There were monsters, and then there were players who had turned into something way worse than monsters.
They called them Player Killers.
PK for short.
Not just because they went around murdering people in some twisted game.
But because they got their kicks from hunting real humans like they were NPCs in some sick survival event.
Power-hungry psychopaths. Morally bankrupt scumbags. And the worst part?
Some of these lunatics were actually good at what they did.
"My name," the robed maniac said, spreading his arms wide like he was about to perform Shakespeare, with a crimson aura flickering behind his back like discount special effects, "is Salem."
His voice was way too calm. The kind of calm that serial killers probably practiced in mirrors before going on murder sprees.
Aurelia took a half-step forward, her sword still glowing faintly like a divine nightlight. Her wings fluttered silently.
Nero's right eye started twitching. "Salem? That's... ridiculously edgy. Of course this psycho picked the edgiest name possible."
Salem smirked like he thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread. "You're looking at the protagonist of this world, you know. This apocalypse was literally made for people like me."
He raised his hand dramatically. Some kind of shimmer surrounded it like budget movie CGI.
A skill? Nah.
An ability that probably cost someone their life.
Something clicked in Nero's brain like a rusty gear finally turning. The way this nutjob moved. How his aura kept shifting... it wasn't originally his.
This bastard was copying other people's powers.
"I have been granted the divine right," Salem announced like he was giving a speech at crazy person convention, "to take the abilities of those weaker than me."
His creepy red eyes flickered over to Aurelia like he was window shopping.
Then back to Nero like he was calculating their combined worth.
"...You two are an odd pair. A complete degenerate and something divine. Strange combo for the end of the world."
Nero whispered under his breath, "That ability... how the hell did this maniac get something THAT broken on day one?"
"Only the truly worthy are chosen for greatness."
Like he was reading Nero's mind, Salem pointed at himself with his thumb, looking proud as hell.
"Clearly, I'm the main character of this story."
Nero shot Aurelia with a quick glance.
She didn't waste time with dramatic speeches.
Her sword blazed with silver energy that made his eyes water.
She launched forward like a divine missile.
A blur of steel and holy wind that should have ended this fight instantly.
*SHING!*
Salem's head should have gone flying like a bloody basketball.
Instead, his entire body just... glitched out.
The slash passed through him like cutting through fog made of disappointment.
A split second later, his form shimmered and reconstructed itself like some bullshit video game respawn.
Aurelia landed behind him with a frown on her pristine face.
Salem let out the most obnoxious laugh Nero had ever heard.
"Ooh, almost had me there, little angel. So close you could taste it."
His body shook off that near-death experience like brushing dust off his shoulders.
"Too bad I absorbed some poor mob with a cheat ability called 'Last Second Recall.' Auto-dodge death, once per encounter."
"... This guy's more stacked than a premium gacha account." Nero raised an eyebrow.
'What an absolute idiot though, revealing all his abilities like some generic villain.'
Nero was pretty sure Salem had gotten way too deep into his protagonist roleplay fantasy.
Salem turned toward Aurelia, suddenly way more cautious than before.
"Where'd you even come from anyway? All I saw falling from those cracks earlier were ugly meat-beasts with way too many teeth. You're definitely not one of those things."
Aurelia gave him the silent treatment like he wasn't worth her words.
"Your speed is too fast for me to track properly. Your raw power completely overwhelms mine... Tell me, it would be an honor to know the name of such exceptional prey before I claim your abilities."
Still nothing but cold silence.
"The strong silent type, I see? Well, no matter..."
He took a step forward, then stopped like he was savoring the moment.
"Whatever. I'll figure out your whole deal after I steal your power."
He lunged forward like a rabid animal.
Aurelia met him head-on because she wasn't about to back down from some discount villain.
*CLANG!*
Their clash exploded with enough force to make the ground crack.
Steel met conjured bone blades that looked like they belonged in a horror movie.
She twisted mid-air, her wing slashing sideways like a divine razor, but Salem backflipped like some demented circus performer, landing with claws and fire effects.
*BOOM!*
The shockwave sent Nero tumbling like a rag doll.
He scrambled for cover behind an abandoned car, muttering, "Alright, stay calm, don't die horribly. Simple plan. I can do this."
Aurelia was already back in motion.
