,
“Wow! Amazing! Are you in the top 0.01%?”
– ?!!
– Huh?
– ???
– Insane···
Such a thing couldn’t be found.
[Left-right body balance – Top 0.01%]
[Static equilibrium – Top 0.01%]
[Dynamic equilibrium – Top 0.01%]
[Center sense – Top 0.01%]
[Body balance – Top 0.01%]
[Coordination – Top 0.01%]
···
···
···
It wasn’t just physical abilities intuitively derived through stats, but detailed indicators that were output underneath. It wasn’t merely about assessing things like muscle strength but meticulously evaluating and analyzing things like performance, endurance, and coordination abilities, all of which resulted in Ido-hyuk’s stat window occupying the top 0.01%.
– Whoa··· Is he a cyborg?
– Wait, is it possible to have these stats?
– So, is he ambidextrous?
– No wonder his movements were insane earlier;;
With no slight imbalances or weaknesses to speak of, it was truly a flawless physique. Like a piece of art crafted meticulously by an artisan with a perfectionist streak bordering on obsession.
Even if this body were at a stat of 100, people would still be amazed. Especially considering Ido-hyuk’s stat was a staggering 134, surpassing the majority of professionals.
– Neck Huggers appearing in fours wasn’t for nothing;
– The AI is out of this world hahahaha, considering it adjusted the difficulty level with that in mind
– Why··· didn’t he go to the Olympics and ended up here···
– A rare gem in such a humble place, whoa
It was only natural for viewers to react this way.
“He didn’t waste his training.”
Ido-hyuk, too, secretly felt pleased with his stats. After all, he had succeeded in building a flawless building from planning to construction without any shortcomings, following his plans post-regression.
“…Well, the issue is that it’s not the multi-hundred or thousand-story skyscraper I initially planned, but just a three-story tower.”
Anyway.
Still, confirming the results of his own efforts was always a gratifying experience.
– Wow; but seriously, what did you do before? Were you an elite athlete?
“Before? Um···.”
Ido-hyuk couldn’t immediately answer the question in the chat.
“I did something impressive, though.”
There’s no way to explain this.
I trained alone in my room to prevent the world from destruction. Before that, I used to wield swords, spears, and axes to fight aliens.
It was a story I couldn’t tell.
If I said that, I’d be considered insane right away.
“······Oppa.”
Jian felt a mix of emotions as she looked at Ido Hyuk.
“Of course··· the things I said last time were lies.”
Bringing up the past was evidence that she couldn’t say anything right now.
He had said he didn’t fall into a cult, but it was probably a lie to not worry her.
“It must be a memory so difficult for you to even mention.”
Plus, look at that.
“How much did you suffer in that cult?”
Was it really just about getting better?
No, it was not just a matter of suffering. Maybe they forced him into specialized training to do something strange.
With that speculation in mind, Jian stepped forward.
It was to divert the viewers’ attention to her.
“That’s a secret I can’t reveal.”
She didn’t want to bring up any bad memories for Oppa.
“I’ll stop talking about stats here. Oppa, you can turn it off.”
“Huh? Uh··· okay.”
-ㄷㄷㄷ Look at that firm determination
-What’s going on?
-ㅋㅋㅋ Is he from the National Intelligence Service?
-Or maybe a special forces unit?
-Considering the stats, it’s not entirely impossibleㅋㅋ
-Now that I think about it, shooting the gun earlier seemed so natural···
“Okay, let’s stop speculating about Oppa’s past.”
Jian subtly began to control the atmosphere in the chat window.
Like a professional broadcaster, she quickly changed the topic.
“There was one more thing to clarify, right? Whether Oppa’s first time playing It Kills Two is true. Oppa, after turning on the stat play history, show it to everyone.”
Before starting the actual It Kills Two gameplay, Ido Hyuk, who had disclosed that he had never played It Kills Two before, was going to play it for the first time.
Although It Kills Two was a hot game in the twerk community, it wasn’t a huge hit, so viewers didn’t make a big deal out of it.
-It seems like he brought in a pro to cosplay as a newbie···
-True, this game isn’t about showing off skills for beginners
-He knew the exact timing of the Neck Hugger’s appearance and reacted;
-For realㅋㅋ
The suspicions arose from Ido Hyuk’s in-game performance.
“Just a moment. Checking the play history···. Ah, here it is.”
That’s how Ido Hyuk revealed his play history.
-??
– Is it believable?
– No, ㅋㅋㅋ What is this person really?
The chat window that started burning as soon as they saw it.
Just like the numerous suspicions raised, Lee Dohyuk was not an expert at “It Kills Two”.
His 0.6 hours of playtime indicated that today was his first experience with “It Kills Two”.
=Play History=
[It Kills Two / Play Time: 0.6 hours]
Viewers were astonished because Lee Dohyuk’s play history consisted solely of “It Kills Two”.
– What, can the history be reset?
– No, such function wouldn’t exist.
In other words, it meant that Lee Dohyuk was a newbie on day one who had never attempted a full dive before.
Ding-
At that moment, a donation rang out.
[‘FluffyCloud’ has donated 1,000 won.]
– So, a day one newbie who’s trying a full dive for the first time chopped off the necks of 4 wolves with just an axe? And in reality mode? What kind of prodigy is this?
The donation that represented the sentiments of all viewers watching the broadcast.
**
Creak-
Upon opening the door, a room filled with all sorts of taxidermied animals came into view. Starting from insects and reptiles, to relatively large birds and mammals. The dim light illuminated them, creating quite an eerie atmosphere.
