Chapter 19

Chapter 19: [Limitless War] Hmm, Am I Doing This Right？ (4)

Crack.

Standing before him, Ju Seo-jin watched as his opponent charged in while giving off a vicious momentum… and a faint light entered his black, lifeless eyes.

It was an emotion close to curiosity.

Before he knew it, Ju Seo-jin’s two pupils reflected the scarlet Spiritual Energy rising from Crack’s body.

Strangely.

‘His Spiritual Energy… changed…?’

From the moment Ju Seo-jin said that after succeeding in landing one hit on Crack, he felt that if they fought again, he might be able to simply win… Crack’s momentum had completely changed.

‘His Spiritual Energy has become rougher and stronger. It’s definitely different from before. …Something changed. Fate is starting to look blurrier and blurrier.’

Spiritual Energy. 

The energy of the soul reflected in the Eyes That Saw Fate- did not signify only Good and ill Fortune. 

An abnormality had occurred in the future possibilities sensed through the Power of Foresight.

‘No. Is it the opposite? Is this- fate changing…? The possibilities with a high chance of realization… are gradually increasing.’

The possibilities for what would happen from here on, sensed through the Power of Foresight, were gradually increasing and running wild on their own.

From the moment Crack abruptly rushed forward, all sorts of future possibilities were caught within the range of Ju Seo-jin’s six senses.

Dozens of movements like colorless shadows unfolded and disappeared again and again. 

Every possible event from here on kept growing in number, giving off an ominous air.

A jab-straight rush. 

After circling to the side, a reverse hook from a blind spot. 

Or else, feigning a Takedown to induce a sprawl, then an uppercut.

───Then, linked movements that transitioned from boxing to wrestling in order to drag him to the ground. 

The shadows of possibility, splitting into several dozen branches, pressured Ju Seo-jin one by one.

Whoooosh───….

Every time the shadows of possibility brushed past Ju Seo-jin and scattered one by one, he chewed over all those defeats and realized what kind of existence a Pro-Gamer was.

A Pro-Gamer.

A being who began training at a neighborhood martial arts school at an average age of around seven to eight, stood out by the time they entered middle school, joined a pro team academy─── and spent over ten years refining Gaming Martial Arts, the essence of modern martial arts, under a professional instructor.

Even among Pro-Gamers equipped with that lethal ability, the one called the sky above the sky, the one who had won the World Championship in [Eternal Saga], was Crack. 

―His skill was different. 

His talent was different. 

The weight of the time he had built up was different.

‘Ah… as expected, Pro-Gamers really are special. He’s completely different from before. Almost vicious.’

That was why.

‘As expected, he’s hard to face while I’m using the Power of Foresight so weakly. Pro-Gamers really are amazing.’

Divine Energy. 

He decided that he would have to use that Innate Talent at ‘full power.’ 

At that instant, a strange red light began to swirl in Ju Seo-jin’s two pupils.

‘Well- the earlier exchange made it clear that there are no aftereffects from Divine Energy. …From now on, it should be fine to get serious.’

While facing Crack─── Ju Seo-jin had not used Divine Energy up to its ‘maximum’ for even a single moment.

He had only employed Divine Energy while limiting it to the ‘minimum’ in order to check whether aftereffects from Divine Energy existed or not.

In other words, practically speaking, up until this very moment, Ju Seo-jin had surpassed Crack, if only for an instant, purely with the combat sense he had been born with.

Kiiing.

And.

‘I need to go all out.’

Ju Seo-jin’s unprecedented Innate Talent- began to be displayed without restraint, all the way to its maximum.

***

Crack was the ace of ‘VEN,’ a team belonging to [Eternal Saga]’s ESK League. 

He was the inheritor of Larkranz Style, a Gaming Martial Arts style modified mainly around boxing · wrestling. A master.

He was 178 cm tall. 

Based on an overwhelmingly long reach compared to his height- a wingspan of 187.2 cm- he made a striking-focused outboxer style his strength, and through wrestling, he continued to respond advantageously even in ground situations.

The technical skill he had refined for more than ten years in order to secure even the slightest skill advantage as a Pro-Gamer of [Eternal Saga] was not something that could be looked down on.

‘…It’s different from before. Now, I won’t be careless anymore. I won’t repeat the same mistake. I’ll definitely win.’

That was no different even if this was [Limitless War], not [Eternal Saga]. 

The only reason he had taken Ju Seo-jin’s first strike earlier was because he had relaxed his guard.

Because he had failed to immediately react to a capoeira-like high kick launched from mid-to-long range, he had merely been forced into a follow-up response.

