BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23: Berserkers (6)
Edited: Stealth
Just because your eyes are open doesn’t mean you see everything.
One of the main reasons is saccadic movement. People’s eyes make 3-4 rapid jerk-like movements every second. Even if you think that you are concentrating on one thing, your eyes are constantly moving. The length of time your eyes are fixed and are taking in information is about 0.1-0.3 seconds. Excluding that, while your eyes are making rapid (saccadic) movements, you are in fact not taking in any information.
Along with that, within a 180-degree field of view, only the middle 2 degrees can be constantly maintained. If something was even 2 degrees away from the center, your vision would plummet by 50%.
Choi Hyuk laughed loudly. Everyone’s gazes turned towards him. They were like ‘What the?’ In that short period of time, there were some whose eyes were locked onto Choi Hyuk and others whose eyes suddenly looked at a gangster or a grandpa. And then,
Bang!
Without any notice, Choi Hyuk jumped forward.
The people whose eyes were looking at something else obviously weren’t able to follow him. Even the people who already had their eyes on him lost him.
Choi Hyuk didn’t jump in a straight line but up, in a parabola. Eyes had more difficulty tracking vertical movement than horizontal. Choi Hyuk, who jumped up, was instantly 2 degrees away from the center of their vision. His enemies tried to follow Choi Hyuk’s movements but the eyes have a 0.1-0.2 second delay. Even if they wanted to follow him, ‘tracking’ was comparably slow when targeting a moving object, while ‘saccadic movements’ limited their field of view.
A swiftness that aimed for both weaknesses of the eyes and the mind! The result was brutal.
Boom!
A sound that was too frightening to believe. The sight that was captured by their eyes was a cloud of blood exploding like flour.
The endurance of the gun-holding gangster wasn’t even 1-star. The moment Choi Hyuk’s fist imbued with 10 (★★) Power and 10 (★★) Speed stats made contact with his face, it literally turned into powder.
Four gangsters held guns in the beginning and since one had just died, three were left.
However, Choi Hyuk didn’t need to prioritize the gangsters who held guns.
Crack!
Slam!
With a single jab, another man’s neck bone shattered and with a kick, another one’s chest collapsed. Only then did the gangsters hastily start to react.
While leaning forward slightly, Choi Hyuk glanced at his enemies. As his Retribution was already at 2-stars, Choi Hyuk’s eyes, which had already exceeded the limits of humans, were incredibly fast and precise as they distinguished their enemies. Instant saccadic movements. Instant perception. The gangsters felt their hairs stand on end.
‘Our eyes met...!’
At the same time, everyone thought they had met eyes with Choi Hyuk. A predator looking at its prey.
Bang!
Someone shot their gun in a last-ditch effort but Choi Hyuk had already run to the side. Once again, he disappeared from their vision.
‘Huh?’
The gangsters looked like they were bewildered spectators at a magic show.
“Uaackkkk!”
Was there anything scarier than an enemy you couldn’t clearly see? Choi Hyuk’s movements had a strange movement. They weren’t able to properly lock onto him. The moment they thought they caught up to him, he was already two steps away, killing one of their comrades. Would an ant being squashed by a child feel the same way? A certain fear and despair they hadn’t felt when they fought monsters overcame them.
Bang! Bang! Baang!
Guns fired off in a last-ditch effort.
The grandpas of the Association of Comrades in Arms moved back to avoid stray bullets but Choi Hyuk was calm even at a close distance.
And that was the same for Baek Seoin.
Pew!
A spark flew off in front of Baek Seoin’s eyes. The intercepting ability of the {Necklace of Protection} he was given had activated. A bullet bounced off. Although it would only activate three times every hour, that was more than enough in this situation.
Ffftt!
The shield Baek Seoin threw slammed into a gangster’s face. The teeth of the gangster who shot the bullet sprayed out. Bits of flesh were still attached. Baek Seoin charged forward. He stabbed and sliced at the gangsters with his longsword. He was a warrior who had 1-star stats. Gangsters who had maybe 1 or 2 1-star stats or none at all were no match for Baek Seoin.
“Sa... save me.”
After Baek Seoin finished off 3 people, Choi Hyuk had already ended the situation. He had beaten everyone to death with his bare hands.
The gangsters couldn’t even leave behind their moans. They only ended up as brutally beaten corpses. A strange silence fell.
The only living person was begging Choi Hyuk for his life.
Choi Hyuk’s left hand was tightly clenched around his neck. He was young. He seemed to be at most twenty or perhaps he was even the same age as Choi Hyuk. He was the youngest among the gangsters.
He begged with a face splattered with tears and snot.
“Please...”
Choi Hyuk asked.
“Headquarters?”
“KT... The KTT building. I’m sorry. Please...”
Choi Hyuk indifferently let the pleading man down. Choi Hyuk wasn’t moved because the young gangster was young. He was Choi Hyuk’s age. Choi Hyuk himself believed he was all grown up. Then, the young gangster too was all grown up.
So Choi Hyuk tilted his head.
“When you came at me shooting guns, did you not think of the consequences?”
The young gangster opened his mouth as if wanting to say something but.
Crunch.
Choi Hyuk’s hand was faster. He was unable to let out a word and slammed into the ground, leaving him with a shattered neck.
Baek Seoin who was watching this slightly frowned. However, that was all. He didn’t say anything. Though Choi Hyuk’s ruthlessness didn’t fit well with Baek Seoin’s morals... he didn’t think Choi Hyuk’s judgment was wrong either.
‘What’s it to me when the world is ending.’
Baek Seoin was originally an emotional man. He was even quite the worrier.
