𝒩𝗈𝐕𝐿xt.𝗇t

Ambrose’s wooden sword slashed across the air and delivered a finishing blow to the wild hog’s unprotected neck.

[You killed a Wild Hog!]

[5 XP Earned!]

[XP: 99/100]

He picked up another tusk belonging to a wild hog, which was his sixteenth already. He now also had three wooden swords, two wooden spears, a wooden bow, and five arrows in his inventory.

After killing several more players, his total wealth was now at 13 silvers.

RedBand cleaned the animal blood off his wooden sword. He then glanced at the sky, which was soon becoming dark.

“One more kill, right?”

“Yeah.” Ambrose said and looked around. There weren’t any players or wild hogs left. They were officially the rulers of the wild hog breeding ground—the only people still alive.

“Let’s find a squirrel or something.” RedBand said as he had the intention to leave the breeding ground. “The further we go into the forest, the stronger animals we will face. Even though I am now level 2, I don’t think we can manage.”

“Alright.” Ambrose nodded and took one last look at the messy forest. There were a lot of signs of fighting. Then he followed after RedBand, and they both left.

The forest was eerily quiet. The birds had gone silent, the insects were quiet, and the wind was nonexistent. The trees were still as if they were frozen in time, and the dark sky resulted in the forest getting slowly filled with darkness.

“Whoah, look at that.” RedBand stopped in his tracks and looked at the sky.

“Hmm?” Ambrose stopped walking and turned to look at the sky. His breath almost stopped.

The dark sky had strange phenomena. As stars moved across the sky, purple and black mixed with red light as if there were a firestorm coming from the horizon. However, it was the result of the crimson moon.

The crimson moon was a breathtaking sight since they were used to seeing gray moon.

“That is a sight one could die for.” RedBand chuckled and scratched his head. “Now I understand why people are treating Martial Company as gods. They created a world that is miles more interesting than the real world.”

“…” Ambrose didn’t speak, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the crimson moon. He felt like the real world felt very dull in comparison.

“Anyway, it is late. We should move o—” RedBand mouth suddenly stopped moving. He lowered his gaze and saw a steel blade going through his stomach. “Oh…”

His figure slowly vanished into pixels.

He looked at the shocked Ambrose and said. “Run…”

Following that word, he disappeared, and the light blue pixels hovered in the air.

The light blue pixels slowly faded away, leaving only a faint memory of him in the air.

[Your party member, RedBand, has died!]

“Run, pfft!” Three different laughs echoed across the forest.

Ambrose tensed and put his wooden sword in front of him. He then saw three figures walking from the forest, wearing ridiculing smiles. They were all athletic and handsome, with black cloaks draped over them.

This was the first time he met someone with a black cloak, so he was curious about it. So far, he had seen everyone wearing basic clothes and dull wooden weapons.

However, these three young men all had steel swords. Ambrose remembered seeing those in the weapons store—those steel broadswords cost 120 silvers each.

‘They are definitely strong to be able to afford those swords so early in the game!’ Ambrose felt heavy pressure.

“Booo!” A black-haired young man took a sudden step forward while shouting loudly.

Ambrose flinched and took a sudden step backward. That earned another fit of laughter from the three young men, who were obviously playing around with him.

“Anthon, he looks a little bit scared, don’t you think so?” The blond-haired young man put his hands on his waist and spoke gently, like he was talking about a child.

“You are right, Cauldron!” Anthon, the black-haired young man, said loudly and turned to Ambrose. “Are you scared?”

Ambrose didn’t open his mouth. He was looking for a way out, but the three young men had already surrounded him, but none of them were pointing their weapons at him. They looked very carefree, as if it were impossible for him to run away.

“Did the cat steal your tongue?” A young man with curly brown hair said with a chuckle. “By the way, you should cut your hair. I can give you a helping hand.”

He swung the steel broadsword around menacingly.

“Sorry about my friend.” Anthon scratched his hair. “Ignite wants to be a hairdresser, but I have already said many times that he has no talent. He often ends up cutting his clients heads off!”

“Ah, piss off. It is their fault for moving when I am working!” Ignite, the curly brown-haired young man, shouted with a grin.

Ambrose saw that the black-haired and brown-haired players weren’t paying any attention to him. He saw a small gap where he could escape.

