Ubermensch – Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The first thing Mason felt when he opened his eyes was thirst.

‘I’m thirsty…’

He unconsciously reached for his bedside.

Someone put a glass of water in Mason’s hand.

“Are you alright?”

Mason drank the water.

“Yeah… So-so.”

“You don’t look it.”

Usually, Mason was a giant packed with muscles, a sight that took one’s breath away. However, now he had transformed into a handsome and slender young man.

“I used too much Barbarianigen.”

Mason grumbled.

“I’ll have to eat until I’m sick of it.”

Seo Yeonhee smiled playfully.

“You look much more handsome now, though?”

“Looks aren’t important.”

“Then what is? Is it what’s inside?”

“Of course. The perfection of internal organs determines the quality of life.”

“…”

Seo Yeonhee shook her head.

“You almost died this time.”

“I’m alive, so it’s fine.”

Seo Yeonhee looked at Mason.

“I’m serious, you almost died.”

Mason was, in a way, more vulnerable to poison than ordinary people. This was because his regenerative abilities malfunctioned if the poison wasn’t properly detoxified.

Of course, if Mason was awake, he could extract the poison using Smart Cells… But it was dangerous if he was unconscious like now.

“Well, it’s all good if it ends well, right?”

Mason scratched his head.

“Oh, right, how did you deal with the poison?”

Seo Yeonhee pointed to the bed next to Mason’s.

There lay a pale healer.

She had long black hair and pale white skin, with an average height and a petite figure.

If Seo Yeonhee was a beauty in the style of a sexy Hollywood actress, she was a beauty in the style of a frail girl in a dress from classic literature.

“This is Eun Yuri. She’s a survivor we rescued and the healer who detoxified you.”

Mason nodded with a hearty laugh.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

“No, you saved mine too.”

Mason got up from his seat and sat next to Eun Yuri.

“I’ll definitely repay this debt someday.”

“Really?”

“Of course! Would a man go back on his word?”

“Then… I have a favor to ask.”

Eun Yuri spoke softly.

“Please take me with you.”

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Deroa was sitting on top of a broken radio tower.

In her hand was a can of beer and a cell phone.

And, on the cell phone, a data sheet of a person was displayed.

“Eun Yuri.”

Everyone has their story.

The reason Seo Yeonhee and Deroa, each at the top of their fields, were stuck in a beginner’s camp was due to the Titan Core conflict and their hostile relationship with Heavenly King Yekaterina.

Since they might be disliked by Yekaterina and not receive any healers, the attack teams didn’t recruit them.

They were ostracized due to political issues.

However, there were also cases where people were ostracized purely because of their own shortcomings.

“‘Cripple’ Eun Yuri…”

She had a disability where one leg was shorter than the other, which caused a serious problem with mobility.

The higher the level of a monster, the larger its size and the more likely it was to have area-of-effect attacks.

To counter this, frequent movement and rapid mobility were essential for players.

The same went for healers.

They had to be able to move quickly and maintain formation.

Even more so for party play and raid teams…

Deroa sipped her beer.

“She’d be perfect as a beginner camp healer.”

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Seo Yeonhee spoke in a calm voice.

“Isn’t it a bad thing to be a non-combatant?”

Eun Yuri had a problem with mobility, but as a healer, she was A-rank. Her maximum level and mana were top-notch.

It was just that it was difficult to utilize her in the field.

“Yes, that’s an option. But I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“There’s somewhere I want to go. There’s something I want to repay.”

Eun Yuri took something out from her neck.

Two scorched and scratched dog tags.

“My parents were one of Korea’s first-generation players. And they died during an operation.”

Seo Yeonhee frowned.

The first players. ‘Super Soldiers’ were all from the military… And they were all wiped out.

Because of the rigid command of the military that couldn’t adapt to the new class…

That’s why the main force of the Player System became civilian attack teams.

Eun Yuri, as delicate and slender as an orchid, spoke calmly.

“I want to fight. The monsters that killed my parents.”

“Is that why you went into the dungeon?”

“Yes.”

Eun Yuri had a bitter expression on her face.

“They were the only ones who would take me.”

“That’s all the more reason for you to be a non-combatant.”

Seo Yeonhee’s tone was gentle, despite the cruelty of her words.

“The parties and attack teams that take you, Eun Yuri, will be burdened with that much responsibility.”

If even once her aggro was drawn, Eun Yuri was practically dead. The pressure on the tanker would increase several times more than usual.

The risk of having Eun Yuri was several times greater than the benefit of having her.

Then there’s no choice but to not use her.

“I want to fight.”

“Fight in a different way.”

“But I…”

That was when it happened.

When Mason opened his mouth.

“Alright.”

Seo Yeonhee was surprised and looked at Mason.

“Are you serious?”

“I’ll talk to the Holy Knights. They have plenty of room in their tanker lineup, so it’ll work out somehow.”

“But her legs…”

“Yes, she has a weakness. But she has more strengths than that.”

Mason looked at Eun Yuri.

“She lost her comrades and experienced a near-death situation herself. Yet she’s saying she wants to fight. Look at her fighting spirit and resilience. She has the heart of a warrior. How often do you find someone like that?”

