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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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The sound of slicing, dicing, and stabbing. All sorts of sounds pierced my ears. The teeth of the monster bat I was gripping. The jaw of the monster bat I was stomping on. They were trembling. Every time the Shadow Warrior swung its sword, every time blood and flesh flew into the sky, the monster bat’s jaw trembled. And then, the creature shrieked.
Screeech!
My eardrums were pounding. It felt like electricity was buzzing in my ears.
Cough.
Blood gushed from its throat and flowed back. It covered my body with a splat. The creature screamed.
Screeech!
It was different. Definitely different. The sound, the trembling of its jaw, even its wing beats. It was in pain. I was covered in warm blood, and I smiled. Feeling the pain in my chest, the suffocating pressure, and the creature’s claws digging into my stomach. I smiled.
Die. Just die and disappear.
Rip!
I heard something tear. The monster bat’s body shook violently. And then, the sound of something being cut at an incredible speed. The creature’s claws, which had been gripping my body, slowly loosened. I knew instinctively. I was falling. I didn’t know how high I had climbed. If I fell from here, I would die.
I instinctively grabbed the bat’s rope-like fur.
Slide
The creature’s hind legs, which had been gripping my body. They were released. And the creature’s hind legs moved away. Farther and farther, they fell below. I see. I had ordered it to be cut. I had thought it would cut off a wing, but I was wrong. The Shadow Warrior had cut off its waist in dozens of slashes.
The monster bat’s eyes glazed over.
Screeech-
It wasn’t a scream. It was a groan.
I instinctively grabbed its fur and started to climb.
“Ugh…!”
It hurt. It felt like my chest would be torn apart. My stomach hurt. But if I let go, I would fall. No. Was I… was I going to die…!
The strength in its flapping wings seemed to be slowly fading. The giant pair of wings twitched and flapped on their own. My body was swaying from side to side.
“Ugh, ugh!”
I endured the pain, gritted my teeth, and climbed up its body against the strong wind. And I climbed up to its neck.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The creature coughed up blood. A giant bat with no hind legs, its waist cut off.
Stab, crack!
When I got to its neck, the Shadow Warrior was still slashing at it. I held out my hand. Come back.
The Shadow Warrior whipped its head around to look at me. And it leaped towards me, its hand outstretched.
Thwack!
The sword was in my hand. At the same time, a stabbing pain shot through my chest.
“Gak…!”
Its skull was sliced and peeled back, its brain was almost exposed, its intestines were spilling from its lower half, and the bat was slowly tilting downwards. I plunged my sword into its neck. It didn’t even scream. The monster bat had lost its momentum and was slowly falling.
I could see the ground. …It looked like I was looking at Google Maps. Damn, how high up were we? The air was cold. In this summer.
“Ugh, ugh!”
It was hard to breathe. The bat’s wings were pushed by the wind and flapped, and then they folded back.
We were falling. Free-falling towards the ground!
“Ugh, ugh, ugh.”
Crazy. What should I do? What was I supposed to do? I looked around. Nothing. Just folded wings and flapping fur.
…Right.
If I fell into the water, maybe…!
I gripped the fur and looked down. The river was just a thin line. …It would be impossible to land there accurately. Even if I fell into the water, I wouldn’t be safe from this height.
I had used up all my Acceleration. Even if I had some left, it wouldn’t be enough to solve this situation. If I hit the ground like this, I couldn’t even guess how fast I would be falling. There would be nothing left of my human form.
The wind was blowing like crazy. No, I was tearing through the air. The rice paddies, which had been the size of a fingernail, were getting bigger.
“…Damn…”
A gale-force wind, as if it would rip out my hair. I looked down at the ground, my whole body flying. How? How could I?
At that moment, something caught my eye. The monster wild boar that had crashed into the barracks. It was getting up. It was smashing a large part of the building with its head and was about to charge onto the runway. The soldiers were running away. Some were shooting with miniguns. But it was no use. The monster wild boar crashed into the barracks again. It was collapsing. The corner was collapsing again. At this rate, it would come down in an instant. …But right now, I had no way to survive either.
It was hard to even breathe in the wind. The ground was getting closer. And I, in a hopeless situation, with a glimmer of hope for a breakthrough, opened my status window.
“…Status!”
…!
I had maxed out my Shadow Warrior level! Was it because of the wild boar?! I gripped the thick fur of the free-falling monster bat and pressed Shadow Warrior.
