Opening his eyes, Astre found himself staring at two large fangs dripping with viscous yellow liquid. Each of the deadly instruments was twice the size of a man's head. Soon giant snake's head lunged for him. Immediately Astre threw himself to the side and cursed his luck. No one mentioned to him anything about monsters being present in the tournament.

The place he found himself in seemed to be some deep jungle with grass up to his waist and more tall vegetation. Trees around him were both tall and wide, seemingly trying to reach towards the sky and grab it.

He didn't have much time to grasp his surroundings as he was forced to dodge again as the snake wouldn't give up on a tasty meal. Astre pulled out his bow and quiver from his inventory. Shooting two arrows at the beast, he dodged again as the projectiles lodged themselves in the best's skin.

Astre clicked his tongue in annoyance. Using Analyze, he learned that the boss was a peak epic grade boss. Rank just before legendary. He wasn't going to beat this enemy easily with only his weapons and Astre wanted to avoid using a lot of his trap materials so quickly in the competition. He had the whole box filled with fifty stacks of different materials. When it was quite a lot, they were going to run out quickly if he wasn't careful and wasted them.

In the end, there was one strategy that could solve this problem quickly. Running away. Turning around, Astre used Instant Trap and ran as fast as he could. The snake who followed with tremendous speed didn't even feel the string it broke, and by then it was already too late for the beast. A magically enchanted steel net appeared from under the tall grass and grasped the snakes head shutting its jaws tight and binding it to a tree.

Astre only gave it passing glance as he ran into the dense shrubs. Soon the monster was out of sight, but Astre didn't slow down. Epic and higher grade monsters stopped following standard monsters rules, they didn't have a zone they were bound too and could follow players nearly everywhere, within reason. At the same time, they could randomly give up or just start to wander out of their territory. He also had no doubt that the beast would soon get out of the net. It wasn't prepared for that level of the monster anyway.

Still, running around felt like an outstanding way to bump into another dangerous situation. Getting an idea of his surroundings would be a place to start. Finding a tree that would be easy to climb didn't take long. The multiple vines climbing the tree made it easy to find a grip.

He was worried that someone could notice him, and as he was getting to the point where he could see over other trees, he activated his Eye for Details ability and decided to use the untested Death Sense. When he found a good foothold, he also used Cover, and one of his ninety-nine camping supplies vanished from his inventory, covering him in tree bark and vines. The ability effect was sometimes annoying, but it was his only ability that allowed him to hide from detection skills.

Looking around, he saw that the jungle zone spread far beyond the horizon. He could see that to what he guessed would be west, there were mountains just at the boundary of his vision. To the east, it looked like the forest was maybe becoming a bit less dense. He wondered how he was supposed to find other players if the zones were that big, but it seemed the questions would answer itself. Suddenly a sizeable red flare exploded not far away from him. At most, it would take him ten minutes when running at full speed.

Then just as he planned how he would get close unnoticed, he felt the tree he was on shake. Looking down with, a line of sweat formed on his forehead. It seemed the snake was back to get at him. Not giving it a chance, he jumped from his hiding spot and pulled out his sword. The beast noticed him and lunged at Astre.

Grabbing a vine, Astre twisted himself in the air. Dodging the snakes head by a hairbreadth, he lunged his arm backward and Stabbed piercing the transparent left eyelid of the snake. Turning one of the rings on his sword, the blade turned into multiple razor blades that shot into every direction before quickly returning into its form.

Leaping backward from the snake's body as it trashed from the attack, he spotted the closest tree and jumped to it. Grasping one of the vines, he quickly climbed downwards just as the angry snake rammed the tree, breaking it in half and causing it to fall. The bloodied face of the snake twisted around, looking for its target. Then an idea came to Astre's head as he returned to running.

Astre did his best to avoid damage as he juked and jumped to avoid the snake steadily following him. He even used his traps twice just to slow it down a bit. Not too much though, since he planned on it following him to his destination.

He had few close calls, which could have led him to retire from the tournament. Considering the whole thing just started, he felt like that didn't bode well for his future. Sliding down a small hill just as the snake sprung at him, he rolled to the side and quickly got up.

The snake turned around swiftly and jumped once more in Astre's direction. Jumping sideways, he avoided another mad dash and continued running to his destination. Noticing a small clearing in the dense foliage, he wondered whether he should do a 'choo choo' sound.

