The armored man, struck by the flaming longsword, stumbled back a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
“Hey, you little runt, you’ve been skittering around like a cockroach. But now you finally understand how strong your big brother is, don’t you?” the elder brother sneered, punctuating his words with a few smug kicks to the armored man lying on the ground.
The younger brother beside him twitched his eyelids, growing more uneasy the longer he looked.
Something felt off.
Why hadn’t the armored man disappeared after lying there for so long?
The younger brother gazed up at the town, feeling a sense of confusion.
There were clearly many candidates present, yet despite the strange tension between them, none of them made a move to attack one another. It was an odd sight.
At that moment, all the candidates turned to look at them with an odd expression, one that seemed like admiration, or perhaps more accurately, the way someone would look at a pair of fools.
What was going on?
“Brother, I think we should leave. Now.”
“Why are you so timid, kid? What’s there to be scared of? We took down Vinny! That’s a huge achievement. Why are you freaking out?”
“...”
“What’s wrong with you, kid? Why’d you suddenly go quiet?” The elder brother, noticing his younger brother’s sudden silence, frowned.
He followed the younger brother’s gaze and froze.
At the town’s entrance, more than a dozen armored men, identical to the one at their feet, had appeared out of nowhere, blocking the gate.
Their lifeless eyes stared coldly at the brothers.
“Uh... what’s this?” the elder brother muttered, though he’d never seen anything like it.
“Weird. Can that brat clone himself or something?”
“Brother, do you think there’s a chance we... hit the wrong person?” the younger brother ventured.
“What are you talking about? This has to be one of that brat’s tricks! The young master said he’s full of schemes. It’s gotta be that!” The elder brother grew angrier as he spoke.
“Vinny, you can’t win a fair fight, so you resort to cheap tricks to mess with us? You think I’m scared of a bunch of junk? Bring it on! I’m not afraid of numbers! Come at me all at once, I’m in a hurry!”
A few minutes later.
“Ahhh! Big brothers, spare me! I was wrong, I admit it!” The elder brother, now battered and bruised, was being chased through the town by a swarm of town guards.
Faced with these armored men who couldn’t be killed, never tired, and were immune to non-magical attacks, he was utterly helpless.
Beaten without any chance to fight back, he fled into the town, unsure if he’d make it out alive.
As expected, the brothers ran until they collapsed in exhaustion in front of the other candidates.
Both disappeared shortly after. From then on, no one dared to cause trouble in the town.
He wasn’t sure if it was a glitch in the token or if he had unknowingly triggered a hidden rule, but somehow, he ended up with the points.
He had no clue which kind soul had given them to him.
However, Vinny wasn’t particularly concerned about points and didn’t make an effort to earn them.
Sooner or later, the circle will shrink. When that happens and living space becomes scarce, fights will break out everywhere.
There’ll be no shortage of battles. It’s better to conserve strength, saving mana and stamina for when they’re truly needed, to stay in peak condition.
However, the guards in the town are so powerful that no one dares to act recklessly within its bounds, unless they encounter a giant like the female protagonists.
This situation poses a challenge for the more talented candidates with higher strength, while giving the weaker, mediocre candidates a chance to catch their breath.
Such a neutral zone, forcing everyone to coexist peacefully, doesn’t align with the purpose of the dungeon assessment, which is to encourage a free-for-all melee, a brutal, battle royale competition.
So, based on Vinny’s understanding, that small town should have been the first area designated as a restricted zone.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak...”
“Hmm?” Vinny caught a whiff of something burning and quickly realized what it was.
He pulled out the map from his bag.
The town that had been marked earlier was now reduced to ashes, its location now just a charred pattern on the map.
Vinny frowned slightly and turned to look behind him.
The outline of the town, which had been faintly visible earlier, had completely vanished.
The air carried an unusual scent, like gunpowder or something scorched.
Soon, Vinny saw thick plumes of smoke rising in the distance.
A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, tearing through the earth.
The area behind him was engulfed in dark smoke, visibility dropping to almost nothing.
Is this what they mean by the “shrinking circle”?
Vinny could faintly hear exclamations and screams in the distance.
