The Ninefold Hunt
Still flushed with excitement, Black finally closed his attribute panel.
A gust of wind rolled across the field, stirring the tall grass. The breeze carried a thick, musky scent—like rotten mutton soaked in swamp water.
"The hell… this smell—it's the Ninefold Viper," he muttered, nostrils flaring as he caught it again. "That fishy, greasy stink... it's definitely it."
His eyes sharpened. Without wasting a second, he took off in the direction of the scent, keeping low.
For the past three hours, the others had been sweating blood, killing off beasts one by one. Meanwhile, Black had been moving like a shadow, not fighting, just observing—scouting out the lay of the Beginner Land.
He'd already figured out the lay of the land: only five types of level 1 beasts roamed these plains. The blood-toothed rabbit, the giant rodent, the ashfang wolf, the rampaging boar, and the venomous Ninefold Viper.
The first four were common. Easy prey. But they meant nothing to him. It was the Ninefold Viper he wanted—deadly and rare. He still had two chances to extract from it. The problem? They were damn near impossible to find.
But now, the scent was fresh. Close.
No way he was letting this go.
He crept forward, careful not to make a sound. The breeze remained steady, and the scent grew stronger as he drew closer. That thick, meaty musk—like something raw and decaying—but beneath it, something else started to tease at his nose. Something sweet. Fruity.
Weird.
Why the hell did it smell like fruit?
His curiosity piqued, and he picked up the pace, still keeping low, moving with practiced ease through the underbrush.
The trail led him to the edge of a small forest. The moment he stepped into the shade, the smells intensified.
He crouched instantly, pressing himself flat against the low brush, eyes scanning through the leaves. He stayed like that for a while—still as death.
This world didn't forgive carelessness.
After crawling forward about thirty meters, he found a gap in the brush—and through it, he saw what he was looking for.
There, coiled beneath a massive old tree, lay a monstrous python—easily five meters long, scales black with a shimmer of green. But most distinct were the nine vivid red rings banded along its body.
No mistake.
The Ninefold Viper.
Black's heart pounded once—hard—but he kept his breath steady. This thing wasn't just rare. It was valuable. Killing it meant another boost to his energy attributes—something no other level 1 beast in Beginner Land could give.
He'd learned quickly: energy was the hardest stat to raise. Which made it the most precious.
His eyes narrowed.
"Wait… its belly…"
The snake wasn't curled up tight. Its body sagged weirdly, bloated, its stomach grotesquely swollen—as if it had just swallowed something huge.
It looked sluggish. Dull.
And right behind it, half-buried in the earth, was a small dirt mound. Just beside that, a single green stalk rose—topped with a fruit the color of blood.
The plant stood about half a foot high, leaves fanned out like spread fingers, each a rich, glossy green. Nestled at its center was a plump, red fruit—about the size of a ping-pong ball.
That strange fruity scent from earlier? It was coming from that fruit.
And the snake wasn't just lazing there.
It was guarding it.
"That fruit… it's gotta be something special. No way a beast like this is protecting a weed unless it's valuable," Black whispered, eyes gleaming.
His heartbeat quickened.
He tightened his grip on the twin blades at his hips and slipped into a lower crouch, body coiled like a spring.
Then he moved—silent as a shadow—circling through the brush until he was just five meters from the snake.
But just as he inched forward for the final approach, the viper's head jerked up.
Its slit pupils locked straight onto him.
"Shit."
No point hiding now.
He launched forward with everything he had.
Swish—!
The air split behind him as he accelerated, moving so fast he left a blur in his wake. His speed talent kicked in like fire in his veins. He was faster than the ashfang wolves now. Much faster.
The snake hissed loud and lunged.
But Black had already twisted aside.
Its jaws snapped shut on empty air, missing him by inches. The viper's sluggishness worked in his favor—its bloated belly dragging it down like dead weight.
Black was on it in a flash. He raised his blade.
Ka-cha-cha—!
A flash of steel.
Meat tore. Scales split.
Blood sprayed.
His blade carved through the snake's midsection, cracking through its armor-like hide. The serpent shrieked in pain, thrashing wildly. It twisted around, jaws wide, lunging again.
The stench from its open mouth hit him like rot—hot and rank—but he was already gone, vaulting backwards, light on his feet.
The viper roared, pissed beyond reason, and lunged to follow.
But it didn't get far.
Just a few meters forward, and suddenly—pop!
A long red line bloomed across its belly. Then another.
The wound tore open with a sickening wet rip. Blood gushed from its midsection like a fountain.
The beast shuddered, let out one last hiss, and collapsed headfirst with a heavy thud—its body twitching once, then falling still.
Dead.
Just like that.
Black stood over the corpse, breathing hard—but calm.
That was clean.
Precise.
He was satisfied.
It wasn't just strength that carried him through. It was skill. Timing. Intuition. All the things that had been buried under his thin, unimposing frame in the past… but were clearly there all along.
Om~!
Suddenly, white light burst from the viper's corpse, flooding into him.
[You have slain the Level 1 Venomous Ninefold Viper. Gained +40 energy points.]
A warm rush bloomed through his chest. He could almost feel it reshaping him from the inside out. A level progress bar appeared faintly in his mind.
"Damn. Forty points? That's a hell of a boost."
Just one more kill like this, and he'd hit level 2.
This whole leveling thing didn't seem so impossible anymore.
He let out a sharp breath and grinned.
Of course, if he said that out loud right now, he'd probably get cursed out by ten billion people across the world.
Out here, in the real meat-grinder of the beginner zone, most people couldn't even handle a rabbit.
Let alone a viper.
He turned back to the carcass and pressed a palm against it.
Another flash of white.
[Soul Leech successful! Gained +2 energy attributes.]
"Nice…"
His eyes flicked back to the snake's swollen belly.
That thing had clearly eaten something big. That's probably why it was so slow. If it had been a normal viper, the fight would've been tougher.
Curious, he raised his blade again and sliced down across the earlier wound.
Slish—!
A sharp rip through muscle and flesh. Snake meat split like wet linen.
And from the belly—
A body rolled out.
Wrapped in thick mucus, pale-skinned, human-shaped.
"Holy shit…"
The viper had eaten a person.
Black crouched beside the corpse, expression unreadable. The shock passed fast. In this world, death was as common as breathing. It didn't even shake him anymore.
He laid one hand on the body.
Let's see…
Om~!
The white light flashed again.
[Soul Leech successful! Extracted F-rank talent - Improve Vision.]
His eyes widened.
So even this worked.
[Talent duplicate detected. Auto-upgrading... Your vision talent has evolved to E-rank - Visual Superlative.]
[Visual Superlative: 20x enhanced sight. Includes night vision.]
[Talent evolution successful. New skill awakened: All-Seeing Eye.]
[All-Seeing Eye: Active skill. Grants insight into the true nature of things.]
He couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face.
"Oh, hell yes…"
He hadn't expected much from a duplicate F-rank talent. But now? He'd evolved it. Improved vision wasn't just sharper now—it was enhanced. And better yet, it unlocked a skill.
His first real skill.
And damn, it was a good one.
He calmed his breathing and turned his gaze to the red spirit fruit still sitting by the roots of the tree.
His pupils flickered.
[Name]: Red Python Fruit
[Grade]: First-Order Spirit Fruit
[Effect]: Non-toxic. Enhances physical fitness. Grants resistance to poison after consumption.
"Bingo…"
The All-Seeing Eye was worth its weight in gold.
With it, he could identify any strange resource on sight.
This fruit? Perfect for him. His physique was still his weakest stat. And this fruit could patch that up nicely.
Smiling, he stepped forward.