I opened the chest.
Inside...
Was a single fruit.
I stared at it for a moment.
"Is this even hygienic?"
Then I remembered something.
"Oh, who am I kidding?"
"As long as it doesn’t kill me, who cares?"
I picked up the fruit and took a bite.
The taste was...
A little moldy.
But it was still edible.
Then—
[+5 Mana]
My eyes widened.
"Five?"
"Five at once?!"
A grin slowly spread across my face.
"This is good stuff."
I took another bite despite the questionable taste.
Who cared about flavor when it gave me five points of Mana?
After finishing the fruit, I quickly left the cave.
Once I was outside, I checked the ranking on my bracelet again.
[No. 1 — Nyx Voidweaver — 4,300 Points]
[No. 2 — Lucian Draven — 3,200 Points]
[No. 3 — Aurelia Valcrest — 2,700 Points]
[...]
[No. 9 — Asher — 1,500 Points]
I stared at the numbers.
"What the hell?"
"How are they getting points this fast?"
I had already been hunting monsters and taking bracelets from other examinees.
Yet those people were still increasing their scores at an insane rate.
I couldn’t afford to fall behind.
"I need to step up my game."
"Otherwise, I’ll be left in the dust."
I immediately started moving through the forest.
Before long, I found several examinees.
Compared to the stronger people I’d encountered earlier, these guys weren’t much of a challenge.
I simply approached them, placed my blade against their necks, and politely asked for their bracelets.
Surprisingly...
They handed them over without much resistance.
I destroyed their bracelets one after another.
Such well-mannered people.
I continued moving.
Then...
I encountered another examinee.
He was clearly stronger than the others.
He had black hair, just like me.
The moment he saw me, he frowned.
"Which family are you from?"
I looked at him calmly.
"None."
"I don’t have a family."
His eyes moved over my cheap clothes and worn equipment.
Then he laughed.
"Oh?"
"It seems I’ve found some free points."
He looked at me with disdain.
"Hey, trash."
"Give me your bracelet if you don’t want to die."
My expression immediately turned cold.
Not because he called me trash.
I had heard worse.
What changed my expression was his threat.
I looked directly into his eyes.
"If you think you can take it..."
"Then try."
"But I’m warning you."
"If you try to kill me..."
"You’ll die first."
His eyes narrowed.
"Oh, really?"
"Then how exactly am I going to die?"
"Because of that cheap sword?"
"Or that broken equipment you’re wearing?"
He suddenly pushed himself forward.
His sword flashed toward me.
I raised one sword and blocked the attack.
CLANG!
At the same time, I swung my other sword toward him.
He immediately jumped backward, avoiding the strike.
A mocking smile appeared on his face.
"You sneaky rat."
"You tried to bait me."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"Let me show you the difference between a noble like me..."
"And a pathetic loser like you."
I looked at him calmly.
"The last person who told me that..."
"I made sure he had a good ending."
My eyes narrowed.
"The same goes for you."
Darkness began spreading across my body.
My mana flowed through my limbs.
The darkness wrapped around my swords.
Then—
I disappeared into the shadows.
His expression changed.
"What—?!"
I emerged from the darkness behind him.
Slash!
He barely managed to block.
Another attack came from the opposite direction.
Then another.
My movements became increasingly difficult to predict.
It was as if the darkness itself was attacking him.
He blocked some of my attacks.
But not all of them.
Slash!
Blood appeared across his shoulder.
Another attack tore across his side.
His movements became slower.
He was strong.
But his arrogance had made him underestimate me.
I saw my opportunity.
Instead of aiming for his body...
I aimed directly at his bracelet.
My sword struck it.
CRACK!
The bracelet shattered.
His eyes widened.
"No—!"
His body immediately began breaking apart into particles of light.
He disappeared.
I lowered my sword.
I hadn’t needed to kill him.
Destroying his bracelet was enough.
I looked down at my own bracelet.
The points had increased dramatically.
I opened the ranking.
My eyes widened.
[No. 1 — Nyx Voidweaver — 6,100 Points]
[No. 2 — Asher — 5,600 Points]
[No. 3 — Lucian Draven — 4,400 Points]
[No. 4 — Cassian Moonvail — 4,100 Points]
[No. 5 — Aurelia Valcrest — 3,900 Points]
[...]
I stared at the rankings.
I had jumped all the way to second place.
A grin slowly appeared on my face.
"Looks like..."
"I finally caught up."
I continued my hunt through the forest.
Part of me wanted to kill every opponent I encountered.
If I killed them, I could absorb their power.
Their strength would become mine.
Their attributes would make me stronger.
It would be easy.
But...
I stopped.
If I started killing people simply because I wanted their power, I’d lose something important.
My emotions.
My humanity.
Even during the hardest moments of my life, I had always maintained a clear line between what was right and what was wrong.
I didn’t follow some grand moral code.
I wasn’t interested in all that bullshit.
But I had my own principles.
And if I abandoned those principles...
What would make me different from a wild monster?
What would separate me from the beasts I hunted?
I clenched my fist.
As long as someone didn’t threaten me...
I had no reason to kill them.
With that thought, I continued moving.
Eventually, I noticed a group of people gathered together.
They seemed to be working as a team.
I stopped and observed them from a distance.
After watching them for a while, I noticed something interesting.
One person clearly stood above the others.
The others followed his orders.
And judging from his clothes and equipment...
He was a noble.
I immediately understood.
Connections.
Nobles could gather people around themselves simply because of their status.
I narrowed my eyes.
Then darkness slowly covered my body.
I poured mana into my eyes and enhanced my vision.
The bracelets around their wrists became clear.
Perfect.
I moved.
Silent.
Fast.
Like a shadow passing through the forest.
I appeared behind the first person.
Before they could react—
Crack!
His bracelet shattered.
His body immediately disappeared.
I moved to the next.
Crack!
Another bracelet shattered.
Then another.
One after another...
They disappeared before they even realized what was happening.
The group descended into chaos.
By the time they understood what was happening, only their leader remained.
I didn’t waste any time.
I raised my hand.
A Dark Bullet formed.
I aimed directly at his bracelet.
Bang!
The projectile struck.
Crack!
His bracelet shattered.
His body disappeared into particles of light.
That was it.
The so-called noble was no different from the others.
He wasn’t special.
I turned around and prepared to leave.
But then...
I sensed movement.
Someone was watching me.
I immediately looked in that direction.
My eyes widened slightly.
A girl stood among the trees.
She held an elegant sword in her hand.
She had long, striking black hair and calm, deep blue eyes—the same color as mine.
And her appearance...
Was breathtaking.
For a moment, I simply stared.
Longer than I should have.
I’d never seen a woman this beautiful before.
My mind went blank for a few seconds.
Then I quickly came back to my senses.
What was I doing?
I tightened my grip around my sword.
My eyes narrowed.
She had been watching me.
And I had no idea...
How long she had been there.