Level Up - Chapter 3

“What did…. What in the world did you do to my body?”

“It seems like the others didn’t come, and you don’t seem to be very enthusiastic about this either.” Hyun Seok commented.

Hearing this, Chang Soo spat out with a stiff face, “They’re hiding nearby. Do you think it’ll be hard to get rid of someone like you? Hand it over while I’m still speaking nicely.”

“What?” Hyun Seok replied.

“What do you mean by what?! Hand me the antidote, and don’t give me your bullshit by saying that it’s incurable. If that was the case, you wouldn’t have proposed this shitty bargain!”

Hyun Seok nodded his head and said, “At least you have some brains.”

“I didn’t come here to listen to your bullshit. I’ve already investigated everything about you so don’t you even think of escaping. Understand? Choi Hyun Seok??”

Hyun Seok just nodded in response.

“It’s nice to see someone taking the words right out of my mouth, but doesn’t that sound funny? Tell me, how are you going to attack me? You don’t even have your mana anymore. Six commoners are ganging up against a player? Ha! Even a dog passing by will laugh at your story.”

Chang Soo smiled gruesomely and said, “Why couldn’t we? Is a player not a human? If they get shot by a gun or sliced by a sword, they’ll die the same way, won’t they?”

Hyun Seok nodded in agreement and stood up before saying, “Then try your best. What a pity… and there’s still some time left.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your lost mana. If you take the antidote, it’ll return immediately. But if it passes a certain time, it gets harder to cure. Well, you can try to kill me and live the rest of your life manaless, if that’s what you want. ”

Chang Soo’s body trembled in anger as he glared at Hyun Seok.

Looking at his expression, Hyun Seok grinned widely.

“You know, humans are adaptive. Don’t you think that you’ll be able to adapt to your new manaless lifestyle? Sure, you might suffer the first few months, but you’ll get used to it one day.”

Hyun Seok turned around and headed towards the door as if he was saying that their conversation had already ended. When he was about to reach the door, Chang Soo jumped up and rushed towards him.

He didn’t expect Hyun Seok to leave just like that.

“Hey, stop! I said wait, you bastard!”

When Chang Soo got out, he saw Hyun Seok leaning against the wall while watching him with an amused face. It was as if he knew that this was going to happen.

“I realized that I haven’t even finished my coffee.” Hyun Seok said after standing straight. He walked back inside with a mischievous smile and went back to the table and gulped down the rest of his coffee.

Seeing Hyun Seok taking his time while smiling , Chang Soo’s anger boiled furiously. However, he knew that he couldn’t act so rashly.

“For your information, if you don’t take the antidote in 30 minutes, your mana pool will be permanently halved. What a pity, huh?”

Hearing this, Chang Soo tried to cool his temper and squeezed out his words, “I’ll do as you say, so hand me the antidote.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t hear you because of the crowd.”

Hyun Seok glanced around to search for Chang Soo’s comrades as he couldn’t have come alone. That’s why Hyun Seok needs to locate where the others were.

“This tension… I might get addicted to this.”

They might try a surprise attack. Although they might not have mana, a gun or a knife is enough to kill a player. Furthermore, it’s easy for a player to obtain weapons.

Hyun Seok’s senses had been honed through many years of battle and are functioning well. It will probably get even sharper from now on unless he purposely slacks off.

“Let’s see… I’ve found four rats already but the last one doesn’t seem to be around here.”

Chang Soo had 5 comrades in total. But no matter how hard Hyun Seok had concentrated, he couldn’t find the fifth one.

“That only meant one thing.”

The last member is waiting from somewhere that Hyun Seok’s senses couldn’t reach.

There’s a high chance for that member to be sniping him from a building far away.

“He’s surely well prepared.”

The edge of Hyun Seok’s lips slowly curled up. Getting sniped would be terrifying for everyone;

However, Hyun Seok was an exception.

The moment the sniper attempts to attack, Hyun Seok would be able to sense the sniper‘s murderous aura like a beam of light gathering at one point through a magnifier and trying to burn through.

Hyun Seok would have had a harder time against someone who would just fire a lot of bullets even without aiming.

For example, his sharp senses would have been meaningless against a machine gun. How could he dodge bullets when they’re rapidly flying around everywhere?

It may be possible if he had more power, but Hyun Seok hasn’t reached that level yet.

Anyways, after having a decent grasp as to where the others could ambush him, he looked at Choi Chang Soo and said, “So you’ll follow all of my orders?”

Chang Soo was startled and shrunk at Hyun Seok’s lethal and chilling stare.

“Is this kid really twenty? What kind of rookie is like this?”

Chang Soo felt as if he was facing a veteran player. Despite being called a veteran, it was only three years ago when the players had started emerging so there wasn’t much of a time difference.

However, the experience of battling with their lives on the line differentiates the veterans from the rookies as their lifestyle has trained them to emit a heavy pressure.

And Choi Chang Soo felt this kind pressure from Hyun Seok’s stare.

“Call your friends over. There are 30 minutes left until you lose your mana.”

“That wasn’t a bluff?”