Her sword work was absolutely relentless.
Every strike sang with the kind of precision that belonged in textbooks, but Salem was learning fast.
He was adapting like some kind of combat AI, surviving through pure bullshit.
He blocked with an ice gauntlet that appeared out of nowhere. Then teleported short distances like he was lagging in real life.
For some random human to keep up with Aurelia, who sliced through monsters like they were made of paper, meant only one thing...
This guy had stolen way too many overpowered abilities.
Nero peeked out from his hiding spot.
Salem hurled a fireball that looked like it belonged in a fantasy MMO.
Aurelia cut it clean in half mid-air, but the explosion still knocked her back a few steps.
She rolled, skidded to her feet, then charged again like nothing had happened.
A deadly rhythm started forming:
Attack. Dodge. Strike. Block. Counter. Crash.
The ground beneath them was getting absolutely destroyed.
Then Salem pulled out a glowing bottle like he was some kind of discount alchemist.
*BOOM!*
A grenade? In the apocalypse?
No, wait.
A stolen item from some poor bastard who probably needed it more.
Nero ducked as debris shot toward him like shrapnel.
He screamed over the chaos, "HOW THE HELL DO YOU HAVE AN ENTIRE ARSENAL JUST FIVE MINUTES INTO THE APOCALYPSE?!"
Salem grinned like he'd just won the lottery.
"Beta-tester perks only."
"That's bullsh–!"
Nero got cut off by another earth-shaking explosion.
Salem summoned a bunch of corrupted tree roots from underneath Aurelia, trying to bind her movement.
But she wasn't having any of that nonsense.
"Divine Slash."
A silvery aura radiated from her entire being, instantly turning those corrupted roots into harmless sparkling lights.
After nuking the environment with an AoE attack, she shot forward without missing a beat.
"Tsk!"
Salem clicked his tongue like he was actually annoyed that his cheap trick didn't work.
"Light's Wrath."
She chanted it like she was delivering divine judgment.
*CLANG!*
Salem made a face like someone had just stepped on his toe with steel boots.
She'd managed to slice his shoulder open.
Black liquid hissed from the wound like it was made of pure evil.
It was obvious that her holy power was seriously messing with his regenerative bullshit.
He retreated, snarling like a wounded animal.
"I see... you're not just some normal summon. You're something way more special. I want that power."
While the two were locked in their epic anime battle, Nero opened his stat panel and frantically tapped his Unique Ability button.
[Waifu Summoner (SSR)]
The screen blinked at him mockingly.
[Cooldown: 24 hours. Waifu Coupon required. The first summon was a FREE trial.]
"Of course," Nero growled like his favorite gacha game had just scammed him. "I need a freaking ticket to pull. What else did I expect?"
He scanned the area desperately. Nothing useful anywhere. No convenient gacha shops. No magical loot crates.
Just shattered buildings, a diner that was still on fire, and...
He paused.
Something clicked in his brain like a light bulb made of pure genius.
A brilliant, completely stupid idea started forming.
Physics could be his friend.
The environment could be his weapon.
He's not a genius, but using his common sense and some basic knowledge shouldn't be hard for a mob like him.
Nero turned, his eyes narrowing at a collapsed radio tower that was hanging by a thread of melted steel from a five-story apartment building.
Right above where Salem kept dodging around like an annoying fly.
Nero whispered internally, 'Aurelia, can you hear me in your head?'
He wanted to test something. Maybe he could communicate telepathically with Aurelia since she was technically his summon.
You know? Just like those generic summoner abilities where you could talk to your pets through some empathy connection or magical bond bullshit?
It's worth a shot.
And holy crap, did it actually worked.
'... Lord Nero?'
A faint angelic voice echoed in his mind like the world's most beautiful voice message.
'Wait, that actually worked?'
'What do you mean, Lord Nero?'
'... Never mind that right now.'
Realizing his thoughts were being transmitted, Nero mentally coughed and gave his order.
'Aurelia, can you follow my lead? I've got a plan to crush this wannabe protagonist... Can you force him to move under that radio tower?'
Aurelia, while dodging another fireball, gave the faint nod that only Nero could catch.
Nero grinned like a maniac and broke into a desperate sprint.
He dove through the window of a nearby electronics shop.
*CRASH!*
Glass shattered everywhere like his remaining dignity.
