Ep. 8 — Chapter 30: The Hunting Game (1)

The [Secrets of Killing], a battle technique which could only be utilised by those above level 40. That is, if it was in the original game of [World Ascension]. It is only obtainable by talking to Lieutenant Schroeder, situated in the Guild Tower and completing his quests. Only then will you be able to learn the [Secrets of Killing].

However, I stumbled across the person this early on. I thought I would try my luck and see if he would teach me. In fact, I had little hopes of it, but somehow, he did agree. But there was something that had been bothering me since.

[A System Monitoring is being conducted on you…]

Sparks of electricity surrounded my body. It was only a small amount, but it felt like it was draining things from me. I shook them off, feeling my stamina being taken down.

I was able to ask Alicia about the System Monitoring since she seemed like she would know something about it. According to her, it acts as a balancing mechanism that made sure everything was falling in order and there's no glitches within the system. Like a game, when a developer checks for any bug issues.

It was most likely due to the fact that I managed to acquire the [Secrets of Killing] before reaching level 40, being far too early for anyone to obtain the technique.

[You have been 'marked' in the system.]

What's this? Shit, I don't think it's anything good.

Even so, I can't dawdle anymore.

The ground started to shake. Stones from above started to come crashing down. The walls of the labyrinth began collapsing. I looked at the time we had left and began to run towards the exit of the dungeon. I heard the sounds of things collapsing behind me. One after another, everything continued to be destroyed.

[You have defeated 'Labyrinth Dungeon Boss: Minotaur (Asterion)'!]

[Your share in the boss battle is at 28.56%.]

[You achieved the 'final blow'. Recalculating share percentages…]

[Overall share: 31.442%]

That's good. For a chance to obtain an ability, you needed at least 30% of the shares in a boss battle. Chances will increase if you land the 'final blow'. Sorry, Leon, but I must obtain this ability, whatever it is.

There is a good chance it would be something like [Rage], which is a good ability to have especially since it's an enhancing ability. However, it wouldn't be too good for me to have. Something like a detection skill would be nice.

The crumbling labyrinth was starting to speed up the destruction process. About a minute left before the entire thing collapses. With everything else in it.

I could see the other end of the holes I've made. Leon stood there, waiting for me. He didn't look too badly hurt. But he was definitely worn out, especially since the effects of the 'Hero' attribute had finished taking over. And fighting against the Minotaur, which I guessed was in its Asterion phase.

[Treasure of Ancient King]. It definitely looked cool in my hand. However, it was more suitable for Leon. And he was the one who obtained the weapon. Even if I did have powers that could go along with the weapon, it has already chosen Leon as its master.

"Leave! The entire thing will collapse, not just the labyrinth!" I yelled out and Leon panicked. He hesitated, but eventually started to run.

I finally managed to reach the end of the labyrinth and continued to run through the underground parking lot. The hole leading up outside was there.

"Come on, Sir Rayes!" Leon reached out his hand.

I leapt off my feet and took it. He pulled me up powerfully, and right as my feet exited the dungeon, the ground collapsed and covered up the hole.

I was on the ground. Leon was bent over, both of were breathing loudly.

"…One more second and I would've lost something."

"Luckily that didn't happen."

The [Treasure of Ancient King] rolled on the ground and touched Leon's feet. Leon stared at me hesitatingly but I nodded my head. "It's your weapon. You earned it."

"Are you…?"

"Yes, it's yours. After all, it has chosen you, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Leon reached out and picked up the weapon. Other than the clothes he was wearing, it fit him perfectly. The golden and white scabbard went together with his golden blond hair and his white skin.

"Did you lose the [Obscuring Cloak]?"

"Ah, sorry. It fell off when I was fighting Asterion…"

"Don't worry about it."

"Wasn't that expensive, though?"

"I could sell your weapon and use the Points I get for even more of those."

"…You won't do that though. Right?"

I didn't give him an answer and shrugged, making him whine in a panic. I turned to the screen that appeared before us. We have completed the quest.

[Dungeon Quest — 'Labyrinth' has been cleared!]

[Distributing quest rewards…]

"How much are we getting?" Leon asks, his eyes were looking up. "It felt too quick. 4 hours passed by in such a short amount of time."

"That's how it's going to be from now on."

"What do you mean?"

I rolled up the chains again. But before that, I looked around. Most of the sections of my chains were busted. It won't last much longer. In fact, I could head back to ≪Shell≫ and have it fixed. However, we couldn't go back there. Because the upcoming Main Quest that's going to happen. And we needed to enter before the queue closes.

