Three Steps of Massacre
Yujin was massacring them.
Reaper's Touch [C]
Kill 100 living creatures of the same species in succession to gain increased attack power against that species.
Against an already formidable Yujin, Reaper's Touch [C] was infinitely specialized for farming trash mobs. Once he hit exactly one hundred kills, the slaughter practically ran itself.
Shhhhhrrrrrk—!
Watching the creatures get shredded by his Heavenly Silk Thread [C], Yujin felt a fresh wave of emotion.
I never thought I'd get this strong this early.
This was his second life, so of course he was growing far faster than he had the first time around. Even accounting for that, though, the speed was absurd. His level was climbing several times faster than in the first timeline—and the raw strength he was displaying already went beyond that.
At this rate, I'm already stronger than I was at level 100. Hell, I might even be closing in on where I was around level 130.
And once he actually hit level 100 for real? What then?
"I probably won't go down easy," he muttered.
Not to monsters. Not even to Administrators. No matter who stood across from him, Yujin would not lose lightly. Of course, directly killing an Administrator the way he had Omophnes still wasn't possible—but still.
A full week had already passed. While the 3 No pushed themselves to the brink testing their limits, Yujin had been taking his sweet time, savoring the massacre.
"Alright. Time to head over."
But that was as far as it went. Considering the 3 No's capabilities and the danger of the Abyss, they had reached their limit. Any later and they wouldn't be growing—they'd be dying.
"It was this way, right?"
Yujin scanned his surroundings. True to its name, the Abyss presented a landscape that looked like hell given form. He had kept killing and moving as he went, and apparently he had drifted quite far. There wasn't a single familiar landmark in sight.
"Hmm. Problematic."
A faint urgency pricked at him. If he chose the wrong direction, it might take a long time to find the 3 No. And if they couldn't hold out until then?
"…Yeah, that won't do."
Yujin scratched his head, then kicked off the ground and shot into the air. The monsters that had been getting wound up and sliced apart by nearly invisible threads seized the opening and fled in a mad scramble. He didn't even glance at them, sweeping the area from above instead. Even from a considerable height, there was no sign of the 3 No.
Moments like this made him desperately wish for a skill like Super Space-Time Information Collector [C].
"I really ought to grab one of those later."
For now, though, he would have to make do with something else.
Mind-Piercing Eye [C]
The skill that claimed to see through hearts activated, and his vision surged. It was a skill specialized not so much for solid objects as for reading the flow of mana and energy.
"Hmm."
Far, far away—so distant his normal sight would never have reached—the sky was churning. Powerful waves of mana were exploding outward, shaking the surroundings into that turbulence.
There.
At this point in time, the only players who had entered the Abyss were himself and the 3 No. Yujin didn't bother descending. He twisted his body midair instead.
Twing—!
He set his soles against the Heavenly Silk Thread [C] drifting through the air around him. A powerful tension answered. The threads, fixed in empty space with mana, took his full weight without complaint.
And then—
Thwoooom—!
They launched him.
Fwoooooosh—!
He tore across space at a speed that made simply kicking off the air look pathetic by comparison.
Not a bad trick.
Used well, it could be pretty handy in combat too. The Heavenly Silk Thread [C] had already stretched to a full seventy meters. Treating it as nothing more than an auto-farming tool would be a waste of its endless potential.
Once I get an Enhancement Stone, I should upgrade it. Wonder how good it'll get.
Idle thoughts kept bubbling up, but Yujin's body shot arrow-straight toward his destination.
Thwoom—, thwooooohm—!
After repeating the method several times, he felt like he had become a ray of light himself. The acceleration was monstrous. The once-distant gap closed in an instant. Had it even taken thirty minutes?
If I'd just run, it would've taken hours.
Looking at the 3 No gasping for breath far ahead, he was glad he had hurried.
A little later and things would've gone south.
They looked ready to collapse at any second. Park Ji-hoo especially was trembling all over, his stamina clearly spent. His growth wasn't finished yet, and he had started out frail to begin with—that was probably why. Becoming a player had let him surpass human limits, but a weak foundation still left him lagging behind the others. Yujin made a mental note to start paying more attention to their nutrition, then plunged straight down toward them.
"Whoa. You held out pretty long."
The words came out casual, at odds with the relief he actually felt. Three heads snapped upward.
"Mister!"
"H-Hyeong…"
"You're late."
Their reactions varied, but they shared one thing in common. The tension and despair that had locked their bodies drained away in a rush. Yujin had shown up. On pure instinct, they knew they were going to live.
"Had a rough time, huh?"
Yujin touched down beside them as he asked. He didn't really need an answer. They looked like absolute wrecks. Aside from a few minor cuts—thanks to Vivian—there were no major injuries, but their drained stamina and mana looked dangerously thin.
"Why the hell did you only get here now?"
