Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Take First Place (1)

-Level: 4

-Subjugations: 4

‘It went up?’

And by a number noticeably higher than before. Who would have thought that taking out someone who had gotten dragged in by accident would lead to this?

‘Don’t tell me this game’s genre is…….’

Min-jun’s head spun quickly. It was the moment the basic framework of this “game” changed all at once inside him.

“Competition…….”

Looking at the glittering sword left behind where the man’s corpse had disappeared, Min-jun muttered as if possessed.

He remembered the unidentified voice that had repeatedly emphasized the word competition before this game began.

“Not just an RPG…… competition…….”

He picked up the sword hilt that had fallen to the ground and examined it.

It was a well-honed blade. Unlike the one he had, it seemed to be made for slashing rather than stabbing.

‘The experience and subjugation record of the person I killed, and even their weapon, come into my hands?’

His eyes shone coldly, and his mind began turning rapidly.

The “answer to the game,” which had not come to him no matter how much he had thought until now, felt as if it was finally within reach.

‘At this point, no one except me knows yet.’

There had not been any deaths by players—that is, PK(Player Killing)—until now.

Except for the “accident” he had just committed, that was.

‘As time passes, someone will realize it. This is survival, after all.’

Hunting 1,000 monsters? He had expected it, but it really was absurd bullshit.

How long would it even take to sit around killing 1,000 monsters in the first place?

‘This was just a game where you kill people worth 1,000 monsters.’

A hollow laugh escaped him.

To think it was this simple.

It meant there was no reason to go around alone searching for and killing 1,000 monsters.

If he eliminated just twenty people who had caught fifty monsters each, he would become the winner of this game.

‘No, even if that’s not it, if all the competitors disappear and I’m the only one left…….’

That would also be first place. It was only natural that the final person left would rise to first place.

“So it was this simple game.”

Min-jun smiled bitterly as he slung the sword he had recovered over his back.

‘To aim for first place, I have no choice but to throw away shame and become a vicious PK user from now on…… What am I going to do?’

While Min-jun was lost in thought, another translucent guide window began flowing before his eyes.

-A notice from the Spirit Channel has arrived.

‘What is this?’

Another guide message appeared.

But the contents that followed were something he had never seen before.

-Random supplies have arrived.

-The location of the supplies will be revealed.

A map of the forest appeared before his eyes. His own location was shown as a blue dot, and the supplies’ location as a red dot.

He could not tell the locations of the other participants. There were only those two dots.

‘As if to prove this is a survival game, they’re already pulling this cheap trick.’

To Min-jun, who had been tempered through games, the situation of a “supply drop” was beyond familiar. He was sick of it.

He also knew very well what was needed in this kind of situation.

‘What matters is luck and momentum.’

First, luck.

In this vast forest, there was only one supply drop, so joy and sorrow would inevitably split depending on where it had fallen.

Fortunately, that first factor was on Min-jun’s side.

‘It’s close.’

Judging by the scale through instinct, it was roughly around 500 meters away. Even considering this was a forest, it was close enough to reach within eight minutes on foot.

‘This isn’t the time for this.’

Min-jun hurriedly began moving.

In this kind of situation, standing around in confusion and watching would get him nowhere. It was obvious that there would be no small number of people aiming for the supplies.

“Hoo, hoo.”

He quickly ran through the squelching swamp.

‘I can’t get caught.’

After realizing this was survival, Min-jun could no longer act carelessly.

‘Monsters are dangerous, people are dangerous. There’s nothing that isn’t dangerous.’

He could not go around advertising his own location, so he had to move through the darkest, most overgrown places possible.

He could not make loud noises either, and his senses had to stay tense as they swept his surroundings at all times.

‘One wrong move and I’m gone in an instant.’

To put it bluntly, could he guarantee that a blind sword would not suddenly fly at him, just like the man he had killed?

Min-jun reached the area near the supplies with movements as stealthy as possible.

‘There they are.’

He lay flat. It was a swampy area where water soaked the ground, but he did not care.

‘No…….’

After confirming the place where the supplies were, Min-jun had no choice but to grit his teeth.

Unfamiliar intruders were wandering around the wooden box that seemed to be the supplies.

