8. Stray Dogs of the Streets (3)

The magic book and 300 points were the best rewards possible.

Almost too generous for just killing a few people.

Ah, is this the part where I’m supposed to agonize over the murders and feel guilty about those I’ve killed?

“Fuck that.”

Guilt? What guilt?

I don’t feel such petty sympathy or that fucking hypocritical emotion.

They’re already dead-what’s there to be sorry about? The fuck am I supposed to do? Did I kill them for fun?

I killed them to survive.

‘Though killing those bastards earlier… might’ve been a little fun…’

I think I did feel some pleasure when beating to death that fake doctor bastard with the scalpel and the son of a bitch who groped my chest.

But is it weird that I didn’t feel pleasure when killing those bastards who tried to cut my tendons and rape me? Am I the bad one?

‘No, I’m no saint… So I’m just a psychopath?’

Wiping the blood off my hands, I decided to check the magic book I received as a reward.

What kind of magic book did they give me? It was random, so I hope I got something good.

[Book of Combustion – Basic: Upon reading, increases understanding of fire elemental attributes and allows learning of Fireball and Flame Emission. Requires prior mastery of Mana Emission.]

“Oh… Fuck yeah. This is it.”

I’ve already learned Mana Emission. I got it from reading the Beginner’s Mana Book. My prerequisite training was perfect-now I just need to hole up somewhere and read this.

‘Once I learn this, I’ll be able to use elemental magic too…’

After mastering Shikigami Summoning and Golem Creation, now I can learn Flame Emission and Fireball. Why aren’t martial arts manuals dropping? Spell books, magic books, alchemy books, and even encyclopedias are appearing, but no martial arts manuals… That doesn’t seem right.

‘But when am I supposed to read this…?’

The book was pretty thick, so there was no way I could read it right now.

Even if I skimmed it, it would take at least three more hours, and the guys who left earlier would probably return before I finished. No point starting and then getting interrupted-it would ruin my concentration.

‘For now, I’ll store it in my inventory…’

I waited for the guys who went outside to come back.

Of course, I didn’t wait inside the Pilates studio. No need for a head-on fight. Since they outnumber me, ambushing them is better.

‘I’ll just go up to the next floor.’

That bastard who tracked people by scent didn’t seem to use his ability constantly earlier. Either he couldn’t use it often or there was some kind of limitation.

He couldn’t even get into the Hunter Academy, so his ability must have flaws. It has to.

‘Maybe I’ll meditate for a bit…’

I needed to tend to my injured body through meditation. Getting impaled by a falling shelf, bruised all over-it was a complete mess.

‘I won’t be fully asleep…’

I closed my eyes. If I heard loud noises or sensed movement, I’d wake up immediately.

·

·

·

‘Hm!’

My eyes snapped open. Checking my replenished mana, it seemed I’d meditated for about an hour.

‘Sounds from downstairs…’

Listening carefully, I could hear Awakened shouting near the first-floor entrance.

‘They’re here…’

They’ve arrived. My 150 points. I’m already salivating.

“Aaaah!! Fuck!!! Tae-gyu!!!”

“W-what the hell is this?!”

Soon after, panicked screams erupted-they must have found their dead comrades.

I needed to ambush them before the tracker Awakened found me.

‘One at a time.’

I immediately pulled out a wooden spear and headed downstairs.

“Where the hell did that white-haired bitch go?!”

Right on cue, the Awakened were looking for me.

I stood at the entrance of the Pilates studio and hurled the spear at the binding-type Awakened.

There was a good reason I targeted him first-getting bound mid-fight would be a fucking pain.

*Thwack!!!*

“Guh…!!!”

The spear lodged deep in the binder’s chest. At the same time, the other Awakened turned toward me.

Before they could react, I pulled another wooden spear from my inventory and threw it without hesitation.

*Squelch!!! Thud!!!*

“Gyaaaaah!!!!!”

Another direct hit. The spear pierced the abdomen of the ranged-type Awakened.

The gutted bastard collapsed, vomiting blood, while the binding-type was already dead on the ground.

Three left.

The tracker, the body-enhancement type, and one unknown bastard.

“You crazy…”

The tracker backed away. Probably because his ability wasn’t suited for combat.

