Level 0 Master

“Don’t give up, Sungjin.”

“Good, you’re doing well.”

“Oppa.”

Even if they knew their voices did not reach him, the girls cheered for him together.

“You can beat them.”

How foolish. Varka pitied their cheers because he knew what waited at the end of this chase, because…

Sungjin, who was running away, arrived at an exit. It was a bridge that led to the outskirts of the city.

In the middle of the bridge was a silvery-white robot of a massive size, and at its sides were disgustingly strong metal robots. It was larger than the city robots, as they had wheels attached as their feet and hammers attached to their upper bodies. It was the type of annihilation robot that made stun guns unnecessary, but the scariest robot was the large robot in the middle. What was in its middle was a cannon. Approaching it would mean the weapon’s activation, making it impossible to cross the bridge.

Varka, who had been watching, questioned silently, “Now what will you do?”

It was surprising that Sungjin had been able to rip out the chips in order to save Sooryun, but all he had achieved was being surrounded by Varka’s robots.

A level 0 could not win against the massive army of robots. He would be captured once more, implanted with the chip and returned to normal. Even if he were to commit suicide, Varka’s world caused the dead to rise, as the soul wouldn’t leave the body, and with the chip still intact, he would return to being a respectable citizen.

There would be no chaos to his order, and therefore no ripples in the calm waters.

Bang.

The metal robots began to seriously chase after Sungjin.

Bang.

A hammer launched from a robot’s outstretched hand. It hit the wall to his side. Immediately, the wall broke and debris flew.

Sungjin had been able to read the trajectory, but it had only been a moment’s notice. Sungjin turned around with a hardened face. He had to pass through the bridge, but as there was no apparent solution, he was simply trying to find a way to avoid the conflict before him.

Robots chased after him.

Bang.

Bang.

Hammers were thrown right behind him, and Sungjin kept dodging them, but how long could he do so? The encirclement around Sungjin kept getting smaller and smaller. Even as Sungjin ran about here and there, he was forced into the middle of their encirclement.

Is this the end?

Sooryun, who was in Sungjin’s arms, clenched his shirt. “May I suggest something?”

“What?”

“I believe it’s impossible for both of us to run away. Between me and you, I believe the enemy would value my capture more.”

“Because you’re a more valuable person?”

“Yes. I’m a cadre of the resistance army. Let’s split up, so that I can try to buy some more time for us. Please try to find a way to escape in time.” She talked of her sacrifice quite calmly, but Sungjin could feel that her entire body was trembling as she was in his arms.

“I refuse that plan.”

“Of course, I do realise that it will be hard to cross the bridge even with this plan… but if there’s a one percent chance…”

“There’s a better method for the both of us to run away, so why should you?”

“What?” Sooryun blinked. Her face, which had remained neutral although she had been tired and fearful, changed, and for the first time, the image of a young girl was revealed. How?

She was surprised that he had saved her by ripping out his own chip, but was he really saying that they could run away from this? They were surrounded, stuck in a situation where they could only run around in circles.

“I’ll show you.” Sungjin smiled jokingly and began to run once again.

But, unlike what he had said, the situation did not get better.

He ran into the nearest tower. While running around, robots chased after him.

Sungjin ran to the top of the tower that was bound to end. Still, he kept running because he would be captured as soon as he stopped. But his body was human. His legs turned heavy, and his lungs started to heave. But the reason he couldn’t stop was due to the girl in his arms.

The robots kept chasing after him, whether he was tired or not.

Bang.

Every time the hammer struck, a wall collapsed. The attack was to kill, so that they could be captured in order to insert a chip.

Under such continuous attacks, Sungjin had no choice but to run. He was like a mouse running from a group of cats, but there was no hole for the mouse to hide in. The only bridge towards freedom was blocked.

Sooryun felt her demise coming closer while she lay in Sungjin’s arms. This is it. She had already prepared for her capture. Suddenly, Sungjin brought out a rope from his utility bag. A rope?

“Hold on.” He broke the window and jumped out, hooking the rope onto a decoration.

Ah! Sooryun instinctively held tightly onto Sungjin’s chest. The firm chest embraced her.

Sungjin slid down the rope before kicking off the wall. The rope loosened slightly, and the window below came closer. Sungjin approached the window in his returning swing and threw himself in.

Crash.

Protecting Sooryun from the shattered glass with his body, Sungjin lessened the impact by rolling onto the ground. With this, the distance between him and the robots had widened.

But putting this small distance between us won’t mean anything for trying to pass through the bridge. Sooryun was still unsettled. Won’t he be meaninglessly hurt?

And, accordingly, the robots began to move towards them. The robots on the bridge didn’t move but waited, sealing the exit.

