Chapter 31: The Man with the Most Kills
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 31: The Man with the Most Kills
As he soared above the valley, his stealth wore off, briefly revealing his figure—clad in a pitch-black cloak—under the pale moonlight.
Seo-un didn't care in the least.
Hmm. Is that it? I expected at least one or two more teams to be lying in wait.
He scanned the dark surroundings like a predator stalking its prey.
Beyond the idiots who had crawled down into the valley without a second thought, blinded by the lure of items, anyone with half a brain would surely be waiting nearby, looking for an opening. If the roles were reversed, that’s exactly how he would have played it.
He waited for a moment, but he couldn't sense a single presence.
The moment his form began to vanish as he melded back into the darkness, he felt a sudden surge of mana. Something highly condensed was flying toward him at high speed.
— BOOM!
He dodged the mysterious magic with a swift movement, but the air itself seemed to explode. A powerful aftershock swept out in all directions, engulfing Seo-un.
"!!!"
Until now, simply dodging magic had been enough, so he hadn't given it much thought. Caught off guard by the sudden wide-range spell, he was blown backward.
Even as he tumbled through the air, he desperately utilized his Muryeong Phantom Step, doing everything in his power to avoid hitting the ground. If his cloak were to tear on such rough terrain, it would be a devastating loss.
After being pushed back about ten meters, staggering but somehow managing to stay upright, Seo-un finally steadied himself. The first thing he did was strip off the cloak and shove it into his subspace. Since his position was already compromised, protecting the cloak was his top priority.
As if refusing to miss the opening, mana fluctuations vibrated from all directions, and thick chains made of stone erupted from the earth. Chains shot out from five different points around him simultaneously. Surprised by the unfamiliar magic, Seo-un leaped into the air to evade them.
— CRASH!
The five chains collided with a thunderous roar and immediately shot upward, pursuing him.
"Whoa!"
Surprised by the unexpected tracking, Seo-un’s eyes narrowed sharply.
— KABOOM!
He had dodged it for the moment, but the Boundless Fist was an art of pure offense with no regard for defense. If he couldn't dodge it, he would simply smash it.
With a single Concussive Strike infused with internal power, the five stone chains shattered, raining down in pieces.
The moment Seo-un’s feet touched the ground, he swung his hand. Sharp blades of wind flew out, beginning to circle around him.
— CLANG!
The moment a Wind Blade struck something with a sharp metallic ring, Seo-un charged toward the sound. Before he could take more than a few steps, a knight with a massive frame emerged from the shadows. The mark where the Wind Blade had struck was clearly visible on his shoulder.
The knight glanced at the deep scratch on his pauldron and instantly accelerated, closing the distance.
This again? How boring.
In response to the reckless short-range charge, Seo-un offered a Concussive Strike as a greeting.
— CLANG!
Huh?
— WHOOSH!
Seo-un, who had been ready to scoff as the enemy blocked his fist with a tiny buckler attached to his wrist, felt a sudden sense of dissonance. The moment he hit the shield, instead of the sensation of a solid impact, he felt his own strength being twisted and deflected away.
As expected, the enemy seemed completely unfazed and swung a ridiculously large sword. Seo-un had no intention of getting hit, so he dodged easily, but he was curious about the nature of that strange sensation.
— CLANG! SWISH! BOOM!
From then on, he engaged in a close-quarters melee with the knight, whose blade looked to be at least 1.6 meters long. After pouring out attacks for a while, he finally realized the source of the dissonance.
He’s using some kind of energy to reinforce his internals while angling his shield to deflect my punches.
If his opponent had been a martial artist, he would have taken it for granted. But having developed a prejudice that knights were just strong, stupid brutes, he never imagined a mere knight could perform such a sophisticated technique.
I thought it was some kind of magic... but it’s pure skill?
Just as Seo-un’s lips curled into a smirk, the knight quickly retreated, pulling back. Sensing a surge of mana, it seemed the mage hiding in the back was up to something again.
You think I’ll just let you?
This time, Seo-un closed the distance to the knight in an instant. Startled by the unexpected speed, the knight reflexively swung his sword. Instead of dodging, Seo-un struck the flat of the blade. The sword’s trajectory was knocked wide, throwing the knight off balance.
— CLANG!
His fist drove into the knight's momentarily exposed flank, but the knight twisted his body, deflecting the punch once more. It was an impressive display of reflexes.
However, the Boundless Fist wasn't some trivial martial art that staked everything on a single blow like a knight’s sword.
— CLANG! THUD! BOOM!
As Seo-un unleashed a flurry of consecutive strikes, the knight’s reactions grew sluggish. Finally, the knight barely managed to block a Concussive Strike with the flat of his blade, only to be sent flying backward.
It was a surreal sight—a massive knight in full plate armor being blown away by a single punch.
As soon as the knight was sent reeling, magic came flying in. The same condensed projectile from before exploded between him and the knight, the blast intended to push him back.
Their teamwork is decent.
Having no intention of falling for the same spell twice, Seo-un retreated before the aftershock could hit, widening the gap. In the meantime, the knight scrambled to his feet and adjusted his grip on his sword.
Seo-un was momentarily speechless at the knight's toughness; the man and his sword were still intact even after taking a Concussive Strike backed by eighty percent of his internal power.
Once the distance grew, a feast of magic unfolded as if they had been waiting for it. The most difficult spell to deal with was one that shook and sank the very ground he stood on. The power of martial arts begins with planting one's feet firmly on solid ground. Having the ground itself overturned was incredibly troublesome.