Kiriririk.

Kiiiiik.

At a glance, they were three lizards walking on two legs.

However, they were twice the size of an adult man, their bodies were full of glittering scales, and they held spears and shields in their hands.

‘Lizardmen?’

In Min-jun’s head, no word other than that came to mind. They were the textbook form of a race called “Lizardmen.”

‘They must be on a different level from that kobold thing earlier, right?’

There was no need to think about it. Just from how they looked, he could feel that they were no ordinary enemies.

It seemed as though an oppressive presence poured from their entire bodies.

Kigigigigi…….

They made chilling sounds as they constantly swept their surroundings.

They were circling the area as if guarding the supplies.

‘How am I supposed to touch that…….’

Min-jun lay flat and twisted his face. He had already come too deep to run away now, so he could neither do this nor that.

‘I got caught in the wrong thing. This is practically a trap, isn’t it?’

A fishy smell of water seeped thickly in from all directions, and tiny bugs began crawling up his body one by one, but Min-jun remained frozen with tension and could not move an inch.

‘I have to find a way somehow.’

Crack-!

Startled, he slightly turned his head.

A sound of wood breaking came from the opposite side.

Splash.

Something fell into the water.

“Aaak!”

A human voice.

It was the scream of someone who had been watching the situation from up in a tree and had fallen from above.

Naturally, the Lizardmen’s attention focused on that side in an instant.

Kiririririk!

Kieeeek!

The three Lizardmen rushed toward the direction of the sound as if racing one another.

“N-No, uaaaaaagh!”

The person flailed and swung his sword around, but it was obvious he would not last long.

It was the moment Min-jun’s eyes flashed.

‘Now.’

He kicked off the ground and ran through the swamp in an instant.

Now that the Lizardmen’s attention was focused elsewhere, there would never be another chance if he missed this one.

“Uaaaaaagh!”

Pretending not to hear the eerie scream, Min-jun sprinted through the swamp at full speed.

He wrapped both arms around the large box-shaped supplies with all his strength.

“I got it.”

“Got it!”

Two pairs of eyes met in the air.

‘Who is that?’

A tall man had grabbed the supplies at the exact same time as him and was wearing a blank expression.

Min-jun was the first to come to his senses.

“Don’t freeze up. Move it first!”

“……Ah!”

The two of them stood awkwardly and lifted the box together, as if carrying it between them.

“Run!”

They began fleeing into the forest with squelching steps.

As fast as possible before the Lizardmen noticed.

Even a little farther away.

“Hek, huff!”

“Urgh!”

Because they were moving in an uncomfortable posture, it felt as though their stamina was draining away.

“Huff, huff!”

How long had they run?

After looking back and confirming there was no sign of the Lizardmen, Min-jun said,

“Damn it.”

“Haa, oh man, I’m dying.”

Without deciding who went first, they both collapsed onto the ground.

Even while catching his breath, Min-jun shook the shoulder of the man lying beside him.

“Don’t fight…… Let’s split it between the two of us, the two of us…….”

“Haa, haa, I get it, I get…… it, so please stop shaking me. Seriously, I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

“We split it nicely…… nicely…….”

“Ah, seriously…….”

Even while panting, Min-jun got up and checked the box.

He did not forget to glance at the guy who was still lying down.

‘Some freeloader had to show up out of nowhere, damn it.’

Grumbling, he threw open the lid of the box.

‘Should I just grab everything and run?’

Flinch.

Perhaps sensing something suspicious, the guy who had collapsed got unsteadily to his feet and clung to the box.

“What’s inside?”

“Be quiet. I’m looking right now.”

“……Why are you getting mad…….”

“Shh.”

He waved his hand in irritation and checked inside the box.

“This is…….”

“Whoa…….”

A glittering sword and shield, a quiver and bow, and potion bottles filled with red reagent hanging from a belt came into view.

There was hard bread and bottled water, of course, and even calorie bars made of grains.

It felt as if everything they needed was there.

‘As expected, this is a jackpot.’

If he had eaten it all alone, it definitely would have become an enormous advantage. Min-jun felt as if his eyes were spinning.

“How do we split this?”

