"You’ve got to be kidding me!" I mumbled, biting my lips as I found myself somewhat miserable.
The scream was a decoy—a trap I deliberately fell into. As a consequence, I got wrapped from neck to toe with a shining web—perhaps a magical item and high-graded nonetheless. The whole world had turned upside down as I was hanging on a tree branch.
"What a waste!" A voice filled with resentment came to my ears, "A small fry? I thought a whole party would be trapped. Seems like my efforts went in vain."
It was a beautiful woman wearing mage clothes who spoke that. Although I was hanging upside down, I could clearly see the irritation in her lustful eyes. She was utterly disappointed, yet a sinister smirk still lingered on her crimson lips.
Surely, she was a mage-class player. However, ’Witch’ might be a proper assertion for her description. Well yeah, she looked more like a witch than a typical mage.
"Now, now. Don’t be disappointed so soon. Even if it’s just a player, he still may have something valuable. Don’t you think?" said another player who appeared later. He might look shabby, but the aura around him spoke he wasn’t someone who should be poked easily.
"Or at least give him a chance to hand over his items." He drew his long sword.
’Damn! PKers?’ I frowned in exasperation.
Just my luck. Out of all the players in this game, I had to run into PKers. What a misfortune! They were even worse than facing a high-ranked monster.
’Come to think of it, what are the possibilities of the rumors being false statements spread by these PKers? I mean, with those rumors, players can easily be lured in just like me.’
The thought took over me. While the chances were slim, it could be the case after all.
"So, I guess the rumors were your doing?" I asked, trying to confirm my speculations before jumping into conclusion, "There isn’t a high-ranked monster, is it?"
"Kyahahah!" the witch—I mean the mage woman, burst into laughter as if I told her an obvious joke. It was embarrassing a bit though. "Seriously! You came here all the way to hunt down the high-ranked monster. Haha!"
"We indeed spread the rumors. However..."
It wasn’t the swordsman who spoke that, rather it was someone else entirely. A dark and vile aura coated around his entire body as he emerged from the shadow of the trees. A ragged black cloak waved down from his back and a dagger could be seen near his torso.
"However, that wasn’t a rumor."
The moment he said that something leaped from his shadow and stood behind him. A saber-tooth tiger. But not an ordinary one. It was tall—nearly thirty feet or so, with fangs almost size of a human. The blue fur over its body was releasing sparks of lightning seamlessly.
Of course, it wasn’t something that could be dealt with effortlessly. Considering my current strength, even I was no match for it. Even so...
"Whoa! A kitty cat!" I said sarcastically, by the way. "Did you tame that cat? That makes you a tamer, doesn’t it? You sure got a rare class. I heard that tamers are Job-Exclusive. So what kind of Job did you obtain? Oh, oh, let me guess. Judging by your appearance, you might have acquired the Job of an errand boy, didn’t you? Haha!"
Damn! I pulled it wild. I could see his vein twisting on his temple as he frowned angrily. He was unimaginably pissed.
Unlike the starting seven classes—which were considered common classes, by the way— the players could change their class through the Job Change quest. It wasn’t possible for everyone though. Only players with a certain amount of Ascendancy Index (I.A) and achievements were able to get that opportunity.
If he indeed was a tamer—which he might have acquired through Job Change Quest, then he had to be a pro player and with high level nevertheless.
Ascendency Index?
It was a determinant factor in measuring players’ performance. The overall stats of players and how they used it to level themselves up. The raid records. The taken quest records. Heaven Clearance records. Item obtaining records. And their active time on the game. The overall analytical mean value represented a player’s I.A.
To put it more precisely, the higher the I.A. You had, the more professional you were.
If I was correct, taking Job Change Quest required more than 20 I.A. and clearing Thirty heavens without a single defeat. Of course, he was powerful. No wonder why he got upset. His face was serious and darkened further. It made me laugh more though.
