Level Up Machine

Chapter 53 Traitors (5)

The summoners who crossed from Earth to the continent of Elnore gained power incomparable to their past abilities on Earth. They transformed into beings beyond imagination, fighting monsters and undergoing fierce competition among summoners.

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However, despite these circumstances, there was one unchanging fact from their lives on Earth: they were still ‘human.’

What would be the psychology of a human at the spot where a landmine exploded?

Here, the explosion didn’t mean stepping on a mine and setting it off. It meant that they identified the mine’s location beforehand and detonated it safely.

The spot where the mine was removed. Psychologically, humans consider that place safe. Indeed, it was a safe spot, because they had discovered and removed the mine in advance.

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A place where a mine could explode if undiscovered, and a place where a mine had been found and removed.

Predicting where humans would head between these two was not difficult.

Yeong-sik exploited this natural human psychology and rational thinking.

“Now, the Judas Guild has no choice but to move to the place I intended, the place I’m leading them to.”

Yeong-sik observed the movements of the Judas Guild members through a drone and spoke. Upon hearing his words, Ara felt a chill run down her spine.

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It wasn’t a complicated or difficult thought. Yeong-sik was simply using the very natural and obvious flow of consciousness that people would move to the spot where the mine was removed.

‘How…’

Ara stared at Yeong-sik in astonishment. The thought process was simple. However, it was never an easy strategy to implement.

There were too many variables. If the guild members moved to an undesired location even once, the strategy would fail.

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But Yeong-sik had never shown caution about his strategy from the moment he first learned of the situation in the barracks. Not once, not for a moment, did he think his strategy would fail.

“What if… it fails?”

Ara asked him cautiously.

“Hmm. Well, I never thought it would fail, so I don’t really know.”

Yeong-sik answered her question with a nonchalant expression. His response was shameless.

Ara, stunned by his answer, closed her mouth firmly as if she had nothing more to say.

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“So, what do you plan to do next?”

“First, we need to exhaust them as much as possible. Just moving in such a tense state will consume a lot of their stamina.”

“So, are you going to make them keep moving like this for a few days?”

“No.”

Yeong-sik slowly shook his head in response to her question.

“No matter what, they’ll realize something’s off if they have any brains. So, we need to ambush and wipe them out before they catch on.”

“Hmm… but couldn’t the ambush be detected because of their magic sensing?”

Ara asked, recalling the guild wars she had heard about before.

Yeong-sik responded with a smirk.

“It’s fine. They probably have their magic sensing turned off.”

“…Why?”

“Because the mines I use can’t be detected by magic sensing. They’ll likely move with their magic sensing turned off to conserve their mana.”

Yeong-sik spoke in a calm voice.

Hearing his answer, Ara felt a chill run down her spine once again. The peculiar charisma emanating from Yeong-sik shook her to her core.

“Haha. Well, actually, I’m not entirely sure about this. There’s a good chance they haven’t turned off their magic sensing.”

Yeong-sik continued with a light laugh.

“But even if that’s the case, ambushing them from a distance with the Gatling gun will still cause enough chaos. Attacking then should be sufficient.”

“…It seems like your weapons are becoming more and more overpowered.”

Ara recalled Yeong-sik when he first arrived in this world, fighting with nothing but a blade. Compared to then, calling Yeong-sik’s current arsenal ‘overpowered’ wasn’t an exaggeration.

‘I have a hidden class too…’

Ara felt a strange anxiety as if Yeong-sik, who had been with her from the beginning, was drifting away from her.

It was natural for her to feel this way since she had initially been the one to attract the most attention and expectations from others.

“No, not necessarily.”

Yeong-sik thought about the Judas Guild members who had quickly blocked his mine attack and spoke.

If they had been ordinary Earthlings, they would have been annihilated by the explosion. However, they minimized the damage using their skills and magic. In reality, only a few low-level summoners had died in the explosion; the high-level summoners all survived.

It was a fact he had vaguely realized from the moment he saw Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword Guild, that truly powerful summoners possessed strength that could mock modern weapons.

‘So, I have to become even stronger.’

Yeong-sik looked down at his right arm, thinking.

He had to become strong enough to sweep away the Light Shield Guild with pure strength, not through forced release. To achieve that, he needed more gold, more power, and more black cubes, which could be obtained by killing boss monsters.

“Alright, I’ll go set up the next mine. Ara, you inform the others about the ambush positions.”

With that, Yeong-sik started to move.

Ara, feeling the peculiar charisma in his words, involuntarily responded in formal speech, “Yes.”

* * *

“Huff, huff. Damn it! You’ve planted these things everywhere!”

Jung Yong-chan cursed harshly, stomping his feet. Though he wasn’t particularly tired like before, he wasn’t just venting. He genuinely felt annoyed and exhausted by the current situation.

Of course, even if a mine exploded in a surprise attack that he failed to detect first, it wouldn’t really matter to him.