That was when the unexpected occurred: the tower started shaking.

“Huh?”

The shaking became greater.

Craash.

Craash.

With a loud sound, stone debris began to fall from the top of the tower, and, starting from the place they had come from, the tower started to lean.

Rumble.

Now that the main supporting beam had broken, the tower collapsed without fail, but it wasn’t simply falling; it was falling according to the walls that had been destroyed. The tower fell according to the direction Sungjin had planned: on top of the bridge where the security robots stood, the only way of escape.

The tower weighed more than a million tons. The large robot was squished without the chance to use its cannon. In the tower, the robots chasing after Sungjin broke from the impact. All the robots stopped moving as the connection center broke.

Sooryun had to suppress her beating heart in Sungjin’s arms. Tha… That was amazing. To think this was what he had been preparing. This man… is daring. This man… is amazing.

Her astonishment caused her mouth to drop open. With such a lithe body… and such a sharp charisma… he was a man who made her drool.

Ah! What am I thinking? She regained her senses and her composure.

* * *

She closed her mouth and gave out due compliments. “You’re… amazing…”

“I told you I’d open up a road, didn’t I?” Sungjin smiled.

“You ripped out your chip yourself… You seem to have an impressive past.”

“Let’s talk about the details later and escape first,” Sungjin shouted once he leapt onto the newly made tower bridge. “I’ll back off here for now. I’ll see you all later.” It was a provocation that relieved him of his humiliation not a moment too soon. It was a retreat similar to a magic show, but his declaration was similar to a grand return.

Running away doesn’t mean I will not return. I will soon declare my return. With that, he walked out of the city with the girl in his arms.

Sooryun glanced at Sungjin. It’s rude to look at him like this… but he’s so interesting.

She had never seen a man like this one. Despite his age, which seemed older than hers, his body was firm and lithe. There was no fat or overly large muscles; he looked very much like a dancer or a graceful predator.

A refreshing smile and natural-born charisma, and his strong strategic mind. She had unknowingly listened to his orders. Sigh… He had a man’s scent, which made a girl’s heart swoon.

Perhaps she had listened to him because she instinctively knew his suggestion was the only way to survive the perfect encirclement that was inescapable.

Obviously hundreds of cats could have been locked up, but he could not be trapped because he was a lion. The robot’s net was nothing but a bundle of yarn.

What should I do? She was in his arms, so her heart ran faster and faster, despite the fact that she should be more reserved before a stranger as she was in his arms.

Even if the situation was urgent and it was unavoidable, why were her cheeks so red?

But…

He was a nice guy.

The moment she had thought everything was over, he had appeared like the wind and rescued her from the overwhelming siege. On top of that, he was like a wild beast that ran without hesitation while his hands were occupied with carrying her.

His strength and sharp intelligence that showed up all his enemies… This kind of person… … It’s the first time. Is this what it feels like to fall in love at first sight? Who is this man? Where did he come from?

What she wanted to ask, what she wanted to know, piled up like stones.

He escaped… Varka closed his eyes. Amazing. He used my robots and terrain to break through.

It was a world he had created inside himself, but that was why he was an outsider.

The world was seemingly inside him. He had created an autonomous maintenance system that consisted of robots and control chips that corresponded to “immune cells,” but he couldn’t interfere himself.

It was true that simple rules dominate. Even so, it was inherently the world in which his laws were implemented.

But to think Sungjin was able to distort it like that.

But even if you break the collar and escape, you’re still inside the giant fence.

He could be one of the wandering nomads who refused chips in his world, but he would still be in his world.

“Huhu, it’s a counterattack.”

He said nothing to excited girls’ words. Even if you burn away all of your lives, there is no way for him to escape the world.

They would soon realize that.

Even with all the others, the remaining time for Sungjin was now only two hundred and thirty-nine hours and thirty-five minutes.

Sungjin, who fled the factory area with her, stopped after seeing that the enemy was not following. He placed Sooryun on the floor and asked, “You said there’s a resistance? Can you guide me from here? I don’t have any information on you guys.”

“… Have you been in captivity until now?” Sooryun looked at Sungjin, taken aback.

A polite yet elegant voice reminded her of the sounds of the millennium. “That’s it.”

That means… That means he had escaped within a moment after removing the chip.

Sooryun looked at Seongjin once again and looked down. Her heart beat fast in front of the strong and slender body and the face of a friendly young boy.

He must be a great person.

He may have been trapped in this world, but he must have been extraordinary once.

I have a lot to ask…

But first they needed to have some leisure.

“I understand. There is a base for insurgents. I will lead you there.”

“Good.” Sungjin moved along with Sooryun.

For now, it was time for reorganization.