MAX 32

Apart from his towering notoriety, Hepari’s skills, once faced directly, were truly pathetic. His positioning, aim, and reaction speed were so disastrous that it was hard to believe he was a streamer.

The concern he had felt inwardly was for nothing. Han Jiho, who had briefly played it safe to gauge their skill, dashed forward as if he had never been cautious and continued his bold plays; the heads of the enemy team, including Hepari, popped one after another like piñatas as soon as they came into sight.

Even though the game was still in its early stages, the momentum had already shifted to Han Jiho’s team.

【1Jiho】 [Aww, easy, so easy!]

Unlike his solemn resolve earlier, 1Jiho’s voice was as light as a feather. The way he roamed the map holding a shotgun was like watching a tank with a broken control stick.

Han Jiho ran behind him, scavenging for ammunition dropped on the ground. He had been sniping from the watchtower—the highest point on the map—but had briefly descended to the central square after running out of bullets.

He was in the middle of listening to the surrounding sounds while filling his magazines and reloading.

Tadat, koong. Step, step.

From the right side of his headset, which had the volume turned up to the maximum, he heard an unusually crude and blunt sound. It was the sound of enemy footsteps, sounding as if they had jumped from a high place to a lower one.

Han Jiho stopped for a moment and quickly scanned his surroundings and the mini-map.

He saw the mini-map, which had been clear just a moment ago, stained red to signal an enemy’s presence. However, perhaps because he hadn’t been detected yet, he couldn’t confirm the exact location. Only the positions of his allies floated there as blue dots.

Allies scattered nearby, the hidden enemy. And the kill log.

EchoThief ▶ uroboros

JunkCollectionMaster ▶ Olleh

EchoThief ▶ swingStrikeout

【WrigglingDdorak】 [Keep your head steady! Kuhahaha!]

Three enemies had just died, followed by ‘Jjanttobaegi,’ who fell to a headshot from a wickedly laughing WrigglingDdorak.

That made a total of four dead. Only two enemies remained on the field now.

‘Hepari’ and ‘Kku-kku-kka-kka.’

Han Jiho recalled the classes of those two, which he had checked on the scoreboard before the game started. Hepari was an Argonite, and Kku-kku-kka-kka was a Vitalis like himself.

And as an FPS game, EoE placed great importance on “sound play,” and because of that, each class had different footsteps.

That meant it was possible to guess what class the nearby hidden enemy was just by the sound of their footsteps.

Therefore, the heavy and blunt sound he had heard earlier had a high probability of being an Argonite. And since Hepari was the only Argonite on the enemy team, it was certain that he was hiding nearby, waiting for an ambush.

It took a mere five seconds to deduce that much.

Similarly, Han Jiho, who had crouched down by pressing the Control key, quickly scanned the building to his right and was about to move toward a side path that allowed him to circle behind the alley according to the mini-map.

Chaehyun, who was staying nearby for backup this round as well, asked:

【Chaehyun】 [98-nim, where are you going?]

[Party] HanJiHo98: It seems like one of them is hiding lol

[Party] HanJiHo98: I’ll go crack his head open and come back.

When he quickly typed his answer, a short, low laugh was heard. It was a sound that made his ears tingle.

【Chaehyun】 [Be careful.]

Han Jiho began to move his character again.

First, the probability of him hiding inside a narrow building to wait for an ambush was low. This was because if his retreat route was blocked the moment he was discovered, there was a high chance of him dying.

For that reason, the winding and complexly intertwined alleys were more suitable for an ambush or an escape. If necessary, he could jump over a wall and flee.

And that guess was once again correct.

As he deliberately took a long way around to enter, he saw Hepari hiding behind a pile of debris inside the alley, aiming for an ambush with a sniper rifle.

Han Jiho, who gave a short snort at that clumsy appearance, approached Hepari while remaining in a crouched position. Hepari was slightly moving left and right, looking for a chance to ambush.

Perhaps because of that, even though Han Jiho stood right behind him, Hepari failed to notice. It seemed his attention was completely consumed by the presence of an enemy who might appear at any moment.

Han Jiho watched him and swapped weapons. He put away the sniper rifle he was holding and pulled out a shotgun, which boasted the strongest firepower in close-quarters combat.

Clack.

At the loud and rough sound of reloading, Hepari finally looked back. But it was already too late.

Kwang!

The shotgun shell pierced Hepari’s head. It was a perfect headshot.

【1Jiho】 [98-nim, nice shot!]

【EchoThief】 [Ah, Hepari’s head tastes delicious!]

【WrigglingDdorak】 [So f*cking delicious. I don’t even need to eat dinner tonight.]

【1Jiho】 [Noona, you said you just ate two bowls of rice with kimchi stew for dinner earlier.]

【WrigglingDdorak】 [Shut up.]

