Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 102

 

“Uwaaaaah!”

Crash.

Crash-crash-crash!

Just before the blade could strike—

As if it had been waiting for that exact moment, the creature’s arms stabbed toward Ji Yeonwoo’s sides.

Kwaaaaang!

Yeonwoo barely managed to dodge and leaped backward.

Swiftly, he dashed toward the tattered remains of his combat Tanghulu armor and stomped on it.

Shoooaaak~

Like a liquid monster, the armor slithered up his legs and enveloped his entire body.

The time it took to wear it? 0.1 seconds.

Naturally, it took just as long to remove.

A mere instant.

When Yeonwoo shed the combat Tanghulu, he realized his body could slip out in whatever direction he desired.

By adjusting the elasticity, he made sure the discarded armor wouldn’t collapse—instead, it remained standing like a decoy.

This combination of techniques birthed this mode.

Of course, it had only been practiced as a gag move. He never imagined he’d use it in actual combat—let alone that it would work this well.

Thanks to it, he survived.

Huh… this might actually be a viable combat mode.

If so, it deserved a name.

Yeonwoo stared at the fallen bear and spoke.

“How does it feel to get fooled by my Tanghulu Clone Jutsu?”

…….

No answer came.

Dead things don’t talk.

But Yeonwoo’s eyes narrowed sharply as he studied the corpse.

No matter how I look at it, this thing isn’t actually dead….

Of course, by all appearances, it was dead.

Its eyes were wide open, glaring resentfully at the sky, while blood trickled from its mouth, pooling beneath its head in real time.

A closer look at its eyes—

Lifeless, like frozen fish.

Undeniably a corpse.

But.

But…!

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Not happening.

Just moments ago, Yeonwoo had been certain the creature was dead.

It had looked so convincingly lifeless—so devoid of even the faintest spark of vitality—that he hadn’t felt the need to double-check.

And what happened?

The “corpse” suddenly jumped up and lunged at him.

If not for the Tanghulu Clone Jutsu (…), Yeonwoo would’ve been crushed just like his armor.

So no, that thing was absolutely not a corpse.

There was even proof.

The Jawsbar (?) in his hand was evidence enough.

The clear teeth marks on its surface!

They proved the creature’s fangs were harder than the jawbone of a juvenile great white shark. Not a single tooth was chipped—the blood was just from its gums.

The wound wasn’t even deep enough to be fatal.

So why was it playing dead?

Planning to counterattack if I approach?

Obviously, it was waiting to strike at an unsuspecting moment.

Yeonwoo couldn’t afford to be careless.

He needed to test the waters.

He switched his nearly broken Jawsbar into its knife form. The blade gleamed under the moonlight.

His gaze remained fixed on the bear still pretending to be dead.

There’s a saying that if you play dead when facing a bear, you might survive. But this guy was the one playing dead.

Well, if he wanted to commit to the act…

“Then I’ll just have to really kill you.”

Yeonwoo’s knife soared through the air.

—

Perfect Aim

Thunk!

The blade embedded itself in the back of the bear’s neck.

Not a twitch. Still “dead.”

But Yeonwoo didn’t stop.

He retrieved the knife and threw it again.

Thud.

And again.

Thunk.

Over and over.

Th-th-th-th-thunk!

…….

He targeted only vital points.

The back of the neck—the most vulnerable spot in his line of sight—was relentlessly assaulted.

The hide was so thick and tough that throwing a knife couldn’t deal fatal damage, but physiological reactions were unavoidable.

Yep, definitely faking.

Finally, Yeonwoo leaped high and hurled the knife straight at its eyeball.

As the blade neared its eyelid, the frozen, lifeless eyes suddenly moved—

GROOOOAAAAR!!

Like a lie, the “corpse” jolted upright.

“This bastard’s perfectly fine too!”

ROOOAR!

Well, not perfectly fine.

Blood gushed from its mouth, and its front paws weren’t unscathed either. Claws from one paw were embedded in the other, oozing blood. The back of its neck, struck repeatedly, bled intermittently—but the hide was too thick for a decisive blow.

Though bleeding profusely, it was still fully mobile and combat-ready.

Even its previously dead-fish eyes now burned with insane fury and bloodlust.

The classic eyes of something consumed by vengeance.

Seeing this, Yeonwoo couldn’t help but laugh.

