Initialization: A LitRPG Adventure (Master Hunter K Book 1) Read online

  “And as the last bit of advice, if you have any remaining unallocated Stat Points, please invest them into Endurance. Then, you will be able to survive at least a bit longer.”

  Once Sungjin finished, the other four men looked amongst each other. Finally, the white man spoke out first, “I mean, we don’t know what’s going to happen soon...”

  The Arab man joined in, “He’s right. We should carefully consider our options, don’t you think?”

  Sungjin bit his lips in frustration. But he didn’t have the time nor reason to explain everything to them. And the Operator decided this was the best timing to ask Sungjin a question.

  [You currently have 19 Black Coins left. Will you...]

  “I’m not buying.”

  Sungjin answered nonchalantly, but the other four men opened their eyes wide in surprise. The black man repeated the number to verify, “19?”

  The white man also asked in response, “You didn’t use a single coin until now?”

  The two men looked upon Sungjin with a sense of admiration, but the other two looked horrified.

  The Asian man narrowed his eyes, full of distrust, and asked Sungjin, “19? You’ve got so many, and you are making us spend our own coins instead?”

  The Arab man piped in as well, “19... If you have several more coins than any of us do, doesn’t it make more sense for you to spend your coins?”

  Sungjin massaged his forehead. He was starting to give up on the idea of trying to explain himself, “…I am unable to spend my coins.”

  The other four men doubted his words. Especially the Asian man, “Liar! You’re just trying to save up coins to buy yourself lots of potions! So you can survive alone!”

  The Arab man also butted in, “Right, to save yourself!”

  Sungjin shook his head. “You don’t need to help me. Just... stick together as a group and carefully hunt Goblins on the outskirts of the wildlands.”

  However, the Asian man pointed his finger toward Sungjin and continued to accuse him of trickery, “What is your problem? Who do you think you are? Who are you to try and teach the rest of us? You’re just a teenager!”

  Sungjin now started frowning. He had expected it to be difficult to explain himself, but it still felt annoying to be openly antagonized. The Operator interrupted the situation.

  [30 seconds until Raid begins.]

  “Okay, let’s stop fighting here. Let’s all cooperate. We still have thirty seconds. I shall buy one Salamander’s ash to start.”

  The black man tried to recover the mood, but it was already beyond salvaging. The Arab man spoke to the cube, “Operator, use 6 coins and buy me two recovery potions.”

  The Asian man immediately followed suit, “Operator, give me two recovery potions as well.”

  Both men spent all of their remaining coins to buy potions. The white man began to get angry watching the two men, “What are you doing? What are you trying to do?”

  The Asian man pointed his fingers at Sungjin, “You don’t need to spend coins for items. He can just buy it for us if we need it.”

  The Arab man and Asian man continued to work together to blame Sungjin, “Yeah, who is he to be giving us orders?”

  The black police officer who had been trying to rally the group also started massaging his forehead. Sungjin stared at the four men with narrowed eyes.

  If this were under normal circumstances, this group would face elimination.

  The first group Sungjin got into had worked together to overcome the Raid together. It was difficult, but as a result of cooperation, Sungjin was able to survive to the end and become the last remaining survivor. Groups like this, where members all argued and sought personal gain over the best interest of the group were almost guaranteed to be eliminated.

  [10 seconds until Raid begins.]

  Sungjin stood up from the rock he sat on and strolled to the entrance of the Raid.

  “Hey, wait a minute...” The black police officer tried to stop Sungjin, but Sungjin ignored him and waited at the entrance. Soon the Operator began a countdown.

  [5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Raid Commencing.]

  The moment the Raid began, Sungjin dashed out toward the Wildlands.

  *

  After Sungjin had left, the four men didn’t take a single step forward.

  “Who’s going to stand vanguard?”

  “The weapon I picked is a spear... so I will be in the back.”

  “What? What are you talking about? You can stand at the front and use the range to keep enemies at bay!”

  “Are you mad? It’s obviously better to support from the back!”

  The two who were arguing turned their sights on the black police officer.

  “You... You’re a police officer. You should stand vanguard.”

  ‘Protection of civilians’ was now a meaningless phrase, but the other men still looked up to him and trusted him to protect them. The black police officer had no choice but to tighten his grip on the club (the most similar weapon to police baton that he was used to) and stand at the front.

  “Let’s... uh, try to lure one or two in at a time and avoid being outnumbered.”

  He carefully stepped into the Wildlands. But once he was there, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

  “What’s all this?”

  In front of his eyes were a mountain of green-skinned corpses. The others also expressed their surprise.

  “How is this possible?”

  “Did that teenager do this all by himself?”

  Just a glance was enough to see that there were more than a dozen monsters slain in front of them. The others had been going from Phase to Phase, barely winning one on one, barely holding onto their lives.

  The Arab man asked, “What should we do now?”

  The black policeman in the front recalled Sungjin’s words.

  You should all follow closely behind me. I will clear this Raid quickly for you.

  The officer turned around to face the other men, “Let’s follow the corpses. If we keep going, eventually we should catch up to him.”

  Following the corpses, the men slowly inched their way in cautiously. Suddenly, the cube let out a warning.

