‘Five kills, six kills.’
I flung myself forward, counting my Kill Count in my head.
“Argh?!”
“Seven kills.”
I swung my club at the head of the man who, caught off guard by my sudden approach, had forgotten to even raise his weapon.
He flew away limply and crashed into a building’s outer wall before swiftly vanishing in a swirl of light.
“Now I’m finally starting to loosen up.”
Just as expected, once I made a big enough commotion, other Players flocked here.
I had just taken care of the four who had arrived one after another.
CRAAASH!
When I quietly listened, violent clamor and tremors washed over my skin from all directions.
They must have run into one another on their way here and broken into a chaotic melee.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
I could not let them kill one another among themselves.
Everyone outside was my precious food.
HUMMM!
I gathered Mana, concentrating it in my thighs and calves.
Then I leaped into the air and surveyed the situation at a glance.
‘Four Warriors, three Archers, one Mage.’
I quickly mapped out the situation in my head.
The optimal route for sweeping all of them away at once.
“...There!”
The first targets were the two Warriors locked in a blade-to-blade fight.
[Gravity Field (D) Activated!]
[Cannonball (Cannonball)]
My weighted body accelerated without pause as I crashed down on the two Warriors.
The ground shook violently, and a small crater was gouged out where I landed.
“Eight kills.”
One Warrior vanished in a swirl of light without leaving even a trace behind.
“W-What was that?!”
The other one, who had noticed me falling and narrowly evaded, blinked in a daze.
“Your instincts aren’t bad. Keep honing them and you might make it to Bronze.”
“Haaah!”
He suddenly shouted and launched an attack.
I complimented him, and he repaid me with a sword.
Feeling sad over how increasingly harsh Korea had become, I moved.
WHOOSH!
I took a quick backstep to dodge the blade.
Then, as if it had been waiting, red energy wrapped around his sword.
[Sword Strike (Sword Strike) (D)]
It was the most common D-grade skill among the Warrior Position’s skills, but that did not make it weak.
A technique that swiftly swung a Mana-wreathed sword to cleave an enemy in two. You could call it the basic form of a swordsman’s technique.
“Haaah!”
Gritting his teeth, he slashed the red blade at me.
He had apparently let me dodge once to lower my guard, then immediately activated the skill to catch me off guard.
“Hmph.”
It might have worked on someone at his level, but not on me.
THUD!
I was not foolish enough to meet the skill head-on.
I leaped far backward to open up a decisive distance.
BANG!
Then, using that recoil, I charged forward in an instant and swung my club.
He panicked and tried to block with his sword, but—
“Not a chance.”
No matter how great the disparity in our equipment, he was wielding a blade while I was wielding a blunt weapon.
With sufficient acceleration and mass, along with the physical attributes granted by ‘Strong Bones,’ my firepower was guaranteed.
CRUNCH!
I could smash anything to pieces.
“Urgh!”
As though he had been hit by a massive dump truck, the man flew a long distance before face-planting into the ground.
“Nine kills.”
With a grin, I ran toward my next prey.
[The Match Has Ended.]
In no time, the match had ended.
Survival did not end until only one person remained.
Which meant that if I was seeing that message—
[Kill Count (Kill Count): 32]
Every Player except me was dead.
As I swept up everyone nearby, I had exceeded the quest objective by a little.
[An Unbelievable Score!]
[You have displayed a performance far beyond the average level!]
[Your performance has been reflected in the reward system.]
[Stamina +1]
[Agility +1]
[+3,000C]
“Attributes two matches in a row! And two of them again!”
I cheered inwardly.
The Channel was clearly giving my current performance a high evaluation.
Or perhaps it was trying to feed me attributes quickly and send me into matches suited to my level.
‘Either way, it’s good news for me.’
I had even received 3,000 Credits.
It seemed to be calculated at about 1,000 per ten kills.
“Well... this is plenty tasty too, but.”
The main course had yet to arrive.
[‘Quest: Outlaw Hunt’ Completed!]
[*“You’re a truly impressive fighter! Here is the reward I promised. If Helreim falls into danger again, I ask that you help us. I will reward you even more generously then! You have my word.”*]
[<Title: Peacemaker (Peacemaker)> Acquired.]
[+10,000C]
[Attribute Points +3]
A smile naturally formed on my lips.
Ten thousand Credits was already incredible, but I had also received three Attribute Points.
That was the equivalent of three level-ups.
‘And this.’
[Title: Peacemaker (Peacemaker) (D)]
▶A Title granted to a mercenary who protected the capital, ‘Helreim,’ with exceptional skill.
▶Stamina +1, Agility +1, Luck +2
Titles.
They were appellations bestowed upon completing quests or achieving special accomplishments.
They were not simply nicknames. Equipped Titles were a type of Player System that could grant additional attribute increases or effects.
“They aren’t easy to obtain, so it’s best to get as many as I can.”
Fortunately, I had not forgotten about the Hidden Quest hidden here.
Satisfied, I exited the Channel and checked my Status Window again.
I had only played two Normal Matches, yet—
▶Name: Shin Jaeha
▶Level: 6
▶Rank: Under
▶Constitution: Strong Bones [Strong Bones] (B)
-Receives bonuses to physical attributes.
▶Class: None
▶Title: Peacemaker (Peacemaker) (D)
▶Position: Warrior
▶Strength: 8
▶Stamina: 7(+1)
▶Agility: 6(+1)
▶Mana: 7
▶Luck: 5(+2)
[Attribute Points: 4]
▶Skills
-[Gravity Field] (D)
▶Credits: 16,700
I had already grown enough for it to be noticeable.
