"Everything shows up on this thing."
The small window displayed not only the remaining survivors but also who had killed whom and how.
"Wow… It hasn't even been a full day and there are already dropouts? The map is still this huge… Did they maybe run into each other at the destination?"
Seoun's guess was spot on.
Two players who hadn't fully grasped the rules even after hearing them had landed at the endpoint together and ended up fighting each other. Just ten minutes into the game, James was killed by Jeokhwajin's sword.
"Not bad for me. As long as I make it into the top 90, I'll get another shot. For now, I just need to keep scraping by."
That was all he could do for the moment—grow stronger while avoiding conflict as much as possible. That was the only way Seoun could survive in this game.
With that thought, he decided to move.
Opening the door and stepping outside, the night in the mountains was pitch dark, barely allowing him to see a step ahead.
Walking carefully, relying on the map, he couldn't move fast, but Seoun didn't rush.
"There's nothing dumber than hurting yourself while walking alone at night and having to waste a healing scroll."
Though he didn't know much yet, he had a gut feeling that healing scrolls would become absolutely essential at some point. He couldn't afford to waste a valuable healing item on a self-inflicted injury, so he moved with extreme caution.
After some time, a faint light pierced the darkness and entered Seoun's field of vision.
Judging by its position, it matched up with the three cabins shown on the map—this had to be the place.
Peering at the cabin lit from within, Seoun noticed no signs of movement inside and dashed into the first cabin.
After searching thoroughly and finding nothing, he turned off the lantern and moved to the second cabin.
The first thing that caught his eye was a leather pouch lying on the floor.
Opening it and checking the contents, he sighed and stashed it into his subspace inventory.
It was a familiar pouch filled with throwing weapons—he would've preferred food instead.
"I'll keep it for now, but… am I just playing like a total newbie?"
Having played many online games since he was young, Seoun couldn't help but wonder.
In new games, when lacking prior knowledge, players often pick up every item they see. Especially early on, when you can't tell good items from bad, hoarding everything is common. Veterans often mock these players, calling them "rag collectors."
Seoun questioned if that's exactly what he looked like now.
"No, think of them as bullets."
Now that he could launch throwing weapons with the Black Star Technique, each one was no different from a bullet.
Though he suspected he'd be able to fire only a limited number during actual combat, it wasn't a bad idea to carry as many as possible just in case.
Having stashed the pouch, Seoun searched the room for a while longer before letting out an annoyed sigh.
"Damn it, another empty one."
Only one cabin remained.
He had risked the dark night to get here, and to have found nothing in two cabins was understandably frustrating.
He had no idea when he might encounter an enemy, and as time passed, the map boundaries would shrink.
The odds of meeting another player would increase, and as one of the weakest, his only hope of survival was through the items the game provided.
Opening the map again and checking the surroundings, Seoun turned off the lantern in the second cabin and headed toward the third.
"It better not be another dud…"
The next loot area on the map was far too distant to reach during the night.
This would likely be his last stop before the day ended, and the pressure to find at least one useful item was growing.
He had felt like great items would rain down on him, but with repeated empty searches, anxiety crept in.
Just as he stepped into the final cabin, a barely audible noise brushed against his ear.
Rustle.
Instantly, Seoun extinguished the lantern in the middle of the cabin and crouched against the wall under the window, loading a bolt into the crossbow strapped to his back.
Worried about an accidental discharge, he had kept it unloaded until now. As he loaded it, his heart pounded wildly.
"Did I imagine that sound?"
As if mocking his doubt, the sound grew louder and closer.
Rustle. Rustle.
The confident, heavy footsteps made Seoun squeeze his eyes shut.
"Damn it! To run into someone here of all places!"
It was hopeless.
All he had was a crossbow and the Black Star Technique—there was no way he could survive a fight with those monster-like players.
The footsteps wandered around outside, growing louder as if to pressure Seoun, already on edge.
"There's more than one."
He remembered seeing some players casually grouping up in the waiting room.
Unluckily for Seoun, the first enemy he encountered wasn't just one person—it was a group.
He slowly and silently crept to the corner of the cabin and pulled a throwing star from his belt, holding it in his left hand while aiming his crossbow at the door.
This was the standard rogue's position.
It was a good spot to hide from anyone peeking in from the doorway, offering him a slight advantage.
Even with that favorable position, Seoun was afraid.
One enemy he might've managed—but against several, there was no way he could win.
Then, along with the shuffling footsteps, a low growl reached his ears.
Grrrr.
It sounded like a wolf's growl, and Seoun doubted his ears.
"What the hell…?"
Struck by a strange sense of unease, Seoun crawled back to the window and cautiously peeked outside.
