The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 512

510. Dogfight (1)

“Unfortunately, we only have bolt-action rifles.”

That meant manually ejecting the spent cartridge and reloading. In other words, the rate of fire would inevitably be slower than automatic weapons. The same went for the pistols. The firearms I had now were only the equipment that Myeongwoo had put in the inventory.

I was fortunate that the bullets were compatible; if it were like the Serval’s gun, which only used magic power, it would have become a useless gun-shaped decoration.

“I received a lot of things from Mr. Shisio, but I didn’t have time to bring them.”

He even had the latest machine guns. Shisio readily handed over military supplies that I couldn’t even dream of in Korea. Our world’s modern weapons couldn’t be put into the inventory, so I had stored them separately, which was a shame. If I had brought them all, the game would be over right away.

“There are no spare holsters or cartridge belts either. Use something like a belt.”

If worst came to worst, I’d have to put them in my pockets. Fortunately, I had plenty of wire and string. I placed the laundry basket in the middle and packed useful items. Seong Hyeonje, who had taken the pistol from me, slung the bow on his back.

“There should be bows over there too. Song Taewon’s skill is quite good.”

“Yoohyun also has one for backup, but the chances of him taking it out are low. Unless it’s his main weapon, he usually keeps the backup in his inventory.”

There was no need to burden himself when he had an inventory. To save time pulling things out of the inventory, he sometimes equipped simple items in advance, but a bow was cumbersome.

“If the outside is open, it will end easily. But if it’s an environment with many hiding places, it could turn over in an instant.”

Even if we became non-awakened, the difference in physical condition remained. Seong Hyeonje aside, I would be at a great disadvantage the moment close combat occurred. Song Chief and Yoohyun were much stronger than me. Moreover, Song Chief was a former police officer, so he would be familiar with combat as a non-awakened person.

On the other hand, our Yoohyun hasn’t served in the military. He’s still young. Besides, I never even sent him to a Taekwondo academy.

“To prepare for the worst, it would be better for me to face Song Taewon, and Hanyujin-gun [Mr. Han Yoojin] to face your brother.”

“Yes. More than anything, if you aimed a gun at Yoohyun, I might unconsciously blow the back of your head off.”

My body would move before my head, so it couldn’t be helped. I wore weapons on my waist, thighs, and ankles. I also hid the transformed Grace [his weapon].

[00:00]

After 10 minutes, the timer disappeared and a message window popped up.

[All Awakened are now non-Awakened.]

At the same time, my body… well. There wasn’t a big change. I just felt a little heavier. Seong Hyeonje lightly moved his arm.

“My partner must have suffered a lot usually.”

“I am an Awakened too, you know?”

…I might be weaker than Seong Hyeonje in a non-awakened state. But if I equip myself, I’ll be stronger. Another message appeared.

[The current body is a dummy, and the original body is safely sleeping in a subspace connected to the dummy. Upon the dummy’s death, the team member’s consciousness will also fall asleep, and the dummy will be moved to the team’s waiting room. After the match, the dummy and the original body will be exchanged, and you will wake up.]

It was similar to the dungeons in Japan. There was no problem even if we died because it wasn’t our real body. We would feel the pain, though.

[The victory condition of the match is the last survivor. If there is no contact between the two teams for one hour, the team that moved more passively will be penalized.]

One hour. The space must be quite large. I barely had time to feel disappointed before one wall opened with a creaking sound. Cool air rushed in, and the smell of wet grass stung my nose.

It was a forest, or rather, a jungle. I could see a narrow path through it.

[All possessed items have also been replaced with dummies. There is a village in the center of the forest, and you can only move within a 10km radius around the village. Good luck.]

If there was a village, it was advantageous to arrive first. I was glad I brought the bicycle just in case. I tied the laundry basket with the luggage to the front of the bicycle with wire and turned to Seong Hyeonje.

“Hey, get on!”

Seong Hyeonje readily climbed onto the back of the bicycle, and I felt embarrassed. No, I just said it unconsciously. It was a relief that it was only Seong Hyeonje. Yoohyun… wouldn’t he have understood even if he were here?

“…Since we’re ordinary people now, hold on tight so you don’t fall off.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t make creepy noises.”

