Only two points for killing a rabbit?
But think about it—he’s a weak fighter, and the rabbit is a weak creature.
If even he could kill it, it must not be worth many points.
Vinny wasn’t in a rush to hunt monsters for points.
The circle would shrink slowly anyway, and it was only a matter of time before he encountered other people.
For now, he was focusing on saving all his energy instead of hunting monsters.
Otherwise, he’d be screwed when he finally ran into others.
When his space for movement got reduced, he’d just need to run. He’d meet people sooner or later.
He picked up Frostfang and took out the map he had been given earlier.
Map No. 5 was incomplete, showing only a mountain, a small town, and a coniferous forest around it.
Vinny had no idea how far he was from the marked locations.
He couldn’t even confirm his current position—only that he was probably in a forest.
Glancing at the endless mountains in the distance, he wondered what it would look like when the circle shrank, or when the so-called sharp reduction in the activity area occurred.
Would there be poisonous gas spreading across the land?
Holding the spear, he walked to the edge of the woods.
The forest wasn’t very large, and he reached the end after just a few steps.
Ahead lay an open wilderness.
Vinny hesitated, looking at the open terrain.
In the woods, there were plenty of obstructions; unless you were very close, you wouldn’t notice others.
But the wilderness was different—no obstacles meant encounters would inevitably lead to big fights.
Vinny didn’t want to get caught in a melee right now.
At his level, he could only fight quietly.
It was the heroines’ job to show off their invincibility.
Just as he was debating whether to turn back into the woods, he realized he had either overestimated the size of the dungeon or underestimated the population density.
Every year, people from all over the world came to participate in the Carillian Academy assessment, not just those from the kingdom.
At this moment, the dungeon was already packed.
Swoosh!
A flying dagger shot out from the bushes behind him.
Vinny froze for a moment.
His slow reaction and body functions left him no room to dodge.
If it had been anyone else, they would’ve been hit.
But he had another way.
Clang!
At the critical moment, his fully enclosed armor suddenly materialized, producing a crisp clang as the flying dagger bounced off the heavy metal.
Summoning and releasing [Armor Fortress] took time.
In game terms, it had a long pre-swing and post-swing—it couldn’t be treated as an instant shield in battle.
His body’s reaction was too slow to dodge, but luckily, [Armor Fortress] activated in time.
Otherwise, who knew if the dagger had been poisoned?
“Tsk, I’ve been waiting here for so long and still missed?”
An annoyed voice came from the bushes.
With his position exposed, there was no need to hide anymore.
A young man with braided hair and chocolate-colored skin stepped out of the bushes.
“What the hell is this?” The young man stared at Vinny’s armor, which had appeared out of thin air and now gleamed under the sunlight.
Confusion was written all over his face.
He didn’t get it. With his sneak attack speed, most people didn’t even have time to use their Soul Armament before getting eliminated.
How had this guy suddenly summoned a set of glittering silver armor?
Vinny didn’t pay much attention to the young man at first.
Instead, he noticed something strange about [Armor Fortress].
The blue tassels on his helmet had lengthened, and golden wing-shaped engravings now decorated his forearm guards, the helmet’s edges, his abdomen, and the armor covering his calves.
Vinny was a little surprised by the change in appearance, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized it was probably because his Soul Armament had evolved after reaching the Apprentice level.
After all, his compatibility with [Armor Fortress] was 100%.
With the slight improvement in protection and the unlocking of impact resistance, it made sense for the appearance of [Armor Fortress] to change too.
Vinny looked forward to seeing how [Armor Fortress] would transform as he broke through to higher levels later on.
The young man clearly had never seen an armor-type Soul Armament before and mistook [Armor Fortress] for some kind of enchanted prop.
“Tsk tsk, the young masters from wealthy families are really something else. They’ve got all sorts of tricks to protect themselves,” the young man muttered resentfully.
Judging by his clothes, he didn’t come from a rich family.
He must’ve qualified for the assessment because some noble recognized his talent.
“Brother, where are you from?” The young man approached with a smile, twirling a flying dagger in his hand, and introduced himself casually.
“I’m from a border town in the Tyrell Empire. How about you?”
“Hey, don’t be so tense. Getting eliminated’s just a matter of one move. It’s not life-threatening. You can always come back next year, right? Besides, we might not even have to fight.”
