Level 1 Player (MT Novel) - Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – The First Troublemaker II

“I’m a dead man…”

On the brink of death, I keenly felt the Survival Instinct skill activate and all of my stats increase at once.

There was a metallic clang – our swords clashed. But without much effort, I was able to repel the attack. Now there was almost no difference in strength between us.

– Wow, I had no idea you could block that! I was thinking of chopping off your arm so that you wouldn’t have time to recover as before…

Despite all of Jung Sung Woo’s taunts, I couldn’t find the words to answer him. Besides, even though I had activated my survival skill, Jeong Sungwoo’s movements changed.

Then I pulled out the Heart of the Werewolf King from Subspace and quickly chewed it up. I didn’t really intend to use it anytime soon, but in this situation, I didn’t have much choice. After a while my body transformed.

– Oh, I didn’t know you had a trump card up your sleeve. Does it at least increase your characteristics?

Surprisingly, Jeong Sungwoo didn’t interfere with my “food intake” and just waited leisurely.

As soon as I finished my transformation, I immediately chose my target. No, my target was not Jung Sungwoo, but the exit from the dungeon, the spatial gate. I used various skills to blind/blind Jung Sung Woo. Now the entire dungeon was completely enveloped in fire and it was hard to navigate the terrain because of the black smoke.

– Do you think you’ll be able to escape? – Chung Song Woo asked, quickly approaching me.

I tried to use my best skills again, but my opponent either dodged my attacks or deflected them with his sword. The distance between us was shrinking. I roared and attacked Jung Sung Woo. Surprisingly, it happened on an instinctive level.

There was a ringing sound. Jung Sung-woo tried to repel my powerful claws with his sword.

“I have to try.”

At the expense of Survival Instinct and the Heart of the Werewolf King, I was able to achieve a remarkable effect. But the problem was that the effect of the instinct was temporary. So the best decision I should have made was to flee. The unexpected attack allowed me not only to attack my opponent, but also to recover a little.

– And you are good. However, do you know what my nickname is? – Jung Sung Woo asked. “Lightning Sword. (Maybe you can do better than that by crossing two words: sword and lightning.)

A moment later, a bluish light covered Jung Song Woo’s entire body. After that, I felt a powerful lightning strike on me.

Even though I had increased my willpower and stamina… The lightning he had spewed out had undermined those characteristics and greatly undermined my condition. Though, to my immense good fortune, that blow wasn’t enough to turn me to dust.

But I came to my conclusion too soon.

His attack was not so simple. After the discharge had passed through every one of my cells, my body was no longer under my control. In other words, I just froze in place.

Jeong Sungwoo came close to me and cut off my left paw like a stalk of corn.

– What a pity… If you had listened to me then, things would have ended differently. Perhaps I wouldn’t even have spared to give you a bigger fee than a hundred billion…

I let out a menacing growl and tried to get up. But Jeong Sungwoo swung his sword again and cut off both of my hind legs. My mortal body fell to the ground without strength… The only limb I had left was my right paw. But it, too, was in disgusting condition due to the paralyzing lightning.

– Maybe you should think about telling me how you managed to escape the 20 level rule and become so strong in such a short time…

– Go to hell!

– Hmm, if you tell me, I might keep you alive…

– You expect me to believe you?

– Even I don’t trust myself. But so be it, you’ll die quickly. That’s the truth I believe,” Jung Sungwoo said, smiling and thrusting his sword into my body.

I cried out in pain, but Jung Sungwoo only continued to thrust the sword under my ribs, stretching his smile into an even more sneering grin.

– Actually, restorative skills aren’t the greatest helpers during torture… I’d even call them a disadvantage. Though a person who possesses them can be tormented indefinitely. Especially when done by a novice like me.

He continued to torment me relentlessly. It was unbearable. I even thought about giving up and telling him the whole truth, so that only he would stop my torment. But I held myself together. The more I endured the pain, the stronger my hatred for Jung Sung Woo became.

“What a piece of shit…! You didn’t find me for revenge…”

The reason he was looking for me was only because he knew the way to avoid the 20 level rule.

– You’d better kill me! I won’t tell you anything! – I shouted.

– Hmm, I guess I’ll have to do that. But if you die, you won’t do me any good…” muttered Jeong Sungwoo.

The torture went on for an hour, but I still didn’t utter a word.

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– I’ll need some more time to hide your corpse somewhere. Besides, you have to be very clean and careful,” Jung Sungwoo said and slit my throat.

My head was now separated from my body.

– Hmm, I think we need to collect the other severed parts.

Jung Sung Woo turned around and went to collect my limbs. No sooner had he taken a step than some object pierced through his heart.

– О?.. – Chung Sung Woo wheezed as he looked at the chest where the werewolf’s right paw that he had been tirelessly tormenting until recently was sticking out. – Agghhh!…! What the… What the…?

Before he could finish his sentence, the lifeless body sank to the floor. If my opponent had been wearing heroic level equipment, my attack wouldn’t have done him any harm. But today, and right now, he was wearing a rented rookie outfit…

Jong Sungwoo felt the werewolf’s paw enter under his ribs and gut his insides.

It was a sight to behold. His right paw crawled across the ground with the remains of his body, looking for his head, and after finding it successfully, put it back where it belonged. In an instant, the body and head were fused together.

“What the hell?!” – I cursed to myself.

Everything was like a fog. Surely Jung Sung-woo had no idea that he would meet his end in a place like this. However, it was true.

After Jeong Sungwoo’s heart was destroyed, his body gradually went limp and became cold.

I returned to my human form and screamed in savage pain. But I couldn’t sit still and wait for a miracle. I gathered up all my severed limbs and attached them to my body, and then, one by one, my arms and legs grew back to my torso.

