[ POV: Vane, Leader of Viper Squad ]
"Look at this haul," Vane laughed, dumping the contents of the silk sack onto the cavern floor.
Dozens of Spider Eggs tumbled out, glowing with a soft, milky light. Alongside them were a few stray fangs and silk glands they had snatched during the retreat.
"Estimated value... maybe 8,000 credits," Rat grinned, his hands shaking slightly as he counted the eggs. "That's 2,000 each. Easy money."
"It was a close call," Mira murmured, sitting against the rock wall. She looked pale. She kept glancing back at the collapsed tunnel entrance. "Do you think... did he suffer?"
"Who cares?" Silas, the Mage, scoffed. He was chugging a mana potion to recover from the sprint. "He was F-Rank trash. If the spiders didn't get him, the dungeon would have eventually. We just sped up the process."
Vane wiped his greatsword with a rag. "Silas is right. In this world, the weak feed the strong. The kid was bait. He did his job. Now we get paid."
He picked up a spider egg, admiring its luster. "Besides, with that Bait's Mark on him? He was dead in seconds. Probably didn't even feel—"
BOOM.
The ground shook. Dust filtered down from the ceiling.
Vane dropped the egg. "What was that?"
"The Boss?" Rat stood up, daggers drawn. "Is the Acid King patrolling?"
"No," Vane frowned. "The sound came from behind us."
They all turned to look at the sealed tunnel. The pile of boulders Vane had collapsed with the Alchemy Bomb was still there, blocking the way to the Spider Nest.
BOOM.
It was louder this time. Rhythmic. Like a pile driver hitting rock.
"Something is breaking through," Silas whispered, his voice trembling. "The Spider Queen? Did we aggro the Elite?"
BOOM.
A massive crack appeared in the largest boulder.
CRASH.
The rock exploded outward, showering the campsite with gravel and dust. Vane raised his shield, coughing.
"Formation!" Vane roared. "Whatever comes out, kill it!"
The dust cloud hung thick in the air. From within the shadows of the tunnel, a silhouette emerged.
It wasn't a spider. It was bipedal.
It walked slowly, with a heavy, deliberate gait. As it stepped into the torchlight, Mira let out a strangled scream.
It was a human. Or at least, it used to be.
He was covered from head to toe in green monster blood. It was caked in his hair, dripping from his chin, soaking his clothes so thoroughly that he looked like a slime creature wearing human skin.
He held a cheap Recurve Bow in his left hand.
"Lin?" Mira whispered, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Vane lowered his shield slightly, confused. " The porter? How the hell..."
He checked the kid's status.
[ Name: Lin ]
[ Level: 3 ]
[ HP: 1,950 / 1,950 ]
Vane blinked. He rubbed his eyes and looked again.
1,950 HP?
That was impossible. Vane, a Level 6 Warrior with full plate armor, only had 520 HP. How could an F-Rank archer have nearly four times his health?
"You survived," Vane said, forcing a confident grin. He needed to reassert dominance. "Tough little cockroach, aren't you? Good. We need someone to carry the eggs. Get over here and—"
Lin didn't speak. He didn't scream in anger. He didn't cry about betrayal.
He just raised his bow.
His movement was a blur. Vane had never seen an F-Ranker move that fast.
[ Agility: 50 ]
Lin's hand was a machine. Draw. Nock. Loose.
THWIP.
There was no incantation. No warning.
The arrow flew across the cavern.
Silas, the Mage, was standing ten meters back. He didn't even have time to raise his staff.
SPLAT.
The arrow didn't hit his chest. It hit his mouth.
It punched through his teeth, through the back of his neck, and pinned him to the rock wall behind him.
[ Critical Hit ]
[ Damage: -58 (True Damage) ]
Silas gurgled, clawing at the shaft. His health bar dropped by a third instantly.
"Silas!" Mira screamed.
"He's hostile!" Rat yelled, vanishing into stealth. "Kill him!"
Vane roared, adrenaline taking over. "You think you can fight us? You're just a porter!"
Vane charged. He raised his heavy steel shield, activating his skill [Shield Bash]. He was going to crush the kid into paste.
