The blow came so quickly and so suddenly that Jinyoung didn’t recognize how hard he was hit at first. Sunspots flared in his vision and the dull impact of slamming against the wall barely registered.

  He wheezed and felt a sharp pain when he tried to take a deep breath. Probably broken ribs, he thought to himself. His arms and legs throbbed, but the pain was blunted. Other than his ribs, his bones seemed to be in working order.

  He slowly picked himself back up off the floor. His right hand was still gripping Hana’s sword so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. Thus far, he’d hit Seunghyo with three solid strikes, each one [charged]. The first had knocked him off balance, but the second two had barely fazed him.

  The same went for each of the stranger’s attacks which hit significantly harder, but none of which slowed him down in any meaningful way.

  On the other hand, Seunghyo’s strikes were devastating. One sideswipe had lifted Jinyoung off his feet before he [dashed] back and moved himself out of range of the follow-up.

  He moved in, trying to land a thrust while the stranger came in high with a wide sweeping blow. Seunghyo spun sideways in mid-air and landed deftly on one foot, using his momentum to kick out and knock the armored stranger back.

  Jinyoung would’ve been impressed if he hadn’t been on the receiving end of several hits just like that. Unlike Youngho, Seunghyo moved with precision. The attacks were just as savage, but he bobbed and weaved in and out of range. Even against two opponents, Seunghyo didn’t just have the advantage, he was pressing it.

  Jinyoung shook his head and tried to clear the cobwebs from his brain. They needed something. A weakness or an opening, something they could exploit.

  “[Scan]”, he whispered.

  [Details]

  Monster: SIN Seung4y0

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Recommended level: 57

  Attributes: SI@, FR0STBITE (immune)

  Weaknesses: FIR3

  He blinked.

  Silently, he hoped that he was mistaken but the readout was clear.

  Right, level 57, he thought to himself.

  Based on that, Jinyoung was lucky to still be standing. The difference in power was staggering. At best, Jinyoung posed as much of a threat as a child would to a full-grown adult.

  He turned his attention to the armored stranger currently facing off against Seunghyo. She was doing her best, but he needed to get back in there. He might not pose much of a threat to him, but at least he could act as a distraction and create some openings.

  [Player Details]

  Name: Muyeon Shin

  Class: Sub Zero Lancer

  Level: –

  Loading additional details…

  “Muyeon,” he mumbled. At least he had a name now.

  The stranger’s level and details weren’t included in the readout, but that wasn’t surprising at this point. Jinyoung suspected that whoever she was, she was a long way from home.

  ***

  Willow found an operational terminal and punched in a few keys at random, bringing the computer screen to life. An array of text scrolled up the screen before glitching out. The resulting text flew across the screen, but it was a mixture of letters, numbers of symbols. Completely unreadable.

  “No, no, no,” she said to herself.

  She tried not to glance out the blown out windows, but she couldn’t help herself. Youngho had pulled Hana to the side while Jinyoung and the armored stranger did their best against Seunghyo. Or the monster that used to be Seunghyo.

  Even as she watched, he dodged multiple blows and delivered a powerful kick that knocked the stranger away. Jinyoung received a swift blow that would’ve launched him several feet if not for the wall he crashed into.

  No, she thought to herself.

  This wasn’t just bad. He was killing them.

  She unsheathed her long knife and held it out in front of her. It was a hunting knife that her mother had given her. It was beautifully crafted, but unlikely to hold up in the battle raging outside.

  A hand gripped her shoulder before she could move.

  “That’s not going to help out there,” a voice behind her said.

  The hairs on the back of Willow’s neck stood up on end as she suspected the worst. But when she turned around, she realized it wasn’t Henry but someone else. Someone she vaguely recognized from the Seorak Outbreak.

  Willow found her voice unsteadily, “Y-you’re the technomancer.”

  Eunice nodded. “I’m here to help.”

  She let that statement set in before gently shifting Willow away from the terminal.

  System access, she whispered.