The Man with the Most Kills.
As he soared up from the ravine, the effect of his stealth wore off, revealing his figure briefly bathed in moonlight, cloaked in a pitch-black mantle.
However, Seowoon didn't care in the slightest.
"Hmm. No more? You'd think at least one or two more teams would show up."
Instead, like a predator searching for prey, he scanned the darkness around him.
Aside from the foolish ones blindly crawling down the ravine for loot, there were bound to be some with brains, lying in wait nearby and watching for an opportunity.
If the roles were reversed, that's exactly what he would've done.
He waited a moment, but sensed no signs of an enemy.
As his form blended into the darkness and began to vanish, a surge of mana suddenly rippled—followed by a tightly condensed force flying toward him at high speed.
-BOOOM!
He dodged the mysterious magic with swift reflexes, just as a deafening explosion erupted, a powerful shockwave blasting in all directions and slamming into Seowoon.
"!!!"
Until now, just dodging spells had been enough, so he hadn't thought much of it—but this sudden area-of-effect spell swept him up and sent him flying backward.
Even in midair, he desperately activated silent movement technique to keep from rolling along the ground, doing everything he could.
If his cloak were to tear on such a rough surface, it would be a huge loss.
He was pushed back nearly ten meters, barely managing to stay upright. As soon as he regained his balance, Seowoon yanked off his cloak and stuffed it into his subspace.
Now that his position was exposed, protecting the cloak came first.
As if not to miss that moment, mana surged from every direction—and thick stone chains shot up from the ground.
Formed from five separate points around him, the chains surged toward him all at once. Surprised by the unfamiliar magic, he leapt into the air to evade them.
-CRASH!
The five chains collided with a thunderous clang and shot upward.
"Ugh!"
Startled by the unexpected movement, Seowoon's eyes narrowed sharply.
-KRAKOOOM!
Though he narrowly dodged the attack, fist technique was all offense, no defense.
If he couldn't dodge, he'd just smash through.
With one powerful punch imbued with internal energy, he shattered all five stone chains, sending fragments crashing in every direction.
As he landed, Seowoon swept his arm, unleashing sharp blades of wind that spun in a circle around him.
-CLANG!
The Wind Blades struck something with a sharp sound. He immediately rushed in that direction.
He had barely taken a few steps when a massive knight emerged and charged at him.
On the knight's shoulder was a clear mark where the Wind Blade had struck.
Glancing at the gash in the armor, the knight suddenly accelerated and closed the distance.
"Again? How boring."
Tired of the same old reckless charge, Seowoon greeted him with a direct punch.
-CLANG!
"Hmm?"
-WHOOSH!
Seowoon smirked at the sight of the knight blocking his punch with a tiny shield on his wrist—then felt something was off.
The moment he struck the shield, instead of the expected impact, he felt his force being redirected, twisted.
Sure enough, the knight showed no sign of damage and swung an absurdly large sword in response.
Naturally, Seowoon had no intention of getting hit and easily avoided the blow, but the odd sensation from before lingered in his mind.
-CLANG! WHOOSH! CRASH!
He and the knight exchanged a flurry of close-range blows, the knight wielding a sword easily 1.6 meters long.
After a while, Seowoon finally understood what was wrong.
"He's using some kind of force to guard his insides and redirect my punches."
If his opponent were a martial artist, it would've made sense—but Seowoon had long dismissed knights as nothing more than strong, dumb brutes. He never imagined one could wield such a delicate technique.
"So it wasn't magic… just skill?"
The corner of Seowoon's lips twisted.
At that moment, the knight swiftly pulled back.
Seowoon sensed another wave of mana—likely another trick from the mage hiding in the back.
"You think I'll just let you do that?"
This time, Seowoon was the one who closed the gap instantly.
The knight swung his sword on reflex, startled by Seowoon's unexpected speed.
Instead of dodging, Seowoon struck the flat of the sword, knocking it off course. The knight's balance faltered.
-Kang!
In that moment, his punch landed on the knight's exposed side, but the knight twisted his body and deflected the blow once again.
He thought the knight's reflexes were astounding.
But the martial art of "fist technique" wasn't some crude technique that relied on putting everything into one all-or-nothing strike like a knight's sword.
-Ka-kang! Tu-kang! Bang!
As he unleashed a series of continuous strikes, the knight's reactions gradually dulled. The final blow, which was met with the flat of the knight's sword, sent him flying backward.
It was a surreal sight—someone in heavy armor with a massive build being sent flying by a single punch.
Before the knight even hit the ground, a spell came flying.
That same condensed force he'd seen earlier exploded between him and the knight, pushing his body back.
'Nice timing on that.'
Seowoon, unwilling to fall for the same spell twice, retreated quickly before the blast could reach him, widening the distance.
In the meantime, the knight jumped to his feet and readjusted his grip on the sword.
Even after Seowoon had used 80% of his inner energy to land a powerful blow, both the sword and the knight were still intact. He was left speechless by the knight's toughness.
As soon as distance opened up, a barrage of spells came flying, as if waiting for that moment.
The most troublesome among them was the one that shook and sank the ground beneath his feet.
The power of martial arts begins with planting both feet firmly on solid ground.
If the very ground was being overturned, there was no choice but to be at a disadvantage.