Raising his hand quickly to stifle his gasp, he clamped his mouth shut as his eyes widened.
The figure that entered his sight was clearly not human.
Though it walked on two legs, its hunched shoulders, wolf's head, constant sniffing of the surroundings, and bared sharp fangs clearly marked it as a creature Seoun was well familiar with.
"A w-werewolf?!"
Recognizing the creature roaming the area as the very kind he had often seen in movies or games, Seoun hurried to collect his thoughts.
"When there are already martial artists and mages around, it's not exactly shocking that a monster like that would show up."
But despite his reasoning, Seoun's heart refused to calm.
The darkness only allowed faint silhouettes to be seen, but the creatures were definitely circling the hut, sniffing around with their noses.
"Did they catch my scent? What should I do?"
It was hard to gauge whether he could defeat them in a fight.
But with them lingering outside like that, ready to burst in at any moment, perhaps launching a preemptive strike would be the smarter move.
"There's no need to pick a fight that gains me nothing."
If only he could be sure they would leave quietly, he would have preferred to avoid confrontation. The problem was, they showed no intention of backing down.
"Let's wait and see for now."
Grrrr…
The creatures blatantly circled the hut, right around where Seoun was.
As their footsteps surrounded the hut, seemingly trying to corner him, cold sweat began to pour down Seoun's back.
"Damn it!"
He was out of options now.
Though it was unclear why the creatures hadn't come inside, one thing was certain: they knew he was in this hut.
"Could it be… they can't come in?"
Seoun still didn't fully understand the rules of this game world, so he couldn't say for sure—but he had a hunch that might be the case.
Resolving himself, Seoun decided to attack first.
He quietly moved to the wall opposite where he had been sitting and crouched beneath a narrow window, raising his crossbow and aiming outside.
"About this height…"
Calculating the height of the werewolf passing by, he closed one eye, aligned the sight, and waited.
Sure enough, before long, one of them came growling into view, sniffing the air. Seoun held his breath and pulled the trigger.
Thwip! Thud!
The bolt struck the creature cleanly in the neck. Without even a groan, it staggered and collapsed.
Quickly relocating to a corner, Seoun braced himself for a possible breach through the door.
He reloaded the crossbow without forgetting to ready another bolt.
Had they caught the scent of their comrade's blood? He could hear fast footsteps approaching.
Grrrr!!!
Grrrrrr!
With more snarling from outside, Seoun shifted position again and rose, spotting another creature in view and fired his crossbow.
The moment their eyes met, the bolt flew toward its forehead.
Thud!
"Damn it!"
He had aimed perfectly—but the creature simply raised an arm and deflected it.
At the same time, another one that had been checking the fallen comrade started to rise and turned toward Seoun.
Using a hidden technique, Seoun flung a throwing knife tightly gripped in his left hand. By sheer luck, it struck the creature in the eye, killing it instantly.
He quickly ducked out of sight from the window and reloaded his crossbow, but now the last creature began to thrash about noisily.
"I knew it!"
Seoun was convinced.
For some reason, the creatures couldn't enter the hut.
Feeling more confident, Seoun threw open the front door and stepped into the center of the room.
He positioned himself so he had clear sightlines through both the window and the open door, waiting for the creature to appear.
Grrr…
The final creature emerged just beyond the door, a bolt still stuck in its right arm, glaring at Seoun.
And yet, it still didn't enter.
Sweat beaded on Seoun's hand as he aimed his crossbow at the creature.
He wanted to pull the trigger right away, but suppressed the urge and waited, tense.
If, by any chance, the creature could come inside, a missed shot could cost him his life.
This creature had already shown it could deflect a bolt mid-air with its reflexes. There was no room for mistakes.
"One shot. I have to kill it with this one."
He still had a throwing knife clutched in his belt, but he already knew its power was much weaker than the crossbow.
He had gotten lucky with that one eye shot—but there was no guarantee luck would strike twice.
As the tense standoff stretched over two breaths, the creature finally moved.
It lowered its body and charged forward on all fours.
Startled that it was actually coming inside, Seoun fired the crossbow in a panic. The bolt struck the creature in the shoulder.
But it didn't stop.
Raising its massive body, it lunged at Seoun.
In a reflexive motion, Seoun hurled his throwing knife at the creature's gaping mouth full of fangs.
Crash!
With a loud crash, the massive beast slammed into Seoun and they tumbled across the floor.
Pinned under the unmoving creature, Seoun tightly shut his eyes and tensed his entire body—until he realized the thing wasn't moving.
He wriggled out from underneath and rolled the corpse over.
"Huff… huff…"
Confirming that the throwing knife had pierced its mouth and killed it instantly, Seoun finally let out a shaky breath and collapsed to the floor.