There were things I learned from the lieutenant right before he decided to teach me the [Secrets of Killing]. Especially since he was only a creation of the system, he couldn't go against the system itself. He was a victim of the System Monitoring since he tried to rebel. That was the reason why he wanted to use me. Use me to destroy the system.

[20,000P has been distributed to both parties! You have received 6,288P in accordance to your share in the quest!]

[You have unlocked a new Skill!]

Another skill? Damn it, I need an ability now. I could feel myself being the only player to not have a single ability even at level 25. No wait, since when did I care about such things? I only need to know what kind of skill it is.

[A new Skill, 'Vigilance Lv. 1' has been added to your profile!]

Hey, what's this now? This was better than I had expected. Actually, it was exactly what I wanted. With this, it should improve my detection. Yes, maybe it's not half bad. Though I would've appreciated an ability.

"What did you get?" I asked Leon who had a satisfied expression on his face. I could see him getting an ability that would match well with his new weapon.

"Ah, it's a skill for the [Treasure of Ancient King]."

Yes, as much as I had expected. "Well then. Let's try it out."

"Hm, how should I do it?" Leon focused on activating his ability. At the next moment, the golden marks that ran across the [Treasure of Ancient King] began to emanate light from it.

He drew the sword from the scabbard and as it extended out, a number of golden coloured daggers appeared around him. I threw a stone in his direction and one of the daggers quickly moved by itself, deflecting the flying stone.

"Well, look at that. I think I can tell what kind of ability it would be when it's reached its 'Ascension' phase."

"I believe I do too."

"This is great. We need to level up as much as possible before the next main quest. Here, take this and gather up your stamina again." I tossed one [XP Orb] at him and he caught it before swallowing the thing at once. He had already gotten used to it.

I also took some, since the System Monitoring earlier had taken from my stamina. Damned Game…

After taking in the [XP Orbs], I levelled up once more.

The Guild Tower officers have all been cleared out. They were no longer on the ground. It seems that Lieutenant Schroeder had taken them elsewhere after beating them all down and suffered from the System Monitoring. I did feel bad since he had jeopardised his own career and his life trying to help me.

Even so, he should be able to protect himself from the Guild Tower. For the time being, at least.

"Did you clear them all out, Sir Rayes?"

"No. It was someone else who helped me." I told him.

We walked down the streets. Barricades were put up all around the area. All of the buildings in the area were destroyed and abandoned, like the rest of the buildings in the city.

I didn't realise it, but we were now closer to the Guild Tower, which had been my main goal from the start. Even now, I still needed to make my way to the Guild Tower. Starting from now, the quests will only be much harder and I needed to acquire the [Sequence Key] and there was something I had to do in the Guild Tower. Even though I would consider them an enemy rather than as allies.

"We will move to the next Main Quest location. It will start tomorrow, so we have to get there quickly."

The plaza was not far from here. We should make it in time, and hopefully the spot doesn't fill up. A 200-player limit. It was a surprisingly low amount even when many people had died in the first round.

At times like this, I wished that I had played more of [World Ascension]. I would know more about the future of the Game and I would be able to plan a more strategic plot. However, I wasn't in such a story. I was simply a lucky player that managed to claim the 100th copy of the game.

The lucky number 100.

It is an attribute that I still do not understand. But I think it has something to do with me claiming the 100th copy. Yes, me being able to know this much is most likely an effect of the attribute. Normally, I would barely make it past the first round.

"What about the others back at ≪Shell≫? It seems like they know about the main quest as well. Will they be there with us also?" Leon asked.

"You seem to be quite acquainted with them. It's only been a few days since we got there."

"They are good people. Do you not trust them? I mean, it's not easy to trust anyone in this world now. But I really do think they are good. And I hope I'm not wrong."

"No, you're right. They're good people. I just am not very good with people. You could probably tell that much."

"That is true…"

I sighed as we continued to make our way down the empty darkened streets of the city. Tall office buildings lined up side by side with most of them being destroyed. Shattered windows, knocked street lights, and even cracked up roads. It wouldn't be wrong to say that a disaster occured here.

And at last, we got near a well-lit area. Chatterings could be heard coming from the other side of the buildings that parted us and them. The entry to the plaza was only a few hundred metres ahead and we should get there in a minute or two. And above. the player count was there.

[187/200]

For a long time, we had barely seen people. Especially groups of them, gathered up together in large quantities. This would be the first time we encountered a group of other players that numbered over a hundred.

And at the same time, strong winds started to blow.

Instinctively we looked up. I'm sure everyone else on the other side did too. And there it was, descending from the dark clouds above. The skies rotated and something lit up in the sky then.

The [Cube] began making its second descent, marking the start of the second wave of calamities.