—. Time Adjuster (Max.)
—. Survival Expert (Max.)
—. Wild Hunter (Max.)
—. Shadow Warrior (Max.)
Spatial Seeker
??? (Not selectable)
Spatial Seeker. I chose number 1 without hesitation. The wind was too strong. It was hard to open my eyes. I didn’t know if I had pressed it correctly. A message window popped up in front of my eyes.
[New specialization acquired.]
[New skill acquired.]
I know, I know.
“…Status!”
Skill.
A new skill!
[Active – Spatial Claw]
S-Spatial Claw?! Wait a minute. Why wasn’t this auto-casting? No, that wasn’t important right now! I pressed Spatial Claw.
Active – Spatial Claw
Grasps a desired space within a certain range.
And moves to that space.
Immune to the impact of movement.
Agility – 5
…What?
Move to a space? …Immune to impact?! I looked down at the ground. The ground was approaching at an incredible speed. I only had a few seconds left. How. How was I supposed to use it! How!
Rumble!
I heard the sound of something collapsing. I looked back instinctively. The monster wild boar was crashing through the building and coming out towards me. There was no time. I couldn’t delay! It was an instinctive action. I held out my hand. Towards the back of the monster wild boar right below me. Just a few dozen meters. A fleeting moment. I clenched my fist.
Please!
The next moment, the monster wild boar’s back expanded like lightning. I felt something touch my feet, my knees, and my fists. And everything went dark.
Wooooosh
My ears were ringing. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t hear. I didn’t know what was happening. Just, my whole body was warm.
I slowly opened my eyes. A faint, something was glinting in the light. …Blood and muscle. And, gathered around me, numerous skulls. Pained faces. Screaming expressions. I gasped and raised my head.
…It was bright! The sunlight was coming down from above. And I realized. I had just… …pierced through the monster wild boar, bone and all.
I looked around again. It was like a bomb had exploded. Everything around me was broken, shattered, and torn apart, as if it had truly exploded from the inside.
Drip, drip.
Blood, flesh, and entrails were flowing down around me. And it was quiet.
—hoon-ssi! Sung-hoon-ssi!
I heard a voice. A woman’s voice. …Sung Ga-yeon? …Hearing her voice, I came back to my senses.
Smoke. Smoke was rising from my body. Just like when I held a damaged sword with my gloves, white smoke was rising from my body.
I stood up. The feeling under my feet was slushy. My chest hurt. My stomach hurt. But it was healing. Slowly. Slowly. But surely, the wound that was exposed through my torn t-shirt was slowly closing and returning to normal.
Sizzle
I was emitting smoke from my entire body, and I gasped for breath. …So this was it. The tattoo on my body. What the Soul Tattoo had given me. And… I slowly raised my hand and looked down at my palm.
…I didn’t know what had happened. I shouldn’t be alive. To be alive after falling from that height, no matter what abilities I had, was a cheat as a living being.
…Spatial Claw. …This… was the ability of a Spatial Seeker. The ability to grasp a space and move to it.
“…Phew.”
In the stench of blood from the monster wild boar’s body, I slowly raised my head, bathed in the faint sunlight. …My sword. Where did it go? I must have dropped it in the air. …Whatever. I still had one. I drew my sword.
Shing
“Sung-hoon-ssi! Sung-hoon-ssi!”
…Shut up, Sung Ga-yeon. Stop screaming.
“Haa…”
I held out my sword and swung at the flesh, skulls, and skin in front of me with all my might. And I got out of the monster wild boar’s body.
The sunlight. It was bright. Covered in blood and some sticky substance. Emitting white smoke from my entire body, I got out of the creature’s body.
“Haa, haa.”
I gasped for breath and raised my head. The people were staring at me. I couldn’t read their expressions. I couldn’t even guess what those expressions meant.
“Sung-hoon-ssi!”
Sung Ga-yeon was running towards me.
Ah, right.
Come and help me.
I tried to hold onto my fading consciousness, but I couldn’t help it as my vision went black.
My legs gave out.
Ah, damn it.
How embarrassing.
Thwack.
Someone caught me. …Soft. It must have been Sung Ga-yeon. I slowly lowered my head. I didn’t know, let’s just rest.
Someone muttered in a trembling voice, “…Jesus christ.”
I don’t know, man.
Don’t speak English.
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