‘...Hot.’
Countless monsters had swarmed to break through the Wall.
One of them was thinking blankly.
‘It’s hot.’
What ruled his body was a feeling like his whole body was on fire.
Even though they hadn’t gone all that far from their homeland.
This place... was unbearably hot and scorching.
‘I have to go back quickly.’
To return to their homeland,
they had to complete the mission they’d been given.
Before the enemy came to defile their homeland,
their mission was to dispose of them all here.
‘Our brothers... are late...’
Yet.
For some reason, that mission still hadn’t been completed even after a long time.
The task entrusted to them was to guard their commander and knight.
But that many brothers had gone on the offensive.
There simply could not exist any being that could break through them and reach this place.
In the end.
All they could do was wait endlessly for their other brothers to complete the mission.
‘It’s hot...’
‘I want to go back quickly...’
‘Back to our twisted homeland...’
Just as he was thinking that—
—Brothers.
A voice rang out from the roof of the building they were guarding.
A voice that stabbed directly into their souls.
—The brothers who went to hunt the natives are struggling. It is time for us to go forth.
‘...?’
—I had thought to keep you in reserve because I believed there might be ways to make use ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) of you... but things have gone wrong. I shall go out myself and clean up the enemy’s leaders, so you will protect m—hm?
The “knight” commanding them broke off mid-sentence.
At that moment.
Those on the ground felt something and turned their heads.
‘...Huh?’
In the distance,
near the place where their brothers were fighting the natives,
something...
Something hideously grotesque and terrifying enough to chill them to the bone—
that kind of presence was being felt.
When they looked toward where that presence was coming from,
what was there was...
‘I’m afraid.’
A viciously evil aura.
And a beast wrapped in a power even greater than that.
‘We must stop it.’
That mighty beast.
Was hurling its body toward the building they were guarding.
Toward their knight.
*****
[Rampage] was a power that let you blow away your reason and drag your strength out beyond its limits.
And this ability was probably—
‘...not one that would be rated all that highly.’
When I first saw it, I thought it was similar to Jeon Gwangil’s [Madness].
It was nothing of the sort.
[Madness] blows away your reason and grants you the power of madness.
And that is a power added on top of the strength you originally had.
Thanks to that, Corporal Jeon Gwangil doesn’t tire easily even if a battle drags on.
The more he is swallowed by [madness],
the more powerful strength dwells in his body.
‘If anything, the more enemies he cut down, the stronger and healthier he became.’
By contrast.
[Rampage] is an ability that blows away your reason and lets you use the strength you originally had beyond its limits.
The mechanism of this ability was completely different from [Madness], which grants you a new power.
‘They say no part of the human body is always used at 100% of its strength...’
The heart, for instance, can supposedly beat up to 200 times a second.
But normally it only beats around 80 times.
The reason was simple.
That was more efficient and, also...
‘Safer.’
If you used your physical abilities at close to 100%, the chance of long-term problems would be high.
If a person’s heart rate stayed at 200 all the time, that would actually cause major health issues.
That was why the brain deliberately placed certain restraints on human physical capabilities.
The effect of this Skill was simple.
By removing part of the brain’s functions, it smashed those restraints.
‘And lets you use your strength at 100%... 200%, 300%... even 1000%.’
Obviously.
Just using everything at a constant 100% would be dangerous for the body.
If you raised it beyond that.
The strain that produced would be beyond imagination.
[Penalty]
[Severe Aftereffects]
[Vital Energy Loss]
In fact.
My Status Window had clearly warned that if I used this ability,
the side effects from it would be something I absolutely could not shrug off.
‘A far inferior, distant downgrade of Gwangil’s [Madness].’
Unlike Jeon Gwangil’s ability, it didn’t let you adjust how much reason you let be swallowed by madness.
It didn’t grant you any new strength, either—it only forcibly drew out the strength you already had,
and then dumped all the backlash from using power beyond what your body could endure directly onto the owner.
An ability as vicious as they come.
If there was any saving grace.
It was that I was already a brute when it came to raw stats.
Which meant the strength I could draw out with this ability was immense as well.
And.
‘I’ve used abilities that strain the body a few times already.’
The blood of the [Noble of the Night] racing through my body
would, to some extent, block the aftereffects that came with it.
‘The power I can get from this ability... is comparable to using Absolute Palate-stacked cooking four times over.’
The aftereffects would be overwhelmingly greater than that,
and there might be side effects I couldn’t even predict yet.
Unfortunately, I had no room right now to sit and think about that,
and besides...
CRRRRK...
The effect itself.
Was unmistakably certain.
THUMP!
As I kicked off the ground with everything I had,
my body shot toward the building with the momentum of a shell.
*****
“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!”
The moment I leapt toward the building with a full-power jump,
the monsters that had gathered around the building reacted instantly.
FSSSSSH...
Huge spears of ice formed in the monsters’ hands.
Monsters that had never originally had any such ability were using it so naturally.
