Chapter 143
CHAPTER 143
Hwangso's eyes widened.
He had recognized the sound of metal colliding with metal.
The instant he registered that clear, ringing sound, his attention shifted to what he was seeing.
Automatically.
Rapidly.
Of course, light reached him before sound, so technically he saw it before he heard it.
But that wasn't how human perception worked.
Even if his hearing processed the information slightly faster than his sight, that was entirely possible.
And so, for a fleeting moment, his gaze arrived at the scene just a fraction too late.
And—
Standing before him was the enemy.
Seo Jun.
Emerging from around the corner with a frying pan in hand.
Seo Jun, who had perfectly blocked the shot aimed at his leg with that frying pan.
At the same time, Hwangso instinctively understood something that sound alone couldn't have told him.
His reflection was visible in the nearby window.
If only he'd noticed that a little sooner, he could have used it himself to spot Seo Jun waiting around the corner.
A regretful realization.
Then Seo Jun's left hand rose.
The pistol aimed directly at him.
So what?
What could he possibly do besides shoot?
Bang!
Seo Jun fired immediately.
They were both using pistols.
There was a slight delay between shots.
Hwangso simply took the hit.
While preparing his next shot.
It didn't matter.
The Level 3 helmet granted him extra lives worth of protection.
The vest was the same.
That's why he could afford to trade hits.
If he hadn't possessed those items, Seo Jun's frying-pan block would have led to a fatal outcome.
But that wasn't reality.
He didn't retreat?
Then die!
After less than a second of exchanged gunfire, it was his turn.
Seo Jun didn't seem interested in dragging out the fight or using cover.
Damn it. Is killing my entire team enough for him?
Hwangso aimed at Seo Jun's torso.
His pistol fired.
Bang!
And once again—
An unbelievable sound echoed through the hallway.
CLANG!
Clear.
Crisp.
Beautiful.
-What?
-What am I even looking at?
-Guys, I came from Dokkaebi's stream. Is the stream bugging out for anyone else?
-Even the locals seem confused.
-The official broadcast is confused too.
-I keep rubbing my eyes, but I'm still hallucinating. Why is someone blocking bullets with a frying pan?
The chat was collectively denying reality.
Normally, Seo Jun would've immediately corrected them.
Or lied even harder.
But right now he couldn't.
He didn't have time to read chat.
Bang!
He had to focus on what was directly ahead.
The enemy's arm moved.
The target was acquired.
A finger squeezed the trigger.
Naturally, that target was Seo Jun.
The shot could aim for his head.
Or his legs, like before.
Or perhaps his exposed left arm.
Or his torso.
Whatever the target, the moment it was decided—
Bang!
Seo Jun swung his arm accordingly.
Half a beat faster.
He couldn't be late.
If he was—
CLANG!
Oh.
The sound is different this time.
Shots aimed at his head couldn't be blocked the same way as before.
-The boss lands another perfect shot!
-This guy is actually insane...
-Deflecting bullets with a frying pan! Kkkkkkkkkkk! That's such a ridiculous skill!
-Is that even a sword anymore?!
Earlier, when Seo Jun had picked up the sword—
No.
The frying pan—
The chat had exploded with comments.
The one that had stuck with him the most was:
Never store the frying pan in your inventory. Carry it on your body.
The reason?
Because if an enemy happened to shoot that exact spot, the frying pan might randomly deflect the bullet.
So Seo Jun had wondered:
What if I don't leave it to chance?
What if I deflect them myself?
The result was what everyone was witnessing now.
Bang!
Seo Jun fired.
Hwangso's armor durability dropped further.
Grinding his teeth, Hwangso returned fire.
CLANG!
Another cheerful metallic ring.
The bullets weren't grazing the pan.
They were striking near its exact center.
Seo Jun could tell from the vibrations transmitted through his hand.
"I'm starting to get the hang of it."
He smiled in satisfaction.
The tension left his face.
He had found the rhythm.
Which meant he no longer needed complete concentration.
Once Seo Jun mastered a sensation, he never forgot it.
