Level Up Machine

Chapter 5: Forced Union (2)

In comics or movies about survival, it’s quite common for people in the same situation to turn against each other.

This was because the morality of people driven into a corner collapsed very easily.

They acted out the desires that they had only ever considered in their minds until now.

Since they didn’t know when or where they might die, they began to release the extreme stress of survival through violence.

“Damn it!”

Rough curses spilled from Yeong-sik’s mouth.

He looked around, surveying the men surrounding him.

They were all armed with weapons obtained from hunting the Orcs.

‘There are too many of them.’

If he used the weapon in his right arm, killing one of them would be simple.

The Orcs had been smashed to pieces with a single blow, so there was no way an ordinary person could withstand it.

But the problem would be what happened after he took one of them down.

After using his near-disposable weapon, he wouldn’t have the strength left to deal with the others.

“How about it? Isn’t it a bit tempting? Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad offer.”

Nam Gi-tae chuckled as he asked.

In fact, he had no intention of keeping Yeong-sik alive.

When he saw how quickly Yeong-sik assessed the situation and prepared to fight as soon as he appeared, he realized that Yeong-sik was too smart to be controlled.

Bringing in someone who was intelligent and quick to assess situations as a subordinate was a double-edged sword, and Nam Gi-tae wasn’t in a situation where he needed to take such a risk.

‘Well, I don’t know if things might change once my power grows.’

For now, his forces were only about ten people, but his ambition didn’t stop there.

This world was nothing short of paradise for him.

A world where there were no social norms, where human desires could run rampant.

He planned to rise higher in this world and rule over others.

Yeong-sik didn’t respond to his words but searched for an escape route.

However, surrounded by more than ten people, there was no way out.

Moreover, Yeong-sik wasn’t alone; he had to escape with three others.

‘Impossible.’

Yeong-sik’s mind raced at high speed.

Breaking through the encirclement and moving out was impossible.

He also wasn’t confident that he could fight and win against that many people simultaneously.

Only one option remained.

“Alright. I’ll accept your offer. But, I have a condition.”

“Oh?”

“Yeong-sik! What are you saying right now?”

Nam Gi-tae looked at Yeong-sik with a curious expression. He hadn’t expected Yeong-sik to so cleanly turn to his side.

He had thought that, at most, Yeong-sik would frantically beg for his life when death was imminent.

Nam Gi-tae wasn’t the only one surprised by Yeong-sik’s unexpected betrayal.

Gil-soo, with a desperate expression, grabbed Yeong-sik’s shoulder and shouted, while Ara bit her lips harshly, her face darkened with a deep sense of betrayal.

“What’s this condition?”

Nam Gi-tae licked his lips and asked him. Yeong-sik continued speaking.

“Only take me into your team. If you bring along this foolish man, it’ll just cause trouble in many ways.”

“Y-Yeong-sik…”

“Hahaha! What’s this? I like this guy more than I thought!”

Nam Gi-tae burst into laughter with a satisfied grin. He liked Yeong-sik’s ruthlessly decisive and selfish nature.

Yeong-sik lowered the weapon in his hand and slowly approached Nam Gi-tae.

“Shall I go over there now?”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

Nam Gi-tae extended a hand and shook his head.

He continued, glaring at Yeong-sik with sharp eyes.

“I need some proof that I can trust you, right? So…”

Nam Gi-tae’s gaze turned to Gil-soo.

A sly smile crept across his lips.

“Kill that bastard with your own hands.”

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

At his words, Yeong-sik nodded without a hint of hesitation.

Nam Gi-tae was even more surprised by his response. He stared at Yeong-sik with a bewildered expression.

‘What is this guy doing?’

No matter how decisive someone might be, responding without a second of hesitation?

It was something unimaginable.

Nam Gi-tae alternated his gaze between the trembling Gil-soo and the cold-faced Yeong-sik, and then a sly smile spread across his face.

‘Seems like he already had a grudge against that old man.’

As he had predicted, the two of them had probably shared a delicious prey, Seo Ara.

Sharing a tasty meal between two people could cause a fight even among close siblings, so there was no need to mention what it could do between complete strangers.

“Hahaha! You’re really something, aren’t you?”

Nam Gi-tae, who had initially only intended to kill Yeong-sik, hesitated for a moment.

He realized that Yeong-sik had more outstanding qualities than he had anticipated.

Quick-witted, ruthless, and decisive.

If he kept someone like that as a subordinate, it could be a great help once his power grew in the future.

‘Should I watch him a little longer?’

Nam Gi-tae looked at Yeong-sik with contemplative eyes.

Yeong-sik picked up the sword from the ground and turned his body toward Gil-soo.

His expression as he looked at him was as cold as ice.

“You…”

Gil-soo looked at Yeong-sik with a desperate expression.

