Underground

It would have been simple for a strong awakened, but it was especially difficult for Hans, who hadn't even reached D-Class strength.

Hans cocked his head back, unconcerned about the blade grazing his cheeks.

"Why don't we talk first?" 

"What?

Shu—

Hans quickly turned, drawing a small dagger hidden beneath his jacket. The dagger spun around, aiming at the woman's delicate neck, but she evaded it in time.

Whish—

Simultaneously, seeing his attack miss, Hans followed with a quick and precise stab to her shoulders. He had already known that she would dodge the first strike instead of blocking, so Hans is trying to corner her out of the large rock.

It was the only way Hans could have a chance of winning.

'But for now, I'll lure her out.'

There was one more important thing to remember when fighting close combat; attack every angle and don't give the enemy a crucial time to strike back.

Of course, this won't work if the enemy is powerful as they always keep their guards up. Still, putting the enemy in a passive position had a minor impact on her ability to counter.

Woosh—

Hans leaped in the air, stretch out his feet before launching a full-powered ax kick.

"Ahhh!"

Bam—

She crosses her hand above to block the upcoming attack. The ground beneath the woman cracked, causing her to lose her posture significantly. Hans notices this and swiftly takes advantage of this minor misstep to strike her in her face.

Crunch—, crunch—

Two straight hooks solidly connected to her jaws, knocking her out and snapping her head back. Hans lifted his foot and delivered a front kick aimed at her chin for additional damage.

Kaaak—

But, just as Hans' foot touched her chin, the woman dodged by leaning back before launching a clean leg sweep, knocking Hans off balance.

Thud—

After falling to his back, Hans rapidly rolled to the side avoiding the deadly slash.

Slash—

Grah—

'Fortunately.'

Hans breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a perfect dodge done in a timely manner. Thanks to his quick reaction time, Hans narrowly survived that. He also created a small distance, enough to reposition himself back. He set his sights back on the woman, with his pupils gradually narrowing in realization.

'Her strength…'

Although not as powerful as a C-Class but she's definitely somewhere in between there.

Her physical appearance was also intriguing. She was dressed in a large black hooded coat that obscured her features from his view.

But what's strange is…

'She could kill me anytime.'

So why hasn't she done it yet?

Hans pondered for a moment, but couldn't come up with any plausible explanations.

'I have to win.'

Hans is aware that he has been fortunate up to this point. Perhaps the only thing keeping him alive is the skill he used when he first attacked the woman.

[Body Enhancement]

It was the skill that boosted his body attributes by 100%. Unfortunately, the duration has just ended because his mana is currently insufficient.

'Damn.'

Awakened cast their abilities powered by a medium called Mana. By utilizing their Mana to the fullest, some can even destroy a country in just one large spell.

But what if their Mana reserves were depleted?

Pant—, pant—

"Cough—shit…"

His heart was pounding so hard that he couldn't help but kneel in exhaustion, with one hand supporting his body. His weak legs attempted to stand again, but the other side effects of mana depletion began to take effect.

"Hah—hah—"

Clap, clap, clap—

"What an impressive display of strength."

Hans turned to face the woman who was approaching him slowly. But his gaze did not waver, instead, he focus intently on the woman's eyes.

"Strength? Hahaha… I'm just lucky."

Hans reflexively let out a sarcastic snigger.  He's aware that he's lucky until now. Everything, from the awakening of his abilities, all the way to the hospital attack.

"Luck? Heh."

The woman lowered her gaze, raised her blade, and spoke in a mocking voice.

"Is this your final words?"

"I guess."

"Then die."

Shring—

As if the winds were shredded into slices, the blade quickly reach Hans' neck.

At that moment.

"Gotcha."

Hans tilted his body to the side successfully dodging the sword. He immediately got up, wrapped his arms around the woman, and forcefully threw their bodies into the floor. Of course, he didn't forget to bite her on her arms.

Thud—

'What?'

She quickly rose from the floor and went to retrieve her weapon from the ground. The woman didn't seem to feel the pain of her bleeding arms but instead somewhat confused at why Hans tackled her.

Isn't he just delaying his death?

Unfortunately, her question wouldn't be answered as a gleaming white-colored beam shot towards her brow.

Splat—

A small hole appeared on her brows. The woman's body powerlessly fell on the floor, with blood oozing down on her forehead.

Hans watch this scene and couldn't help but smile. This is the end that he wanted. Although he'll die as well, at least he brought the woman down with him.

A win-win situation right?

'Ah.' 

Hans closed his eyes, silently waiting for his death to come but not before hearing a beeping sound in his ears. 

...….

Click—click—

'Am I hearing things?'

Click—click—

It's still there.

It sounded like a mirror cracking from time to time so Hans had no choice but to take a glance.

'Who?'

A burly man stood there wearing a loose polo with flower designs on it. He's also dressed in shorts, black shoes, and has lion tattoos on both of his large arms.

Because of the bright lights created by the mirror wall, Hans is unable to see the man's facial features.

'Wait, a mirror wall!?'

Hans forced his body to stand, but he was cut off by the unknown man.

"Leave this to me, kid..." 

Click—click—

"... and enjoy the show."

The shattering sound became increasingly loud, forcing Hans to cover his ears while his gaze remained fixed on the bright scene unfolding in real-time.

Click—, click—

Kacha—

The mirror wall eventually shattered, transforming into small blue lights that vanished swiftly into the air, followed by an eerie silence.

'Is it over?'

