Battle Royale: Hunted from All Sides

I knew the others would come gunning for me all at once, but I didn't expect them to swarm from every direction like this.

"Cut off his head and we're in the top ranks!"

"That's 4,000 points right there!"

4,000 points?

I was furrowing my brow at their shouts when a translucent window popped up in front of me.

"You're showing me this now?"

No wonder the wait had dragged on—this had to be the limit rule that Ji Suhyun proposed back in our third-year mock battle.

Battle Royale this early? I didn't see it coming.

The reason I hadn't worried much about the Battle Royale was simple. In the end, the strong still won easily. It wasn't like a game where everyone started bare-handed and scavenged weapons; we all began with our unique abilities and gear, diving straight into random skirmishes.

That's why early Battle Royales rarely saw massive ranking shifts.

But our battle-hungry homeroom teacher hated that. Her solution? The limit rule.

It delayed top-rankers' entry to minimize terrain and time advantages, while scattering their allies across other parties. A brutal setup.

Now, there weren't enough hiding spots, and even if you hid, your marker drew the high-score hunters straight to you.

It was designed purely to ask: "How do we make it easiest to hunt the top ranks and spark more fights?"

Normally, that would've made high-rankers massively disadvantaged...

Well, normally.

Thanks to my bloodline ability that grew stronger with more enemies around, my physical stats and aura reserves spiked in an instant.

"Next time, come alone. It'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be better for you."

Tommy's barrel emerged naturally from the cube, aimed at the charging mob.

"Ciao." Thundered a barrage of aura-infused bullets.

"That's it!"

"Shields up!"

The attackers scrambled to raise shields or crouch to minimize blast radius.

A lone attacker or two with shields might've held, but...

Seven of them? What a perfect buff.

Crash!──!

Empowered by my traits, the bullets shattered their wide shields like glass, defying their expectations.

"No way it pierced the shields...!"

"That's old news."

Pro heroes aside, no first-year could block my Tommy anymore.

──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──! / ──!

They swept away like trash under a broom.

Watching them vanish on critical hits clued me into who designed this Royale: Park Yunho.

The only guy who could game-ify a massive field like this.

Joint exam by those two? Wild.

Newbies were game-savvy, so they'd adapt fast to this format.

"Points and return animations? How serious are they?"

The kids shredded by my Chicago Typewriter dissolved in blue light, leaving only "[100pt]" behind.

"Sticking around means more will swarm..."

A good idea hit, so I looked up at the light pillar.

"Choi Yeon's at the National Assembly, huh?"

Sensing endless ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunters for me and her, I decided to link up first.

Better to team up, survive to the end, then settle it.

Wasn't just me thinking that—a [☆★1st★☆] marker and pillar approached.

Perfect. Link up and—

Bang!───!!

A chill hit as I raised my arm; massive impact slammed it.

I braced my legs hard but still skidded back.

"Monster. You blocked that?"

Tsking from the direction of the voice—a guy nocking an arrow with a sneer.

"I'll end you quick. Gotta bag Choi Yeon too."

Jeong Ui-hoon.

"...Scraping the bottom of the barrel now, huh?"

"What? Bottom?"

His face twisted at "bottom-feeder."

"You'll regret that."

I bolted forward as he drew again.

Hiding would've been one thing, but dodging a visible shot was easy.

"An archer showing himself upfront? Dumbass."

I swung for his head—

"This bow ain't for sniping...!"

──Grriiind!

The creepy string screech set off alarms.

Wait, that—!

Boom!

A white arrow hurtled at me.

Aegis Watch triggered, blocking it—probably deemed unblockable.

"What?!"

He gawked, never expecting a block.

"Pulling out the family heirloom now? Psycho."

Familiar sound and look: my intel matched.

Taejo's Gakgung—top-tier Korean bow, his family's heirloom.

"Got a small favor: hand over that gakgung."

"In your dreams, asshole!"

He backed off, drawing again—no glow or screech this time.

His right arm trembled.

"Pushed too hard, huh?"

"Shut up!"

He zipped between buildings at archer speeds, peppering me.

Hit-and-run switch? Fine, I had counters.

Cube spawned Billy the Kid's Shotgun.

No deaths here anyway.

"...Clay shooting in a while."

A bit rough was fine.

