I found myself in a ruined city after completing the mini-game and obtaining the golden egg. The screen was still displaying notifications in front of me, listing all the rewards I had earned for today's game.
I couldn't help but think about the man I had killed. Wasn't he dead from the fall? Why did I still receive killing points for it?
In this apocalyptic world, I wasn't as shocked by killing another person as I probably should have been. It's a harsh reality, and rule number eight is crystal clear:
There will be situations where you have to take another person's life, and you must do it without hesitation. Because hesitation could kill you instead.
But what bothered me was the sheer number of killing points I had received – 5000 killing points? That was insane.
It seemed like the system drove the players to kill another player instead of killing the monster.
I decided to walk back towards the colony, but an uneasy feeling gnawed at me. What if someone had already found out about this? If they knew, what would they do? They'd likely hunt players down, right?
Now I understood the significance of the system's warning that you couldn't kill in the colony. It wasn't just about monsters; it was about PK (Player Killing).
As I cautiously moved forward, scanning the ruined buildings around me, a glint caught my eyes in one of the shattered structures. At the same time, a gunshot whizzed by my side, narrowly missing me.
A sharp sting on my cheek alerted me to the blood trickling down from a graze caused by the near miss. I sprinted toward the nearest building, bullets zipping through the air behind me as I zigzagged to avoid becoming an easy target.
Reaching the relative safety of the building, I gasped for breath, my heart pounding not just from the run but also from the fear that gripped me.
Killing monsters and taking on human adversaries were two entirely different challenges.
Monsters, while often strong, lacked the cunning and unpredictability that made humans a far more dangerous foe.
Human... It's a different thing. They were more scarier than the devil itself.
I quickly materialized my weapon and hunkered down, waiting in tense silence as I scanned the area. The situation was eerily quiet, adding to my unease.
I desperately tried to pinpoint the other player's position, but my Enhanced Perception skill wouldn't work. They were inside the building, and my skill couldn't penetrate through the walls. Darn it!
The shooter who had attacked me from a distance must have been a Ranger class player like me.
Given the sound and trajectory, it seemed they were using a rifle, possibly a sniper rifle. This player was skilled, maybe even a professional or someone with military training.
As I focused on my surroundings, I failed to notice the figure in a black robe and a gas mask who had approached stealthily. Suddenly, he opened fire with a mini-machine gun, bullets whizzing dangerously close.
I bolted from my cover, but not without taking a few hits. Bullets pierced my arm, grazed my legs, and even made shallow cuts across my body, leaving me bleeding and in agony.
Shit! Shit! I couldn't feel his presence, how fast he moved, how could he already be in my spot?!
I sought refuge in a pile of rubble, quickly consuming a health potion to stem the bleeding.
Peeking cautiously from behind cover, while dodging all the bullets from the firearm, I muttered a skill incantation, "Luminous Nova Blast," causing the ground around the assailant to erupt in an area-of-effect attack.
The building quivered, and debris rained down.
Relieved, I thought I had bested my enemy. However, the smoke cleared, revealing my foe still standing and now brandishing a shoulder-fired missile launcher, targeting me.
"Crap!" I cursed under my breath as the missile locked onto me. I instinctively activated a shield skill, but it shattered upon impact.
The explosion that followed blew apart the already fragile building, sending debris hurtling in my direction.
With lightning-quick reflexes, I employed my flying skills to dodge the incoming rubble and escape the destruction.
The building below was falling apart, but that guy was like a bulldog, never letting go of his pursuit. I couldn't believe his persistence!
"Son of a bitch!"
He continued to shoot at me from a distance using a carbine. I wondered how many guns he had up his sleeve.
Fortunately, the sky was my friend here, and I bobbed up and down, twirling and twisting, making it hard for him to get a bead on me.
My options were simple: run away or take a stand and fight. The colony was still far away, and my hurried aerial dash had complicated my route.
When I peeked back at my pursuer, he had switched to a shotgun, and I could tell these weren't regular shells; it was a skill.
In the blink of an eye, I put up a shield, protecting myself from the shockwave that sent me flying backward.
I could hear my ears ringing and bleeding out from the impact. That explosion was no joke!
But quitting wasn't an option, because if I just kept running, that man would surely get to me faster than I could ever dodge.
I was determined to render him immobile. So, I flew higher to dodge the smoky aftermath of his shot and muttered, "Daybreak Swordstrom."
My weapon gleamed with a golden light, and the projectile I fired was bigger. It hit the edge of his arm. Although the bullet didn't penetrate him, the impact triggered the skill, bringing forth two shimmering golden swords that pierced his arms before vanishing, leaving him with blood trickling out.
"Take that!" I couldn't help but feel satisfied. I readied my other gun and said, "Inferno Blast."
But this time, the man could dodge and materialize his other weapon - missile launcher - and lock me as a target.
But this wasn't an ordinary missile; it split into three with a menacing aura. I wasn't sure what kind of skill this was, but I had a gut feeling it meant trouble.
As I tried to get away, the missiles relentlessly pursued me. I needed to find something to divert these deadly projectiles before they took me down.
The assault showed no sign of letting up. Not only I have been chased by the missile, but my relentless opponent kept coming after me, using shots enhanced with some kind of skill that pierced right through my body. Blood was pouring from my waist, and the system kept warning me of the danger.
[Danger!]
[Poison detected]
[Your HP will decrease by -10 every 15 seconds because of excessive bleeding and poisoned bullets!]
Holy shit, it was poisoned! My situation just went from bad to worse!
Finally, I spotted a towering skyscraper and dove inside, allowing the missiles to explode harmlessly into the building while I was already outside it.
The impact was staggering as if an invisible blade had sliced through the building with precision.
It was a wind-based skill that could cut through anything in its path. I'd narrowly escaped being torn to pieces by that explosive force.
As I tried to steady my ragged breath and wipe the sweat from my brow, I couldn't shake the anxiety gnawing at me. Flying itself wasn't tiring, but the constant threat of danger was getting to me.
This player seemed to have an arsenal of skills and weapons at his disposal. I couldn't fathom where he got them all. As far as I knew, players were limited to three weapon passes.
This guy seemed to have an entire armory at his disposal. Maybe he had an SSS skill or something. I briefly checked my own SSS skill but realized my MP was already down to 10% now.
Summoning a character wasn't an option either; they were too costly in terms of MP, and most of them were pretty useless. I needed a plan.
My HP was dwindling dangerously, and I had to act fast to avoid bleeding out. Muttering, "Dove's Blessing," I began to mend my wounds. It was a relief.
Suddenly, the man appeared before me, armed with his carbine. His black robe was fluttered because of the wind, his weapon pointed at me.
Yup, I fucked up. I should have hidden first, damn it!
He kept firing relentlessly, and I couldn't avoid every shot. Luckily, "Dove's Blessing" kept healing me, and I was hanging on.
To protect myself, I summoned a shield just as the man approached fast. What the heck did he want from me? He shattered my shield and thrust his bayonet through my chest.
The pain was excruciating, and I could taste blood in my mouth. He must have come dangerously close to my heart.
But I wasn't ready to meet my end just yet. In desperation, I materialized my revolver and whispered, "Triple Bullets." The bullets split into three and struck the man, incinerating him in a burst of flames.
The two of us then fall from the sky to the ruined city beneath us.
***
Anyway, I know a minigun can't be carried and is not man-portable, it is very heavy and the super fast firing would make it uncontrollable and not effective.
But it's alright since this novel is just fiction and that weapon is from magic anyway. So, let me be happy, alright XD