Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Take First Place (3)

“Check Avatar Information.”

-Level: 7

-Subjugations: 21

-Cunning Assassin(D-Grade)

-Trait: Keen Eyes(F-Rank)

‘Come to think of it, this existed.’

It was a short message.

And it looked familiar.

It was the “avatar” information he had received from Ariel, the Spirit of Wisdom, before arriving here. It could be considered the identity of this current body.

“Cunning Assassin…….”

Min-jun stared at it as if savoring the words, then opened his mouth in a low voice.

“Keen Eyes?”

-Cunning Assassin Trait, Keen Eyes.

“Huh.”

A guide message appeared as if responding to his words.

-Expands vision by consuming mental strength. Activated by focusing power into the eyes and looking toward a distant direction.

‘That’s possible?’

Half-doubtful, Min-jun looked at a distant point outside the cave.

Wiiiiing.

An intense high-frequency sound burst inside his head, and his vision began changing in an instant.

The whole world widened and narrowed again and again, and the range he could see gradually grew more and more vast.

“Wh-What, sss!”

Blue phosphorescence gathered in his eyes, and his teeth clacked together.

He was certain that, if he set his mind to it, he could even see a single ant hundreds of meters away. But…….

“Aaaargh!”

In the end, Min-jun closed his eyes and clutched his head.

A bizarre noise he had never heard in his life rang through his skull.

The feeling that the air in every direction was being compressed and tightening around his whole body was…….

‘Now I know why it’s F-Rank, damn it!’

He had no way to maintain it for more than three seconds at most.

Before even discussing whether it was practical or not, the problem was the agony while using it.

‘This means the others all have abilities like this too, right?’

If his prediction was correct, it meant anyone who passed Level 5 awakened this kind of ability.

Was it some kind of survival game with superpower elements? Min-jun convinced himself that way.

‘At my current level, I shouldn’t be behind anyone, but I can’t let my guard down. With a system like this, someone could catch up in an instant.’

Because someone might appear with a much better ability than his.

“Hoo.”

After clutching his head and groaning for a long while, Min-jun finally came to his senses.

He checked the remaining number of people.

‘The number of people has gone down quite a bit too.’

-Total participants: 5,000

-Current participants: 121

Min-jun’s level was 7.

At this level, he would probably win most head-on fights.

However.

‘Things in the world aren’t that simple.’

After constantly checking the survivors’ locations on his way here, what Min-jun had felt was that there were not many “solo” players.

‘Humans feel safer when they gather in groups, so it can’t be helped.’

Most of them had already gathered in twos and threes early in the game and formed parties.

No matter how high his level was, he lacked the numbers to face them alone.

‘That doesn’t mean I can join a party either.’

To be honest, it was hard to trust anyone.

He did not like the idea of moving together with people who would obviously be weaker than him, but the biggest problem was that he could not trust them.

“Haam…….”

After thinking for a while, Min-jun let out a long yawn. The rain still had not stopped, and his body felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

‘First, let’s sleep a little. Just a little.’

How much time had passed after he closed his eyes?

The rain that had been pouring endlessly stopped, the sky cleared, and the hot sun rose again.

-An Administrator’s notice has arrived.

Min-jun had to snap his eyes open.

“Ugh……!”

-Supplies have arrived.

-The location of the supplies will be revealed.

“Supplies!”

At the word supplies, his drowsiness disappeared in an instant.

‘Please be near me! Please be right in front of me! No, just give it to me! Just hand it over!’

Min-jun quickly checked the map that appeared before his eyes. What mattered was the distance between him and the supplies.

‘Please, please, please, please!’

As he clutched his pounding heart and measured the gap, Min-jun’s expression soon crumpled.

“Of course.”

Too far.

The supplies were too far away.

They were not just distant. They were practically on opposite ends.

Even if he ran, it looked like it would take several hours.

“Whoever gets it, just eat it, damn…….”

Min-jun pretended it did not bother him, but he clutched his bitter stomach and flopped onto his back.

That was how important he knew supplies were in this game.

‘Now that the rain has stopped, the weather is nice, the wind is nice…… Was this place always this peaceful?’

It must have been when he was muttering leisurely while looking up at the jungle sky, now clear after the rain.

-Eliminated: Min Byeong-gwan (death by player)

“Hm?”

-Eliminated: Lee Jeong-su (death by player)

-Eliminated: Kim Su-min (death by player)

“Huh……?”

-Eliminated: Yeo Jae-ik (death by player)

-Eliminated: Choi Hyeon (death by player)

-Eliminated: Kang Ho-jun (death by player)

-Eliminated: Jeong Su-seok (death by player)

-…….

-Eliminated: Kim Hyeon-ju (death by player)

“Th-This…….”

Min-jun was momentarily speechless at the elimination information appearing in a rush.

