Yesterday, I shot someone with a gun.

Today, I stabbed someone with a blade.

I wonder what I’ll do tomorrow…

At this rate, it’s like the last confession of a condemned prisoner.

While I’m at it, one more confession: the sensation of stabbing a person for the first time.

“Not bad at all.”

Taebaek muttered his innermost thoughts aloud. It felt refreshing, like old indigestion had finally cleared. The only regrettable part was that he’d aimed for the neck but missed the mark due to the smoke obscuring his vision.

“Gaaahhh!”

Taebaek yanked the blade from the man’s shoulder and flipped backward through the air. From Lukaken Junior’s perspective, his figure melted into the smoke.

Whoosh!

Ten paces away, he swung his arm long to flick the blood off the blade. The pavement was painted gorgeously red.

Kiriing.

His face was faintly reflected in the blade of the Para Blade. Those handsome eyes, now somewhat accustomed, delved into memory.

“Looks like the worldview story has changed.”

If it had followed the original plot, Lukaken’s illicit trading partner would have been Yasunari, one pillar of the Megacorps. Lukaken supplied them with top-grade raw materials siphoned off separately.

Well, sure. What company doesn’t wag its tail at the Megacorps? Most do. Feudalism reborn in the modern age—that was Lake City’s custom.

And I was the one who intended it that way.

So he’d planned to just skim some cash and bolt. Toss a couple smoke grenades to distract, then snag the money bag amid the chaos and run.

Steal clean money and you’re a punk; steal dirty money and you’re Robin Hood. Yeah, right.

In a world where one slip could cost you your organs, naive Earthling sentiments had to be buried deep.

Sync your mind with the steel city to survive long-term.

Nothing complicated. Just chase substance in everything.

That was it. It should have been…

“These dogshit bastards dare sell drugs?”

He spotted an injustice that made him forget survival for a moment. More precisely, it was Lee Taebaek’s personal berserk button.

“Gr… ughhh.”

A groan of pain leaked in. Taebaek gladly turned his fierce gaze there.

The pig clutched his collarbone, stemming the blood. His back heaved visibly, short of breath.

“…Where! Where were you sent from, I’m asking!”

Lukaken bellowed from the floor. Impressive volume despite the stab wound. Not just a desk jockey—his shout had real resonance.

Makes sense. Dodging Megacorp eyes to sell banned drugs, even dealing with gangs. Takes guts as fat as his belly.

“I’ll make you an offer. Scared of pursuit? Cash payment. Lukaken has cash overflowing for our size!”

“One question.”

“Wha…?”

“Answer right, and maybe I’ll let you go.”

That was Taebaek’s threat. His left hand gripped the umbrella core in a reverse grip, and he snapped his right wrist to present the blade. He held the split umbrella’s top and handle in each hand, divided at the open/close button.

“How does a piddly pharma company have that much cash on hand? Raw materials sales wouldn’t cover donations and such.”

“How do you know about selling raw materials—!”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

Even as a former dev, he didn’t know every dark corner of this world. Megacorps had detailed backstories; shithole firms like Lukaken just had outlines.

“Source of funds. Spill it. Now.”

The thick smoke began to thin. Lee Taebaek’s silhouette sharpened. His blade already tilted toward Lukaken. The bravado on the man’s face turned ashen. After all, he was no martial artist.

As the two faced off, chaos erupted around them. Lukaken’s employees and Triad gangsters, who had been encircling the smoke perimeter, rushed toward the center.

– If stray bullets hit the boss or president? You’re dead meat!

– Th-then?

Blind fire could doom the whole deal if it clipped Lukaken or Haiyen’s limbs.

– Tuck guns in your belts, draw knives! Guns only when target’s confirmed. Got it?!

– Yes, sir!

Securing the leaders first. Battle prep second. They clustered back-to-back, covering blind spots and waving knives to clear smoke.

Beep—.

