NoveLight ™
"No, I searched for it, but I didn't really expect it to come out. What should we do—"
"First, get away!"
Kiiing!
With a chilling tone, the air on the first floor seems to heat up. It’s not just a feeling—it’s actually heating up. It felt as though every hair on my body was standing on end. Switching to heat-sensitive vision for a moment, I saw that the area around Mecha Yujin was heating up entirely.
I had guessed this from the video posted earlier and figured it out through the actions. As I remembered, that weapon emitted plasma in all directions the moment it was deployed. The scene when the bunker was briefly filled with a blue light was still vividly etched in my mind.
And then, a few seconds passed—
───Bang!
A blinding blue flash, and the surrounding heat swept through the first floor.
Amidst the violently swirling air, the shops near Mecha Yujin caught fire or became charred. Concrete pillars were melting and dripping or charred—but I knew this was the perfect moment to strike with all I had.
Since the airflow inside the shopping mall was chaotic and the noise was overwhelming, I didn’t worry about soundproofing and immediately issued an order to Carto over the intercom.
"Fire everything you’ve got."
"What?"
"Fire it!"
Without waiting for a reply, I promised myself that once we got back, Carto would reflexively follow the orders and keep pulling the trigger. The first shot I fired hit Mecha Yujin in the middle of the flames, as a special armor-piercing round accelerated to 900 meters per second and pierced through the abdomen.
It wasn’t a bounce-back.
It was a full penetration.
"Wow, look at that, he’s running away in an instant!"
Carto fired a moment later.
The M995 magazine emptied in an instant, delivering several small but effective hits. Half of them were blocked by the hexagonal shield barrier, though, which seemed to confirm that the technology behind the Icarus Gear wasn’t just a lie. But that admiration didn’t last long, and it was time to fight for our lives.
One side wouldn’t leave the shopping mall today.
"The mobility is no joke… No, actually, I should say the response to damage is quick. If it were a person, they'd flinch when hit by bullets anywhere."
"Eh, yeah. So what do we do now…?"
"I don’t know. There’s almost no data on it, so we’ll have to solve it on the spot. The only thing I’m sure of is that it fires plasma cannons at regular intervals, so we have to avoid that."
"One problem after another, huh…!"
The first thing we needed to understand was its mobility.
We had already confirmed its tanking ability, and seeing the partial shield technology applied, charging directly into it would likely backfire. If our status comparison showed clear superiority over the enemy in every way, except for tiny variables, a direct confrontation might be more advantageous.
That was exactly what I had done every time in 1:1 fights.
But sadly, this fact was something everyone here—me, Carto, and even Mecha Yujin—could guess.
"Ugh, it's coming!"
"Throw all the grenades you have left!"
A threatening vibration surged through my body.
Luckily, by this point, Carto had started following my orders without any hesitation. The only problem was speed. If only we had brought something like concussion grenades, things might have gone better, but the grenades we had were all delay-fused.
The reason I’m saying this is that the mechanical enemy started closing in quickly. After all, if you're confident you won’t lose in a head-on fight, why would you avoid it? It would be best to push forward.
At the same time, several grenades landed, tracing different parabolic paths as they hit the ground.
───Boom!
The deafening explosion, followed by thousands of steel balls, swept through the entire hemispherical space. However, it didn’t slow down; it just kept going. Some grenades were even shot off course, flying far away. I had no choice but to admit—it was too similar to my own tactics.
"Let’s eat away at it while we retreat. You go back first. We’ll pull back slowly."
"Ugh, why does this only happen in the shopping mall…!"
As I said.
It was something I’d considered at least once, but didn’t speak aloud. If we ever faced Mecha Biyam again later… no, it was more important to make sure Carto grew stronger before that happened.
Half hoping against hope, I checked Carto’s position as he retreated. Firing special AP rounds as quickly as I could, I slowly backed away, and I also ordered Carto to keep firing as soon as Mecha Yujin was in sight.
It hurt to admit that the only gun that could keep this mechanical weapon in check was Mjolnir, but I couldn’t do it alone.
Sadly, the enemy was incredibly fast.
As soon as I confirmed Carto’s retreat and tried to back out, the enemy closed in on us. Leaving suppression fire to Carto, I trusted the Zabrallo to protect most of my upper body and quickly moved out of cover—dangerous, but I had no choice at that moment. The moment I rounded the corner, I locked eyes with Mecha Yujin.
A bright blue light of death was emanating from its mechanical tail.
"Shit."
Death flooded up to my chin, but I wasn’t about to die quietly. I braced my legs and jumped off the ground, using a chair as a step—cracking as it shattered under the force—then leaping off a stone wall and into the air.
As I soared about three meters into the air, blue flames erupted from behind me and below my feet, tearing everything apart.
───!
"Argh…!"
The world flipped over several times.
If I had landed on my legs, they would have shattered immediately, so I did my best to land safely. Luckily—or unluckily—the fire on my pants went out when I rolled. But I still couldn’t completely neutralize the heat, and my legs turned yellow.
