Chapter 11: I remembered

It was his first time here, yet he had been here before.

Logically speaking, it was a story that couldn’t possibly make sense.

But Limon did not doubt his own judgment.

He knew from experience that there were plenty of mysteries that made the impossible possible, from all sorts of bizarre skills and magic that overturned divine providence to psionics that transcended perception and spirit arts that commanded armored golems.

Of course, groundless belief could easily turn into blind faith.

However, Limon had a way to verify it.

“Team Leader? What are you doing?”

Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.

An obstacle he would have normally cut down instantly.

Yu Na-kyung looked on in wonder as Limon trudged toward the thick metal door.

Seeing him press the number panel on the door, she grumbled as if it were absurd.

“No, what do you know that makes you press that? There’s no way it would open just by pressing random numbers like tha—”

Whirrrr!

“……is there?”

Yu Na-kyung’s jaw dropped.

She spoke with a dazed face as she watched the door slowly begin to open.

“Team Leader? How did you just do that?”

“How do you think?”

Unlike her, who looked as soul-depleted as someone who had seen a Royal Straight Flush hit twice in a row at a casino, Limon didn’t show the slightest hint of surprise.

He simply answered nonchalantly.

“I just guessed.”

“Does it make sense that you guessed a one-in-a-billion chance on the first try?!?!”

“It worked when I tried it, so what do you want me to do?”

“No, but, I mean, that is, therefore!”

Perhaps because she had seen something too nonsensical.

Limon didn’t particularly care even as he watched Yu Na-kyung malfunction and stutter.

He only stared with an indifferent face at the scene unfolding through the slowly opening door.

“What, why is this door opening?”

“Didn’t they say it was off-limits until the job was done?”

“Hey, where are you looking! Focus on the front, the front!”

A vast space where an entire floor had been cleared out by remodeling what was originally a banquet hall.

Dozens of people filled the area, armed with everything from armor and stab-proof vests to staves, bows, and spears.

The members of the Liberation Brigade stopped their buzzing murmurs when they saw the back door slowly opening.

Then, they wore blank expressions.

“Huh? Uh?”

“What is this……?”

As if they had seen a flying mole.

Yu Na-kyung also wore a look of horror as she saw them unable to hide their embarrassment.

Even for a base, there was a limit.

The sight of players huddled together fully armed as if preparing for a dungeon raid was enough to make even an experienced PAB agent freak out.

But Limon remained unfazed.

It was because he had known of their existence even before opening the door.

Thus, while everyone else was agitated, Limon alone took a calm step forward.

One step to close the distance.

One step to burrow into the midst of the buzzing crowd.

One step to spin in place and swing his sword.

Thud-thud-thud!

“Aaaargh!”

“W-What? What just happened?”

The members of the Liberation Brigade were terrified.

They were clearly looking at Limon.

Yet, until he burrowed between them and struck down four or five of their comrades, they hadn’t been aware of his approach at all.

To them, it felt like being possessed by a ghost.

“What are you just staring for? Attack, now!!”

Were they players after all?

At the shout of a man who appeared to be an officer, they barely regained their senses and hurriedly tried to attack Limon.

But their attempt was doomed to remain just an attempt.

Even if they swung a greatsword wreathed in flames.

Even if they fired an arrow that never missed.

Even if they moved shadows to bind his feet.

Limon lightly evaded, cut down, and crushed all those attacks with just a single step.

“This is crazy……?!”

Kang Seok, an officer of the Liberation Brigade, couldn’t believe it.

Although the public dismissed the Liberation Brigade as a group of psychos and criminals, that didn’t mean they were weak.

Low-level players weren’t even treated as errand boys.

Only mid-level players of at least level 30 could be recognized as regular members.

Furthermore, as they were called a brigade, they were skilled in group combat, and their pride was that they were better than most top-tier guilds, especially in player-versus-player combat.

No matter how strong a high-level player was.

In the end, they were just miners catching monsters.

If it was a life-and-death struggle between people, there was no organization that could surpass them, given their criminal records including murder.

Whack!

However, Kang Seok’s pride was sliced through like a sheet of paper by Limon’s blade.

‘What on earth is this monster?!’

If it were just a matter of attacks not working, he could have accepted it.

Among high-level players, there were more than a few who rendered attacks meaningless altogether with skills like ‘Absolute Defense’ or ‘Immortal Body’.

He could even get over everyone being taken down in a single blow.

While it was difficult to balance such defense skills with attack skills, it was well within the realm of possibility for High Duke-class players.

Yet, there was only one reason Kang Seok trembled.

It was because of Limon’s eyes.

Eyes he had never seen once even in the Liberation Brigade, which was full of criminals and psychos.

Even while striking a head with a sword, instead of wavering, those golden eyes—sunken in an infinite stillness—were telling him.

The ordinary look was just an appearance.

That thing was by no means an ordinary human.

That he was a genuine monster that the likes of the Liberation Brigade wouldn’t even dare to mention themselves in the same breath as.

But it was a realization that came too late.

From the moment Limon stormed into this place, they had no way to escape, whether they wanted to or not.

