Level Up Machine

Chapter 37 Liberation (5)

*Thwack!*

Yeong-sik’s violently rotating right arm struck Han Cheol-ho’s face squarely.

The force, beyond the bounds of common sense, brutally crushed Han Cheol-ho’s face. His body, with his neck twisted at a grotesque angle, rolled across the floor.

*Hoo.*

Yeong-sik let out a short sigh and lifted the elbow where his right arm had detached.

The right arm, which had smashed Han Cheol-ho’s head and landed far away, floated into the air and reattached itself to his elbow.

*Click.*

Yeong-sik, looking down at his right arm that had flown back and perfectly reattached itself as if it had a will of its own, tightly shut his mouth.

This recent forced liberation had bestowed upon him a power incomparable to before.

‘What am I…’

Yeong-sik looked down at his own body as if he couldn’t comprehend it.

He wasn’t the only one thrown into confusion.

“What, what is this…”

Yu-na, who had been knocked away by the shield during the fight with Han Cheol-ho, looked at Yeong-sik with eyes full of shock.

Han-seong and Chae-rin were the same.

They looked at Yeong-sik with expressions mixed with fear, curiosity, and bewilderment.

“Yeong-sik, what on earth are you…”

Bae Han-seong staggered towards Yeong-sik and asked in a trembling voice.

Yeong-sik turned to answer him.

But before he could speak, a harsh mechanical sound rang in his ears.

*Chiiik.*

[Due to the side effects of forced liberation, an overload is commencing.]

[The overload will cause permanent degradation of physical functions.]

“Uh, ah.”

Yeong-sik’s eyes widened. Massive currents surged across his skin. The excruciating pain burned his mind white. It was an agony far more intense than anything he had experienced before.

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Yeong-sik!”

Bae Han-seong called out urgently to Yeong-sik, who had collapsed and was writhing in pain.

He reached out towards Yeong-sik, who was screaming and twisting his body madly.

“Wait a moment.”

Kim Gil-soo stepped in to stop Han-seong.

It wasn’t the first time Kim Gil-soo had seen Yeong-sik like this.

He knew from past experience that touching Yeong-sik in this state could lead to something catastrophic.

“Mr. Gil-soo, do you know what’s going on?”

Han-seong looked at him with a wary gaze. The fact that Kim Gil-soo knew something the guild members didn’t could be seen as a severe breach of trust, potentially even treason against the guild.

“…There are circumstances. I will explain.”

Ara looked at Yeong-sik, who lay on the ground screaming, with a worried expression and opened her mouth to speak. Yu-na, Chae-rin, and Han-seong’s gazes focused on her.

Ara took a deep breath and began to speak.

“I’m not entirely sure… but Yeong-sik is not an ordinary human.”

Her words didn’t cause much disturbance in Han-seong and Yu-na. It was easy to tell from Yeong-sik’s recent display that he wasn’t an ordinary human.

However, there were still many strange things that didn’t add up.

“But Yeong-sik… he eats food and has emotions…”

Han-seong, recalling his experiences with Yeong-sik up to this point, wore a complicated expression.

To him, Gil-soo slowly recounted everything from the first time he met Yeong-sik until now. As Gil-soo’s story unfolded, the expressions of Yu-na, Han-seong, and Chae-rin turned to shock.

“So… he doesn’t have any memories of himself, but his body is made of machinery?”

“That’s right. Because of that, he doesn’t know exactly what his identity is either.”

Hearing Gil-soo’s words, Yu-na looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. Gil-soo understood what she was trying to say, but there was nothing more he could explain.

It was true that Yeong-sik had no memories of himself and that his body was made of machinery, not flesh and blood.

“There’s no way I can believe that…”

“Haa, haa.”

As Yu-na was about to say something with a grim expression, Yeong-sik, who had been lying on the floor, stood up. He looked like he was about to collapse at any moment, staggering precariously.

“Yeong-sik!”

Ara approached him with a worried expression and placed her hand on his shoulder.

*Chiiik.*

“Kyaaa!”

His skin was scorching hot, like searing metal. Ara stepped back with a short scream as the pain traveled through her fingertips.

Yeong-sik turned his head towards her and spoke in a faint, broken voice.

“I’m, fine.”

He held out one hand, signaling her not to come closer. But contrary to his words, his expression was far from fine. In truth, he wasn’t fine at all.

“Aaargh…”

A painful groan escaped Yeong-sik’s lips. A scorching heat, as if his entire body was melting, swept through his entire being.

*Ding.*

[A critical anomaly has been detected in the summoner’s body.]

[Level cap reduced by 5. All stats permanently decreased.]

“Damn it…”

Already struggling to recover from the aftereffects of the overload, Yeong-sik’s eyes widened as a thunderbolt-like message appeared before him.

Yeong-sik’s expression twisted violently as he read the message.

‘Of all things, my level cap has dropped.’

Even amidst the excruciating pain engulfing his body, Yeong-sik’s mind was clouded with the fact that his level cap had decreased.

