Chapter 11: The Darkness of Betrayal

Complete blindness. A structure devoid of electricity, especially a towering commercial building erected along a roadway, should have glass windows to allow for the penetration of natural light.

Nevertheless, what Jin encountered was an impenetrable pitch-blackness. Despite his well-trained eyes, optimized for low-light vision, Jin could not make sense of the pitch-blackness.

"Where is the enemy?" Jin asked, bewildered yet cautious.

"He's trapped, eliminate him!" A thunderous bellow suddenly reverberated throughout the entire floor, accompanied by the report of a gunshot and the rapid approach of personnel.

…

On the first floor of an unknown building, completely shrouded in darkness, the sound of hurried footsteps grew closer after a loud noise was heard.

Surprisingly, the air was not filled with the expected fishy and iron-like scent of blood. Instead, it was dominated by a fresh mix of fruit scents, with a strong odor resembling rotting onions or garbage.

The chaotic sounds from the outside and the complete darkness gave an uneasy feeling to those who entered the building.

As Jin took silent and small steps forward, he was abruptly halted. The sound of footsteps suddenly vanished, and the expected attack seemed to be waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

His slit amber pupils narrowed, scanning the surrounding area as his jaw clenched.

The situation was too unusual. His shoulders tensed up as he tightened his grip on his shotgun while slowly aiming it in front of him and around the area.

When his slit pupils caught a glimpse of light, the expression on his face darkened.

Rows of black curtains covered all the large glass windows, and their darkness seemed to absorb almost all of the light.

Now it made sense why there was no light, despite the bright sun shining outside the building.

"They are blocking the light?" Jin's confusion was apparent from the furrow on his forehead as he tapped his fingers on the shotgun's grip, trying to decipher their motives.

His movements were steady, but the stiffness in his legs revealed his readiness to kick anything that came his way.

Just as his mind was occupied with finding their motives, he accidentally nudged something.

Jin's mind abruptly shifted to speculation as he aimed downward and saw the shadow of a rolling rack.

Made of metal and attached with wheels, the rolling rack moved with minimal force, confirming his guess.

"The smell of fruits, and now a display rolling rack, am I in a supermarket?" Jin concluded.

When he entered the building, his mind was focused solely on entering without injury, causing him to overlook the logo or banner above the door.

Now that he had confirmed which building he had entered, the only thing left for him to do was to locate the enemies.

"Let's think about this logically. The bat invasion occurred at midnight, so it's safe to assume that there would be no shoppers around.

"This leaves only the possibility of the supermarket staff turning into blood slaves," he muttered under his breath.

The footsteps had stopped, and the light that had provided Jin with visibility from the entrance was gradually fading as he ventured further into the darkness.

Jin's footsteps echoed through the floor as he advanced, reaching the middle section of the supermarket.

Although the darkness plunged him into complete blackness, it also put the enemy at a disadvantage, giving him a significant edge.

While inspecting the goods on the rolling racks, Jin was suddenly surprised by a glaring white light that shone on his entire body, temporarily blinding him.

His hands instinctively moved to shield his eyes. The silence was broken by a voice shouting, "He's here!" The sound of hurried footsteps grew closer to Jin.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, scattering sparks of fire and briefly illuminating the attacker holding his shotgun with narrowed amber eyes.

The flashlight dropped to the ground and pointed to the side, revealing a row of display rolling racks. Meanwhile, the person who had shouted groaned in pain as he held his face, which was now missing half its flesh.

The man had multiple bullet holes in his skin, causing severe bleeding, including one in his eye. He groaned in pain and shouted, "Argh! Hurry up! This bastard shot me!" as he searched for his teammates with his remaining eye.

A black dragon tattoo was painted on his right cheek, and his long black hair was soaked in blood. As he struggled to stay alive, a clanking sound and an empty gun shell fell to the ground in front of him.

He looked up and saw a metallic barrel aimed at his face. "No, please..." he pleaded, but the cold glint in the shooter's eyes betrayed any mercy.

BAM! Another gunshot rang out, and the footsteps of the attackers grew closer as the flashlight pointed in their direction, revealing the killer's position.

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 3 Ma Li!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[A skill scroll has dropped!]

"So, this is the information I get when I kill another human. His name is Ma Li, but how did he get here without light?" Jin muttered.

The next moment, he crushed the source of hope, the flashlight, under his feet.

The indifference in his eyes showed a cold and ruthless attitude, despite this being his first time killing a human. "Surprisingly, I feel no change or sympathy."

Even with the loss of the light source, the glimmer of magic crystals and the golden parchment of the skill provided Jin with a sense of direction.

"But, I am more surprised that this man is actually at level 3," a glint flashed in his amber eyes.

His initial assumption that the enemy was unaware of the existence or mechanics of this game entity was proven false.

"If so, then they are more dangerous than Blood Slaves." With furrowed eyebrows and a thickened frown, he felt annoyed.

Blood Slaves were already giving him a headache, and now, knowing that the enemies also understood the mechanics of this game entity, it was more troublesome than dealing with those brainless creatures.

