episode_0022

A weapon like a baseball bat.

In other words, a club was one of those weapons that didn’t require any special skills to wield.

Just swinging its hefty weight with force was threatening enough.

So I was curious about what would happen when combined with weapon skills.

So I swung it in the air.

In that moment, I realized.

I could swing this heavy bat quickly and accurately.

That was all, but it was enough.

The feeling of the weight transferring from the tip of my toes through my legs, hips, and waist to the end of the bat felt like it could become addictive.

They say baseball players can tell if it’s a home run as soon as they hit the ball.

Now, I felt like I understood the meaning of that.

If someone had been hit by this attack right now, they would have flown like a ball.

It would have been a home run.

“Phew. Let’s go.”

I packed the baseball bat in my bag and got on the subway.

My appearance was different from usual now.

Wearing the full-body armor I bought at the black market, I looked like a racing driver.

Yet, people didn’t even pay much attention.

In a world with heroes and villains, something was definitely different.

I headed towards the location where that guy was.

Since the Scorpion Gang disappeared, the villain wasn’t living honestly, and now the Scorpion was working as a loan shark with the remnants of the gang.

For me, that fact was fortunate.

If he had changed his ways and lived a good life, even I would have had a hard time fighting him.

But if that were the case, I wouldn’t have taken on that request.

Profit.

“Sigh.”

As I neared the office where that guy was supposed to be, I suddenly hid my body when I saw a car stop in front of the office.

Two burly men got out of the stopped car.

“Aren’t you getting out?”

“Is this bastard crazy?”

Inside the car, a young woman who looked barely twenty trembled, and the men yelled at her.

Wearing a dress that would be fitting for an end-of-year awards ceremony, with her chest exposed, the woman looked very timid despite her attire.

Her spirit seemed crushed, and her trembling appearance even looked pitiful.

“If you don’t have money, you’ll pay with your body, that’s what you wrote in the contract.”

“I-I tried to repay even by borrowing, but my credit rating dropped, I couldn’t borrow money from the bank, and the interest rate was too high…”

“Jeez, whining.”

Frustrated, one of the men grabbed the woman’s arm and tried to drag her down forcefully.

Watching was enough.

I already knew from the information that these guys were doing shady loan shark business.

So there was no hesitation.

After taking a deep breath, I confidently approached the guys.

“Hey, there.”

“Huh?”

One of them, clearly suspicious of my strange attire, pointed at me, but the other was too focused on dragging the woman to react.

And my bat… no, baseball bat came into action.

I lightly swung the bat and accurately hit the guy holding the woman’s thigh.

Thud.

A clear sound rang out, followed by messy screams.

“Aaah!”

Holding onto the woman’s leg, the guy sat down in pain.

“This bastard!”

The other guy pulled out something from his pocket and charged, but I reflexively swung the bat towards his approaching hand.

Thud.

It was a strange sight.

I could accurately hit the hand that came flying towards me in an instant.

This must be the power of weapon skills.

“Ouch…”

They say if it hurts too much, you can’t even scream.

The man who was hit in the hand was turning red from holding his breath due to the excessive pain.

Unable to even scream, I held onto my hand and hesitantly sat down on the floor.

One of my fingers was bent in the wrong direction, so I averted my eyes.

Although they were cheap thugs, just looking at them was a painful sight.

And then, I finally saw something trembling in the hands of the guy.

It was a knife.

A pocket knife small enough to threaten a person’s life.

“…Get lost.”

As I raised my bat as if to strike again, the guys stumbled and, writhing in pain, ran away.

“Th-thank you.”

“Close the door and lock it. I’ll be back soon.”

The timid-looking woman greeted me, but there was no time for a peaceful conversation.

The man who had been hit in the thigh screamed so loudly that even the guy named Scorpion and his henchmen must have heard it.

It wouldn’t be strange for a fight to break out at any moment.

The woman nodded vigorously at my words, closed the car door, and pressed the lock button.

Scorpion’s loan shark office was on the third floor of this building.