First, faking death again was absurd, but even more ridiculous was the sheer indignation in its eyes—as if it was the victim of Yeonwoo’s Tanghulu Clone Jutsu.

“What, you can trick me, but I can’t trick you?”

GRRRROOOOAR!

“Damn, you’re one selfish bastard.”

What more was there to say?

The creature charged at Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo charged right back.

As he ran, he analyzed.

It’s definitely huge.

At least 15 meters tall.

Sure, he’d faced the even larger Root Octopus, but since that thing was stationary, this bear was likely the biggest single entity he’d ever fought.

Standing on its hind legs and swinging its forepaws like arms gave it a vaguely humanoid silhouette, but its size was anything but human.

Alright.

Let’s get close!

Whooosh!

The first attack came from its forepaw.

A massive paw capable of crushing Yeonwoo in one swing descended toward him.

Not too fast—dodgeable with a half-step to the side.

After evading, Yeonwoo grabbed onto its mane.

Then, like climbing a rock, he scaled its arm.

Unlike stone, the bear’s forearm was tough and sinewy, but—

His multitool knife had already shifted into a cleaver, tearing through the hide and anchoring him as he climbed.

He could even scramble upward.

Stab! Stab!

Stabstabstabstab!

ROOOAR!

The Frostfang Bear swung its other forepaw.

KWAANG!

But all it hit was its own arm.

Yeonwoo dodged each strike with cockroach-like agility—except this cockroach had recently taken up rock climbing as a hobby.

BAM! BAM!

BAMBAMBAM!

Every miss left another gash from the cleaver, blood spurting as Yeonwoo climbed higher, reaching its right shoulder.

Once at the base of its neck, Yeonwoo switched the cleaver back to the Jawsbar.

Time to chop!

Flash!

The sudden weight on its shoulder triggered the bear’s survival instincts.

Just as the enlarged Jawsbar was about to cleave into its neck—

The horn on its forehead began to vibrate.

…!

Yeonwoo’s eyes widened.

Last time, when the rabbits swarmed, its horn had vibrated like this.

What happened next?

Remembering, Yeonwoo aborted his strike and shielded himself.

The bear’s fur bristled like a porcupine’s.

KWA-CHAKAKAK!

The force sent Yeonwoo flying.

Mid-air.

The bear’s paw struck him dead-on.

KWA-AANG…!

Yeonwoo soared through the sky.

He was about to crash into the canyon and tumble down—

GRROOOOWL!

The Frostfang Bear, anticipating this, ran.

It planned to body-slam Yeonwoo mid-fall.

But Yeonwoo didn’t land where expected.

Shoooaaak~

Instead, he transformed into a flying squirrel, gliding higher and farther than the bear predicted before landing smoothly.

…….

Now, over 300 meters apart.

Was the monkey trying to flee?

The Frostfang Bear refused to be the dog chasing a chicken.

GRROOOOAR!

Enraged, it sprinted desperately.

But instead of running further, Yeonwoo stood still, watching it approach.

Why was it waiting?

Yeonwoo wasn’t waiting for the bear.

He was waiting for the rabbits and the bear to get far enough apart.

“If this misses, it’s gonna hurt.”

So he waited calmly.

The distance between the bear and the rabbits grew.

Once it was just right—

Yeonwoo spun the Jawsbar like a shot put and hurled it.

TSU-PA——ANG!

……!

A streak of light—the Jawsbar—flew toward the bear.

Just minutes ago, a direct hit had nearly killed it.

But now, prepared for the attack, things were different.

It could see the projectile clearly. It was already running.

All it had to do was dodge.

KWA-AANG!

The Jawsbar embedded itself in the ground with a deafening roar.

The earth cratered inward.

The shockwave made the bear’s fur stand on end.

A direct hit would’ve been dangerous even for it.

GRROOWL!

It ran even harder, using its forepaws. With the weapon out of Yeonwoo’s hands, it was sure there’d be no follow-up.

But—

TSU-PA——ANG!

GRRUK…?

How was that massive thing flying at it again?

Already a third throw.

How many of those did he have?!

Baffled, the bear watched as Jawsbars rained down like arrows.

If dodging wouldn’t stop them—

Then I’ll catch and smash them!

GRROOOAR!

The sprinting bear suddenly leaped.

Its massive body spun mid-air, forepaws spread wide like a cheer.

The claws on its paws glowed.

The color was—

…Pink?