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Blood drips down along my jawline. An inexplicable sense of unease snakes its way into my chest, and my skin is damp with cold sweat.

I limped up the Emergency Stairs.

“Dammit…!”

I somehow made it to the third floor, but the exit is blocked by a box. Damn this awful Department Store. This is a violation of fire safety regulations, you bastards.

From below, I can hear curses and shouts echoing. Looks like the terrorists are already close behind.

I loaded a bullet into my gun and aimed down towards the stairs.

-—!!

“Graahhh!”

The dark staircase filled with light, and a scream echoed resoundingly. Someone must have been hit.

“Get up! Get up!”

“Kill that bastard!”

“Go grab him!”

From now on, I had to fight for my life.

If I didn’t want to die.

—

Episode 8 – Say Hello To My Little Friend

—

Fighting against multiple opponents is realistically difficult. Especially if it’s not a shooting battle, but close combat.

Six terrorists were on my tail. Those who were guarding the cargo, along with the ones transporting it, were all chasing me.

Unless I was Rambo, I couldn’t take them all on at once; I had to fight them one-on-one.

In that sense, the stairs were a great terrain.

-—!!

The heavy gunfire shook the stairs. The muzzle flames illuminated the dim Emergency Stairs in an instant.

I fired my shotgun to smash the heads of the approaching terrorists.

-—!! ㅡ!!

With the relatively higher ground, the narrow passage, and excellent firepower that could turn limbs into ragdolls, despite being injured and facing six grown- men at once, the situation wasn’t too bad.

The problem was that I wasn’t the only one with a gun.

“Ugh…!”

One terrorist with a scruffy beard leaned out and took aim at me. It was a pistol.

Bang! I twisted my body to dodge as the bullet flew, embedding itself in the railing. Flames gleamed before my eyes, as if I were in a movie. Startled by the sudden shout of gunfire, I took a step back while the terrorist fired three more rounds in my direction.

“Get up! Now’s the time!”

With that shout, hurried footsteps began to fill the staircase.

As I pulled shells from my pocket, loading them one by one, I took a deep breath and sprang to my feet.

I locked eyes with the leading terrorist.

Armed with a knife, the terrorist glared at me with wide eyes, shaking his head as he reached out, and I held my aim steady, gently squeezing the cold, smooth trigger.

-—!!

The gunfire sounded, and the terrorist’s body crumpled. The torso hit by the shotgun became a ragged mess. The next terrorist in line, following closely behind, was unintentionally dragged into the fall of his comrade.

Clatter. The empty shell rolled across the floor.

I reloaded while aiming at the terrorist, who was startled and frantically pushed the body aside.

I pulled the trigger.

“Shit, this is bad…!”

-Clack!

Amid the shouts of curses and screams swirling in the staircase, a distinct sound rang out. The bullet failed to fire. A malfunction.

Realizing this, the terrorist relaxed, grinning as he tightened his grip on the knife.

“This guy is out of bullets! He’s just a dumbass now!”

“Kill him!”

The terrorists shouted and leapt up the stairs.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

It was the beginning of close combat.

—

I decided to take out the first terrorist who came up.

“Die!”

I swung the shotgun backward and brought it crashing down onto the terrorist’s head.

-Smack!

The butt of the gun collided with the temple of the terrorist, who was aiming to stab me.

The already worn-out wooden butt of the shotgun shattered upon impact.

I couldn’t use the gun anymore. Shooting was still an option without the butt, but with how fast things were going, I wouldn’t have time to fix the malfunction. I dropped the shotgun and pulled out my knife.

-Swoosh!

With a full swing to the temple, the blade pierced the terrorist’s neck. As he lost consciousness, I withdrew my knife and kicked the lifeless body of the terrorist down the stairs.

Thump! The corpse rolled down with a loud noise. The terrorists climbing the stairs scattered left and right to avoid the body. The one leading the charge glanced at his fallen comrade, gritted his teeth, and tightened his grip on his axe.

The third terrorist, who was now in front, appeared right in front of me.

“You bastard! I’m going to chop you up alive!”

The glinting edge of the axe sliced through the air, aimed at my shoulder.

The terrorist swung the axe down with all his might. I stepped back with my right foot, dodging the attack by leaning away.