Listening to the voices of the rejoicing 1Jiho, the giggling EchoThief, and WrigglingDdorak, Han Jiho quickly left the spot. It was because he might get ganged up on by enemies returning to the field.

And while he was running toward the place where the cable was installed to return to the watchtower, Hepari’s chat suddenly popped up.

[Server] [MT]Hepari: lol?

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Are you a hacker?

Han Jiho, who was running hard while holding Shift, frowned at the hack accusations starting up again. It was as if he were cursed; this was already the second time today.

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Ah, this is so absurd lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: How did you know I was there?

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Don’t ignore the chat lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: HanJiHo98, I’m talking to you lol

【1Jiho】 [Ah, that crazy dung-fly bastard is starting again.]

1Jiho, who also saw the chat, spit out curses and acted irritably. The other team members seemed busy killing the enemies who had respawned and returned.

WrigglingDdorak ▶ swingStrikeout

EchoThief ▶ Kku-kku-kka-kka

【WrigglingDdorak】 [Why, why? What is he saying now?]

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [He’s asking if 98-nim is using hacks.]

【WrigglingDdorak】 [What?]

【EchoThief】 [What is he talking about all of a sudden?]

“Haa…”

At the sharp turn in his party members’ voices, Han Jiho let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes.

Thinking of it as a compliment and ignoring it is one thing, but being constantly suspected like that made his annoyance surge. Above all, he felt sorry toward his team members, as it felt like the games were constantly being ruined because of him.

In the meantime, Hepari continued to type in the chat.

[Server] [MT]Hepari: HanJiHo98-nim

[Server] [MT]Hepari: This is all being recorded right now lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: So don’t try to deny it lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Ah, I should have turned on the stream f*ck lol

[Server] Olleh: Where did you buy the hack? lol How much was it? lollol

[Server] 1Jiho: No, do you have proof it’s a hack? This is so absurd;

[Server] 1Jiho: You died because you’re bad, what do you mean hacks?

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Don’t use foul language please ^^

[Server] 1Jiho: You died because you’re bad, what do you mean hacks?

[Server] JunkCollectionMaster: lol

[Server] Olleh: If you look at the kill video, it’s a blatant hack, what are you talking about?

【JunkCollectionMaster】 [Blatant hack, my ass.]

【EchoThief】 [Ah, I want to punch that son of a bitch in the philtrum so hard.]

【1Jiho】 [I want to kill that bastard.]

[Server] [MT]Hepari: HanJiHo98-nim lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Scared? lol Why so quiet? lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Ah, are you scared it’ll be uploaded to Metube? lol

[Server] WrigglingDdorak: ?

[Server] WrigglingDdorak: So what?

Han Jiho let out a hollow laugh at Hepari’s pathetic provocation, where he mentioned a Metube upload and asked if he was scared. It was absurd.

[Server] HanJiHo98: Why would I use hacks?

[Server] HanJiHo98: I could beat you even if I played with my feet;;;

[Server] cocogus2: Agreed.

[Server] 1Jiho: Ah, this is hilarious lollol

[Server] EchoThief: If it’s 98-nim, it’s possible yeap

[Server] JunkCollectionMaster: For real lol

[Server] Olleh: The loyalty of these shield-warriors is insane;

[Server] swingStrikeout: Is it for real that your IQ thinks a hack is your own skill? lol

[Server] [MT]Hepari: A person like that…

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Uses ESP and hard-aim hacks across the board.

[Server] Jjanttobaegi: lollol Turns out it wasn’t feet, but hacks wow

[Server] Kku-kku-kka-kka: Is it fun to play games using hacks like that? lol Does it make your life any better?

[Server] Olleh: I can see the level of your low-life existence using hacks lol

[Server] 1Jiho: Even without looking, I can see your life level is Metube since you can’t even tell if it’s a hack or not lol

[Server] JunkCollectionMaster: It’s like you have buttons in place of eyes.

[Server] uroboros: Shut up you son of a b*tch.

[Server] EchoThief: Why do you keep fcking swearing? You motherfckers.

[Server] EchoThief: Do you f*ckers think you’re the only ones who know how to swear? You want to die?

[Server] HanJiHo98: I didn’t use hacks.

[Server] HanJiHo98: Go clean your own ears since you can’t even do sound play.

[Server] WrigglingDdorak: ENT recommendation. Looks like a massive earwax ‘Wang-geon-i’ is about to come out.

[Server] cocogus2: Ugh, gross.

[Server] 1Jiho: I think visiting an eye clinic would be a good idea too lol

[Server] EchoThief: Don’t you have giant eye crust stuck there? lollol

[Server] JunkCollectionMaster: Gags

[Server] [MT]Hepari: Ah, seriously, the level of EoE is dropping so f*cking much lol

Unable to take the childish slander anymore, Hepari began to pour out curses. It was a petty display, not even considering the things they themselves had said.