The Thrill of Survival Is Lü Bu. (2)
—Welcome to your first session of Cloyd Survival. We'll now begin the initial explanation.
This game lasts for 100 days, with the map you can play on changing each day.
The force field restricting the map will grow stronger over time, so be careful not to get caught outside it.
This version of the game is the Duo Edition. You can look at someone you're interested in and send a duo request.
The game continues until only one final duo team survives. Once the game ends or you are eliminated, you will return to your original world.
Anyone who fails to rank in the top 200 will never be able to log in to Cloyd Survival again. The total number of participants is currently 200.
We wish all players the best of luck.
Please find a teammate to form a duo and continue the game together. You have 15 minutes. If you don't form a team within that time, you'll proceed solo.
'No wonder it felt more crowded than usual. Guess it wasn't my imagination.'
The new duo rule was already a headache.
Teaming up with someone from a totally different world—someone with zero sense of camaraderie—to play a life-or-death game felt way too risky.
But going solo meant facing enemies two-on-one, which wasn't exactly reassuring either.
Scanning the area, he saw that even though it was full of rookies, everyone was busy scrambling to find a teammate.
'Quick to adapt, huh. Guess I don't have much choice either.'
He looked toward the top of the statue, where the only other guy from Earth—his one and only commonality with anyone here—had been standing, but the guy had disappeared.
'Where'd he go?'
He glanced around, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't spot him.
'Damn it. Useless. Nowhere to be found when you need him most.'
With no other option, he turned his eyes toward the others who still looked like they hadn't found teammates yet—when suddenly, a booming announcement rang out.
—Soon, you will share vision through the eyes of Argas. By using Argas' aerial view, you can call out "descend" at your chosen location to safely land on the ground. We hope you secure many items at your desired drop point. If you do not descend, you will automatically be dropped at the final point, so please be aware.
—Preparing to start the game…
"Ah, damn it!"
The moment he cursed, his vision shifted. In an instant, the sprawling land below the clouds came into full view.
Little villages, winding rivers, vast green forests—laid out in a breathtaking panorama. If it weren't for the situation, he'd have loved to sit back and enjoy the scenery.
[Ding! Tutorial begins. In the Eye of the Sky—Argas—you can activate your map. Say or think "map" to open it. You can also communicate remotely with your duo teammate through the team window, another feature that can be activated in Argas.]
The tutorial messages rolled out in detail, but Seowoon found them utterly useless.
'Life's a solo game anyway. No need to freak out just because I'm in a solo duo. I'm no rookie!'
Bracing himself, he opened the map to check Argas' flight path and pick his landing spot.
'Hmm… they said it's a valley, but there are quite a few villages around.'
His eyes caught a mid-sized village branching off to the right of a massive canyon—not too big, not too small.
'About 50 houses, give or take. Not bad.'
Even as he studied the map, he didn't forget to calmly count the players dropping down.
Spotting them as they fell like fiery red meteors and keeping a mental tally could make a huge difference in planning his next moves.
It was one of the strategies he'd devised, replaying his first session over and over after returning to Earth, prepping for his next run.
Still counting, Seowoon shouted:
"Descend!"
Instantly, that familiar, unsettling sensation of floating rushed over him, making his toes tingle.
It was so dizzying it made him feel like he might pee himself a little, but he quickly flipped his body around and started counting the falling meteors.
'One, two, three… four, five, six. I'm the fastest!'
The moment his feet hit the ground, he bolted toward one of the meteors that had landed nearby, eyes locked on his target.
It didn't take long before he spotted a player landing.
Without a moment's hesitation, he attacked on instinct.
'Air Strike!'
The punch cut through the air, slamming into the mage's back just as they touched down. The shield protecting the mage shattered with a crack.
Clang!
The startled mage had just begun to turn around when Seowoon lunged right up to his face and drove his fist into the mage's chest.
Crack!
Thud!
With a dull, heavy sound, the mage's chest caved in, his ribs shattering as he spewed blood and collapsed on the spot.
[Ding! You have incapacitated a member of the enemy team. Further attacks may result in death. It's recommended to finish them off before their teammates can revive them.]
Hearing the notification, Seowoon moved to deliver the finishing blow—but at that moment, with a clanking of armor, a knight in full plate charged in from the side.
"Rush!"
The knight, closing the small remaining gap in an instant, left Seowoon with no choice but to step back.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Seowoon glanced down at the mage, who lay crumpled on the ground, unmoving, black blood pooling beneath him. The knight positioned himself firmly in front of the mage, making it clear he wouldn't let anyone through.
With a large rectangular shield covering his entire torso and a black lance gripped tightly in hand, the knight looked undeniably intimidating.
Though he seemed ready to charge at any moment, the knight instead crouched low, eyes glinting menacingly as he kept a sharp watch over the fallen mage, refusing to leave his side.
His eyes, gleaming through the helmet that hid the rest of his face, were cold and fierce.
Might as well go full Lü Bu while I'm at it.
Reminding himself once again that there were no real risks in this game, Seowoon lunged at the knight.
Seeing Seowoon close the distance rapidly, the knight bellowed again, his body coiling tightly.
"Rush!"
In a flash, the lance, already extended toward him, seemed to stretch even longer, aiming straight for his chest with lightning speed. Gritting his teeth, Seowoon thrust his fist forward to meet it.
Seeing his opponent punch straight toward his lance, the knight's hidden lips curled into a sneer.