Lin stood still. He watched the 200-pound warrior charging at him like a train.
Lin didn't run. He drew another arrow. The crimson aura of [Eternal Hunt] flared, turning the arrowhead into a point of singularity.
He aimed directly at Vane's shield.
"Idiot!" Vane laughed. "That's reinforced steel! It has 80% physical reduction!"
BOOM.
The arrow collided with the shield.
It didn't bounce off. It didn't shatter.
It went through.
The True Damage ignored the armor rating. It ignored the material hardness. It treated the steel plate like wet paper.
The arrow punched a hole through the shield and buried itself in Vane's shoulder.
[ Damage: -19.5 (True) ]
"Argh!" Vane stumbled, the impact knocking him off balance. He stared at the hole in his shield in horror. "What... what are you?"
Lin stepped forward. He walked past Vane, ignoring him.
"Hey!" Vane swung his sword wildly.
Lin ducked. It wasn't a desperate dodge; it was a casual dip of the head. With 50 Agility versus Vane's lumbering heavy armor, Lin was moving in a different time zone.
Lin grabbed an arrow from his quiver and stabbed it into Vane's exposed knee joint like a dagger.
CRUNCH.
"AAAAH!" Vane collapsed, his kneecap shattered.
Lin didn't finish him. He kept walking toward Mira.
"No... please..." Mira backed away, tripping over the loot bag. "I didn't want to! It was Vane's idea! I'm a Healer! I can heal you!"
Lin stopped in front of her. He looked down, his face a mask of dried green ichor.
"Heal yourself," Lin said.
He raised the bow point-blank.
THWIP.
[ Target Eliminated: Mira ]
He turned around.
Silas had pulled the arrow out of his neck and was trying to cast a spell, blood bubbling from his lips.
Lin put another arrow in his chest.
THWIP.
[ Target Eliminated: Silas ]
"Rat!" Vane screamed from the floor, clutching his ruined knee. "Kill him! Backstab him!"
Lin tilted his head. "Rat?"
He looked up at the ceiling.
His Wisdom stat picked up the faint disturbance in the air currents. Rat was clinging to a stalactite above Lin, waiting for the perfect moment to drop.
Rat leaped, his daggers glowing with poison.
Lin didn't look up. He just side-stepped.
Rat landed on empty ground. Before the Rogue could recover, Lin kicked him in the ribs.
The sound of cracking ribs echoed through the cavern. Rat flew five meters and crashed into the wall.
Lin walked over to Vane, who was crawling toward his sword. Lin kicked the sword away.
He stood over the leader of the Viper Squad.
"You..." Vane gasped, blood leaking from his mouth. "You're a monster. A demon."
Lin looked at his own health bar. 1,950.
He looked at Vane's. 120 / 520.
"No," Lin said calmly. "I'm a Hunter."
He drew his final arrow.
"And you are the XP."
THWIP.
[ Target Eliminated: Vane ]
[ Target Eliminated: Rat ]
[ Combat Ended. ]
The cavern fell silent again.
Lin stood amidst the bodies of his former party. He felt no guilt. No remorse. The "Moral Compass" module of his brain had been overwritten by the System.
He checked the notifications.
[ Killing Human (Level 6) confirmed. ]
[ Max HP +10 ]
[ Killing Human (Level 5) confirmed. ]
[ Max HP +10 ]
[ ... ]
"Only 10 HP?" Lin frowned. "Humans are worth less than Elites."
He sighed, disappointed.
He knelt down and began to loot.
He took Vane's Greatsword (Sellable).
He took Rat's Poison Daggers (Useful).
He took Silas's Mana Potions.
He took the bag of Spider Eggs (8,000 Credits).
And finally, he retrieved his arrows from their corpses. He wiped the human blood off on Vane's cloak.
[ Inventory Updated. ]
[ Current Wealth Estimate: 12,000+ Credits. ]
He was rich. He was strong. And the dungeon wasn't cleared yet.
Lin looked toward the massive obsidian doors at the end of the cavern. The Boss Room.
"One more," Lin whispered.
He shouldered the loot bag—it felt light as a feather now—and walked toward the final challenge.