But.
I wasn’t particularly flustered.
If anything...
‘...Kaha!’
My current situation, soaring over the heads of countless monsters,
just felt thrilling and fun.
WHAPWHAPWHAPWHAPWHAP!
A staggering number of thrown spears rushed toward me.
Rather than dodging those spearheads, I tucked my body in and added to my flying momentum.
SLASH!
Countless spearheads slashed across my whole body as they passed.
I’d protected my vital points somehow, but.
The muscles, skin, and flesh all over my body were roughly ripped apart.
‘It hurts.’
The wounds where I’d been cut felt absurdly hot,
and the icy spearheads gave me a chill so cold it hurt, on top of that heat.
‘But... it’s not bad.’
A little pain sometimes becomes pleasure.
The pain I was feeling right now was exactly that.
And thanks to the effect of [Rampage]—
the blood in my body was racing through my veins at several times its usual speed.
SSSLIDE.
Before the leaping body could even reach its destination,
the blood of the [Noble of the Night] that had rampaged through my entire system
had already healed all those torn wounds,
and because I hadn’t flinched at the incoming spears and had just thrown myself forward,
my body hadn’t lost any of the initial momentum from my leap.
CRASH!
Smashing through the window of the building that held my target,
I succeeded in breaching it in a single go.
“GRRK...!”
“What, there were forces inside too?”
After rolling across the floor a few times and getting to my feet,
I saw the monsters inside starting to take up battle positions when they saw me.
“Mm, I didn’t expect such a warm welcome.”
Unfortunately.
I had no leeway to match that welcome.
“You went to the trouble of welcoming me, so in return...”
I clenched a kitchen knife in each hand,
looked at them, and smiled faintly.
“I’ll cook you as fast as I can.”
Then I hurled myself.
Right into the middle of them.
The downside of [Rampage] was not only that you had to bear the aftereffects entirely on your own.
There was one more.
‘You lose your reason all at once.’
No matter how powerful your strength is.
What’s even more important is the skill and tactics to wield it properly.
If you don’t have the skill to handle that strength and the reason to manage those tactics,
you’re nothing more than a strong beast.
You’d just get hunted down step by step by an enemy that fights more meticulously.
[Special Sauce – Calm Mind]
Of course.
That wasn’t the case for me.
[Martial Art – Cuisine]
[Martial Art reacts to the effect of cuisine.]
Rampage trying to seize control of my whole body.
The fighting style that used that rampaging power naturally blended into my body.
SLASH...!
“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!!”
Throwing myself into the middle of the monsters,
I began a full-on massacre.
‘I have to subdue the target before the effect of [Rampage] ends. I don’t have the leisure to deal with every monster that swarms in.’
Even as my mind felt like it might get blown out by Rampage,
the effect of [Calm Mind] was grasping the situation more calmly than ever.
‘The target isn’t on this floor.’
When I’d leapt toward this building,
I’d kept watching it through the gaps between the monsters’ thrown spears.
Because of that, I knew.
‘The top floor!’
The sniper I’d come here for.
Was positioned right there.
*****
“...Keh-heh!”
After cutting, slicing, smashing, and blowing apart the monsters that came at me,
by the time I’d neatly [processed] about half the monsters that had been packed onto this floor—
“...Grrr...”
I heard a sound from the floor below.
I’d entered this building with a single leap.
By contrast, most of the monsters guarding this building had been massed on the ground.
‘So they’re coming up.’
For a moment, the thought that I wanted to fight those bastards too bubbled up,
but.
[Calm Mind]
Using my “reason,” I suppressed that thought,
and moved to take action to go up to the next floor.
“GRRK!!!”
“Mm?”
The moment I started to move.
The few monsters remaining on this floor started blocking off the area near the door.
“What, so you’re going to block the stairs... something like that?”
Beyond that door would be the stairs up to the next floor.
I could feel a powerful intent that they would not let me go up no matter what the cost.
A faint smile.
Yeah.
I could feel it, sure.
“Well then, work hard running in place over there.”
But I.
Had no intention of politely fighting them.
I lifted my head and looked up at the ceiling.
[Enhanced Reinforced Concrete]
The building’s ceiling.
Even for monsters, a thick building ceiling like that isn’t something you can just casually smash through.
That was probably why they’d blocked off the stairs like that.
[Chef’s Eye]
[‘Enlightenment of Advanced Recipe – Enhanced Reinforced Concrete Processing Method’...]
Even back when my Level was only 1, I’d sliced through solid wooden logs.
Back then...
I’d been a little curious what would happen once this Trait became Advanced.
The answer to that curiosity.
Was now right in front of my eyes.
SLASH...!
When I lightly swung my dagger toward the ceiling,
the hard reinforced concrete of the building, designed to withstand even earthquakes,
was cut away as naturally as a soft cake and the fruit inside it.
“GRRK!?”
The monsters panicked and rushed back toward me.
Ignoring them, I gave a light jump and headed to the next floor.