Moreover, they already have their first rewards. I don't know what those rewards are, but if even 'she' could receive an overpowered reward like that, not to mention these people who are chasing after me,"

Jin paused for a moment, looking towards the rough figure of the dead body on the ground.

Strangely, despite not knowing the abilities of the enemy, he felt overwhelming confidence, which had happened more than once and really confused him.

"And it seems like his reward is related to night vision." This person approached him without making any sound or leaving any trace of light.

In the condition where darkness occupied the entire floor, even a speck of light would be noticeable, yet Jin had no clue.

Now, after understanding the attacker's technique, his attention shifted towards the gains in his hands. Crushing the magic crystal, the glimmer from it came out and shot toward his body.

[You have destroyed a Tier 0 magic crystal!]

[Your high Luck has begun to take effect!]

[You have absorbed +0.30 Agility!]

Upon seeing the game screen before him, to his surprise, his high luck points were activated again.

In addition, the attribute rewards seemed higher than usual. "Is this because of his high level?!" Jin exclaimed inwardly.

Though it was just a baseless guess, what he needed right now was to kill another person to prove his theory.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, he realized this abnormal thinking was not suited to his personality or to that of an average human.

Killing was still a crime.

But somehow, he didn't feel anything as he thought about killing them. It was as if he was about to kill a chicken.

"Something's not right with my mind, but I can't pinpoint the cause or source of the problem," he thought as he clicked his tongue and bit his lower lip in frustration.

Could it be the passive skills of the tiger? No, it only affected his hunger. Then what about the other skill? Maybe it was because he had gained regeneration, making him feel like an immortal.

It might be so, he thought. Additionally, maybe because they were gangsters, he didn't feel guilty or haunted by feelings of sadness despite killing one of his own kind. "Forget it, I need to survive for now."

The magic crystal had already brought him a huge surprise, and his eyes lingered on the golden parchment.

Dropping his shotgun on a nearby rock, Jin slowly unfolded the parchment. Many ancient-looking symbols were slowly revealed, and at that moment, a game screen flashed before his eyes.

[Congratulations, you have learned a passive skill!]

[New passive skill acquired: Deadshot!]

"O-oh! It feels like this entity is leading me down the path of a gunner," although rendered speechless by getting a second skill related to guns, Jin was still grateful for any skill he could get.

Suddenly he felt like the game entity was giving him rewards suited to his situation.

"Nah, the probability was too small. Out of seven million people, I'm sure people with high luck like mine were not rare." Jin shook his head.

If he were really that lucky, he would be a millionaire by now, either winning the lottery or suddenly becoming a model with his just average looks.

But none of that had happened; even in the game, he had to grind to get an uncommon item, let alone a rare one.

"Now let's see what this is." Jin muttered, but before that, he retrieved the shotgun from the rolling rack and moved several meters away from his original position.

Just after he moved, he could see several flashing lights directed towards his original position. The sounds of murmurs and curses were clearly audible to him, and he just sneered in disdain.

"Though they are fools, there are quite a lot of people chasing me," he thought to himself.

The flashes of light that were shot toward the ceiling and floor were bright enough to spot even a mouse, but somehow they were keeping it dark and searching with minimal light?

"This is really fishy. First they blocked the light with a black curtain, and now they're too afraid to use a flashlight or any other light source," Jin's mind began connecting all of the dots.

However, the only possibility was that they were afraid of Blood Slaves. But with their fully armed guns, why were they afraid of them? Could there be a creature stronger than Blood Slaves?

"I can't ignore that possibility," he thought to himself. For a moment, he felt a headache.

Taking a deep breath, Jin calmed his mind and returned his attention back to his original purpose. "I need to focus on getting stronger first."

He had a gut feeling that his instincts were becoming more sensitive since the game entity arrived on Earth.

His current instinct was telling him that there was danger, but not enough to threaten his life.

If there was a real danger, his body would react with a strange shiver running through his body and all of his hair would suddenly stand up like a magnet pulling from above.

After analyzing the situation, he finally chose to sit on the floor completely surrounded by darkness, attempting to read the information that was somehow still legible in this situation.

[Deadshot(Passive): User accuracy with guns is greatly increased. User gains a 30% increase in accuracy with firearms and a 10% increase in critical hit chance]

"Hmm, this skill is good. With the Gunslinger skill activated, I can achieve 40% accuracy and 85% critical damage.

"Although, so far, I have only tested the damage on level 0 creatures. The fact that even a human with level 3 can't stand a bullet means they are not abnormal like Superman.

"But I can't rule out the possibility that some of them have skills that immunize them to bullets."

That's why he didn't dare to directly receive sniper or machine gun attacks, even if his level was twice as high as theirs.

"Now, the only thing left is what Tier 0 is. Is it possible that there is any creature of Tier 1? If tier refers to the strength of beings, then Tier 1 should be like a boss level. But what if there is a creature of Tier 2?"

Jin fell into deep thought. Suddenly, his slit pupils widened, and he grabbed the shotgun, ready to turn around and jump, but he chose to lean slightly to the side.

Sprout!

Blood came out from his right cheek, and a blurry shadow of something sharp flashed before his narrowed eyes. Following it, a hoarse, cold, and emotionless voice sounded in front of him.

"You are fast."