Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Take First Place (2)

-Total participants: 5,000

-Current participants: 199

Half a day had passed since the game began.

The number of participants had already fallen exponentially below 200, and all of a sudden, torrential rain began pouring down from the sky.

RUMBLE—!

The sound of rain and thunder filled the forest. For Min-jun, these were the best conditions possible.

‘Moving around has gotten harder, but from the hunter’s side, this is better.’

Min-jun was sneaking through the forest, following the prey he was aiming for.

‘Though it’s a little dark.’

As storm clouds gathered, the jungle had practically become a world of darkness, but even that was not a major problem.

‘My eyesight definitely got better.’

Whether it was thanks to his vision developing as his level rose, or because this body had been superior from the start, he could faintly make out shapes even in the darkness.

-Total participants: 5,000

-Current participants: 187

The number of participants was rapidly decreasing.

-Subjugation Success: Yu A-yeong (monster hunt successful)

-Subjugation Success: Yu A-yeong (monster hunt successful)

-Subjugation Success: Yu A-yeong (monster hunt successful)

‘There’s someone doing well even in this situation.’

With that much momentum through the orthodox method, calling her a candidate for victory would not be an exaggeration.

‘If everyone gets eliminated and I’m the only one left, I couldn’t ask for more.’

Of course, there was no way things in the world would work out that easily.

‘And.’

Having thought that far, Min-jun turned his gaze toward the targets he was chasing.

‘Those guys aren’t easy either.’

A party made up of six people. Min-jun was observing them from a distance.

They were different from small fry who only had numbers.

They had a structure of their own, and even in dangerous situations, they had shown fairly decent responses with the mustached party leader at the center.

Kueeek!

“Got it!”

“Good work!”

Another kobold collapsed, skewered on a blade.

An arrow fired from afar had lodged in its eye, making it practically unable to do anything, and the mustached man stabbed it to death.

“It feels like everyone’s getting the hang of it, right?”

“For starters, the equipment we got from the supplies is good. At this rate, we might make it all the way.”

They were winning even in this harsh environment and celebrating it.

Min-jun’s eyes narrowed.

‘They’ve already succeeded in hunting ten…….’

Watching the party adapt to this game with a solid composition, Min-jun felt that this PK would not be easy.

‘Still, it’s doable.’

He did not lose to anyone when it came to games. Min-jun’s eyes flashed coldly as he gripped the sword hilt.

***

“Mu-jin, wouldn’t it be better to get out of the rain somewhere first?”

“Hmm.”

The man called Mu-jin looked up at the sky and ran a hand over his mustache for a moment.

The rain was not just soaking his body anymore. It was striking his skin.

Perhaps deciding that continuing like this was no good, he nodded.

“Right. Let’s find somewhere safe, fill our stomachs first, and get some sleep too. I’m starting to get sick of doing this crap for hours.”

They exchanged glances as if everyone agreed, then began moving to find a place where they could avoid the rain.

-All participants’ locations will be revealed.

A map appeared just in time.

“It’s up.”

It was already the fifth alarm today.

The party stopped moving all at once to check the participants’ locations.

“Hmm?”

The mustached man, Mu-jin, discovered that there was another participant nearby besides themselves.

‘Not this way.’

But after seeing that the person was slowly moving in a different direction, he soon stopped caring. Something else was more important right now.

“Check whether there’s high ground nearby. Valley terrain is perfect for getting out of the rain. Everyone, keep checking the river’s location periodically.”

“Yes.”

“Got it!”

“As expected of a former special forces soldier!”

Just as the last man said.

With his long military experience in the special forces, Mu-jin knew well how to respond at times like this.

‘We can trust that man.’

That was exactly why the party members believed in and followed Mu-jin.

“We’re almost there.”

After arriving at a rocky hill, they soon faced a sheer cliff.

“There!”

In the direction the person at the front pointed, they could see a crack in the rock.