Thud-
The sound of footsteps echoed. They didn’t belong to Jian or Dohyuk.
From beyond the wall, a sound could be heard.
“···Hng!”
Jian, startled, unintentionally made a sound.
Did someone hear that?
Thud! Thud! Thud!
With quickened footsteps,
Squelch-!
An eerie, inhuman sound reverberated alongside the hastened steps.
And then.
Crack!
The sound of the door being torn open, revealing a monster.
Resembling a human in shape but far from it in appearance. A being with a vastly thicker and larger right arm than the left.
In no time, the monster appeared, tearing the door open in one go, approaching Jian and Dohyuk with its grotesquely oversized arm.
“Well, I mean···.”
Boom!
The monster’s arm sliced through the air.
Extending one arm to push Jian back, Dohyuk twisted his body to dodge the monster’s arm.
With a swift motion, Dohyuk, passing through the monster’s elbow with his axe, clearly showed that the monster’s skin wasn’t too thick.
Giggle-!
A scream echoing through the room.
The enraged monster’s arm was heard once again.
As Do-hyuk watched, his body bent and straightened. The center of gravity of his body quickly shifted forward.
Whoosh!
Next, Do-hyuk’s axe blade sliced through the monster’s torso, upper arm, and below the shoulder. A vulnerable spot difficult to protect with bones or muscles.
“Ouch…”
“Ow, that hurts.”
“If I accidentally nicked your armpit, I’m sorry.”
Normally referred to as the armpit.
The attack didn’t stop there. In a brief moment, Do-hyuk swiftly retracted his hand axe, rotating his body half a turn to evade the monster’s opposite arm. Then, using the outstretched arm of the monster as a support, he performed a close-combat move.
Aim: the exposed neck.
Swoosh.
That was the end of it.
The monster hesitated for a moment before ceasing its movements.
Do-hyuk, now with the axe in hand, looked ahead and said, “You guys aren’t good at this, huh? It’s simple—dodge like this, strike like that.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that!”
“hahahaha! Dodging and hitting well is the key.”
“Easy, right?”
“Oh, it reminds me of Faker; how to go to the next level? Dodge well and hit accurately.”
Do-hyuk’s words lit up the chat window for a moment.
Ignoring such reactions, Do-hyuk continued further.
“No, seriously. We’re barely on the underground 2nd floor, a spot for beginners, right? That’s why you encounter such big movements and mediocre speed. Watch carefully, dodge well, then aim for the vulnerable spot.”
“Wow…”
“Beginner’s spot LOL.”
“Um… this is a horror game, not an action game, right?”
“The guy we’re supposed to catch LOL.”
“It Kills Two” is a ‘survival’ horror game where players explore the mansion, fleeing from various monsters chasing them to uncover the mansion’s secrets.
Hence, most monsters weren’t meant to be defeated but to be escaped from.
Especially the brute that Do-hyuk had just knocked down, played a crucial role in “It Kills Two”.
“So, how does the story progress now? Wasn’t the brute supposed to catch you to move on?”
“True; you were supposed to be caught, then escape from the bottom floor, right?”
Unlike the monsters that come to kill the player after the encounter, the brute, the first monster the player meets, has the role of capturing the player and taking them to the very bottom of the mansion.
One could say it was like an NPC essential for advancing the story.
However, Do-hyuk didn’t get caught by the brute; instead, he knocked it down.
The original story progression became impossible.
In other words, the hidden route was open.
“No, you can catch it. But the hidden route will open.”
– Hidden Route? Is there such a thing?
– Yeah, it’s something the hardcore players stumbled upon while fooling around, lol.
Of course, the Hidden Route wasn’t revealed for the first time.
“It Kills Two” is a game that boasts quite a number of hardcore players.
Among those who have chewed, torn, and savored “It Kills Two” several times, there were many who pondered, “Instead of being caught by Brute, what if we catch him in reverse?”
As a result, there were a few players who, after numerous attempts, managed to capture Brute.
“Oh, so I wasn’t the first one to catch him?”
With a nod, Ido-hyuk said so.
Brute may have been a big and strong monster, but that was all there was to it.
Judging by the hunting difficulty, it might be somewhere between 2 to 2.5 stars at best.
From Ido-hyuk’s perspective, who used to capture 7-star monsters as easily as having a meal when he was young, it meant that even though Brute was powerful, he could be easily captured without much effort.
“Well, he wasn’t that difficult to deal with.”
Of course, that was from Ido-hyuk’s perspective.
From others’ perspectives.
So, even from the perspective of hardcore players who had cleared “It Kills Two” several times…
– ??
– No; what are you talking about catching him with a hand axe
– Even for hardcore players, they usually go to the backyard shed and use flamethrowers and shotguns to catch him…
Capturing Brute with a hand axe, a tool typically used to break down locked doors at best, was a method no one had ever shown before.
Everyone had to thoroughly search every place before going down to the basement level 2 to finish item farming and only then could they barely catch him.
– Info) Hand axes are meant for breaking doors, not killing monsters
– For real, catching Brute with a hand axe is unheard of
Soon after Ido-hyuk’s ignorant words, the chatroom started to ignite.
– Is this guy the newbie who’s clueless on his first day?
– But why is his name “Jianchu”? He’s a guy, why “Jianchu”?
– Who’s the girl at the back? His girlfriend? They look good together
– Not his girlfriend
– Just got back from watching Black Orc’s broadcast
– They’re siblings;
Suddenly, the viewership count began to skyrocket.