“Huff… huff…”

“Fuck… I told you… I fucking told you she was a crazy Awakened… You goddamn bastards… She’s that psycho bitch who laughs while slaughtering people…”

“Shut up and focus… Fuck…”

The body-enhancement Awakened and the one with unknown abilities stood facing me.

“Not coming in? Should I go first?”

“Fuck… This bitch… speaks Korean perfectly… She must’ve been a Hunter… Fuck… Fuck…”

“Hey, miss… About earlier… We were… really fucking sorry. We’ll give you everything we have… Can we call it a draw…?”

“W-we’ll give you everything… Please spare us.”

“Fuck, we’re begging you, miss. We must’ve lost our minds. We didn’t recognize a high-ranker and disrespected you. Please, just this once.”

Now they were begging for their lives.

Not pathetic-this was the right move.

A ridiculously strong bitch appears, kills two of your friends instantly-fighting to the end would be insane.

You only get one life.

“You guys know something?”

“Wh-what’s that…?”

“I get 30 points for killing one of you.”

“Huh…? P-points?”

“Yeah. Points. Can you give me points?”

“Uh…”

They stared at me like I was insane.

“S-so, these points… Are they like Bitcoin…?”

“No. Not like that. So you really don’t know anything.”

“W-wait!! If you tell us, we’ll get them for you-“

*Thunk!!!*

A kitchen knife embedded itself in the unknown Awakened’s forehead.

As the body-enhancement Awakened charged at me, I caught his fist mid-air.

*Crunch!!!*

“Wh-what?!”

His fist was trapped in my grip. As expected of a strength-focused type, but I was stronger.

*Crunch!!!*

“Gyaaaaaah!!!”

I wanted to toy with him more, but close-combat Awakened like him must have trained professionally. No telling what techniques he might pull, so I crushed his fist immediately.

Against martial arts-type Awakened, you can’t give them a chance to counter. When you get an opening, you finish them fast.

That’s what the original protagonist thought. I completely agree.

No matter how high my strength is, I’d lose to a UFC fighter. Not a matter of strength-technique would make my loss 82% likely.

So when they charge, grab and beat them down. Violence is the answer.

*Wham!!! Wham!! Wham!!!*

“Guh…”

After crushing his fist to keep him dazed, I forced him to his knees and relentlessly pummeled his face.

With 28 strength, each punch deformed his face further until it looked like a half-smashed tomato.

*Thud.*

One left.

“880 points.”

“F-f-fuck… What the hell are these points…?”

“The price of your life.”

I approached the tracker.

He kept backing up until his back hit the wall.

“You just gonna die quietly?”

“… F-fuck…”

“Kneel if you want to live.”

“…Huh? Y-yes!!”

He immediately dropped to his knees.

“You believed that?”

“Huh…?”

*Smash!!!*

He was too tall to easily crush his skull, but since he knelt willingly, bashing his head with a club was easy.

[Level has increased by 1.]

“Phew.”

910 points and one level.

A decent haul.

[Quest Completed]

[Rewards will be given.]

As soon as I killed the last one, a notification appeared-the quest was complete.

‘I’ve already survived 24 hours…’

It was a quest for surviving 24 hours. The reward was 24 points, bringing my total to 934.

“Phew. Survived the first day.”

How many people did I kill in just one day?

I didn’t keep count, so I’m not sure. At least ten, probably more. Just the ones in the Pilates studio alone were over ten.

“Two empty slots now…”

With the human-hunting quest and the 24-hour survival quest completed, the only remaining quest was buying 10 items from a convenience store.

I’ve already bought about four, so six more and it’s done.

‘Let’s see…’

You can accept up to three quests at a time, so I needed two more. Quest rewards were pretty lucrative.

[Quest: Survive One Week (1/7)]

[Reward: 700P, Credit Score Increase]

[Quest: Collect 1000 Points (934/1000)]

[Reward: 100P, Random Accessory]

“Accept.”

I accepted both. They were quests that would complete naturally over time-must-haves.

Especially since I’ll hit 1000 points today or tomorrow, so it’s like accepting a half-finished quest.

“A random accessory… Jackpot.”

To get that random accessory by collecting 1000 points, I need to grow stronger fast. How much stronger can I get this week?

‘I should aim to surpass the original protagonist’s growth within a month…’

Now that I’ve set a rough goal, I should grab the stuff these Awakened bastards hoarded and head home.

The blood smell here is too strong-bugs will start swarming soon.