It was a hollow large enough for people to enter, with room to spare. Everyone’s expressions brightened at once.

“There might be something inside, so go in carefully. Carefully.”

“Yes!”

A musty smell flowed inside the hollow, but there was nothing in particular.

The six-person party finally loosened their equipment for the first time in a while and sat down on the ground to rest.

“Haa.”

The only woman in the party squeezed the water out of her soaked hair and grumbled.

“What kind of mess is this, seriously? They called innocent people here and trapped us in some strange forest…… Aren’t any of you annoyed?”

“Hey, isn’t it fun? They said there are rewards too. I think it’s worth doing.”

The man who had taken the lead of the party giggled and shrugged.

“They said we’re not really dying anyway. That, what was it, Wisdom…… whatever.”

“Spirit of Wisdom.”

“Yeah, that Wisdom thing. Didn’t you all hear what she said? Whether we’re eliminated or not, whether things go well or badly, she’ll send us back, right? We’ve made it into the top 250 too, so from now on, being scared is a loss.”

“I didn’t hear her say it like that.”

“Come on, that’s because you weren’t focusing, brother. I definitely heard it, okay? If we don’t die, what’s the problem? Right? Let’s be positive, everyone. Everything else is fine, but sometimes you all get way too gloomy!”

The man who had been chattering excitedly threw off his armor and shoes, then lay down against the wall.

“So get some sleep before daybreak, everyone.”

“Before that, we decide on the night watch.”

Mu-jin cut off his words.

“One person at a time, one hour each. Si-nae, you go first. The first turn should be the easiest.”

“That works for me.”

The woman called Si-nae winked with one eye and stood with her back against the entrance.

“Sleep. I just have to wake one of you in an hour, right?”

At the word sleep, the men began sluggishly lying down.

Perhaps because they were tired, the place was soon vibrating with snores. She furrowed her brows and shook her head.

‘I was at home, then suddenly got dragged all the way here. I don’t even know what I’m doing right now…….’

Looking at her arm, which was full of small wounds, she let out a deep sigh.

Unlike her body in reality, her current physique was nearly 175 centimeters tall, and her forearms were as thick as a man’s, so she could not get used to it at all.

‘And I’m as strong as men too.’

-Level: 3

-Subjugations: 3

‘Whew.’

She shook off her idle thoughts and blankly stared outside the cave, where rain was pouring down.

The dark jungle scenery……

RUMBLE—!

“That scared me.”

Lightning flashed nearby. The forest scenery brightened brilliantly for an instant, then darkened again.

“What kind of lightning strikes this close…….”

How long had she been there?

Lightning struck nearby once more.

CRAAASH—!

“Hm?”

This time, she tilted her head. She felt as if she had seen a strange shadow in the brightened scenery.

“I think something moved…….”

-All participants’ locations will be revealed.

Then.

A map flashed before her eyes.

It was a map where the survivors’ locations were shown with red marks.

She scanned it indifferently, then suddenly opened her eyes wide.

‘Huh?’

Six people inside the cave.

And one more right in front of them.

Seven participant markers?

“Ah……!”

RUMBLE—!

Lightning flashed, and just as she was about to scream, something “grotesque” came close before her eyes.

A person…… with mud smeared all over his body!

Thwack-!

“……Gghk!”

A sword entered her neck, and her shout could not escape outside.

But it was enough sound to wake someone sensitive.

“What was that sound…….”

As Mu-jin flinched awake, a mass of black mud poured down over his head.

***

‘Eat this!’

Min-jun poured a bowlful of mud from the basket he had been carrying on his back.

“Keugh!”

Then, without hesitation, he stabbed his sword into the party leader, who was flailing after having it dumped over his face.

“Wh-What bastard!”

“What is it?”

It was the same for the others who woke in surprise.

They had been defenseless, and against Min-jun’s indiscriminate ambush, they were helpless.

In an instant, four out of six people, including the party leader, were attacked and collapsed.