But it didn’t reach Lukaken’s ears. Lee Taebaek stepped forward, prodding.

“Five, four, three, two—.”

“I’ll… I’ll talk!”

Terror paralyzed reason. He had no choice, even knowing it sealed his doom.

“Lukaken’s funding comes from…”

At the words that followed, the light of emotion in Lee Taebaek’s pupils cooled. He recited with dead-calm eyes.

“You set up a charity foundation… went to Africa to care for the starving…”

“Right! I gave value to those worthless lives!”

“What? Lives?”

“Y-yes!”

“Shut up, you pig bastard.”

Lukaken sensed his fate from the dismissal. Not a hair’s chance of mercy.

“I’m no apostle of justice, but you die here. You worthless scum.”

“You definitely said you’d send me back!”

“Bullshit.”

He spat at the panicking pig.

“Said I’d send you to the afterlife.”

Taebaek kicked off hard. A circular ripple spread where he stood. Buffed Agility and Strength granted a superhuman leap.

Torrent charge. His form filled Lukaken’s retina as if seen through a microscope.

Screee!

Up close, Lee Taebaek drew a full moon with his arm. Dust tore against the blade.

Ripple—.

Dust undulated from the side then. Horror flashed on Taebaek’s face. Ferocious eyes gleaming with killing intent rushed in along with the serrated greatsword caked in fat and flesh.

He twisted the blade upward diagonally. He crossed the umbrella top and the blade and brought them to his ribs to guard his vital spots.

Serrated greatsword locked with Para Blade. Its wielder swung hard, shoving; Taebaek flew back in guard.

Scenery whirled impossibly. Mid-flight, dump truck agony hit. If only a real isekai truck…

…Silly thought flashed. Joke, of course. Without self-roasts, he’d black out there.

Damn.

Upper arm bone snapped on impact. He buffed Faith and forcibly knit muscle and bone together. Fuck, hurt like hell.

Even with two stats boosted, I got pushed.

It meant the power gap was beyond what buffs could offset. He was grateful his body reacted at all. Otherwise, he’d have licked King Yama’s toe.

Snap!

He unfurled the umbrella to widen air resistance, then skidded with the blade scraping the pavement. Ignoring the pain, he regained his balance. He had only just managed to endure it once.

He snapped his head up. A brutish greatsword, like a thug’s, split the smoke left and right as it descended. He pressed the close button at the same time.

He arched his back as if flipping over and barely evaded the attack. He deliberately rolled a few more times to escape the range completely, then sprang up by snapping his hips.

“Haa… haa…”

The blade planted in the ground propped up his body. He caught his wild breath there for a moment. A groove was scarred where he had been.

Creak. The intruder yanked the greatsword out and slung it over his shoulder. Then he pursed his lips into a round shape.

“Whoa~ Insane reaction speed! Don’t care where you crawled from, but dodging that? Half tube of Berserk for ambush.”

The greatsword wielder was, obviously, Haiyen. He pressed one nostril with his thumb and blew his nose.

“But that strike confirmed one thing. You’re not someone the Megacorp sent, are you, punk?”

“…”

“Too squishy for corp whales. Upper district reps don’t pull cheap smoke plays.”

“The punk’s got a sharp tongue. Megacorp or not, you and that pig die here.”

“Drop the bluff. Hide those trembling fingers. They’re visible through the smoke you spread.”

Haiyen smirked and pulled a pouch from his chest. He brought it to his mouth and crushed it; granules spilled from the tear. It was Berserk.

“Gotta blind those sharp eyes though.”

Haiyen chewed the Berserk with a grinning face. By then, they could properly see each other’s faces. The thick smoke had thinned considerably.

“You… nah, not a chick.”

Haiyen momentarily mistook Taebaek’s fine features for a woman’s, then nodded at his flat body lines.

Taebaek’s face: sullen. Impression simple. Ugly.