He had no doubt that the sharp tip of his lance would pierce through that foolish fist and split the man's arm in two.
At that moment, Seowoon's voice rang out.
"Counterstrike!"
It was a technique he'd imagined and practiced countless times, and the name slipped out instinctively.
Because fist technique was a style of unarmed combat, he'd endlessly visualized and refined this technique—it was the move he'd honed the most.
Just as the knight's sharp lance was about to collide with Seowoon's fist, the trajectory of the punch subtly shifted, veering narrowly inward.
"Tch!"
The knight clicked his tongue, realizing his lance had been cleverly deflected. He braced his shoulder against his shield, hiding his upper body completely behind it.
In that instant, Seowoon's elbow, having slipped just inside the lance's reach, bent slightly and knocked the lance aside.
The knight, still focused on his shield, suddenly found his lance-wielding arm yanked wide open, exposing a massive gap.
"Wh-what the…?"
The panic in his voice was impossible to miss.
Even if he'd been a little careless, this was unthinkable.
For his powerful lance to be brushed aside so easily, with just a slight movement?
While the knight was still reeling from the realization, Seowoon's fist filled his vision.
Crack!
"Gah!"
The punch landed squarely on the knight's right shoulder, crushing the joint with enough force to obliterate it.
Without even a moment to worry about his now-useless right arm, the knight was bombarded by a relentless flurry of punches from all directions, unable to mount a proper defense.
Smash! Smash! Smash!
Crashing to his knees, the once-mighty knight's helmet crumpled beyond recognition, its proud form mangled and dented.
Thick, dark red blood oozed through the ruined helmet, soaking the ground—and as it did, both the knight's and mage's corpses began to vanish.
As the bodies started to disappear, Seowoon felt a rush of vital energy.
He quickly activated his Qi Absorption, drawing in the life force with a refreshed expression as he turned to the wooden chest nearby.
[Ding! Your stats have changed. You can check your stats by thinking or saying "My Info."]
Ignoring the cheerful tutorial message, Seowoon began rummaging through the chest, looking unimpressed.
"Damn. That mage had nothing on him."
Not even a basic scroll came out, and his spirits dropped.
He moved on to the knight's chest and began digging through it.
[Ding! You have obtained the Skill Book: Rush. Would you like to learn it?]
"There are skill books too?" he muttered in surprise.
The system notification promptly responded.
[Skill Book: A book that lets you learn a polished technique.]
"Huh. Really?"
[Skill Book – Rush: A technique that lets you charge quickly at an enemy.]
For someone currently mastering martial arts, it wasn't exactly an enticing find.
Didn't seem all that special when I fought him, either.
It had just been a fast charge, nothing he couldn't do himself with a bit of effort. No need to bother learning that, he thought.
Still, he didn't forget to stash it away in his subspace inventory.
Don't want someone else picking it up and learning it.
After finishing his looting, he scanned his surroundings and then dashed into a house at the edge of the main road.
Once inside, he checked his stats first.
"My stats."
[Name: Jin Seowoon.
Race: Human.
Class: Mage.
Strength: 35
Stamina: 20
Agility: 20
Toughness: 30
Magic Resistance: 10
*Class Stat – Inner Power: 90
*Class Stat – Mana: 30]
"Inner power at 90, huh."
Considering he'd absorbed life force from two people, it wasn't exactly a satisfying number.
Back when he'd absorbed NamSagwang's life force, his inner power had hit 500. Compared to that, this wasn't even a fifth of it.
"Well, it's just the beginning."
Even though his inner power had dropped, all his other stats—strength, stamina, agility, toughness—had risen quite a bit compared to when he'd first been dragged into this world.
It was probably thanks to all the steady training he'd done during his time back in reality.
He closed the stat window, and his movements quickened as he started looting.
He swiftly swept scrolls and jerky from the leather pouch into his subspace and quickly moved on to the next house.
Unlike the last game, where he could barely loot two or three houses in a whole day of walking, now he was systematically clearing out rows of houses, and it felt pretty satisfying.
[Ding! You have obtained a Throwing Dagger.]
"Should I stock up on a few?"
Even if he only found junk, there was nothing to be anxious about.
Before, if he didn't come across good items, he'd feel uneasy and tense, but now there was no need for that.
'If it's not this house, it'll be the next one.'
With that relaxed mindset, looting was actually starting to feel fun.
"Let's see what comes out next…"
—Swiish! Thunk!
The moment he heard the sharp sound of something slicing through the air, he dropped the doorknob and ducked his head.
His brow furrowed as he looked at the arrow still trembling in the door.
He sharpened his senses to the max, but there wasn't any noticeable presence.
"Tch."
His abilities still weren't good enough to sense anything at long range.
With his back to the house, he scanned the surroundings—just as another arrow came flying in from the right.
—Whoosh!
As he bent his knees, the arrow skimmed past his head, sending a chill down his scalp.
Feeling the arrow graze his crown made goosebumps rise on the back of his neck.
What was even more surprising than it coming from a completely different direction was that it felt totally different from the first arrow.
'It's not the same guy shooting.'
Even as he dodged the second arrow, a rapid volley of arrows came flying at him from both directions.
"Tch!"
Clicking his tongue, he didn't waste another second—he bolted into the house.
No matter how deadly the arrows were, there was no way they'd pierce through the walls to skewer him.
"I just wiped out one team, and now I'm getting pincered?"
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