I vigorously pedaled. I often rode with the kids, so I could easily pick up speed even on rough roads. Since we had become non-awakened, a bicycle was much faster than a person running. Besides, the bicycle Seong Hyeonje gave me was quite good. We quickly crossed the forest, bumping slightly.

“Can’t you hear anything?”

“It seems there are no living creatures other than plants.”

There were no birds or insects. Only the branches swaying in the wind.

“In other words, if there is any movement of a certain size or more, it must be the two of them. If anything moves, let’s shoot first.”

Close combat was disadvantageous, so we had to inflict injuries. I hoped the village would be open. The current environment was too good for hiding. There were too many wet trees to burn them all.

Before long, the village appeared. It was a small village with five houses and a watchtower surrounded by a wooden fence. It was smaller than I thought, but it wasn’t bad. If it were a bustling city, there would be too many places to hide, just like the forest.

As soon as I entered the village, I got off the bicycle and lifted the laundry basket.

“There is a limit to the number of weapons we can carry, so let’s hide them. However, keep all the bullets with you.”

Without bullets, firearms are just blunt weapons. Even if Yoohyun or Song Chief found them first, it would be safe. I quickly finished preparing and climbed up the watchtower, not knowing when the two would arrive.

Seong Hyeonje headed to the only two-story house. I saw him lean out of the second-floor window and lightly climb onto the roof as if he were flying. His movements were no joke, even though he was non-awakened. He took off his coat, which was useless without any abilities, and instead wore a vest with many pockets over his shirt. That vest must have been an item originally.

Seong Hyeonje, leaning against the tall chimney, looked up at me. Why was he waving his hand?

‘I should have slapped his back while I had the chance.’

My hand would hurt now. I aimed the loaded gun at the forest and carefully scanned the surroundings. There was still no movement. To avoid getting penalized, the two would definitely come to the village.

We would be clearly visible to them, but they wouldn’t have any suitable means to attack. Even if they were lucky enough to take out a bow, they wouldn’t have arrows. Yoohyun didn’t even have a quiver. Since the bow wasn’t his main weapon, he could just take it out of his inventory. I thought Song Chief would be similar.

I quietly watched the forest for a while.

‘That is…’

Something black flashed between the leaves. The Heavenly Thunder God’s ceremonial suit. I immediately aimed my gun and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A loud noise rang out, and the branches broke and fell. The black thing quickly changed direction. I quickly pulled the bolt, aimed, and fired again. Immediately after the shooting.

Thump!

“Ugh!”

Something hit the watchtower’s pillar. As soon as I ducked below the railing, another thump sounded, and the wooden pillar was dented. Wait, what!

* * *

Song Taewon’s expression instantly hardened. Messages popped up one after another, and the wall blocking his view disappeared. Feeling his whole body become heavy, Song Taewon looked at the blue forest spread out before him.

“Even if we become non-awakened, Hanyujin-ssi [Mr. Han Yoojin]—”

“Gun.”

Han Yoohyun said.

“Hyung [older brother] has a gun.”

“…It doesn’t operate with magic power?”

“S-class does, but lower classes are different. It can be used with ordinary guns.”

“Then…….”

Silence fell between the two. Becoming non-awakened and firearms. If they had simply become non-awakened, the odds would still be in their favor. Han Yoojin wouldn’t be of much help, so it was practically a two-on-one fight.

But if a gun was added to the equation, things were different.

“The inventory doesn’t open either.”

Han Yoohyun said, trying to take out his bow.

“It’s the same for me. We don’t have any ranged weapons.”

Neither of them even thought of taking out their bows in advance. Han Yoohyun blinked, looking at the forest. He had never felt this much difficulty before a battle.

“Hyung [older brother] is really…….”

An inappropriate smile appeared on Han Yoohyun’s face. His mind felt tied up, but that made him even more excited. Han Yoojin would have quickly finished preparing and be waiting for him.

On the other hand, a dark shadow fell over Song Taewon’s face. Instead of a battle between Awakened, a normal battle before the appearance of dungeons came to his mind. A bare body without even a bulletproof vest. All he had were close-range weapons. On the other hand, the opponent had a gun.

“First, to the village—”

“He has a bicycle.”

Han Yoohyun said. It was one mountain after another. No matter how hard they ran, a non-awakened person couldn’t catch up to a bicycle.

