As he entered the room, seven people stood in front of Cole. They introduced themselves as the captains of the teams. It turned out every team here formed an alliance under the leadership of a certain man.

“Who is the man that can unite all teams here?” Cole asked curiously.

“If you want to meet our leader, hand over the experience cards you have promised,” a captain said.

The lower experience cards were useless for him, so Cole handed those cards to them. After that, they led him to the end of the room.

At the end of the room, a dark-skinned, middle-aged man leaned against the wall. He wore a japanese kimono, and a katana hung on his waist. Most noticeable feature he had was an X scar on his right cheek.

At the moment, the man observed him with his hawk-like eyes. After that, he gestured Cole to sit in front of him.

Cole complied with his words and sat in front of him.

“Cole ‘the Berserker’ Xander,” the man said cooly while folding his arms over his chest.

“You know me?” Cole asked.

“I am your fan until this day. I would never have thought I could talk to you. My name is Jeff Doucette, and I am the leader of this alliance.”

“I didn’t expect people would unite under someone.”

Jeff grinned. “All it took was getting rid of people who opposed this idea. There was only one team who opposed us, though.”

Cole nodded. “They are dead.”

“Good riddance. Forget about them. I want to hear about the situation beyond the river.”

Cole nodded. He explained the ant nest in the valley and the forest beyond the second hills. The place was even more dangerous at night, and he advised them to traverse the valley in the day.

“Even the Berserker can’t traverse the valley alone?” Jeff said calmly.

Cole didn’t want to prove anything in front of these people, even though he had traversed the valleys alone once. “Yes, but I assure you those ants are as weak as rabbits if your level is enough.”

“Now that’s a relief. I believe in your words, Mr. Xander. However, I need to man up everyone here first. We came from various backgrounds. Some people have got the courage, but some people need more time to realize we are not in the same world. They chose me as a leader. Can’t abandon them, can I?”

It seemed this man wanted to recruit Cole as his combatant. Jeff hadn’t asked yet, but if he did, Cole planned to refuse him. After all, those people were the first to reject him when they thought he had no value.

Cole would cooperate if it was only business matter. After that, he would walk on his way again.

Cole rested peacefully that night. He woke up in the dawn and planned to hunt the rabbits early. Jeff had waited for him in the door, and they got out of the building together.

“Can you fight, Mr. Doucette?” Cole asked.

“I guess. I watched your fights a lot.”

They arrived in the middle of the prairie. The rabbits were present, and when they approached them, no rabbit turned berserk. They were back to normal. A rabbit even approached Cole’s leg and rubbed its face against it like a spoiled pet.

Before he started his rampage, Cole looked at Jeff. The man’s weapon was a katana, and he carried it with elegance. “Say, Mr. Doucette. Was watching people fight to death amuse you?”

Jeff smiled. “I won’t lie. It was adrenaline-inducing.”

Cole closed his eyes and stepped forward. Those deathmatch spectators were maniacs. He put his hopes high, thinking Jeff would have a pity for him and his brothers. That man might have a sense of humanity, but deathmatch fighters were not human in Jeff’s eyes.

Cole raised his greatsword and smashed a rabbit to paste. Suddenly, other rabbits turned frenzy and started attacking him. He only stood and did nothing. Those creatures could only give him light bruises, and these shallow cuts would easily trigger his [Ruin Gust].

As a red helix revolved around him, Cole turned back to check on Jeff, and his eyes widened. The middle-aged man fought like a ferocious beast. He was evading many attacks like a feather being fluttered by the wind. At the same time, he killed many rabbits. Jeff’s fighting style reminded him of his own fighting style, the mix of ferocity, agility, and explosiveness.

Jeff Grinned as he slashed a rabbit into two. “I don’t need your help, Mr. Xander. Look at my fighting style. This is proof of how much I adore you.”

Cole shook his head. He was agile, but he couldn’t evade so many attacks. He realized that this was Jeff’s skill. The middle-aged man probably had a skill that let him sense enemies’ presence.