[You gain experience.]
The monsters on the next floor rushed me as well,
but I cleaned them all up lightly and kept climbing.
I hadn’t been able to see it from inside the Wall because of the blizzard, but.
It was a high-rise building with more floors than I’d thought.
How many floors did I climb like that?
...FWIP.
From up above.
I sensed a very faint presence, like something being set down.
“...!”
Feeling that,
I twisted my body slightly as it moved upward, acting on reflex more than thought.
Then—
KRAAAAAAASH!!!
From a floor above,
something huge drove down, smashing through the building’s ceilings and walls.
It was too fast to see clearly, but.
Something that looked like a massive spear.
‘A ballista?’
Only after a moment.
Was I able to realize it had been an arrow.
That was how powerful it was.
The arrow kept smashing through the building’s walls as it came down,
and finally buried itself deep in the first floor of the building.
“...Ha-ha!”
And.
Seeing that, I smiled.
“As expected, it’s you!”
The being up there.
Was the bastard who’d put us in danger.
The one who’d sniped Jo Jun and left him at death’s door.
My target for revenge—
and the one who was going to become my source of fun!
...GRAB!
Apparently the enemy had no intention of letting me approach easily either.
This time, I felt an even stronger presence than before.
He was probably firing with even more power loaded into it.
‘Cute little trick!’
The first arrow I’d dodged, but not this time.
As the arrow drove down toward the top of my head, I reached up and—
CRACK!!!
Forcibly grabbed it.
The arrow had had enough power in it to punch straight through to the ground floor.
When I received that impact,
THUUUUD...
the whole floor heaved, and the ground shattered.
The skin of my hand holding the arrow split open, and the arrowhead was almost right in front of my eyes.
I reversed my grip on the massive arrow.
Clutching that weapon, which was closer to a spear than an arrow, I took a throwing stance.
‘The first shot and the second shot were both fired from the same position.’
Stats driven up to the extreme.
My sharpened senses were telling me.
‘A fixed firing position is fine for sniping, but they’re not good at evasive movement.’
TENSE—
THUMP!
‘You’re not even half the sniper Suhyeok is!’
I hurled the massive arrow toward the ceiling.
Of course.
I didn’t have any Traits like [Arrow Mastery] or [Spear Mastery].
It was just a spear thrown with no ability attached to it.
No matter how much power was behind it,
smashing through the ceiling and walls as it went would be hard, but...
There was no need for that either.
‘The hole you punched through!’
The spear I threw traced back up through the hole the bastard’s arrow had made.
The arrow flew up with no resistance except gravity,
and so—
“...Keh-heuk!?”
It reached the one up there.
‘...That sound was close!’
Judging the enemy’s position from the volume of that voice,
I didn’t even bother swinging my knife this time.
KRAAAAAASH!
With a jump that slammed my whole body forward,
I smashed through the weakened ceiling that had been hit twice and moved up to the next floor.
Then.
Maybe the prey up above sensed danger as well.
TWAAAANG...
I felt the presence of a bowstring being drawn tight.
WHAPWHAPWHAPWHAPWHAP!
This time it wasn’t just one shot.
I felt the presence as if several arrows were being fired at once.
‘...?’
I’d thought the arrows would be shot down through the ceiling,
but I didn’t feel anything approaching from above.
And.
I soon found out where those arrows had gone.
CRASH!!!
“...You’ve got to be kidding me!?”
From outside the building, smashing through the windows,
more than ten massive arrows came rushing at me
as if they had wills of their own.
“...Ha-ha!! There’s a limit to what you can call indirect fire!”
A human, with only two arms and two legs,
cannot possibly block attacks coming in from that many angles.
This was probably the maximum attack that sniper could put out.
A kill shot where they’d even dragged out the reserves they’d been saving,
determined to drive me away no matter what...
[Assistant Chef]
KLANG!
The [Assistant Chef] blades that shared their stats with their master.
Those blades, sharing the swollen stats brought on by Rampage exactly as they were,
batted aside the arrows rushing in.
“...Hup!”
And I crossed the kitchen knives in my hands,
and blocked the last one.
I’d thought I’d held out.
Not yet.
[Ingredient Identification (Enhanced)]
[Pushing Arrow – Modified]
[A special arrow created to deal with enemies too powerful to damage.]
[It has weaker piercing ability than ordinary arrows, but possesses a special power that pushes enemies away.]
WHOOM...
My body, my feet planted on the floor by the arrow, lifted into the air,
and—
CRASH!
my body, shoved backward,
smashed through the window and was thrown out of the high-rise building.
*****
WHOOOOOOOOOSH...
Pushed out of the building by the arrow and out into the open,
the raging blizzard slapped my face roughly.
“...Cold, huh.”
I glanced down at the ground.
The huge monsters below looked like tiny dots.
‘At least thirty floors up...’
A world where a fierce blizzard was howling.
My body was flying through that sky, impossibly high above.