If he did not let down his guard and took the match seriously, it was obvious that the result would be different from before.

Grit-

‘Damn it! Pro-Gamer… whether that degree of skill is enough? You call that a question? This time, I’ll make you feel the gap properly……!!’

Tap-tap-tap-tap───!

Fast footwork. 

Racing forward as though almost sliding over the ground- he stepped to the side, then followed up by throwing out a Combo Strike together with an air-splitting sound.

Swish─ BA-BANG!

‘Nameless Monk’s Martial Skill, Time Shadow Style, works by presetting movements in advance and tracing them continuously…! I’ll pressure him without giving him distance and cut off the continuous activation of his Martial Skill!’

Nameless Monk’s Martial Skill, ‘Time Shadow Style.’ By cutting off its continuous activation, he would block the acceleration of his movements.

Spaat.

However- that was only the plan. 

All of Crack’s continuous attacks ended up coming to nothing.

Because Ju Seo-jin dodged every attack by not even blinking, merely shaking his head slightly to the side or pulling his upper body back a little.

It was the art of avoiding every attack with the bare minimum of movement.

‘Damn it…! As expected, Gaming Martial Arts…! What he said earlier about never having learned anything was fake after all……!!’

A beginner? 

There was no way. 

Standing before him was a semi-Pro-Gamer with absurd experience- a single master.

However, separate from that, his opponent’s stance was so extraordinarily unstable that it could not possibly be seen as someone who had professionally learned Gaming Martial Arts.

On top of that, although the evasive movement itself was extremely quick, he did not seem able to release the pressure that was slowly building up.

Crack thought that all of it was Ju Seo-jin’s mockery- and at the same time, judged it to be an opportunity.

‘Fine. You want to cosplay as an ordinary person that badly, is that it? Then I’ll use it…!’

BA-BANG!

Gritting his teeth, Crack began unfolding a more aggressive striking-focused combination.

There were limits even to continuing evasive maneuvers such as slips and sway backs. 

Just by continuing to retreat and avoiding Crack’s strikes, Ju Seo-jin’s center of gravity was already shaking.

The Martial Skill ‘Time Shadow Style’ could preset movements that deviated slightly from the physical system, but that did not mean it could completely ignore the structure of the human body and the laws of physics.

‘Nameless Monk- even if he continuously activates Time Shadow Style and builds acceleration in his movements, he can’t build up much acceleration with only short linked movements…! I’ll drive him all the way to the edge of the stage like this!’

The same method as before would not work. 

Startup- minimizing preliminary motions and launching a large attack from a blind spot had only worked because Crack had not immediately responded.

Now that he was assuming his opponent was at the level of a Lord of Martial Arts and displaying his maximum skill, he would not be retired in that manner.

Gaming Martial Arts, which generally assumed bare-handed combat, mixed grappling techniques together with strikes in order to respond to ground situations.

Conscious of possible counters and grappling techniques, he restrained movements that required large amounts of force and steadily pushed his opponent toward the edge of the arena as if building up points.

Crack’s thought, that judgment, was by no means wrong, and before long, a situation matching his intention was created.

Tap-

Peach Blossom Spring. 

Ju Seo-jin, who had been driven all the way to the outer edge of the training ground’s stage, stopped retreating. 

Now, his opponent’s actions were clearly limited.

‘Now… from here on, this is my home ground…! I’ll show you why a Pro-Gamer is in a different class……!!’

BA-BA-BANG!

A jab burst out with the sound of tearing air, aiming very quickly at Ju Seo-jin’s head.

Then, Ju Seo-jin narrowed his eyes and attempted to weave, but that was movement within the assumed range.

This ghost jab was nothing more than a feint. 

The finishing move he had truly prepared was elsewhere.

At that moment. 

A red light swirled around Crack’s body- and a strange phenomenon began to occur.

Tzzzz───.

━Player Character. ‘Dragon Fighter’s’ Martial Skill, ‘Flash Attack.’ If you activate it with a fist or leg- you attack while flashing forward as if teleporting just a little.

‘Flash Attack’.

It was the omen that occurred as the Player Character ‘Dragon Fighter’s’ first Martial Skill unfolded. 

Though he had not told Ju Seo-jin earlier, Flash Attack was not simply a hard-driven punch.

───Flash Attack partially ignored [Limitless War]’s physics engine system, allowing the user to execute a ‘straight punch’ or a ‘roundhouse kick’ from any posture.

‘Flash Attack- can’t greatly alter the trajectory of an attack, but from any posture, it lets you move at high speed to the desired point and drive in a heavy blow…!’