  [Caution: Boss monster]

  [Orc Chief Cunning Kamul has appeared!]

  Simultaneously, a powerful roar could be heard from straight ahead.

  “Kurruagh!”

  The black man pointed forward, “Let’s go quickly!”

  But the other three were wary.

  “Do we... even have to go?”

  “Yeah, let’s just let them be.”

  The black police officer shook his head in disappointment and ran toward the direction from where the roar was heard. Ahead, he saw numerous green skinned enemies, from Orcs to Trolls. But standing at the center was an Orc 1.5 times taller than all the other Orcs.

  One could see in a single glance that it was none other than the Boss mob. The Boss held a massive, fearsome club embedded from tip to tip with skulls.

  “What... in the world?”

  Beholding the boss mob for the first time, even the brave police officer stopped in his tracks. But the teenager charged forward fearlessly.

  Goblins, HobGoblins, and Orcs attempted to obstruct him, but they were cut down mercilessly. Each swing of his sword sent heads flying.

  Two Trolls attacked him simultaneously, but the teenager dodged lightly, and took off an arm of one and removed the legs from both Trolls.

  The Trolls who lost their legs struggled on the ground. Ignoring the Trolls who lost their mobility, the teenager rushed toward the Orc Chief.

  “Kragh!”

  The Orc Chief let out a fearsome roar and swung his club. The speed of his attack was unbelievable considering the Orc Chief’s size. But the teenager was faster. He dodged the club as if he predicted the path and timing.

  Then, he counter-attacked and attacked the chief’s hands. Several fingers holding the club flew off.

  “Wagh!”

  The Chief crie
d out in pain. But no ounce of mercy could be seen in the Teenager’s attack. With lightning-speed tempo, he cut the Chief’s shin, chest, and shoulders all in quick succession.

  The chief bit back his pain and tried to swing his club once more, but it was nowhere near as fast. The teenager easily dodged the attack and cut the chief’s throat. Blood spilled from the neck like a waterfall.

  “Kack... ack... ack..”

  The Chief couldn’t even scream out properly anymore, and after coughing up blood a few more times, he kneeled over and stopped moving. The Operator announced happily,

  [Objective complete. You will be summoned back to the Hunter’s Hall in 11 minutes and 32 seconds.]

  The black police officer couldn’t help but exclaim, “Incredible...!”

  The teenager, however, had no time to rest. The Trolls had regenerated by now and began attacking the teen again. They were no match for the teen before; they were no match for the teen now. The teenager rapidly ripped apart the Trolls. It was evident that given time, the teenager would reduce them to pieces of meat and kill them. But they were interrupted.

  “Help! Save us!”

  The police officer heard screams of terror from behind. Two Trolls were chasing the three men he had left behind.

  “What the...” There was no time for the officer to say anything. He saw the white turban of the Arab gripped by one of the Troll’s hands. The black man had no choice but to run as well.

  The three men ran into the hall where Sungjin was already fighting two Trolls. Sungjin turned and saw the three men run in, and the additional two Trolls that followed. The trio raced to the other side of the hall as if to hide behind Sungjin. The two new Trolls swung their clubs at him.

  “Woosh”.

  The club split the air, and the black man closed his eye on instinct. And when he opened his eyes, each of the Trolls had lost an arm each.

  “Grrrrrr”

  The problem was the original two Trolls. Because of the new Trolls, the first two Trolls had an opportunity to regenerate. Sungjin, who kept an indifferent expression until now, let out his first words of frustration, “Damn it, I don’t have time for this...”

  The black police officer realized something from his utterance. Judging from his skill, Sungjin would win against all four Trolls hands down. But it would take considerable time since the four Trolls would each take turns regenerating.

  The black man reached into his pocket and retrieved a package. It was the Salamander’s ash he was forced to purchase. He scattered the ash on his club and spread it evenly on the club with his hands.

  FOOF

  His club lit up in flames. He got up close to Sungjin and said to him.

  “Please immobilize them. I will finish them off.”

  Sungjin rapidly cut the Trolls. One moment, their arms were cut off at the elbows, and the next, the tendon below their knees too were cut. The Trolls who lost their arms and legs fell to the floor and flailed.

  The black police officer took his flaming club and struck the Trolls in their knees. The fire burnt the wound black and prevented further regeneration. Within moments, the Trolls were killed off.

  Once killing all the Trolls, Sungjin wasted no time asking the cube, “...Operator, time remaining on the clock?”

  [You will return to the Hunter’s Hall in 10 minutes 7 seconds.]

  He had already wasted more than a minute. He had to find and kill the hidden boss in the remaining time.

  ***

  Sungjin took a glance at the surroundings, while still holding his bloody Katana. Nothing stood out at the boss’s hall. It was also improbable that both the boss and the hidden boss were placed in the same location.

  Sungjin moved to leave the hall but saw the police officer. He turned toward him and asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”

  “Baltren. Gerald Baltren.”

  “Good. Listen to me, Baltren. Take the other two and try to search around here. With you three, and with that flaming club, you should be able to handle anything, even a lone Troll. Do you understand?”

