NOVEL WEB Chapter 146 - Punching Bag
Chapter 146 Punching Bag
Atakaya volcanic island.
After a massive eruption that rose from below the sea created a new island on the surface, the volcano continued to spill lava several times over an indefinite period, further expanding the island and forming fertile land through volcanic ash.
Millions of years later, the present saw thick concrete covering the ground, with buildings and homes established on top. However, the essence of the island remained unchanged — once again, the volcano towering in the center of the island spewed its wrath across the land, defying time.
However, this time, a slight difference mingled with its fury.
Flowers that had bloomed on the abandoned island were trampled under heavy boots.
Tropical trees, planted artificially for scenic beauty, were mercilessly shaved down by lead bullets and tungsten cores, with asphalt and concrete crumbling under loud noises. Red lava that flowed through the gaps turned everything in its path to ashes.
The clear blue sky was shrouded by black volcanic ash clouds filled with thunder and lightning, and grayish-white ash fell from the sky like snow — and beneath it, 99 individuals roamed the streets, where no one should now reside.
───Ggguk!
A building collapsed into a river of lava with a grotesque noise. As the ground floor burned entirely and weakened the structure, the concrete shattered and the rebar twisted under the sheer weight of the lava, causing a complete collapse.
However, the fate of larger buildings differed — they were too sturdy to collapse quickly and would typically burn up in the flames before giving way. Moreover, fire was something all intelligent beings avoided, and humans were no exception. Hence, it was only natural that no living creatures were found in places where fires had broken out.
Of course, this meant that there could be exceptions.
“Ugh, it’s hard to breathe…!”
Bright red flames flared in all directions.
The interior of the department store, which should have been pitch dark with all lights out, was filled with fire and smoke. Looking in any direction, all that could be seen were the overwhelming flames that seemed to damage the eyes if stared at for too long.
The nanomachine levels were slightly decreasing. The current surrounding temperature was over three digits. The oxygen tank, combined with the bag, was covered by a nanomachine barrier, and above all, the radiant heat was tremendous.
Oxygen supply was down to 20 minutes. And due to the high-performance energy harvesting technology applied to the ICARUS Gear, the nanomachine barrier was less damaged than expected by regenerating from the radiant heat — supposedly.
This was one of the messages encountered while playing PVE.
Anyway, the problem was,
───Tung!
“Wow. How persistent.”
There were still a couple of people determined to chase me down and kill me even in such extreme conditions.
I had a rough idea of their identity. Michael, the Reaper Infected. Not many people could handle a shield that skillfully. He wore a gas mask that reminded me of Yoo Jin and repeatedly fired his pistol.
At this rate, the bullets would soon run out or a gap would appear for reloading, but that didn’t happen. He was the type to spend three hours daily practicing reloading a pistol with one hand.
I retraced my memories.
He was notorious in the professional circles. As mentioned, the ballistic shield suited him perfectly. Because his defense was so solid, I used to be advised against facing Michael one-on-one.
In a way, he could be considered an extreme survivalist. At any given point, he aimed for survival rather than kills. If he sensed he was at a disadvantage, he would flee instantly.
Conversely, this meant he would tenaciously cling to favorable situations. In simple terms, he was the epitome of “playing the game in an annoying way.” I didn’t particularly disagree.
However, I had learned a lot about dealing with such cases from someone who accompanied me constantly and was a natural enemy of all professionals.
To sum up, it was quite simple:
‘Lead them to a place they can’t escape from, then focus fire to cut them down.’
Of course, explaining it like this might seem boastful, but they naturally added further details.
‘Holding a shield means your firepower is significantly reduced. Except for exceptions like me, the best they can manage is an SMG. This means, if you prevent them from folding the shield, you can engage in a direct fight.’
‘But ballistic shields are exceptionally tough, aren’t they? You’d need to hit them with over a hundred 5.56mm rounds to break them.’
‘You either don’t give them time to recover, or you have overwhelming firepower to destroy the shield. Once they fold the shield, repairs start, so keep pressing. But be careful, once the shield is folded, they might pull out a regular gun.’
Bluntly put, the summary was:
A guy with a shield has low firepower, so you can engage in a direct fight without much burden; just use a high-damage gun and beat them down.
In a way, this explained why the person carried ridiculously powerful guns that even special forces avoided. They controlled recoil well and could carry large amounts of ammunition, making them complete.
No matter how good a bulletproof vest was, it was meaningless if the kinetic energy from the bullets shattered ribs.
This method seemed incredibly crude.
Anyway.
I had thought it was a method only she could use, but it turned out to go this way. However, if this was the path to elevate me to a higher place, I had no choice but to follow.
If so….
Swish.
My current main weapon was the SIG MCX, but…now I was ready to use it without reserve. Once used up, the empty spaces in the armor would be filled with ASh-12.7 magazines.
I took a deep breath and began to move. I didn’t have to worry much about the noise I made while moving. Everything around was burning, and the sounds of expanding moisture were louder.
Michael was fast for a user with a shield, but I found him quickly.
He should have realized by now that such a strategy wouldn’t work in higher places.
───Drururururuk!
Tututak!
Massive flames sprouted from above the shield. As mentioned, the shield was incredibly tough and showed no signs of shaking. However, it was a fact that hitting it with enough bullets would break it, so I continued to fire without taking cover.
