A black muzzle was resting at a medium height on a half-collapsed gray brick wall that looked like stairs.
Did he tell me to raise both hands and assume a posture of surrender?
It was a warning using bullets as bait.
However, I had no intention of complying.
Coincidentally, I saw a pile of trash stacked about five steps away.
A pile of home appliances and plastic containers stacked like a burial mound.
Without delay, I threw my body toward the trash pile.
"Hup!"
The moment I jumped while taking a short breath, a gunshot rang out.
Bang!
Dirt and gravel splashed shallowly from the spot where I had been standing.
My body, thrown with all its might, flew several meters, hit the ground, and rolled using the momentum.
When I raised my body from rolling, I had arrived behind the trash pile.
I peeked my head out diagonally from behind the pile.
A young man was walking out from beyond the gray fence.
A red striped shirt, a bloody undershirt, and jeans with many torn spots.
The traces of surviving after crossing the line between life and death in the 1st round were evident.
The most prominent part of the young man's appearance was, as expected, the weapon he held in his hand.
A pistol emitting a silver reflection.
I saw through the opponent's identity through the presence of the pistol.
'He is one of the people who momentarily perceived me as a comrade yesterday. Was his name Lee Ik-hwan? He had the ability to turn toy gun barrels into real firearms.'
The man named Lee Ik-hwan was wearing a necklace, and a rubber band gun made by weaving branches was hanging from it.
The branches were procured by roughly breaking surrounding trees by hand, and the traces of utilizing underwear elastic for the rubber band were clear.
It seemed to be an ability that activated only when it possessed the functions of a toy gun barrel to some extent.
Lee Ik-hwan aimed the pistol at the trash pile and walked slowly.
"Let's not drag this out miserably. You must have realized by now that it's hard for you to survive this game. Everyone agreed to get rid of you first."
Due to the nature of the Money Game, it was difficult to secure proper weapons.
An ability to get a firearm in one's hands was a very intuitive and powerful ability in terms of the name alone.
On the surface, it was safe to say it was superior to Yoon Ji-ho's explosion ability.
However, in reality, it was an ability that didn't become 1st-rank.
Since there was only one 1st-rank winning ticket and the winner was Yoon Ji-ho, Lee Ik-hwan's ability was at best 2nd-rank.
The reason it wasn't evaluated as a 1st-rank ability must be because there was a fatal restrictive condition.
I artificially created tension behind the trash pile and adjusted so that sweat formed in my hands.
'I don't know much about guns, but it's a gun small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. The power won't be great. The number of bullets doesn't look particularly high either.'
Lee Ik-hwan's pistol was a small revolver that could be placed on the palm of a hand.
If the knowledge about firearms I knew was correct, the number of bullets would be 6 in total.
Since he just used two shots, the remaining ammunition was 4 rounds.
Including the spare pistol hanging around his neck, 10 rounds.
But I had no intention of giving him a gap to pull out the spare pistol.
'If there are only two firearms, it means he has a restrictive condition to endure the game with 12 bullets... Since the number of players is greater than the number of bullets, he would want to save bullets as much as possible.'
He was a person who could reign as a top player as much as he wanted depending on the types of new products entering the shopping mall and if he could prepare more toy firearms by surviving longer.
However, it wasn't now.
Right now, when he was suffering from a lack of preparation and his potential hadn't fully bloomed, he wasn't threatening at all.
I pulled a grimy cloth out of my pocket and spread the sweat on my hands widely.
'It was a good thing I cut the blanket I received yesterday to make a towel. This will be enough for a weapon. The problem is how to approach the guy.'
Coincidentally, a broken chair was buried inside the trash pile.
It was a gaming chair with a thick back cushion.
Since the frames were all broken, it wasn't difficult to tear off only the back cushion.
A cushion in my left hand, and a towel almost like a rag in my right hand.
After getting somewhat equipped, I slipped out to the right side of the trash pile.
At the same time, I charged toward Lee Ik-hwan.
While the gap was being narrowed in real-time, Lee Ik-hwan backed away and ground his teeth.
"This bastard is struggling until the end... You should have just died gracefully!"
Despite being angry, he couldn't pull the trigger hastily.
As expected, he was in a position where he couldn't waste bullets recklessly because there was a limit to the number of rounds.
I'll use that economy-type strategy to my advantage.
I took more delicate movements, lowering my posture and taking short, fast strides so that it wasn't easy to aim at my lower body.
Lee Ik-hwan also had the option of turning his back and running away to widen the distance.
However, whether the number 500 million was flickering before his eyes, Lee Ik-hwan couldn't easily make a decisive decision.
"Damn it!"
The only parts exposed outside the cushion were my shins and feet.
He aimed at my lower body to stop me and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
Bang! Bang!
Choosing to charge was a gamble for me as well.
I had already figured out from the previous two gunshots that Lee Ik-hwan's shooting skill stayed at a beginner level.
However, there was always the possibility of a lucky punch.
Whether my lower body would be hit or not was purely luck.
Bang! Bang! Click-clack!
A sound came from inside the magazine informing that all the bullets had run out.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Lee Ik-hwan.
With both legs perfectly intact.
"That's why you should have chosen the line to stand in carefully."
Lee Ik-hwan tried to strike down from top to bottom, using the pistol as a blunt weapon in his urgency.
"Aaaaaagh!"
Exploding his fighting spirit with a shout was good, but it was only up to that point.
Before Lee Ik-hwan could resist, my towel bent and meandered like a snake one step faster.
