Ep. 9 — Chapter 36: Youngest Prodigy (1)

At the next moment, heavy bombardments fell upon the 'hunters' that were chasing me. I watched with great amazement as the members of my room took down the 'hunters' within a matter or seconds. In the middle, Iris Falcone stood.

She directed the group and led them against the 'hunters'. Indeed, it was undeniable that her battle experience was greater than any of us here combined. Despite her being unlikeable by me or anyone from ≪Shell≫, none of us could deny her leadership.

For a moment, I found myself being mesmerised by the scene of her leading the people. But I quickly regained myself and faced forward. All of the 'hunters' were now on the floor, either dead or begging for their lives to be spared. Judging from the faces of the people, they were most definitely happy that they were getting crazy amounts of Points from this.

"Iris Falcone!" I cried out and she turned to me, seemingly shocked that I was casually addressing her as such. She fired a few more rounds before leaping off the top of the hill and making her way down to me.

"Who are you?"

"Nevermind that. There is a monolith over there, and it's unprotected now."

"How would you know that?"

Everyone else was smiling happily as they watched their Points going up. Iris Falcone looked around, seeing that there were no more 'hunters' coming their way and addressing her group to search the area while she talked to me.

"I know how their groups are stationed. They split themselves into seven groups, one for each monolith. Those guys came from that direction once I activated the first one."

"You're that one? Rayes Kim, was it?"

"Yes, that's me." I told her but quickly shook my head. "That's not important now. Get your guys to go and claim that second monolith. It'd be dangerous if other rooms manage to activate one of their own, so we might as well solidify our rank now."

Iris had an annoyed expression on her face. "Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? How do I know I can trust you?"

"I don't think you're in any position to refuse now. After all, I was the only one from this room to activate a monolith. I was alone too, for that matter. So I suggest you do it if you want to win this."

Her brows furrowed, but she couldn't do anything now as the other people were also watching us. They listened intently for her orders. Numerous eyes fell upon Iris and me, causing her to curse under her breath and turned around.

Even if she didn't go, I could have still gone alone. However, I wanted to add some damage to her pride now, for personal reasons. After declaring that out loud, she would have no choice but to listen to me.

Iris Falcone looked around. Some of them had begun to lose trust in her. I couldn't help but laugh, watching her struggling for her pride. In the end, Iris Falcone quickly gathered her people, trying her best to maintain her calm as she directed them towards the location of the second monolith.

"Where are you going?" Iris Falcone suddenly asked before she went with the rest of the group. She watched me move in the opposite direction. "You're not setting us up, right?"

"Why would I? You guys are getting that one, it's only right that I go ahead and find more myself."

Her trust in me was still considerably low. In fact, it would be more surprising if she trusted me more than this. Even this much was already too much. However, I was sure that she'd come for me after this game. Damn it, things had just gotten more complicated now.

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Leon looked around. He continued to run past the bodies scattered across the forest. To think that this many people would die only on the first night of the current Game. If he could guess, around 20 people had died, including both the 'hunters' and 'hunted'.

But only one monolith has been activated since the beginning of the night. And that was by Rayes Kim.

Suddenly, several people approached him at once, causing him to quickly draw the [Treasure of Ancient King]. The moment the blade was drawn, the three people flinched and stepped back. Leon eyed the three individuals, assessing their estimated power level.

"I don't have any intention of killing you, so please leave now." He told them, pointing the blade to all three.

"Calm down, we're hunters as well." They clarified.

"Ah, is that so?"

Leon sighed a breath of relief. Since earlier, he had only obtained about 100 Points, and that wasn't because he killed them. He had only subdued and knocked out a few people.

And now, the sun could be seen coming up over the horizon. The first night had past and daybreak had struck. A wave of relief washed over the group and they all sat down simultaneously, letting out a deep sigh, laughing amongst themselves.

Leon sheathed his [Treasure of Ancient King] and placed it to his side. Soon, the intermission would start before the start of the next round.

At that moment, a loud blare echoed throughout the entire forest. They watched as the [Cube] appeared in the sky, slowly making its dramatic descent for all players to witness. Leon's eyes trailed to the [Cube] and read the contents displayed.

[First Round of the 'Hunting Game' has been completed!]

[178/200 Players have survived the first round!]

[300P has been given as compensation to all surviving Players!]

[Compensation Points are not added to the qualification Points!]

[1/7 Monoliths have been activated!]

Despite the happy faces the players made, they still sulked as the Points they received couldn't be counted in the Game. Leon, however, was still happy that Rayes Kim had activated the first monolith. A weird sense of pride came over him.

"Hey you, why do you look so happy? Don't you understand what's going on here?"

Leon looked at him and shrugged, still rubbing the sides of the scabbard. "I do, but we still have two days left. We can make up for it during those times."

"I hate your optimism."

"Don't you mean you're envious of it?" One of the other ones asked the guy, poking his side teasingly.

"Shut up."

"We were really surprised when you suddenly pointed the blade at us. Is that a legendary-tier artefact? It looks very powerful." They turned their attention to Leon's [Treasure of Ancient King]. "Perhaps, from a high level dungeon. Yes, that must be it."

[Time until the second round: 18 hours.]

"What time is it now?"

