Execution

I had just finished off the Eliminator, the one who had silently kill Lena.

He deserved the exact same fate.

When the remaining Restorer in the party saw me take out her comrade, she stared at me in horror.

I wanted to strike her down next. Killing a support class like her would’ve been easy.

But just as my sword was about to hit him, the Saber-class guy from the other party jumped in and blocked the blow.

Clang!

“You bastard!” he shouted. “You killed six of my teammates just like that!”

He was furious and immediately unleashed all his skills.

The Shooter from their party, positioned behind me, joined the fray. They fought in sync—Saber tried to distract me with direct attacks while the Shooter waited for an opening to fire.

But I had already read their movements.

I dodged every one of their attacks.

What made this take longer than necessary was that, even though I slashed the Saber guy multiple times, he kept healing his HP.

It didn’t take me long to figure out why.

The two female Restorers were spamming a skill called [Data Restorer] on him.

But even that couldn’t explain the rate at which he was recovering.

There was only one possible answer:
One of them had to be a Level 3 Restorer and she had a SystemCore: Patcher.

With the [Patch Surge] skill from that SystemCore, she could temporarily boost the effectiveness of all healing.

For 8 seconds, all healing the target received would be increased by 35%.

That’s how the Saber-class guy managed to hold his ground against me.

I tried going after the Restorers, but the Saber and the Shooter kept me pinned down.

They kept attacking me in perfect sync.

“Playtime’s over,” I muttered coldly.

I hurled my sword, [Circuitcleaver], straight at the Shooter behind me.

It moved so fast that he couldn’t even react.

SHUNK.

The blade pierced right through his chest. He exploded into data.

“...That was for Mia.”

“Three left.”

Seeing their comrade go down like that sent the rest into a panic.

“Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell is going on?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!” The Saber-class guy was starting to lose it.

His sword strikes got sloppy. Panic took over.

He started yelling at the remaining Restorers to use all their support skills on him.

The male Restorer who’d earlier run from me activated [Overclock Pulse], boosting the Saber’s ATK and attack speed by 25% for 15 seconds.

Meanwhile, the girl next to him, the one who’d been crying and shaking, forced herself to cast [Aegis Patch].

That was when I realized…

She was the Patcher.

That skill was a Patcher-exclusive ability that granted 1000 physical damage reduction for 5 minutes, and continuously regenerated 200 HP per second.

“Found you.”

I stared coldly at the Patcher girl.

She collapsed to the ground under my gaze.

The Saber guy suddenly rushed at me again.

His speed and strength had increased thanks to the buffs.

He chained together a relentless combo:

[Triple Slash],
[Step Fanf],
[Drive Slash,
back-to-back with no gaps.

He infused each strike with Ignis-type EtherCode, setting his sword ablaze. Everything it touched burned.

Now I was certain he had a SystemCore: Edgeweaver

That Core let players manipulate combo data, reducing skill cooldowns and decreasing ST and EP usage.

A SystemCore made for extended, high-pressure combat.

I smiled slightly while dodging his endless barrage.

“An Edgeweaver, huh?”

“That’s right!” he shouted. “And you're gonna die right here!”

He activated his ultimate skill:

[Burning Spiral Drive]

A spiraling slash focused on a single point, enhanced with EtherCode: Ignis to burn the target.

I was a little surprised by that.

And it pissed me off.

So I didn’t dodge.

I took the hit head-on.

“You idiot! DIE!!!!!!” he roared.

BAM!

“Ha... ha... ha! Finally! That bastard’s dead!” he said, laughing without even looking at me.

Then he tried to pull his sword back but couldn’t.

That’s when the Restorers behind him screamed in horror.

“Rexx! In front of you!”

“What the…? No way…"

"You’re not even scratched…”

He looked at me in utter disbelief.

Not a single mark on me.

That’s because his attack was only Level 4 Ignis EtherCode.

It got completely nullified by my armor [Nullwave Hoodie].

His whole body started to tremble.

I was holding his blade with my bare hand.

Then I let it go, and he tried to strike again.

But this time, his slash was weak.

He was out of stamina.

He was done.

I chuckled and said, “You are a Level 4 Saber with Edgeweaver SystemCore, and you could’ve taken down the mini-boss here yourself. But instead… you let that monster kill Lena’s party just so you could loot their items.”

I clenched my fist and raised it.

“You… deserve to die.”

He turned pale and bolted, running back toward his teammates.

But I wouldn’t let that happen.

I activated [Lightning Steps], teleporting instantly in front of him.

“Clench your teeth.”

BAM!!

I punched him hard in the face.

His teeth went flying. He screamed in agony.

I didn’t stop.

With my bare fists, I beat him down until he was a bloody mess.

But his HP kept regenerating because of [Aegis Patch].

“Keep feeling that pain… What you're experiencing now is a simulation of the hell you're about to enter.”

He broke into sobs, begging for mercy.

I glanced at the red skull icon next to his IGN.

The deeper the red, the more players he'd killed.

“You absolute bastard…”

I lost control.

I punched. Kicked. Slammed him against the wall.

Then, I slowly walked over and retrieved my sword [Circuitcleaver] which had landed nearby.

He begged me again to spare him.

But I’d already made up my mind.

SLASH!

I slashed him again and again.

Despite the buffs, his HP plummeted.

And just before I could land the final blow…

[Aegis Patch] wore off.

I turned to see the Patcher girl had dropped her weapon and was now kneeling on the ground.

She bowed deeply toward me.

“We surrender,” she said.

The other Restorer followed her lead.

I gave them a faint smile.

SLASH!

One final slash cleaved the Saber guy in half.

“That one was for Richard.”

“Two left.”

He looked at me with unbearable pain in his eyes before his body shattered into data.

I slowly walked toward the last two remaining players.

“Surrender? You really mean that?” I asked.

“Yes! We surrender! We’ll do anything! Please, spare us! We just want to go back to Earth…” the Restorer girl sobbed, trembling.

“I... I can’t take this anymore... I surrender…” the Patcher whispered, still bowing with her head low.

“Forgiveness? You think you deserve that?” My voice was cold.

“You’re Outlaw Players. Why didn’t you forgive Lena, Richard, or Mia? They just wanted to go home too.”

The Restorer girl cried harder, begging for her life.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t want to do it… I—”

SLASH!

I cut her down mid-sentence.

Her body hit the ground.

“Eh?” was all she could say before her body began to pixelate.

Before she disappeared, I told her:

“You think I’d believe your bullshit?”

“I saw your faces when you killed Lena, Richard, and Mia.”

“And you… yours was the most disgusting of all. You laughed and cackled like a monster with that ugly expression on your face. So… die.”

“YOU SON OF A—”

She exploded into data before she could finish cursing me.

Only one player remained: the girl Patcher.

I told her to raise her head.

She did, eyes closed, accepting whatever fate I chose.

“Why did you join an Outlaw party like them?”

“When they killed Lena's party… you were the only one who closed your eyes and tried to hold back your tears.”

“You’re not even an Outlaw, there’s no skull icon next to your IGN.”

“Explain.”

I stared at her, expression serious.

The girl slowly opened her eyes—and began to speak.

...

..