Ep. 8 — Chapter 34: The Hunting Game (5)

[You are a 'hunter'.]

When he first saw that, Leon couldn't believe it and thought that there had been a mistake with the system. But then, before he even got the chance to process the situation, his body disintegrated and he soon reappeared in the middle of a forest, alongside every other person that were also 'hunters'.

He looked around, seeing that the man dressed in black was also a 'hunter'. It didn't come as a surprise to him, since it totally suits the man. If he remembered correctly, his name was…Han Jiwon, was it?

Leon approached Han Jiwon and he received a cold stare. He flinched a bit, realising that the man may now have a good impression of him.

"Hello, Mr. Han…"

"Leon Fells, is it?"

"Ah, that's correct."

Han Jiwon looked around. There was someone else who was also a 'hunter' with them. The woman walked to them, her white hair fluttering around. "You two are here as well?"

Leon felt mildly uncomfortable in their presence. Both of them emitted powerful and suppressing statuses, whilst also being cold at the same time. However, they didn't seem like they were necessarily bad people.

"Has that man…Rayes Kim, gotten you this weapon?" Gabriel asked Leon. And he nodded.

"It is something like that."

"He has some knowledge for a beginner. You're in good hands, Leon Fells."

"Ah…"

"Enough. The fact that we can't see the others means that they all have been chosen as the 'hunted'." Han Jiwon said, bringing them all back to the present situation. "Any contact with them?"

"The things we've prepared have all been cancelled out by the System Monitor. It is unlikely that we'd be able to get in touch with them for these three days."

"Everyone! Gather around!"

Someone called and the three looked at each other, walking up to the crowd.

"We will split ourselves into teams. This is a big area, and here is the map. Remember where all of the monoliths are placed. We will create seven groups and they will be in charge of protecting the monoliths. The remainder will be situated within the rest of the area, most of which would be the distance fighters."

"Who will we choose as our leader? If we just move in groups, it would be disorganised without anyone in charge."

"I am currently at level 34. Is there anyone with a higher level than me here? We will choose the seven highest level players and they will be in charge of each group."

Two hands raised.

Another one was raised. Leon looked around and stared at Gabriel and Han Jiwon, but they weren't making a move.

"Level 42."

"36."

"Level 37. And that one's level 40."

…

Soon, there were 5 people waiting up front. They all looked around. No one else moved, so they decided that it was time to make the ones closest to their power level become the leaders of the other two groups.

"Which amongst you are at level 33?"

Before anyone could step up, however, Han Jiwon stepped forward. Not only Leon, but also Gabriel looked surprised. He nodded his head and Gabriel stepped forward as well.

"Two leaders. Nice. What level are you two at?"

Gabriel spoke, "I am at 56. This man is at 60."

The other leaders choked up. They only stared at the two in disbelief, but eventually nodded their heads. In their minds, they must be thinking that they were in good hands since high level players were with them.

One of them, a woman, spoke. "It will be hard since we have our friends on the other side as well. Instead, we will just prevent them from getting to the monolith rather than killing them. We can gather points by defending the monoliths long enough and by 'subduing' them. The requirements never specified killing."

Everyone nodded their heads. It was a good plan that would minimise damage to those who have members on the other side. Leon was happy hearing this now.

Unfortunately, one group stepped forward this time.

"No way. Who knows what kind of people are on that side. Have you not seen that ≪Purple Hyacinth≫ guild bitch? She's definitely planning on killing us all so she will get the points. Who knows what kind of other people are with them. I say, we kill them if needed. Better to save our asses than risk it for everyone else's."

"That's only one woman. And you haven't even met her in person. So what makes you think you can say what you want about her, huh?!" That was another person from the crowd.

"Oh, shut up. You're just saying that because you're one of the Guild Tower's fanatics. Lemme tell you something, they don't care about people like you. If you can't bring in anything profitable, they might as well kill you. The big guilds don't care about anything but themselves." He said and started to walk. "Whoever is with me, come with me. We'll leave the rest to them. And just so we're clear, I will murder anyone that comes our way."

His group left the area and headed to their designated monolith. It left a bitter impression on everyone else. They were now somewhat divided. An uneasy atmosphere overtook the area for a bit, before Han Jiwon dragged them all back to the situation at hand.

"Stop gawking. Everyone, move to your locations. The rest of you that haven't been chosen by a group, find a place to situate yourselves at and hinder their movements as much as possible."

"Listen to the guy! Come on!"

.

.

.

His blade now pointed to the neck of the man in front of him. They were about similar size, with the man being just slightly taller than him. Nevertheless, Han Jiwon pointed his [Abyssal Blade] at Rayes Kim, who was smiling like an idiot.

"Don't move any further."

The group around them were all chuckling. Since Han Jiwon had moved, they wouldn't need to intervene as well. In fact, it was even a surprise that someone as high level as Han Jiwon would be able to participate in the current main quest without the system going crazy. Normally, it would have been impossible for someone that high level to still be in their second main quest.

