Chapter 13
‘Dead?’
If he was dead, there was nothing to be done.
You can’t undo the outcome.
Ja-geon had aimed for the Giant Wolf’s neck.
Whoosh!
Ja-geon leaped and spun his body forcefully.
Using centrifugal force, he swung his demon blade.
Crrack!
Would the sword break first, or would he sever the beast’s neck?
The moment where life and death diverged.
Ja-geon felt truly alive.
Strength grows by crushing enemies.
Might is the meaning of life.
That moment of becoming stronger is the pinnacle of existence.
The weak sink into the earth without excuse.
Only the strong live to boast of their exploits.
Big Bo died because he was weak—Ja-geon felt no moral responsibility.
He’d done his best for Big Bo.
Had told him repeatedly not to drop his shield.
‘This is your own fault for not trusting my words or your shield.’
Sschick!
Ja-geon completed a clean rotation.
A black line appeared on the Giant Wolf’s neck.
His blade traced an arc as it fell downward.
Thud.
The shattered demon blade scattered condensed magic upon hitting the ground.
Beneath it lay the Giant Wolf’s severed head.
Ja-geon steadied his breath and looked at Big Bo’s fallen form.
He seemed truly dead this time.
Blood seeped steadily through his armor’s gaps.
“Hey, Big Bo.”
Ja-geon approached him.
No response came.
“Well, dead after all. Anyway…”
Ja-geon scratched his head.
He put a cigarette in his mouth and rummaged through Big Bo’s pockets.
“Where’s that lighter…”
Rustle rustle—
Suddenly Big Bo sat upright, grabbing Ja-geon’s arm.
“Gasp cough!”
Big Bo made choking sounds.
Even unflappable Ja-geon widened his eyes in shock.
“You scared me shitless, you bastard!”
Ja-geon kicked the barely-alive Big Bo, who toppled backward bleeding profusely.
“Cough hack!”
Big Bo vomited blood and threw off his helmet, his face drenched in crimson from grievous wounds.
“Kid, if you’re alive, fucking say so.”
Ja-geon spoke angrily, perhaps embarrassed.
Big Bo looked around dazedly.
“I-I’m really alive?”
Ja-geon lit his cigarette with the retrieved lighter and nodded.
“Yeah. First get that armor off and treat your wounds.”
Big Bo trembled while unfastening straps.
Ja-geon examined the injuries—his pupils dilated.
‘Why isn’t this pig bastard dead?’
That was his first question.
Big Bo was merely in the level 20 range.
His ribs were shattered in chunks, organs mangled.
Normally such injuries would kill any awakened in that tier.
“Hiiiiik! C-Captain! Isn’t this my captain here? My guts are spilling out like sundae… I’m dying right? That’s it? Hurts like hell!”
Big Bo panicked at his own wounds.
“Fuck, must you phrase it… Sundae? What sundae. Won’t be eating that for a while. Just shove it back in and bandage it. Still got energy to complain—you’ll live.”
Big Bo sniffled while treating himself.
Ja-geon closed his eyes in thought.
‘An innate ability?’
Humanity can’t be reduced to mere stats.
Can simple categories like strength, senses, stamina quantify a human body?
People aren’t machines.
Even identical stats vary between individuals.
Raiders have hidden strengths too.
Some have faster legs, others stronger muscles.
Even equal strength values produce winners and losers in contests.
These invisible differences are called unique traits or hidden passives.
“Only explanation that makes sense.”
Ja-geon muttered upon opening his eyes.
Big Bo looked pathetically un-Raiderlike.
Yet possessed abnormal vitality.
‘Probably compensates by lacking elsewhere.’
If Ja-geon’s right, Big Bo won’t die easily.
He endures wounds that’d kill others.
Has toughness to rise from mortal injuries.
“Heh heh.”
Ja-geon covered his mouth.
His sinister smile lingered on Big Bo.
Bigbo felt a chill run down his spine.
He shivered violently as he wrapped bandages around himself, thinking it was from blood loss. Behind Bigbo, Jagun smirked maliciously, his shoulders shaking slightly.
'...This is one hell of a human shield,' he thought.
Norn, God of Fate – one of the seven major deities. At the Temple of Fate, one's class is determined. By level 20, combat styles are decided and skills become specialized. Norn bestows upon the awakened a class suited to them. Most receive their class from Norn. It’s rare to get a class from a specialized deity like Jagun did.
Gulp.
Bigbo swallowed hard as he entered the Chamber of Selection. The room was dark.
"You’ve come to receive your fate, human," said Norn’s apostle in a monotone. The faint silhouette of wings fluttered behind it. Beneath its deeply drawn hood, blue optical sensors flickered. All divine apostles were android robots – high-performance models indistinguishable from living beings. This was but a fragment of the godfolk’s technological prowess.
"Please decide my fate," Bigbo prayed on his knees.
The apostle approached. "Fate belongs to Norn..." It placed a hand on his head.
Kiiiiing!
A blue light enveloped Bigbo. So this is class assignment, he thought, feeling changes throughout his body – itching, prickling sensations as nanomachines carrying new information infiltrated his system. Existing ones realigned under their programming. When the process finished, the light faded.
Awakened were humans granted nanomachines to unlock latent potential and enhance physical abilities.
"Norn has decreed your new fate: Shieldbearer." The apostle vanished into darkness.
Bigbo rose and followed the light out of the temple.
"Class?" Jagun asked, waiting outside.
"Shieldbearer. Is that good?" Bigbo grinned, elated just to have a class. He was level 22 now – it felt like progress.
"Most common class to die," Jagun chuckled. "But raid parties treat them well."
"Why?"
"Because they die so often. Hence the perpetual shortage."
"That’s not good at all!" Bigbo wailed.
"Relax. You’ve survived this long – seems you’re not fated to die easy."
"Following you might change that..."
"Shut up and pack your gear. I’ve picked our next dungeon." Jagun thumped Bigbo’s head repeatedly as he grimaced.
"We just cleared one! Why another? No way! Go alone!" Common sense dictated resting a week after dungeon-clearing. Bigbo had nearly died days ago – the terror still lingered.
Jagun grabbed his collar. "Where I go, you go. I own you now. You don’t die without my permission." When Bigbo shook his head in dismay, Jagun looked ready to beat him half to death – and would’ve enjoyed it.
They departed for the dungeon where Jagun drilled shield techniques into Bigbo until they became instinct – a dangerous strategy where any mistake endangered Jagun’s life. Multiple times, Bigbo’s clumsiness nearly got them killed, resulting in brutal beatings that ensured even he wouldn’t repeat errors (lessons literally beaten into him).
Soon, rumors spread through Baeksae City: "Heard about those two sweeping F and E-rank dungeons?" A warrior-mage duo clearing low-tier dungeons at breakneck speed – skilled enough to soon challenge mid-tier ones.
