The Masked Killer Pt.1

Hans was now standing in front of the border to the Level 20 Yellow zone or Second area of Cerulean Forest.

[You have entered Pt.2 Of Cerulean Forest]

Hans0 noticed that the tree here had some space between them but they had much thicker barks and darker leaves. He also noticed purple cacoons near the roots of the trees. They were his next target. 'Poison cacoon'

He took out his blade ready to strike. He hit the cacoon but it hardly moved, more it hardly bothered Hans' strike. Hans had read about these cartoons they had high defense but they had a simple weak spot making them an easy exp machine for every level 10-20 player. Hans simply lifted the cacoon and located a hole. He pricked the blade inside the cacoon.

[You have hit a critical spot]

[You have defeated Poison Cacoon]

[You have obtained 3000 EXP]

Hans was just about to move.

ding!

[Lucky! You have obtained Bug Catcher Mask]

The mask was cream-colored, with a spiral-type design incoming from two holes like eyes. He wore it.

[You gave hidden your ID]

This mask is one of the rarest items popular among assassins.

[Removing this mask will increase your strength and agility by 20℅]

There are two this area was created. First is hope and second is despair. First, hope the cartoons are easy to defeat here, but second despair, the drop rate is awful which makes players spend a huge amount of time. And Bug Cather's Mask only sells for 10,000 gold which isn't anything in front of the other assassin mask.

But Hans got lucky, maybe a beginner's luck. He laughed it off. For the next hour, Hans continued to kill the cacoons raising his level to 13. But now he needed 10,000 EXP to reach level 14. As Hans was busy farming he heard footsteps from behind he noticed that it was played. It looks like he had silver-plated armor, one of the best starter items, and from behind the barrier, the nearby players appeared one by one from the First area. They were here to prove their strength in front of the internet.

Hans looked at their armor, he was sure all of them were between level 10 to 20, as he had worn them or saw his clanmates. But Hans was clueless as to why had these players had gathered here. Had a rare boss just spawned here? Or a cool new item. He thought of following them but the players stopped in front of them.

"Hmm Are you the players who killed the girls?" One of the players asked.

Hans not knowing he was targeted reluctantly said "Yes"

The players' stale faces immediately turned into a grin. It was like hundreds of hunters surrounding clueless prey.

"Let me just kill him real quick?" A player with an ax came forwards but another player raised his hands in front of the other player's way. "Who are you?" He gave a death glare.

"Who the hell are you?" The player with the ax pushed him. The other player pushed him back. "Huh"

[You are surrounded by hostile entities]

[Do you want to activate Dragon Fear?]

'Yes'

The players looked at the upward notification in front of them.

[Your stats have decreased by 20℅]

The players who were fighting stopped, they looked at Hans0 and gave death glares "You did that" Both of them said slowly in unison.

The other player turned their focus on Hans.

"I am gonna kill him" All of them ran towards him. The mages in the back created spells.

'Dragon Calm'

[Increase Strength by 63℅]

[Your Strength, MP, and Agility has increased by 60℅ as long you aren't depleted of mana]

[You are now spilling mana]

Hans jumped and stood on top of the tree and he started to flee.

"Oi. Why the hell are you running?" The players shouted. 'Like I am gonna fight you guys' Hans continued to jump from back to branch but of the mages in the group was quite skilled.

'Dark Bind'

[You have been held into position]

A blue fog surrounded Hans as he fell down the tee he was standing on. After a few seconds, the bind was released as the player who cast it was low leveled like his per here to kill Hans.

'I have no choice but to fight'

A man with a group of five players came forwards. The players noticed him immediately. An upcoming Star Rookie, Byung-Hoon, is a Korean. The players stepped back as they didn't want to trigger the Hoon clan.

"You. Let's fight. If I win you will become my subordinate" Hans0 without speaking simply modes his head but behind the mask, he was shivering with fear. Even he managed to defeat Byung there were many other players ready to kill him.

Byung took out a bright red orb. It was Second Class Item that increases fire attributed magic skills, it costs 100k gold. But due to the Hoon clan's riches, Byung got the orb easily as he held the golden spoon.

Hans unsheathed the blade. 'Dragon Calm' was still active so his mana was slowly chipping away. Hans0 decided to not use a skill to save up mana, and to do that he needed to finish this fight quickly.

Hans0 charged towards Byung, but he created a firewall stopping Hans' path. The firewall vanished, but to Hans0's surprise, Byung had already cast his next spell. 'Flame Blast' A huge flare of sure hit Hans to the face. Byung knew that this was the final hit as he started to walk away but to his surprise, Hans was still alive.

'This debuff'

Hans0 survived by only 10 health. He quickly rushed towards Byung. But Byung cast any more skills as they were on cool down.

Hans0 struck Byung.

[You have dealt 29 damage]

Byung grinned as he launched a basic attack of fire towards Hans0z which he somehow avoided. Hans looked at Byung's armor, it was a red overcoat with a black fire design towards the left leg. Hans recognized this item too, as Manta wanted this item a lot in his early days. 'Grand Novice Mage Overcoat'

It had good physical and magical resistance which was the worst matchup for Hans.

Hans now only had 20 MP left.

[Deactivating 'Dragon Calm']

Hans was now on the face of death. He was ready to die, but now he was determined to kill Byung, as a certain entity was looking at Hans.