Ep. 8 — Chapter 35: The Hunting Game (6)

Han Jiwon was just down the stairs. Golden electric sparks had surrounded him and begun to deplete his overall stats. The System Monitoring was taking place before my eyes. The entire time, he glared at me with scary eyes, causing me to feel a little bit bad.

Anyway, I got what I needed.

[You are the first to activate a monolith!]

[15,000P has been rewarded to you as compensation!]

[Points received are not counted in the Game requirements.]

[Your room has received 300 Points!]

[Room #3 is currently in the lead with: 300 Points.]

This was great. If I added them all up, I would have received a total of 18,000P just by activating the first monolith.

Meanwhile, Han Jiwon slowly made his way up the stairs, using his [Abyssal Blade] as support. I went down and helped him up, carrying him up the stairs. As soon as we reached the top, he snatched his arm away and started to walk slowly inside the room where I found the monolith. The sparks around him were less now, but it was still visible.

"Hey, don't be angry. It's partly your fault too."

He glared at me and I shut up. "Anyway, thank you for helping. I guess if you didn't throw me the System Monitoring would be more severe…you might even die from it."

"Stop talking and go away."

I walked near the windows and peered out of the industrial building. Since it was tall, I could see a bit further away. From here, I could just barely make out a group of 'hunters' and some 'hunted' as well. But it was hard to detect any monolith at all. In fact, the monoliths were nothing like I imagined. There was a reason why we all were given three days to find the monoliths, nevermind the massive area.

I turned back to the monolith and kicked it. The thing barely reached my knees. I thought they would be taller than me and massive, but the monolith was one-fourth my size. Damn it, was this really a fair game?

"You are still stalling. Go away quickly. They will be here soon."

"Who?"

"...You like asking a lot of unnecessary questions. Nevermind, just go."

"Ah, other 'hunters'? Won't they be coming for you, rather than me?" I asked, walking up to Han Jiwon who was leaning against the wall to gather his strength. The system putting the constraint on him was taking a toll on his body, so he won't be able to move at all. "Han Jiwon, can I borrow your weapon?"

"You can go to hell."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here."

"..."

It's that look again. I wonder how his forehead isn't wrinkled yet since he's always frowning like this. He continued to glare at me, making me walk back with both of my hands up to assure him that I won't try to steal his [Abyssal Blade].

"If they come here, you will really die, you know?"

"Let them come. I'll slaughter them all."

"Stop yapping. You can't even stand right now."

"I don't need to stand to kill them."

"Urk…!"

This stubborn guy. If only he wasn't so strong, I would have carried him out and even confiscated the [Abyssal Blade] from him. Even now, after his body has been limited, he is still much more powerful than I am. That is, if he recovered. But since he won't be able to stand, let alone fight, I can't leave him here. If only he allowed me to use his sword, I may be able to fight the other group of 'hunters' that are coming soon.

At that moment, my ability began ringing. Shit, they're already here? Just how close together are they?

"Oi, Han Jiwon! How are the groups placed?"

"Seven groups. One for every monolith."

"Eh? Then the groups are unequal?"

"Outliers stay in the middle or wherever."

"Ah. Nevermind, just give me your sword."

"No."

"Gah! Come here!" I went forward and picked up the man, carrying him on my back. He struggled but he hasn't fully recovered from the System Monitoring, so he was unable to stop me. I started to run down the stairs but stopped midway when seeing the group swarming inside the building.

I turned around inside the room, looking around for another exit. There was one but I couldn't throw Han Jiwon out as well. No, wait, he could probably survive, right…

Nevermind. I went over to the monolith and picked it up. I ran back near the stairs and stalked the group from above. They began to search around the entire place, covering every room. Luckily, they haven't gotten near the stairs just yet. I continued to wait on top and watched them burst into every room.

As they finished searching the first floor, they gathered in the middle near the stairs. I raised the monolith above my head and chucked it forward. The stone struck someone's head and I watched as the person fell while the others panicked, looking around for the perpetrator.

While they were panicking, I broke through the windows and landed on the side roofs. That should be able to mask the sound of the shattered glass. With Han Jiwon on my back, I continued to run along the roof. I could see some people coming outside to look for me, but I was able to make it to the other side of the building before they could spot me.

"Hey, Han Jiwon. Can you still swing your arms?"

"You talk as if I'm dead…"

"You might as well be…urk!"

He slapped the back of my head hard, causing me to stumble and nearly slid off the side of the roof. "Damn it. If I fall down, we'd both die, you dumbass. You know, I really should drop you right now. Then maybe take that weapon of yours…urk!"

This time, he struck me with the hilt of his blade. I'll kill this guy later, I swear…

"Focus."

They have started making their way to the window now. I turned to find them but Han Jiwon nudged my head with [Abyssal Blade]. "Don't turn around and keep going."

