Chapter 147

CHAPTER 147

A little earlier.

The central underground bunker was large, as it served as an intersection connecting three separate entrances.

All kinds of supplies were piled throughout the area.

Like the rest of the facility, it had been neglected for years. Some crates were broken, and the entire place was generally dark.

The stacked supplies formed countless narrow passageways, and around sixty-five percent of them received almost no light.

The ceiling was high.

There was also a second-floor metal walkway running along the walls.

It was normally only used for maintenance work around the ventilation system.

Still, anyone standing there could overlook the entire area below.

Even in the darkness, most of the first floor could be observed from that vantage point.

The downside, however, was obvious.

Anyone standing on the second-floor walkway could be attacked from almost anywhere.

A useful position, yet not quite useful enough.

To make matters worse, most of the second-floor path was brightly lit.

However, the moment Taewoo's defense was breached by Seojun far faster than expected, Keryl ordered Namu, their B-rank marksman, to climb up to that walkway.

The greatest disadvantage—exposure to gunfire—was practically meaningless.

After all, their enemy was only carrying frying pans.

Boom!

Bang! Bang!

Gunfire echoed through the dark corridors.

Grenades exploded.

From above, it was difficult to fully grasp the situation amidst the chaos.

Namu could only provide supporting fire whenever he was reasonably sure of what he was seeing.

A deadly game of hide-and-seek was currently unfolding.

Keryl was trying to corner Seojun together with his team.

Seojun was doing everything possible to lure them apart and isolate them one by one.

An intense battle of wits.

The two seemed to have understood the entire layout of the bunker almost instantly.

They weren't predicting each other's current locations.

They were predicting one move ahead.

Sometimes two.

They circled.

Lured.

Pursued.

And despite everything, Namu found himself thinking that Seojun was simply better.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At one point, the last remaining teammate had nearly become isolated.

The fight hadn't even lasted that long.

Namu had barely managed to save him with covering fire.

Maybe Keryl had predicted that possibility as well.

But that seemed unlikely.

[Go around from the outside on the left.]

The order came immediately.

Looking down from above, Namu tried tracing the route in his mind.

Yeah... I have no idea.

He'd just watch where Keryl told him to.

Then—

Something unexpected happened.

Gunfire erupted from the corridor leading into the chamber.

Another enemy team had arrived.

[Let's eliminate the new enemy first. I'm providing cover. Come toward me.]

Keryl made his decision.

At that moment—

Seojun appeared directly beneath Namu.

Reacting instinctively, Namu fired.

Bang!

Seojun raised a frying pan and blocked it.

• He's seriously incredible.
• That's an enemy? Kkkkk if it were me, I'd have already rage quit.
• This is Ground Zero?
• There's literally no answer.
• Holy crap. So this guy really was the dark horse of the tournament.

Namu found himself agreeing with the chat.

No matter how many times I see it, that's completely broken.

Seojun had suddenly appeared.

Namu had fired.

The gunshot echoed farther behind Seojun as well.

And standing there was Keryl.

After checking Namu's position, Keryl fired at Seojun.

At that instant—

Seojun angled his frying pan slightly.

Bang!

A shower of sparks erupted below.

A bullet slammed past Namu's face.

The round had ricocheted off the frying pan.

Holy shit.

Namu nearly had a heart attack.

Seojun had already disappeared again.

Keryl immediately refocused on the newly arrived enemy team.

• ???
• Wait, did he actually aim that ricochet?
• No way. It had to be luck. There's no way that's possible. Kkkkkkk
• But it kinda looked intentional?

Yeah.

It had to be luck.

[Keryl --> NeedBlackoutCurtain]

[SwordGod14 --> WetWipes]

Keryl quickly eliminated the newly arrived enemy.

The moment Namu turned his attention back below—

Thunk!

A sound came from the end of the walkway.

Someone had climbed up with enough force to shake the metal structure.

Shit.

Namu immediately turned his head.

Seojun had used the moment a bullet passed by his head and everyone's attention shifted.

He moved left, climbed a ladder, and reached the walkway where Namu was standing.

• That's some special-forces-level movement.
• When did he get up there?
• Yep, he's dead. Kkkkk.

I'm dead.

Bang! Bang!

Unlike what had happened with Taewoo, Seojun only needed two shots' worth of time to close the distance.

And just like that, Namu died.

Seojun brought his frying pan down on Keryl.

"Sorry about this, Kale-nim."

"It's Keryl! Keryl! Hyung, seriously!"

Seojun thought the guy had admirable composure.

He was getting beaten up and still correcting the pronunciation of his name.

"Right, Kale-nim."

Seojun finished off the unconscious Keryl.

[SwordGod14 --> Keryl]

The last surviving teammate ran away.

Taewoo, whose revival had been interrupted, stared at Seojun in disbelief.

"Did you piss yourself?"

Seojun asked.

It wasn't bravado.

Nor was it confidence born from his ridiculous play.

He was literally asking whether Taewoo had wet himself.

"What nonsense. It's virtual reality. People don't piss themselves in VR."

"I see. So you do it in real life?"

"I guess we'll find out when we check your capsule later."

"Shut up and just kill me already. Seriously, you lunatic. Dual-wielding frying pans? Really?"

Having completely given up, Taewoo sprawled out on the ground.

• What the hell just happened? Kkkkkkk
• Dude, the moment he pulled out that second frying pan, I got chills.
• Did anyone else piss themselves?
• I did.
• I definitely did.
• Streamer, are you actually insane?!
• The casters are losing their minds right now and telling everyone to prepare the penguin emotes. Kkkkk.
• This is a guaranteed championship. Rios is winning it all.
• He's a stock that's going to skyrocket.
• Nobody still holding back their points on the streamer, right? Kkkkk.