Bug, pest, loser.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The smoke had lowered to chest height by then. The flailing minions, who had been unable to get their bearings, finally spotted Lukaken Junior sprawled on the ground. Twenty meters away, Taebaek and Haiyen faced off.

“There you are!”

“Hold.”

When the minions reached for their guns, Haiyen immediately signaled them to stop. The gang members obeyed their boss, and Lukaken’s employees froze under the pressure. They watched the standoff with bated breath.

Gulp—.

Haiyen swallowed the drug and crouched as if ready to spring. The pictures drawn on his body bulged and glowed green. They weren’t just for show—it seemed to be a side effect of the drug.

“We’re rare blade users. Let’s exchange names.”

The modern era was the age of heavy guns, and blades had fallen to relics of a bygone age. Yet even in this age of gunpowder, ronin who pursue romance exist. The Ten Wings are a prime example. In a gun-dominated world, they are monsters who reached the apex using only blades or bare hands.

“I’m Haiyen. From Sichuan.”

Haiyen wanted to become like the Ten Wings. That was why he stuck to the greatsword and why he had turned to Berserk. If he lacked innate talent, he could just raise it with drugs. This was the dazzling harmony of biology and science—.

“…?”

Haiyen’s eyes went blank. Taebaek had slyly pulled a lump of metal from his back pocket. It was unmistakably a gun. He raised the ugly thing’s muzzle, a thing that ruined a blade user’s romance, toward the sky.

“Thanks. You not only drew all the attention, you clumped them together nicely. Thanks to you, I’m no longer at a numerical disadvantage.”

On top of that, Taebaek sheathed his blade and stabbed the umbrella into the ground. Then he pulled out a smoke grenade and bit the pin with his teeth. By then, Haiyen had caught on, and his face soured.

“You… bastard! What the hell!”

“What else? Reloading.”

“You’re not a blade user?!”

“Bullshit, seriously.”

He cut off the question and tilted his chin. With a clear ting, the safety pin popped out, and he let go.

“Strictly speaking, I debuted as a gunman.”

Hiss! Smoke billowed from his feet, swallowing him. Haiyen lunged to grab his vanishing form.

Tried to.

He flinched and froze. The sensation around his feet was strange. Squishy? Haiyen’s eyes dropped to the ground. The sunken ground trapped both his feet. The texture of the earth was like a marsh. There had been no downpour, so why had this area suddenly turned to mud?

Everyone nearby was stuck the same way. Those sunk up to their knees struggled not to be swallowed by the earth. But the more they wriggled, the deeper their legs were sucked in, until they couldn’t move at all.

“Everyone, focus on perimeter security first!”

Haiyen shouted a warning. Hidden in the smoke, Lee Taebaek admired him. Even drunk on Berserk, his judgment was sharp.

“Still just a sheep, though.”

The revolver, Python, spat fire toward the night sky from its open maw.

Boom!

The ecstatic gunshot pierced the smoke and rang out. Then a spiraling tracer round painted the black sky crimson.

Patpat!

Signal cue: light footsteps. Foes glanced urgently, but—

“Arghhh—!!”

The next instant, several pairs of pupils widened in layers. Heads spun through the air spraying blood—surreal. Shohei the Human Butcher reveled as if at a festival, gleefully slicing through enemies.

Gaaaah!

From a distance, Haiyen took in the scene of the massacre. Fuck, what the—? He mumbled fragmented words and quickly averted his eyes.

In a split second, he sensed killing intent. He folded his waist and plunged his torso down. It was to dodge the attack. His forehead was just before reaching the ground—

Click: the revolver hammer cocked. Haiyen peeked; his pupils shrank to pinpricks.

“Bug fix.”

Even if he tried to swing the greatsword, the black hole was already in front of his bloodshot eye. It was Python. The serpent burst through the smoke and spewed flame once more.

Bang—

Come to think of it, there was no dilemma.

If yesterday I shot with a gun, and today I stabbed with a blade.

From tomorrow, I just need to use both gun and blade.