“To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve met in the dungeon. I think we’ve hit it off. Why don’t [N O V E L I G H T] we sit down and make friends?” The young man looked Vinny up and down, stopping in his tracks so he wouldn’t spook him.
Vinny tilted his head.
What the hell was wrong with this guy’s brain?
He was clearly sizing up the gaps in Vinny’s armor, looking for an opening to attack, thinking Vinny wouldn’t notice.
“You don’t say that to everyone who dodges your sneak attacks, do you?”
“Oh, come on, you’re really wronging me. Don’t always assume the worst of people. Young master, I’m really not a bad guy.” Before he could finish speaking, the young man’s expression sharpened, and a flying dagger shot out, aiming precisely for a gap at Vinny’s arm.
Clang!
The knife bounced off again and fell to the ground.
“Tsk... there’s no gap there?! This thing’s seriously cheating!” the young man gritted his teeth, pointing at Vinny and cursing.
“Aren’t you just bullying me by wearing this thing during the assessment? If you’ve got the guts, take off this stupid shell and fight me one-on-one!”
“Since when does a sneak attack by a thief count as legitimate?” Vinny shrugged and raised Frostfang.
“Oh, I’m not bragging. If it weren’t for this turtle shell of yours, I would’ve taken you down long ago! My daggers are coated with poison!” the young man shouted, holding the dagger in his mouth and making a fierce gesture.
“...”
Vinny was silent for a moment.
“So, you still put the knife in your mouth?”
“......”
The young man also froze.
Then, his body suddenly started twitching uncontrollably.
“Uoooh!? Help, help me!”
“Aaahhh! Quick, quick, help...!” The young man writhed on the ground, his limbs spasming wildly as his face turned a deep purple-blue, veins bulging grotesquely.
He collapsed, foaming at the mouth before he could even finish his sentence.
No way.
Buddy, are you for real?
Vinny was stunned, momentarily wondering how someone like this had managed to survive into adulthood without accidentally killing himself.
He walked forward, utterly speechless.
The token could block attacks, but it couldn’t stop you from poisoning yourself?
This idiot actually managed to get himself killed inside the dungeon, despite all the safety nets. He’s truly a genius.
But Vinny seemed to remember that the token had another layer of protection.
If your life was in danger, it would forcibly teleport you out of the dungeon.
The only question was—could this guy last that long?
Vinny approached, looking down at him, wondering if he should do the decent thing: smash the token and send him directly out.
At that moment, the young man’s previously dull eyes suddenly turned sharp.
He rolled over and lunged straight for the slit in Vinny’s armor.
“Hahaha! You’ve been fooled!!!” the young man cackled triumphantly, so excited he couldn’t stop himself from gloating.
However, accompanied by a metallic vibration, the young man felt his arm go numb.
“Sorry, but the slits in this armor are actually protected. They’re just transparent.”
After all, this was a Soul Armament, not real armor—it provided defenses that ordinary armor couldn’t.
Vinny took the opportunity to grab the young man’s wrist, squeezing it painfully.
Vinny thought he was a fool, but it turns out he was just a shameless schemer.
“Your acting was pretty good. I almost believed it,” Vinny said with a smile.
“You acted so realistically—it wasn’t just acting, was it? You used alchemical drugs too, right? You’re really dedicated. I gotta admire your spirit.”
“Hmph! To win, you gotta do whatever it takes, right?” the young man snorted.
“What do you know? Do you know what it’s like to fight to the death for a scrap of food in a border town?”
“No? A pampered young master like you, who’s never worried about food or clothing, could never understand what it’s like for people like us, living on the edge... If you can’t understand what it feels like to hover between life and death, you’ll never be able to defeat me.”
“What the hell are you even talking about?” Vinny frowned.
Seriously, he’s just a random NPC. Why the hell does he have so much drama?
Man, as a passerby, you should have some self-awareness, okay?
If you lose, you lose. Just say a few tough words and leave.
Why all the melodrama?
Is he gonna start shouting about the power of friendship and then charge at me for a final showdown?
Come on, you’re not the protagonist.
Why the hell do you get so much screen time?
“This time, I admit I’m outmatched in skill. But even so, you think you can eliminate me? Ha! No way!”
“How could a wolf like me, who’s struggled to survive by the skin of my teeth for years, possibly lose to a sheep like you, pampered and sheltered in a cozy pen!?”