Yeong-sik could bear the pain caused by the overload. He could also accept the fact that his stats were permanently reduced. However, the news that his level cap had decreased was particularly disheartening.

In this world, level was the easiest indicator of power. The news that his already not-so-high level cap had decreased further was anything but welcome.

‘Is this the side effect of the overload?’

With a twisted expression, Yeong-sik stared at the message window floating before his eyes.

Unlike before, he had used many more weapons during this forced liberation, and he had expected the side effects of the overload to be more severe.

But to think that his level cap would be reduced.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Yeong-sik lifted his head with difficulty and looked at the other guild members. Although many of them were injured, none of them had sustained fatal wounds that would threaten their lives.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what future would have befallen them if he hadn’t performed the forced liberation.

‘I must not use forced liberation from now on.’

Yeong-sik thought as he looked at his level cap, now reduced to 30.

This time, there was no choice. However, if situations requiring forced liberation continued to arise, it would be troublesome. In extreme cases, he had to consider the possibility of losing his life due to the overload’s repercussions.

“…Yeong-sik?”

Ara called his name with a worried tone, looking at him as he silently pondered.

Confirming that the heat burning his body had somewhat subsided, Yeong-sik turned to her and spoke.

“I had something to think about.”

“…Is your body alright?”

“Better than before.”

Yeong-sik walked forward with unsteady steps. His body swayed as if it might collapse at any moment. Gil-soo hurriedly approached to support him.

“Did you perform forced liberation again, like last time?”

“Yes. There was no other way.”

Yeong-sik answered in a strained voice. Gil-soo looked at him with a bitter expression. Although the situation had left Yeong-sik with no other options, it was hard for Gil-soo to see him suffering so much.

Yu-na slowly walked towards Yeong-sik.

“I heard a bit about your situation from Mr. Gil-soo. But…”

She looked at him with a wary expression.

Her suspicion towards him for hiding his identity outweighed her gratitude for saving her life.

“The thing about your body being made of machinery… is it true?”

She asked, looking at Yeong-sik, who had now returned to a completely ordinary human appearance. Yeong-sik nodded stiffly.

“Yes. It’s true.”

As he said that, he detached his right arm at the elbow. The cross-section of the arm revealed a complex array of mechanical components instead of flesh and blood.

“…Oh my.”

Yu-na and Han-seong looked at his arm with a dazed expression. Yeong-sik looked at them and began to speak.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in advance. It might sound like an excuse, but… I was planning to talk about this soon.”

“O…”

“W…?”

“It’s too unbelievable to speak about casually.”

Yeong-sik said with a bitter smile. Yu-na and Han-seong involuntarily nodded at his words.

Indeed, saying that his body was made of machinery was not something that could be easily said or believed.

“…So, losing your memory is true too?”

“Yes. When I first opened my eyes, I was in the tutorial space. I have no memory of anything before that.”

Seeing the distant emotion on Yeong-sik’s face, Yu-na firmly shut her mouth. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have no memories of oneself.

“I don’t even know why my body is mechanical, or if I was ever human in the first place.”

Yeong-sik spoke in a calm voice. Hearing his words, Yu-na and Han-seong had complex expressions.

“Alright. I’ll believe you for now. After all, I owe you my life.”

Yu-na sighed deeply as she said this. After all, it was Yeong-sik who had saved her from the danger posed by the Light Shield Guild. It didn’t feel right to harbor suspicion toward someone who had saved her life.

‘And I can’t help but think he’s human…’

Yu-na thought as she looked at Yeong-sik. Despite his mechanical body, he had shown so many human traits. She couldn’t reject him just because his body was made of machinery.

‘Compared to those scumbags…’

Yu-na glanced at the fallen members of the Light Shield Guild, who had been brutally killed by Yeong-sik’s attack.

Greedy humans who bared their fangs at the weak. Could they really be called human just because their bodies were made of flesh and blood?

“Sigh. Let’s go back to the guild and tell my sister about your situation. I’ll leave the judgment to her.”

Yu-na sighed deeply as she spoke.

At her words, Yeong-sik nodded with a faint smile.

“Before we go, let’s gather as much as we can. There are many weapons that look like rare items.”

“Ugh… You want to talk about that in this situation?”

Yu-na looked at Han-seong in disbelief and asked. Han-seong shrugged and answered her.

“Well, that’s that, and this is this. Our guild’s finances aren’t stable enough to give up on things that can make us money.”

“Ugh, fine.”

At his words, Yeong-sik’s group decided to gather items before leaving.

Since Gil-soo strongly advised them to rest, Yeong-sik was sitting and resting on a nearby rock when Chae-rin approached him.

“Uh, Yeong-sik oppa…”

She called out to Yeong-sik in a cautious voice. Yeong-sik tilted his head in curiosity and turned towards her. Yu-na, who was collecting items nearby, also looked at Chae-rin with a curious expression, wondering what she was going to say.

“Oppa, do you… have it?”

Her words were so significant that the atmosphere around them froze.