In other words- it meant that even at this timing, when he had thrown out a ghost jab and his center of gravity had tilted forward due to inertia, making it impossible to link into the next movement, he could still drive in a ‘straight punch.’

Whoooosh───!

A red light flashed in an instant. 

Along with it, Crack’s figure blurred, flickered a little forward- and the ‘straight punch’ that should have been physically impossible… ‘Flash Attack,’ was thrust out.

‘Ha! I won…! There’s no way he built his motion while predicting that I’d come out like this here……!! With this, it’s over───’

***

And.

***

The next moment.

Swish───.

‘Ah…?’

He disappeared. Ju Seo-jin, literally, had ‘disappeared’ from his field of vision. 

A sense of déjà vu, then the shock climbing up his spine- informed him of what was about to happen.

Even if Ju Seo-jin was not in his field of vision, he could tell where he was, how he had moved, and what he was doing. 

Ducking- after perfectly lowering his upper body and avoiding Flash Attack, Ju Seo-jin would be pressed close beneath Crack’s body.

His sense of danger exploded.

Dragon Fighter’s first Martial Skill, ‘Flash Attack,’ allowed the user to activate a ‘straight punch’ or a ‘roundhouse kick’ from any posture, in any situation.

And───

In exchange, once Dragon Fighter’s first Martial Skill, ‘Flash Attack,’ was activated, the user absolutely could not skill-cancel it, and had to perform the attack motion from start to finish.

‘This fu───’

KWA-BANG───!

Below Crack’s rib cage, into that defenselessly exposed upper-body area─── Ju Seo-jin drove in a perfect liver shot without even a single inch of error, and then Crack’s body floated into the air.

When strong damage was dealt to a part corresponding to a ‘vital point of the human body’ within [Limitless War]’s in-game system, a correction was applied to the system ruling.

‘Combo Strike’.

The moment the Normal Skill, which any Player Character could use and which was closer to a system ruling, activated while receiving a correction value due to a vital point of the human body being struck.

Then, Ju Seo-jin, who had thrown the liver shot with his left hand, immediately curled his body briefly like a spring, sprang upward─── and struck Crack’s abdomen with his right hand.

CRAAAACK───!!

At the same time as Crack suddenly vomited bodily fluid from his mouth, the ‘health bar’ floating above his head went ‘all the way-’ down below 50%, and he fell backward.

CRASH-THUD───.

However, he was not retired. 

The remaining amount of his health bar was around 30%. 

His chances of winning were low, but they could not be called nonexistent.

Tap!

Immediately, Crack raised himself up and lifted both hands… then gritted his teeth.

Not yet. 

It was not too late yet. 

Thinking that.

‘Not yet…! It isn’t over yet-! I haven’t lost! I haven’t lost! I’m going to win! If I drag him into grappling instead of a Ring-Out Ruling and hold on until Flash Attack’s cooldown fills───’

Everyone had a plausible plan.

PAAANG───!

‘Huh…?’

Until they were properly hit once.

***

Side step. 

Then, a reverse hook from a blind spot. 

It was a movement close to art, with no wasted energy.

Larkranz Style.

Ju Seo-jin had ‘seen’ all the essentials of boxing, which formed the base of that Gaming Martial Art’s striking techniques.

Every technique Crack possessed had already been grasped based on the shadows of possibility.

There was no reason he could not imitate them.

Innate Talent.

For Crack, who had shown every technique before that talent, only one ending remained.

Unfortunately.

[K.O.]

《 WIN! 》

━2P: Ju Seo-jin(=Nameless Monk)

***

Peach Blossom Spring.

On the training ground where beautiful peach leaves fluttered. 

The match ended, and only one person was standing.

Ju Seo-jin stood still and looked down at Crack, who was vomiting bodily fluid with a bleeergh- and all of it was being broadcast live through the streaming window in real time.

-?

-WTF?

-What the hell is this...

-Fuck.. Is this real...?

-Ju Seo-jin went head-to-head with Crack.. and won........? Fuck???

-???? What?? What is this?? What the hell is happening as soon as I got here????

-?? A Pro-Gamer lost? For real? Is this real??? This isn’t staged, right, fuck??;

-lololololol A fucking legendary situation is happeniiiiing !!!!

And.

《 [Limitless War] : 「VEN」 Crack ) Taking a break this morning and attempting [Limitless War] ‘Lord of Martial Arts’. 》

━「VEN」 Crack(skdlemfrltlfgek3717)

*Viewers : 19,728

…That, simply put, meant that close to 20,000 viewers- had watched the contents of the match, as well as its result, live.