Level Up Machine

Chapter 7 Forced Liberation (4)

Gatling gun.

A firearm with unbelievable destructive power and rate of fire compared to a regular rifle.

However, due to its heavy weight, it was generally mounted on fighter jets or bunkers, and not a weapon that was carried around.

In 21st century Korea, even those who served in the military rarely saw this weapon, so most people had seen it only in movies.

And that weapon appeared, protruding from Yeong-sik’s back.

“W-what is that?”

Nam Gi-tae’s men, who were holding Ara, also stared at Yeong-sik with bewildered expressions.

The mere fact that a person’s back had opened up was startling enough, but for a Gatling gun to emerge from it?

They looked at Yeong-sik with dumbfounded faces, unable to comprehend the situation.

Before they could even collect their thoughts, the weapon protruding from Yeong-sik’s back began to spew fire.

—Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

“Ahhhh!”

“C-crazy! What is this?!”

As the black muzzle spewed fire, chaos akin to a disaster descended upon the forest.

The overwhelming firepower was so great that enormous trees turned into beehives and fell in an instant, sweeping the surroundings.

Amidst such overwhelming firepower, the men screamed and tried to flee, but there was no way they could avoid the rain of bullets with such actions.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the men’s limbs were torn from their bodies.

In less than three seconds, all of Nam Gi-tae’s men surrounding Ara were dead.

Amazingly, despite the hundreds or thousands of bullets sweeping the area, neither Ara nor Gil-soo was harmed in the slightest.

“Ugh, ah.”

As soon as the Gatling gun protruded from Yeong-sik’s back and started spewing fire, Nam Gi-tae dropped flat to the ground to avoid the attack.

The horrific screams of his dying subordinates echoed in his ears.

“W-what? What the hell is going on?”

Nam Gi-tae trembled, his face filled with fear.

He was so confused by this disaster-like situation that he couldn’t even think of running away.

He regretted not fleeing the moment Yeong-sik’s right arm ‘launched.’

Just from that, it should have been clear that Yeong-sik was an extraordinary being.

He should have anticipated that Yeong-sik possessed unpredictable variables.

Yet, he hadn’t run away.

He had let his guard down after seeing Yeong-sik lying helplessly after being beaten by his subordinates.

—Shuuuu.

The flames spewing from the Gatling gun stopped.

White smoke rose from the gun barrel.

Nam Gi-tae, curled up on the ground and trembling, cautiously lifted his head to look at Yeong-sik.

Yeong-sik’s eyes, glowing with a red light, were fixed on Nam Gi-tae.

Seeing those eyes, Nam Gi-tae stiffened and spoke with a trembling voice.

“S-spare me…”

A pitiable voice escaped his lips.

Yeong-sik did not respond to his plea and simply stared at him with eyes glowing red.

—Jiiiiing.

With an ominous sound, the red light emanating from Yeong-sik’s eyes grew stronger.

Nam Gi-tae looked at him with a desperate expression.

A dreadful premonition flashed through his mind.

“No way…”

An absurd thought occurred to him.

As unreasonable as it seemed, he couldn’t dismiss it given the bizarre things Yeong-sik had already shown.

Nam Gi-tae looked at Yeong-sik’s increasingly intense glowing eyes with trembling eyes.

“No, no matter what…”

Denying the thought that came to his mind, he turned pale and began to run away with all his might.

Yeong-sik’s gaze followed Nam Gi-tae’s fleeing back.

“A laser is just…”

—Pew!

A laser shot from Yeong-sik’s eyes, aimed at Nam Gi-tae’s back.

Nam Gi-tae’s body was sliced in half by the high-temperature laser beam.

The acrid smell of burning flesh spread through the forest.

—Click.

The sound of gears meshing came from Yeong-sik’s body once more.

The Gatling gun that had emerged from his back retracted back inside him.

The red glow in his eyes faded, returning to their original state.

A heavy silence descended like a curtain.

Gil-soo and Ara stared at Yeong-sik with stunned expressions.

The atmosphere between them was even more awkward than when Yeong-sik’s right arm had launched.

“Huff, huff…”

Yeong-sik panted heavily as he looked down at his own body.

He was just as shocked as they were.

He felt like a stranger to himself.

When he had used Rocket Punch, he thought only his right arm was mechanical, like a prosthetic, and that the rest of his body was human.

He had been too human-like to think otherwise.

But now, no one could call him human after seeing his current state.

“What is this…”

Yeong-sik’s mind was in turmoil.

Gil-soo, who had gotten up from the ground, cautiously stepped toward him.

At that moment.

—Crackle!

“Ugh! Aaaargh!”

“Yeong-sik!”

“Yeong-sik!”

Blue electricity erupted from Yeong-sik’s body, engulfing him in excruciating pain.

Yeong-sik clutched his head, desperately enduring the overwhelming agony.

A mechanical voice echoed in his ears.

