Kai moved as fast as he could without making much sound through the colorful forest filled with weirdest things. The area displayed on the map was just a little deeper than what he had explored before to level up. He knew how to reach there without crossing any troublesome monster areas.
From the distance, the sound of fighting and shouting had already started carrying through the air, and they weren't even halfway there. Other than the simple-minded players who just ran straight towards the target, Kai had also noticed some forming groups — others, like him, moving solo.
The aliens among them weren't hard to notice, though confirming it was a whole other thing. As they used to do in the last timeline, they formed groups with people of their own species. Here too, two or three groups had already formed, heading towards the target slowly.
Kai heard a commotion ahead and took a small detour to avoid them, but since they were so close, he tried to see what was happening. A group of players, most likely humans, were locked in an intense battle with Murk Howlers. He had already heard the guttural sound of their calls echoing from the herd before.
Kai ignored them and moved away. Just like many aliens, Kai also wanted to have some players — humans — along with him. Using numbers was an advantage unlike any other in this game, at least once everyone joined the common server. For now, he was in no position to think about others.
Kai quickly left them behind and continued on his path. When he reached the area, unsurprisingly, no one was there except Deimos, hacking at a monster in the far distance. She hadn't seen him yet. She was using a sword — one from the village shop. She must have selected the Warpblade class. Kai had no time to waste. The humanoid monsters made of swirling patterns of wood were already moving towards him, making creaking sounds as they advanced.
The whole area was completely different from the lush, colorful forest. Here, everything was either red, brown, or black. The land was covered with withered trees, fallen leaves, and bark. The Barkspawn were suddenly rising out of nowhere from beneath the dried leaves and wood, surprising players. One was ahead of him, while two more crept behind. He was already surrounded.
Kai used his knife to cut off the dried-up, long arms that the one in front used to strike at him and kicked its chest open. It wasn't as strong. The blackened wood immediately broke, exposing its brown, stone-like core held by dozens of wooden branches. Kai hurriedly snatched the core with his hand and watched the monster fall apart like a bundle of sticks.
He turned around and kicked the one behind him in the foot, breaking the wood and making it lose balance, crashing to the ground. Stepping on its body, he punched the third Barkspawn right in the face — its hollow-eyed wooden face caved in. Before its outstretched hands could reach him, Kai broke open its chest and snatched the core.
The last one under his feet struggled, but Kai simply stomped on its back, shattering its frame and freeing the core. He stored all three in his inventory and noticed that two groups of aliens had made it to the area, already busy killing — or more like breaking — the monsters. Some individual players followed behind them. Without talking to them, Kai couldn't tell if they were humans or another alien species.
The wood monsters were annoying to Kai. His arrows were useless against them. Any attack that didn't target the core wouldn't work, and if the core was destroyed in the process, he wouldn't be able to collect it. If he fought like this normally, he wouldn't get much farther than the other solo players doing the same.
Kai moved back towards the forest, breaking another Barkspawn on the way. Coming out of the depressing area, he used Godstep to reach the top of a high tree. After doing this several times, he'd gotten the hang of it now— at least for arrows that could stick in wood. Using it while the arrow was still midair was another matter entirely.
He observed the open area for a few minutes and took note of the groups — five players in one area, four in another, and three more who seemed to be humans, talking very loudly. Of course, there were also the many solo players scattered around, hacking and slashing at the wooden monsters that grew constantly.
The group of five was handing all the cores to just one player — the aliens wanted to make only one of them win. It tickled Kai's funny bone. His hands acted on their own as he pulled the string of his bow, an arrow appearing out of nowhere, perfectly fitted between his fingers and the string.
'Fuck it! It gives me a better chance at winning than simply killing monsters..'
Kai loosened the arrow, and without missing the mark, with a 'Pshkch' sound, it pierced the head of the guy holding all the cores among the five, scattering the cores and items from his inventory into the open for everyone to see. Seeing this, all the other groups went on full alert, hiding the one player holding their cores. The four remaining partners of the dead player snarled at Kai, and the one among them with a bow started aiming at him.
Another of Kai's arrows quickly shot through his head, leaving another pile of loot behind. Now the surviving three members were being eyed not just by Kai but by everyone around them. It was clear they all wanted to take advantage of their misfortune. Kai saw some players slowly moving towards them as the three guys hurriedly collected their friends' items while looking all around.
Another arrow, this time two in quick succession, made two more heads bloody with arrows lodged through them. The last guy grabbed the important items and started running, but by now, the other players had begun rushing towards him at full speed. Kai ignored him and shot an arrow near the pile of loot scattered from four players, using Godstep to reach there in an instant.
While the others got busy killing the poor guy, Kai took all the important items along with over nine Barkspawn cores, then disappeared back into the forest using Godstep again. The ones keeping an eye on Kai while approaching the loot pile were startled by his sudden disappearance. Holding their weapons, they started looking around in full alert mode, thinking he had turned invisible.
'Haha, not gonna lie, that felt pretty good..'
In the next second, Kai saw the two groups — one of four and another of three — getting attacked by solo players with bows. But one arrow wasn't enough to end a player's full HP, and the attackers got rushed by the groups and killed on the spot. One group of three was so busy killing the archer they didn't notice when a figure approached behind them and buried her sword through one of their chests.
The guy had already received one arrow on his head, and now with this powerful attack showing two -35, -35 numbers on his head, he became a pile of loot. The other two were just finishing off the archer, but when they suddenly looked back at their friend's scream, Deimos was already running at full speed, collecting all the cores and other items.
The archer had targeted the main guy holding their cores.
Soon the monster-infested area became a danger zone for all. Archers were rushed and killed on sight out of fear of surprise attacks. More players arrived, confused at first, but soon they too began partaking in the misfortune of archers. It was blatant disrespect against anyone with a bow.
Kai just smiled from atop a high tree, observing everything happening beneath. He was counting who had how many cores and who was keeping them, all while his MP recovered. This was going to be a piece of cake.