“Do I look like I’m bluffing?”

Chang Soo made a troubled face. If it was true, he would have been in big trouble. There’s no point in taking the antidote if he could only recover half of his mana.

Mana was the most important thing for players because their mana pool capacity commensurates their strength.

If he hesitates any longer, everyone in his group would lose half of their mana and they would surely resent him for it.

Chang Soo then hurried out of the café and waved his hand. Actually, that was their signal to attack, but there were no other options as they haven’t made a sign to gather up and cooperate.

Four people rushed towards the café with their weapons.

However, Chang Soo yelled towards them before they could start their assault, “Hold on! Stop attacking!”

And noticing that there were only four people, Chang Soo’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit! I forgot about Myung Seok!”

Chang Soo quickly turned his head towards the building where Park Myung Seok was located. At the same time, a sharp noise was heard from the window.

CRAACK!

At the sight of the signal, Park Myung Seok pulled the trigger. As a sniper with great skills, his shot would probably hit the target.

“Dammit! I wasn’t planning for this to happen,” Chang Soo said as he clenched his fist and banged it on the wall.

This situation would seem like he only agreed to Hyun Seok just so they could snipe him the moment he let his guard down.

“Ouch!” As he hit the wall, an immense amount of pain shot down his hand. If Chang Soo had any mana left, the building would have collapsed instead of him receiving the recoil.

However, more than his aching fist, there’s a more pressing matter in his mind.

“How should I get my mana back now!? Myung Seok, that bastard! Why did he shoot without confirming the situation?!”

Myung Seok had only acted according to their plan but Chang Soo was so furious that he wasn’t able to think rationally.

“If that wasn’t an act, I guess this was an unexpected situation?”

Suddenly hearing that familiar voice, Choi Chang Soo felt a chill running down his spine.

Then, he turned around to see the source of that voice.

“Oh my god!” He stumbled backwards as if he saw a ghost.

Aside from the dust all over him as he rolled on the ground, Hyun Seok was standing there without a single scratch.

“The heck? He dodged that in that situation?”

Hyun Seok casually glanced at Chang Soo’s dumbfounded expression.

“Are you just going to leave him like that?” he asked while looking towards the building where the sniper was situated.

As they were speaking, Park Myung Seok was still aiming his gun in their direction. However, Hyun Seok’s angled position behind Chang Soo made it impossible for Myung Seok to attack.

Chang Soo finally understood the situation and violently waved his hands, signaling Myung Seok to come down. Seeing this, he lifted his gun and headed towards the café.

Hyun Seok distanced himself from Chang Soo since he’s waving his hands in the middle of the street like a mad man.

“Ughh… I don’t know who this guy is…” Hyun Seok said while backing away.

Chang Soo’s group also did the same as their faces turned red in embarrassment.

When Chang Soo realized what was happening, he glared at his group members with his flushed face.

When he arrived, Myung Seok asked with a puzzled face, “What happened?”

No one answered.

And the six silently walked into the café.

* * *

“This… is the antidote?” Chang Soo mumbled while observing the green marble on top of his palms. The others were also doing the same.

The antidote looked greasy and inedible that they couldn’t even dare to put it in their mouths.

Most importantly, is this really the antidote?

Their doubtful eyes went back and forth between Hyun Seok and the antidote.

Hyun Seok leaned back on his chair with an indifferent face and said, “Let’s see… There are approximately five minutes left. Each person is different so even I can’t tell exactly how much time is left. Some of you might have even lost your chance.”

That was the final blow. The thought of permanently losing their mana had already caused them extreme mental exhaustion.

“Well, we’re already at rock bottom…”

Without any other choice, they opened their mouth and threw the antidote in.

“Yuck!”

The antidote was extremely bitter that it could even be mistaken as poison instead.

“The fuck… how am I feeling the bitterness from my stomach?” Chang Soo growled.

They couldn’t understand how the taste continued to spread throughout their entire body. It didn’t just linger on their tongue. It was seeping through every inch of their body.

Even though he’s complaining, he still noticed the mana flowing out from the places that the antidote had spread to.

“Ohhh~”

They shuddered and shook in pleasure. Feeling the flowing mana brings pure ecstasy. It circulated through their nerves, stimulating an incomprehensible pleasure.

They had to control themselves from moaning, but some couldn’t keep it in.

What an interesting view.

But Hyun Seok distanced himself a little from Chang Soo’s group.

A few moments later, Chang Soo regained his composure. He slouched on the chair while staring at the ceiling.

After a while, he glared ferociously towards Hyun Seok.

“So it really was an antidote. My mana is back now.”

One by one, Chang Soo’s group members also stood straight. Although they still couldn’t keep their mana in control, they were staring at Hyun Seok.

“So, what’s our naïve little player going to do now?” said Chang Soo with a malicious grin.

“Who are you calling naïve?”

With Hyun Seok’s words, Choi Chang Soo’s heart slumped and he swallowed a chunk of his saliva.

The smile on Hyun Seok’s face was the same expression he had back in the dungeon.

“Damn it!”