The growth I had achieved in those two Normal Matches was greater than everything I had gained throughout my entire time as a Sky Epic trainee.
“Pfft!”
A laugh suddenly escaped me.
It was the ‘joy of growth’ I had felt for the first time in a very long while.
The Mana burning beneath my solar plexus, my still-undeveloped body, and attributes that remained far below what I had before my regression.
All of it was so exhilarating that I could have gone mad.
“Right. This is why I couldn’t quit being a Player.”
Most people would have quit being a Player and looked for another job the moment their Mana Circuit was destroyed.
But I had fought through setback after setback and never once put down my hammer.
The reason was nothing special.
‘Because it was fun.’
Growing stronger, advancing, and fighting were fun.
Only when I entered the Channel did I feel alive.
And from now on, it would be even more fun.
Because I had more battlefields where I could fight.
The thought filled my chest with such excitement that I could not stand still.
“Next match, now!”
Just as I was about to enter my third Normal Match—
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! DING~!
The door lock activated, and someone came inside.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm~.”
His tie was loosened, and his coat hung over his shoulders.
He was a little over 180 centimeters tall.
“Hmm, hmm... Whoa, damn! You scared me!”
Suhyeok, who had been humming as he entered, noticed me and flinched in surprise.
“What? Why are you here at this time? Shouldn’t you be training right now?”
He calmed down and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
Unlike in the future, he had not put on weight. Instead of a belly, he had a moderate amount of muscle, and his jawline remained sharp.
And... and...
“His hair is so thick!”
Black, thick hair that had not yet fallen out!
At the sight of Suhyeok in his prime, tears of emotion sprang to my eyes.
“Waaah! Let me touch your hair! This isn’t a wig, right?!”
“You suddenly turn up out of nowhere and start talking nonsense—Aaargh! Let go! Let go of me, Shin Jaeha! Aaaah!”
Only after confirming that every single hair was firmly rooted in place did I let go of Suhyeok’s head.
“Are you having a rough time lately?!”
Suhyeok shouted indignantly as he fixed his disheveled hair.
“No... I’m just so happy you’re not bald.”
“Why are you suddenly talking about baldness?”
“They say hair loss is common among people in their thirties these days. You should start preventing it now.”
“What? Of all illnesses, hair loss is the furthest thing from me, you punk.”
“…….”
It wasn’t, though.
Of course, Suhyeok’s hair loss had been stress-induced.
Earth’s continued Dimension Cup losses, followed by the Players who had shown even a little promise transferring to other dimensions.
Even though he was not a Player himself, he had been an active coach in the league. There was no way he could avoid feeling furious.
“Why did you get off work so early?”
“I took a half-day. I’ve been pushing myself lately, so I wanted to rest.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, it had not been long since the league ended.
This was the period for resting a little and preparing for the next season.
‘This works out perfectly.’
If it had been the middle of a season, bringing him aboard would have been awkward.
Now, there was plenty of time.
“By the way, why are you here at this hour all of a sudden?”
“Heh heh heh, did you actually terminate your contract with Sky Epic this time?”
Suhyeok took a can of cola from the refrigerator, popped it open, and asked.
“Yeah.”
“Right, as if that’d be—huh?”
“I did. I terminated the contract.”
“...Seriously?”
Without a word, I turned toward the box containing my personal belongings from Sky Epic.
“Uh... um....”
Perhaps because he had only said it as a joke, he could not easily continue once he realized it was true.
“Want to pull out more of my hair...?”
He seemed to think my earlier behavior was madness brought on by the end of my contract.
I sighed and shook my head.
“No. If anything, I was the one who chose to leave.”
“Yeah, Jaeha. You made the right choice. That place was a complete cesspit.”
Suhyeok patted my shoulder.
“What does it matter that the team is huge? Their player management is a complete mess. They couldn’t recognize your true worth and kept making you do useless basic drills day after day!”
“…….”
“This won’t do. I’ll treat you to chicken and beer tonight. We’ll eat and drink, then forget all about it!”
His effort to cheer me up was obvious.
I could not help but smile.
‘Right. This is the kind of guy he was.’
He was the precious older brother who had treated me like family when I had neither connections nor friends in Seoul.
I had no idea how much it had bothered me to see Suhyeok cry before my regression.
Back then, I had no way to stop those tears.
‘Not now.’
At the very least, I had an opportunity to give him as much as he had given me.
No, even more.
“Suhyeok.”
“Half fried, half seasoned, right?”
“Would you consider becoming my manager?”
“The usual place we always order from... What?”
A question mark practically appeared on Suhyeok’s face as he operated the delivery app.
“Manager? What are you suddenly...?”
“I’m not telling you to do it right now. Right now, I’m only an Under Rank with nothing to my name.”
I raised my right hand and held up my index and middle fingers.
“Two years. I’ll ask you again exactly two years from now. Give me your answer then. By that point, the weight of my offer will be completely different.”
If my calculations were right, two years would be enough.
Enough time for me to become one of the K.P.L.’s best Players.
“Has this kid really eaten something strange?”
Suhyeok tilted his head and finished ordering the chicken.
.
.
.
Meanwhile.
[Just Met a Crazy Bastard in a Live Normal Match.]
[What the Hell Is This Bastard?]
[Why Is a Warrior Flying?!]
In one corner of the Player Community, rumors about someone slowly began to spread.