It seemed some people had been struck by lightning while fleeing the town, while others saw the town’s disappearance as an opportunity to seize maps and points, taking advantage of the chaos to eliminate panicked candidates.
Needless to say, the scene was utter chaos.
Seeing this, Vinny slung his small bag over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could.
He was just an innocent bystander and had no intention of getting caught up in the melee.
Above, lightning crackled and thunder roared, the storm howling like a harbinger of disaster.
At this moment, the benefits of his recent physical training became apparent.
Vinny didn’t know how long he had been running, he only knew he had poured all his energy into it.
When he finally couldn’t run anymore, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, he found himself at the edge of a small river.
The storm-ravaged clouds were now far behind him.
Vinny approached the stream, cupped some water in his hands, and splashed it on his face.
The cool water trickled down his cheeks and onto his collarbone, soothing his overheated mind.
He pulled out the map and examined the four he currently held, numbered 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The town marked on map number 4 was gone, the entire area now a blackened smear of ash. It seemed that area was no longer accessible.
Fortunately, he had run fast enough.
Otherwise, he would have been caught by the large group behind him, and a fierce battle would have erupted the moment they stopped.
The environment here was pleasant, with mountains, water, and woods, a serene and picturesque setting.
Everything seems fine, but it feels oddly familiar.
“......”
Vinny suddenly fell silent.
Familiar? How?
No, he had never been to this dungeon before, let alone this specific spot.
So why did it feel so strangely familiar?
As he looked around at the dense forest surrounded by mountains and water, it seemed like an ordinary place.
Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen it somewhere before.
But how could that be? He was a transmigrator.
There was no way he had been here before, right?
If he hadn’t been here before...
An idea suddenly struck Vinny.
He remembered, wasn’t this place...?
“What kind of terrible luck is this? The moment I arrived in town, I nearly got struck by lightning, got chased and beaten by a bunch of scoundrels preying on the weak, and ran until I was out of breath!”
“The timing must have been just as the boundary was closing. If we hadn’t escaped in time, we would’ve been struck down instantly. You should be grateful we made it out.”
“Still, what rotten luck. That bastard Vinny didn’t run into any trouble, while I barely avoided getting hit by lightning... Seriously, this is just—”
This group of people suddenly came face-to-face with Vinny.
They stared at each other in silence, and everything became clear without words.
Vinny was silent. He realized he must have been wrong earlier.
The starting positions after entering the dungeon were completely random.
They weren’t deliberately spaced out just because they were from the same nation.
In other words, it was entirely possible for fellow from same nation, or even acquaintances, to end up close to each other.
Look, now he had run into a group of familiar faces, hadn’t he?
Well, he didn’t know if the others were cooked, but he certainly felt like steaming them alive.
He noticed the blue armbands tied around the arms of the four young men.
Vinny couldn’t understand how he had managed to run into trouble just a few steps into the dungeon.
On the other hand, he couldn’t figure out who he had offended so badly that nearly all the nobles in the capital rallied against him.
But maybe it wasn’t about offending someone particularly powerful.
Perhaps his reputation was just so terrible, so utterly ruined, that he had almost no public support.
That would explain the overwhelming response when someone called for action against him.
Sometimes, having bad relationships and a terrible reputation could be a significant disadvantage.
“Hey, look who’s here! Isn’t this Master Vinny?” The four dusty-faced men immediately broke into smiles when they saw him.
“It must have been quite the journey to get here.” As the four men greeted him with smiles, Vinny noticed they were subtly spreading °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° out while moving closer to him.
Are they even bothering to act anymore?
“Everyone, what are you doing?” Vinny raised his eyebrows.
“Even if you want to give me a warm welcome, it doesn’t have to be this grand, does it?”
“Welcome? Oh, you’re definitely welcome,” the tall young man at the front said with a vicious grin.
“You made it so easy for us to find you. Do you know how much time we wasted?”
“Really? But I don’t want to see you at all.”
“Don’t want to see us? Ha, that’s not up to you!” the leader sneered.
“Well, big brother, we’re family now. I’ve joined the team. You can’t attack me as a teammate, right?” As he spoke, Vinny pulled out the blue armband Malric had given him and waved it like a white flag.