It was an old and dilapidated commercial building. With the first and second floors empty, it seemed unlikely that innocent people would get involved.

Maybe it was just my mood, but I felt a chilly atmosphere from the entrance.

First floor, second floor.

And then the third floor.

“Ah!”

Kindly, I deflected the surprise attack of a guy with a scream using my bat.

Surprisingly, the guy was wielding a bat.

However, unlike the bat with a steel core that I had, his was just an ordinary wooden bat.

When my bat collided with his, there was a cracking sound, and it shattered into pieces of wood.

The guy who lost his weapon looked desperate.

I kicked the guy’s stomach vigorously, who had no intention of resisting.

It was the first time I had directly attacked someone, but the strength skill I gained seemed to be quite effective as the guy flew to the wall and hit it before passing out.

It was a power I hadn’t expected.

I almost apologized for it.

“He’s not a Scorpion either.”

In fact, as soon as the scream rang out, I expected Scorpion to come running.

The investigation file stated that he was impatient and had an aggressive personality.

Either the investigation was wrong, or his personality had changed.

I walked around the third floor and stood in front of a door.

It was a beautiful door.

“…”

He must be inside this door.

Someone preparing to ambush me while waiting for me to open the door.

It was just a gut feeling.

If there was a reason why an impatient person was waiting patiently, it might be to ambush me.

So, recalling the kick from earlier, I kicked the door with all my might.

Bang!

The old commercial building’s door couldn’t withstand my kick.

Someone fell as the door swung open.

“Damn!”

A man who was preparing to ambush me cursed as he fell.

But he quickly got up and regained his posture.

“This bastard…!”

I could tell right away.

The man in front of me was none other than Kim Scorpion, my target.

He glared at me, adjusted his posture, and his body turned slightly blue.

It was his ability to make his whole body hard.

That’s why he didn’t use any weapons.

His hardened hands and feet were his deadly weapons.

Scorpion, who was slowly walking towards me, suddenly threw a punch.

I tried to block it with the bat I was holding, but—

Ping!

With a sound that didn’t seem like a collision between a fist and a baseball bat, I just managed to block it.

The impact was transmitted from the bat to my hand, making my palm tingle.

“What is this!”

The guy on the other side seemed just as surprised and furiously threw another punch. It seemed like there was no need to hold back.

Before the opponent could attack again, I adjusted my stance and swung the bat with all my might.

Swish.

With the sound of the wind cutting through the air, the opponent raised their guard upon seeing the swung bat.

Thud.

The bat and arm collided.

However, unlike before, this time a refreshing sound that I had never heard before echoed.

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

‘Home run…’

Despite the tension, surprisingly, the scorpion fell to the ground too easily.

The synergy between Level 3 weapon skill and strength was remarkable.

From the arm that was protecting its head to the head itself, the impact reached the scorpion, causing it to collapse from the knees and slump down.

[Hidden quest completed.]

[Victory in battle against the villain.]

[Acquired Wall Sense LV.1 skill.]

[Wall Sense upgraded to LV.2.]

“Oh.”

As the level of the skill I relied on the most increased, an exclamation escaped my lips unintentionally.

And it truly felt like the battle had ended.

The tension in my body eased, and the delayed pain came rushing in.

Although I hadn’t taken a single hit, the strain on my body from moving it vigorously caused an overload.

It was fortunate that the villain was my first opponent.

Hitting someone with a baseball bat required considerable courage.

However, because they were villains, just witnessing their actions helped dispel any hesitation.

“Should I search around a bit?”

I ransacked the opponent’s office as if I were farming.

Originally, my goal was not to subdue them, but to extract the 50 million won.

So, I searched the office. And I found it.

A suspicious safe.

I wanted to open it, but I didn’t have a way to do so.

So, I ended up relying on the bat once again.

…In conclusion, the safe was strong.

Stronger than the scorpion, stronger than my baseball bat.

“…”

After repeatedly striking with all my might, only the handle of the bat was left in my hand.

So, I just carried the safe out as it was.

Hoping that the 50 million won was inside.