He was a powerful summoner at level 99. Unless he took the explosion head-on without any defense, he wouldn’t be fatally wounded.

The problem was his subordinates.

Without knowing how many more mines were planted ahead, ignoring them and not removing them would result in increasing damage to his subordinates. If that happened, there would be no way they could win against the already powerful summoners of the Salvator Guild in the upcoming battle.

“Huff, huff…”

Kim Dae-gyu, following behind Jung Yong-chan, looked around with an exhausted expression. It was not an easy task to meticulously scan the ground for hours without rest.

While it was challenging for the higher-ups like them, it was even worse for the lower-ranking members. They moved cautiously, their nerves tightly wound.

The ordinary guild members, who made up the majority of the force, instinctively knew that if a mine exploded because they failed to detect it, it would be them who would die. They scrutinized the ground even more desperately than the higher-ups.

Summoners who had been injured in the previous explosion were in even worse condition. They moved, scanning the ground, with a tension that felt like it was strangling them.

Naturally, this caused the march of the Judas Guild to slow down drastically, and they made no progress towards their goal of reaching the mountain summit.

“Damn it.”

Jung Yong-chan cursed. Though the mines weren’t completely hidden in the ground, making it possible to find them, it wasn’t efficient at all.

‘Should we break through a different path instead of the cleared ones?’

Jung Yong-chan shook his head at the thought. While he and a few higher-ups could ignore the mines and charge through, the rest of the force couldn’t.

Not knowing how many more mines were planted ahead, doing so would result in casualties among his troops.

“Where did they even get these traps from?”

Jung Yong-chan stomped his foot again, thinking of weapons that seemed straight out of Earth, completely unaffected by magic sensing. Kim Dae-gyu, standing beside him, nodded with a tired expression.

“This is like walking through the DMZ. It’s driving me crazy.”

Thinking of the place with the highest density of landmines, he let out a deep sigh.

“If I get my hands on them, I’ll tear them to pieces.”

Jung Yong-chan muttered angrily.

“Brother, I think everyone is too exhausted. We should take a break…”

“Shut up!”

Jung Yong-chan snapped at Kim Dae-gyu’s suggestion. His rising anger wouldn’t subside easily.

The Judas Guild continued to march for over two more hours. Eventually, they could see the summit of the mountain and the barracks clustered there.

“We found it!”

Jung Yong-chan grinned as he looked at the barracks at the summit. According to the informant, the barracks were built by the Salvator Guild.

“Heh. To think they’re planning to invade the royal castle using that method. Lunatics.”

Jung Yong-chan smirked, knowing why the Salvator Guild had built their barracks at the top of Silencium Mountain.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Jung Yong-chan turned and shouted to his subordinates. However, his exhausted troops couldn’t even muster a cheer. His expression twisted with frustration.

“Brother, I think we should attack after taking a proper rest.”

“…Tsk. Fine, I guess we have no choice.”

Jung Yong-chan nodded and ordered the guild members to take a rest. The guild members collapsed onto the ground with expressions of relief.

Then it happened.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

A terrifying roar echoed. A hail of bullets, firing at a rate of 7200 rounds per minute, rained down on the Judas Guild members.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“What, what is this!”

Just as they were about to relax, the Judas Guild members screamed in panic. They scrambled to their feet and activated their defensive skills.

“Barrier!”

“Stone Skin!”

The rain of bullets also targeted Jung Yong-chan and Kim Dae-gyu. Their eyes gleamed sharply.

“Graaah!”

Yong-chan’s body swelled, and thick gray fur sprouted. His face transformed into that of a wolf rather than a human. Lycanthrope. Yong-chan’s hidden class unleashed its power.

Countless bullets poured onto Yong-chan’s body. However, his steel-like skin in his beast form only received minor scratches from the bullets.

“Wind Claw!”

Whoosh!

With a ferocious shout, his claws extended. Jung Yong-chan swung his arms violently, creating a powerful wind with his sharp claws.

The bullets aimed at them were swept away by the wind and deflected.

“What the hell is going on…”

Jung Yong-chan cursed as he deflected the bullets. Gunfire on the continent of Elnore? He couldn’t comprehend what was happening. The Judas Guild members plunged into chaos. Although they weren’t severely damaged by the gunfire, thanks to their hastily used defensive magic and skills, they managed to avoid major injuries.

The reason for their confusion was that the attack was none other than ‘gunfire.’

First landmines, now gunfire.

The Judas Guild members began to panic at this unprecedented type of attack since their summoning to the continent of Elnore.

“Get a grip, you idiots!”

Blocking the bullets, Yong-chan shouted harshly at his guild members. His powerful voice helped to somewhat reduce the chaos.

Then it happened.

—Wuuuuuung.

The fur covering Jung Yong-chan’s body stood on end. He sensed intense magic gathering nearby.

“What is this?”

Jung Yong-chan’s expression hardened.