Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 103

 

Shoooaaak!

As the thick pink coating enveloped the bear’s claws, it firmly pressed down on the incoming Jawsbar.

……!

At the same time, the trajectory of the Jawsbar bent at a right angle and ricocheted away.

Yeonwoo’s eyes widened.

Come to think of it, when he first sniped the bear, hadn’t it also extended its forepaws?

So, had it deflected his attack back then too?

Come to think of it, I think I saw that pink glow earlier…?

If so, this bear could deflect attacks with its claws and bristle its fur like spikes.

“You’re one talented bear, huh?”

GRROOWL!

They say the bear performs the tricks, but the human reaps the rewards—except Yeonwoo was about to get mauled by said talented bear.

The distance between them was now barely 100 meters.

There wasn’t enough time to retrieve the Jawsbar and snipe again. He couldn’t position it precisely enough for an accurate shot.

Perfect Aim wasn’t a homing missile.

If he carelessly threw it, it would miss.

Even if it hit, there was another problem.

If the bear deflected it again with those pink-glowing claws, Yeonwoo would have to face it head-on as it charged like a tank.

Bears tear people apart…!

Of course, Yeonwoo had a plan.

It might be a stretch, but it had to work.

Yeonwoo built up rotational force. The bear’s figure flickered in and out of his dizzying vision. Meanwhile, the bear closed the gap to just 30 meters.

Yeonwoo released his grip.

Tsu-pa—ANG!

The trajectory veered off.

Perfect Aim tried to bend the path, but at best, it only grazed the bear’s side.

Instead of embedding into the ground, the Jawsbar shot skyward.

A complete miss.

GRRUK!

Even as it panted heavily, the bear’s lips curled into a grin.

Now that the distance had narrowed this much, it was confident that terrifying sniping was no longer a threat.

Toying cruelly with the rabbits, playing dead… This bear was as cunning as a fox.

But no matter how clever, a bear was still a bear.

“Then kindly accept the hammer of mankind, the pinnacle of evolution…!”

GRROOOOWL!

The bear’s maw gaped wide as it closed in.

The angle of its jaw suggested it planned to bite Yeonwoo in half and shake him like a rag.

Within arm’s reach now.

Bare-handed, Yeonwoo stretched out his arm toward the bear.

His fist, clenched as if gripping an egg—or a sword—mimicked the motion of wielding an invisible blade…

An imaginary sword aimed straight into the bear’s open mouth.

The exact timing mankind’s pinnacle, Ji Yeonwoo, had engineered.

—

Recall

CRUNCH…!

The Frostfang Bear’s eyes bulged wide.

All it saw was a defenseless monkey-like creature.

But the next moment, as if by magic, something that hadn’t been there appeared.

Massive, hurtling at insane speed—the same dark-blue bladed boulder that had just grazed its side.

Now, it was shooting straight toward its gaping maw.

……!

Too late to change direction.

Its forepaw claws were useless now.

Biting down on it? Even the bear knew that was suicide—its head would split clean off from the impact.

In desperation, it activated the claws on its hind legs.

BANG!

Like a spring, the bear’s body launched upward. Its fur bristled violently. The Jawsbar’s trajectory shifted from its mouth to its throat, then its chest.

The leap saved it from a direct hit—but not entirely.

The tip of the Jawsbar still plunged deep into the bear’s sternum.

KWA-AANG!

The bear toppled backward.

THUD!

Impaled, it slumped limply.

From above, the pinnacle of evolution, Ji Yeonwoo, looked down at it.

“Wow… you really showed all your cards, huh?”

Back when he fought the juvenile great white shark, Yeonwoo had repeatedly sniped it with his harpoon-mode multitool knife until it died.

Recall, shoot, recall, shoot… Despite its tough hide, relentless strikes to its vulnerable belly eventually brought it down.

What he learned then was that the multitool’s Recall wasn’t Summoning.

It returned in the exact state it had been in.

If poisoned, it stayed poisoned. If bloodied, it stayed bloodied.

All conditions remained—only its location changed.

Later, after acquiring his combat Tanghulu armor and experimenting with modes, a thought struck him:

What if I Recall it mid-flight?

Before, he’d always retrieved it after it embedded itself or fell.

