11 Chapter 11: The Darkness of Betrayal
"He's trapped!"
"Get him!"
On the first floor of an unknown building, completely shrouded in darkness, Jin entered the whole building.
The sound of hurried footsteps grew closer once inside.
Inside the building, the air was filled not with the expected fishy and iron-like scent of blood as expected, but instead dominated by a fresh mix of fruit scents, with a strong odor resembling rotting onions or garbage.
"Wait, the light..." Jin muttered, blinking his eyes several times.
There was a huge surprise for him as he glanced into the darkness.
The darkness that should be veiled by complete void and impossible for human vision was now clear as daylight for him.
But in exchange, the world under his vision had lost its color, turning the whole view into black and white.
It didn't take him long to realize the change, changing his stunned expression into a smirk.
"The tiger's night vision..." Jin muttered, easily navigating and stepping further into the darkness.
However, he raised his eyebrows upon seeing a strange sight before him.
Rows of black curtains covered all the large glass windows, absorbing almost all of the light.
Beside that, the whole floor was filled with rows of rolling racks.
"The smell of fruits, and rolling racks. A supermarket..." Jin concluded.
A supermarket with an open door.
Logically, when the bats invaded at midnight, the supermarket should have been closed.
However...an open door...black curtains veiling the glass windows...
While his mind deduced their motive, his footsteps echoed through the floor as he advanced.
Soon reaching the middle section of the supermarket, the view before him was now filled with rows of display shelves.
Thinking about this, his slit pupils soon spotted the aisle signs labeled 'snack section.'
Coincidentally, his stomach let out a grumbling sound of hunger.
...
Entering the vast maze of display shelves, Jin soon arrived below the aisle sign for the 'snack section.'
However, just as he arrived, his nose twitched at a strange scent he sniffed, and his ears perked up.
Strangely, he could hear another breathing—it was like a person standing beside him.
It didn't take him long to turn his head to the left and spot a human.
A complete human, glancing at him in the darkness without vision, straight into his eyes.
Under his slit pupils, he noticed many details.
This person's mouth opens slightly as they take a breath.
Their lips part and jaw drops a little, revealing their desire to shout.
"He-"
But before they can utter a word, a brutal swing from Jin's shotgun stock connects with their throat, cutting off their words and replacing them with a guttural gasp of pain.
"GAH~!"
The impact leaves them doubled over, writhing in agony.
With swift precision, Jin moves behind them, using the shotgun as a weapon.
He forcefully presses it against the person's neck, exerting enough pressure to tilt their head back.
The person's skin reddens and flushes as they struggle to draw in a breath, their desperate gasps filling the air.
They claw at Jin, their hands flailing in a futile attempt to break free from his grip.
Without hesitation, Jin tightens his grip on the shotgun, applying even more pressure to the person's neck.
The sound of bones snapping echoes through the air, a sickening crack that signifies the end of their resistance.
The person's body goes limp, life draining from their eyes.
[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 3 Ma Li!]
The transparent screen before Jin confirms his success in killing.
But, surprisingly, he feels no contradictory emotions or guilt upon witnessing the lifeless corpse before him.
He briefly entertains the thought of whether he has become a cold-blooded animal, but quickly dismisses it by shaking his head.
The fact that he still thinks and recalls the person's facial expression near death, and the fact that he is searching for a way to avoid killing, proves that he still possesses some sense of morality.
Without dwelling on this topic, Jin swiftly moves on to another section, leaving the lifeless body behind.
…
"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 fact that this man is Level 3...
which means...
His initial assumption that the humans were still unaware of the existence or mechanics of this game entity was proven false.
"If so, then they are more dangerous than Blood Slaves," Jin thought inwardly, his eyebrows raised.
Suddenly recalling how the person had looked deep into his eyes despite having no light for vision.
Also from the way the person spoke, it seemed the human confidently saw him standing before them...
"And it seems like his reward was related to night vision," Jin muttered inwardly.
By now he had already entered another section.
Glancing left and right before closing his eyes to focus on his hearing.
Once he found the atmosphere was tranquil, his attention shifted towards the gains in his hands.
Crushing the magic crystal, its glimmer 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!]
[A skill scroll has dropped!]
A row of transparent screens were flashing before him with a faint light materializing out of nowhere before him.
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 questioned inwardly. Nonetheless this brought a grin to him.
Though this theory was just a baseless assumption, what he needed right now was to kill another person to prove his theory.
The magic crystal had already brought him a huge surprise, and his eyes lingered on the golden parchment below him.
Placing the shotgun on the display shelf before him, he began to unfold this golden 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!]
Once the game screen appeared, a sudden pain attacked his mind.
It was the same pain he had experienced when learning his first skill.
But thanks to how often he had experienced this kind of pain, it didn't take him long to subside this pain.
Now seeing the skill he got, he was speechless.
"It feels like this entity is leading me down the path of a gunner..." Jin muttered inwardly.
But then thinking how he had the Gunslinger skill, now the Deadshot skill, coupled with his shotgun...
He felt like the game entity was giving him rewards suited to his situation.
"Is this due to my pure luck, or is there some string manipulation at work?" Jin thought deeply.
But finding it was a hard truth to accept, he chose to look at what skill he had obtained.
[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]
"This is really compatible. With the Gunslinger skill activated, I can achieve 40% accuracy and 85% critical damage," Jin concluded inwardly.
Now, the only thing left that made him confused was the term "Tier 0."
If this entity mimicked the game, a tier should be more similar to a class?
If his assumption was right, then there were possibilities such as Tier 1 or Tier 2 being.
Suddenly, just as he fell into deep thought, his slit pupils widened.
Out of nowhere, a silver lining slashed at him, aiming toward his neck.
Instinctively, he tilted his head, and the attack missed its target but...
SPROUT-!
Blood came out from his right cheek.
Following after that, his hands had already reached for his shotgun.
Aiming toward the blurry shadow that had come from nowhere, successfully escaping his hearing and scent detection without even making a hint or noises.
"You are fast," a hoarse, cold, and emotionless voice sounded in front of him.