I dodged arrows, shouldered the shotgun, and tracked him.

Best shot when he turned to fire.

Timing it... fire!

──Boom! Boom!

Two blasts nailed him mid-shot.

"Gahk!"

He tumbled with a yelp.

I took an arrow to the shoulder holding steady, but yanking it out triggered upgraded Natural Healing (A) from Fafnir's blood—the wound knit slowly.

"Cheap buy at this price?"

He staggered up where he fell—distance spread the shot, reducing impact; no despawn.

"Finishing with my hands? Lucky break."

Stepping toward him, he whipped around, panicked, and drew shakily—shotgun hit messed his aim.

"Give up. It's easier."

Aura laced my right hand murderously; he slumped, dazed.

"...Fucking monster."

"Why hunt me? You could've topped ten easy."

I raised my hand; he flipped me off with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smirk.

"Just kill me, punk."

"Acting cool when you're trash. Die like a bitch."

"Wait, 'bitch' what does—" I cut him off with a temple smash.

"—the taste of terror."

Tee-bagging posers was perfect.

"Gehk!"

Weird scream as my fist connected; he despawned.

"Ledge cut."

Satisfying.

* * *

"Trash mobs pay decently?"

Cleaning up Ui-hoon—who burned all aces—and ongoing scrubs netted solid points.

This setup let you rack high without top-hunting; high-risk chasers dropped first.

Maybe my gunfire or rumors spread—scrubs stopped coming.

Even...

──! / ──! / ──!

Firing blanks drew reactions.

-It's Han Yujin!

-Run!

-That psycho outs you instantly!

-Just rush the safe zone! Better than his gun!

...Fun.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Like a walking disaster, Tommy "beating" Korean beats as I strolled.

Then a familiar face.

"Mari?"

Wh-Who... Eek? Y-Yujin?!"

Mari Nate, leading her cute doll army through the city.

First familiar here.

"How's points?"

"Uh? Y-Yeah, enough for top ranks I think."

"Nice?"

Dolls blocked between us, wary of attack.

"Hey, seen Familia crew?"

"Oh, 30 minutes ago? Jinwoo looked beat, so I ambushed..."

Jinwoo's out. Poor guy.

Apparently farmed too hard, made enemies, got raided.

"Gotta avenge my friend."

Eek! C-Can't you just go...? N-No, I'll leave!"

She flinched back, tears welling in big eyes.

Glancing at shrinking safe zone, I grinned.

"You know once we meet, no choice."

Endgame's strong survivors; better cull rivals now.

"Th-Then I won't go down easy!"

"Sorry. Bad matchup."

──Boom!

Cannon roar swallowed her and dolls.

Strong individuals maybe, but fodder just buffed me.

"Ooh, Mari's worth 500."

Strong is strong.

"Main event time?"

Arriving at Han River Park for Choi Yeon—massive whoosh hit my ears.

──Boom!

──Boom boom!

"Chaotic as expected."

Park center: Choi Yeon gleefully parried incoming attacks with one sword.

"Just die already!"

"How the hell's she blocking?!"

Her attackers swung decently—skilled.

"Sorry, Choi Yeon!"

Sea-a too. Topping too?

"Used to it now."

Yeon's evasion-defense shifted to counters.

Her speeding moves pushed them back.

"Even faster?!"

"...Monster!"

Fear hit her smiling face; they eyed retreat.

Like she'd allow.

"Gap Slash."

They leaped; her sword flashed horizontally—too fast to track.

Two blues despawned; Sea-a flopped over watching.

"...Choi Yeon's too strong."

"Yeah. Was fun. See ya?"

"W-Wait, painless—Ack!"

Sea-a out.

Clearing up; about to show—

────Rumble rumble rumble.

Ground shook.

Yeon sensed wrongness, turned.

Tilting head, sword to river—enemy behind.

────Crash boom boom!

River surged, crashing at her.

"Water Split."

She bisected it instantly.

Water exploded, soaking around.

Drip. Drip.

Droplets fell from her wet aquamarine tips—then merged.

"...Who?"

Sword back, to her target.

A man strolled across water surface.

Slowly.

He looked up seriously.

"──Choi Kang-hyeon. The one who'll topple you for first."

Whoa. This'll be fun.