“If it’s hard, we can leave the equipment aside for now and split the food half and half…….”

Just as the two were grinning and looking inside,

“Looks like you picked up something nice somewhere.”

The people hiding in the undergrowth revealed themselves. They appeared all at once in a sudden rush, so he could not even react.

“Let us join in too.”

The two men’s expressions hardened.

At a glance, there were five or six opponents. They were clearly people who had been lying in ambush nearby.

‘Damn it all…….’

Led by a man with a mustache, six men and women closed the distance as if surrounding them.

A clearly ominous aura flowed from around them.

‘Are these guys fairly settled in already?’

There was a person holding a bow in the middle, a person holding a shield, a person watching the rear, and the mustached man at the front. It was a fairly systematically divided group.

They looked exactly like the concept of a “party” from an RPG.

“That thing, it’s the supplies from the notice, right?”

Min-jun smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“Yes, well…… since meeting like this is also fate, we can generously share some food with you.”

“Let’s open it and see first.”

The mustached man strode over and began looking inside the box as if it belonged to him.

“Not bad.”

After examining it for a while, he called someone’s name.

“Jang Si-nae.”

“Yes.”

A woman standing behind with an arrow nocked on the string reacted.

“Bring our bag quickly.”

“Yes, I already prepared it.”

Those bastards right now…….

Min-jun squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.

He had realized what they were planning.

“Look, mister.”

“I’m not a mister, but what?”

“……Are you really going to act like this?”

“Act like what?”

At that moment, seeing the eyes of the six people in the party grow fierce, Min-jun clicked his tongue once.

“We don’t have to do this. We can settle this nicely, can’t we? There are eight of us altogether, so I think there’ll be enough if we split it evenly…….”

The mustached man reacted to Min-jun’s words.

Pfft.

He laughed?

Min-jun’s eyes twitched. The other man was openly mocking him.

“Hey, kid. If it’s enough when split among eight people, haven’t you thought about how much better it would be if six people took it all?”

The mustached man drew out the end of his words and smiled deeply.

“In this kind of thing, it’s always survival of the fittest. Never forget that next time. Think of it as your big brother giving you a life lesson.”

Yes.

Might made right.

Who would not know that? But no one wanted to be the sacrifice.

“Wow, there’s a lot here. No wonder they called it supplies.”

The mustached man transferred the items inside the supply box into a leather pouch and glanced over.

“What are you all doing?”

He tossed out those words.

His expression was overflowing with the ease of someone who had already finished establishing the hierarchy. It was the moment Min-jun’s eyes began to turn cold.

“What are you planning to do by staying there? You should hurry up and go take care of your business.”

At those words, the man who had moved the supplies with Min-jun raised both hands.

“Haaaa!”

He let out a deep sigh.

“……We cooked the porridge, then gave it to the dog.”

With those words, he turned and disappeared.

“Isn’t he with you? You should go with him.”

Min-jun remained still and engraved each of their faces into his head.

The mustached man chuckled and tossed something at Min-jun’s feet.

“I’m being generous, so use that for whatever purpose you can. I’m giving it to you as a sign that you shouldn’t loiter any longer. Seeing you keep standing next to me is annoying.”

Min-jun stood still as he looked at the piece of calorie bar that rolled across the ground, then slowly picked it up and put it in his mouth.

Crunch-!

Feeling the hard nuts being chewed, Min-jun turned around.

“Straighten your shoulders, kid!”

The mustached man threw out a sneer as if determined to ruin his mood until the very end.

The whole time Min-jun disappeared into the distance, it felt as if he could hear that man’s snickering laughter.

‘I learned a good lesson.’

Their actions were not bad.

Was this not survival?

In a situation where killing and stealing were allowed, robbing supplies by force of numbers was nothing.

‘I was just naïve and got taken advantage of.’

But now it was different.

This was survival, a match where there was no need to hesitate if something was to his benefit.

-Do not hesitate.

-The moment you hesitate, the prey becomes you.

Those words were right.

Whether it was PK, plundering, or anything else.

‘I can’t hesitate anymore.’

His reunion with the ankle he had parted from three years ago was on the line.

Min-jun looked back at the path he had walked and tightly shut his mouth.