Was this guy the one who turned the situation around?
I raised my shield and stepped to the front while carefully observing the head guard as he glared at us.
His clothes were torn in a few places, but he was unharmed.
According to the telepathic message Sang-hoon sent me before he died, this guy had physical abilities strong enough to kill a body enhancement ability user in a single blow.
He wasn’t an opponent to take lightly.
With my current ability, the maximum weight I could pull or push was around 100 kilograms.
Unfortunately, brute force wasn’t an option.
If I carelessly used my ability against someone with enhanced physical strength, it would only get me killed.
If I were Quaker from the original story, someone like him would’ve been ground into minced meat in the time it took to yawn…
Why couldn’t I have gotten some powers when I was thrown into this body?
Something like a status window, maybe.
…Forget it.
I had to stop daydreaming and face reality.
“Target the guards behind him, not him!”
The trajectory of a bullet whizzing past me visibly widened.
The strategy was clear. Ignore the guy who could shrug off bullets and take out his subordinates first.
“You filthy worm…”
“You sure talk a lot for someone who kidnaps people and experiments on them and plays lapdog to scumbags. Dogs should bark like dogs.”
That was the first answer I came up with.
Reducing their numbers was the only way to stand a chance against that guy.
The problem was, to make that plan work, I had to draw his attention.
With that in mind, I grabbed a vial of chemicals I had prepared earlier and raised my hand.
“What do you think this is?”
“How did you get that…!”
“Thanks for the confirmation.”
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it seemed to be something very important.
Grinning as smugly as possible, I began to push and pull the vial using my ability.
The moment he charged at me, I launched the vial toward the back.
Judging by how desperately he stopped mid-charge to catch it, the vial must have been incredibly precious.
But it flew with enough force to shatter against his grip. It could not withstand the impact.
Shards of glass and a violet liquid scattered in the air.
“You fu*king bastard…”
“The survivors have finished evacuating!”
“Everyone, fall back! Regroup and reorganize at the rear!”
“Yes!”
“And deploy all the tear gas! Keep them from advancing!”
We retreated quickly. Not in perfect coordination, but with impressive speed.
The tear gas canisters we threw slowed down their advance a little.
They had too many wounds to rely on the gas mask alone.
The sound of groaning reached my ears. By now, the gas must have seeped into their wounds and caused them unbearable pain.
“If only they had just died on the spot.”
The head guard and his subordinates pushed through the smoke created by the tear gas.
The head guard closed in on us swiftly.
It fell to me, now the last in line despite being at the forefront earlier, to hold him off.
“Looks like you underwent a procedure here. How about a deal? We leave, and you get what you want.”
“I don’t negotiate with pests.”
How resolute.
Well, no helping it then.
[Have you found the distribution room?]
[Yes, we’ve found it.]
[Turn off all the lights.]
I raised my gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
With a deafening roar, the gunfire and flames filled the corridor.
And then darkness settled over everything.
“You’re pulling cheap tricks.”
“Who knows?”
Since they didn’t have night vision goggles, their sight was effectively sealed.
I recalled the sense of distance etched into my memory.
Roughly twenty steps.
I gathered repulsion energy at my toes and launched myself forward.
“Do you think I can’t see just because it’s dark?”
The distance closed rapidly, like a bullet leaving the chamber.
A presence loomed larger and larger.
Perhaps I might die as meaninglessly as others before me.
But… there are moments when risking your life is the only way to find a way out.
Now only about a second remained before our bodies collided. In that fleeting moment, I let go of the shield I was holding and used repulsion to push it forward.
At the same time, I used attraction to lower myself almost to the ground and slipped narrowly between his legs.
A brief opening.
I pulled the trigger, aiming at his groin.
“Y-Yoou son of a b*tch!”
“How tough are you?”
Still, it seemed he felt the pain.
I immediately rolled to the side and dodged his fist as it came crashing down toward the ground.
“You little rat!”
The sound of a rupture echoed, and my ears went numb.
But there was no time to wait for my hearing to recover. I instantly propelled myself upward using repulsion and clung to the ceiling.
If I stayed on the floor, I’d end up flattened like a dried fish!
“Where are you!”
“Right here.”
I pressed myself against the ceiling and moved behind the guard.
Though it must have been a strange sight to move with my back pressed against the ceiling, it was the most necessary move at the moment.
After all, being above them was the most crucial advantage I had.
Click.
The sound of a fresh magazine snapping into place.
As it echoed, every enemy barrel instantly turned toward me.
I pushed myself further back and dodged the hail of bullets.
Experiencing bullets grazing past me like some movie protagonist was an unnecessarily thrilling event.
I never wanted to go through something like this again.
But as I confirmed the experience was happening in real-time, I pulled the trigger once more.
This time I was aiming for their heads.
The sound of screams followed, and I felt the vivid sensation of hot blood splattering onto my body.
Two, no, maybe three of them?
“Damn it!”
“Raise the shields!”
Unable to withstand the barrage of bullets, the enemies finally raised their shields above their heads.