“Kill him! If you don’t want to die, kill him by any means!”

Like a cornered rat biting a cat.

Kang Seok, unable to endure the despair, screamed out in desperation.

He then rushed at Limon, swinging his scimitar like a madman and activating his skill, ‘Blade Storm’.

Blade Storm was the combat skill that had made Kang Seok an officer of the Liberation Brigade.

Since it poured out 36 slashes in an instant, it was a finishing move that could turn even a lump of iron into dozens of pieces in the blink of an eye.

Ting!

However, after unleashing ‘Blade Storm’.

Kang Seok had no choice but to widen his eyes.

The scimitar, which was just about to manifest the effect of the skill.

Limon’s sword exquisitely overlapped with the tip of that blade, dispersing the power before the sword could even be swung.

That was only the beginning.

Ting, ting-ting, tididididididing……!

A continuous attack spanning 36 strikes, including upward slashes, downward strikes, parries, rotations, and pulls.

Each time, Limon’s sword clung to the tip of his blade and cunningly scattered the force.

He stood there with his mouth agape, having failed to land even a single slash until the skill’s effect ended.

“H-How?”

The explanation was long, but the time it took for Kang Seok to pour out 36 slashes was truly a flash.

It was less than 0.1 seconds.

Pouring out dozens of attacks in that short moment was impossible for even the most agile player.

It was a supersonic onslaught made possible only by borrowing the power of a skill, and thus, even Kang Seok himself could do little more than swing indiscriminately rather than control it.

But how did he block every single one of those completely random attacks before they could even unfold?

To the dazed Kang Seok, Limon replied calmly.

“If a bastard can’t block the same swordplay after seeing it twice, he’s an idiot.”

“……Twice? When else did you see my skill?”

“I just saw it for the first time now.”

“What does that……!”

Kang Seok was speechless.

It wasn’t because he couldn’t understand the meaning behind saying he had seen ‘Blade Storm’ twice.

It was because Limon’s attitude—taking it for granted that he could block supersonic slashes just because he had seen them once—was just that staggering.

Whack!

“Gack!”

“Are you my disciple? Why do you keep asking things in the middle of a fight?”

Limon knocked Kang Seok unconscious by striking him on the back of the head with his sword hilt.

Then, he thought as he beat down the members of the Liberation Brigade, who were looking miserable after losing even the officer who would lead them.

‘Something is gradually coming back to me.’

The act of blocking every single slash of the Blade Storm.

Under normal circumstances, Limon wouldn’t have done it.

Since one strike would have ended it anyway, there was no need to purposefully add 36 more.

Yet, there was only one reason he went out of his way to do so.

The moment he saw Kang Seok’s ‘Blade Storm’, the way those blades would be swung naturally came to his mind.

As if recalling a forgotten memory.

It was the same for the other members.

Whenever he exchanged swords with them, Limon could tell how they would attack, and the fragments of memory gathered that way became clearer and clearer, awakening other memories.

“M-Monster…….”

Crunch!

After taking down the last member.

Limon froze in place.

It wasn’t just because there was no longer a need to swing his sword.

It was because, as if defeating the entire Liberation Brigade had been a switch, the memories floating in his head clicked together, and a single scene emerged.

A scene he had never seen before, could never have seen, and never wanted to see.

But the moment he recalled that scene he could never forget.

Limon muttered softly.

“……I remembered.”

“What do you mean you remembered? What is it?”

Was it because she was bored just watching?

Limon answered calmly to the question from Yu Na-kyung, who came hopping over the fallen members of the Liberation Brigade as soon as they were all down.

“Everything.”

“Do you have dementia or something? Forgetting everything?”

As if she had heard a strange joke.

Yu Na-kyung let out a small smirk.

Then, she took out her smartphone and looked up the faces of the fallen Liberation Brigade members one by one.

“It looks like all the main members were gathered here. It’s a shame the boss wasn’t here, but with this, it’s as if the Liberation Brigade has already been completely crushed.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It would be best to bring the Director and another team to finish the cleanup. That way, it’ll be easier to claim it as a PAB achievement.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.”

Limon nodded soullessly.

She was puzzled for a moment by his strangely listless appearance.

Yu Na-kyung muttered to herself, “Is he in post-battle depression?” and, agreeing with herself, reached out a hand to Limon.

“Well then, let’s go.”

***

“……Team Leader? What are you doing, not taking my hand?”

“Do I have to take it?”

“Of course. Aren’t you going to go report to the Director?”

Yu Na-kyung asked as if it were absurd, seeing Limon just staring at her hand without taking any action.

And after hearing Limon’s answer, she wore a completely dazed expression.

“I’m not going.”

“Huh? Why?”

Yu Na-kyung tilted her head.

She couldn’t understand the reason Limon insisted on staying.

However, the moment Limon revealed that reason.

She couldn’t help but freeze with her head still tilted to the side.

“The moment I take your hand, we’ll fall into a trap buried with tons of TNT. Knowing that clearly, there’s no reason for me to go, is there?”