“Looks like the situation is a little different from when we started?”
“......You!”
Ju-ho, dragged before Shin-hyeok and thrown to the ground, bared his anger at Shin-hyeok and ground his teeth.
But Shin-hyeok paid no attention to that reaction and swung his sword.
SHNK!
A clean strike.
B-grade Swordsmanship sliced precisely through Ju-ho’s neck.
Ju-ho’s body, marked as dead after being beheaded, turned into particles of light and vanished.
[Choi Shin-hyeok -> Lee Ju-ho]
“That’s one billion won!”
“But we have to split it between ourselves, so we will only get around one hundred million each.”
“One hundred million is still a lot.”
“That’s true.”
Seeing Shin-hyeok’s kill log appear, the Players who had betrayed Ju-ho cheered.
But their joy did not last long.
“What are you celebrating for? Now fight each other too.”
“......Ah.”
“Or do you want to fight me again?”
Shin-hyeok, who had been casually sitting on a pile of rubble, stood while holding a saber and a staff.
At his words, the Players who had been embracing and sharing their joy moments ago began slowly moving away from one another.
Shin-hyeok smiled as he watched them.
“Now, kill each other.”
It was a textbook example of getting others to do the work without lifting a finger.
***
“W-what rank am I?”
“You? You are probably around fourth place. There are people still hiding and waiting it out.”
“Tch...... Even so, I can be satisfied with that much-”
“Then goodbye.”
CRACK!
[Skill: Staff Mastery [E] acquired.]
After the Players had fought among themselves,
Shin-hyeok smashed the final survivor’s head with his staff and checked the number of remaining survivors.
[Survivors Remaining: 3]
“Two left.”
Ju-ho and the Players’ combined assault.
Their betrayal.
Then the civil war among those traitors.
There were two Players who had not shown themselves until all that chaos ended.
But Shin-hyeok was not worried.
“I killed so many that I have three Location Trackers. Should I use them to find them?”
Location Trackers.
There were three of the very items that had given Shin-hyeok trouble several times in the beginning.
“Use Location Tracker: Hwang Seon-ung.”
It was the moment the hunter and prey switched places.
***
SHNK!
[Skill: Saber Arts [E] acquired.]
[Skill: Tracking [E] acquired.]
“Phew, is that the end?”
Because the final Player abandoned battle and chose to flee, Shin-hyeok had to spend quite a while pursuing them.
But in the end, the Player was captured by Shin-hyeok’s excellent Tracking and beheaded.
As the Player’s body turned into particles of light and vanished, messages appeared before Shin-hyeok.
[The Placement Exam has ended.]
[Achievement: First Place in Survival achieved.]
[Achievement: Most Kills achieved.]
[Achievement: Perfect Play achieved.]
“Perfect.”
The message window announced the end of the Placement Exam.
At the same time, it showed the incredible result Shin-hyeok had produced.
He had achieved not one, but three Achievements that would have practically guaranteed Silver Tier in the Placement Exam even if he had achieved only one.
But the true surprise was still to come.
[You have directly acquired five or more weapon techniques in the Placement Exam.]
[Class: Weapon Master is available.]
“Weapon Master? You can acquire this Class like this too?”
There were Classes in the Dimension Arena.
Ordinary people obtained nothing more than common Classes such as Warrior, Mage, and Archer.
But the fortunate were different.
Among them, Weapon Master was a Class so exceptional that even Shin-hyeok in his previous life knew about it.
“Roderick, the Weapon Master. Europe’s Grand Master. They said there was no weapon Roderick could not handle......”
Grand Master.
It was a title referring to Diamond-tier Players who were evaluated as standing on the verge of Challenger Tier.
There had been only one Grand Master on the European continent, so Shin-hyeok remembered Roderick all the more clearly.
At the thought that he could obtain such a person’s Class, Shin-hyeok’s heart began to pound.
‘Before my regression, my Class was Elite Swordsman. I had simply honed an ordinary Class to its absolute limit. If I gain a Hidden Class too......!’
Shin-hyeok’s anticipation was all the greater because, despite reaching Challenger Tier, he had possessed only an ordinary Class.
“I accept—”
The moment Shin-hyeok was about to accept,
[You have directly acquired ten or more Skills in the Placement Exam.]
[Class: All Master is available.]
“All...... Master?”
The message that suddenly appeared interrupted Shin-hyeok’s choice.
All Master.
A Class he had never heard of before.
But the instant Shin-hyeok saw its name, he instinctively reached toward the message window.
[Class: All Master acquired.]
[All Master]
-Classification: Class [Unique]
└Additional bonuses are applied when learning all Skills.
└Additional bonuses are applied when using all Skills.
└You can wield opposing energies.
“......I never imagined I would gain All Master as a Class rather than a nickname.”
Before his regression, Shin-hyeok had been called the All Master and had done alone what dozens of Challenger-tier Players could accomplish together.
And now, he had truly been given the Class called All Master.
What that meant was simple.
“It does not seem like it will take very long to make the New Humanity Empire bastards pay.”
The New Humanity Empire that had killed him.
And the Challenger-tier Players from other dimensions who had joined hands with them.
It meant that the day he plunged the blade of revenge into them was not far away.
