ATL Volume 16 Chapter 7
Volume 16 / Chapter 7
TL: SecondoKorean
TooTooTooToo!  TooTooTooToo!
Countless gunshots violently shook the fabric of s.p.a.ce as it explosively shot through the air.
Once the whole area has been saturated with gunshots, from the darkness, rose scores of humanoid shapes.  Then, in the next moment, in between those shadows was a man’s silhouette moving quickly.
Bursting through the shadows, in a sliding-like manner, there were flashes of light emerging all around the him.
“Threading! Rapid fire! Automatic fire!”
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
Shots spread in all direction, along with that man!
Even though his finger stayed near the trigger, as he twirled around his pistol, only to shoot some random shots, his shots were heading straight toward his targets.  Such feat was definitely not easy.  This shooting skill was a result of thousands and thousands of shots being fired while in the highly concentrated state of mind!
The name of this gunslinger hero is!
– I feel dizzy! Dang it, I feel dizzy! I am getting motion sickness! I am gonna vomit! You okay with that!?
At that time, unexpectedly, he was bombarded with some absurd noise in his head.  In an instant, like as if a razor had cut straight through his concentration, the man’s 99% accuracy rate did a nose dive to 50~60%.
As a result, the enemy force that was heavily suppressed by the man’s superb pistol skill started their come-back.
KoooKooong!  Kwakwakwakwa! Kwakwakwakwa!
“d.a.m.n it!”  The man retreated back as he cursed at the situation.
“That d.a.m.n Ark! Why is it that when he’s giving he only gives that kind of….”
The man looking down at his pistol with enraged eyes was no other than Rapid, and the pistol with a black aura that kept on seeping out from the top of the barrel is a demon sealed pistol.
Actually, he didn’t show his emotion when he received the gun, but he was still touched because he knew Ark’s personality better than anybody else.  He knew that though Ark can take other’s things without a thought, he was a yellow, greedy user that wouldn’t give a penny to anyone.  That Ark gave him a rare pistol.  Not a normal pistol, but a rare pistol.
That’s why even though there was an enmity between them, he had thought that Ark’s gift was given out of consideration of the current business relationship between them, but that thought disappeared as soon as he fired the pistol.
Tang! Tang! Tang!
– Do you know? The bullet is my food! HooHooHoo! Then what is the thing that goes out the muzzle?
Every shot he makes is accompanied by a voice that rings in his head.
Demon sealed pistol was a gun that makes a racket every time a shot is fired.  Not only that, the things that the pistol says are all….
– A shot fell!
– I am hungry! Hey, I am hungry! Don’t you know that I can’t shoot if I can’t eat?
If ammo falls on the ground it makes this kind of comment.
– Due to many hours of repeated use, the muzzle got too hot!
-Hot! My body is hot! Woah! Woah!
If the muzzle gets too hot due to the continuous shots, his ears gets bombarded with annoying moans.  Despite that, the performance of the pistol is top-grade.  If it were other users, they might just submit to the annoyance and keep on using it.  However, Rapid’s gun slinging style is still not common, as compared to other’s usage.  All the acrobatic manipulations were intentionally done in order to bring out the highest efficiency out of the pistol experience.
Such pistol was a recipe for disaster in Rapid’s hand.  Even now, he felt like stopping everything to find Ark and throw the pistol at Ark’s face, but he had applied some discipline to keep on using the pistol.
Because it was a good pistol?  Not in a thousand years.  He wanted to show ark, which had given him this pistol as a reward for setting up an investment system, that he can even get a good use out of pistol such as this.
‘But that is that and this is this.’
Actually, it wasn’t that Rapid had let go of his resentment.  The reason for him leaving a bogus direction was because of his resentment toward Ark.  He wanted to give back as much as he had received from Ark. It was definitely about getting back at him.  He wanted to throw him a screwball.
‘After he tried to contact me, Kurakan said he had also received a call from Ark, but I convinced him not to respond by telling him that we can solve this problem all by ourselves, as a means to prove ourselves to Ark.  Well, there was a high chance that he might have called Ferguson, A, and B, but they were stuck in the forest maze so it would not have made any difference.  Therefore, knowing Ark, he would not just sit idly and wait for them.  So if he went into the forest maze, he would have seen my message.  Of course he would have gotten lost.  He probably got angry!’