“You crazy bastard, you’re swinging a sword at people?”

“Grab him!”

A flash flickered in the darkness.

‘Hup!’

Min-jun hurriedly twisted his waist. He felt something sharp cut his hair and brush past his ear.

When he hurriedly raised his sword, sparks flew before his eyes with a clang.

“Eeeek!”

A blind blade flew toward him relentlessly.

Min-jun calmly stepped back and readied his sword.

CRAAASH!

The moment lightning flashed and bright light entered the cave, he did not miss the chance and rushed forward with all his strength.

“Kuhuuuk!”

‘One guy!’

His sword pierced one man’s solar plexus.

Riding that momentum, he slammed his whole body toward another man with all his strength.

Min-jun struck the weakest part of the man’s face—his eyeball—with his hand.

“Ugh! You bas……tard……!”

Thwack-!

The sword buried itself again in the chest of the man who could no longer see.

A series of movements as smooth as flowing water.

The senses that had risen with his level had instinctively awakened a method of fighting in him.

“Hoo, hoo…….”

Min-jun let out rough breaths.

‘It didn’t go as well as I thought, but this should be fine, right?’

The original plan had been to deal with them before they even woke from sleep, but it seemed nothing ever went exactly according to plan.

“Hoo, one wrong move and I could’ve died.”

Min-jun let out a sigh.

“What…… are you……?”

Then, a voice came from behind.

Min-jun hurriedly turned around.

“What kind of…… bastard…… are you?”

The mustached man, Mu-jin, was staggering to his feet.

The center of his abdomen had been pierced through, and he was floundering, but he was a man with grit.

“Someone who came to take back the things he left with you.”

When he answered that way, Mu-jin slowly closed his eyes along with the words, “I’ll see you later.”

“I don’t know if there’ll be a chance to see each other again, though.”

The six corpses soon turned into white ash and fluttered away.

‘Damn it, this feels filthy.’

Min-jun looked down at his trembling hands and clicked his tongue.

The feeling of hunting people. Even if he had a good enough reason, he could not help finding it unpleasant.

‘Still…….’

-Level increased.

-Stats have increased.

-Absorbing “Jang Si-nae’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Park Byeong-jun’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Kim Seong-jin’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Kim Han-sae’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Kim Jang-hun’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Go Mu-jin’s” experience and subjugation data.

The alarms appeared without stopping.

And.

-Level: 7

-Subjugations: 21

“That’s it.”

Feeling the vitality swelling through his entire body, Min-jun let out a hollow laugh.

The darkness before his eyes peeled away by another layer, and now he could even distinguish each tree branch.

‘The problem is…….’

Min-jun clicked his tongue as he saw six notifications of “death by player” appear in a row.

‘At this point, the others will feel a sense of danger too.’

Now everyone would surely realize that players were also “risk factors,” not “allies.”

Most of the participants would realize that this game was survival.

‘Still, I raised my level a lot. And above all…….’

Min-jun looked around the cave.

The weapons and supplies left behind by the six-person party were scattered everywhere.

‘With this much, my supplies should be loaded compared to anyone else’s.’

There was so much he could not take all of it. He would have to leave behind useless equipment.

-Duskmane Bow

-Duskmane Arrows

-Mithril Sword

‘Good items even show item information, huh……. This really is a game.’

When he touched them, item information appeared and proved their value, so he quickly packed only those three pieces of equipment.

He did not forget to take the food and the mysterious reagents either.

‘I’ve gone this far, so I absolutely have to become the winner of this game.’

Min-jun tightly gripped the equipment that had grown much more plentiful. Honestly, if it was for the sake of his lost ankle, he could do even worse.

‘What do I do from here?’

Just as he was thinking about his future direction.

-As your level has exceeded 5, your avatar’s Trait has manifested.

“Huh?”

-Avatar Status Window activated.

-Please check your avatar information.

-Command: Check Avatar Information

Once again, unknown messages filled his vision.