“Your first skill is passive,” Cole said.

“Correct. By the way, are you fine? Those rabbits are clinging to you. Need help?” As Jeff said that, a rabbit pounced on his neck. He suddenly turned into black smoke and reappeared again not far to the side.

The door opened wide, and people rushed to aid. “Charge! We can’t let the leader fight alone!” someone said. Those cowards cooperated to fight Frenzy Rabbits.

Cole observed the situation for a bit before he called Jeff. “Mr. Doucette, I have paid my debt. You don’t need me anymore.”

“You want to leave?” Jeff asked in the middle of slashing a rabbit.

Cole didn’t answer him. He turned his back and walked to the river. They already mustered the courage to fight, and it wasn’t his task to watch them out.

After he traversed the river and arrived on the second prairie, Cole looked back. Those people were dominating the battlefield, and they would be fine under Jeff’s leadership.

Before he turned his back, Cole found Jeff standing on the riverbank as he looked at him. Their eyes met.

After staring at each other for a while, Cole nodded and turned his back. He walked to the hills again at ease.

On the Hill, Cole looked down the valley. Ants were wandering around like usual. Luckily, he spotted no winged ant among them. Finding a chance to traverse the valley easily, he shouted and ran down the hill.

Cole couldn’t avoid the fight against them, but he tried his best to avoid them. After a while, he successfully arrived in front of the forest. Behind him, the ants were crawling out of the valley, so he ran into the forest.

Cole passed through shrubs and stopped at a wide area. He turned back and saw five ants approaching him. His HP was almost half, so he had enough enhancement from [Injury Transmutation].

Cole fought and killed them easily. After the fight was over, he got three level-four experience cards and two healing cards. Cole absorbed them all, increasing his HP and experience point.

Name: Cole Zander (Level: 4 [200/500])

Cole still had one free point, but he saved it for an emergency. Who would have known the situation in the future? He might need strength, vitality, or agility. He abandoned wisdom and intelligent stats because these two stats were useless to him.

Cole looked at the surroundings. He knew nothing about this forest, and a powerful monster like the giant anteater could show up anytime, so he continued walking. Staying in one place was dangerous because the trace of the battle could attract other monsters.

As he kept walking, he realized he couldn’t continue like this. A shelter was essential to provide him protection. Furthermore, Cole hunted alone and didn’t have anyone to watch his back when he rested, so his first mission was to find a safe place and build a shelter.

Cole’s knowledge about forest was limited to everything he had watched from TV, so he could only depend on his instinct, the thing that had been saving him countless times throughout his life.

His instinct told him an open area was dangerous, but entering bush was more dangerous. In the bush, a powerful monster could ambush him, so he needed to stay away from it. If he had to encounter a monster, he preferred them to come at him in this open area.

Cole looked up. Above, the trees seemed quiet. Trees might be the best choice as a shelter, so he approached a tree and climbed it. He wouldn’t know if he didn’t check it out.

Cole had never climbed a tree, but he didn’t have a problem reaching the top. On the top, he could see the area better. He saw the river before the hills and noticed it ended up leading to the sea. After that, he looked forward and saw a mountain range beyond the forest.

Cole climbed down a bit to see the surrounding of the forest. His instinct was right about bush being dangerous area. He saw a giant bear sleeping in the bush. Shifting his attention to the side, he saw a giant python slithering into the hole. With his system, he could see their levels.

“Level 13. Level 15. This forest is more dangerous than I thought. Where am I supposed to find targets around my level?”

Cole didn’t panic. The day was still long, so maybe he could find a monster around his level before the night.

Cole climbed down again and continued exploring the forest by following the open path. The open path was the safest path, or so he thought.

The forest was still dangerous, even if Cole only followed the open path. On the way, he encountered a group of monsters. They were bipedal grey rabbits with a unique feature; gauntlet-like carapaces covered their forearms

They were only at the size of his legs, but their ferocious complexions made him wary of them.

