After wolfing down their dinner and rushing their homework, the two brothers had run straight to their rooms to log back into New Dawn.

When the familiar scene appeared, Pu55yDestr0y3r and his brother's character, Alfatar, looked around. With the game's gorgeous graphics, the village was so vibrant that it almost looked real at a glance.

"Alf, can you see that kid anywhere? It would be somewhat poetic to start the challenge with him."

Naturally, this was an online game, so the NPCs would not stay in position until the two logged back on. Thus, the duo looked around the village. However, after a few minutes, they had not found him.

"Hmm, maybe he despawned?" Alfatar suggested. "You said he was part of the first instance, so he probably only stayed around because you were still in the area. Once you left, the game likely removed him."

"Yeah, maybe…" While performing the [Shrug] emote, Pu55yDestr0y3r said, "I guess I'll start with some random NPC."

Pu55yDestr0y3r took off all of his items and surveyed the area. "I'll start at the west side of the village and zigzag through the streets toward the east side. Don't want to miss one and die like Oldest."

In response, Alfatar sent a laughing emoticon. "Ok, I'll go up the hill to track your progress."

"Thanks."

…

Hearing that the gnome was looking for him, Wilbert cowered behind a tree at the fringe of the forest. He peeked round the tree and observed—the similarity between this situation and the previous massacre was not lost on him.

'Another monster's here, and I'm still hiding… It's not even worth trying to warn the villagers; they'll just ignore me or call me crazy again.'

At that moment, with a vicious expression on his face, the gnome made his move.

'Ah, it's too late…'

At the west of the village, a little girl was playing with a skipping rope. One end was tied to a pipe, and her mother was swinging the other for her.

When the gnome approached them, the mother noticed and moved to shield her daughter from the stranger.

But she was a step too late.

The moment that the gnome's fist made contact with the girl's head, it snapped back. Blood spurted from her nostrils and onto her mother's pale, flowery dress. The girl's matching dress soon turned a dark crimson as a seemingly never-ending stream of blood poured out of her head. The light-brown skipping rope that she collapsed onto was soon dyed the same colour as her dress, and the wet crimson spread out to the far ends of the rope.

With another flash of the gnome's fist, the mother collapsed onto her daughter, suffering the same fate, her dress turning the same colour.

Wilbert held back the urge to vomit as the gnome dashed down a side-street temporarily disappearing from view. However, while the gnome was out of sight, the terror-filled screams still filled Wilbert's ears.

Raw rage clouded Wilbert's mind. He wanted to rush out and kill these bastards who seemed to be slaughtering people for sport, but the fear in his heart stopped him.

Yes, he had rushed out, hoping to die, before, but that was in the heat of the moment. These strangers dying, whilst sad, were just that—strangers.

Caught between those two emotions, Wilbert could only remain crouched behind the tree, rocking slightly back and forth.

"You bastard!"

A man charged out from God knew where with a sword, running straight for the gnome. However, the man's skills were clearly not up to scratch as the gnome adeptly side-stepped his attack and finished him off with a powerful blow to the neck.

Those two words—you bastard—seemed to trigger Wilbert's memories of the previous massacre, causing the anger within him to surge, instantly overpowering the fear in his heart.

That fear was replaced by grief. A certain melancholy filled his face as he gripped the wooden sword in his belt.

Like before, without putting much thought into it, he saw red. He scurried out of the woods, straight towards the gnome.

When he neared the gnome, he draw the wooden sword and raised it high.

However—

"Ha! You think I'm as dumb as Oldest? A mere kid like you thinks you can sneak up on me? There's no way I would let down my guard at the last moment."

The gnome turned around, his fist already flying for Wilbert.

As the small but horrendously powerful fist flew to Wilbert's face, he panicked. In his tizz, he messed up his footing and tripped. His head narrowly missed the incoming fist. Without even trying to protect his body, Wilbert extended his arm with the sword and…

Hit the man's crotch!

[Critical hit.]

[You have killed Pu55yDestr0y3r - Gnome (Level 35).]

[You have gained 20,335 XP.]

[Congratulations, you have levelled up.]

[Congratulations, you have levelled up.]

…

[Congratulations, you have levelled up.]

[Congratulations, you have gained two new titles.]

In a daze, Wilbert ignored the scrapes on his arms and legs as he looked at Pu55yDestr0y3r's pained, dead body. The gnome's final expression was a mixture of confusion and pain, and he legs were bent inwardly as if trying to suppress the indescribable agony he had experienced just moments before his demise.

He stood up, and thinking of those messages, he tapped on the heart icon in the bottom-right of his vision. A box appeared in Wilbert's vision, which he was weirdly getting used to, with a few changes.

—————

Name: Wilbert

Level: 18

Race: Human

Class: Villager

Attributes: 1 STR, 1 DEF, 2 DEX, 1 (2) INT, 1 (2) WIS, 2 LUK

Unassigned Attribute Points: 22

Abnormal Status(es):

- [Bug]: The developers have been told of your changes.

- [Shock]: After a traumatic event, you still have not processed what has happened. -1 INT

- [Slight Madness]: Tragedy has warped your mind. -1 WIS

Title(s):

- [First Blood]: Killed your first player. +50% Damage to Players.

- [Crown Jewels Collector]: Dealt grievous damage to a man's crown jewels. +50% Damage to 'That' Critical Spot.

—————