At that moment, Seo Ara, who had been standing behind, stepped forward and spoke.

“Wait. Isn’t your goal me anyway? Please spare Mr. Gil-soo…”

She spoke to Nam Gi-tae with a cold expression that matched Yeong-sik’s.

Nam Gi-tae glanced back at Yeong-sik and said.

“Hmmm. What should we do? Was it Yeong-sik? What do you think?”

He asked while barely containing the smile that was forming at the corners of his lips, as if he was enjoying the current situation.

Yeong-sik responded in a low voice.

“I don’t care what happens. I’ve decided to serve you now.”

“Hahaha. Don’t avoid the question. So, what do you think? Should we let that old man live or not?”

At his words, Yeong-sik fell silent. He looked at Gil-soo, who was trembling as he stared at him.

Rather than unleashing harsh curses at him for the deep betrayal, Gil-soo looked at him with a pitiful gaze.

“…It seems I’ve become a burden to you.”

Gil-soo, who had been trembling, spoke to Yeong-sik with a bitter smile.

No matter how much Yeong-sik betrayed him, Gil-soo thought that he would at least be tormented by it in his heart.

To him, Yeong-sik spoke in a cold voice.

“Let’s kill him. Honestly, I’ve had enough of this old man pretending to be nice.”

“You bastard! How dare you speak to him like that!”

Ara, her face flushed with anger, shouted at him.

Gil-soo was a man so kind that it made one wonder if such a good person could exist in 21st-century Korea.

And as she had heard, Gil-soo was the one who had helped Yeong-sik when he first woke up, having lost his memory.

She couldn’t understand how someone could become so cruel.

‘In the end, you’re just the same as the others…!’

She bit her lip harshly and glared at Yeong-sik.

During the two weeks she had spent with him, she had thought Yeong-sik and Gil-soo were different from the others.

Unlike those who burned with foolish desire as they looked at her appearance, or those who spat out words filled with jealousy.

But in the end, he was no different from the others, no—he had an even more cruel nature than they did.

“Hahahaha! Then let’s go with your opinion!”

Nam Gi-tae burst into laughter, clutching his belly.

He then turned to look at Gil-soo and spoke in a low voice.

“Kill him.”

“Yes.”

At his command, Yeong-sik nodded with a voice devoid of emotion.

Nam Gi-tae’s eyes glinted as he watched Yeong-sik.

‘He’s too dangerous.’

He quickly discarded the idea of taking Yeong-sik as a subordinate.

Yeong-sik was too dangerous.

If he showed even a slight weakness, Yeong-sik would chew him up from below and take his position.

It was best to nip such a bud cleanly from the start.

‘As soon as the old man dies, I’ll take his head off.’

Nam Gi-tae thought as he tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

Yeong-sik, gripping the sword, slowly stepped toward Gil-soo.

“Get lost, you bastard!”

Ara, who had never shown such a furious side before, screamed at Yeong-sik. She charged at him, wielding a sword.

Yeong-sik, with a cold expression, punched her in the stomach.

-Thud!

“Ack!”

Ara’s body rolled across the ground from the impact of Yeong-sik’s punch.

Yeong-sik didn’t even glance at her as he raised the sword.

Nam Gi-tae watched Yeong-sik’s back with an intrigued expression.

“…Yeong-sik.”

Gil-soo looked at Yeong-sik with a horribly twisted expression.

A thick sense of despair settled in his heart. Gil-soo dropped his head with a bitter expression.

He had always been like this.

He couldn’t help but assist others.

That’s why, no matter how difficult his situation was, he never stopped helping others.

Living kindly, living with a full heart—he believed that was more valuable than any other life.

But all he had received in return were mountains of debt from all sorts of scams, and the contemptuous and scornful gazes of others.

Idiot. Pushover.

He had been ridiculed countless times by the very people he had tried to help.

Even so, he never changed his belief that living kindly was the right thing to do.

Even if it meant losing everything.

Even if, in the end, he would be ridiculed.

Gil-soo closed his eyes.

Two weeks in this world.

Ironically, he had found life here quite enjoyable.

In a life filled with nothing but bitter scorn, for the first time, he had felt like he had found a place of solace.

Transparent tears rolled down as Gil-soo closed his eyes.

Yeong-sik swung the sword toward his neck.

Nam Gi-tae, stifling his laughter, turned his head toward his original target, Seo Ara.

He couldn’t wait for the moment of pleasure that would soon come.

And then.

Yeong-sik released the sword he had been swinging toward Gil-soo. His body spun halfway around, facing Nam Gi-tae.

Yeong-sik, clenching his right fist tightly, aimed it at Nam Gi-tae.

A fiery blaze, as intense as the thrust of a jet engine, erupted from his right arm.