“The more desperate the situation, the more fiercely I unleash my will to survive against all odds. This is who I am...!”
[Frost Moon Slash]
With a sweep of the spear, its tip moved like a brush dipped in frosty ink.
Wherever it passed, winter howled, leaving behind a frozen landscape.
The wind and snow swept through, covering the mud and grass with frost, and freezing the young man who had just tried to rise and escape.
The young man was still in the middle of his dramatic pose, like a roc spreading its wings, but now he was frozen solid, encased in a thick layer of ice.
His eyes were bloodshot, locked in a final, desperate expression.
Vinny looked at the frost spreading across the ground with mild surprise.
Snow and frost swirled in the air, and from a distance, it looked like a snow lotus blooming on the earth.
Wrapped in cold air, he didn’t feel a chill at all.
He hadn’t expected the skill to be this powerful.
Maybe his affinity with the ice element was stronger than he thought.
The enchantment he released was ridiculously strong, and with a single move, he had eliminated the pretentious young man who was so proud of his poisons.
And this was a skill he had cast with his own hands, even if it was assisted by enchanted items.
The feeling of casting a skill yourself was completely different.
Looking at the situation, he didn’t need to do anything else.
Once the ice melted on its own, the young man would be eliminated.
But who was Vinny? He was a good person and couldn’t bear to see the guy suffer.
He figured it would be better to end it cleanly.
After all, the guy didn’t seem to have much going on upstairs.
So, Vinny swung his spear down, slicing the ice sculpture cleanly in half.
With a crisp crack, the young man’s token shattered into two pieces, and the man disappeared from the spot.
Vinny checked his own token.
His score had increased from 2 points to 12 points.
So, the guy had been lying when he said Vinny was the first person he’d met.
Who knew how many others he’d tricked while hiding here?
Those poor suckers probably just felt a slight itch on their necks before being teleported out of the dungeon, left staring blankly at the instructors, wondering what the hell had just happened.
It felt a little unfair when he thought about it.
But they deserved it for being that careless.
From the moment they entered the dungeon, they should’ve realized they were in a place crawling with enemies and danger.
How could they not be more vigilant?
After putting the token away, Vinny glanced back at the wilderness.
Several figures were now engaged in fierce battles, fighting each other without saying a word.
Well, the battle royale had officially begun.
Fighting matches were probably happening in every corner of the dungeon, with candidates from all over the world enthusiastically throwing themselves into the chaos.
Everyone was a stranger to each other, and they were all terrified of getting attacked first.
So instead of waiting, they took the initiative—
eliminating potential threats before they could become real problems.
It hadn’t even been that long since the competition started, but already, a bunch of candidates had been eliminated.
Vinny had no intention of joining the chaos.
He decided to move on, avoiding detection.
Before leaving, he remembered he hadn’t picked up the dropped items yet.
He walked over to where the young man had been eliminated and picked up the map that had fallen to the ground.
Map No. 3? Vinny looked at the number and tried to piece it together with the one he already had.
After a few attempts, he realized the two maps didn’t align at all.
The edges didn’t match. He gave up.
“You bastard! I’ll teach you a lesson!”
By now, the wilderness had turned into a full-on battleground.
The candidates who had initially wanted to play it safe were now completely enraged.
A sturdy candidate, who had been fighting in the middle of the chaos, got attacked by an archer lurking on the edge of the battlefield.
In a fit of rage, he abandoned his current opponent and charged straight at the archer, who was using a Bow Soul Armament.
Looked like he was determined to take down the annoying pest, even if it meant getting himself eliminated.
Vinny shook his head.
These kids were still too naive.
At this stage, nobody had many points, and there was no urgency yet from the shrinking activity area.
What the hell was the point of fighting to the death in such an open space?
The sturdy young man’s Soul Armament was probably [Berserker].
Vinny had heard that [Berserker] had an exclusive ability, regardless of the user’s level—[Frenzy].
Once activated, [Frenzy] halved physical damage taken and doubled the user’s strength.
There was even a saying about it:
"A berserker’s IQ drops when Frenzy’s active."
It wasn’t wrong.
The berserker had indeed started attacking everyone in sight after activating it.
Fortunately, at this stage, most people didn’t have any magical attack methods, so he was practically invincible.