Six people stood in the clearing vigilantly, looking in his direction. All of them had their weapons at ready. He smiled when he saw sun emblems on each of their chests and shoulders. He really didn't like that corporate scam of a guild.

When he stepped into the area, the party immediately attacked. They had two mages, one support, and three front liners, with one of them being heavily armored. He ducked under the spells the second he saw the mages raise their staves. Just in time for two lightning bolts to dash above his head. Striking the beast behind him. Somehow he didn't feel surprised that they were using lightning magic.

When the party saw the giant snake, their faces went wide, and one of the warriors even paled a little. Astre recognized the man, once when Order of Sun interrupted his grinding, he propelled the man straight into a giant lizard's mouth using his traps. It was quite a hilarious sight back then. Now when the man immediately rushed at him with a lightning spear in his hands, he wondered whether gathering so many grudges was a good idea. Especially when an enraged snake was just about to bite off his head.

He used Dodge Shot and dashed twenty feet to the side when releasing an arrow at the party's support, which was preparing to cast something. The hole in the formation, left by the spearman, allowed him for a quick clean shot at the priest. The attack failed as the priest seemed to have some type of instant defensive spell that knocked the projectile away with yellow light, but it succeeded at breaking the chant.

In the meantime, the spearman was forced to dodge and weave as the snake shifted its attention. Scorching mark was left in the beast mouth after it chomped on the spear that was aimed at Astre. The two other warriors looked torn between whether they should help their friend or focus on the player in front of them.

Astre didn't hesitate and sprinted for the player in front of him, exchanging his bow for a sword. He ran toward the support, but the heavily armored warrior reacted fast enough to block his way. With a sword and shield, the player was most likely going to use a taunt ability. Letting him do it would cause Astre to deal less damage to any other target.

Pulling back his sword, the warrior raised his shield and prepared to shout. At that time, Astre quickly pulled out a vial of yellow liquid from his material box in his inventory and threw it at the warrior's face. The glass container broke on the shield and exploded in a yellow cloud of gas. The enemy's frontline, who in that time was inhaling air, sucked in the gas, causing him to cough as tears gathered in his eyes.

The liquid, once it came in contact with air, basically became mustard gas. It didn't give any negative status effects, but it did work on player senses, and without a tight air helmet, it was practically unstoppable. Thanks to the realistic systems in the game, the player wouldn't be able to do much until he used a cleansing ability or got away from the area of effect.

Ignoring the coughing warrior, Astre ran past him. His original target was forced to stop his cast again, and a yellow flash appeared around his figure, most likely casting some kind of spell to escape with. The green-cloaked adventurer didn't give him a chance to escape and threw another vial, this time containing enchanted dust. When it broke a cloud of blue dust enveloped both of the players, the shining spell effect around the priest vanished, leaving the priest in a state of panic.

In the cloud, Astre couldn't use any abilities, but he was confident in defeating the support in melee combat. Astre opened his offensive with a quick slash at the enemy torso, which the priest barely blocked with his staff as he tried to get away from the cloud. Astre grabbed the priest's robe with his left hand and swiped at the enemy's leg with a kick. Stabbing him quickly in the back three times, he watched as each wound closed immediately utilizing the priest's LP. After the fourth stab, the injury didn't close, and the player fell to the ground lifelessly just in time for the blue dust to dissipate.

Now both warriors moved quickly onto Astre. The recovered heavily armored player immediately started with shouting, "Attack me! You, goddammed monkey without honor." The taunt effect settled in Astre's status screen, even if he didn't find the insult based ability very offensive.

The second warrior held a bastard sword and swiftly cut the space between him and Astre without uttering ability names. Astre only felt as space itself warped, and a large hole appeared momentarily in his chest. It didn't take a point out of his LP, but he was quite sure a single poke would.

Still, the pain and itch from his 30% pain-setting left him irritated. Any less made wounds feel dull, and 0% could cause him to not notice essential details in the middle of the fight. This way, it was also easier to tell when his LP was close to triggering its healing effect. He ducked just as he saw the warrior swinging again from a distance, and he felt as the air above him moved.

Not giving him a chance to swing again, he charged the warrior with the bastard sword. Blocking another invisible slash with his sword by guessing where it would land. Tackling the swordsman, he caused both of them to fall. The swordman teleported away, appearing and falling to the ground a few feets away. Astre was forced to roll away as the heavily armored player slashed downward at him, screaming, "Power Strike!". The strike caught him on his right arm, and both his chest wound and the new one disappeared as his LP went down by one.

