The leaderboard showed:
1) Jas Wilson: 1800 points
2) Anna Parkour: 1770 points
3) Mira Lapele: 1670 points
4) Zeras Voidman: 1640 points
5) Solos Kamstur: 1630 points
Jas...
If he keeps this up, he could easily surpass my expectations and reach over 2500 points in no ti.
I looked at the clock; it was 11:42 a.m.
That ant I had about 18 minutes to take back the top position, which felt nearly impossible—even if I stumbled upon an Easter egg, I might still fall short by at least 10 points compared to Jas.
But I couldn't just throw in the towel...
I needed a skill, no matter what.
My only chance to climb back to the top was to go on a rampage and use all my abilities.
The problem was that my rage skill was nearly impossible to activate since I couldn't force myself to feel angry.
That left with just one skill: my dash.
Now, I needed to find a massive horde of monsters and take them down all at once using that skill.
But the challenge was...
By "massive," I ant a horde at least ten tis larger than the last pack of wolves I faced, and I wasn't sure if that was even feasible.
Still, I had to give it a try...
***
After running for a few minutes, I found myself in an unexpected spot...
Damn it.
A cliff stood in my way, marking the jungle's dead end. On my way here, I'd only encountered a handful of monsters and two players, both of whom I defeated with little trouble.
The last player was tougher because his special ability was similar to mine.
Still, I managed to win without using my own ability, thanks to a monster that interrupted our fight, making it easier to finish him off—and then I took care of the monster too.
I glanced up at the sky to check the leaderboard on the hologram, only to see sothing that shocked .
I couldn't believe it...
Is this real?
How did this even happen?
I stood there, completely stunned, losing a whole minute just trying to process it.
The leaderboard now read:
1) Jas Wilson: 2100 points
2) Jack Smith: 2010 points
3) Anna Parkour: 1960 points
4) Allen Smith: 1840 points
5) Sam Smith: 1800 points
Those three...
The Smith brothers were dominating the leaderboard with a massive number of points.
What did they stumble upon?
I could understand if they found so loophole and took advantage of it, but this many points?
Did they run into a huge horde of monsters or sothing?
That seems like the only way they could've shot into the top five, especially since they weren't even close a few minutes ago.
I glanced at the ti—11:46 a.m.
Fuck, at this rate, I'm going to lose...
There's no way I can—
Before I could finish the thought, a familiar voice broke through the air.
"Yo, look who I've found!"
I spun around quickly to see Solos, his bloodied sword in hand, erging from behind a bush.
"You? What do you want now?" I demanded, gripping my daggers tightly, prepared for whatever was coming.
Solos smirked, his blood-stained sword resting at his side. "What do you think?"
I understood exactly why he was here.
For soone like Solos, revenge ant everything.
He likely aid to humiliate again by defeating in front of everyone, just like he did last ti.
I raised both daggers, my eyes narrowing. "I'm not thinking anything."
He chuckled darkly. "Of course not. Why would you? You've always been clueless when it cos to things like this. But that's not why I'm here..."
Before he could finish, Solos suddenly lunged at , his sword slicing through the air.
He was fast—too fast—but I managed to block his strike aid at my face with both daggers.
The sharp clash of tal rang out as our weapons locked, faces inches apart.
"Revenge," Solos growled, his voice filled with hatred. "I want payback for what you did to . Today, I'll humiliate you again—just like I did a year ago."
Knew it...
I gritted my teeth. "You think you can—argh!"
Fuck, what?
Before I could finish, Solos released his sword with one hand and swiftly reached into his magical bag.
In a blur, he drew out a knife and plunged it into my stomach.
Pain ripped through . He sneered as he twisted the blade. "I know I can."
The pain was nearly overwhelming, but I wasn't about to give up.
Gathering all my strength, I drove my knee into his stomach, breaking our locked weapons and sending him stumbling backward.
"Ouckkk, you bloody piece of shit!!" He shouted out in anger...
"I sucked badly."
I staggered away, clutching my stomach as blood poured from the deep wound, soaking my clothes.
Desperate, I reached for my health potion, but before I could drink it, Solos laughed and charged again.
"You're not getting the chance to drink that!" he shouted.
In a matter of seconds, he was right in front of , his sword aid for another incoming slash...
Ohh, shit! Not again...
With no other option, I tossed the bottle aside and blocked his next attack.
His sword ca down hard on my shoulder, and I barely managed to stop his knife with my other dagger.
The pain was intense, but I wasn't going to give in.
"I'm not falling for the sa trick twice, you bastard!" I yelled through gritted teeth.
Solos smirked, pressing the attack.
"I didn't expect you to," he said, his voice cold and steady.
He suddenly halted his attack and jumped back, creating so distance between us.
Seizing the opportunity, I quickly reached for another potion in my pocket and glanced at
Solos, who was observing closely as if I were sothing valuable.
I uncorked the potion and drank it as quickly as I could.
Within seconds, I downed the entire bottle and tossed it aside, still aware of Solos's intense gaze.
I couldn't figure out what he was up to, so I prepared myself for a sudden attack.
For a brief mont, silence hung between us as we remained still, the tension thick in the air.
Then I heard a rustling sound coming from a nearby bush.
I turned to see a white, stone-like ball rolling slowly toward .
Solos shouted, "Got you, Bloody shit!"
Realizing what it was, I instinctively tried to jump out of the way, but then...
"Boom!"
A loud explosion echoed through the air, followed by a powerful roar.
Thick smoke quickly filled the area, turning everything around a ghostly white. I began to cough, struggling to clear my lungs from the choking cloud.
What on earth is happening?