“Due to overload, the body’s functions will temporarily degrade sharply. Recovery will take 4 minutes and 57 seconds.”

“Aaaargh!”

Yeong-sik screamed in agony as his mind felt like it was burning white-hot.

He writhed on the ground in pain.

The suffocating agony consumed his entire being.

Was this what it felt like to have electricity coursing directly through one’s veins?

Yeong-sik trembled and crawled on the ground.

Gil-soo and Ara, with urgent expressions, rushed toward him.

“Yeong-sik! Are you okay?!”

Gil-soo reached out to touch Yeong-sik’s body.

Even in his agony, Yeong-sik realized that if Gil-soo touched him now, the massive current flowing over his skin would be fatal.

Yeong-sik rolled away from Gil-soo’s hand and spoke in a voice that seemed ready to break.

“D-don’t. Touch. Me.”

Yeong-sik forced the words out.

Hearing this, Gil-soo’s hand stopped.

He looked at Yeong-sik with a sympathetic expression.

The profound helplessness weighed heavily on his shoulders, knowing there was nothing he could do.

“Ugh. Ah.”

Yeong-sik curled up, enduring the excruciating pain coursing through his entire body.

The five minutes required to relieve the overload felt like an eternity.

Yeong-sik closed his eyes and bit his lip hard.

A forgotten fragment of memory flashed through his mind.

He saw himself seated on a massive throne.

Around the throne, numerous mechanical devices were intricately intertwined.

In his memory, he gazed at something with deeply sunken eyes.

A hazy figure looked up at him and spoke.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

The figure asked him as if it was beyond comprehension.

Seated on the throne, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Because I failed.”

His voice was cold and sharp, like a blade slicing through the air.

At his words, the figure clamped its mouth shut.

Silence fell between them.

After a while, the figure broke the silence.

—Crrrack. Bzzzzt.

Static noise, like that from a broken radio, echoed in his ears.

The fragment of memory that had flashed through Yeong-sik’s mind scattered again.

“What was that?”

Yeong-sik was lost in thought, momentarily forgetting the pain.

The massive throne.

The surrounding mechanical devices. The figure that spoke to him.

The memory was so fragmented that it didn’t help him understand who he was or why he had such a body.

“Who am I, really?”

Yeong-sik felt a burning thirst.

It was a sensation as if he were abandoned alone in a vast, endless ocean.

He saw nothing, touched nothing. Only endless emptiness filled his chest.

—Shuuuuu.

The blue electricity that had been surging from Yeong-sik’s body subsided. Gray smoke billowed from his body.

Yeong-sik felt the searing pain that had gripped his entire body fade away.

He slowly stood up.

“Yeong-sik? Are you alright?”

Ara asked him with a worried expression.

Yeong-sik nodded tiredly.

“Yes. I’m not sure what’s going on… but I think I’m okay.”

He spoke in a thin, trembling voice as he looked at his own hands.

Even though they were his own hands, they felt very unfamiliar.

Gil-soo glanced around and spoke.

“Let’s get out of here first. We can talk about everything that happened today later.”

He said this to consider Yeong-sik, who looked confused.

Hearing this, Yeong-sik managed a faint smile.

Seeing Gil-soo’s friendly smile and Ara’s worried eyes looking at him made him feel a bit less empty inside.

“Yes. For now… I just want to rest and gather my thoughts.”

So much had happened to him today.

Fragments of memories had surfaced.

He needed time to organize his thoughts.

“Let’s do that. Let’s head back to the cave quickly.”

Gil-soo, relieved that Yeong-sik seemed okay, spoke with a smile of relief.

Yeong-sik nodded and slowly began to walk.

At that moment, Ara, who seemed to be deep in thought, called out to him.

“Yeong-sik.”

“Yes?”

“…Thank you for saving me. And earlier… I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.”

She said this while lowering her eyes slightly.

She felt embarrassed for having cursed at him earlier without understanding his true intentions.

Yeong-sik chuckled at her words.

“It’s nothing. Actually, because Ara acted that way earlier, it was easier for me to find an opening. I should be the one apologizing for hitting your stomach.”

Yeong-sik replied in a tone so polite it almost felt refreshing.

Hearing this, Ara looked a bit regretful and spoke again.

“…You can speak informally.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, you can speak informally.”

Ara, slightly glaring at Yeong-sik who didn’t catch her meaning at first, repeated in a low voice.

Yeong-sik looked a bit embarrassed but then nodded.

“Alright. Then you can speak informally too, Ara.”

“O…okay.”

Ara answered in a shy, almost whispering voice, lowering her head.

Gil-soo watched the exchange between Yeong-sik and Ara with a somewhat pleased expression.

“Alright, let’s go back now.”

Yeong-sik cleared his throat and turned to leave. At that moment.

—Ding.

[Summoner Cheon Tae-hwang has defeated Orc Chieftain Krol.]

[Tutorial ends.]

Along with a blue message window, the surrounding scenery changed.