He was finally in the position as he saw the snake raging and the spear guy barely alive next to him. The snake seemingly remembering him, threw itself at Astre. Then the two mages who till now were preparing, released their spells. A giant lightning dragon flew straight at astre, and a yellow ball of lightning was released into the air.

He didn't wait to see their effects as in his place appeared a bloated up doll made of wood and cloth that seemed to be on the verge of explosion. When the snake bit down on it, a colossal cloud of red gas exploded, covering the party and the snake. Soon the party discovered a new status effect affecting them, rage, it increased damage received and dealt by 200%. It also caused a visual effect, which made the player's vision go red. The game made sure to never affect the mind directly, so it didn't make players actually rage mindlessly. Monsters, on the other hand, were a different story.

The snake hissed loudly and hit the earth with its tail cracking its own bones and causing the ground to shatter under its force. It's remaining right eye turned red and bloodshot as it mindlessly attacked the party. The spearman tried to get away, but the snake was faster and bit the man, crushing his bones and internal organs. The damage increased by rage was tremendous. Slowly he disappeared into the snake's stomach as the beast hissed in satisfaction.

Usually, a peak epic grade boss wouldn't be a problem for a party like this. Even now, they still held a chance to beat the beast if they didn't get careless without a healer. Considering it already took heavy damage and half of if its body was scorched by the lightning dragon ability, it shouldn't be that hard. Yet as the second mage created lightning arrows from the spell he previously cast into the air, he fell to the ground, and his spell shattered.

Astre stood up from the ground, the fact that his ability changed his position to the one he left his doll in was sometimes annoying, especially when thrown into the air when running from a giant snake. Quickly climbing a close-by tree, he overlooked the situation as he pulled out his bow and started charging his Snipe skill.

Snipe (Active) Release an arrow infused with your internal energy increases the speed of the projectile, and damage dealt to enemy's LP by 200%. (Technique Dependant) Cooldown: 5 seconds. Lvl 4 Archery unlocked effect: Allows longer charge of the ability, increasing the speed of the projectile and damage dealt to enemy's LP by 20% for each 1 second of charging up to 600%.

He could move a little during the charging process, but anything significant would cancel it. The cloud of red gas dissipated just enough for his Eye for Detail to allow him to see what is happening when the spearman died. Astre was a bit annoyed since he wanted that kill, but he immediately decided to go for the next best thing. Shooting toward the mage who was controlling the lightning ball, he smiled as the mage felled down. The combined damage effects were scary. His bow and arrow further increasing the result.

Obsidian Wood Bow (Early Legendary Weapon) Made from wood of Ash Tree that survived in the middle of a Vulcano for hundreds of years. Increases damage and speed of released projectiles by 150%. Steel Arrows with Orichalcum Tip (Epic Grade) Well made steel arrows tipped with legendary metal. Increases damage done by 130%.

He would make sure to collect the arrows later. For now, he started charging his ability again after 5 seconds cooldown.

The warriors were busy with containing the snake who rampaged around the battlefield, while the remaining sorcerer didn't hold back. Lightning rained on the snake every second. The swordsman used his bastard sword using his abilities to cut the snakes skin from afar, each strike causing his sword to gather a blue aura around it.

Astre targeted the mage, but half a second before he released the string, his vision changed. Everything he saw was in the shadows of gray. Then he found himself dead, an arrow came from his right and pierced his neck. Then everything went back to normal, he had no wound, and his LP was still one away from the max.

He looked to the side, and with his enhanced eyesight, he saw a projectile heading for his head at ludicrous speed. He quickly activated his fourth skill from Sense, Focus. Everything slowed down to a crawl for the next 3 seconds. He moved his head calmly and changed his neck position, moving his torso to the side. The arrow aimed at him passed by harmlessly. Localizing his assaulter, he pointed his arrow. Releasing the arrow smoothly, it pierced the figure's head. It seemed they didn't expect a quick counter-attack like that. Astre opened his score menu:

Astre Score: 3 points

They were dead. Astre looked at his hands and wondered what the hell was that. He had his Death Sense active all this time, and it was the only available answer. Yet it was weird. He felt like he was too calm during what happened. Shaking his head, he decided to think about this later.

