“You need to swing your torches from side to side toward the bat! It’s the only way for you guys to attack him.”

“...”

The party members hesitated to act, fearful of what might happen to them. After all they had just seen one of their own die.

If they were to do as Kang Taejoon said, many of them would share the same fate.

“If you don’t act, we will all lose our lives here. Hurry up!”

“Ah, okay….”

The party members slowly began to make their way forward.  

“I’ll be borrowing this.”

Kang seized the trident from the man next to him.

He took a deep breath and thought to himself.

‘I have to succeed.’

Failure would result in all of them dying here. 

Opening his eyes, Kang shouted out.

“Now, let’s rush at it together!”

“What?”

“I’ll be the vanguard!”

Seeing Kang Taejoon run ahead, the other members soon followed with a loud battlecry.

Although they were terrified, they didn’t have any other option.

Wharrr

Kang threw a spinning torch flew towards the Fossil bat’s left wing.

Wham

The Fossil Bat easily slapped it away with its wing.

‘Now’

Making use of this opening, Kang Taejoon lunged forth with the trident, aiming for the bat’s right wing.

Chizizic

Black blood spilled out of the wound as they heard the sound of leather being torn.

“Kyaaahk!”

The Fossil Bat screeched angrily as it emitted a circular red pulse with its body at the center.

“What is that?”

“AOE magic?”

The party members tried to run away, but the pulse travelled too quickly and none were able to escape

“Ahhhakkk”

“Kaaaak”

Screams filled with agony echoed across the cave as everyone crouched down on the ground holding their head in pain.

“Go away you bat monster!”

“I will kill you, disgusting creature!”

A feast of slaughter had begun. Other members would appear as monsters in their eyes, and when they tried to speak to others it would only come out as unnatural shrieks.

The first casualty was the man holding a longsword as he died to an arrow from the woman holding a short bow. She in turn had her heart pierced from behind by a dagger, while her assailant was likewise stabbed by another.

A literal abyss.

It wasn’t long until all except Kang Taejoon were nothing but cold corpses. He was able to hold on due to his ability to see in the dark allowing him to move around with greater ease.

Kang breathed heavily as he examined the scene.

They all lay dead around him. 

‘There is only one left now.’

He turned his gaze toward the Fossil Bat.

Because of the grievous injury it had suffered, he guessed that it wouldn't be able to move much.

‘I should catch my breath first.’

All the others in his group had died, but he had to somehow make his way out of this.

‘I can always find more people.’

From the very beginning, he didn’t really care much whether they lived or died. They were but tools to be used in order for his plans to succeed.

“Khaha”

He let out an evil laugh, it was time to deliver the killing blow to the Boss.

Woosh!

However the Fossil Bat didn’t simply stand idle and accept death as it casually slapped Kang Taejoon away with a flick of its left wing.

“Ugh!”

Kang was sent tumbling across the floor.

Unable to even move a single muscle, he fainted on the spot.

‘This is a good time to step in.’

Woohyuk who had been watching the entire scene from the corner of the room, raised his black machete. Although he had been in the same room as the rest, he hadn’t been affected by the illusion of the Fossil Bat’s pulse.

‘Looks like my Magic Resistance was sufficient.’

It was only possible due to having inhaled the smell of the silver bark. Of course, it wasn’t like he had gained total immunity. Although he didn’t fall under any illusions, he still had to endure the splitting headaches.

‘There is a time limit of 15 minutes.’

That was how long he had until the effects of the silver bark wore off.

As Woohyuk rushed towards it, the Fossil Bat swung his wing to intercept his approach. However he was on a different level compared to Kang. He dodged the gust of wind produced by the bat’s wing, as he moved forward. Sometimes he would be pushed back, but he would always be making ground.

‘It is easier than before.’ 

The injury Kang had caused to the bat’s wing made things easier than in the past

After closing the distance, it was the Fossil Bat which made the first move.

“Kiyaaa”

Woohyuk rolled to the side, dodging past the bat’s large fangs, as he prepared to climb it.

‘It should be close enough.’

Woohyuk took a running start, then leaped into the air, landing on the Fossil Bat’s chest.

Pukkk

He sunk his sharp dagger deeply into the bat’s neck. Then, using it as leverage, he hoisted himself up and landed on its head.

“Kyaaah!”

Suddenly the angered Fossil Bat let out a piercing cry and the dangerous red pulse appeared.

“Ugh!”

Woohyuk nearly lost his footing as a headache assailed him, but quickly managed to recover his balance. He then stabbed his black machete deeply into the Fossil Bat’s head.

Although it struggled desperately in an attempt to throw him off, Woohyuk held on tightly.

‘This is nothing.’

He is someone who had sat on the Steel Throne, overlooking all other Lords.

The strongest being on Earth.

It would be ridiculous for him to lose to a simple bat, now that he was aiming for Divine throne

‘5 minutes left.’