The stained and wet towel stretched out sharply like a flicker jab.
The ability to turn bodily fluids into blades.
Saw-like blades sprouted roughly from the stains all over the towel.
The fine sawtooth scratched Lee Ik-hwan's face mercilessly.
As his face became covered in wounds, a scream burst out.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
Perhaps the pain stimulated his fighting spirit, as Lee Ik-hwan grabbed the towel irritably.
He tried to take the towel from me, heedless of the sawteeth digging into his palms.
Take it if you want to take it.
I let go of the towel without lingering affection and put my hand into my pocket.
And I pulled out a small blood bag and put strength into my grip.
As the vacuum pack burst, blood splashed all over my hand.
Ability activated.
The thick blood was transformed into a Hwando in an instant.
Then, I grasped the Hwando with both hands and swung it toward Lee Ik-hwan's neck.
A blade as sharp as if it had passed through a craftsman's hand.
A strike that became heavy with my body weight.
While an ideal form was implemented unintentionally, a deep laceration opened on Lee Ik-hwan's neck.
"Keuk!"
With a thick death rattle, Lee Ik-hwan grabbed his neck and knelt on both knees.
As for Lee Ik-hwan's life or death, there was no need to check anew.
The pistol Lee Ik-hwan dropped soon changed back into a crude toy gun.
If a player dies, the ability disappears.
Flipping it over, the fact that the ability disappeared meant that the player had died.
Even though only a few seconds had passed since I defeated Lee Ik-hwan, multiple people's presence was felt not far away.
"This way! Gunshots rang out at the edge in the 12 o'clock direction of the game site!"
"Don't tell me the 500 million won guy is dead already? Damn it, the starting position was too bad."
"Anyway, if we have to deal with either Yoon Ji-ho or Lee Ju-seong, it's right to avoid Yoon Ji-ho."
They were players obsessed with the bounty even though there would be no guarantee that it would actually be paid.
No, wait, thinking that it's right to deal with Yoon Ji-ho first was an opinion from only my point of view.
From the players' point of view, it was the standard that both I and Yoon Ji-ho were existences they held a grudge against equally.
'It seems they are still taking to heart the fact that I didn't offer a support fund in the queue? Do they think they should hold me responsible since it's because of me they couldn't stop Yoon Ji-ho from joining. How petty.'
And in passing, if Yoon Ji-ho really gives the 500 million, that's a profit in its own way.
I understand well that the players are moving within personal emotions and their own calculations.
But there was something the rascals forgot.
That was the fact that responsibility follows every choice.
I should let the rascals who are forgetting the obvious formula know.
That they should not have messed with me.
I swung the Hwando vigorously.
The Hwando flashed, and Lee Ik-hwan's blood, which had been hanging like dew, scattered.
At the same time, I ran toward the 3 o'clock direction of the game site.
'Still, it's a foolish thing to deal with multiple ability users in a terrain open in all directions. I should set the direction toward carrying out guerrilla activities after shaking off the pursuit once.'
The Money Watch screen lit up just in time.
It was a message informing the location of ballot papers within a certain radius.
In the state facing south, in the area corresponding to the right, that is, at the 11 o'clock direction of the game site, there were three ballot papers.
As soon as I checked the location of the ballot papers, I ran.
Exactly opposite from the location of the ballot papers, that is, toward the 1 o'clock direction of the game site.
'Since they won't want to pay the fine either, they'll want to secure ballot papers in the beginning. Moreover, they'll assume I moved toward the 11 o'clock direction because I was tempted by the ballot papers.'
So conversely, I will run toward the 1 o'clock direction where there are no ballot papers.
Has it been roughly 15 minutes since starting the game?
It would mean I can obtain information on the location of ballot papers every 15 minutes.
Since the election is held every hour, it meant there were four opportunities in total.
Since there were still three more opportunities to obtain ballot papers, there was no reason to be impatient.
"Ah, a hint message! Three at the 11 o'clock direction!"
"What? Only three? There are six of us! How will we distribute the ballot papers if we find them?"
"What do you mean how! Finders keepers! Why are you even asking something so obvious!"
My prediction that they would hate to pay the fine even if they died was exactly correct.
The presence of people gradually became faint, and before long, the voices of the players could not be heard.
As it was confirmed that Yoon Ji-ho was dominating the board, the sub-objectives I had to achieve appeared one by one.
1.Reduce the number of players who are hostile toward me.
2. Secure my share of ballot papers.
3. Contact Bang Su-hyeok to copy a new ability.
The last third task had the highest difficulty.
The Bang Su-hyeok I knew was not a human who would be shaken by something like a mere(?) 500 million because his target amount was very high.
However, since the scenario had already twisted, it was unknown whether Bang Su-hyeok would have the exact same personality I knew.
Currently, the fastest way to know the human named Bang Su-hyeok was one.
Judging by meeting him in person.
Is there any other way faster and more certain than that?
Around the time I reached the 1 o'clock direction, I gradually slowed down.
It was for the purpose of finding ballot papers by my own strength through careful observation without relying on the messages of the Money Watch.
As I turned the outskirts of the game site clockwise, I arrived at the 3 o'clock edge before I knew it.
I discovered a 2-story government office that remained intact.
Maybe there are ballot papers inside the government office.
Just as I was about to enter the government office with a hopeful heart.
A warning with a husky voice flew from inside the wide-open main gate.
"That foot you're about to step on, you'd better stop it right now. Unless you want to walk around with an artificial leg like a shoehorn."