“Move aside!”
Even in the darkness, I could see a large silhouette charging toward me.
He was even shoving his subordinates aside to rush straight at me.
It seemed he was very angry.
I kept moving, determined to test his patience.
Sliding along the ceiling as if gliding on rails, with the head guard chasing after me.
Did he decide that it was impossible to save his subordinates now that I had torn through their formation? Or did he just want to kill me so badly?
I let out a sigh as I watched his fist graze the bridge of my nose.
“How about giving up and going your own way?”
“You cockroach! If I can just kill you, the rest will be easy!”
“Oh, is that so?”
Had I led him far enough?
I noticed the light shining from behind, signaling it was time.
It must have been the final defensive line set up by the guards.
Once I reached that line, I released the gravitational force propelling me and dropped to the ground.
Finally, I’d have some room to fight.
The garage.
Our ultimate destination.
And… the place that would become this bastard’s grave.
I walked to the center of the garage and locked eyes with the head guard, who glared at me with burning intensity.
“If my men were even half as clever as you, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“There’s no point in complimenting me now. It won’t change a thing.”
I tossed the gun aside.
It was a natural choice since I was out of bullets and had no reason to use it as anything but a blunt weapon.
He cracked his knuckles and interlocked his fingers as if preparing to snap my neck.
Was this where the real fight would begin?
Before he could charge, I did a final check of my condition.
No weapons.
My physical state was decent, all things considered.
I had nothing else on me.
Was this what it felt like to fight a gorilla barehanded?
One mistake here, and I’d die.
As that realization sank in, the fear I’d been ignoring began to rise.
You could run away if you were alone.
Just head out through that open door.
So, just leave—
“There’s no way I would.”
This was something I had started, so I had to take full responsibility for it.
The moment I saw the head guard’s figure rapidly growing larger, I unleashed a powerful repulsive force from my entire body.
In the same instant, as I was flung backward, the sight of the head guard shrank rapidly in my view.
“…That hurt like hell.”
Even though I repelled his attack with full force, it still hurt this much.
If it had been even slightly weaker, I’d have been reduced to a pulp on the spot.
I forced my aching body upright.
It felt like my whole body was bruised and in pain, but I didn’t have the luxury of tending to it.
“Die, you filthy—”
A fist came at me like a speeding truck.
If it hit me, I’d die.
Even if I blocked it, I’d still die.
My body wouldn’t survive taking that kind of impact twice.
So, I wagered my life at this moment.
What I needed now was to cast away hesitation.
I needed the resolve to take one step forward.
I thrust my right foot out.
I pulled my right arm back.
Clenching my fist—
I extended my arm with all the repulsive force I could muster.
A straight punch with all my weight behind it.
But before my fist could land, his fist would smash my head like a watermelon.
So—
I opened my left hand.
At the same time, I used attraction to pull his leg toward me.
“You dare try tricks like that!”
His fist wavered. And that meant it worked.
I tilted my head and barely avoided the incoming blow.
“That was too close.”
My fist slammed into his face.
A punch loaded with repulsive force connected with his chin, snapping his head back.
Then, a white tooth struck my forehead.
His legs wobbled, and he dropped to his knees.
Right after, I collapsed to the ground as well.
My head was spinning.
Blood dampened my temple, and when I touched it, my hand came away smeared with red.
“Seriously, I’m going to die here.”
I really thought I was done for.
I staggered to my feet and glared at the unconscious bastard.
I should kill him.
Right now, if I shoved a gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger, that would be the end of it.
I started walking toward the gun lying in the distance.
“Ughhh!”
Shit
Why did I think this would end so easily?
I let out another burst of repulsive force from my whole body.
At the same time, I rolled across the floor like a ball before slamming into the opposite wall.
This was the worst.
How was he getting up after that?
“…This bastard…”
“You persistent son of a bitch.”
Ha.
Hahaha.
Am I really going to die?
I haven’t even been in this body for long.
Was this the wrong choice after all?
I stared blankly at the ceiling.
Maybe someone else could kill the head guard, but not me.
I’m going to die.
Right now.
I clenched my fist.
Something was in my hand.
I rolled my eyes to check and saw a single bullet. Where had it popped out from? A magazine, perhaps?
But what was I supposed to do with just this one?
“…Kill… you…”
My feet lifted off the ground.
My throat was being squeezed. I couldn’t even breathe.
Staring into the eyes of the bastard filled with rage and hatred, I forced my mouth to move.
“Drop dead…”
One bullet.
Silently, I slipped the bullet between my fingers and placed my thumb against its flat end.
I immediately generated repulsive force with my thumb and attractive force at the tip of the bullet, creating a balance.
Then, when the forces reached their peak…
I erased the attraction.
“Guhh…!”
“…Now, just… go.”
With his dying scream, blood began pouring out from between his still-open lips.
As I lay on the ground, I was drenched in blood as it poured over me.
“…This sucks…”
That was the last thing I remembered.
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