Not much, but still plenty of time to finish this guy off. Woohyuk clung tightly like a leech, as his machete continued to dig deeper into the Fossil Bat’s head.

A few seconds later….

Thud!

It fell down heavily to the ground. Woohyuk wiped the sweat from his forehead and then pulled out the black machete.

‘I did it.’

All that was left now was to get the loot, so he headed to where he knew the hidden room would be. Touching a familiar engraved rune on the wall, a blue light appeared, revealing a door.

‘That was a few hours faster than I had expected.’

It was all thanks to joining Kang Taejoon’s group. Woohyuk walked into the hidden room and examined the items which rested on the altar.

[Vampiric Dagger]

Type: Weapon 

Rank: D

Durability: 3200 

Effect: +5 Strength, Health absorption.

[Gladiator’s Belt]

Type: Accessory 

Rank: D

Durability: 2600 

Effect: +5 Stamina, 5 Equipment slots.

[Adventurer’s Stimulant]

Type: Consumable 

Effect: +15 to all Stats (1 hour)

All three were very useful items for him right now.

The Vampiric dagger would increase his sustainability in combat, the Gladiator’s Belt gave extra equip slots while the Adventurer’s Stimulant would be key for Boss fights, making his current solo play slightly more viable.

‘In the past I had only gotten the Vampiric dagger.’

Back then he had to split the items with the other survivors who had helped out. It was only natural to divide the loot according to everyone’s contribution, so he hadn’t monopolized everything. Instead, it had been more important to develop good relationships with trustworthy comrades.

‘I will still need to build some good relations.’

It wasn’t that he was shunning all help this time around. When the right people came around, he would spare no expense to help them develop well.

‘Let’s take the rest of the loot.’

There were still a few things left to collect, such as the Bloodstone inside the Fossil Bat’s corpse.

When Woohyuk went to leave the hidden room, he heard a voice in front.

“Did you plan this from the very start?”

There stood Kang Taejoon, blocking the exit while wielding a black machete and trident in each hand.

“Oh, so you didn’t run away.”

“Run away? Don’t be ridiculous, after everything I’ve been through to get here.”

Woohyuk nodded to himself.

It was indeed the case that people were not likely to simply give up after seeing such special items.

“Do you really think you can win against me?”

“Well, at least I can try.”

He was confident in his advantage in weapons due to the longer range of his trident.

“Come, I will give you a free lesson.”

Woohyuk provoked him with a gesture of his hand wielding the Vampiric dagger.

“Haaa!”

Kang Taejoon rushed towards Woohyuk and hurled his black machete. Woohyuk casually deflected it with his own machete, bringing a smile to Kang’s face.

‘Chance!’

It was brighter in the room due to a moonstone placed in the ceiling, so it was possible for Kang to see Woohyuk clearly even with his regular eyesight. As soon as he saw the opening, he struck with his trident. So far everything was going according to plan, and he was confident in his victory.

Shortly after...

Ting

The sound of steel meeting its counterpart rang out

‘He avoided it!?’

After sidestepping Kang’s lunge, he struck down on the trident, knocking it away. An incredible reaction time.

‘Ridiculous’

Kang couldn’t help but mumble to himself as Woohyuk closed the distance. He tried to strike once more with his longsword, but Woohyuk had already come too close, and so his longer ranged weapon became a hindrance instead.

Pook

The Vampiric dagger plunged deeply into Kang’s stomach, greedily beginning to absorb his blood.

“You son of a bitch! You’re a criminal against humanity.”

He glared daggers as he shot out one poisonous curse after another. Woohyuk simply tilted his head with a small smile.

“Why do you say that?”

“You used us completely and then abandoned us at the most crucial moment.”

“I used you?”

“...What?”

Kang Taejoon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Woohyuk continued.

“Someday you would kill your own colleagues just to take their items”

“What nonsense are you….”

“You seemed pretty skilled so I went through my memory. Sergeant Kang, It’s a rather old story but it stayed with me because it was so outrageous. An adventurer who during the night went  ahead and kill all the others in his base camp, using a Pardon card to eliminate his sin. He then used all the items he collected as capital to start a hitman business.”

Woohyuk went ahead and pulled out the dagger, causing a fountain of blood to spurt out from his stomach.

Kang Taejoon groaned painfully as he dropped to the ground.

“Sergeant Kang would then lead a life of depravity, doing anything for the sake of money and never sparing anyone that might become an enemy. In order to continue on, he would constantly need to change his face, but in the end he was still killed. Aren’t you curious as to why?”

Kang naturally had no idea what Woohyuk was talking about.

‘What future, I am gonna die here.’

“Bullshit.”

“One day Seargeant Kang received a request to kill a man. Since the pay was quite substantial, he was happy to go ahead with the contract without asking any questions.”

Woohyuk squatted down and met Kang Taejoon’s gaze, causing the man to tremble unconsciously.

‘Are these really the eyes of a human?’

He had met all kinds of people during his time in the military, but this was the first time meeting a pair of eyes that didn’t exude any arrogance or superiority, simply murderous intent.