That stone...
I recognized it.
Wasn't it from an Onylitor?
Onylitors are monsters that resemble humans, but their bodies are made of stone instead of flesh and blood.
Their main attack thod involves throwing stones to create a smoke screen that disorients their opponents.
When the enemy can't see through the smoke, the Onylitor strikes from an unknown direction, delivering a fatal blow.
Yeah, just one blow...
According to the encyclopedia, an Onylitor can reach a maximum rank of uncommon, aning its highest level is peak uncommon.
They usually attack with both hands, using their sharp stone limbs to pierce vital areas and take down opponents with ease.
But here's the issue...
I thought these monsters preferred living in caves because they despise sunlight.
The sun's rays can harm them by lting their stone bodies.
So why is this Onylitor out in the daylight, acting like it doesn't care about its own health?
Wait a second...
Suddenly, I rembered sothing important from the encyclopedia.
It ntioned two reasons a monster might co out to hunt its prey.
First, when it goes on a rampage because it feels threatened.
Second, when its eggs or young are at risk of being taken or destroyed.
Which ans...
No way...
Solos must have done one of those things to provoke the monster.
The first reason seems unlikely; if its life were in danger, it wouldn't have attacked with that stone.
So, Solas must have done sothing to threaten its young.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, my instincts scread at to dodge.
I quickly dropped my head just in ti to avoid a massive hand swinging toward from behind.
I could sense its presence closing in on .
That jerk...
He set all of this up just to eliminate from the competition without lifting a finger himself.
I have to admit, he almost pulled it off—if I hadn't had any skills to fall back on, he likely would have.
"Activate dash skill."
[Dash skill (Level 3) has been successfully activated!]
***
Solos's POV
***
"Got you!"
I yelled in excitent as the stone shattered, releasing a massive cloud of smoke into the air.
In no ti, the smoke grew so thick that I could barely see anything around .
"What will you do now, choker?"
I smirked and muttered to myself.
Just a few minutes before, while hunting a group of Onylitors, I had co across their nest deep inside a cave.
There, I found so eggs being guarded by two Onylitors.
I quickly took them down and destroyed all the eggs, leaving at least one Onylitor alive.
I wanted it to chase for fun because when soone destroys an Onylitor's eggs, the male will relentlessly pursue them.
There's a major advantage to this chase.
The Onylitor can track the person who ruined its eggs solely by scent.
The destroyed eggs leave a foul sll on the victim's hands.
However, if the victim washes their hands in water, the Onylitor won't be able to identify them anymore.
Additionally, that scent can be transferred to anyone who touches the victim.
Yes, it's definitely possible.
Honestly, I shouldn't really call it a hunt; I just wanted to play around with the Onylitor a bit and use it to battle another monster.
But when I saw that son of bitch quietly watching the hologram from the corner, I decided it was ti to teach him a lesson and make him look foolish.
So, I ca over and started a fight with him.
I deliberately stabbed him in the stomach to provoke him into kicking away and creating so space between us.
Just now, when he kicked , I used both hands to touch his right knee, leaving my scent on him.
I chose the knee because if I had touched him sowhere else, he might have beco suspicious.
I wanted to avoid raising any alarms.
After injuring him, I quickly jumped back to create a safe distance from the smoke.
I let him recover and waited for the fun to begin.
The ga is on, and I can't wait to see how he gets out of this ss.
There's no way he can escape the smoke while fighting the monster.
That weak little guy has no chance.
I rember last year when he couldn't even defeat a common-rank monster and nearly panicked in fear.
Even though he's improved a lot this year, he's still weaker than and always will be.
Even if he sohow manages to escape—which I seriously doubt, especially with just over eleven minutes left in the match—I'll make sure to humiliate him with my special skill.
Fuck that guy.
With all this anger toward him, I'm sure I'll miss the top 5 slots in the hologram today, all because of those three idiots on the leaderboard.
I glanced up at the sky to view the leaderboard, which displayed the following rankings:
1) Jas Wilson: 2200 points
2) Jack Smith: 2150 points
3) Sam Smith: 2090 points
4) Anna Parkour: 2060 points
5) Allen Smith: 2040 points
Those shitty guys...
How could they possibly pass on the leaderboard?
Those weaker fools…
It's got to be pure luck, nothing else.
There's no way they could defeat in a real monster hunter competition...
They're not even close to my level.
Noone can match ...
I'm the strongest of my generation.
Sure, there are a few like Anna—that irritating bitch—and Jas who might co close to my strength, but honestly, I doubt either of them could match in raw power.
Whatever.
For now, I'll just enjoy the show in front of .
That shitty bastard over there has no clue what's about to happen.
I can't wait to see him get torn apart by that beast once the smoke clears. It should only take another minute.
Usually, the smoke from the stone—their life force—dissipates in two or three minutes. But this ti... it's lingering longer than usual.
Still, it's bound to clear any second now—
"Muahhhhhhh!"
Out of nowhere, a deafening roar echoed through the smoke, shaking everything around .
My pulse quickened as the thick haze began to lift.
With each second, the sound of tal clashing against stone grew louder, filling the air.
That fool must be struggling to defend himself against Onlytor's punches…
Ugh… only an fucking idiot would think ordinary tal could harm that beast.
The only things that can damage Onlytor are steel weapons or heated blades.
Everything else is useless.
As the smoke gradually cleared, my anticipation only grew stronger.
Co on… show that bruised, defeated face of yours...
Show that face...
But after a few more seconds, when the smoke finally cleared enough, I was faced with sothing I never expected.
I stood frozen, eyes wide in disbelief.
This…
How?
What is...
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