“Ahem, we’re friends now, so can I kill you?”
“Duck your head, Nam Cheolsu got up!”
“Kek!”
CardcaptorChanmi urgently shouted and pressed down hard on Pyeonghwa’s head. CardcaptorChanmi sat in the chair, watching Nam Cheolsu’s movements while whispering rapidly.
“Think about it. I could’ve backstabbed you when we were looking for gas masks, but I didn’t. Why do you think I bothered to do that?”
“But I have a significant other…”
When Pyeonghwa squirmed and mumbled, a flash of displeasure crossed CardcaptorChanmi’s face. Why is he disgustingly making that lisping sound? She suppressed her irritation with effort and got to the main point.
“Team up with me. I’ll help you beat Nam Cheolsu.”
“How…?”
“Hide this card somewhere inside, where it can’t be seen. I’ll secretly give you buffs.”
CardcaptorChanmi held out a trump card. Pyeonghwa narrowed his eyes and looked at the card.
‘Ace of Spades?’
Helping the enemy team was taboo among players. It didn’t seem like she would do such an unsportsmanlike thing when she was even broadcasting live. Sensing Pyeonghwa’s suspicion, CardcaptorChanmi quickly added,
“I can tell what you’re thinking, but earlier Nam Cheolsu said extremely insulting things to me. Sexual harassment and disparaging remarks, and Yoon Gyeom who keeps falling back is annoying too… I’ve completely lost all attachment to this team. My viewers are in the mood to support Pax-nim too.”
Pyeonghwa glanced at the chat window. Looking at the viewer reactions, it was true that she’d heard insulting words from Nam Cheolsu. It wasn’t surprising since Nam Cheolsu was such a trash personality.
Various opinions about CardcaptorChanmi’s proposal came up. From serious advice that killing her would leave no future troubles, to people who still looked down on Pax’s skills, saying he couldn’t even compete with Nam Cheolsu without a buff.
“Okay, deal.”
When Pyeonghwa grinned and accepted the card, applause and sighs flowed simultaneously in the chat window.
Pyeonghwa blocked the slanderous faction posting chats like ‘Isn’t Pax interested in CardcaptorChanmi?’, ‘Womanizer bastard’, ‘His girlfriend is pitiful ㅡㅡ’. He didn’t want to be misunderstood by ‘DdoHaeNuna♡’ for no reason.
<CardcaptorChanmi-nim breathes the Breath of Battle.>
<Physical attack power increases for a set time.>
<Defense increases for a set time.>
<Movement speed increases for a set time.>
<Accuracy increases for a set time.>
‘Breath of Battle’ was CardcaptorChanmi’s signature skill. Not only did it increase physical attack power, defense, and movement speed, but also accuracy, and the cooldown was short so the skill could be applied again immediately when the duration ended.
In other words, as long as she survived, the dealer moving in a pair with her could receive an infinite supply of ‘Breath of Battle’. It was a downright fraudulent skill that was rare to see even on the pro stage.
Besides ‘Breath of Battle’, CardcaptorChanmi, who possessed several other decent skills, was a supporter that everyone tried to recruit, but the fact that her combat ability was ordinary was her only weakness.
Pyeonghwa thought that if it was Tral, who had the best sense among the four elementary schoolers, he could easily take her out. So he gave Tral the mission to climb up the opposite side of the Viking while he drew attention and kill CardcaptorChanmi, but…
-Huff, huff, Pax-hyung, it’s Tral! The Viking suddenly moved and I fell! One leg bent backwards so I was hopping on one leg and almost got bitten by zombies. But I survived, right? I climbed up the building, right? My dodging is awesome, right? Hyung, should I go ride the Viking again? Uwah, zombies keep swarming so I can’t get down. But hyung, can we really beat Nam Cheolsu? Nam Cheolsu’s skills are just okay. What happened to CardcaptorChanmi? Hyung, hyung, hyung…
When Pyeonghwa attacked CardcaptorChanmi, Tral rambled on and on about his situation through team voice.
Kids playing <Last On> hardly feel any pain. This is because pain is blocked as a child protection measure. Even though one of Tral’s legs was bent backwards, he was very excited.
Pyeonghwa’s ears felt like they were going to tear, so he temporarily disabled team voice.
‘Farewell, Tral.’
Being outside the safe zone with a broken leg in Phase 2, not even Phase 1, was as good as a death sentence. Pyeonghwa offered a prayer for Tral, who was still alive.
It was a shame since he was a pretty useful elementary schooler. But instead, he’d gained CardcaptorChanmi, a much more reliable supporter, so it was actually a profit.
“If buffs alone seem difficult, tell me. I can put debuffs on Nam Cheolsu too.”
