Several minutes later, with my health at 50% and a level higher than I’d had before, I stood surrounded by drops from three monsters.
“All right, so we can take on three of these at once,” I said.
“Indeed we can,” Nemesis agreed.
In preparation for the next battle, I restored my health with First Heal. Possessing both high HP and an ability to self-heal, Paladins were simply ideal for leveling.
“All right, I’m healed.” I said.
“So, now you’re just level 5 and already have over 800 HP,” Nemesis commented. “Your defense has increased, too, so you might even be able to bear a Demi-Drag’s attack without any accessories. Don’t you think so?”
“...Even if I can, I’d like to avoid boss battles for now,” I replied. Endlessly repeating events that intense would simply drain my life away. “I’ll hunt standard monsters until I reach level 20.”
“That’s a good idea.” said Nemesis. “I might’ve evolved into my second form by that point.”
“What will happen when you evolve, anyway?” I asked. “My brother said that Embryos don’t change too much.”
“I imagine it won’t go beyond new skills and changes to the weapon,” she answered. “Though, I do not know if the same can be said for the evolution between the third and fourth form.”
“High-rank evolution, was it?” I asked.
“Yes,” Nemesis confirmed. “First to third forms are low-rank, while fourth and above are high-rank. As far as I understand it, high-rank forms display a whole different level of uniqueness. There are even cases where the focus on certain skills leads to Embryos entering their own, unique categories.”
The fourth form of my brother’s Baldr was a tank, which was categorized as a “Chariot.” However, it had originally been an Arms-type gun, meaning that it had evolved into a different category.
“If high-rank forms display a lot of uniqueness, what about the seventh — Superior — form?” I asked.
“There are no details on that in the knowledge I was granted with my birth,” she replied. “We’re simply not given this kind of information, it seems.”
“I think I see how it is,” I said. It was top secret knowledge not meant to be seen by the average person. Not surprising that there were fewer than a hundred people who got there.
“However, I do know that Embryos of fourth or higher forms get called ‘high-rank’ not just for classification, but for power, as well,” Nemesis said, giving more details. “That’s why you must hurry and uplift me into the fourth form... and beyond, if you can.”
“Well, that’s the plan, anyway.”
The rankings were probably full of people with high-rank Embryos, so if I wanted to get there, I had no choice but to get on their level.
“For now, I have no choice but to do some honest leveling,” I said. “I’m gonna reach level 13 and move on to another hunting ground while it’s still today.”
The orange patches of sky I saw between the trees clearly showed that it was getting late, but I had no intention of ending the hunt just yet.
Hell, more monsters spawn at night, so it actually makes me excited.
“That’s the spirit,” said Nemesis.
“All right, then, let’s g—”
Suddenly, my vision slanted.
No — it wasn’t just my vision, but myself.
The numbness — the remnant of an impact — on my forehead was a sign that something had just hit my temporal region. My status display showed me that it had taken away a whole 80% of my HP.
“...The hell?” I’d been struck by sudden critical damage with no rhyme or reason behind it. Since it’d hit my head, I was left dizzy and unable to properly move my limbs.
“Master!” Nemesis raised her voice.
I thought she was simply worried about me, but I was wrong. It was a warning.
“Hh! Counter Absorption!” she cried. Twenty-four hours had passed since she’d used it yesterday, so Nemesis could use Counter Absorption again. Right as she did that, the newly-created wall of light was hit by something.
“Gyaghg, ghgee!”
It was a small monster that combined the aerodynamic shape of a bullet with the dreadful visage of a preta. It writhed — to no avail — as it tried to break through the wall of light. More likely than not, the damage I’d taken a second ago had been dealt by this thing.
“Is this a monster?” I asked.
...No way, I thought in disbelief. This monster’s offensive ability is way too great compared to the Teal Wolves I’ve been fighting. However, it didn’t seem like it was a boss monster like the Demi-Dragon Worm, either. I mean, it doesn’t even have the name pop-up that appears over every monster in sight. Could it be...
“Kh!” Counter Absorption’s wall of light vanished, and so did the monster that had hit it.
“A suicidal-type monster that dies right after its first attack,” Nemesis explained. “It’s both a monster and not at the same time... Master! This is a...!”
“...Guardian!” I completed her sentence.
Type Guardian... A monster-type Embryo. Unlike Babi, who was of the same type, this one was a real monster.
“Master, retreat! Someone is targeting you!” Nemesis exclaimed.
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” I cried.
With my dizziness gone, I dashed towards the North Gate while healing myself.
Soon enough, I became fully aware of the situation. Screams of players were echoing all over Noz Forest. It wasn’t just one or two people, either, but dozens of them. Since that monster was an Embryo, the one responsible was another player.
PK — Player Killing. Just as the name implied, it was the act of killing other players — a concept that had existed since the dawn of MMOs. The person who had attacked me was attacking other players, too, increasing his number of victims with every passing second.
With Nemesis’s buff and stat increase due to the high-rank job, my HP was significantly larger than that of most people close to my level, and yet a single attack had been enough to bring me to the verge of death. No player without similar circumstances could survive it.
It was no longer a “newbies’ hunting ground”... but a “newbie-hunting ground.” We had become the hunted.
“That Guardian died right then and there, so why are the victims increasing?!” I cried.
“They’re probably part of a high-rank Guardian categorization. Type Legion,” Nemesis answered. “It’s an Embryo that’s basically a colony. As far as I know, the quantity comes at a great cost to quality!”
“You’re saying that the attack that almost killed me was ‘low quality?’ Nice joke,” I said.
Wait, if the Embryo is a high-rank, the Master must be high-rank, too, I realized.
“We’re at a disadvantage!” cried Nemesis.
We have to hurry back to the capital, I agreed. This player-killing asshole shouldn’t follow us there.
However, before I could act out my thoughts...
“Gyaghghghghghghgh!” I heard it behind me — a monster flying towards me like a meteor.
“Mast—!”
It’s going to kill m—
“Like hell!” Turning around, I swung my black greatsword at the bullet monster.
“Ghh...ghghghgh.” The impact made the bullet monster blast away into the trees, ending its life and role.
“...I did it!”
“Well done, Master!” Nemesis cried. “Now, you just have to—”
—run to the city. Nemesis didn’t get to finish her sentence. In her greatsword form, Nemesis didn’t have a face. However, I could easily tell what she was looking at.
Someone was standing there beyond the trees, lightly veiled by a dark haze. I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, young or old, or even if it was actually human or not. Though light, the haze distorted the silhouette to the point of making me unable to see such basic things. All I could tell was that the figure held a gun-like object in its right hand...
...and that an Embryo crest was shining on its left.
At that point, it couldn’t have been more obvious.
It was this person. This person was the one trying to kill me.
“Run away! Master!” Nemesis exclaimed.
Before I could even respond, I began dashing with all I had. The distance was twenty meters. It was much smaller than the distance I had to run when escaping the orchard, and the city was right beyond it.
I kept on running.
However, I suddenly heard a gunshot. At the same moment, I felt a dreadful, daunting sensation.
I had to keep running.
But the terrible chills running down my spine made me turn around. The sight that awaited my eyes was beyond anything I could expect.
Nemesis and I had been able to fend off a mere two of those bullet monsters, and still only barely. And, upon turning around, I was greeted by a hellish swarm of the very same creatures, numbering so many that they blocked out the view behind them.
A moment later, before I could even blink, the monsters charged at me and pulverized my body.
[Fatal Damage]
[Party Eliminated]
[Resurrection Period Expired]
[Death Penalty: 24 Hour Login Ban]