novelraw Chapter 35 : Cyber Psycho (4)
Chapter 35 : Cyber Psycho (4)
Chapter 35: Cyber Psycho (4)
There was a saying about putting out the urgent fire first. Originally, it was an idiom, but in the present situation, it carried its literal meaning.
Whooosh—!
The flames that had started at the bar table spread throughout the entire lounge.
At this rate, the Stiletto Club would be reduced to ashes in no time.
“Put— it out……!”
On the first floor, figures that looked like gang members scurried about in a frenzy to find fire extinguishers.
However.
“Kiiyaaah—!”
“Fire, fire!!”
“Ah, damn— shit.”
With the crowd being what it was, there wasn’t even room to set foot. The members who had been pinned in place urgently sent radio calls up to the upper floors.
After several attempts, the members stationed on the second floor were barely able to be deployed.
They slid down the spiral staircase. Each of them clutched a fire extinguisher.
Initial suppression had already gone out the window. As such, the gangs’ objective was to reduce the financial loss as much as possible.
And the moment they rushed out—
Dadadada!
—coincided perfectly with the timing of Lee Taebaek reaching the upper floor.
“Move!”
Lee Taebaek did just that.
“Go on through.”
He pulled his shoulder back by a span and opened the way for the frantic-looking gang members.
“That aside, what are you doing here?!”
“Baron Marlow called for me.”
“Never seen your face before. You the Baron’s new concubine?”
“Well, roughly…….”
“I see. Got your diapers on?”
In the midst of racing against time, they sent him a pitying look.
“Anyway, good work. Don’t report this to the Baron just yet. We’ll try to clean it up ourselves first, then make a separate report.”
The gang member patted his shoulder and rushed past him, stirring the air. They didn’t realize that the very cause of this mess was standing right beside them.
Why did they just pass him by?
It was because Lee Taebaek had caught them off guard. More precisely, he had exploited a gap in information transmission.
The staircase was spiral-shaped. As a result, blind spots formed in one’s field of vision while ascending. Taking advantage of that gap, Lee Taebaek had turned his outerwear inside out.
In fact, his top had already changed from white to black—the color of the lining. The gangs, fixated on the radio report that ‘the culprit was wearing white,’ passed right by Lee Taebaek without a second glance.
‘A color-based optical illusion.’
He casually removed his mask as well. From this point on, he intended to kill everyone he encountered. It didn’t matter if his face was exposed.
That wasn’t his only gambit. He had dealt with the bartender using a Python—deliberately.
If he’d wanted to infiltrate quietly, a quick slice with a blade would’ve sufficed, and if he’d wanted to start a fire, a single flick of a lighter would’ve done it.
Even so, Lee Taebaek had ‘deliberately’ made a flashy show of it. At a glance, it looked like excessive performance.
But thanks to that, the Para Blade had cleanly slipped out of the gangs’ field of vision.
He grasped the surrounding terrain and the enemies’ movement routes in real time, while simultaneously deriving a solution.
It was a moment where his gamer brain worked at full throttle. He felt that trading away his college entrance exam scores had been worth it.
‘The surveillance network’s been neutralized.’
Meanwhile, down below, the gangs were diligently putting out the fire. The powder spewed from the extinguishers rose high enough to nearly touch the ceiling.
The lights pierced through the pale dust, dimly illuminating them. They were desperate to find the culprit.
“White clothes! Grab everyone wearing white!”
“Check the bartender’s body, confirm the cause of death, and immediately line them up against anyone carrying a gun!!”
Lee Taebaek sprinted straight down the empty corridor. He turned his steps at the third corner.
“……?!”
Another corridor revealed itself.
However, it was extremely narrow. With even slight movement, his shoulders would almost brush the walls. Doors lined both sides of the cramped hallway, with room numbers written in sequence.
“Just one look tells you it’s shady as hell.”
This place was eerily quiet, as if cut off from the lower floors. The commotion below felt like a story from another world.
‘For there to be no one coming out to look even in that kind of chaos…’
It meant this was a space where communications didn’t reach. Neither inward nor outward—both were impossible.
“Room 1, Room 2, Room 3…….”
Lee Taebaek advanced while counting the numbers with his eyes. He stopped about ten steps in.
Room 8.
‘The odds that the bodyguard set a trap are low.’
He didn’t immediately use a nerf.
After mentally cornering the bodyguard, he had [nerfed] his mind. There was no way he wouldn’t have confessed.