Never lost it.
"H-How...? No..."
"Try shooting again."
Bang!
Before the gunshot even sounded, Seo Jun's frying pan was already moving.
This time he aimed for a chest-level deflection.
And—
CLANG!
The bullet ricocheted into the wall on the left.
"Yep. This works."
Honestly, he'd been uncertain.
But it turned out to be far easier than expected.
-"Getting the hang of it"? That means he's about to start trolling. Kkkkk.
-This guy is literally the God of Parrying.
-Parrying bullets? You're telling me he's parrying bullets?!
-I'm starting to fear this streamer.
"I really like Ground Zero's physics system. Could you shoot one more time?"
Seo Jun politely requested.
Hwangso fired again.
Terrified.
CLANG!
The frying pan swung back and knocked the bullet away once more.
"W-Wow... No, seriously..."
"How am I supposed to fight that?"
-Kkkkkkkkkkkkk!
-This guy is abusing the game.
-Host, you've met Hwangso before, right?
-If you'd said, 'Sorry about that,' maybe. But 'Could you shoot me one more time?' Kkkkkkkkk.
-What an asshole.
-See? Not all A-ranks are equal! This is why he's the Host!
Even while saying that, Hwangso hadn't stopped searching for an opening.
In fact, he welcomed Seo Jun's confidence.
The more careless his opponent became, the greater his own chance of victory.
One hit.
Just one hit is enough.
Bang!
Seo Jun resumed his assault.
And Hwangso trusted in his Level 3 helmet and Level 3 vest.
He waited for a single mistake.
His armor still had roughly two-thirds durability remaining.
He just needed to break through that iron wall of a frying pan.
But—
A shot toward the head.
CLANG!
A shot toward the left leg.
"Oops."
CLANG!
A shot toward the hand holding the pistol.
CLANG!
Every bullet.
Every single one.
Instead of dodging, Seo Jun deliberately knocked them away with the frying pan while steadily reducing Hwangso's armor.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Meanwhile, bullets continued striking Hwangso's head and torso.
His attacks couldn't reach the enemy.
The enemy's attacks landed effortlessly.
It felt horribly unfair.
Enough to drive someone insane.
He'd never imagined a frying pan could become such a terrifying weapon.
He wasn't a Ground Zero veteran.
But he'd played enough to know the basics.
Should I have picked up a frying pan too?
In the end—
His opponent never gave him even a single opening.
While casually reading chat and occasionally responding to viewers.
Seo Jun embedded another bullet into Hwangso's chest.
The armor durability was almost gone.
Then Seo Jun began walking toward him.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Don't tell me...
He's planning to finish me with the frying pan?
The Bull no longer fired his gun. Instead, he subtly moved his left hand behind his back.
The distance between him and Seojun kept shrinking.
The Bull discreetly pulled the pin from a grenade he had taken from his waist.
'I'm not going down alone.'
Then, timing it with Seojun's approach, he quietly dropped the grenade behind him.
At the same time, he suddenly fired his gun.
'He'll definitely try to deflect it again this ti—!'
"Huh?"
But as he looked forward, the Bull failed to keep his expression under control.
Because Seojun had already noticed and taken cover in a nearby room.
"Heh heh heh, well, this is just grea—"
Boom!
The Bull died instantly.
"Ah, that grenade probably took a huge chunk out of my equipment durability. I intentionally spread the shots across his head and body, so that's a bit disappointing."
He had messed around for no reason.
He had intended to finish things off with the frying pan. Partly because the viewers had requested it, and partly because they kept saying the frying pan felt incredibly satisfying to use.
"I really didn't expect the grenade self-destruct, haha."
He had let his guard down.
- This is your first match?
- He soloed two entire squads and it's his first match?
- Why is his aim so good?
- Forget the aim, that frying pan is insane lol
- You're probably the first player in history to stand out in the open deflecting bullets. Respect, streamer!
- Goblin lol! There's nothing embarrassing about losing to someone who can deflect bullets! Hold your head high, Goblin!