"Did you lose your sanity perhaps?" the swordsman shouted at me, feeling the heavy pressure that burned like a blaze behind him. "How dare you mock our leader like that? Do you think you can go away with it? You—"
"You think I would be scared just because you have caught me in this net? A magical item like this isn’t even enough to hold my finger. How did you expect it would hold me back?"
Okay, I lied. That wasn’t true. The magical item was quite strong. If it was weak, I might have already broken out of it. But it wasn’t. Yet, I deliberately bragged about it. I had a reason though.
My special skill—the one which I had spoken to be an unfair disadvantage against the other players, was still in recast countdown. I still have a minute left before I would be able to use it again.
[Warning: Killer’s Intent detected]
[A new Emergency Quest has arrived]
[Emergency Quest: Bounty Hunter]
[Eliminate all the enemies. Failure to complete the quest will result in your permanent Extermination]
’It’s been a while since I last got a bounty hunter quest.’
"Hay, errand boy." I called out to the leader who was still burning in anger, "Can your pet dance? Can you order it to put up a good performance?"
"Why not." Replied he, taking a few steps towards me, "Let me show when my pet begins to dance what chaos it brings upon everyone."
"Grrhh!!" The saber-tooth clenched against his teeth as it waited for a command. The thunder sparks ignited from his furs as though an electrical circuit running through his body.
"Bagha, show that bastard what you’re capable of!" he pointed at me and the immense beast leaped from his back. He closed in. I was still trapped inside the web. As his fangs were about to touch the web, I received the system notification I was waiting for.
[Avatar-Exclusive Skill: Class Shifter (Stage-2), Recast Time has been completed]
[Skill is available for reuse]
I immediately switched from Lancer Class—which I was using previously against the tenth heaven guardian— to Assassin Class—the only possible class that could help me to get out of the situation.
The web, along with the entire tree was destructed due to the immense force used by the saber-tooth. Fortunately, I used ’Glitch Step’ for evasion. It was a class-based skill that helped me to glitch my coordinates for a split second. With that, I was able to bypass its attack.
[Assassin Class (Tier-6) has been selected]
[Additional core attribute point has applied on Agility]
[AGI: 41(+20)]
The additional effect was impressive nevertheless. It provided me with additional core attribute points based on my class selection e.i. My penetrability (PEN) was amplified when I chose the lancer class.
[Crimson Star Dagger (Grade-B)x2 has been selected]
With high agility, I rushed as though beam splitting through the air and stabbed the mage woman in her chest before she was able to comprehend. It was severed with precision. I didn’t know how much health did it take out of her. But I was sure it wasn’t enough to defeat her just yet.
The other two observed me in shock as I kept stabbing the mage one after another. The saber-tooth, meanwhile, was preparing to attack again. Before that could happen, I wounded the mage as much as possible—from every possible direction and in an unpredictable way.
With the final ’critical’ slash, the mage woman’s body dematerialized into falling particles.
[You have eliminated an enemy]
[Additional Buffs has been activated]
[Skill Effect Amplifier/SEA (Lv-2) has been activated]
[Your attack power has increased by 10%]
[Fatigue: 18%]
[Skill Gauge: 23%]
"Inconceivable! Did he take her down that fast? Who is this person?" the swordsman stammered while the leader remained silent, clenching his fist.
"Phew! That was easier than I thought. Who’s next?"
I finally stood still for the first time, splashing the blood from the dagger, and looked at them with a grinning smile.
The pressure grew heavier. It was the saber-tooth who unleashed an intense aura that shook all the trees and the entire forest with a deafening roar. It trembled the ground beneath. nearly holding my position became hard.
Regardless I smiled. A deliberate smirk. It would be tough, but it was what I was here for. Just because it was a formidable opponent, didn’t mean I would run away from the battlefield.
’I will become stronger and won’t die until I log out.’ I told myself in a promising way as I prepared to face the saber-tooth head-on.
With all his might, he rushed towards me again.