“But…”

“And her weakness is that she’s slow? That it’s hard for her to dodge when it’s dangerous?”

Mason pounded his chest.

“We just have to make sure she doesn’t have to dodge. Make sure it’s not dangerous. Then that weakness is as good as non-existent.”

“How?”

“Because I’ll protect her.”

Mason put his hand on Eun Yuri’s shoulder.

“Let’s do well, Miss Eun Yuri.”

Eun Yuri smiled.

“Yes!”

Seo Yeonhee was about to say something. However, the moment she met Mason’s eyes, she couldn’t help but close her mouth.

Because Mason’s resolve was firm.

She silently got up from her seat and moved.

Towards the top of the radio tower, towards Deroa.

Deroa asked without turning her head.

“What did he say?”

“He said he’ll work with her.”

“Well, I thought so.”

“Yes.”

The wind blew. The wind of the battlefield, mixed with the smell of blood and dust.

Seo Yeonhee had a complex expression on her face.

It was a strange expression, both happy and sad.

“As expected… I don’t think Mason will be able to stay in the Holy Knights for long.”

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A few days later.

When they returned to the Holy Knights, Sung Kijun was in the middle of muscle training in the training room inside the Holy Knights’ headquarters.

Holding a dumbbell, Sung Kijun had a bewildered expression on his face.

“…Who is this?”

Mason grumbled.

“Never seen a weakling before?”

With his Barbarianigen depleted, Mason had reverted to his appearance before the Barbarian Procedure.

The appearance of a handsome young man.

“I hate to say this, but you look much better now.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts.”

“So you’ll be muscular again soon?”

“If I eat enough.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Mason nudged Eun Yuri, who was standing next to him.

“Say hello. This is Healer Eun Yuri. And that’s…”

“Ah, I know. You’re Sung Kijun-danjangnim of the Holy Knights, right?”

Sung Kijun had a subtle expression on his face.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“No.”

“…Then is she your boyfriend?”

“No, she’s not!”

Mason grumbled.

“I brought her here to be our comrade.”

Sung Kijun picked up his smartphone and searched for Eun Yuri.

“An A-rank healer, huh…With a minor flaw.”

“Yeah, a minor flaw.”

“You thought our Holy Knights could compensate for that?”

“Yeah.”

Sung Kijun nodded.

“You’re right. Our raid tactic, ‘Holding’, requires almost no movement from the attackers.”

The Holy Knights were a deformed raid team with three A-rank tankers. Their main tactic was for the three of them to block the monster tightly, allowing the insufficient dealer lineup to safely unleash their maximum firepower.

Now with Mason included, there were four tankers. It would only become more stable, not unstable.

“But we have conditions for recruiting people.”

“What is it?”

“Eun Yuri, why do you want to fight?”

Eun Yuri hesitated for a moment before taking out her parents’ dog tags.

“I want to avenge my parents.”

“As the child of a Super Soldier?”

“Yes.”

Sung Kijun shook his head.

“We can’t accept someone like that.”

“Huh?”

Instead of the flustered Eun Yuri, Mason looked at Sung Kijun.

“Why?”

“We don’t fight for the dead. We fight for the living.”

“If you put it that way, I’m half against that principle too, aren’t I?”

Mason had two goals in life.

The extermination of monsters, and the salvation of mankind.

“You are someone who can’t let the living die. If you are faced with a choice between killing monsters and saving people… You are someone who chooses to save people.”

“She’s the same. She’s a healer.”

“Can you say that the appearance you put on to suit your profession and situation is your true self?”

Eun Yuri looked shrunken.

She probably didn’t expect to be rejected to her face.

“Then what should I… do?”

“I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

Sung Kijun said with a calm expression.

“You can stay here until then.”

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Eun Yuri’s face was dark, and her eyes were heavy.

Mason felt both sorry and responsible.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he’d react like that.”

“It’s okay. He’s not wrong.”

Eun Yuri looked up at the sky.

“Actually, I wanted to be a tanker or a dealer. If I had any other talent besides my healing ability, I wanted to kill monsters with my own hands.”

“…”

“It seems Sung Kijun-danjangnim saw right through that.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he was just saying anything.”

Eun Yuri gave a weak smile.

“No way.”

If Korea’s first generation of players were from the military, the Holy Knights were one of the oldest attack teams among the second generation of players composed of civilian volunteers.

Originally from a gaming guild called the Holy Knights, composed of firefighters and volunteers, they were one of the first civilian attack teams launched in Korea, along with the now-defunct ‘Eliminate Empire’.

In other words, Sung Kijun could be considered the oldest attack team leader in Korea.

The fact that the Holy Knights, which was closer to a volunteer organization than a for-profit organization, was running smoothly was thanks to the combination of their altruism and the leadership of Sung Kijun, a former firefighter.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I have to think about it. About how to answer tomorrow.”

Eun Yuri held out her hand to Mason.

“But, you’ll stay with me today, right?”

“If that’s a date request.”

Eun Yuri smiled.