Name: Frenzy Rabbit Guard

Level: 5

Cole somehow could see their name this time. It was probably because they were related to Frenzy Rabbit, and he had gathered advanced information about Frenzy Rabbit.

Unlike their cousin species, these Frenzy Rabbit Guards were aggressive. They were charging at him the moment they saw him.

Seeing them, Cole licked his lips. They were only level five, so they possessed enough threats to induce the thrill.

“Bring it on,“ Cole shouted. He was about to slash the rabbit that was coming to him when a beast chomped the creature between its teeth. As his blade fell to the ground, the rabbit wasn’t in front of him anymore.

Looking at the side, Cole found the monster that had snatched his prey. The ambusher was a tiger-like monster. Gleaming armor covered its entire body. On its back, it had a sharp dorsal fin. On its rear, it had a scorpion tail.

Name: ???

Level: 8

The tiger was too high-level for him at the moment, Cole thought.

Sensing hesitation in his heart, the tiger glared at him. It dropped the rabbit's corpse in its mouth, and it was about to charge at him. Luckily, those rabbits attacked it first. It ignored cole and attacked the rabbits.

As they were busy fighting, Cole sneakily approached the rabbit’s corpse and snatched it away. He was curious because it didn’t disappear when the tiger had killed it. However, the moment he touched the corpse, it turned into blue smoke, and a smoke residue turned into a blue card.

Cole’s eyes widened when he saw the blue card. It was an active skill card. He had struck it rich, but it was a pity he couldn’t use it. Even though he couldn’t use it, he planned to sell it to others.

After taking the card, Cole observed their fight from a safe distance. So far, those rabbits had an advantage. They were using their powerful grips to crack open the tiger’s steel-like carapace.

The tiger galloped through those rabbits and killed them with its claws, bite, sharp pincer tail, its blade-like dorsal fin, and even with its thick skull. In the end, the tiger wiped out its enemies.

Cole grinned. The tiger was limping to him, and its blood was gushing out of cracked carapaces. It was a chance to kill it.

“This is cowardly, but you are a beast anyway.” Cole bolted at the creature and swung his sword against the tiger’s cracked carapace. The clanking sound resounded as the carapace repelled his greatsword.

Cole jumped back to evade the tiger’s claw. “Huh, my attack is weak.” He knew that his HP had become full, but he refused to believe the Frenzy Rabbit Guard’s attack was stronger than his attack. Luckily, he still had one free point, and Cole increased his strength.

Name: Cole Zander (Level: 4 [200/500])

Currency Point: 100

Race: Human (Bronze)

Class: -

Strength: 10

Vitality: 9

Agility: 9

Intelligent: 8

Wisdom: 8

Free Points: 0

Active Skills: 0

Passive Skills: 2

Blessings: 1

Debuff: 1

Explosive pressure flowed throughout his body, and Cole felt much stronger than before. He swung his sword again, but the tiger evaded to the side, and his attack cracked the ground instead.

The tiger growled, stepped back slowly, and ran away with its tail between its legs. Refusing to let it escape, Cole chased it. However, the creature was still faster than him, even though its body was injured.

Cole gritted his teeth. He didn’t want this easy prey to escape, so he slashed his own bowel with the greatsword. His skin reddened, and he ran faster.

Cole caught up to the tiger. He laughed maniacally and stabbed the tiger, pushing it against a nearby tree. The creature let out a pitiful cry and died. A golden card floated out of its corpse, and Cole picked it.

Name: Experience Card

Level: 8

Grade: High

Description: Increases experience by 300.

“Huh, high-grade experience card? Should I absorb it?” Cole thought about it for a moment, but he decided to absorb it in the end. He could hunt monsters for more experience cards. There was no need to act economically about it. This place was dangerous, and he needed to get stronger as soon as possible.

You have leveled up.

Name: Cole Zander (Level: 5 [0/625])

After he leveled up, he felt today’s hunt hadn’t been satisfying him enough. He could gain more than this, so he looked for a suitable hunting ground for him.