"Well, I'm the only one left here now. Looting should be easy from this point."
Most of the people who had died had already finished looting, so he only needed to search their bodies.
More precisely, when a player died, they left behind a loot box instead of their name. He could loot through those boxes.
Seojun headed toward the Bull first.
When he opened the box, an inventory-style interface appeared on the screen.
"Looting like this is much more convenient. This is how you're supposed to play the game, right?"
LOL
- That's right.
- If you're confident you can beat eight people without picking up gear, then yes lololol
- Hahaha, just let him keep the frying pan.
Seojun examined the Bull's items. Most importantly, the durability of the vest and helmet was nearly depleted.
That was due to the destructive power of grenades, which could instantly kill players.
"I don't think I can use these. Hmm. There are quite a few first-aid kits and medkits, though."
Seojun searched the other corpses as well. No helmets or vests appeared, but he gathered plenty of healing items and used several to restore his health to full.
"Alright, then I'm heading underground too. You're saying I should get equipment since mine isn't broken yet? It's fine. I just won't get hit."
Preparations were complete.
- "I just won't get hit" lol
- But he really hasn't been getting hit.
- There isn't much worth taking from level 3 gear anyway.
- A frying pan can't cover your whole body though lol
Looking at the map, Seojun headed toward the largest building in the area.
Bunkers were usually located in the center.
Actually, the viewers had told him that. If nobody had explained it because of the tournament, things might have been troublesome.
Ah.
His teammates were there.
Seojun pulled out a radio from his inventory.
Kzzzt.
["Oh? You finally took it out! Seojun! I knew you'd use it!"]
The teammate who immediately responded was Lumi.
And what exactly had she been believing in?
["I saw it while looting! The viewers were saying that everything, including taking damage when you landed, was all part of your plan! The commentators were praising it like crazy, and someone brought it up in chat!"]
Uh.
No, it wasn't.
To be honest, he had landed carelessly. Because he already knew he wouldn't die from the fall.
'If my health drops too low, Future Me can deal with it after I land.'
That had been his thought process.
Like how many students leave their homework for Tomorrow's Me.
He wasn't about to admit that, though.
["You're heading underground now?"]
"Yeah."
["You must've gotten a lot of loot. I'm jealous."]
At those words, Seojun glanced down at the frying pan in his right hand.
Quite proudly.
"Yep."
- LMAOOOOOOOO he did find a good one.
- It's an incredible sword.
- Forget guns, the sword is clearly stronger lol
- Legendary sword!
- Is that really a sword, guys?
- Can you hold it? O
- Can you swing it? O
- Then the frying pan is a sword.
- What kind of nonsense is that lol
["Didn't Mr. Bull have a level 3 helmet? Since he's dead now... wow. Nobody can stop you!"]
Apparently the information hadn't updated yet.
["You'll be able to enter the bunker once the storm-shrink warning appears, okay? Alpaca says good luck from beside me! See you later."]
"Yep. See you later."
After putting the radio back into his inventory, Seojun looked at the chat.
The viewers were currently arguing over whether a frying pan counted as a sword.
Seriously.
Why were they arguing about that of all things?
So Seojun decided to settle it once and for all.
As he tossed away his only gun.
"Everyone, a frying pan is definitely a sword. I'll prove it."
[The storm will soon engulf the surrounding area.]
At the same time as the announcement, the door leading underground opened.
"Alright, let's go."
- Hell yeah! That's the spirit lol
- Making things harder for himself again lololol
- Why throw away the gun when your aim is insane?
- Because he's a Sword God?
- Wrong Chinese character, idiot lol
- Wait, if it's the 'sword' character and the 'body' character, doesn't that mean someone who seals away his own body? That actually fits the streamer, giving himself handicaps all the time.
- So that's what Sword God meant lololol
- Anyway, that means the frying pan is officially a sword.
- If he wins, I'll acknowledge it.
- What if he loses?
- Then he's just a "Sword Body."
- Let's call him an idiot instead.
- LMAOOOOOOO!