 The eyes of a demon

“Right before dying, Kang’s killer explained to him why he was being targeted. It was because he had murdered a great person, a close friend of his.”

“Wh..who are you?”

Kang stuttered as he asked nervously.

The story was reaching the climax.

[Death Sentence].

Kang felt like hes was receiving a judgement from the God of Death 

Woohyuk stood up and said.

“A man who will sit on the Divine throne.”

“....”

“I’ll kill you a second time.”

Kang Taejoon who felt his time was near, closed his eyes firmly.

Swish!

The black machete was drenched in blood.

* * *

Woohyuk arrived back at base camp just as the sun began to fall. Upon leaving the Vampire Bat cave, he had gone to a different hunting ground.

‘Today’s objectives have all been achieved.’

It was time to rest in order to have another successful day tomorrow. Although the Vampiric dagger was useful to replenish stamina, lack of sleep and fatigue would still cause his overall ability to drop.

‘I still need to eat well.’

Simply consuming bread and water wouldn’t be enough to sustain him through his active schedule.As he approached the camp’s fire, he could hear them arguing.

“This is all on you. You were the one that recommended we go there, else we never would have gone.”

“How is it my fault? It was a decision we came to after much discussion.”

Ma Gwangpil and Lee Jaesung. Woohyuk immediately knew what they were arguing about without even needing to hear the rest.

‘They’re talking about the Central Lake.’

Lee Jaesung had seen the lake on the map and suggested they go there. They had then encountered many monsters and suffered casualties, but it was also difficult for Ma Gwangpil to avoid the blame since he had led the group.

For this very reason he was trying to shift the responsibility to Lee, because he had been the one with the idea to explore there.

‘It was wrong of them to move forward without first scouting the area.’

It wasn’t Lee Jaesung’s fault since he had merely pointed out an option on the map. Woohyuk however kept his opinions to himself, as he had no intention of interfering. Instead, he dropped down the deer which he had just hunted next to the fire.

“Hey, isn’t that a deer?”

Ma Gwangpil asked as he approached with a surprised expression. Woohyuk then used his black machete to draw a line on the ground.

“Don’t cross that.”

“Why, do you really plan on keeping the deer to yourself, there are many people here you know?”

Woohyuk watched the others silently, seeing everyone stare hungrily at the deer.

“What’s wrong with me eating what I’ve caught?”

“Sure, but wouldn’t it be better for us to help each other out? I mean we’re all on the same boat right?”

Woohyuk chuckled to himself as he began to consider it.

“I might have some leftovers, you can share what’s left once I’m done.”

“Ah… okay, we will wait.”

Others nodded in agreement with Ma.

‘Helping other people is not my style.’

Well, in the end it was also beneficial for him if others were able to keep the base camp in good condition.

Woohyuk cleaned Spirit grass and dagger, before butchering the deer.

‘The blood can be used as bait to attract other monsters.’

He had already drained it of blood, all he needed to do now was separate the meat. Having done this thousands of times, his movements were quite skillful. Skinning the deer and separating the fat, before removing any unwanted organs. After dividing the meat from the bones, he added rock salt to it to enhance the flavor. 

‘If only I had some spices it would be even better.’

He could have gone out of his way to pick different herbs, but he didn’t want to waste any time.

Woohyuk stabbed two Y shaped branches into the ground as support, on opposite sides of the fire. Then, he pulled out the trident from his Gladiator’s Belt and attached a piece of meat, wrapping it in Spirit grass.

‘The fire won’t be able to burn it.’

Although it was typically used for alchemy, the grass also had this kind of use. Using the trident as a spit, he placed it on the two supporting branches and turned, slowly roasting the deer. As the meat began to cook, a delectable aroma spread throughout the camp.

‘If I could have just one bite.’

‘I almost fainted just smelling it.’

They could hardly suppress the urge to rush to the fire. Afraid to annoy him, they also refrained from speaking out.

‘The taste isn’t bad.’

Woohyuk had a satisfied expressions as cut strips of venison with his dagger. He placed the cooked meat on a large leaf, as he continued to eat all alone like a huge glutton.

‘I also need to think about tomorrow.’

He couldn’t forget to cure some meat using the rock salt, that way he’d have enough jerky for quite some time.

“The rest is yours.”

As soon as he stood up, everyone rushed towards the fire and began arguing about how to divide what was left.

Woohyuk simply observed them from his own corner as he thought to himself.

‘This is bound to affect the future.’

Since it was early on the changes wouldn’t be dramatic, but it might result in important differences down the road. Be it the first clear on the Vampire Bat cave or the fact that he had killed off Kang Taejoon earlier on, both were crucial points 

‘Well it was unavoidable in order to secure an early advantage.’

Aka, a snowball effect.

Overwhelming strength was the best way to deal with any future uncertainties.

‘I look forward to tomorrow.’

Woohyuk stared into the sky to see a particularly bright moon that night.