“Eh, if you put debuffs on him, Nam Cheolsu will immediately go for a headshot on Chanmi-nim, won’t he? Just give me buffs well whenever the cooldown is ready.”
“Yes, thank you. For now I’ll draw attention, so just stay still like this, and when I signal ‘Nam Cheolsu’, get up then.”
“Yep. I’m counting on you. Fighting.”
“Pax-nim, fighting too.”
Pyeonghwa gave a thumbs up toward CardcaptorChanmi from his crouched position. CardcaptorChanmi’s cheerful smile spread even deeper. At that warm atmosphere, viewers gradually showed discomfort.
[What is this pink aura]
[ㅁㅊ Chanmi-unnie not that guy]
[Either way they’ll both get brutally killed by Nam Cheolsu lol ㅅㄱ]
“Hey, Cardcaptor! Where did Pax go!”
Nam Cheolsu, who had barely maintained his balance on the 180-degree rotating Viking and was searching for Pax, yelled furiously at CardcaptorChanmi. CardcaptorChanmi tilted her head with an innocent face.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Fuck, you would know if you saw!”
“I didn’t see though? After you got attacked, I hid too.”
“Ha, just cast buffs! I’m definitely going to kill that fucking bastard today!”
“What buff for dealing with that bastard?”
“What?”
“You told me not to do anything. That’s what I’m doing.”
“Hey, I’m not in the mood to joke around, so cut it out. Do I, fuck, look easy to you just because I got hit once?”
“Stop cursing! You think people can’t curse if they want to? I’m being careful because my girls are listening!”
CardcaptorChanmi stood up abruptly and deliberately got angry while moving a few spaces forward.
“I’ll just sit here and quietly cheer, so whether you fight Pax or not, do whatever you want, ‘Nam Cheolsu’-nim!”
As soon as she gave the signal, Pyeonghwa jumped up. CardcaptorChanmi’s shoulders flinched. Even with movement speed buffs, could his reaction speed really be that fast?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Pax, you cock-sucking bastard! Die, die!”
Pyeonghwa, hanging with heavenly silkworm thread wrapped around the Viking’s steel frame, moved like riding a trapeze by giving it momentum and dodged Nam Cheolsu’s attacks left and right.
Just as he’d heard from Yoon Gyeom, the movements themselves were clumsy as hell, but strangely he didn’t get hit by a single bullet. As if he was someone who knew where they’d be shot.
But this was inside a game where all real-world stats were reset. Catching that split-second moment and responding immediately was something only a veteran Hunter who’d been through countless battles could do.
“Fuck, let’s see how long you can dodge!”
Nam Cheolsu changed his aim point. He’d already heard from Yoon Gyeom that heavenly silkworm thread was weak to high temperatures. And he had a skill that made bullets explode.
Bang- Boom!
The heavenly silkworm thread Pyeonghwa was hanging from snapped clean. At that moment, fox ears and a tail popped out.
Nam Cheolsu pulled the trigger toward the falling Pyeonghwa, but Pyeonghwa dodged the bullet while doing a somersault in the air. As CardcaptorChanmi’s buff skill overlapped with his fox transformation, Pyeonghwa’s movements became abnormally fast.
Thud! Swoosh!
Pyeonghwa, who landed at the stern of the ship, kicked off the backrest and leaped forward. Since the stern was just rising upward, he gained even more acceleration.
‘Stupid bastard!’
Nam Cheolsu preferred close combat. The closer the better. He sneered at Pyeonghwa charging at him without a moment’s hesitation.
Tyang-! Shwaaa!
The bullets spread in a net formation as they flew. It was a binding skill that would tie up the opponent in front of his eyes tightly.
As the net covered Pyeonghwa, Nam Cheolsu clenched his fist and shouted.
“Khat! Got you!”
“Think so?”
“What, kheok…!”
Pwok! Pyeonghwa, who should have been caught in the net, suddenly appeared and kicked his abdomen. Nam Cheolsu’s body floated up and flew toward the stern, hitting the steel frame. At the same time, the fox transformation duration ended and the ears and tail disappeared.
“That bastard’s pattern is fucking identical. Boring.”
At least ImaDdakDae made an effort to change weapons, but Nam Cheolsu hadn’t changed a single thing from when he’d analyzed him before. Unlike pros, ordinary people couldn’t easily respond even if they knew weaknesses, so having quit being a pro, he probably didn’t feel the need to fix it.
“Since this skill binds the object in front, you can break it by throwing anything… You didn’t read my post?”
A bundle of bandages was caught in the net. He’d put the bandages he used to cover his face in his pocket, then threw them at the decisive moment.