Besides.
At the time, the effects of the spiritual medicine had just begun to circulate. The bodyguard was fated to become a one-way guest in the end.
“For now, authorities have a cooldown.”
It had been a kill carried out with extreme caution.
In any case.
After compiling all the prior information, the likelihood that Room 8 was a trap seemed slim.
“Hoo.”
Lee Taebaek took a short, deep breath.
Then, from the core of the Para Blade attached to his tailbone, he quietly drew out the blade.
Next, he brought his hand to the doorknob. It felt as if his heart were being wrung dry.
Rattle, rattle.
Just then, the doorknob tilted inquisitively. Someone inside seemed about to come out.
Damn it, this complicates things.
The judgment was instantaneous, and the action immediate. He struck first.
[The operator’s strength is buffed.]
Lee Taebaek stomped his foot with a thud, shifted his center of gravity into his upper body, and—
Bam—!
He roughly slammed the door with his shoulder. The gap flew wide open. Carried by inertia, he barged straight into the room.
Crash!
The person who had been holding the doorknob was sent sprawling by the impact. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Wh- what… is……?”
Despite the sudden appearance of an intruder, the gang members did nothing more than blink their eyelids like goldfish.
In other words, cognitive dissonance. The alcohol hadn’t yet worn off, and it was a glimpse into just how dried out their mental states were.
‘It’ll take two seconds for them to snap out of it.’
Within that time, he focused on securing his field of vision.
Lee Taebaek swept the interior of the room in a single motion with a rapid gaze. Pitch-black killing intent trailed along with his eyes.
A long sofa filled the perimeter of the room, and an ivory-colored dining table occupied the center. Expensive liquor and tropical fruits were mixed together in a chaotic mess.
Rumble.
The rolling microphone struck Lee Taebaek’s shoe. It had slipped from a gang member’s hand. He had been standing on the table, in the middle of clowning around.
Beyond that, other members were pressed tightly together on a sofa shaped like a reverse D (コ).
Five in total. All of them had their shirts completely stripped off, flaunting their tattoos, each one a hulking brute.
‘Straight-as-an-arrow tastes, orientations, shit. What the hell are you even saying.’
Among the men, the one with perilla-leaf hair stood out the most. He was blatantly seated in the seat of honor.
There was no empty space on his forehead, and his jaw was entirely gold. A stark contrast. Above the philtrum was covered in tattoos, below it in cybernetic prosthetics.
As expected of a third-generation executive of the long-established Monterrey Gang, he had a tough-looking face. The guys dealing with a face like that had nerves of steel too.
Ang -♥?!
At the strange sound, I only flicked my eyes over.
It came from the wall right next to the door. The wall display was broadcasting a heated video.
Not a metaphor—an ‘X’-level sex scene. The moans came naturally.
“Who, the hell, are you…….”
The perilla-leaf-haired man slowly tilted his head. The cloudiness over his corneas cleared, and a strange light began to frost over them.
“Just to confirm, are you Baron Marlow?”
“Heh heh heh, yeah. I’m Baron Marlow.”
Baron Marlow said with a sneer.
“…You look X-shitty, just like the concept art.”
Lee Taebaek immediately raised his blade.
Thud!
I drove the blade into the carotid artery of a gang member who had been slumped there. A fountain of blood erupted from the nape of his neck and splashed onto the wall display.
“Ggghhh…….”
The man’s arm rose pitifully, but in the end his pupils opened layer by layer.
“That bastard— get— him!”
Baron Marlow shouted, pointing at Lee Taebaek. When he spat it out, it sounded different in a rather unsettling way.
The gang members who had frozen in shock hurriedly stretched their arms toward the table. They had left their weapons behind.
Three of them each grabbed a liquor bottle and tried to rush in, using the table as a foothold.
Fruits were crushed under their feet. Bottles smeared with juice rolled away.
“Do you know where you are—!!”
“I’ll make sure you can’t function as a man!”
Their response was swift. Having grown tough in the underworld, this kind of ambush couldn’t have been their first.
They must have trained for situations like this many times.
But.
‘They’re in cognitive dissonance.’
Their train of thought had holes in it like cheese from Tom and Jerry. Naturally, their actions would be slower than usual.
On top of that, they were all dead drunk, in a complete mess. Even in a one-versus-many fight, the odds were more than sufficient.