[Archery [C], Swordsmanship [B], Axe Mastery [D], Spearmanship [D], Staff Mastery [E], and Saber Arts [E] have been combined into Integrated Weapon Mastery [D].]
“This is not bad either.”
Shin-hyeok was satisfied as he saw his many miscellaneous weapon techniques combine into one in exchange for obtaining the All Master Class.
Their grade had dropped considerably as a result, but that was no problem for Shin-hyeok, who possessed the Traits Versatility and Late Bloomer.
Having acquired a new Class and new Skills, the moment of Shin-hyeok’s true reward arrived.
[You have achieved three Achievements in the Placement Exam!]
[This record is unique within the dimension and will be recorded in the Akashic Records of the Dimension Arena.]
[Reward: Random Box (up to Legendary), Random Trait]
“......Fantastic.”
A Random Box that could produce an item up to Legendary grade.
But the reward Shin-hyeok truly focused on was the one that came after it.
“A Random Trait. It is no different from gaining another heart.”
Shin-hyeok already had two hearts in the form of Versatility and Late Bloomer.
And now that he had gained a Random Trait as well, he had received a reward beyond compare.
“I’ll open the Random Box after I return...... I will claim the Random Trait first.”
Shin-hyeok tried to calm his racing heart with a deep breath before claiming the Random Trait.
[Trait: Devouring acquired.]
“Devouring? What kind of Trait is this?”
A Trait Shin-hyeok had never heard of before appeared before him.
Devouring.
Unable to understand what kind of Trait it was, Shin-hyeok fell into deep thought.
Then—
[The Apex of All Evil has sensed their own trace within you and has come to find you.]
[The Apex of All Evil regards you with interest for acquiring their Trait.]
“A Constellation......!”
A Constellation had come to Shin-hyeok.
‘A Constellation that does not spare even a glance for ordinary Achievements is already taking an interest in me?’
Constellations were beings who would not give someone a single look no matter how desperately they struggled.
For such a being to take interest in a Player who had only just completed the Placement Exam was astonishing.
“May I ask you to tell this inadequate person about this Trait?”
Shin-hyeok wanted to learn about the Trait called Devouring, which he did not understand.
[The Apex of All Evil strokes their chin in thought.]
[The Apex of All Evil accepts your request.]
“......! Thank you!”
Fortunately, the Apex of All Evil granted Shin-hyeok’s request.
But his joy lasted only a moment.
[Warning! There may be pain!]
“Pain? What do you mean by— Urgh......!”
A sensation as though needles were repeatedly pricking his brain began to take hold of Shin-hyeok.
It was pain unbearable even for Shin-hyeok, who had grown accustomed to suffering.
He struggled with his limbs trembling for only a moment.
“Phew...... So this is the kind of Trait it is......”
As the pain vanished in an instant, Shin-hyeok recalled the information about Devouring that had settled into his mind.
Then he smiled with a sigh.
“The power to absorb a portion of an enemy’s abilities after I devour them? That does not make any sense.”
It was the power to absorb the abilities of enemies he had killed.
Unfortunately, because this was not the real Dimension Arena, he could not absorb the abilities of Players.
But that did not matter.
“The monsters that appear in the Dimension Arena are enough for me to grow rapidly. All Master and Devouring. I am standing still, yet wings keep sprouting from my back.”
For now, simply killing the monsters that appeared in the Dimension Arena would be enough to grow quickly through Devouring.
As Shin-hyeok smiled at his steadily increasing abilities—
[The Apex of All Evil says they look forward to your future achievements.]
“I will live up to your expectations.”
After leaving behind only that one message, the Apex of All Evil, who had told Shin-hyeok about Devouring, vanished without a trace.
Only then, certain that the gaze upon him had disappeared, did Shin-hyeok let out a breath.
“Phew, receiving a Constellation’s gaze really is difficult.”
Constellations were beings like gods.
Even if they conveyed their will through messages and watched from an immeasurable distance, it was extremely taxing for Shin-hyeok, who was only human.
Eventually, completely drained, Shin-hyeok collapsed onto his back with his limbs spread wide.
[The Placement Exam has ended.]
[Your placement tier is currently being determined. Please wait a moment.]
“Ah, right. I was still in the Placement Exam.”
Only then did Shin-hyeok realize that he was still in the middle of the Placement Exam.
With a hollow laugh, he waited for his Tier placement.
How much time had passed?
A message window appeared once again.
[Player Choi Shin-hyeok’s Tier has been determined.]
[The Achievements and playstyle demonstrated by Player Choi Shin-hyeok were used as data in determining this Tier.]
“This is worth looking forward to.”
The things Shin-hyeok had shown and the Achievements he had earned in this Placement Exam were by no means insignificant.
He did not know what the Dimension Arena’s Akashic Records were, but they could not be ordinary.
The fact that his record would be stored there alone proved as much.
Furthermore, since even his playstyle was being considered, Shin-hyeok’s Tier placement would surely rise dramatically.
Then the message window that followed turned Shin-hyeok’s thoughts into certainty.
[Player Choi Shin-hyeok’s Tier is......]
“......Does this make any sense?”
The result was unbelievable even when he saw it with his own eyes.