A few times, he’d Recalled it mid-air—but only right before impact or as it bounced. Never during its flight.

So while practicing Tanghulu modes, he tested it—and learned exactly how Summoning worked and how kinetic energy carried over.

Countless drills later…

He’d just used it for the first time in combat.

And the result? His Jawsbar was now embedded in the chest of a massive bear.

An absolute success.

“Might use this more often.”

Of course, not as an opener—but as a hidden trump card, like today.

This place had dimwits like the great white shark, but also cunning foes like this fox-like bear.

Just how sly was it to hide its hind-leg claws until the brink of defeat?

Had it used them earlier, it would’ve reached Yeonwoo much faster.

But because it held back, it was still—barely—alive.

Crack.

GRRROOOK…!

Blood gushed from its mouth, veins bulging in its eyes.

No more playing dead now.

That trick only worked when the body had enough leeway. On death’s doorstep, the bear thrashed with desperate survival instinct.

Like a frog pinned by the Jawsbar’s spike.

An enemy, yes—but one about to die.

Yeonwoo decided to put it out of its misery.

—

### Recall

SPLURT!

As the deeply embedded blade vanished, blood fountained from the wound.

Left alone, it would’ve bled out—but Yeonwoo intended to finish it cleanly. To grant it mercy.

So he cautiously approached its neck and raised the Jawsbar high.

GRRROO… GRRUK. GRRUK…!

The Frost Deer Bear vomited blood ceaselessly. Its eyes weren’t fixed on Yeonwoo—but on something beyond.

A storm of emotions swirled in its gaze: rage, regret, bitterness, and raw survival instinct.

A madness to live at all costs.

Just like the creatures it had slaughtered and devoured. Just like the monsters that had fueled Yeonwoo’s growth.

The only difference was that this time, Yeonwoo had won.

“Nothing left to say. I’ll make it quick.”

With that, the Jawsbar descended toward its neck.

……!

Time seemed to freeze.

A life flashing before its eyes.

A mere instant—yet the Frost Bear’s mind accelerated wildly.

Its cubhood.

Lessons from its parents in youth.

Leaving their side as an adult, living fiercely, proud of its strength.

That pride lasted—until it met the Mountain God.

The Mountain God was an insurmountable wall.

No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t compete.

If it was a firefly, the Mountain God was the sun blazing in the night sky.

So it prostrated itself.

Rolled onto its back, begging for favor.

Became the second-in-command, biding its time.

And when the chance came—it struck without hesitation.

Even attacking the wounded god had been a gamble with its life.

But it won.

Seized the thread of evolution.

Devoured everything in its path to make that power its own—only to die now at the hands of an unheard-of species, a mere monkey-like creature.

How hollow.

It wanted to live.

Knew it couldn’t—but needed to.

So close…!

So close…!

GRROOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

Did its will reach the heavens?

Just before the monkey’s weapon could strike its neck—

The Frost Bear burst into radiant flames.

—

*

Shoooaaak!

The Frost Bear began glowing blue. So intensely that Yeonwoo’s entire vision turned azure.

Ugh, flashbang!

Still, he didn’t lessen the force behind the descending Jawsbar. If anything, he put more strength into the swing.

Any moment now, the blade would sever the bear’s neck with a meaty—

KWA-ANG—!

—except no sound came.

Instead, a deafening clang rang out as the Jawsbar rebounded off something impossibly hard, followed by a massive explosion.

KWA-AAANG!

Yeonwoo’s body was sent flying.

Instinctively, he tried to shift his combat Tanghulu into wing-suit mode to cushion the fall.

He couldn’t.

His body was bound, limbs locked in place.

He couldn’t move.

As he soared through the air, his body was completely frozen.

W-What the…?

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

No time to brace for impact.

Had he not landed in hot spring water, the damage would’ve been severe.

What was that just now?

The ice encasing him began melting. His combat Tanghulu regained mobility, though with concerning creaks and groans. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Yeonwoo’s focus was locked on the epicenter of the explosion.

Thick white smoke billowed.

Within it, two azure lights glowed.

Hazy at first, their outlines sharpened as they drew closer.

At first, he thought they were eyes—but no.

Horns…?

The bear’s antlers, now encased in ice, pulsed with an eerie blue light.(T/N: Why does every chapter end with color?)