'So he has a skill, uh?'

But he hasn't leveled up yet. How can he possess a skill without a skill point?

"You're wondering how I got a skill, right?!"

Now that's just creepy.

He continued. "It seems in this game, players acquire a skill point right after they reach a certain EXP limit. The skill book of my skill is still with me, you know,"

"...."

"If we can come to an agreement, then I might consider offering you the skill book,"

After experiencing the skill firsthand, I Know just how amazing that skill is and I concluded.

'I want it!'

I lunged towards him. It seems he could hear my feet stumping on the dry leaves scattered on the floor while the wind whistled loudly because he suddenly became silent.

"Come out kid!! It's time you meet your maker!"

Nope! I take that back. He didn't hear me but he just didn't have anything to say at the time.

[Ding! Rusted dagger has been equipped.]

I hastened my pace, but I dared not yell because even though I knew he could hear me, I still wanted the element of surprise to be in my favor.

What I wanted to do could only be done once, and failure was not an option.

I leaped, lifting both my feet way higher than I had ever done before, aiming them at his face while hoping I do not miss.

*Bam!!*

"F**k!!" Tim yelled and fell straight to the ground with his nose and jaw broken by the impact.

I was able to somehow achieve my objective.

-2

-1

I noticed the negative figure floating above him. This was a pleasant thing to see.

It wasn't easy to implement such an attack. I had to lift my entire weight to make sure such a chance wouldn't be wasted.

All it took was for me to focus all my attention on where his voice sounded from.

In other words, his head was his weak spot. He wouldn't have expected my first attack to be aimed straight at his face.

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I knew he would have probably hoped to sacrifice a few of his health points to end me with another round of that rapid martial art attack he used earlier.

But I wasn't going to let him. I didn't stop there, either.

While still on the ground, he groaned but didn't expect to feel a cold rusted steel piercing into the flesh of his feet.

-2

"Argh!!" He yelled, his voice dwarfing that of the wind.

But I couldn't have foreseen Tim retaliating with a direct kick from his other foot straight to my face, sending both me and the dagger I held away from him.

-2

[1/10.]

F×ck!! At this point, I'll die before he does.

However I didn't sit around to watch him get back to his feet. I hurried to my feet and launched myself like a rocket straight into his chest.

-1

-1

"Aarhh!!" The dagger pierced straight into his heart. His hands clamped tightly to mine as he spoke with blood trickling down the edges of his lips.

"I….knew…you…had…the…look…of …a…killer…in…you. Just…do… yourself...a… favor… and…put….some… meat…on…those…bones,"

With those last words, his hands tried to get a hold of my neck, but I turned the dagger while it was still inside of him.

He released another cry of pain, accompanied by a smile, as though he had no regrets before leaving this world.

The last negative figure floated above him.

-1

Since it had finally ended, I looked towards my hands and could feel a slippery texture on my hands and the smell of iron emanating from it.

I had somehow managed to be alive yet again.

My heart was beating like crazy. I couldn't believe I was a step closer to death yet again, and yet, I was able to survive and be the last man standing.

Things were different now. The last three players I killed only had one who directly confronted me.

This time all three players wanted me dead.

The emotion I felt during the whole ordeal soon overwhelmed me, and I could feel my feet becoming numb.

"Yet again!!" I yelled.

"I survived yet again!!" I repeated.

"Argh!!" I yelled with tears streaming down my cheeks.

'I did it!'

'It is me who gets to live to see another day! Not Tim! Not anyone else! But me!!'

No matter how hard I tried, the tears wouldn't stop streaming down my cheeks.

A few minutes passed and the next thing I knew, I unwittingly slumped to the ground due to overwhelming feeling of weariness.

[Ding!! Dead. You have killed a player. 10 damage was inflicted on Target's HP. Dropped item:35 gold coins and a skill book. You have gained 10 exp.]

I stopped wailing right after the battle log popped up.

My body ached everywhere. Crying out loud like that was dangerous. There could be wild nocturnal beasts hunting at night.

And so, I decided it would be better to replace the tears with excitement at the notification my eyes fell upon.

I not only gained a few more coins than expected, but I also obtained my very first skill book.

The skill book and gold coin holographic projection glowed right above the deceased body.

I grabbed both dropped items to stop the glowing projection from attracting any more uninvited guests.

My HP right now was too low and too precious for me to risk my life.

Even though Tim had a higher EXP value than mine and other inmates I'd fought before him, the amount of EXP I gained was the same as every other inmate I had killed.

Maybe it doesn't matter what EXP a player has for as long as he is a level one player, his exp will be the same as every other inmate with level 1.

__________

The total number of players currently in the game: 78,975.

The number of deceased players: 15.

The total number of deceased players: 1,025.

_____

Author's note:

Now the next three are @Neon_Genesis, @The_last_Native, and @Troy_Goode. I won't rush the inclusion of these characters into the novel, I'll keep moving at my pace.

Thanks.