Every time he lost balance, the sturdy knight charged in with a dash attack, adding to the headache.
'I've seen enough.'
Suddenly, Seowoon's form multiplied into four. The knight's pupils, visible through the helmet, shook violently.
-Tukak!
A strike.
A single powerful blow, backed by internal force, hit the knight in the waist, making him stagger.
At the same moment, another strike landed on the knight's head. Blood spewed from his mouth as his body crumbled.
[Ding······!]
Without waiting for the system notification, Seowoon moved swiftly, extending his forms and charging in one direction.
'Already figured out your location.'
The scuffle with the knight had been a ruse to locate the hidden mage. Twisting his lips, Seowoon swung his hand.
Two Ice Lances shot forward, but a stone wall instantly rose from the ground to block them.
-Kwakang!
The next punch, infused with energy, shattered the frozen wall, revealing the startled mage staring at him.
Like a tiger pouncing on a frightened rabbit, Seowoon leapt at the mage. Even then, the mage raised his staff high.
-Boom!
Giant stone hands, shaped like human palms, slammed down from both sides and crushed Seowoon like a mosquito.
"So you were hiding this move…"
Just as the mage thought he'd narrowly escaped death, a voice from behind made his skin crawl.
-Thwack!
Before he could even turn around, his head was smashed in. The mage died instantly.
Having wiped out the entire team, Seowoon glanced around and saw six open wooden chests.
It seemed the remaining duo had survived by fighting each other while waiting to ambush him—and were the very ones he'd just taken out.
He quickly finished looting and pulled the Cloak of Invisibility over himself.
The night was still long.
As dawn of Day 3 approached, Seowoon finished his meditation and opened his eyes.
"Survivors."
42/200
***
Jin Seowoon -> Karvil (killed with martial arts)
"Last night, I found and cleaned three more teams."
Of those, two teams spent almost all their time running away, so it took longer to chase them down and catch them.
Even though their names weren't floating above their heads, those who recognized him chose to flee rather than fight.
Soewoon, having filled his empty dantian, took out a sandwich from his inventory, one filled with ham, minced meat, and vegetables between two rough pieces of bread.
Having filled his dantian, he needed to fill his stomach too. It was really lucky that he could farm such a delicacy from the wizard.
Eating the sandwich while watching the sun rise over the hill, the taste was exquisite.
He thought that as long as he could wash the blood-stained hands and body clean, it would be perfect.
After filling his stomach, he stretched as he stood up.
"Ugh! There's still quite a bit of magnetic field left."
Even though only 20% of the players remained, the magnetic field was still quite large.
For someone like him, who had been playing in the center of the magnetic field, it felt extraordinarily wide.
Then, two new markers appeared on the map.
One was for the boss monster's area, and the other was for the buff monster's location.
These markers had appeared since the magnetic field started shrinking at six-hour intervals.
"A boss and a buff mob. Which one should I check first?"
Within a circular radius of about 200 meters, a giant snake coiled up on the ground with an ominous star and geometric markings above it.
'No, should I call it an Imugi?'
Looking at the grotesque creature with dark scales and something like horns or tumors on its head, Soewoon frowned.
He didn't like reptiles to begin with, but of all the buff monsters, this one had to be the worst.
"Sigh."
With a sigh, he stepped lightly into the magic circle. The magic circle emitted a soft glow, and the Imugi's yellow, glowing eyes snapped open.
The creature's vertically slit, sharp eyes glared at Soewoon as it straightened its body. Its length was at least 40 meters, roughly the height of a large apartment.
Soewoon, startled by its size, began stepping backward, and the glow of the magic circle dimmed as the creature coiled back and closed its eyes.
'So, this is how it works. I'm lucky.'
Even though he was confident in his abilities, he had no desire to fight that disgusting creature.
He looked around the enormous cave, which was so large it was hard to express with words, as the ceiling was out of sight. But no other players could be seen.
'There should be a few waiting for an opportunity.'
Soewoon looked around the massive cavity, realizing there was almost nowhere to hide.
No matter how safe it seemed, he couldn't bring himself to fight that monster.
'It's not a creature meant to be captured.'
He couldn't even imagine taking it on with just a duo. It would take at least 20 squads to attempt a team challenge.
'Maybe I should go for the boss?'
As he stepped out of the cave and prepared to open the map, he felt a subtle presence.
It was like the sudden change in expression of a predator who had just found its prey. He turned his body toward the direction of the presence and got ready to run.
As if determined not to miss the slightest movement, he cast Wind Blade in one hand and released a sharp energy into the surroundings. He then heard the sound of breathing, like a gust of wind swallowing the air, coming from a small forest next to the cave.
He immediately released the Wind Blade in that direction and moved in.
"Ugh!"
A scream followed by the sound of something falling.
As he entered the forest and prepared to strike with his fist, what entered Soewoon's line of sight was a small boy.
Even someone like him, who had no knowledge of this world's culture, could tell that the boy, with his tattered clothes and bleeding bare feet, looked poor beyond measure. The boy was shaking and holding his head with both hands.
It seemed like the Wind Blade he had thrown had cut the branch the boy was hiding behind, causing him to fall to the ground.
"How old are you?"
In this game, killing people wasn't a big deal for him, but he hadn't lost his humanity enough to just kill this trembling child in front of him.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]