What the Hell Is This? Why Only Me...

There was still plenty of time left before the next phase could begin. But what the hell was going on?

As Taejeong pondered this, the stone chamber was already filling up with a horde of monsters. At the same time, Gerard's voice rang out in his head.

"Got it."

The owls that poured out charged at Taejeong all at once. Without even needing to look, countless energy rounds erupted from his left arm.

Tatang! Tang tang!

Tatata tang!

Like a rapid-fire cannon, Taejeong's barrage tore through the owls mid-leap with mouths agape. They fell like leaves in the autumn wind. Nothing could get within a 20-meter radius.

Taejeong already knew their levels, so he didn't bother mixing in other weapons. The Vulcan alone was more than enough to toy with them.

After some time passed, all the life signs inside vanished.

Taejeong checked the rankings and let out a hollow chuckle at the people far below who hadn't even started yet.

But that didn't last long. His gaze soon shifted to the stone wall ahead.

"Shall I do one more?"

At the Republic of Korea's official guild ranking No. 3, Arena's guild master Han Young was preparing for the next stage when he witnessed something bizarre.

His nickname, which had held 1st place, had suddenly been pushed to 2nd.

Fluctuations within the same phase were common, so he tried to ignore it. But the problem was that the newcomer who had taken 1st was steadily climbing stages.

"What? Why is this happening? Why is that guy already on phase 4?"

Phase 3 wasn't enough; now phase 4 was underway. But that was just for a moment.

The mysterious hunter had now started phase 5. It was unbelievable even as he watched it happen.

"What? What the fuck is this!?"

Han Young stared holes into the rankings window, unable to comprehend the situation. And who could blame him? He was Arena's dedicated survival hunter, one groomed specifically for guild buffs in this event.

Dedicated survival hunters were machines or specialists optimized to claim top spots. Among them, Han Young—under the nickname Gale—had taken 1st place four times in a row. He was a survival addict.

He had no doubt he'd claim 1st again this time. Sure, there were other top-tier competitors, but Arena dominated this bracket, so the fight was only for 2nd—the throne was secure.

Yet here was an unknown hunter with a never-before-seen nickname surging to 1st, using some freakish method no one had witnessed.

"No fucking way. Are you kidding me? Where's the 10-minute wait? Why does that bastard skip straight ahead? This make any goddamn sense?"

As Han Young reeled in shock, the other top rankers from rival guilds were in the same boat.

"Why phase 5 already? Is he insane?"

"Gale's not 1st? Who the hell is that guy?"

"Gotta screenshot this. Gonna ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get so many likes or flames. We're screwed this time."

"Ah, fuck. Dropping even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one spot is disastrous. Where'd this freak come from?"

Most were just venting frustration, but for the top 5— who received full guild buffs— it was a major crisis. Being pushed down even one rank meant the heat was on.

These hunters bore the expectations of executives and the entire guild, so the pressure was immense.

"That fucking bastard. Things were tough enough, and it had to be today of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all days!? Ah... what am I gonna say when I get back."

Tatang! Tang tang!

Dududududu!

Whoosh!

Whooshack!

Having discovered this unexpected loophole, Taejeong gleefully smashed walls and cleared rooms as they appeared.

He was already four phases ahead of 2nd place, but he hustled around to climb even one more.

Did he really need to push this hard in such a favorable spot? Yes. Because it had become fun.

Overwhelming, but even more so. Since he was already dominating, Taejeong wanted to set an unprecedented record.

How far would he climb by the end? He was dying to know.

Plus, EXP increased with each phase, giving him every reason to grind. He was already leveling up sporadically.

The only concern was how long his potions would hold out. He still had plenty from guild signup and Han Seol-ah's farewell gift, but depending on the event's length, he'd need to ration.

"Nice. Full mana now."

With his mana topped off from the level up, Taejeong fired a rocket forward.

Boom!

A thunderous roar echoed as over a hundred bipedal monsters exploded into bloody mist, scattering everywhere.

Then, using only the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Vulcan, he mopped up the rest and approached the wall from his first shot. He switched to close-combat mode.

His fists began pummeling the cracked stone wall mercilessly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each strike sent powerful vibrations rippling through, shaking the wall violently.

He hadn't realized it while relying on weapons, but this massive steel fist was a murder machine on its own. It could flatten a mid-to-large troll giant from prior stages in one hit. Handy in a pinch.

After repeated pounding, the stone wall finally cracked.

Craaaack!

Rumble! Crash!

The collapsed wall revealed an identical space beyond.

"Sweet. That's at least two rockets saved. Love this close-combat mode. Feels good to smash."

Thrilled at the mana savings, Taejeong switched back to multi-target mode.

He boosted forward, carefully firing at clustered targets. The super Vulcan's insane fire rate meant some waste was inevitable, but to conserve mana, he avoided blind sprays.

He pushed through phases 8, 9, and 10. At phase 11, new monsters appeared: giant snails the size of his mech, swarming out.

"Wait a bit. Better to wipe 'em all at once."

Hating to waste even one shot, Taejeong held off until enough gathered. He used the time for maintenance and checks.

"Potions are still good. Rankings..."

"2nd just finished phase 4? From 3,000th on, they're in progress... What? 5,000th is still on phase 3?"

Scrolling down, Taejeong realized the gap was huge. Over 10,000 of the 14,000 participants were lagging far behind the top 25%.

Notably, the top 1% were mostly Korean hunters.

"Korea's still dominating 3rd to 4th place globally. Feels kinda good."

A strange sense of pride welled up in him.

Once enough snails had gathered, he resumed hunting. It wasn't hard.

His M61 super Vulcan seemed limitless. Every shot shredded anything it hit.

Rooms still cleared in under two minutes—barely different from phase 1. Astonishing speed.

No one would believe it without seeing it firsthand. Even then, probably not.

Monsters grew stronger per phase, numbers increasing by 100 each time. Phase 11 required 1,300 kills. Yet the time stayed the same—proof his firepower was beyond imagination.

As he gleefully crushed them, a level-up chime sounded.

"Oh. This must be what Gerard mentioned."

Muttering to himself, Taejeong cleared the remaining monsters and checked the skills.

The performance was a clear upgrade over standard rounds: longer range, wider blast radius. Best of all, 24 more tubes unlocked 36 total launches.

Of course, it'd guzzle potions. But that was a problem for later. At his combat power, earning potion money was trivial.

Finished checking, Taejeong switched to combat mode for the next room. A few more smashes, and the wall crumbled, opening a large hole.

As he moved to enter—no alert sounded.

Wondering what was up, he scanned around. Then something registered on his left front.

'What the?'

It was a person. A woman staring at him blankly, as if in a daze.

Taejeong stood awkwardly opposite her, their eyes locking.

With an awkward smile, his robot hand waved into the air.

"Hi?"