Players from Earth

A man could be seen sitting with his back to a tree wearing red armour decorated with cuts and slashes, whose exterior was stained with blood.

The surroundings were devastated beyond comprehension. Too many trees had been destroyed and the soil also had distinct differences due to the influence of a particular beast.

It was clear to anyone that this man had fought against a tenacious foe, and they were not wrong, because a few steps away lay the carcass of an enormous beast one could make out to be a bear.

But the man slumped against a tree had his attention elsewhere.

[Please input your player alias]

He had tried to bypass this screen multiple times in the past few minutes, but he hadn't been successful.

With no other option, he now fully concentrates as he gleams over his options.

On earth, he had been known as the Crimson sword, which wasn't a bad name according to his standards, but the name "Infinity" wasn't an alias for any of the powerful hunters he knew.

As such, he began contemplating as he pictured different scenarios.

One must know that Kang-soo Jin is within the top 0.01% strongest humans on Earth, so his acquaintances were also within that range as well his guild members who were slightly below in power.

After about a minute of contemplation, Kang-soo Jin suddenly made a decision as he valued pride, honor and dignity very much.

If someone among the other L rank hunters had ill will against him, he wouldn't hesitate to kill them. He would eliminate anything else that threatens him.

So in the end, nothing really changed, he simply had to become stronger than them, stronger than anyone.

With this in mind, he immediately made a choice, and said...

"Gaia, input 'Crimson sword' as my player alias"

No response came from the system as it did its work and shortly after...

{Planetary Announcement}

[Player "Crimson Sword" is the second to kill an Expert Tier Beast]

{Galactic Announcement}

[Player "Crimson Sword" from planet Earth is the second to kill an Expert Tier Beast]

{System To Player Announcement}

[You have gained "Warriors armour"]

[You have gained "Jade blade"]

[You have gained the skill "Warriors will"]

[You have gained the skill "Inspect"]

[It has been stored within your space ring]

In Kang-soo's perspective, the fight he had with the bear went on forever, but for the rest of the players, it lasted only seven minutes.

Exactly seven minutes since the first announcement, moreover they were from the same planet.

This puts a sort of invisible pressure on players not from Earth.

This sort of thing wasn't normal, most players knew this, which is why they began to get apprehensive.

Who were these people from Earth?

What kind of power do they have?

These were the questions floating on the minds of many players, some had lost a part of their body to Expert Tier Monsters.

As such, fear and Enmity about Earth's players had begun to take root in their hearts.

Kang-soo Jin's lips slowly curled upward as a faint smile formed on his face which had a look of exhaustion.

The scars caused by the bear's claws were slowly being erased as he healed.

The essence from the bear helped him increase his body's vitality, healing his wounds faster.

Eager to look at the changes in his body he calls out his attribute panel, and not a second later it appeared.

Stamina: 520/2500

Strength: 33

Agility: 37

Mana: 3000/3000

Intelligence: 29

Perception: 30

Endurance: 25

Dexterity: 28

Unallocated Stats: 15

Skills:

[Swift Steps (Active)] [Sword Slash (Active)] [Parry (Active)] [Leap Slash (Active)] [Warrior's will (Active)] [Safeguard (passive)] [Aura Blade (Active)] [Inspect (Active)]

Upon seeing his status, he mentally gave himself a pat on the back, before abruptly standing up, immediately taking a battle stance with his red sword in his right hand as he narrowed his gaze.

Meters from him, leaves were rustling unnaturally, indicating the arrival of another life.

Kang-soo Jin took a deep breath as he prepared to battle the arriving beast with all that he had...only to be stunned!

Something that wasn't a beast nor a human appeared in front of him, a fearful grin formed on the beings face, with crimson eyes, making a fearful expression.

No words were said as two silently reached an agreement, their bodies radiating killing intent as the opponent pulled out two straight daggers.

The surroundings were completely quiet for a few seconds as both fighters sized each other up before simultaneously moving towards one another at frightening speeds.

And so began a vicious confrontation.

The result? We can only wait to find out.

Meanwhile...

"FUCK…" Cursed a man whose body was showcasing arcs of lightning, his light blue eyes shone a dangerous glint as he stared at the sudden announcement.

Around him were trees scorched to ash.

"Kang-soo Jin, so it's you, I guess I'll have to move faster" He said as stared at the incapacitated Beast in front of him.

"It's my loss, I underestimated the others too much" he said as he gave one last deafening blow to the bleeding panther beside him.

After the first notification about someone called Infinity, he took action immediately as he charged through the forest to kill an Expert tier beast and accumulate points.

He had thought of his plan as successful, yet, through some miraculous endeavor, Crimson Sword beat him to second place.

At least, that's what he taught.

Notifications simultaneously invaded his view as soon as that was done.

[You have killed an "Expert Tier Shadow Panther"]

Droves of essence from the Panthers body moved into Zolton's body, wounds from the previous battle began to heal much faster, as he felt his power rise.

"This...feels too good" At this moment, an addiction bloomed. With its growth causing disasters in the coming future.

{Planetary Announcement}

[Player "Zolton" is the third to kill an Expert Tier Beast]

{Galactic Announcement}

[Player "Zolton" from planet Earth is the third to kill an Expert Tier Beast]

{System To Player Announcement}

[You have gained "Steel gauntlets"]

[You have gained "Frog boots"]

[You have gained the skill "Inspect"]

[It has been stored within your space ring]

He immediately utilized his mind to draw out the gained items.

A moment later, two items appeared in front of him.

Gauntlets made of steel with imprinted runic designs and regular looking boots.

He unhesitatingly put them on as he lightly nodded, feeling satisfied with his newly gained equipment when suddenly, information about the item appeared in his sight.

[Steel gauntlets]

Rank: Uncommon

Requirement: 20 Strength

Effect: +4 Strength; +10% Hand movement; +3% Mana conductivity

[Frog boots]

Rank: Uncommon

Requirement: N/A

Effects: +3 Agility; +3 Dexterity; +5% Jumping power

"Hmm" Zolton looked puzzled at the current situation, before the answer hit him like a light bulb.

He immediately opened his attribute panel and checked the details of the newest skill he had obtained.

[Inspect E+ (Active)]:: Information is power, use this skill to gain it. The higher the difference between the Object and the User, the less the information gained.

"Hoh, this is very nice". Zolton said as he read the attributes of the two items again, trying to increase his understanding of things.

Seemingly finding no answer for five minutes, he picks up his pace and begins to look for beasts earnestly.

Since the first announcement, notifications asking for player aliases had already been sent to all players, which most players immediately did.

Some were delayed due to certain circumstances, like Kang-soo Jin.

No other announcements were made after these three, which gave the rest of the players the conclusion that only the first three would be announced.

Many players of different planets began to move earnestly as they also sought to increase their strength by any means they deemed necessary.

None of them forgot to check the leaderboards, more specifically the galactic Leaderboard, as they kept track of those in the lead, because the total number of players was exactly 1420 at the release of the leaderboards, but had now reduced to 1345 and continued reducing steadily.

Few hours passed, and then nightfall arrived.

Things were about to get even more bloody.