Victor saw half of the players heading toward the hunting grounds to level up, while the other half, who were too timid, hesitated and whispered among themselves.
"Hey, shouldn't we follow them?"
"It's suicide if you want to, but I'm not willing to put my life on the line."
"What if we form a team and help each other level up so that we can log out?"
"Idiots, just stay here. I'm sure someone will reach the required level, and when they do, we can just log out and never return."
Many of them were talking amongst themselves and decided to be fence-sitters, which earned the contempt of those who were heading out to fight. They were ashamed and kept their heads down.
Victor shook his head. He did not blame them; not everyone had the stomach to risk their lives. If Victor did not know the truth of the game, maybe he would have been the same.
He walked toward the large iron door that led outside to the hunting grounds.
Hunting Grounds
The moment Victor stepped out of the base and into the open field, he could immediately see about a hundred people currently fighting what seemed to be rats, and they were only about a 100 meters from the base walls.
After walking about a hundred meters toward the field where the players were fighting with swords, daggers, and spears, Victor halted when he saw a small, red-eyed rat running in his direction. He viewed its information, and all its details appeared, along with the available loot and their drop rates.
[One-Eyed Rat] (Level 2)
[Tier: 0]
[HP: 6/6]
[Attack: 1]
[Speed: 5]
[Loots Available: Bronze Coin (33%), Monster Core (5%)]
"I can't use my bloodline power. I need to use my handgun for now," Victor mumbled as he looked at the item details.
[Handgun]
[Rank: Common]
[Durability: —]
[Attack Power: 3]
He retrieved the gun from his side and aimed it toward the incoming rat. He had killed thousands of one-eyed rats, as they were the most common monsters, and knew their weakness—that they could only run in straight lines.
Bang. Bang.
As soon as it came within target range, Victor fired two bullets, which struck it directly.
[Ding Dong]
[You have killed a One-Eyed Rat]
[You have received 3 EXP]
[100% Drop Rate has been triggered]
[You have received one Bronze Coin]
[You have received a Monster Core]
[You have received a free stat point]
[All items have been sent to the Inventory]
Victor opened his inventory, and sure enough, he saw an item labeled as a core appear among the stored items.
Victor then willed it, and a spherical object appeared in his palm.
[One-Eyed Rat Monster Core]
[Rank: Common]
[Description: The most abundant monster core]
(Beginner Note: Monster cores are one of the vital resources of the world. Monster cores are used to make potions or weapons by combining them with ores.)
Victor then tossed the core back into the inventory after finishing his inspection.
"I should head deeper," Victor thought for a moment and decided to move further in, as there were stronger monsters there that would grant better EXP, and he could use his Warlock powers without restraint, since he was 100% sure no one would venture that deep inside.
As Victor walked on, he watched the players fighting and heard them cursing.
"Damn, I've killed three rats, but not a single one dropped any loot."
"Hah, it's a matter of luck. I got a core from my very first kill—lucky me.
Some players were grinning from ear to ear, while others were cursing their bad luck.
"Huh?" Victor raised an eyebrow and paused his movements as he noticed something interesting.
"Yes…" a player cheered quietly, but then he saw two rats angrily squeaking as they rushed toward him.
"U-umm…" A drop of sweat trickled down the player's forehead as he turned around and started running away.
"NOT GOOD!" the player cursed when he saw a dozen rats charging toward him.
"Hey, friend, give me a hand!" The player's eyes gleamed when he saw Victor and started running toward him.
Seeing this, Victor's eyes turned cold, and he gave a chilling smirk. "Trying to make me the bait, huh?"
Bang. Bang.
A bullet left Victor's handgun, and instead of striking the rats, it hit the player in both knees, causing him to collapse to the ground.
"Bastard!" the player cursed angrily, but before he could say anything else, he heard the squeaking grow louder.
Seeing Victor's actions just now, the crowd of people who had been silently observing the scene could not help but gasp. Many had expected him to help, while others thought he would simply run away like the player, but no one expected him to shoot the player, knowing that if he died here, he would die in real life as well.
"Save me!" the player screamed in terror as he felt the rats closing in and heard their frantic squeaks. He tried to get up, but every attempt was crushed by the searing pain that shot through him each time he moved.
"D-Don't come close to me, you damn creatures!" The player tried to crawl forward using his hands as he watched in horror while the rats approached him. He waved the sword in his hand frantically, but this only agitated the rats even more.
Under his terrified and panicked gaze, a rat lunged forward and bit his nose, taking a savage bite and tearing it clean off his face.
"Aaargh!!! It hurts!!!! It hurts so much!"
Another rat latched onto his arm, tearing off a large chunk of flesh in the process, and soon all the rats started biting and gnawing at various parts of his body.
His desperate screams echoed everywhere, causing everyone to pause their fighting and look at him. The others shuddered in fear as they witnessed such a horrific and grotesque scene with their own eyes, but one tried to help him.
Everyone's gaze was unconsciously directed at Victor, but they hurriedly lowered their eyes.
The player's screams stopped when a rat bit into his neck and tore a huge chunk of flesh from it.
Victor did not care about the looks he was getting, as this kind of act would become common in the future, and everyone would start adapting soon—he had merely lit the fuse early. As he kept walking, his eyes paused on two groups, and he could not help but curl his lips. "I had forgotten; they also started in the same Black Church base as me."
"MINE!" one of the players shouted as he saw Victor leaving and noticed a core drop from the player's body along with some coins. Some of the others also grew greedy and rushed forward.
The more humane players took a deep breath as they witnessed human greed, indifference, and cruelty firsthand, and those who were still treating this as game finally started to see it as a life-and-death situation.