Chương 12: The First Slayer

The moment Nyx stepped into the area of the Chest Guardian, a red screen popped up in his field of vision. [Arctic Fenrir – lvl 50] Nyx blinked several times at that sight. And then rubbed his eyes too.

"Levels?" That was the most game-like thing he'd seen thus far. Well, maybe not the most, but close enough. Either way, he pushed aside the many questions and possibilities, and foreshadowings clawing up his brain at that new finding, and chose to focus on the threat at hand. The giant wolf that had been deep asleep seconds ago immediately stirred to its feet at his arrival.

The thing was, Nyx had tried shooting from further away instead of coming this close and stirring it up for a face-to-face 1v1 with freaking anti-material guns on hand. Except that each shot he fired at the wolf from far away simply bounced off it, as if some invisible barrier were protecting it. So here he was, up against a wolf that could very likely turn his single body into two in one clean sweep. To avoid that, he immediately turned his vehicle to a hundred kilometers per hour and sped off to the left.

The wolf broke into a wild run, slightly slower than he'd expected. But still fast enough to catch him if he dropped below 90 km/h. Thankfully, unlike what one would expect from terrain near the peak of a mountain, this particular area—a shaved patch of land with extremely sparse rocks and vegetation—was more like a flat football field than uneven, hard-to-ride terrain, making maneuvering his vehicle exceptionally easier.

Still, the roar of the Arctic Fenrir was soul-shaking, even though a wolf was supposed to howl. This thing roared instead like some lion crossed with a tiger. As the chase continued, Nyx spotted a small rock in his path, and to avoid hitting it, he steered around its side. Almost immediately, he saw the beast's claws slam into the backside of his Racer—hard claw against metal rang out as a large chunk of his armored racer's rear was sliced clean off, making his vehicle shake violently.

Nyx quickly made another sharp turn, since the vehicle's earlier swerve around the rock had cost it speed, letting the beast catch up and strike. Another sharp turn, especially at an angle that would also break the beast's own momentum, would let him use his spare acceleration to pull away.

Following through on his plan, the sudden sharp turn indeed made the creature stumble, and seizing the opening, Nyx pushed his vehicle's gear to full—it surged past the initial cap he'd set, hitting 120 within seconds of starting from 100 km/h. After putting some distance between himself and the beast, Nyx slowed down and pulled behind a large rock at the far end of the flat ground.

He climbed out, dropped to the ground, and retrieved the Anzio 20mm—with a retracting rainbow colored pixel light came a, cream-colored, long-barreled frame assault rifle.. The beast, its eyes glowing with sharp light and killing intent, closed the distance with every second he spent aiming. Once he found the best spot to strike, Nyx pulled the trigger, bracing fully for the recoil. A crack split across the vicinity as the shot cut clean through, bursts of blood and fur flying.

The wolf, for the first time, howled in pain instead of roaring. It immediately sprawled to the ground, clutching its right front leg. Nyx didn't let up, and by the time his rifle's cooldown finished, the beast, barely, was back on its feet. This time it moved side to side while homing in on him like a terrifying skinwalker. Even though its approach was much slower than before, with blood still pouring from its right front thigh, its zigzagging made aiming a gun as heavy as the Anzio 20mm basically impossible.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Nyx quickly stowed the gun back into his inventory and pulled out the Triple Action Thunder. By now, the wolf was only a few feet from him. He swung the barrel toward its face just as it swept its claws at him. A crisp bang reverberated, sending recoil aftershocks through Nyx's whole body. Instead of resisting it, he let the recoil fling him backward as the claw swept past him.

Rolling back several feet, Nyx stood back up and fired again—another bang split through its left eye, sending splashes of fluid and blood spraying. At this point, the wolf was in no position to keep up its attack. Seizing the opportunity, Nyx pulled out his M416 and opened fire on its injured face. Like firecrackers going off, the muzzle flashes released shots that tore across its already bleeding, gored-out face. Nyx swept the fire in an arc—from its face, eyes, and nose all the way down to its wounded leg.

The wolf thrashed in a death throe, sending its body barreling forward.

"Oh shit." He cursed, and grabbing the guns back, he broke into a run. But to no avail, the wolf's writhing sent debris and rocks slamming squarely into his back, sending him spiraling downward. After crashing across several rocks, his head started to bleed, his vision blurred, and the onset of unconsciousness took hold. With whatever strength and endurance he had left, he looked up at the beast. It had stopped moving, but its chest still heaved up and down. It's alive.

And to make things worse, some strange green energy was wafting off its face. He watched it for a second as a few of the wounds on its face began to disappear.

"You've got to be kidding me." Nyx said through the pain and agony tearing across his body, wanting nothing more than to lie down and let sleep take him. But he resisted, and with herculean effort, forced himself back to his feet.

"Bastard can heal." He staggered forward on unsteady legs and reached the wolf's body. With a clang, the Triple Action Thunder materialized in his hands from the inventory. With his eyes, hair, and much of his body covered in his own blood, Nyx pressed the barrel into the wolf's already wounded eye and fired a shot, the recoil sending him reeling back onto the same jagged rocks. Gritting his teeth, Nyx gazed at the string of notifications in front of him.

Thankfully, this one wasn't dyed red like everything else around him. [You have slain [Arctic Fenrir – lvl 50] – Experience earned.] ['DING!' Race: [Human] has reached level 1 – Stat points allocated, +5 free points] [Congratulations on defeating the first Treasure Guardian!] [Acquired 'Title': 'First Slayer'] Nyx smiled, letting the strain on his body finally take hold as he lost consciousness. …..

After a long sleep, where Nyx dreamed of playing Pokémon cards at the pearly gates, he finally woke up with a coughing fit and skin covered in rashes. While scratching the itch, he noticed something miraculous.

"My body, where are the wounds?" It wasn't just that; even the pain, the internal agony he'd felt so sharply before passing out, was gone now. He got back to his feet and walked around a bit to test himself. Sure enough, his body had returned to its previous, optimal condition.

"Interesting," he said, moving toward the spot where the silver chest had been.

"Wait, where's the chest?!" The chest was gone. He immediately drew his handheld anti-material gun and began scanning the area. After an hour of searching and finding nothing—not even the faintest sign of an intruder sneaking in to steal it while he was unconscious—Nyx finally sat back down in his vehicle, anxiety and anger bubbling in the pit of his stomach. He grabbed a water bottle and drank from it, splashing some over his scalp while he was at it. He mulled over the whole situation with a cooler head.

"Okay, first of all, I woke up fully healed. And the fact that I even woke up at all, despite the chest being missing, doesn't add up…" Because if someone had come to steal his chest, why take it while leaving him alive? A person capable of taking down a level 50 Fenrir solo was by no means weak. Why leave such a potentially dangerous witness alive and risk him hunting you down?

"To begin with, the odd part is me being healed. Sounds absurd, but it's similar to how in games you get healed after beating a boss or clearing a stage…even the boss was getting healed." He twirled the hem of his shirt while turning the implications over in his mind before finally deciding to check his inventory.

"If the mechanics of this world line up that closely with games, this too might be worth checking." Inventory: [Gold x30, Fuel x10, Leather x300, Iron Plates x200, Glass Panels x300, Electrical Parts x50, Bronze Chest, Mechanical Parts x200, Universal Bullets x9453] Relief washed over Nyx as he leaned back in his car seat, finally taking a full, hearty breath. After a while, he sat back up and reopened his inventory. Tapping it, he materialized the chest right outside his car.

A tap on the chest sent a string of notifications flashing before his eyes.