  The officer nodded quickly.

  “And if you find anything out of place, let me know. A hidden location, or a strange-looking monster.”

  “But... how will we contact you when you’re far away?”

  “You can speak with the Operator’s cube and request to communicate with the team members. It functions like a police walkie-talkie. Any other questions?”

  “No, I got it.”

  Baltren took his club and turned around, “You heard him, right? Let’s work together.”

  Sungjin began to walk out once more when the Asian man tried to ask him a question, “Hey, how did you find out there are secrets to search for?”

  He had been shouting at and antagonizing Sungjin until just a few minutes ago so, Sungjin felt no need to acknowledge the question he had been asked.

  Once Sungjin left, Baltren took the men and began to move about the Wildlands. After a few minutes,

  “Kakaka!”

  The men ran into a group of five Goblins.

  “Get into a circle!” Under Baltren’s instructions, the other two men took their place behind him with their backs against each other. Goblins were less than half a human’s height, but they cooperated with each other.

  The Goblins ran in first with them swinging their swords. Baltren parried the sword away and landed a strike squarely on the goblin’s head.

  “Kack!”

  The goblin who was hit on his head collapsed on the spot. Goblins weren’t a difficult foe, as expected. Baltren got more courageous and smashed the head in of two more.

  The white man and Asian man also took one out each. At the end, each one of them had fought against a Troll one on one and had won.

  Even if they were in large groups, the three men could probably overcome anything that wasn’t a Troll. In fact, they could probably beat a lone Troll without much issue.

  “This seems... doable.”

  The white man standing next to him seemed to have regained some confidence. But the problem was the Asian man, who was determined to continue to cause problems.

  “Hey... is there really a reason why we need to put ourselves in danger? I thought we already completed our objectives?”

  “Don’t you remember the sign from the beginning? Stat Points and Black Coins per Goblin and etcetera. It’s probably better to kill more monsters,” said the white man.

  “Ah... is that so?”

  “Of course. I don’t know how or why we started to ‘hunt’... but we do need Black Coins for later.”

  Baltren, who was listening to the conversation, agreed as he said, “Yes. And that teenager said so himself. We don’t need to help him, so just go around the outskirts and hunt monsters.”

  He recalled Sungjin’s words.

  You don’t need to help me. Just... stick together as a group and carefully hunt Goblins on the outskirts of the wildlands.

  And in the end, he had completed the boss all on his own. Baltren could tell that the teenager wasn’t simply showing off; there was something more. The Asian man stroked his chin while listening and then asked, “How do points get divided? It’s not like we can see drops or something.”

  Baltren was also curious about this point. He thought for a moment, then he noticed the cube floating around. He spoke to the cube.

  “Operator.”

  The cube responded with the Operator’s voice.

  [Yes, how may I help you?]

  He carefully asked the question.

  “Um... How do Stat Points and Black Coins get divided?”

  [The reward per Hunter is based on contribution during the Raid.]

  “Contribution?”

  Baltren asked out of instinct. The Operator answered his question anyways.

  [When hunting, points for damage taken, damage done, killing blow, buffs given, debuffs dealt with, scouting, and spotting are all totalled up and divided accurately.]

  The three men looked a
mongst themselves. Until now, they had done almost nothing. The white man whispered to himself, “I wonder what my contribution is...”

  And then the cube next to him answered.

  [Your contribution is 4.3%.]

  The Asian man quickly asked his cube.

  “What about me? How much is my contribution?”

  But the cube did not answer.

  “Why? Why aren’t you telling me?”

  While the Asian man was freaking out, Baltren calmly asked his cube,

  “What is my contribution for this Raid?”

  [Your contribution is 7.2%.]

  It wasn’t much, but it was much higher than the white man. His help in killing the four Trolls in the Boss’s hall had been the cause of the difference in their contribution.

  The Asian man took hold of his cube and enunciated each word carefully.

  “What is my contribution rating in this Raid?”

  [Your contribution is 1.8%]

  He jolted in surprise.

  “What?!”

  He had fewer points than even the white man. Acting cowardly and avoiding action as much as possible was coming back to bite him. The white man sighed in regret, “Ahh, we should have just gone hunting as a group earlier, when that teenager told us to.”

  Baltren rallied the men. “There’s still 10 minutes until the Raid ends. It’s not too late to try and hunt and earn more points. Let’s go hunting and keep an eye out for anything strange.”

  *

  Sungjin charged through ‘Greenskin Wildlands’ as he kept searching.

  “Eeek!”

  “Cough...”

  “Kack!”

  He didn’t stop as he cut anything down that got in his way: Goblins, Orcs, and even Trolls. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since each kill he secured meant more Stat Points and Black Coins later.

  The problem was that he could not find any clues as to where the secret boss was located. He had scoured the entire Wildlands, searching. But he couldn’t find anything that seemed out of place.

  “Operator, remaining time.”

  [You will be summoned to the Hunter’s Hall in 6 minutes and 24 seconds.]

  “Damn it!”

  Sungjin swore out loud as he continued to run without taking a break. But there were more corpses than there were living things. In other words, he had already searched almost the entire map.