Arena

Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk’s request was fair.

From TUK’s point of view, it would be easier to get rid of them here than it would be Arena.

But I did have one doubt.

“Are you two not with the Korean Arena Research Agency?”

Affiliated examinees were being targeted so it was strange that the national agency was just standing by.

With a dark expression, Yoo Ji-soo shook her head.

“Last year our contract ended and we’ve been free agents since then. They gave us such a small salary and pay for the majeong plus their support was inadequate. We thought there was no need to stay.”

That was why they were in this pickle.

Last year would’ve been when Chief Kim Joong-tae was in his prime so that made sense.

“Right now, Chief Kim Joong-tae had his downfall and there have been a lot of reform that has happened. For now, what do you think about rejoining the Korean Arena Research Agency?”

“We’ve become England’s target, they probably won’t take us.”

“Those government bastards going up against England to protect us? There’s no way they’ll do that.”

Said Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk with distrust.

I understood that feeling.

I also had my information sold to the Chinese by Chief Kim Joong-tae and Cha Ji-hye was even murdered when she tried to stop that.

It’s safe to say no one here has a patriotic spirit.

But the past is the past.

Right now, with Jinseong group joining the Arena business there was a restructuring of the agency. And since I was starting the Big Rat ranch I had quite a bit of influence on the agency as well.

“I’ll let them know at the research agency. They’ll help you I’m sure.”

“If that were to happen we’d be grateful for it but……”

Yoo Ji-soo still looked unconvinced.

But there wouldn’t be a problem.

I had enough pull to control a portion of the Korean Arena Research Agency

“I’ll contact them tomorrow so let’s to go the research agency together. We’ll probably get a good answer from them.”

Yoo Ji-soo and Cha Jin-hyuk agreed to it for now. They decided it wouldn’t hurt to just give it a shot.

“But uh…who is this girl?”

Yoo Ji-soo pointed to Marie who was quietly munching on crackers. Marie couldn’t speak Korean that well so couldn’t interrupt and was just staring at us blankly.

“She is Marie Johanna from the Nordic Exam Group. Say hello.”

They greeted each other and conversed in the Arena language and became quick friends.

We passed time while we drank and we told each other our latest stories and when we checked the clock it was well past midnight.

“Would you like to spend the night here?”

“Is there somewhere for us to sleep?”

“Yes, the bed in my room is large so you three ladies could sleep there.”

The three girls in my bedroom, Cha Jin-hyuk in the guest room, and because of Marie I decided to sleep on the bed in the office.

I thought the night would end there.

***

It was the middle of the night.

Beeeeeek-

“What, what is it!”

At the sudden loud racket I got up immediately.

“Arm, dual Neilson H2!”

I reflexively weaponized myself with both guns and went out into the hall.

They must have heard the same noise because Cha Jin-hyuk, Cha Ji-hye, Yoo Ji-soo, and Marie were all out in the hall.

“What is it?”

I asked.

Then Yoo Ji-soo gritted her teeth as she answered.

“I set up magic on this place before I went to bed to alert us if there were intruders.”

“We have an intruder?”

“Yep, I set it up so that it wouldn’t go off if it wasn’t a life form bigger than a certain size.”

She means it wouldn’t have tripped because of a small creature like a pigeon or something.

Then that means for sure that we have an intruder.

“Sylph.”

-Meow!

Sylph appeared in midair and hopped onto my shoulder.

“Check outside.”

-Meow!

Sylph immediately pushed off my shoulder and flew out towards the terrace.

This building we were in had a rooftop and wide terrace on either side to be used by the two penthouses. It was set up so that you could see below.

Thus, that meant you could jump onto our terrace from the rooftop.

Sylph showed me an image while she hovered above the building.

There was a group of people on the building rooftop that was off limits.

It was a dark night so their faces weren’t clear but there were 13 of them and seeing how they all had larger builds, they must be all men.

Tall and hefty builds meant they were westerners.

Considering the circumstances, there was no mistake, they were the TUK examinees that had interrupted Yoo Ji-soo’s team.

“I think it’s the TUK. There’s 13 of them.”

“13?! They sure are determined!”

Cha Ji-hyuk’s rage exploded.

“Those sons of bitches! In what way are we such enemies that they’re going this far! It’s enough that they messed up our exam!”

Yoo Ji-soo also got mad.

For the two of them, there couldn’t be a situation that would make them get more upset.

Then, Sylph sent me another video.

One of the men on the rooftop gathered his hands together and started casting a spell.

Then, the mana he gathered in both hands spread out and enveloped my home.

“He’s used some kind of magic.”

“I felt it too! It’s limitation magic!”

Shouted Yoo Ji-soo. Magic was her main skill so her understanding of the situation was better than mine.

“Limitation magic?”

“You put a barrier around the area and it limits anything physical from reaching the outside. You can’t hear sounds and objects won’t pass through to the outside either. It’s an impressively high level magic!”

That meant there was a powerful magician amongst that group.

“Them attacking this place means they’re ready to fight you, a world ranker.”

Warned Cha Ji-hye.

Even knowing that I was the opponent, they were still willing to attack.

That means they’re prepared to kill me!

“Miss Ji-hye, firstly, contact the Korean Arena Research Agency and request aid.”

“Understood.”

“Miss Ji-soo, you focus on dealing with the opponent’s magic attacks.”

“Got it.”

Yoo Ji-soo nodded her head.

“The rest of you work to make sure the bastards don’t enter the house, I’ll be outside fighting them and buy us time.”