It was like music to his ears, but the true bliss would be to clear the zone before Ark gets here.  He could ask Ark, “What?  Why did you come when I was already getting ready to leave after taking care of things here?”
90% of Rapid’s reason for coming to Nosferatu was so that he can rub it in Ark’s face, and his plan was going smoothly.
He got together with the Silverhand, fought off the Stone Age dinosaurs, and he marched on!  He was able to reach, what appeared to be the most important stronghold in the Jura.s.sic World, yesterday.  Of course, there were monsters even in the stronghold.  Monsters, as compared to Stone Age monsters, were more strangely and marvelously changed dinosaurs.  He didn’t know why there were such beings over here, but, no matter what, charge!
Rapid was almost near the top, and ….
“Most likely this is the last part!”  Rapid raised his head and psyched himself up.
What was in front of him was a 20 meter red meatball giant that was tall enough to almost touch the ceiling.  This was the boss that was giving Rapid and Silverhand the final test!
– Destruction level monster ‘Blood Golem’ has appeared!
Blood Golem!
There was no mistake in seeing him as a monster.  Since he is a boss of this Jura.s.sic World his combat capability must be enormous.
Booong! KahKang! KahKang! KahKang!
Whenever he swung his fist and rolled his feet, it felt like the whole stronghold was shaking, but Rapid and Silverhand were not pushovers.
Dark Eden, including Ellain and Kurakan were topnotch, and Silverhands were also stout veterans of warfare.  Lastly, the person that was leading these two groups of fighters is a long time rival of Ark.  Even though Clem had higher rank, because he had been rescued by Rapid, he gave the leadership responsibility to Rapid.
“Don’t give him time to rest!”
Tutututu!  Tutututu!
“Don’t let him move naturally! Hand Grenade!”
PuPung! PuPung! PuPung!
Sound of the weapons and explosions echoed restlessly.  There were some difficulties at the beginning, but a team made up of Rapid, Dark Eden, and Silverhand was progressing orderly without a hitch.  No, victory was nearly guaranteed.
All that was left was to end the breath of this beat up blood golem!
It was at this time that Clem’s roar sounded.
“Rapid, 1st squad won’t be able to hold up anymore!”
“Ok, 1st squad retreat! Go to the back and treat yourselves.  Then provide back support!  Second squad will advance carefully!  Don’t be hasty.  The enemy is practically dead.  Rather than offense, think defense!”
The strategy that Rapid had used was to divide into two teams and the two teams would rotate back and forth while supporting each other.  Because this setup allowed both offense and defense it was very effective, but because this strategy was used multiple times, it seemed like the golem was able to see a pattern.  While the two teams were switching their roles, the golem shot through the opening and swung both of its hands and hit the floor.
Kuuooo! KahKahKahKang!
With an explosion, the floor started to wobble up and down.  The team that were in the process of switching their position swayed side to side.
Seeing the disorder, the golem gathered up the last remaining strength and charged toward the disorderly team members.
“His coming!”
“Hey, it’s dangerous!  You can’t let it step on you or you’re dead! Retreat!”
“c.r.a.p, Slide!”  Rapid ran out right after a brief breather.  He had improved much while in the Galaxian, but before the Galaxian, Rapid’s real body situation caused some problems in the game.
Maybe because he spent too much time as a handicapped person, weakness in one of his legs never got corrected inside the game.  Instead, Rapid thought, rather than spending the time and effort to fix the anomaly, he had decided to find the best means of moving, as it is.  That decision was the initiator of him learning the skill called “Slide!”
– You have learned a new skill (Common Occupation ☆☆)
Slide (Mid Level, Pa.s.sive): gunman’s most dangerous moment is when he is on the move.  No matter how fast the enemies are and no matter how superb the marksmanship, the accuracy of the shot will drop during movement.  However, because of your endless desire to move in sliding manner, you have become proficient in it.  This type of movement allows steadiness of the hand, and it also allows the user to progress through mud or snow or any other similar environments.