“There’s no chance he didn’t take it out, is there.”

Song Taewon muttered with a slight sigh. Han Yoojin probably already knew about this situation. He was prepared for the disadvantageous environment. Still, he was confident that he wouldn’t lose to Han Yoojin in a simple battle. Han Yoojin had even suddenly proposed the bet without any preparation.

And yet, it was like this.

“Then… it’s highly likely that he arrived at the village first and is preparing. Close combat is still disadvantageous, so he’ll take a high position for sniping.”

“If we have to come out of the forest late and approach, it seems difficult to completely avoid gunfire with a non-awakened body the moment we’re exposed. Is that right?”

Han Yoohyun, who wasn’t familiar with firearms, asked. He had only seen ordinary gunfights on TV. Even then, he wasn’t interested, so he had only seen them in passing next to Han Yoojin.

“Is it automatic, or rather, fully automatic?”

“Excuse me?”

“In the case of rifles, there’s a bolt like this…….”

Song Taewon broke off a branch and drew a picture on the dirt floor to explain. Han Yoohyun told him about the firearms he had seen, assuring him that they were manual.

“If it’s not automatic, he has to manually load the next bullet, so the rate of fire will be slow. There’s no scope either, so the accuracy will be relatively low.”

Still, they would have to leave it to luck. The distance to reach Han Yoojin and Seong Hyeonje after escaping the forest was important, but they would definitely hold out in a place that was difficult to approach. Even if the village was small, it would take at least a few minutes. That would be enough time to get hit by one or two bullets.

Song Taewon’s fist clenched tightly. The thought of giving up here crept into his mind. But, he. Not yet. His anxious eyes scanned the surroundings. A stone came into his sight.

“…Sling.”

A sling. A primitive but powerful ranged weapon. Song Taewon hurriedly took off his shirt.

“Please gather stones.”

“Stones?”

“A fist-sized, rugby ball shape is best, but round ones are fine too. It’s a weapon that uses a rope to hold a stone, which is swung around and thrown.”

In the past, it was used as an actual combat weapon, and its range was considerable. It would be even more effective with Song Taewon and Han Yoohyun’s strength. Han Yoohyun searched the forest for stones, and Song Taewon tore and twisted his shirt to make a rope.

After practicing a few times, they both accurately hit their targets. Han Yoohyun’s sling was especially sharp. Before the one-hour time limit passed, the two headed to the village. They walked along the road, sticking to the side so they wouldn’t be seen from above, and moved quickly.

Before long, the village appeared between the lush trees. Han Yoohyun took off his ceremonial suit and held it, and Song Taewon cleverly cut down branches with a knife and wove them into a scarecrow with vines.

“Hyung [older brother] is in the watchtower, and the Seseong Guild Leader is on the roof of that two-story house.”

“I’ll take on Seong Hyeonje Hunter.”

Now that skills were gone, the physical difference was more important than before. It was better for Song Taewon to hold Seong Hyeonje while Han Yoohyun subdued Han Yoojin. Song Taewon quietly approached Seong Hyeonje, going around without leaving the forest. Han Yoohyun tied a wire to the scarecrow wearing the ceremonial suit. Despite his reduced eyesight, he could clearly see Han Yoojin.

The fact that they were at a disadvantage remained. But Han Yoohyun even welcomed that, and he stretched out the wire and moved to the side. After creating a reasonable distance from the scarecrow, he cleverly pulled the wire to make it slightly exposed. Immediately after.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. The corners of Han Yoohyun’s lips couldn’t help but rise. Even knowing it was his own clothes, Han Yoojin fearlessly fired. While pulling the wire with one hand to draw attention, Han Yoohyun’s other hand swung the sling. Putting all his strength into his shoulder and arm, the sling fiercely cut through the air, shooting out the stone.

Then, thump! The stone hit the watchtower, and Han Yoojin ducked. Not missing the opportunity, Han Yoohyun ran out of the forest. Even while running towards the watchtower with all his might, he didn’t forget to throw stones. Again, thump, a stone hit the watchtower.

The pillar cracked, and the watchtower creaked. But Han Yoojin wasn’t just avoiding. As soon as the second stone collided with the watchtower, he raised his body again and identified Han Yoohyun’s location. The corners of Han Yoojin’s lips also curved up.