“Will you be alright alone?” 𝘧𝒓e𝑒𝑤e𝙗𝚗o𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝐜𝐨ｍ

Asked Cha Jin-hyuk.

I nodded my head.

“My strengths are mobility and long distance attacks. The more space I have the better so I can’t fight in the house.”

When at a numerical disadvantage, it’s better to fight in a more restricted environment.

But my fighting methods included a lot of moving and flying so I needed a wide space. Because of that I decided to go outside alone to mess with the bastards.

“Okay. Be careful.”

“Will do. Don’t over do it, focus on defense. We just have to last until help comes.”

Everyone nodded their heads.

I opened the door and went out onto the terrace. And then.

As soon as I got outside, I could see some reddish line coming from the top of the rooftop towards my chest.

‘It’s foresight!’

The foresight skill that lets me see the trajectory of a long distance attack was activated.

I immediately dodged to the right,

Schweek- kwajik!

An arrow flew past the spot that I had been standing. The arrow was strong enough to penetrate the floor of concrete. It must have been a very strong shot.

It was enough to surprise me because I couldn’t see it approaching.

‘But there’s no way that I, with my dynamic visual acuity at the master level, couldn’t have seen that coming?’

I quickly came to a realization.

This must be the opponent’s skill.

Amongst the opposing group, there must be an examinee that has a skill that made the arrow invisible.

Schwee schweek-

Once again two red lines were drawn at my head and my chest.

‘Two shots?’

“Sylph!”

I had Sylph send my body flying up through the air.

This time too I couldn’t see the arrows.

‘This won’t do.’

A skill that makes the arrows invisible. A very useful skill in a field operation like this or for an ambush.

But against someone like me, who has the foresight skill, it’s of absolutely no use.

Now then, is it my turn?

I began to fire away at the rooftop they were attacking from.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta tang-!

The gunshots resounded relentlessly and the muzzle of both guns spewed out unending fire.

The 13 people gathered on the rooftop all scattered all at once.

Among them, two leapt off and jumped towards me. They were ones a wielding a sword and a spear.

Ta tang!

As I my double guns fired, the one with the sword set up an aura protective shield and the one with the spear hid behind him.

‘Then how about this?’

I used Sylph to back up and continued shooting the shield with my double guns.

As I concentrated on one point, the aura protective shield cracked and I got a shot through that struck the man’s body.

“Ku huk!”

The black suit he was wearing got shredded and blood burst out from the sword wielding man’s shoulder.

‘So you can use an aura protective shield but you aren’t an aura master.’

He looks to maybe be an aura expert superior level or so.

For me, who has killed the likes of Heising, he wasn’t an opponent that could threaten me.

“Kuahhh!”

While the sword-wielding man grabbed his shoulder and stumbled, the spear-wielding man came at me like an arrow.

As I raised my guns, he immediately threw the spear he was holding with all his might.

Chwaaaak!

With so much force, the spear sounded like it was splitting the air!

‘Sylph, whirlwind!’

I gave Sylph the order through my thoughts.

Hwi li li lik!

A whirlwind appeared and wrapped around my body. The javelin* was unable to pierce the whirlwind and was flung in the opposite direction.

(TN: Raws keep switching between spear and javelin.)

But the javelin switched direction midair and came flying at me again?

Kwang! Kwang!

The aura infused spear, like it was possessed, moved on its own and kept hitting the whirlwind.

‘Is it a spear manipulating skill?’

While I continued to block the self-moving spear with the whirlwind, I kept firing my guns.

Ta ta ta ta ta ta tang!

The bullets with the bullet revision and Sylph’s strength pierce through the whirlwind and attacked the man who threw the spear.

The man summoned a large square shield and crouched behind it to block the barrage of bullets..

There is aura coming from the shield too and it blocked my serenade of bullets.

‘He can use aura not only on the weapon but on his defense item too?’

I couldn’t tell if it was a type of aura control or that man’s special defense skill alone.

But in the meantime the man with the sword came at me again.

I didn’t know when he healed it but the shoulder that was hit with the bullet looked fine now.

‘I didn’t see him drink a healing potion though?’

I had Sylph strengthen the whirlwind surrounding my body. Then I turned the whirlwind into sharp daggers.

Kwa ji jik! Kwaang! Kwang!

The possessed spear and the man’s blade consecutively attack the whirlwind.

While the two were dealing with me, the other men were heading into the house.

‘Sylph, add dust into the whirlwind. So they can’t see me.’

-Meow!

Sylph nodded her head.

Then the whirlwind began to collect all the dust around the area into the whirlwind.

The whirlwind took on color, changing into murky cloud of brown dust..

The murky whirlwind began to cloud my vision.

‘I’ll show you what’s up.’

I decided to use the present I got from Neilson.

“Wield, Neilson R8!”

Barrel length of 2 meters!

20 mm bullets!

The best monster rifle had appeared.

I was holding the double guns and I kicked the R8 towards Sylph.

Sylph expertly picked up the R8 and aimed.

I decided to get rid of the man with the blade first. Because the one with the spear was defending himself with a shield so I figured he would be harder to kill in one shot.

“Kasa!”

-Bark!

“You help too!”

-Bark bark! ｆ𝓇𝘦ℯ𝙬𝑒𝐛n𝐨νe𝙡.c𝑜𝗺

Kasa joined Sylph in firing the Neilson R8.

And coincidentally, when the blade wielding man was making his way through the whirlwind, the Nielson R8 fires a HE 20 mm round at him.

Tuaaang-!!