And every time he lost his balance, that sturdy knight would use a dash skill to charge at him, making things even more of a headache.
Alright, I’ve seen enough.
In an instant, Seo-un’s form split into four. The knight’s pupils, visible through his visor, shook violently.
— THUD!
Penetrating Strike.
The knight’s body staggered as a blow carrying a cluster of penetrating force struck his waist, boring into his internals. Simultaneously, another Penetrating Strike landed on the knight’s head. The knight coughed up blood and collapsed.
[ Ding...! ]
Without waiting to listen to the system message, Seo-un moved quickly, his form blurring as he dashed in one direction.
I’ve already pinpointed your location.
He had only been brawling with the knight to find the hidden mage. With a twist of his lips, he swung his hand. Two Wind Blades flew out. Instantly, a stone wall rose from the ground to block them.
— CRASH!
As the stone wall shattered under a follow-up blast of fist qi, the mage appeared, looking on with panicked eyes. Like a tiger pouncing on a startled rabbit, Seo-un lunged at the mage. Even in that moment, the mage raised the staff in his hand.
— BOOM!
Two massive slabs of stone shaped like human palms slammed together from both sides, attempting to crush Seo-un like a mosquito.
"So you had a trick like that hidden away."
The mage, thinking he had narrowly escaped the crisis, felt a chill run down his spine at the voice coming from behind him.
— THUD!
Before he could even turn around, the mage’s head was crushed, killing him instantly.
After wiping out the team, Seo-un looked around and saw six opened wooden crates. It seemed the duo he had just finished off were the survivors of a fight between the teams that had been waiting to ambush him.
He quickly finished looting and threw his Cloak of Stealth back on.
The night was still long.
*
As the morning of the third day approached, Seo-un finished his energy circulation and opened his eyes.
"Survivor list."
42/200
.
.
.
Jin Seo-un -> Karvil (Kill via Fist Technique)
He had hunted down three more teams last night alone. Two of those teams had spent most of their time running away, so he had spent more time chasing them than actually fighting. Even though names weren't floating over their heads, the enemies had somehow recognized him and chosen flight over combat.
His dantian felt heavy and full. Seo-un pulled a sandwich—ham, minced meat, and vegetables tucked between thick slices of bread—out of his subspace.
Now that his dantian was full, he had to fill his stomach. It was a stroke of luck to have looted such a delicacy from that mage. Eating a sandwich while watching the sun rise over the hill was an incredible experience. He thought it would be perfect if he could just wash the dried blood off his hands and body.
After finishing his meal, he stood up and stretched.
"Ugh! The remaining safe zone is still pretty big."
Even though only 20% of the players remained, the magnetic field still covered a significant area. Since he had been playing near the center of the zone, it felt exceptionally vast.
Then, two new markers appeared on the map. One was the territory of a Boss Monster, and the other was the location of a Buff Monster. These markers had started appearing once the magnetic field began shrinking every six hours.
"A Boss and a Buff Mob. Where should I go first?"
In the center of a circular area with a radius of about 200 meters, a massive snake lay coiled with its eyes closed on a floor engraved with pentagrams and geometric symbols.
Wait, should I call it an Imugi?
Seo-un grimaced at the sight of the hideous creature with pitch-black scales and what looked like either a horn or a lump on its head. He already disliked reptiles; it was just his luck that the Buff Monster was one of them.
"Sigh."
He let out a sigh and tentatively stepped inside the magic circle. The circle emitted a faint glow, and the Imugi opened its yellow, glowing eyes. The creature reared its head, staring at Seo-un with pupils slit into sharp vertical lines. Its body looked to be at least 40 meters long.
Startled by its height, which rivaled a medium-sized apartment building, Seo-un backed away repeatedly. The light of the magic circle faded, and the creature coiled back up and closed its eyes.
S-so that’s how it works. Thank god.
No matter how confident he was, he had absolutely no desire to fight that disgusting thing. He looked around the massive hollow—a space so vast it couldn't be called a cave, with a ceiling so high it was invisible—but he couldn't see any other players.
I expected at least a few people to be lurking, waiting for a chance.
After scanning the giant hollow, which offered almost no place to hide, Seo-un eventually turned back. Even if there was no threat from enemies, he couldn't fight a thing like that.
That’s not something meant to be hunted solo.
Even a duo wouldn't stand a chance. It looked like a monster that would require at least a 20-man squad to challenge.
Should I head toward the Boss?
He was about to open his map as he stepped out of the hollow when he sensed a subtle presence. His expression shifted instantly, like a predator that had spotted its prey. He turned toward the direction of the presence, ready to spring.
He prepared a Wind Blade in one hand, determined not to miss the slightest movement, and released a sharp aura toward his surroundings. Then, he heard the sound of someone gasping for breath from a small thicket next to the hollow.
He immediately fired the Wind Blade and moved.
"Aaaah!"
A scream rang out, followed by the sound of something falling. Just as he burst through the trees, ready to bring down his fist—
What entered Seo-un’s vision was a small boy.
Even to Seo-un, who knew next to nothing about the culture of this other world, the boy looked incredibly poor. He wore tattered clothes and had bleeding, bare feet. The boy was huddled on the ground, trembling violently with his hands over his head.
It seemed the Wind Blade he had thrown carelessly had sliced through the branch the boy was hiding on, causing him to fall.
"How old are you?"
He had no qualms about killing people in this game, but he hadn't lost enough of his humanity to strike down a trembling child in cold blood.