"If I got here before you died, I got here on time."
Yujin ignored Lee Sia's tearful glare and turned to Park Ji-hoo.
"You should lie down and rest. Vivi, healing?"
"Out of mana."
"Ah."
She had run out of mana before money. He looked at Vivian with a sudden flicker of respect, then opened his mouth again.
"Alright, everyone just rest for now. I'll clean this up."
A pack of Arang numbering in the thousands had stopped attacking the moment Yujin appeared, warily sizing him up—calculating, almost, how strong he might be. They watched from a careful distance.
"High-intelligence types are always such a pain."
If today's monsters hadn't been Arang, the 3 No could probably have lasted another day. But the hunting methods of those cunning predators were more than exhausted fighters could endure.
"Still. Not too late yet."
Thud.
Yujin took a single step forward. The pack retreated in perfect unison—exactly as far as he had closed the distance. They didn't flee, though. Just one man. Did they think they still had a chance? Their eyes still brimmed with killing intent and savagery.
"You little bastards."
Arang were strong. Even in this Abyss packed with countless monsters, they ranked near the top. Each individual was formidable, and the larger the pack, the stronger they became. Thousands of them. No wonder their arrogance was sky-high.
And Yujin did not care for that one bit.
"If having numbers made you lose all sense of fear, I'll just cut those numbers down."
His mana was plentiful. Even after a week of nonstop hunting—same as the 3 No—the full-dose elixir doping had left him completely unfatigued.
In that case—
"No need to hold back."
He stepped forward. On the surface it was an ordinary, everyday motion. The force packed into it was anything but.
A sovereign step that reigns over all things beneath the heavens.
His slowly advanced foot touched the earth.
Grrrnnn—, grrrrrrnnn—, grrrrrrrrrrnnnn—!!
An earthquake struck. Not a figure of speech. Not an exaggeration. Everywhere Yujin's gaze fell, the ground shuddered and reeled in a dizzying spectacle.
Kieeeng—!
Krrrng—!
Had they sensed something was wrong? The Arang tucked their tails and spun to run. Far too late.
"If you wanted to run, you should've done it the second I showed up."
Then they might have had the faintest chance of surviving. Not anymore. The supreme footsteps that reigned over all things under heaven had manifested in this place called hell—the Abyss.
KRAKKKKKKKK—!
A vast circle drew itself with Yujin at its center. The range spanned hundreds of meters. Everything inside it was crushed flat. Spines snapped. Legs shattered. Skulls burst apart. Agony beyond measure and a primal terror completely overturned their instincts. Monsters that had lived only for destruction and slaughter were swallowed by the emotion called fear, thrashing desperately to escape. Even under pressure that kept them from standing, they crawled, clawing for distance.
The Heavenly Demon did not permit it.
Crunch—!
Starting with the one closest to Yujin, they turned to pulp. So thoroughly pulverized their original forms were unrecognizable, they simply died. Three meters. Five. Ten. Fifty. Great concentric rings expanded outward from Yujin, grinding the fallen Arang into paste.
"W-What the hell…?"
Lee Sia's stunned cry came from behind him. Park Ji-hoo couldn't even breathe properly. Only Vivian remained relatively unshaken—she had seen this sight once before.
"W-What even is that?"
"I don't know…"
Listening to Lee Sia and Park Ji-hoo's dazed exchange, Yujin took another step.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH—!
An even greater roar than before, and the ones that had barely been holding on were flattened. The endless sight of blood-filled water balloons bursting open filled the field.
KRAOOOOOOH—!
In the distance, a single Arang roared through a spray of blood. Its bulk was a full three times larger than the others.
"So you're the boss."
Cunning and overwhelming power—the pack leader of the Arang possessed both. It was not grieving its subordinates' deaths so much as raging that its own power base had crumbled. And yet it still couldn't charge. Was that fear? Or the crushing pressure?
"Well. Doesn't matter either way."
——————————————!!!
And the third and final step. Not a single Arang remained alive. Only the sound of their blood flowing together into a vast stream echoed through the surroundings.
"Hoo—."
Having wiped out thousands of monsters in just three steps, Yujin exhaled softly.
Not bad.
Unlike when he had killed Zygoth, there was no real strain at all. Just a slight dip in his mana.
At this level…
It would be pretty useful even against Administrators, he thought. Though only after he got a great deal stronger than he was now, of course.
"See that?"
Yujin turned and asked. Lee Sia's eyes were wide. Park Ji-hoo's mouth hung open. Vivian watched him with deeply settled eyes. The 3 No didn't answer. More accurately, they couldn't.
Experience and levels continue to rise without end…
Yujin smiled. The 3 No looked far past caring about any of that.
"Rest a bit, then we hunt again. We've still got plenty of time."
Looking at them, Yujin's smile only deepened.