He kicked off the ground and rushed at the small gap. However, the sudden appearance of a steel broadsword stopped his retreat.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?” Cauldron spoke menacingly and looked at Ambrose with his cold gray eyes.

Ambrose gulped dryly as everyone turned their gazes at him.

‘I can’t die here. I am only one experience point away from reaching the next level, and I have so much stuff with me!’

“What a serious fellow.” Ignite looked at his own brown bangs that hovered in front of his eyes. “I should have a new haircut too.”

“Man, didn’t your girlfriend cut that for you only a week ago?” Anthon asked with a chuckle.

“Yeah, but I broke up with her today. She was bitching about me wanting to spend more time in here with you guys than with her.”

“Oh, man!” Anthon patted his friend’s shoulder and then laughed. “I didn’t like her anyway!”

“Me neither.” Ignite said and seriously looked at Anthon. They had a silent staring contest before they both roared in laughter.

Cauldron chuckled and shook his head with an amused expression.

At that moment, a black blur rushed past him and started running down the forest path.

“Oh, shit.” Cauldron turned around and saw Ambrose running into the forest. “He escaped.”

Whoosh… Anthon rushed forward with great acceleration. His body zoomed past the trees, and in a mere five seconds, he had already caught up to Ambrose.

He raised his steel broadsword above his head and hacked it down.

Ambrose felt his hair stand up as a result of the great danger heading his way. He made the first move that came to mind, and that was side-rolling.

After rolling to the side, the steel broadsword hit the ground with a loud thud.

Ambrose raised his head and looked at the black-haired young man in front of him, who was still smiling carefreely. Seeing that smile caused the grip on the wooden sword to tighten.

Without thinking for another second, Ambrose rose to his feet and raised the wooden sword above his head.

“Basic Slash!”

Anthon raised his sword and effortlessly blocked the wooden sword with only one hand on the steel broadsword. It looked so effortless that others would think he was fighting a child.

At that moment, Cauldron flanked Ambrose from the side. He lifted the steel broadsword over his shoulder and slashed it down vertically. The blade reflected the eerie crimson glow of the moon.

Ambrose’s vision was filled by the crimson glow and the approaching blade. He knew he wouldn’t be able to deflect it with his wooden sword.

‘Ah, even if I were to be fighting against them 1v1, I wouldn’t be able to win. They are too strong…’

‘Huh, another fracture? Are you made of glass? You are pathetic, brother…’ A voice of his little sister echoed in his mind.

Flashes of faces with ridiculing smiles appeared in his mind. The smiles were eerily similar to the smiles that these three young men were showing. Almost a perfect copy.

‘Fuck you all!’ Ambrose screamed his frustration out.

As the steel broadsword appeared in front of him, Ambrose let go of his wooden sword and rolled backward.

Cauldron missed his strike, but he was surprised that he abandoned his weapon since this was his first time seeing that during his eight hours of playing today.

Anthon grabbed the wooden sword and tossed it into his inventory with a smile on his face.

Ambrose slowly straightened his posture and faced the three young men without a weapon in hand.

Cauldron, Anthon, and Ignite were all standing in front of him with their steel swords in hand. They were all head taller than Ambrose, making it really look like an unfair fight.

Ambrose combed his messy black hair with his hand and opened his inventory. He saw that there were three wooden swords inside.

He pulled out a wooden sword and tested its weight. It was as light as his previous wooden sword.

Then he glanced at the young men and used his remaining free hand to pull out another wooden sword. He then closed the inventory.

“Dual wielding—what good does that do to you?” Anthon asked. “Without proper training, your body doesn’t know how to use two swords simultaneously.”

“Piss off, I am not asking for a lecture.” Ambrose said coldly and raised both swords above his head. He then muttered. “Basic Slash.”

‘A skill? He was using Basic Slash before. Could he be trying to use Basic Slash with both swords? That will never work.’ Anthon thought and moved his steel broadsword into a slashing stance.

Ambrose took a deep breath, buckled his knees, and charged at Anthon.

At that moment, Ambrose released a mighty shout and swung both swords towards the three young men.

Ding, ding!

[Dual Basic Slash – Completion Rate – 15%]