Chapter 138…
Every time the red tarp fluttered,
the viewers’ eyes were thrown into dizzying chaos.
Scattered crimson light.
Leaving glowing trails, only Red Hood’s camera and cloak shone—
KRRUNCH!
CRACK, THUD! BOOM!
It tore into the body of the Lord of the West and began to knock it down.
A completely one-sided assault.
In the midst of it all, Red Hood wildly shifted between quadruped and biped forms—
[Woah…]
[This is… seriously…]
[This is on another level compared to Demonic.]
[Is it easier to hit because it’s so big?]
[The hitbox is insanely obvious…]
[It’s literally a punching bag.]
Like a true sandbag, its hardened outer shell was being shaved away piece by piece.
Slice! CRACK!
Click—clank.
Pshhh—!
Meanwhile, the cooling system kept running nonstop, venting steam.
Hidden within the vapor he himself produced—quietly, yet violently—
he continued tearing into the Lord of the West.
[Look at Leo just standing there, stunned.]
[How do you even get in there?]
[It’s like he’s slicing it frame by frame.]
[I’ve never seen anything like this. Seriously.]
[That’s not a newbie.]
[No—no veteran could move like that either.]
[That’s… wow… just wow.]
Even the mech instructors, veterans of Liberty, could only click their tongues in disbelief.
Meanwhile, viewers who hadn’t played Liberty at all—
those who had only ever watched Yi Jihan’s streams—
[Kyaa!! This is it!!!]
[This totally brings back the vibes from Gangho Sword Chronicles and Punk Loader LOL]
[You can do THIS even in a mech? Holy crap!]
[But is Jihan’s nosebleed okay?]
[Doesn’t seem that bad yet…]
[Maybe his body adapted?]
[So the nosebleed was from not being adapted yet?]
[Could be. First-time games do that when you overdo it.]
[Well, he says he’s fine… still kinda worried though.]
They all took this level of control and movement for granted.
Well—Yi Jihan was always like that.
No matter the game, his performance was always absolute.
Physical skill, and reflexes.
The moment when his so-called curse—hyper-focus—
became a blessing.
And using that blessing—
Pabababak!
he delivered the highest possible dopamine rush to both himself and his viewers.
[What the hell, he’s carving it like THAT???]
[Is he really doing this with just a pulse claw?]
[No, look—his head Vulcan is running nonstop too.]
[This is insane.]
[But won’t that overload the pulse reactor?]
[Yeah… he’s not leaving any buffer at all.]
[HUD]
[SYSTEM ONLINE]
[STATUS: ONLINE]
SYSTEM INTEGRITY: 100% | [ALL GREEN]
PILOT SYNC RATE: 96% | [DANGER]
PULSE REACTOR OUTPUT: 54% | [CODE: YELLOW]
SUB-WEAPON SYSTEMS: 42% | [STANDBY]
Yi Jihan glanced at the real-time HUD indicators—
I should lower the pulse claw output a bit. And I can’t just spray the head Vulcan either. I’ll have to use it in bursts.
He was already calculating all usable weapons in his head.
[So where did his default weapon go?]
[Come to think of it… we…]
[Didn’t give him one, did we?]
[We were too busy adding sub-weapons…]
[LOL what are these mech teachers doing]
[But that pulse claw is basically his main weapon now, cheers.]
[LOL yeah, fair enough.]
[What’s the default loadout for assault types anyway?]
[Usually guns, or dual blades like Leo…]
KRRAAACK!
But the storm didn’t stop.
Intense attacks poured into a single point.
The Lord of the West’s screams couldn’t be transmitted due to the blocked network—
it could only writhe silently, twisting its massive body.
[Huh? Output dropped.]
[Looks like he’s adjusting deliberately.]
[At this rate it’ll take forever. Battery’ll die first.]
[That’s why you need a main weapon, damn it!]
[But we focused too much on building…]
[LOL first thing after this chapter is weapon shopping.]
[So what now?]
[Steal Leo’s weapon?]
[???]
[LOL as if Leo could keep up with that speed.]
Shaaak—!
At that moment,
the Lord of the West bared its venomous fangs toward Leo’s stunned NT-001.
[Jihan!!]
[Leo! Hey—Leo!!]
But Yi Jihan moved faster than the chat.
A red streak from the camera—
and then—
Click—clank!
Red Hood transformed into wolf form and charged.
The red tarp wrapped around the wolf like a crimson scarf, leaving afterimages—
BOOM!
He slammed into it bodily, blocking the attack before it could reach Leo Martis.
Huh!?
Leo snapped back to reality.
Finally pulled out of the trance of battle, he immediately grabbed one of his weapons—
Whirrr—!
—and threw it toward Yi Jihan.
A high-vibration knife.
Technically a sub-weapon of NT-001,
but to Red Hood, it was rain in a drought.