As I barely managed to recover, a bullet fired by Carto flew into my path. At least I had successfully drawn out the plasma shot, so I tried to establish a defensive line again.
However, I knew all too well that the results weren’t looking good.
After struggling to regroup, I heard Carto’s voice.
"Yujin, something’s glowing from the joints…"
"Yeah. With that kind of energy, I didn’t think they’d just use it for attacking, but now it’s clear."
"Huh?"
"The effort we put into creating distance has been wasted."
───Bang!
Just as I said.
The light from the joints—meaning the energy emitted from the rear—created propulsion, allowing it to close in on us in an instant. The bullets flew as we hurriedly exchanged fire. Though both Carto and I quickly dodged and avoided most of Mecha Yujin's MP7 fire, it still hurt.
For a while, the acrobatic battle continued, but sadly, Mecha Yujin, with its massive mechanical advantage, relentlessly pressed in on us. Unsurprisingly, the muzzle fire aimed directly at Carto, who was assisting me with all his might.
It was coming at him in a deadly direction.
───Ugh!
"Cough…"
It was like a scene from Iron Man.
Ignoring me, Mecha Yujin jumped and landed right where Carto was. It had been over a minute, and it still hadn’t fired the plasma cannon, indicating it couldn’t use both at once. But, still—since all the ammo had been used, it wasn’t shooting.
But when the light flickered from its elbow, and a fist shot out like a bullet, hitting Carto’s hexagrid armor, it was a bad sign.
Carto’s chest was instantly lit up in red on the UI. His health hit zero due to bleeding, signaling fatal or near-fatal damage. He was thrown far away and motionless—no help was coming.
For now, the only option was to destroy its mobility.
"Let’s see if it can still move with one leg broken."
Tch!
Luckily, Carto had bought us enough time with his death, and I shot about five rounds into its right leg. Sparks flew, and parts began to fall off. I kept firing and managed to deal significant damage.
I stalled for over a minute, pretending to reload the magazine and bluffing that I was almost empty. At the same time, the mechanical tail began to shift, preparing to fire the plasma cannon.
Of course, I wasn’t about to let that happen.
"Too bad, you didn’t shoot it all."
Bang!
As soon as the bullet struck the mechanical tail, it swayed violently. I didn’t know what was inside, but the tail was twisted horribly, which would likely hinder its ability to fire the plasma. I hoped it would hold up, at least.
Slowly, the time to finish this fight was approaching. Mecha Yujin rushed forward to land another punch, but I was confident in close combat as well.
And I had an MP7, after all.
"Not so fast."
───Tatattattatta!
Dodging a punch that barely missed my head, I swiftly kicked it in the stomach. At the same time, I pulled out the submachine gun hanging on my chest and fired in a continuous burst. Mecha Yujin, relying on its physical durability, turned its back and ran, hiding again. Looking at the back of its damaged frame, I could tell it had taken a significant hit.
For a mass-produced version based on me, its tactics were truly weak. That said, I wasn’t saying it should come back stronger later.
Once you expose an opening, it’s natural to be pushed into a defensive position. Mecha Yujin started to retreat, but I had overlooked one thing.
If it stopped using the plasma cannon, it could focus all its remaining energy on physical enhancement.
"Such a bastard…!"
Bang!
An overwhelming sensation of impact spread through my abdomen and arms. If this weren’t VR, it would have hurt like hell. The full-body tackle knocked me to the ground, and I felt my entire body gradually turning yellow as I was pushed back several meters.
But the important thing was that Mecha Yujin wouldn’t let me go.
At the same time, a cold, dry voice echoed.
"Alert… Self-destruction in 5 seconds. Eliminating highest priority threat."
"Great."
The body was glowing red with heat.
When I saw it, I smiled in disbelief, and quickly abandoned my plan to get Carto out.
An explosion ending? This was an absolute joke.
"If I’d brought just one more person, we would’ve won."
With that regret, my vision was overtaken by bright white light.
It was a tragic ending.
"What are you thinking, Coach Dice?"
"If I had data on Mecha Yujin, it’d be great to train you all with it."
"Snake!!!"
What an explosive ending.
Dice, one of the viewers watching Yujin's live broadcast with over 1.5 million viewers, had a strange expression on his face and was approached by some pro gamers. As the scene exploded and was thrown out of the lobby, he was stunned, with a familiar face showing a look of disbelief.
But still, Dice knew well that even against Mecha Yujin, it would take a lot of effort to capture it. The method she used to capture Logan during the final championship last year was no different.
‘Is this something only mechanical weapons can do?’
But thinking about it, it wasn’t that strange. Self-destruction was actually not that rare in warfare, and given the situation, it made sense to use someone as a tool to achieve the goal.
Dice thought deeply, catching his breath.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Yujin in a while.’
It was too busy to enjoy EU mode, but maybe meeting one person wouldn't hurt.
Dice thought for a moment, then spoke.
"For now, everyone keep practicing. I’ve got something to do."
And so, as the comet slowly faded, it was time to bring the Apex Predator into the fold.
A mischievous smile appeared on Dice’s face.