"It should be six. Then, they're starting it again at midnight."

"Damn it. I can't even rest at night. Hold on, since this is the intermission, what do we do now? Can we still kill each other?" They asked and looked around, confused. It was a question that Leon didn't have the answer to, but luckily, the screen appeared once again.

[Player damage has been deactivated for the intermission.]

"Thank god, the Game still has some humanity in them."

['Morning Revival' has begun taking effect!]

"Eh? What's this?"

For some reason, Leon had the feeling that it wasn't anything good. Immediately, he got up and drew his blade, carefully stepping around and looking around the area. It prompted the others to get up as well and take out their weapons.

Leon continued to observe all around them. In the end, he turned to the other guys and began speaking, "It says we can't harm each other, right?"

"Yeah…? Why?"

"Then, I guess we won't be fighting 'players' during the intermission."

"Huh?"

At that moment, a deafening roar was heard from ahead. It sounded inhuman, and a lot like a beast. It was then when everyone understood what this meant.

One by one, eyes began appearing and wolves and other beasts began to creep up on them. Leon gulped and tightened his grip on the [Treasure of Ancient King], keeping his eyes on the people as well. He wasn't sure just how strong they were, so he couldn't leave too much space between him and them.

Several wolves began walking towards them, slowly stepping sideways and circled around them.

Leon backed away to close the gap between him and the people, in case they were attacked whilst he was fighting one, but someone appeared and touched his shoulder.

"Blondie, don't worry about these guys. Go on ahead, I'll watch them."

A large grey-coloured blade was at his side. Long white scarf that seemed to be covering his entire face fluttered around. Ali was now standing with the group of people, the [Greatsword] in his hand.

"Ali? Can you do this? You aren't a 'hunter' anyway…"

"It doesn't matter now. They will switch roles randomly after every round. See, your role tags have disappeared."

Everyone looked at each other, and the tag above their heads were gone. Leon was confused, but nodded. "Alright. This is good, I think."

Ali tightened his grip on the [Greatsword] and grinned, "Alright, enough talking. Let's get us some food."

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The first round ended a bit ago. I realised that the mark over my head was now gone. And since then, monsters began appearing all over the forest. And it seems that Players were unable to harm each other during the 'intermissions'. At least, that was good for me since I won't have to worry about being ambushed in daylight.

In fact, it was easier for them to find me now, as I am uncovered by the darkness of the night. And the [Obscuring Cloak] was now unable to be used as the duration time had ended. There is still a day left before I can use it again.

['Obscuring Cloak' is on a cooldown. 12 hours remaining.]

Since there was still a lot of time before the start of the second round, I went around looking for items that were obtainable around the map. After all, the compensation of this main quest were the things we obtained during the three days. So I was sure there are bound to be some pretty good things hidden around this forest.

There was a wooden cabin in the forest. It seemed to be pretty unharmed, so there might not have been anyone that went through this area.

I approached the building with not too much caution as even if there were other players, they wouldn't be able to inflict real harm on me. Though I was still wary of monsters that could possibly be in the building.

The door to the cabin was closed. I pushed it with some force, but it opened more easily than I had expected. The door creaked loudly, revealing a homey interior. It was much too tidy and clean for this place to not have anyone living here. But that shouldn't be possible, as this map was auto-generated by the system. I continued to search around the building. The couches and other objects in the home were still in good conditions.

It was a different story for the stairs. The wooden stairs looked worn out, and as if it might come crashing down if I stepped on it. However, there was something under the stairs.

I slowly crouched down and reached forward for the wooden crate under the stairs, sliding it out. The top was dusty. I blew off some dust and tried to open the crate, only to find out that it was locked. However, the lock itself was rusty and worn out. With only a bit of force, I broke the lock and opened the crate.

A black coat was inside. Thick fur ran along the neck and around the shoulder, and it was much lighter than I expected it to be.

—

Item: 'Wind Cloak' ≪A≫

[A cloak that is infused with wind magic, allowing its wearer to utilise wind abilities and skills. Gives temporary wind elemental attributes as long as the cloak is equipped.]

Passive: 'Wind' elemental attribute; +8 Agility; +4 Durability; +4 Magic; +Armor (Fire Resistance)

—

Wait a second, what is this? I've just struck gold with this. No, this was too good to be true. It must be a trap. It's most likely a trap. I dropped the coat and stepped back, looking around the place. I decided to stay away from it for a while, waiting.

I kept waiting.

And waiting.

…

But nothing happened. Eventually, I walked over to the 'Wind Cloak' and picked it up. Sure enough, even with the thick furs it has, the 'cloak' isn't heavy at all. It was lighter than an average longcoat. I decided to put it on, and my body felt considerably lighter as soon as I put it on. I had expected it to be hot if I put it on, but despite the fur and its size, it felt like only a light extra layer was on me.

I was still confused as to why it was still called a cloak, when it's more of a long coat. But I decided not to question it any further.

I opened my Personal Profile again to confirm whether or not I've really obtained a wind attribute.

—

Rayes Kim ≪Lv. 26≫ [100]

Race: Human

Class: None

Rank: D+

Title: [None]

Attribute: ≪Wind≫…

…

—

Truly, it was there.