Seojun laughed while reading the chat, then turned toward Taewoo.

"Why would I kill you?"

Although Seojun spoke, Taewoo didn't even pretend to listen.

He just kept talking.

"It's just a warm-up match anyway. I'll beat you in the main event. Remember this—there won't be frying pans there, you bastard. Seriously, this is completely broken. Everyone, report him for hacking. Hurry. No, seriously, how is any of that even possible?!"

"Hey."

"I'm not killing you."

"What, did they give him some ridiculously overpowered capsule that nobody else got...? Huh? Why?"

"Because you've got to find the Secret Room key."

Seojun said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Uh... what?"

"Hurry up and find it. If you're the one who finds the key, I'll let you use the Defibrillator."

His reasoning was simple.

Wouldn't it be easier with two people searching instead of one?

Besides, judging by the sounds, the remaining enemy player seemed to be leaving the area quickly.

• Jin Seojun! Jin Seojun! Jin Seojun! Jin Seojun! Jin Seojun!
• The winner's already decided.
• Blocking bullets with a frying pan? Fine, maybe top players can do that. But dual-wielding? Kkkkk, no way.
• He's definitely going to become everyone's primary target now.
• How is this guy only at 10% synchronization?
• How many legendary moments is he going to create in a single day?!

The chat had descended into complete madness.

"But Seojun."

"Hm?"

"You're seriously telling me to search like this?"

Apparently, Taewoo actually wanted to keep playing.

From his perspective, victory was already gone, but he still didn't want the game to end.

"Hmm."

"You want me to search while knocked down? My movement speed is garbage and I can't even stand up."

"If you revive, you'll just run away."

If Taewoo used the Defibrillator, the loud sound would immediately reveal his location.

"Fine. Got it."

Taewoo agreed.

Then he set off in search of the Secret Room key.

More accurately, he crawled away.

The Secret Room key spawned randomly somewhere in the underground area.

However, there were several common spawn locations.

Most notably, near corners.

The map's terrain changed every match, but the corners remained fixed, so the developers had likely chosen those spots deliberately.

Or you could simply search around the Secret Room itself in the center.

At least that's what the viewers said.

Being careful in case another enemy player was still nearby, Seojun quickly checked the corners.

Clank.

As a result, he found the key with surprising ease.

Quietly, he headed toward the center.

[Wave --> asdqwe12#]

A kill notification appeared as he approached.

The teammate who had escaped earlier really had gone outside.

"Oh, he died. Does that make me the only hope left for our team? As team leader, I guess I need to step up. In that case, I can't use the plan from earlier."

Unaware that Seojun had approached, Taewoo was crawling around the central area searching for the key.

Since he still possessed the Defibrillator, he hadn't died immediately even after all his teammates were eliminated.

What was that plan he mentioned?

Seojun decided to watch for a bit longer.

"People in chat are telling me to just die already? But even if you're rolling around in a pile of crap, being alive is still better than being dead."

Thankfully, none of Seojun's viewers had gone into Taewoo's stream to tell him Seojun was standing right behind him.

"If I revive, I'm absolutely stabbing him in the back the second I get the chance. You're asking why I didn't just go to Seojun's room and shut down his capsule earlier? Honestly, fair point. I should've done it before my teammates died. Sigh. They're all dead now, so there's no hope anymore."

So that's what he meant.

"Why would I pull out the capsule's power code? Those things have built-in backup batteries. They'll keep running. The best way is just pressing the normal shutdown button."

A capsule could indeed be safely powered off from the outside.

One of the greatest secrets kids with home capsules never wanted their parents to discover.

"Go ahead and try."

"Huh?"

"By the way, I found this. So you can't complain, right?"

Seojun tossed the key onto the ground.

"See you later."

After collecting the items from the Secret Room, Seojun prepared to leave.

The special weapon inside was a sniper rifle.

Based on the current safe zone, the only available exit led toward the airfield.

As he headed in that direction, Seojun contacted his teammates.

No enemies were visible, so he suggested they regroup first.

Only two squads remained.

Eight players were still alive.

Out of twenty-four participants, Seojun currently had twelve kills.

"Twelve kills should be enough for MVP, right?"

• Literally a squad exterminator. Kkkkk.
• He accomplished all of this by himself.
• The moment he started blocking bullets with a frying pan, it was over. Even if someone else pulls off an even crazier play, the dual-wielding frying pan moment is untouchable.
• Is Wave the only threat left?
• Don't tell him, guys. Have some manners.

Not telling him information on purpose.

It wasn't because they were considerate.

"Guys, you're just refusing to tell me because you want me to suffer more. Come on. Stream sniping is basically legal in warm-up games."

Exactly.

They simply wanted Seojun to have a harder time.

"Honestly, you're like elementary school boys bullying the girl they like."

Seojun chuckled as he climbed the stairs.

• Why are you assuming we like you?
• Nope. I hate the streamer.
• I'm only here because he's insanely good. If his skill level were just an average Challenger player, I'd stop watching and leave hate comments every time he acted smug.
• Kkkkk if he were an average Challenger, chat would've educated him long ago.
• But he's not average Challenger level, is he?
• This bastard is holding viewers hostage with his skill. It's unfair!

Strong denial often meant strong affirmation.

Seojun stepped outside.

A mound of weeds rose nearby like a burial hill.

Now then, let's regroup—

At that moment—

Seojun sensed something wrong.

He lowered his head instantly.

Thud!

A bullet passed through the spot where he had been standing and struck the ground.

Did the enemy get supply drops too? A sniper?

Far away, he spotted a wooden loot crate.

It was likely the remains of Taewoo's teammate who had escaped earlier.

Bang!

Seojun immediately dove behind cover and pulled out his radio.

It was time to finish this.