However, once he resolved himself to avenge his parents, he decided to think more simply. His values were slowly changing.
‘It’s easier if they die.’
Above all, it meant that they wouldn’t be held back by them again.
A sudden thought even crossed his mind that it might be good to use this situation more aggressively to their favor.
**
“Let’s split it evenly.”
Choi Hyuk calmly said.
“No, we have way more people...!”
A grandpa wanted to express his dissatisfaction.
“Uh, okay. Let’s do that. You’re quite amazing for a young fellow. It’s like what I’ve heard.”
The sunglasses wearing grandpa who was the leader held the others back.
Choi Hyuk wordlessly took exactly half of the supplies.
Rations, clothes, toiletries, Weakening Barrier, item scrolls, amongst others.
At the same time, Baek Seoin was scavenging items off the gangsters.
“Ah damn... He has a Speed Enchant. What a waste for it to end up with a guy like him.”
As a follower of Choi Hyuk who goes around killing monsters by the hundreds, Baek Seoin almost had a complete set of items. No matter how many new items came out, he didn’t really feel like replacing them.
However, enchants were an exception.
Enchants were unique items. They were presented in a jewel-like shape and the moment you used it, it would be drawn on your skin. In other words, you couldn’t forcefully steal it.
Baek Seoin needed a Speed Enchant. So he felt sad to see the Speed Enchant drawn on the dead gangster’s arm.
Enchants were very valuable.
They were limited to 5 stat-increasing items, a fact they figured out as they equipped various items. It meant that if you had a sword, armor, necklace, ring and shoes that increased your stats, you couldn’t have any more.
However, enchants were an additional way to increase your stats. You were able to overlap up to five enchants of the same grade as your Retribution. And the more enchants you overlap, the bigger the bonus.
For example, Choi Hyuk had 3 Control Enchants, 1 Stamina and 1 Endurance.
——————–
{Control, Stamina and Endurance Enchants}
Rank: D
A combination of 3 Control Enchants, 1 Stamina Enchant and 1 Endurance Enchant. Bonus +3
Control: +54 Stamina: +18 Endurance: +18
——————–
Besides them, Choi Hyuk only had 2 rings to increase his stats. He still needed 3 more but he held off looking for them since D ranks were hard to find.
——————–
{Ring of Speed}
Rank: D
Speed: +10
You are able to use the skill {Speed} once a day. For 1 minute, Speed increases by 10%.
There is no addition consumption of Stamina.
——————–
——————–
{Ring of Vigor}
Rank: D
Power: +10
You are able to use the skill {Vigor} once a day. For 1 minute, Power increases by 10%.
There is no addition consumption of Stamina.
——————–
There was an addition skill included in the rings but still, while his rings increased his stats by 10, including the enchant bonus, each enchants increased his stats by 18.
As enchants simply helped you plan out your stats unlike items where you had to look at their different functions, it could be said that getting the necessary enchants took priority over items.
Baek Seoin who had 2 Speed Enchants, 2 Stamina and 1 Endurance wanted to another Speed Enchant to increase his survivability. As there were times when his Intuition would activate but he was too slow to react.
And since the Speed Enchant he had been looking for was engraved into a dead gangster’s arm, he couldn’t help but explode in anger.
“Ah damn... There isn’t anything to use this time as well.”
They had piles of items but none were useful. As they were a waste to throw away, they simply collected them.
“Huh? Wait.”
That moment, a great plan crossed Baek Seoin’s mind. Baek Seoin looked over at Choi Hyuk and the Alliance of Comrades in Arms. They were about to split ways.
Baek Seoin called for them.
“Grandpas! Please wait!”
The grandpas, as well as Choi Hyuk, looked back at him with strange expressions. Baek Seoin approached Choi Hyuk and whispered.
‘Are you going to go wipe out the gangsters now?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Then let’s take those grandpas as spectators.’
‘...Why?’
‘Since we need to start showcasing our power. Why would people fight the Wyvern of Destruction? Because there’s a chance if they fight with us! Let’s promote ourselves once. The grandpas were already one of the groups you wanted to win over anyways. Jinhee probably went over to see their leader.’
‘... Okay. But would they want to watch us fight?’
‘We should give them some gifts.’
‘Gifts?’
‘Yes. Let’s give them some of the items we don’t use. You were planning on distributing them later anyways. I mean I think it’s good if we have good relations with these grandpas anyways.’
Choi Hyuk thought that Baek Seoin’s words made some sense. He nodded his head.
“Okay.”
As soon as he agreed, Baek Seoin took the lead.
“Grandpas! We are going to go clear up the punks now and we were wondering if you would like to watch us?”
“... Why would we?”
“You probably haven’t heard yet but we requested an alliance to your leader. We were hoping you would watch our skills and discuss it with him later.”
The sunglasses wearing grandpa didn’t feel inclined at his words.
“We already know that your skills are amazing...”
“Hey, that was nothing. Ah, and afterwards, as a show of friendship, we won’t let you leave empty handed.”
Those were the decisive words.
“... Then shall we go?”
“Okay! Then let’s go!”
As soon as the grandpa agreed, Baek Seoin led the grandpas. Choi Hyuk had already started walking way ahead of them.
The sunglasses wearing grandpa was slightly taken aback so he asked.
“We’re going right away?”
“Yes.”
As Baek Seoin answered simply, the grandpa slightly tilted his head.
At this point, the grandpa thought.
‘Don’t tell me... we are going like this? The two of them? No way. They probably have forces elsewhere.’
Though the grandpa felt this wasn’t the case when looking at Choi Hyuk and Baek Seoin’s unyielding steps, he tried his best to believe that was the case.