As long as I blocked their combined attack.
“I don’t even start a game I’m going to lose.”
Muttering, Lee Taebaek leapt like lightning. In the blink of an eye, I closed the distance to the table. I shoved the edge of the table as if pushing it with the sole of my foot, then kicked.
With my strength enhanced, the table advanced smoothly, slicing forward like it was on ice.
Huh? Huh!
The gang members who had climbed onto the table were swept up by inertia and staggered.
When Lee Taebaek kicked once more, they lost their balance and collapsed.
Crash!
Two of them smashed their chins hard against the table. The remaining one fell backward, casting a shadow over Baron Marlow seated in the place of honor.
“Get lost!”
The Baron flailed his arm and threw his subordinate aside. In the very next moment, what he faced was the table stretching out and crashing toward him.
“Guhhk!!”
With a bursting sound of ribs shattering, the area around his solar plexus caved in. The contents Baron Marlow had eaten today got a refreshing look at the world.
The real melee started now.
Lee Taebaek closed his eyes, then opened them.
Flash!
For an instant, Lee Taebaek’s figure became semi-transparent, like a jellyfish. Light that had started at his spine raced through every corner of his nervous system, then gathered back at the origin.
[The operator activates Bullet Time.]
[Time Limit: ●●●●●●●●◐]
It was a familiar sensation. Just like when I’d been roasted in the electric chair, my hair stood on end and my fingertips and toes tingled.
The difference was that my hands and feet were free.
Lee Taebaek gripped the knife handle in a reverse hold.
When you reverse the grip of an umbrella, the hook points upward. That meant it was convenient for hooking and pulling something.
Shk—
I stabbed the hook into one man’s mouth and caught it under his tongue. Then I pulled back my shoulder by about three spans and yanked.
Riiip!
The gang member’s cheeks split open from top to bottom. Where his jaw should have been, a purple tongue dangled lonely. He looked like an undead.
Whoosh.
I snatched the liquor bottle he was holding. Then I smashed it down onto his crown. A suppressed scream seeped into the soundproof walls. Soon, the man’s eyes rolled completely back.
‘The finish has to be thorough.’
I brought it down again with all my strength. Glass shards scattered.
[All of the opponent’s stats are nerfed.]
The liquor bottle decisively crushed the enemy’s skull, which had gone soft from the [Nerf]. One down.
[Time Limit: ●●●●●●●◐○]
Elapsed time was 1.5 seconds.
It was faster than expected, but there was no time to be complacent.
I felt wind brush my side profile. The sharpness of its substance was a glass bottle.
“You— fucking bastard! How dare you touch my boyfriend!”
One gang member swung a bottle. At the same time Lee Taebaek folded his arm. The bottle aimed at my temple was blocked at the elbow.
Shock filled the man’s eyes.
I had already properly regripped the knife and swung it in a circular arc. The sound of air being sliced. Then blood. The man’s view of the world flipped upside down.
[Time Limit: ●●●●●●○○○]
The last remaining gang member besides the Baron lunged forward like a rabid beast. His fighting spirit boiled over.
Two had died right before his eyes in three seconds. But the power of love outran the fear of death.
“You’ll pay for my boyfriend!”
The man’s roar was truly desperate, enough to nearly stir the heartstrings.
But what kind of relationship was this? I killed his boyfriend, and then another boyfriend showed up? Faced with a situation that shook common sense to its core, Lee Taebaek decided to give up on understanding it.
Instead, I flicked a pineapple at my feet up with the top of my foot and kicked it.
Thwack!
The spikes struck the man’s eye area.
“My eye, my eye!!”
While he clutched his burning eyes, Lee Taebaek interlaced fingers with him. His fingers bent beyond a normal range.
Turning my back, I pulled my upper body. The man traced a gentle parabolic arc through the air. Using his charging inertia against him, I slammed him down.
Crash!
His face smashed into the floor. I drove the blade straight into the back of his head.
[Time Limit: ●●●●◐○○○○]
[Bullet Time has been temporarily paused.]
Catching my breath, Lee Taebaek stared toward the seat of honor. The Baron was wedged between the table and the sofa, facing Lee Taebaek. I let out a faint smile.
[You have acquired 8,014 EXP.]
[An experience 100% event has occurred.]
[You have acquired an additional 8,014 EXP.]
[The operator’s level has rapidly increased by 2!]
Baron Marlow’s complexion drained pale.