Click—clack!
Thunk!
Yi Jihan shifted into werewolf form and caught the knife—
Slice! Slice-slice!
CRUNCH!
He began tearing the Lord of the West apart.
[Whoa…]
[Was it always that strong?]
[Probably not…]
[Look closely—he’s just following the grooves already carved by the pulse claw.]
[That’s insane.]
[Since the path’s already open, he’s just digging in with the knife.]
Just as the viewers analyzed—
Yi Jihan tore through the gaps he’d already created.
And NT-001 refused to fall behind.
Its massive body surged forward—
Wooooong!
Slice!
The beam sword cleaved into the Lord of the West.
Most of the beam scattered off the shell—
but the areas Yi Jihan had already shredded—
Ssssszzzt!
were cut clean through without resistance.
I can do it too!
As if declaring that—
NT-001 moved again, and again.
From that point on, Yi Jihan adjusted his control to match Leo’s rhythm.
From aggressive domination—
to conserving battery while supporting Leo.
[Wow… that judgment.]
[The way he switches instantly—he thought of everything.]
[As soon as Leo joined, things stabilized.]
[But what’s crazier is… he’s parrying EVERYTHING.]
Indeed—
CRACK!
PANG! CRUNCH!
The Lord of the West’s fangs and acid sprays—
every single attack was blocked or deflected by Yi Jihan using borrowed weapons and the tarp.
Seeing this, Leo Martis fought as if wielding the ultimate shield.
Slice!
Slice! CRRZZZ!
He landed clean hits again and again with his beam sword.
[Their teamwork is solid…]
[Still hurts our pride though. If we’d given him a proper main weapon, he’d solo it.]
[Well, it’s just training, right?]
[It is a two-man exercise—teamwork’s the point.]
[LOL yeah… still stings though.]
[You just don’t like losing the spotlight, do you?]
[Of course. Leo’s a major NPC, but our streamer isn’t.]
[LOL fair.]
Defensive, refined movements.
Yet every parry, every block, every jam—
bordered on the miraculous.
Most viewers could only stare, mesmerized.
[Support can shine too, you know.]
[And he already showed plenty of DPS earlier.]
[We’re just enjoying everything we can see.]
[Seeing Jihan in all these roles is great.]
[You too? LOL same.]
Perfect support.
[I kinda want to see him play LoL or Hirig.]
[He doesn’t play mainstream games though LOL.]
[Still wanna see him in AOS.]
[Should we ask?]
[Big donations might move him?]
[LOL but the whales just let him do what he wants.]
Leaving behind the chatter of viewers and instructors alike—
CRRRUNCH!
Red Hood moved again.
The wolf-form Red Hood leapt, dagger clenched in its mouth—
Click—clack!
Midair, it shifted back to humanoid form.
Grabbing the knife, it stabbed straight into the Lord of the West’s mouth.
NT-001 didn’t stop either.
CRRRZZZZ!
The beam sword pierced straight in—
and from the molten, ravaged body of the Lord of the West,
violent sparks erupted.
[It’s basically over.]
[I’ve never seen a newbie do a no-hit run.]
[But wait—Leo’s also no-hit.]
[Even with veterans… making your teammate no-hit too? That’s insane.]
[He’d be good at any game.]
[That’s why he’s in this room.]
[How many games has Jihan played already? LOL]
[Was he always like this?]
[You still haven’t subscribed to his YouTube?]
[Go do it—his channel’s full of mad movies.]
[Mostly edited, but the editor’s a super fan—tons of highlights.]
Amid the rapid-fire promotion—
Wheeeee—!
CRUNCH!
Yi Jihan’s pulse claw flared one last time—
splitting the Lord of the West’s head clean open.
<GROOOOOO!>
A roar-like sound.
The massive body collapsed.
THUD!
As the dust settled—
only two mechs remained standing.
“Th-this is…”
“The Lord of the West’s core…?”
“You went that deep?”
Their return sent another violent storm through Liberty.
A core with ego—Demonic—
that alone would’ve been shocking.
But bringing back the Lord of the West’s core too—
and during mere training—
was beyond belief.
“…How did you even kill it?”
The academy head, Eliza, spoke coldly—
yet barely concealed exhilaration tinged her voice.
As if she were gazing upon humanity’s hope itself.
“Well… it was pretty slow. Most incoming attacks were easy to dodge. Bites and tail swings were simple, so I just deflected them and altered the attack trajectories.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“…Excuse me?”
“And for the acid spray, the seniors gave me the tarp, so I could deflect all of that. Honestly, it ended up being easier than expected.”
Yi Jihan continued explaining as if it were obvious.
Meanwhile, the instructors’ and headmaster’s faces grew paler by the second.
This cadet—
had far exceeded every standard they knew.
He was—
a monster.