– I’m alive…

I thought I was really going to die here. But thanks to Survival Instinct, I’m still alive! In fact, it was very dangerous. If this skill hadn’t reactivated, I was probably already dead. Besides, if I had returned to my human form earlier, I certainly wouldn’t have been able to pull it all off this way.

Yes, my characteristics weren’t that small, but after activating Werewolf Mode, my strength was comparable to a level three hundred Player! In fact, that’s why I was able to defeat Jeong Sungwoo. On the other hand, it was a given. And who would have thought that a body without a head could move?

I didn’t know that Survival Instinct also had this “function” of sending out orders. You could say that my head and my heart, became one, so one part of my body was able to give orders to the other.

I wonder what would happen if the Werewolf King’s Heart and the Survival Instinct could not activate together? I would have inevitably said goodbye to my life in the same place.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

I didn’t experience any shock or anything after my first kill of a living person. I probably felt only sadness…

If only I could, I would have inflicted a hundred roses more pain on Jeong Sungwoo and only then finished him off finally.

“No one must know about this.”

Jung Sung Woo had many supporters and followers. He might even have supporters abroad. I shouldn’t spread the word about his death, lest I accidentally get myself into trouble.

“I can’t even trust the Players Association.

The Association and Shin Yoon Ah consider me a player above the hundredth level. That’s all great, of course, but what will happen when they find out that I killed Jung Sung Woo? There will be serious consequences for me… Jung Sung Woo was a ranker. Regardless of my luck, I must possess at least minimal characteristics to kill someone like him.

“No need to reveal your secrets…”

I knew for certain that Jeong Sungwoo’s death must remain a secret.

“Fireball!”

I put all my leftover magic into this active skill. I tried to perform this “attack” in the best possible way to get rid of the body once and for all.

But something amazing happened. Jung Sung Woo’s body began to absorb my magic. And the more it absorbed, the more it evaporated.

“Isn’t that the prerogative of monsters?”

I was amazed at what happened next. Normally, when killing a monster, the Player might get stones or some objects. But I had no idea that when another Player is killed, the same thing happens!

“If Jung Sung Woo had killed me, he probably wouldn’t have gotten anything.”

I was still a Level 1 Player. And Jeong Sungwoo is a ranker class monster. Of course, if that was the case, he definitely wouldn’t have gotten anything. Jung Sung Woo’s body disappeared and one skill book appeared in its place.

[Lightning Breath (Heroic)]

Active skill: forms a protective electric barrier that increases all characteristics, paralyzing the enemy…

[Do you want to read the heroic book Breath of Lightning?]

[Yes] [No].

“Of course,” I thought, and chose the answer “Yes. – Breath of Lightning.”

I activated the learned active skill and my body was immediately enveloped in blue light.

“Magic missile!”

I tried to use another skill as an experiment. To my surprise, the rocket that appeared appeared appeared shrouded in a blue shield of lightning, as did I.

The results of the experiment were amazing… The striking power of the most common skill increased many times over!

“Oh! I can enhance all my skills, thanks to this heroic book!”

This really is a useful skill.

“Maybe my level has changed!” – I thought and immediately opened the status window.

[Name: Choi Hyun Seong

Level: 1

Class: None

Rank: Executioner of horned rabbits (legendary), Executioner of bloody foxes (legendary), …

Characteristics:

Strength – 200+124;

Dexterity – 200+124,

Stamina – 200+127,

Magic – 200+124,

Willpower 200+124

Bonuses: 0

Special Skills: Trade

Active skills: Lightning Breath (heroic)

Passive skills: Subspace (heroic), Survival Instinct (heroic) …]

“Oh, what the hell is that?”

I noticed something strange. Or rather, I discovered three new ranks of troublemaker and an increase in all characteristics. As I clicked on the message that appeared, more information popped up in front of me:

[Incredible Achievement (low)]

You defeated a Player higher than you by 100 levels.

Reward: Rank [First troublemaker (low level)]

[Incredible Achievement (Rare)

You defeated a Player above you by 200 levels

Reward: Rank [First troublemaker (Rare)

[Incredible Achievement (Heroic)

You defeated a Player above you by 300 levels

Reward: Rank [First troublemaker (Heroic level)

“Do they give similar rewards for Players, too?”

For defeating a three-headed leopard, I was awarded the title of First Level Destroyer. In fact, it turned out that titles are given not only for killing monsters. For instance, I got three titles for killing Jung Sung Woo! And with them, the total amount of characteristics increased by 175. Even though my strength, magic, and stamina stats are a bit reduced because of the Heart of the Werewolf King, I think I can make up for them pretty quickly.

“I wonder if it would be possible to defeat Jeong Sungwoo with those characteristics? – I thought. – Hmm, I guess not…”

Despite the increase in characteristics, I was still a long way from being able to handle a ranker without some help.

“I have to get stronger!”

Of course, I already had some basis, a base for that. I especially owed the emergence of the heroic level skill “Lightning Breath” if only because I was lucky enough to increase my characteristics with it. But it’s not without its drawbacks either.

“This skill requires a large amount of magic to use.

Heroic level skills require a huge amount of magic. Also, if heroic level skills are used in conjunction with other skills, there is a chance to part with magical powers quite quickly.

For sure, this wasn’t a serious disadvantage for Jung Song Woo. After all, he belonged to the warrior class, and they, as everyone knows, have small magic characteristics. I, on the other hand, had to look at that detail very differently.

“So I have to refrain from using ranged skills in conjunction with Lightning Breath…”

Because if I do that, all my magic power will immediately drop to zero.

I finished studying the skill information and went over to Jeong Sungwoo’s personal belongings. Actually, there wasn’t much in that pile of stuff: a fake Player ID and some rented equipment. So I just burned it all and hurried to the exit of the dungeon.

So much had happened in such a short period of time that I needed to rest.