He emerged with a tangled mess of copper wire and a car battery that looked like it had seen better days.
"Time to get scientific on this psycho's ass."
He weaved through rubble, ducked under a magical blast, and rolled behind the base of that crumbling radio tower like his life depended on it.
He attached the wires with the skill of someone who'd watched way too many DIY videos.
Connected the terminals.
Rigged the remaining foundation steel like some kind of makeshift electromagnet.
Meanwhile, Aurelia was putting on a clinic in advanced monster slaying.
Salem threw fire attacks.
She parried them skillfully.
He summoned defensive walls.
She just flew over them because her wings were a privilege against this fight.
"Give me more power! MORE!" Salem roared, his eyes glowing red like a demon having a tantrum.
His movements were taking him exactly where Nero needed him to go.
Just one more strike to set up the perfect position.
Aurelia feinted low like she was going for his legs.
She swept in a wide arc, forcing him back one final step.
Right under the radio tower, like Nero had planned.
Nero flipped the switch.
*ZZZZZZT!*
A sudden magnetic pulse grabbed onto the overhead cables.
The entire tower structure groaned like it was in pain.
Then it snapped.
Cracking and collapsing like a steel giant having a heart attack.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
Steel and iron screamed downward like the wrath of physics itself.
Salem looked up with eyes wider than dinner plates.
"What the…"
Aurelia sliced through the base support as it fell, because she was just that badass.
The severed edge made the whole structure accelerate even faster.
And then, just to add insult to injury:
"Light's Wrath."
She followed up with multiple slashes of unseen silver light from her blade, all aimed at Salem's increasingly panicked body.
*CRUUUUNCH!*
Salem got pancaked under five tons of rusted, magnetically-charged death metal.
Combined with all the accumulated damage that had already screwed up his regeneration...
His protective barrier flashed desperately.
Then it flickered like a dying light bulb.
And then it completely shattered.
"ARGGHHHH!!! NO! I CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS–!"
The intense pain made him lose focus on all his stolen abilities.
One final explosion of black mist burst outward as his last desperate struggle.
Then there was nothing but beautiful silence.
Aurelia hovered above the wreckage, wings still tense and ready.
Her breathing was slightly uneven.
It looked like she'd used a bit too much divine power during that fight.
Nero coughed from behind his pile of debris.
Smoke everywhere. Chunks of metal. The lovely stink of victory mixed with destruction.
'He could've actually been a protagonist, to be honest.'
That copying ability was seriously no-joke overpowered.
'Too bad his own plot armor worked against him in the end.'
He peeked over the side of his hiding spot.
"He's definitely dead this time, right...?"
He had to ask the classic red flag question.
Just in case the universe wanted to screw with them some more.
Salem's crushed arm gave a little twitch.
'Are you kidding me?' Nero tensed up, ready for round two, 'This guy is still alive after becoming a human pancake?'
But then the twitching stopped completely.
The red aura around Salem's body evaporated like smoke.
Then came the sweet sound of victory.
---
[Enemy Defeated: Salem Halner (Player of Envy)]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Special Drop Acquired: Ability Fragment – 'Copycat' (A) (Flawed)]
---
"Never had a single doubt."
Nero collapsed backward with the most relieved sigh of his entire life.
Aurelia floated down beside him, blade still ready just in case Salem had another trick up his crushed sleeve.
He gave her a thumbs up while still coughing up dust.
"As expected, your tactics were most ingenious, Lord Nero."
She looked at him with what might have been approval.
He wheezed like he'd just run a marathon, "Yeah... I'm basically a tactical genius. A genius with a serious death wish."
"Then let us survive with your genius once more tomorrow."
The angel faintly smiled.
He couldn't help but chuckle.
*Grumble…*
But then his stomach decided to remind him it existed by growling loudly.
"Okay, cool. But we're raiding a vending machine first. I'm starving."
***
Far in the distance...
Another figure watched the entire chaotic battle unfold through some kind of glowing crystal ball.
They turned away from the magical crystal orb showing Nero and Aurelia's figures.
"So... another wildcard player appears in this game."
A smile crept across their pale lips.
Their equally delicate, pale hand tightened around a staff made entirely of bones.
"This dimension just keeps getting more and more interesting."
***
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