I continued to move, finding an area near the surrounding walls that were close together. Without much thought, I leapt off with Han Jiwon on my back, activating [Lightweight] quickly. My descent slowed down considerably, since my skill was now nearly at level 10.

The landing was a little rough, causing me to drop Han Jiwon and roll a few times. But I quickly got up and went over to the man. He was baring his teeth at me, his hand gripping tightly onto his blade like he would kill me. I could only mutter an apology and pick him back up, careful so that I could dodge if he swung his blade suddenly.

But honestly, I was keeping myself from laughing. This bastard deserved it.

"Over here!"

"Found them!"

There was a loud booming noise that was heard and a bright light followed. Did those bastards really have a flare?

More people climbed over the wall and started chasing up from atop the wall. Some of them continued to chase us down from behind while a group approached from the front. I looked around, but no matter what, we were surrounded. But before I could stop, I saw Han Jiwon's blade moving and he got close to my ear, causing me to tense up a bit.

"Keep going. I'll cut them down."

"Are you crazy? Even if you're you, that's still absurd."

"Just be quiet and do it. If you want to make it out of here."

I decided to follow his orders and continued to run forward. The moment a group of them walked towards us, the [Abyssal Blade] swung around fiercely, slashing at them. The blade itself wasn't considerably long, but it somehow reached far and cut through the group with ease. This guy, he must have a skill like that. Lucky bastard…

More came from the left and I took out the dagger and deflected some of them, while Han Jiwon cut them apart. Some blood splashed on my cheek and I wiped it with my wrist. While Han Jiwon continued to cut them down, I continued to run. The arches drawn by his [Abyssal Blade] were mesmerising. Like the first time I saw him, the blade left behind blue trails and split the people apart. Their limbs fell off within one stroke of his blade.

It was a gruesome scene. Even with his overall strength being halved, he continued to push back the entire group. The differences in experience was great, being displayed by Han Jiwon now.

I continued to run. The bodies of the players that approached us created a trail. After seeing Han Jiwon's ability, they all backed away. I heard the sounds of electricity cackling and realised that the system was going to intervene again if Han Jiwon continued to fight for me like this.

"Han Jiwon! I'll throw you somewhere, so get to safety!"

"Huh…?!"

Without giving him a chance to speak back, I dropped him from my back and tossed him into the raging river.

"What are you…?!"

Han Jiwon fell into the river and the powerful currents brought him along. I watched as the raging water carried him down and far away. When I saw his face, I realised that he wouldn't let this one go so soon. Damn, but I did it for his sake anyway.

Anyway, these bastards were on me now.

I watched their numbers grow. From both sides of the river, more and more 'hunters' approached. I held the dagger tightly and got ready to fight. It would be better if Han Jiwon was still here, but I couldn't risk him actually getting killed by the system by helping me any more than this. This was all up to me now.

"Where is the other bastard?!"

"What other bastard?"

"You know who we're talking about."

"Well, as you can see, there's no one else here." I shrugged and one of them ran forward to deliver a blow to my stomach, but I quickly dodged it.

"It doesn't matter. Just kill him instead! We can catch the traitor later!"

At his words, all of them rushed forward to get me. I leapt up and planted my foot on one of their faces, using it to launch myself up. I went over them and continued to run the other direction, away from the industrial building. I heard them yelling and chasing me from behind. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any long ranged fighters amongst them.

Han Jiwon, that bastard must have eliminated them first. He's a lot smarter than he looks.

One of them appeared beside me. I reflexively raised my arms to block her kick. It was a powerful blow, I skidded back a few metres and my back hit a tree.

She rushed up to me again and started to throw punches. Judging by her movements, she must have the [Basic Martial Arts] skill, one that I used to have. I began deflecting her attacks and used my elbow to push her back.

I didn't want to use the [Secrets of Killing] now. Instead, I pointed my finger and went to poke her eyes. She flinched and jumped back, allowing me to escape.

"Don't worry, little miss. I won't take your eyes."

A look of humiliation came over her face and she ordered the other men to continue chasing me down.

My [Vigilance] ability detected their movements and I continued to evade their continuous blows even without seeing them. I didn't need to go on for much longer. Just a bit more, and I wouldn't have to deal with these guys anymore.

I continued to run, moving past trees, and changing my direction to throw them off balance.

A sting came on my neck and I felt someone grabbing the back of my shirt.

Just a bit more…

"Got you, ha…huh??!" Right before he grabbed me, I stopped running and jerked my head back, slamming against his face. He let out a pained groan and everyone suddenly stopped moving. I turned around and pointed the knife at them, a grin on my face.

"No, I've got you." My voice came out and the other 'hunters' became tense.

"Fire!!!"