<your>></your>
<your>This skill was similar to Ark’s Mud Slide, but this skill was a bit more catered to a gunman.  This was the reason why he was able to zip in and out through his teammates.</your>
<your>Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!</your>
<your>Instantly, Rapid got near the blood golem and started to pump him up with some bullet.  With every bullet that he fired, they all landed in exact same spot.  1st shot, 2nd shot, 3rd shot, 4th shot, 5th shot.  They all went in right on top of each other!</your>
<your>With the added effect of his skill and the proficiency of the weapon, in two seconds, he was able to put in 10 rounds of bullets in the same spot.  Due to the added effect of the synergistic placement of the bullets, what started out as a small hole started to enlarge.</your>
<your>However, considering the fact that the blood golem was a 20 meter tall monster, such hole was equivalent to having a pin-sized hole in its body.  This kind of damage was not the kind of damage to stop the golem’s movement, but…..</your>
<your>“Try this one as well!”  Rapid pulled out a grenade and shoved it in the hole caused by the bullets.</your>
<your>PuPung! PuPuPuPung!</your>
<your>Right as Rapid used the Slide to move away from the grenade’s damage range, innards of the golem burned off, and even some of the tissues on its legs got burned and fell off as it took a knee. The golem could no longer support its weight.</your>
<your>“It’s time! Attack!”  Due to Rapid’s performance, the battle, again, flowed in their direction.</your>
<your>– c.r.a.p! That is too much!  What am I supposed to do if you fight in that manner?  Put yourself in my shoes! If you fight like that, will I have any a.n.u.s left?  I can’t even imagine it!  It hurts! I feel like I have got hemorrhoids!  You jerk! Be responsible!  Be responsible for my a.n.u.s!</your>
<your>“…..What is this?”</your>
<your>It was when Rapid was reloading his weapon, trying to ignore the disturbing noise.  There was something unusual that had captured his attention.  The direction he was lead to look was outside, toward the window.  Weird looking monster with long wingspan was flapping its wings as it was heading over to where they were.</your>
<your>Rapid thought for a minute.</your>
<your>He thought that such creature can’t possibly be friendly.</your>
<your>Then he thought some more.</your>
<your>If that anomaly was to join in, the victory that is right in front of his eyes might turn for the worst.</your>
<your>Then he had a final thought.</your>
<your>It would be better to shoot that anomaly down before it gets here.</your>
<your>“Clem! Caliban! Baler!”  Rapid called on the snipers.  Then he pointed to the anomaly that was flying closer and said, “Shoot that thing down before it gets any closer!”</your>
<your>“Leave it to us; shoot it!”</your>
<your>Toong! Toong! Toong!</your>
<your>With solemn shout 3 rifles started firing.</your>
<your>“Wh, What are they doing?”  Screeching yell came out of Ark’s mouth.  After long journey, they finally arrived at Nosferatu.  All that was left was less than 1 Km.  Ark was heading toward, what he figured as, where Rapid and the crew were gathered.  He was middle of worrying about how he will grill Rapid with heightened antic.i.p.ation.</your>
<your>Toong! Toong! Toong! Ping! Ping! Ping!</your>
<your>But unknowingly, bullets were flying in their direction.  It wasn’t because there was some kind of automatic defense system.</your>
<your>The bullets were flying out from the 9th floor in which the battle sparks were rampant.  It was dark and, still, fairly long away from the building, and thus, the face features couldn’t be seen, but it should be still possible to see human silhouettes.  If the silhouette can be seen, it shouldn’t be difficult to tell who is flying toward them.</your>
<your>Most likely Rapid and the crew are together on that 9th floor.  If said in another way, they were Ark’s agents. That means the employees are shooting at the president that has come to find them.</your>
<your>“Aren’t they crazy?”  Ark was yelling his head off while rampaging on top of the h.e.l.l hound.</your>