When he sprang up and checked again, the number of people who had died “by player” alone was at least seventeen. No, even at this moment, one or two more were being added.

“What is this? What happened?”

-All participants’ locations will be revealed.

The location display that appeared exactly on the hour arrived before his eyes just in time.

Min-jun, filled with confusion, found the answer to the current situation in the map marked with the participants’ locations.

‘They’re fighting. And it’s not just one or two groups. A large-scale war has broken out.’

At least dozens of participants were gathered around the place where the supplies had dropped.

Clearly, a knife fight had broken out over the supplies.

‘Why a battlefield…….’

Min-jun’s mind spun rapidly.

‘Ah.’

The conclusion was simple.

The equipment inside the supplies was important, of course.

But for those who had spent almost an entire day here, there was something even more important.

‘Food.’

In a jungle, simply walking around consumed over four thousand calories a day.

And these were participants who had survived until now while fighting close battles against monsters, staying constantly tense, and enduring that torrential downpour.

In front of limited food, would they really have any mental strength left to stay rational?

‘The fact that the number of participants is dropping sharply is good news, but.’

The remaining participants had already fallen below 100, but Min-jun could not simply laugh.

‘If things turn out like this, everyone will learn the merit of PK now.’

Until now, only an extremely small number of people knew the effect PK had on this game.

But not anymore.

“So from now on, the real main game begins.”

Min-jun had nothing to hold back anymore.

He quickly kicked off the ground and stood.

He had no room to keep his ability in reserve.

‘I have to gain even a little more profit.’

Impatience rose inside him.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Stay still!”

And the sound that came the next moment answered the wish he had been longing for.

***

Min-jun ran at full speed toward the direction the sound had come from.

‘What kind of scene is this now?’

The sight he discovered was, how should he put it? Completely unexpected, yet somehow familiar…….

“You got into trouble because you wandered around alone. Who told you to act up, huh? Acting up like that!”

“People like you always don’t listen when we’re being nice, then end up getting hurt.”

Three male thugs with small wounds all over their bodies.

“You pieces of trash, don’t come near me!”

And in front of them, a woman stood precariously with a sword in hand.

‘Ah, this kind of thing really exists.’

Hiding at a distance, Min-jun had a blank impression as he watched a setup so common it was trite.

You know the kind that always comes out in games, comics, novels, and the like. Right?

‘Who turned on this broadcast?’

In an instant, Min-jun had become a spectator.

“Are you bastards not embarrassed, ganging up on me as men? If you have any pride, cut off your dicks. They’re useless anyway!”

“Stop acting up, please. The big brothers are holding back a lot right now.”

Unlike the petty thugs, she was a woman with fire in her.

She held two swords crossed and kept swinging them threateningly.

‘That…….’

A strange light entered Min-jun’s eyes.

“You people don’t even know how to play a game! Come here! I’ll take at least one of you with me, so come in if you’re confident!”

With her sword tips aimed forward.

She did not forget to spit out a spiteful warning at the men slowly approaching.

“One of you who comes in first! I’m killing that one! I clearly warned you!”

Seeing her bare her teeth and resist even while quite exhausted, Min-jun smiled.

‘This is interesting.’

Even while Min-jun watched with fascinated eyes, the men were closing the distance with their blood pressure clearly rising.

The men flinched as if hesitating, then.

“Grab her!”

“Stop acting up and come here!”

They rushed in all at once.

No matter how impressive her momentum was, it was not particularly difficult for three men to deal with a woman whose stamina had run out.

“Urgh, let go!”

The woman’s arm was snatched in an instant, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Ugh!”

“That’s why we told you to listen while we were talking nicely, didn’t we? Huh? Hand this over!”

The moment one of the men roughly snatched the sword from the woman’s hand.

‘Now should be fine, right?’

Min-jun no longer stood by.

‘Good thing I have this.’

Silently.

He took out the dark-colored bow and knocked an arrow to the string.

It was the Duskmane Bow and Duskmane Arrows he had obtained from the supplies.

‘This is my first time using a bow, but.’

He slowly drew the string back.

‘At this distance, I can hit him.’

If he shot like this, it would hit.

He had never fired a bow before, but he instinctively felt it.

This would hit.

Fwoosh-!

The arrow flew with a ripping sound, dancing through the air in an arc.

Thud-!

With a dull sound.

“Huh?”

It flew and lodged in the head of the man holding the woman down.

The man collapsed with a face that said he had no idea what had happened, then turned to ash.

“Wh-What the hell!”

“Fr-From behind, behind, behind, behi—Aaaagh!”

One more shot.

This time, the arrow Min-jun had drawn pierced straight through the shoulder of the man keeping watch from a distance.

“Wh-Who is it?! Wh-What bastard……!”

The man, who was looking around while raising his sword, could not continue speaking.