“You joined the team, but you didn’t report to me, the captain. You’ve been running around everywhere, making it hard for us to find you. You don’t take me seriously. I think you don’t even want to be promoted, do you?” The leader didn’t stop, stepping closer to Vinny with every word.
Well, this was clearly just an excuse to pick a fight.
But Vinny already knew their intentions, so he wasn’t surprised.
“Do you really want to do this? Everyone, isn’t this behavior of yours considered teaming up?”
“Teaming up? What are you talking about?” The leader glanced at the other three with a puzzled expression.
“Do you know me?”
“I don’t know him,” the three replied in unison.
“See? Perfect. I don’t know these three either. We just happened to bump into each other here and ended up in a standoff. Then we ran into an annoying rat like you. We all agreed to put aside our differences and deal with you first. Is there anything wrong with that? It’s perfectly logical, right?”
“You guys are really shameless. It’s impressive how thick-skinned you all are,” Vinny said bluntly, not holding back.
Whether he could win the fight or not, he wasn’t going to lose in a war of words.
While cursing, Vinny didn’t forget to remove his earring, transforming it into ice crystal spear with a few elegant twirls.
“Hey? Kid, that weapon of yours looks pretty fancy. Where’d you steal it from?” The leader’s eyes lit up, clearly intrigued by Vinny’s weapon.
“Bah, that broken dagger in your hand looks like something a thief would carry. Who knows where it came from? Doesn’t it stink?” Vinny shot back.
“You little brat, this is the only time you’ll get to act so arrogant,” the leader growled.
“Later, I’ll smash you into the ground!”
“Brothers, close the door and beat the dog!”
At the command, the other three moved to block Vinny’s escape routes.
Vinny raised his spear and summoned the Armor Fortress.
The iron man, clad in luxurious armor and gleaming silver, stood at the center of the four, leaning on a Frostfang spear adorned with a blue tassel.
The wind caught the tassel on his head, making him look like a god of war.
“What are you showing off for, kid? He’s just an antique Soul Armament. Everyone, don’t rush to eliminate him. Let’s beat him up first if we catch him!”
“I’m afraid you don’t have the ability to do that,” Vinny retorted. He stretched out his hand, and an ice chain materialized in his palm, shooting straight toward one of the young nobles.
The noble was caught off guard.
First, he wasn’t strong enough, and second, the intelligence they had gathered claimed Vinny didn’t know any magic.
No, wasn’t it agreed that this kid doesn’t know magic??
Before the young man could even voice his confusion, he was tightly bound by the ice chains.
The extreme cold bit into his skin, causing him to cry out in pain.
The leader hadn’t expected Vinny to actually know magic.
For a moment, he was baffled, how could a supposed loser with only one-star Soul Armament wield magic?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
So what if you know magic? I know magic too. We’re both nobles, how could I not know a few skills??
He subtly gestured to the other two young men, who immediately charged at Vinny with their weapons, forcing him to defend himself with his hands.
Meanwhile, the leader quietly conjured a small water ball behind his back.
“Ahhh!” The bound young man struggled helplessly, unable to break free as Vinny pulled him closer.
The other two rushed in to rescue their companion.
“Take this!” One of the young men raised his rapier, and sparks of lightning crackled at the tip of the blade.
[Lightning Thorn]
It was a magic skill.
Vinny frowned.
Lightning Thorn was a low-level lightning skill, but no matter how basic, it was still magic.
His armor couldn’t defend against magic, which meant he, with no resistance to lightning elements, would have to take the hit directly.
He wasn’t sure if he could withstand it.
Compared to the assassin from the empire’s border town, he was now facing nobles of the kingdom.
Even if their levels were low, many of them knew magic, albeit low-level spells.
Facing enemies with magic and those without were two entirely different levels of pressure.
Armor Fortress could handle non-magic users with ease, but against those who wielded magic, it was like each of them carried a “can opener.”
Vinny felt immense pressure just facing them, let alone being attacked by a group.
In the end, his foundation was too weak.
His strength wasn’t much different from an ordinary NPC’s, yet he attracted the kind of hatred that no NPC should ever have to bear.