The bullets ran out in an instant. However, like a madman, I reloaded with the second magazine and poured more bullets into the shield. Michael’s pistol also fired, hitting me multiple times.
A brief respite. Michael, sensing something was wrong, slowly retreated with the shield up, but that was precisely what I was aiming for. A slow target like that was essentially asking to be hit.
[Notification: 5.56mm ammunition remaining: 90 rounds.］
Half of the initial stock was consumed, and half remained.
By the time I emptied the third magazine, Michael realized I would break his shield and hastily tried to flee, but he should have either charged or fled from the start.
The special characteristic of a space filled with fire. However, AP was a game judged solely by engagement, and paying attention to such variables only to fall into an obvious tactical trap was meaningless.
Therefore, there was only one outcome, and unfortunately, I had no intention of sparing Michael — in other words, it was time to settle the results of a wrong choice.
It was a common occurrence in this game.
It was time to harvest.
───Click!
It was my job to wake him up from his delusion.
I tore off the grenade connected to the fishing line, and the string attached to the pin pulled taut, releasing the safety. Thus, as the fist-sized metal chunk turned into a bomb, I saw Michael hurriedly moving.
However, the metal chunk wasn’t going to fly at him this time. The grenade, drawing an arc, hit the solid ground and stopped somewhere. Soon after, with a thud, something exploded.
What was it, you ask — the escalator.
Already precarious due to the fire.
Kwoom!
Creak!
An enormous shock was applied to the escalator already screaming from the heat. The escalator, which had become loose inside due to the heat, twisted drastically in an instant and tore off with an inorganic scream.
Thud, thud, thud! Crack! Ominous booms overlapped. As tons of debris from the first collapse fell onto another escalator, a second crack appeared, triggering an avalanche that demolished all the platforms below.
One of the few escape routes instantly turned into a pile of iron debris. Thus, the central hall was blown wide open. Across it, I faced Michael, whose expression had stiffened.
“Haha.”
That face looked terribly stiff.
Of course, instead of a warm greeting, I gave him another round of lead bullets.
This was another thing I had learned from Yoo Jin. Of course, I wasn’t talking about returning greetings with bullets, but the method of pruning the opponent’s options one by one.
It was the only thing I had been learning continuously from the moment I first met her.
I moved quietly. Michael had few options left.
Either he pierced through me to escape this place via the sky bridge to another building, or he calmly met his end here. Of course, I guarded the path to the bridge.
A lull set in. Meanwhile, the building’s foundation was becoming increasingly unstable. But there were hardly any signs of life around the passageway. What was Michael aiming for?
If I thought reasonably, I didn’t know for sure, but Michael was probably desperately hoping this situation would break apart. Therefore, it was time to speculate on his method.
Then came the sound.
[Warning: The enemy has accessed the department store’s central control system.］
At this point, suddenly?
There wasn’t much he could tamper with. The fire shutters would have automatically dropped, and the sprinklers were uncontrollable. I couldn’t predict what he would do, so I waited quietly, and then I heard….
A loud noise.
A continuous one.
───Boom, boom!
Where?
The department store’s foundation shook violently. Such an explosion was impossible even with explosives. From this, I inferred that Michael had done something beyond common sense.
However, combining this with the recent warning — a possibility flashed through my mind. It seemed impossible, but my instincts screamed it was the correct answer.
“No way, did he open the gas pipes…!”
The gas pipes, shut off due to the fire, must have been forcibly opened, leaking from damaged ceiling pipes. That was the source. The reverse-flowing flames likely reached the storage.
But that wasn’t the important part. As the department store shook violently as if about to collapse, Michael appeared suddenly, running.
Running straight towards me.
Now, it was a head-to-head fight.
Tukakakakang!
I discarded the MCX and pulled out the ASh-12.7, hidden behind the oxygen tank until the end.
As the thumb-sized armor-piercing rounds burst from the muzzle with a massive flame, the noise, incomparable to that of the 5.56mm rounds, poured out like hail.
Feeling the brutal power from my arms, Michael’s speed began to slow. As soon as that happened, I changed magazines. Despite zigzagging, close-range aim tracking was easy, and the bullet speed was even faster.
Eventually, after four magazines of armor-piercing rounds, Michael’s shield shattered, causing him to stagger significantly. Several rounds hit the gap, breaking the already heated barrier.
Michael hurriedly turned to flee.
But that was a fatal mistake.
───Kang!
A bullet from the wildly recoiling barrel accurately hit the tank on his back.
In an instant, he collapsed to the ground as his breathing became unclear. The surroundings were engulfed in flames, there was no way out, and even if he broke through the glass and fell, lava was flowing below.
Sigh.
Blonde hair was visible beyond the visor. Dice approached Michael and aimed her gun at him.
I opened my mouth.
“Good job.”
“Nothing good comes from getting involved with Yoo Jin or anyone related to her.”
Hearing that, Dice chuckled and replied.
“I’m dying too.”
Bang.
Leaving behind Michael, who was ejected into the lobby with a dumbfounded expression, Dice crossed the path of flames and moved to the opposite building.
She still had a match to finish.
[Harmony: These days, many people are imitating Yoo Jin!ㅋㅋ］
“Ugh.”
Harmony, who had been watching the sixth match, playfully added.
It seemed my image had already gone beyond redemption.