Rayes Kim only stared back at him, trying to imitate the look of being intimidated. But he wasn't the best at making faces. Han Jiwon pressed his blade forward, causing the man to back away a bit.

"Ah, are we also not going to kill anyone?"

"Well, I think that's what Master Jiwon wants…"

"Urgh, I really wanted to level up though."

"Shut up, man."

The other people were all whispering to each other. Han Jiwon could hear them clearly, due to one of the many skills he possessed. Perhaps it was good that they think that. With this, they might be able to keep the others safe by not killing them. Although…that's right.

The others are not 'hunters' as well. They need to get to the monoliths to survive.

"Leave from this place. If you come back, I will kill you." Han Jiwon said with a straight face, only receiving a confused chuckle from Rayes Kim.

"You will kill me? Do you think you can do it alone?"

"Perhaps I should kill you now."

"I would like to see you try, then, mister…boss."

Han Jiwon disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared barely three inches away from Rayes Kim before grabbing hold of his shirt and lifting the man up. Rayes Kim, despite being a little taller, was easily lifted off his feet by Han Jiwon. He held the arms that lifted him, gritting his teeth.

"Kueok…! What the hell…?!"

"I will let you go now. Don't you dare die."

"Huh…?!"

At the next moment, Han Jiwon turned around and threw the man across the sky, sending him straight to the building. His body crashed through the window and everyone around gasped as they turned back to look at Han Jiwon.

Their eyes went wide with disbelief, confusion, and anger. Han Jiwon then walked towards them, his blade extended out.

Everyone got an ominous feeling coming from Han Jiwon at this moment. They all reflexively took out their weapons and stood opposite of Han Jiwon, looking at him with shaky eyes. As he got closer, their knees trembled and some of them found it hard to breathe when standing against Han Jiwon.

"What are you doing, Master Jiwon?!"

"No…perhaps, did you throw him to kill him? Right?"

"No, I didn't." Han Jiwon replied. His [Abyssal Blade] in his hand began to point at the other 'hunters' around him. "Right now, I am warning you. You could either let that man get the monolith or you can die here."

"Are you crazy?! If he gets it, we will lose! We'll die either way!...Y-you too, Han Jiwon!"

"It doesn't matter. I can kill you guys for Points to survive either way."

"This crazy…! Kill him! Stop the both of them!"

They all charged forward at once. A few of them ran towards the inside of the industrial building to chase down Rayes Kim. Han Jiwon watched them and identified them as the weaker group, allowing Rayes Kim to deal with them himself.

At the next moment, his blade began to move. He ran towards them and drew an arch with his blade. Along with pained screams, fingers flew in the air and blood painted over the black blade.

Just like that, Han Jiwon continued to cut them down.

Every time he took down one person, messages came in his way.

[You have received 50 Points!]

[You have received 50 Points!]

[You have received 50 Points!]

…

More and more Points began to accumulate as Han Jiwon continued to slash at them. Their bloods continued to spill while Han Jiwon cut them down mercilessly. His [Abyssal Black] struck them and brought an instant end to their life, his mastery with the sword making his job easy and quick.

The blade cut through their limbs without much resistance. And soon, all of the people were either dead or backing away. A number of them had lost one or more parts of their bodies, groaning in pain.

"Demon…! He's a monster!"

"Aaaargh!! My arm!!"

[You have received a total of 450 Points!]

Han Jiwon then turned to the people ahead and their bodies tensed up. They fell on their butts and began scooting away in pain and fear. "Mercy! Mercy, Master Jiwon!"

At that moment, the window above shattered and a body flew out. It was one of the 'hunters'. Han Jiwon watched as it plummeted on the ground. He looked up and walked past the group of people, into the industrial building where Rayes Kim is.

The [Abyssal Blade] was spun around and he got rid of the bloodstains on the blade and began walking up the steps of the building.

Golden sparks appeared around him and it stung him slightly.

[You are under the System's Monitoring!]

There was a reason as to why he threw Rayes Kim instead of opening a path for him to enter the building. That was so the System Monitoring imposed on him wouldn't be so severe, as he would be collaborating with an enemy team. It definitely wasn't because of him killing the other 'hunters', since that was most definitely allowed in the Game.

[The System has found your level disturbing for this quest…]

[The System has imposed a temporary restriction on Player 'Han Jiwon'.]

[Your Strength has been reduced greatly!]

[Your Agility has been reduced greatly!]

[Your Durability has been reduced greatly!]

[Your overall level has been reduced!]

Han Jiwon felt the strength from his body escaping and he muttered a curse, stabbing the [Abyssal Blade] into the wall and holding it to prevent himself from falling. The pain from the electrical currents caused him to stumble and lose his balance. Blood began to drip from his nose and his vision blurred slightly.

Rayes Kim, who was at the top of the staircase looked down at Han Jiwon with a slight grin. Something was clearly amusing to him. "Would you look at that?"

Then, the following message appeared.

[Player 'Rayes Kim' has activated the first monolith!]