“Hey, kid!” Myung-Hee called out, trying to stop him.

It was too late; he was already set on the path he took, firmly following what he believed to be right.

Doing my best doesn’t apply to one good deed. If I do it once, I can’t deny it the second time. I have to do my best, indifferently! He thought.

Using successive [Blink Steps] paired with his already swift movements as an [Assassin] class, he scaled the second floor of the mall, finding himself traveling through the vast plaza.

After crossing through a few sections of the large, abandoned building, he stopped once he came to the area in which he guessed the scream came from.

…I don’t see anybody, he thought.

“Cast: Recon!”

[Spirit: -50. Remaining Spirit: 2650]

A wave of translucent energy expanded throughout the nearby area, scouting the area for signs of both Defects and other people.

[Recon results: (4) Player(s) Found.]

“Four…?” He muttered to himself._.

He gained a vague sense of where these four found players were after using [Recon], seeing that three of them were in the parking garage beyond the pale, silver door at the end of the plaza section.

Just as he took a single step to descend the stairs–he felt the presence of the fourth.

Behind…?! He thought.

Aided by his enhanced reflexes, he ducked down, barely avoiding an attack that flew over his head.

Without even seeing his attacker, he countered naturally with a flip into a kick, knocking back the unknown assailant as he jumped back to create some distance.

Looks like “Natural Martial Arts” was pretty worth it, he thought.

Looking up, he saw the one that had attacked him: a man dressed in an all-black uniform, with similar, dark robes obscuring his appearance.

On his hands, the man wore large, prominent gauntlets, wrapped in chains and designed to resemble draconic claws.

A person? He thought.

“Who are you?!” He called out.

He didn’t receive any type of response from the silent person, trying to see their face but it was obscured by their hood, which displayed a digital, sharp-toothed smiley face.

Of course, he didn’t need an answer from them: he instead relied on the system to scan them directly for him.

[Player Check…]

[Error.]

[Information not found.]

“Not found…?” He repeated in a surprised whisper.

He had little time to process the information, or lack thereof, as the darkly-dressed, enigmatic player rushed towards him, rearing back one of his chain-wrapped, heavy gauntlets.

A swirl of abyssal energy coiled around the raised gauntlet, reinforcing it in a black coating of mystical amplification before being slammed down towards him.

“Ghh–!”

He managed to flip back just in time as the gauntlet was slammed into the spot where he just stood, being thrust into the marble stairs as they cracked and caved in instantly, unleashing a resounding BOOM from the impact.

Debris from the comically strong slam of the enigmatic man’s fist pelted him as small pebbles of loose quartz smacked against him as he landed at the bottom of the staircase, raising one arm to guard against the volatile winds generated by the attack.

What kind of strength is this?…Even Myung-Hee would be left in the dust! He thought.

Before he could draw his daggers from their sheaths, the hooded, gauntlet-wielding man was already in front of him with ludicrous, breakneck speed as his black cloak fluttered behind his step.

So fast…! He thought.

It felt as if he was only hanging on by a wire, managing to evade a thrust of those lethal gauntlets thanks to [Adrenaline] activating, moving his head as he felt the wind pressure unleashed from each hit brush against his skin, pushing through his vermilion, curly locks.

With a [Blink Step] timed just as the tall, muscular player dressed in black reared one of his giant gloves back, with the chains ringing and dangling, he appeared behind the faceless player.

“…It’s time you tell me who you are!” He said through his gritted teeth, bringing his left fist close to his side, “Cast: Breaker Fist!”

[Spirit: -200. Remaining Spirit: 2450/2700]

[Cooldown Remaining: 3 Minutes.]

Propelling his fist that was amplified greatly by searing, potent energy, he slammed it against the man’s back directly, knocking him forward through the air with a violent impact.

“Crap, did I kill him…?!” He mumbled to himself.

Looking at his left fist in surprise, the use of [Breaker Fist] caused it to emit steam from the sheer energy gathered at his knuckles, looking forward again to see the smoke left in the trail of the impact.

The farthest wall had been caved in as the faceless player was thrown against it by the amplified hit.

To his surprise, however, the faceless, large man stumbled forward, cracking his neck side-to-side as if he wasn’t just hit with a shock wave-inducing hit to the back.

Debris fell from the shoulders of the player’s black pauldrons that sat one each of his burly shoulders as the man let out a quiet groan.

“Err…” He didn’t know what to say.

Is this guy even human? He thought.

Finally, he drew his twin daggers from their holds, raising them in a guard as he squared off against the much bigger, enigmatic player who held mysterious, malicious intent towards him.

He was frankly terrified; in terms of damage output, [Breaker Fist] stood at the apex of his skills, yet the man hardly seemed phased by it.

An overwhelming release of bloodlust oozed from the man who walked with his shoulders hung limp.

“What do you want?!” He yelled out.

His words didn’t stop the man who lumbered towards him silently, dragging his chain-wrapped gauntlets at his sides as his stained, brown boots stomped against the dirtied floor of the abandoned plaza.

Suddenly, the shrouding effect of the man’s hood began to fizzle out, glitching as the digitally-produced smiley face began to contort and blink, losing its crimson glow.

“Tsk,” the man clicked his tongue, “You’re lucky, brat.”

The man’s voice was bellowing and hoarse, sounding as if he indulged in cigarettes quite frequently.

“Lucky?”

“…Yeah,” the mysterious man nodded, pulling his head over his face before it could be shown, “I’ll be seeing ya’.”

Without any explanation, the burly, darkly-dressed player punched his way through the side of the mall, busting it open as if a bomb had triggered at the side of the building.

“Wait–!” He yelled out.

Before he could get another word from the man, the gauntlet-wearing, malicious player escaped through the side, disappearing without a trace.

“…Huh?” He questioned what just happened.

What was that about? He attacked me…then just left? It looked like he didn’t want his face to be seen. But why? I didn’t recognize him–I’ve never seen somebody with a build like his before, either, He thought.