Chapter 14 : Orb of Water (6)

“Well now, what should I say…… It’s been a while since I met a fellow user, so it’s quite nice to see you.”

To be honest, I had hardly thought that Aichuwong would be alive.

No, in fact, I had already declared him dead in my mind.

Because various circumstances had pointed so clearly to Aichuwong’s death.

But that was a misconception.

A deliberately staged and crafted misconception.

“The power of the Orb of Winter is what blocked my attack just now, right? As expected, it’s amazing. More than I thought.”

“Did you wait on purpose?”

“I thought that if I holed up and waited here, people like you aiming for the Orb of Winter would come. It was worth the wait, I tell you.”

Aichuwong shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s been a while since I found the Orb of Winter, but I just couldn’t break the seal. So I wrote a post on the anonymous bulletin board and waited here, thinking someone would come and break it for me, and it was just as I expected.”

From the very beginning, everything was a stage set by Aichuwong.

However, if there was one thing Aichuwong hadn’t anticipated, it would be that I had entered this place not through the cave entrance, but through the trap created by the Orb of Water.

Therefore, Aichuwong was not aware of my visit in advance, and by the time Aichuwong showed up, the Orb of Water was already in my hands.

“Now, so, would you mind handing that over to me? No matter that the owner isn’t in sight, it’s not right to steal someone else’s belongings.”

As expected, Aichuwong had no intention of giving up the Orb of Water willingly.

“And if I refuse?”

“Hey, what’s wrong? That was my item from the beginning. If you sneakily took someone else’s thing, isn’t it common sense to return it to the owner?”

“If I return it, what then?”

“We go our separate ways. How simple and clean is that?”

I was almost at a loss for words at how shamelessly he was spouting such nonsense when he had no intention of doing so.

From the fact that he had thrown a spear at me the moment I arrived, Aichuwong probably never had any intention of letting me leave alive in the first place.

“I refuse.”

“Hmm, why are you trying to throw away your precious life? You should enjoy everything you can in this great world. Don’t you think so?”

“A great world?”

“Yes, this place is much better than reality. Here, we can reign like nobles with just a little effort, unlike in reality where no one acknowledges you no matter how hard you try.”

I think I was beginning to understand.

What kind of person Aichuwong was.

“So you’re saying you don’t want to return to reality?”

“Isn’t that what games are for in the first place?”

Aichuwong laughed fiercely and drew his weapons.

Weapons that looked extraordinary at a glance.

‘Arkon’s Bone Spear and Rogus’s Straight Sword.’

That alone told me what level of a user Aichuwong was.

“Well, fine. It’s a good chance to test the power of the Orb of Winter, so this works out.”

No matter how much this place corresponded to the entrance of the Demonic Realm, if he was coming and going as if it were his own home, he had to be at least level 4.

In addition to that, considering the level of his equipment, Aichuwong was a powerhouse that I couldn’t even dare to compare myself with right now.

“I’ll ask one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Are you the newbie hunter?”

“Newbie hunter? Haha! I thought you were naive, but you actually believe in those bulletin board ghost stories? Does something like that even exist?”

“So you’re saying no.”

I had now asked everything I wanted to ask.

Since it seemed Aichuwong had no intention of backing down peacefully anyway, I too had no intention of yielding the first strike.

‘Close combat is… impossible, I suppose.’

The level of swordsmanship I currently possessed was at best F-class.

On top of that, considering the difference in other physical abilities, close combat was out of the question, no matter how much I had the Orb of Water.

Clack─

The muzzle of the Colt garrison B-09, revealed from within my coat, aimed at Aichuwong.

“……Huh?”

At the appearance of a tool of civilization, so foreign in this world, Aichuwong’s reaction was a little delayed.

“A gun?”

At the same time, Aichuwong couldn’t hide his shock at the intimidating presence of the weapon known as a gun.

Just how far would the power of a gun work in this world?

It had already been proven to work against low-level demonic beasts of around level 1 to 2, but it was unknown if it would work against demonic beasts above that.

No, there was a high possibility that a gun wouldn’t work properly against those like Aichuwong, who wore equipment crafted from demonic beast materials.

Therefore, the place to aim for was decided from the very beginning.

A place not protected by armor.

The head.

Among that, the clearly exposed spot between his eyebrows was the place I had to aim for.

Taaaang!!──

A gunshot that rang out with the pulled trigger.

And the splattering of fresh blood.

“Aargh! F*ck!”

Unfortunately, my surprise attack ended with just blowing off Aichuwong’s right ear.

In addition to the surprise attack, I had induced panic by showing him the object called a gun, but he had narrowly escaped the muzzle with unbelievably superhuman reaction speed.

“How in the world did you get a gun……!”

Was it thanks to seeing the power of the gun?

Aichuwong could no longer look down on me with the same leisure as before.

That more-than-necessary vigilance became an excellent target for me.

Tang!

Tatang!!─

With the successively pulled triggers, bullets flew aiming for Aichuwong, hitting his shoulder and side.

“Kugh!”

Unfortunately, however, it seemed it wasn’t enough to pierce the armor Aichuwong was wearing, and although he was shocked, he didn’t suffer a penetrating wound.

‘It can’t pierce armor made from Radyun’s material. This much is within my calculations.’

Radyun is a demonic beast classified as level 4, and its leather is tough and hard, so it is mainly used as a material for armor.