<your>“It has to be Rapid!  Yeah, it has to be him!  He knew that he would hear something from me if I got there before he finished the job, and thus, he tried to hit me before that happens!  Well, I was going to nag a bit, but still!  d.a.m.n it!  It was not enough that he sent me on a wild goose chase so he is, now, shooting at me?  I won’t let this go unpunished!”</your>
<your>“Calm down Arknim.”</your>
<your>“Calm down?  Does this call for calm?  This is a revolt, a revolt!”</your>
<your>“Yes, you are right! That Rapid trash!  His hostile feelings were apparent from a long time ago.  Dangerous atmosphere was overflowing from his eyes when looking at him!  He has finally shown his true self!”</your>
<your>Ferguson was also spouting impure thoughts and was feeding Ark’s anger.  Seeing the two clowns, Irina just shook her head in frustration.</your>
<your>“There is no way that is possible.  Even if he had those kinds of thoughts, the ones that are shooting are your subordinates.  They are not going to shoot you just because Rapid was ordering them.”</your>
<your>“Huh?  Now that I think about it…..”</your>
<your>“Most likely they don’t know that it is you.  Just like how we can’t see them very clearly, they can’t see us all that well either.  Not only that, we are riding a h.e.l.l hound.  From this distance, they could only mistake it for a monster.  Therefore, once the shooting stops, we must let them know that we are on the h.e.l.l hound.”</your>
<your>“……Ah!”  An exclamation mark lit up on top of Ark’s head.</your>
<your>However, in the Jura.s.sic World, because of something unknown, normal communication did not work.  Actually, the reason for the communication problem was the mist that was covering the forest.  Of course, the communication should be possible since the mist has been turned off, but since he haven’t even made an attempt, there was no way for Ark to know.</your>
<your>“He~y! It’s m~e! Ar~k! Stop shooting!”  He used all of his body strength to yell.</your>
<your>But! TuTuTuTu! PuPung! Kuuoooo! KaKaKaKang!</your>
<your>Clem, Caliban, and Baler.  The atmosphere around the three was flooded with the battle sounds carried on by 30 combatants plus the blood golem.  There is no way that the three would be able to hear Ark.</your>
<your>On the contrary, Ark’s behavior had an opposite effect.</your>
<your>“Something is riding on top of the monster!”</your>
<your>“I saw it as well.  By the way it is flapping its tail so fiercely, it must have a lot of fight in him.  It must be one of the monsters that we failed to take care of on the way to here.  Whatever the case may be, we are in the middle of a battle with this blood golem.  We have to quickly get rid of any distractions that may lead the battle in the unwanted direction.  We must shoot that monster down.”</your>
<your>“But for some reason the silhouette seems somewhat familiar.  As if it looks like Ark hyungnim…”</your>
<your>“Don’t joke around.  There is no way Ark would be over here is there?  No, even if he did come here, there is no way he would ride something hideous as that is there?</your>
<your>“Most likely right?”</your>
<your>“Of course.  Don’t think about something strange.  I told you back when we were training you.  Contration is the basic requirement for a sniper.  Shoot with the intent to kill with the first shot!”</your>
<your>“Yes, Clem Captain!”</your>
<your>Therefore, with heightened concentration…..</your>
<your>Tooong! Tooong! Tooong! Kung Kung Kung! KkaaKang!</your>
<your>– summoned h.e.l.l hound was shot in the head!</your>
<your>“d.a.m.n it! We are done for!”</your>
<your>In the midst of a moaning dog, message popped in front of Ark.  Luckily h.e.l.l hound was summoned from a level 100 carca.s.s.  One shot wasn’t enough to kill it.  However, the briskly dripping blood from its head made the pa.s.sengers uneasy.</your>
<your>‘If we keep at this, we would fall even before we get close!’</your>
<your>If they fall, now, they would fall straight into the burning lava!  They would melt away without a trace.</your>
<your>“Don’t make me laugh!  h.e.l.l hound, fly up!”  Ark grabbed the mane with both hands and yelled.</your>
<your>As soon as he gave the order, h.e.l.l hound opened his wings, wide, and shot up.  Ark’s thought was to get above the line of fire and land on the roof.  His plan was to do a perpendicular descent to the window, but Ark forgot to think about something.</your>
<your>– Alert: you are nearly out of mana!