Hans' eyes continued to flicker until they eventually closed together.

...….

"Do we have to send more reinforcements? "

The President of the United States spoke solemnly on the phone. 

"Anything below A-Class is pointless. Seek assistance from other countries. Almost all of our S-Class has already been dispatched, and we don't have enough manpower to send reinforcements."

The association director immediately responded from the other end of the line. He's been at his wits' end for the past few minutes due to the constant assistance requests from the New York branch. Unfortunately, he has no Awakened available, unless he goes there by himself.

"Why would we need assistance?! Wouldn't other countries believe that the United States is weakening? Aren't you almost an SS-Class now? Why don't you go there by yourself!? "

The president yelled from the phone, causing the director to turn away from the call.

"Of course, I'm available. But, Mr. President, I hope you can bear the consequences of your decisions. I wouldn't be there if things got out of hand."

"Damn it, Goddamn it!"

The director, who was sitting in his office chair, lifted his legs and placed them on the table.

"Why don't you just swallow your pride and ask for help, Mr. President? I've been hearing about a certain organization that functions as mercenaries. We can hire them."

"Those fuckers? Have you not seen the news? They charge a high price even for minor dungeon raids! Thomas, are you out of your mind!? "

Thomas, the director, closed his eyes, unsure how to respond. Even though the president is not an Awakened, he cannot disobey his words. After all, the association was created to serve the nation.

"Fine, I'll figure something out."

"Don't tell me! Show me! "

"Alright."

Tut—,tut—

The line was cut off abruptly. Thomas leaned back in his chair before dialing a number from his watch.

It's been a long time since they last spoke to each other.

'I owe him again.'

Ring—,ring—

"Hello, Thom?"

"I need your help."

"Ahhh, my friend only calls when he has a problem. What a true friend you are."

"This time is different."

The other line fell into an abrupt silence before his voice sounded a hint of interest. 

"Oh, I'm intrigued now. Please, tell me."

"So it's like this…"

...…

Hans was startled awake by the sound of chattering. He slightly raised his head and secretly darted his gaze around the surroundings.

'A bunker?'

Hans concluded that he was in some sort of underground location. He had been observing the location for some time. It wasn't long before he began to broaden his field of vision.

The place has this gloomy vibe. The interior is also plain simple, just like underground bunkers in world war two albeit it's a little fancier this time.

Walls are shock-resistant with an automatic heating and cooling feature.

Chatter—

People were also loudly chatting about their own experiences, some were crying, and a few only spoke a few words before returning to their respective areas.

'How did I get here?'

No rather, who brought him here?

Before passing out, Hans began recalling his memories and noticed the burly man assisting him before he lost consciousness.

'He must've been the one who brought me here.'

The presence of familiar faces on the sidelines indicates that the burly man assisted them in getting out of that damn place. Although he doesn't want to admit it, it seems he's been saved once again. 

'Sigh— it looks like I'll be here for a while.'

Ah, come to think of it! Didn't the system beep before he passed out?

Hans raised his head and opened the status messages that had been sent to him.

Tri—ring—

[You have consumed the blood of a Dhampir.]

[You have gained 20 unused stats.]

[Endless Plunder (E) > Endless Plunder (D)]

After reading the contents of the system prompt, Hans opened his mouth in confusion. From what he can remember, didn't the system say that it can get him out of that predicament?

So... 

"How can this save me from that woman?!"

It's clearly a scam. Yes, 20 bonus stats can help but it wouldn't be enough to overpower that woman. 

Hans spoke his thoughts aloud, causing others to look at him with a variety of expressions on their faces. Some people even express concern and disgust.

"Oh, haha, sorry! Err, I-I have a bad habit of talking to myself."

When Hans noticed that the mood was crumbling, he immediately apologized in a lighthearted manner.

However, some people began opening their mouths.

"What a weirdo."

"Mom, is he one of those insane guys at mental?"

"Yes, he is, sweety. So don't approach him okay? They eat bad kids if they don't listen to their moms."

As he tried to ignore their words, a twitching grin formed on his lips. In situations like this, Hans blames his very strong hearing sense.

It seems he needed to find a way to divert their attention, or else those razor-sharp stares will kill him.

He tried to think for a while but couldn't come up with anything. If there is anything that could pique their interest, it would be if a guy announced that the world was ending.

'Just ignore them.'

After firming his imaginary will, Hans focuses his attention on his Innate ability. Although it was upgraded, he doesn't know if there is any new function that was added. Just as he was about to tap the screen, a strong smell assaulted his nose.

'This smell… it couldn't be!?'

As soon as he smelt it, Hans' face crumbled in a frown. Hans glanced around him and the doubts soon became the truth.

"Damn it."

Hans got up and quickly dashed towards the underground bunker exit.

Swish—

If there's one thing he's learned from his previous fight, it's to make quick decisions. No one would wait for him to figure out what this and that are...

But in fact, he also learned another thing. That is, he can smell the other race's scent.

'That woman's scent is here!'

Hans came to a brief conclusion. That is, there is either a similar existence inside the bunker...

'Or that woman...' He tried to shake the thought as he focused on his escape.

He can detect it.

His instincts are telling him to leave.

Hans ran faster than usual after coming to this conclusion. The underground bunker is quite large, so getting to the exit took a long time.

'Hah—finally.'

When suddenly, as if fate was playing a trick on him, His eyes slowly widened.

"Hello."

Somehow, Hans' pupils narrowed at the source of the voice.