-Clang!

The axe cut through the air and struck the concrete wall.

Realizing the attack had missed, the terrorist tried to regain his stance as he lunged at me.

But I took the opportunity to dive into his space and cut into his armpit.

I did it.

– Crack!

The sound of slicing through lotus root accompanies the sound of cutting cabbage. Vessels are severed.

I was certain that I had cut the vessel, but to finish the job properly, I grabbed the terrorist’s arm and cut deeper into his armpit.

“Graaaah!”

Blood spurted from the armpit artery. The armless terrorist clutched his underarm.

Taking advantage of the terror’s confusion, I snatched the axe and embedded it into his neck.

Thunk! The well-sharpened hand axe sank into the owner’s neck. His vacant eyes wandered through the air, and his lifeless body began to cool on the floor.

After killing the terrorist holding the axe, I glared at the trembling terrorists around me.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

No conversation was necessary.

The two terrorists, frozen in place, exchanged glances.

“…….”

“Let’s go!”

The two terrorists simultaneously charged at me, stepping over their fallen comrades’ bodies.

The first one up had a hunting knife in hand. He screamed as he swung the knife, and I reflexively raised my hand to block the attack.

In that moment, a searing pain shot through my forearm. I had been cut.

Quickly, I twisted my arm to check the wound. The skin had been sliced along the direction of the knife swing, and the left forearm of my white shirt was stained crimson. It didn’t seem too deep, as I still had some mobility.

Calmly, I extended my right hand gripping the knife forward while placing my injured left hand in front of my chin. The terrorist, noticing my injury, grinned as he lunged at me with the knife.

“Die!”

The knife came in, aimed for my abdomen.

I stepped sideways to avoid the attack, then grabbed the arm of the terrorist, who couldn’t stop due to inertia, and jammed it between my armpit.

The terrorist, looking utterly baffled, desperately struggled to free his trapped arm.

Humans can manipulate their bodies with ease thanks to joints. However, most joints can only move in one direction except for a few specific parts.

By the way, the human elbow joint bends inward.

As long as it doesn’t break.

– Crack!

“Uaaaggh…! My arm…!”

With his arm twisted, I slashed his neck with my knife. Blood gushed out like turning on a faucet, streaming through his fingers.

I lifted the terrorist and tossed him out over the railing, his head crashing against the stairs below as he fell, killing him instantly.

Now only two left.

One wielded a large knife, and the other held a revolver reminiscent of the Civil War era. The same one that had been shooting merrily down the stairs earlier.

First, I had to take care of the knife-wielder. Just as I was planning to deal with them one by one…

– Bang!

With the gunshot, my body shook. In an instant, I felt dizzy, and the strength left my legs. The knife I had dropped rolled down the stairs, already a distant memory.

Looking down, I found a bullet lodged in my right thigh. Specifically, there was a hole the size of a finger in my suit pants.

The knife-wielding terrorist, apparently inexperienced in gunfights, lost his balance and leaned against the wall in pain while the one holding the revolver tapped the cylinder, reloading.

Seeing that, I made up my mind without a moment’s hesitation.

I used the moment he was reloading to throw a punch at the moaning terrorist’s face, subduing him and pushing him aside.

The two entangled terrorists tumbled down the emergency stairs, rolling and grappling.

“Ahhh—!”

“Ugh…! Get off…!”

As they collided, one frantically tried to shove bullets into the cylinder while yelling at his partner to get up.

– Bang!

With a heavy gunshot, the heads of the terrorists blew apart.

The shotgun I had set down earlier was somehow now in my hands, and malfunctioning shells rolled at my feet.

“…….”

As I looked down at the entangled terrorists lying dead, I dropped the shotgun and leaned against the wall in exhaustion.

My entire body loosened up. I could hardly manage to hold myself together, let alone move a single finger.

With shallow, short breaths, I sighed and surveyed my surroundings.

“…Huh.”

My shoulder was injured, my forearm was cut, and I had been shot in the thigh. My cherished suit, which I had only owned for a year, was now in tatters. Not even a cent was left in my bank account.

I wanted to cry, but no tears would come. So I leaned my head against the wall, quietly closing my eyes.

“…Ah, life.”

I feel like throwing in the towel.

 

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