Pulling another arrow, he aimed at the mage. It seemed the exchange with the archer went unnoticed to the fighters on the ground. The boss looked half dead by now. The swordsman with a now blue shining sword screamed something, and the heavily armored warrior used some skill, causing the snake to focus on him.

Then just as the snake was upon him, lunging, a shield of light appeared and stopped the beast. Then the swordsmen raised his sword high above and released a wave of light that seemed to cut the space itself. Cutting the snakes head off, and as it fell to the ground, blood sprayed everywhere. Then the second mage fell to the ground. An arrow pierced him, just as he sighed in relief and supported himself on his staff.

Astre wasn't surprised that the mage lost focus. Constant use of some abilities caused a migraine and eyestrain, then headache and murky eyes. Astre, by now, felt a light effect of his, too, especially after he saw the vision of his death and used Focus. Still, he had two more enemies to deal with.

The warriors turned around and tried to find Astre, but they didn't have any skills designed for that. Another arrow was let loose from the obsidian bow. It pierced the swordsman's neck, and he fell to the ground helplessly. That only left the heavily armored warrior, but when he shot at him, only a small dent was left in the armor. He probably had a lot of abilities that lowered damage taken, and the armor seemed to be of high quality too.

Feeling greedy, he climbed down the tree and pulled out his sword. Killing tanks was always a tiring process. Fortunately, it seemed this one has already used most of his long cooldown defensive skills. He went into a full sprint and hiding his hand movement with his cloak he stabbed at the gaps in the helmet.

The warrior blocked with his shield at the last second and slashed downward. Astre dodged sideways next to the blade and caught the tank's hand and hit his enemy helmet with his sword handle. Stunning him for a second, he Stabbed into the eye gap again, this time successfully. The damage instantly regenerated, but that meant the enemy LP must have gone down.

The enemy screamed in rage, but Astre ducked under another horizontal slash. Then he kicked off a Shield Bash the warrior desperately used against him, landing few feet away. The warrior immediately followed, but a trap sprung from under his feet, throwing him into the air. When he fell onto his back, Astre was already onto him and promptly stabbed him again, this time piercing the neck.

The warrior screamed, and a blast of air pushed Astre away. It seemed it was a knockback effect. The warrior tried getting to his feet, but Astre quickly exchanged from his bow, and three arrows slapped into the warrior's ankle, causing him to lose his center of gravity again.

Astre was again upon the enemy. This time, kicking his enemy sword away and pinning his arm with his leg. Then he repeatedly stabbed at his enemy. Whittling his LP.

After his fourth stabs, the warrior used his shield slamming into Astre's side, but he kept himself stable and ignored the dull pain. After two more thrusts, the enemy's shield shined in golden light and, with tremendous speed, slammed again. This time Astre was thrown into the air and rolled on the ground.

Both players go onto their feet, but the tank seemed to be in dire condition as he panted heavily. Depending on his pain setting, he might have been through one hell of an experience. Getting stabbed repeatedly in the face. Astre didn't give him time to rest, though. He sprinted, and he slashed at the warrior, he blocked the attack with his shield but slipped on the ground, losing his balance.

Astre grabbed the shield and pulled hard, twisting it from the warrior's hand and throwing it away, he stabbed again. This time though, when his sword went into the helmet eye gap, the warrior grabbed Astre's hand with both of his free palms. Then he burst into a laugh as light gathered around him.

"Suicide ability!? Really!?" Astre yelled, surprised.

He pulled out a vial from his inventory and put it into the bottom of his sword's pommel. Then he pushed one of the buttons, watching as his hand and the enemy's head were enveloped into a ball of fire. His hand was blown to bits and immediately regrown as his LP was wasted. Free, he quickly pulled out his bow and used his Dodge Shot to get as far away as he could.

The area around the warrior turned into a giant ball of force and lightning, creating a crater of scorched ground. Inside of it, the warrior laid flatly on his back and gasped heavily. It seemed that the skill didn't outright kill the tank, but it didn't leave him in any condition to fight. All in all, it was a good strategy. If he got Astre there, he would most likely be dead.

Walking over to the warrior, he silently finished him off with a single stab. He looked around on the mess he made. A giant headless snake laid in a pull of blood, six dead bodies, seven with the archer, one of them mangled beyond belief, half-eaten by a snake, dozens of broken trees and scorched earth. And it was only a beginning.