It was now officially confirmed that the firepower of the Colt garrison B-09 could not pierce the hide of a demonic beast of level 4 or higher.

“You son of a b*tch!”

In the meantime, Aichuwong’s sword came flying towards me.

I couldn’t dodge it.

The very idea of dodging that ferocious charge with my pathetic physical abilities was nonsense.

“Die.”

Aichuwong gave a savage smile as if he was certain of victory.

But there was one fact that Aichuwong had forgotten.

That I had become the master of the Orb of Water.

[The ‘Orb of Water’ protects the user.]

A curtain of ice that appeared in front of me blocked Aichuwong’s sword strike once.

Clang!

The ice curtain cracked from Aichuwong’s sword strike as if it would shatter at any moment, but fortunately, it did not break.

I did not miss this gap.

Literally a fleeting opportunity.

For me, this was enough.

[Activating ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]

[‘Lv.1’ weapon will be summoned.]

[Summoning weapon, ‘Colt garrison B-09’.]

The Colt garrison B-09 I was holding in my right hand disappeared with particles of light, and soon a new Colt garrison B-09 appeared in my left hand.

“You, son of a─”

From Aichuwong’s flustered face, unidentifiable stone powders began to fall.

An obvious sign of magic.

Considering the price one had to pay to use magic in this world, it meant that Aichuwong too had instinctively felt that this was a crisis.

‘But, I’m faster.’

Before Aichuwong’s curse could continue, a gunshot rang out with the pulled trigger.

Taaaaang!!!───

A stream of blood shot up from Aichuwong’s forehead, and his body fell backward.

Thud.

Even though Aichuwong had fallen, I didn’t let my guard down and fired a few more bullets into his head as a confirmation kill.

Normally, at this point, his head should have shattered like a watermelon and scattered everywhere, but instead of shattering to pieces, Aichuwong’s face was cracked like a broken stone.

It seemed to be a defensive magic obtained by contracting with a demon of rock.

‘It would have been dangerous if the magic had been completed.’

To think he was hiding magic like this…….

If Aichuwong hadn’t been careless from the beginning and had used magic at the cost of its price, I would never have been able to kill him.

It was truly a victory created by luck, carelessness, and the instinctive aversion to magic that users of World of Justice were likely to have.

“Hoo…….”

I took a deep breath and looked at Aichuwong, who was now a corpse.

I had killed a person.

No matter how unavoidable it was, that was an absolute fact.

“……Hmm.”

But strangely, my mind was at peace.

As if something like murder couldn’t create a single ripple in my clear-as-a-mirror heart.

That fact made me feel like I had become a monster myself, but funnily enough, even that self-reflection was perfectly serene.

‘I should do what I have to do.’

The leave I was given was for just one day.

Now that I had achieved what I wanted, I had no intention of dawdling in a place like this.

The first thing I did was, of course, to collect all of Aichuwong’s belongings, including the equipment he was wearing.

The cold-weather uniform made of Radyun leather that Aichuwong was wearing is a high-quality item capable of blocking even bullets.

It meant that it was even better equipment than the Winter Castle officer’s issue I had borrowed from Edric.

In addition to that, the weapons Aichuwong used were also considerable, so I had no intention of shying away from such valuables just because a corpse had been wearing them.

‘There’s no reason not to take what’s available.’

I began to strip the equipment from Aichuwong’s corpse.

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[Rogus’s Straight Sword]

Classification : Weapon

Grade : High

A straight sword created by the hands of the artisan Rogus.

It is advantageous for both stabbing and slashing.

────────────

────────────

[Arkon’s Bone Spear]

Classification : Weapon

Grade : High

A spear made by grinding Arkon’s bones.

It is extremely sharp and tears apart the wounds of the opponent it stabs.

────────────

────────────

[Radyun Leather Cold-Weather Uniform]

Classification : Equipment

Grade : High

A cold-weather uniform made from Radyun’s leather.

Its heat retention and insulation are excellent, and its defensive power is also excellent.

────────────

────────────

[Radyun Leather Cold-Weather Boots]

Classification : Equipment

Grade : High

Boots made from Radyun’s leather.

Their heat retention and insulation are excellent, and their defensive power is also excellent.

────────────

────────────

[Gloves Padded with Arkon’s Scales]

Classification : Equipment

Grade : High

Gloves made by padding with Arkon’s scales.

Their heat retention and defensive power are excellent, and the part directly padded with scales has a very hard strength.

────────────

“Indeed.”

As I had known, they were all high-quality items.

Just as I was admiring the equipment Aichuwong had used.

“……Hmm?”

I saw a familiar light from Aichuwong’s corpse.

“That is…….”

I know that light.

No, there was no way I wouldn’t know it.

Because the light coming from Aichuwong’s bosom was none other than the same as that of an Ascension Stone Fragment.

The moment I reached out my hand towards that light as if drawn by something.

[Absorbing ‘Ascension Stone Fragment’.]

[‘Weapon Summon(??)’ trait grows.]

[‘Lv.1’ bullet list is added to the summonable list of ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]

──────────────

[Weapon Summon]

Grade : ??

Type : Active

Level : 1

Summons weapons and bullets.

The types of weapons and bullets that can be summoned increase according to the level.

Currently summonable weapon types : 1

Currently summonable bullet types : 1

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