A silver arc was drawn from Min-jun’s hand as he rushed in instantly, and he cut down the thug’s neck in one stroke.

Slice.

The man fell as if cut like a bundle of straw in a scarecrow.

‘This thing is insanely sharp!’

Even Min-jun was startled by the sharpness of the silver sword.

The process of eliminating the three participants was over in an instant, flowing as smoothly as water.

-Level increased.

-Stats have increased.

-Absorbing “Jeon Bong-dal’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Song Chang-ryeol’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Absorbing “Kang Gyeong-rok’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Level: 8

-Subjugations: 32

‘Good.’

It was an alarm that felt good no matter how many times he heard it.

Min-jun shrugged in satisfaction. He could feel himself gradually getting used to combat.

Even the bow, which he was firing for the first time in his life, fit snugly into his hand as if some kind of correction had been applied.

‘This is more doable than I expected.’

He recovered his sword and looked around the scene.

“You are…….”

The woman was looking at him. Min-jun scratched his chin for a moment, then approached her.

“Excuse me.”

Min-jun approached her with a good-natured smile.

If this were inside a novel, this would have been the point where a trite romance began.

“Do you like PK?”

But this time, it was different.

“Pardon?”

For an instant, her eyes trembled.

Min-jun quickly scanned her appearance.

Two swords, sturdy leather boots, and armor firmly fixed in place with thick bands.

“I don’t know who you got that equipment from…… but I thought you had gathered quite a lot of useful things.”

“What are you…… talking about……?”

Min-jun looked at her with serious eyes.

“When did you catch them? I’m a little interested in PK, you see. Exactly when did you start?”

“…….”

At that moment, the woman’s eyes grew fierce. A flashing silver object flew chillingly toward his neck.

CLANG—!

Min-jun, who had already prepared for it, raised his bow and easily knocked it aside.

‘To think a PK user appeared while I was asleep for a moment.’

In truth, he had known from the beginning that she was a PK user.

Her strangely well-prepared equipment was one thing.

The way she had searched for an opening with killing intent, even in front of three men, was another.

And above all.

-You people don’t even know how to play a game!

That line had been decisive.

The grudge between her and the men she had been arguing with had probably been caused by PK.

‘This means I’m in a hurry too.’

Min-jun widened the distance lightly and knocked an arrow to the string.

He saw the panic in the woman’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“W-Wait!”

Fwing-!

The arrow cut through the air and lodged in the middle of her forehead.

-Absorbing “Shin Min-a’s” experience and subjugation data.

-Level: 9

-Subjugations: 39

As he watched her slowly turn to ash and scatter, Min-jun rubbed the back of his neck.

If he had been a little more naïve, he would have handed over his level like a ghost and been eliminated from the game.

‘What a bloodless, tearless game.’

Even while seeing that he had reached Level 9, it was hard to shake off the unsettled feeling.

‘This won’t do. I have to get even farther ahead than I am now.’

Latecomers were already beginning to appear.

If more people who used growth through PK as a stepping stone appeared from now on, they would be threats to Min-jun as well.

‘What do I do?’

Min-jun worked his head.

He needed some kind of move.

A move close to cheating, one that would let the front-runner shake off the latecomers…….

‘Is there anywhere I can PK properly?’

Was that too evil?

What could he do, when feeling guilty about PK that was not even murder would make him the fool instead?

This was absolutely profitable.

‘Where should I catch them?’

Now that the number of participants had dropped sharply, relying on an hourly notification to search for people was not easy. If he roamed around too much, he might run into monsters and become their food instead.

“Somewhere people might gather…….”

-An Administrator’s notice has arrived.

Then.

-The central island has opened.

-All participants, please move swiftly. Failure to arrive within the time limit will result in elimination from the game.

A map appeared before his eyes.

It was different from the maps until now.

‘So the arena is shrinking.’

It was a map with the island terrain surrounded by a river in the center marked by a circle.

-Time remaining: 7 hours 59 minutes 42 seconds

An eight-hour timer appeared at the corner of his vision.

It meant that if he failed to enter that area within the time limit, he would be eliminated from the game.

‘This is it!’

Min-jun’s eyes moved quickly. A slight smile formed around his mouth.

An ordinary person would be preoccupied with hurrying to move to the safe zone, but Min-jun was different.

His game experience had not been gained for nothing. His gaming philosophy was shouting that this was not a crisis, but an opportunity.

‘There’s no chance more certain than this.’

Min-jun quickly picked up a tree branch and began drawing a condensed version of the map’s contents.

The area where he was.

The island area that had appeared on the map.

And the eight-hour time limit.

Min-jun marked several places with circles on the area he had drawn on the ground.

“Here.”

A smile spread across Min-jun’s lips as he pointed to one place.

“Yeah.”

It was a point near the river, a road that had to be passed in order to reach the central island area.

“It’s time to have a proper hunt.”