Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

"AAIYAAA!"

"WHOOSH~~~~~~~"

The little red bird projectile let out a string of its signature squawks and launched into the air. It traced a perfect parabola and smashed onto the head of a cartoon zombie.

But the Magic Bullet Hunter had already stopped watching. It was pointless. This newcomer, who hadn’t even picked a codename, was just wasting his hard-earned points.

But then, he suddenly heard a burst of gasps from behind him, followed by the sound of firecrackers.

When he turned back around, the newcomer with no name was being showered with congratulatory flower petals and ribbons. A long, thin banner fluttered in the windless air, bearing the word "1st."

This meant that the difficulty 6 record the Magic Bullet Hunter had been desperately chasing had been stolen...

And on the ground, the cartoon zombies were all contorted into a bizarre Twist, having been precisely sliced in half right down the middle of their foreheads. The two halves were perfectly symmetrical, a display of exceptionally high skill.

"Th-this... How is this possible?"

The Magic Bullet Hunter muttered involuntarily. Something clicked in his mind, and he quickly turned his head to look at the record board on the other side. It displayed the rankings of players who had earned precious points—the so-called Hall of Fame players.

The Magic Bullet Hunter saw clearly that one player’s ranking had shot up dramatically, moving from outside the top one hundred straight to 99th place.

And that guy’s codename...

Newbie?

’It really is him!’

At this point, many others nearby had also noticed the change on the leaderboard and exclaimed in shock:

"What?! This guy with the unlisted codename is that ’Newbie’ from before?"

"How can it be him? Didn’t everyone say he’d been checked into a mental hospital or taken by the Holy Judgment Court? Why did he suddenly reappear? Was all that earlier speculation just wild guessing?"

"And he snatches the difficulty 6 record the moment he shows up... Man... I’m starting to feel bad for the great Magic Bullet Hunter..."

"The difficulty 6 and 7 records are gone, and the ones for the lower difficulties were taken by earlier players long ago. If you’re after precious points, there’s no reason to stick with this event anymore. Better to go play the new event. I hear no records have been set there yet."

"No way, not for me. I’m not that interested in precious points. I just come here every day to earn some regular points. It’s like bowling or golf for me—a way to get some exercise and relax. I don’t want to get into fights with people."

"Wait, what are you all talking about? Isn’t anyone concerned about why the great Newbie’s codename isn’t displayed? You all saw it, right? His wooden placard only showed the difficulty, no codename."

While some people chattered excitedly, others were more proactive and had already started moving toward Lloyd, hoping to strike up a conversation.

The fastest one of the bunch, before he’d even steadied himself, spoke in a rush:

"Hello, sir! Could we talk for a moment? I run an Association in the City of Illusion, and I’d like to discuss a potential partnership with you."

But the Magic Bullet Hunter, who was closest to ’Newbie,’ was even more direct. He took a few steps sideways, blocking Lloyd, who was about to leave.

He then took several deep breaths, as if trying to suppress the anger in his heart, and asked as calmly as he could:

"Why... did you choose difficulty 6?"

He really wanted to roar at him, to tell him how much effort he had put into this difficulty 6 record, how much time and how many points he had wasted, and how much Spiritual Contamination he had endured.

If there weren’t so many people around, forcing him to maintain some restraint and not lose his composure completely, he would have even grabbed the man by his collar and demanded to know why he had stolen the record he’d worked so hard for.

But the other man’s answer was something the Magic Bullet Hunter had never expected:

"Because there was no difficulty 8."

The Magic Bullet Hunter froze on the spot, dumbfounded, as if he’d been petrified. He just stood there as this ’bastard’ who had stolen his record brushed past him and walked briskly toward the entrance.

After a long moment, the Magic Bullet Hunter finally came to his senses and sank weakly to the ground.

This ’Newbie,’ just like last time, had passed up the chance to be in the spotlight. He had no desire to interact with anyone else. He had come so casually, left so casually, and so casually snatched away the record he had been desperately chasing...

’It’s like a college student casually solving a kindergarten brain teaser. Of course he wouldn’t care about the praise and admiration of little kids.’

’Is the gap between us really that wide?’

’He didn’t care about the record I was chasing at all. He only took my goal because there wasn’t a higher difficulty available...’

’Heh, and I actually deluded myself into thinking I could catch up to him...’

The Magic Bullet Hunter sat on the ground, mocking himself internally. Even though his face was a mosaic, you could feel the dejection radiating from his entire body.

He stayed like that until a few ’friends’ he was familiar with came over and asked with concern:

"Are you okay, boss? Sigh... That ’Newbie’ is just awful, stealing your record like that."

"Boss, you’re not going to stop coming here to play, are you?"

"It’s not that bad, right? Even though the precious points are gone, you can still get regular points. Coming here to play a couple of rounds every day, relaxing, earning some points—that’s still pretty good, isn’t it?"

As they spoke, they helped the Magic Bullet Hunter up from the ground.

Then they heard the Magic Bullet Hunter speak in a tone of sincerity they had never heard from him before:

"Thank you. Thank you all."

As he spoke, he patted their shoulders and nodded to show he was alright. Then, he let out a long breath and walked toward the exit.

Only after he was some distance away did they begin to whisper among themselves:

"Uh... did the boss just say thank you to us? I didn’t mishear that, did I?"

"I think so, yeah. I’ve known him for so long, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard him say the word ’thank you’..."

"But usually... although he acts polite, he’s actually very distant with everyone. Super aloof. He doesn’t get close to anyone and barely even talks to people."

"Looks like this loss hit him really hard. He’s like a different person... But then again, that ’Newbie’ really is on another level. You can’t complain when you’re simply outskilled."

"Yeah. Not even a Saint knows how many powerful experts there are in this world. The big shots and powerhouses in our eyes are probably just small fry to someone else."

.........

Truthfully, Lloyd really hadn’t intended to snatch anyone’s record. Just as he’d said, it was only because there was no "difficulty 8." He’d just have to reluctantly accept the precious points from difficulty 6.

’That’s just how competitive games are. If you can’t handle losing, you shouldn’t play.’

’Besides, I even made a point to say ’sorry.’ I did all that could be expected.’

As for those who wanted to strike up a conversation, he could only offer them a ’sorry’ as well. He was here today to retrieve that shipment, not to play around.

As for his codename not being displayed, that was a ’privilege’ he only noticed after he stepped onto the lane and touched the Control Crystal Ball—

Beneath the series of options for scenes and difficulties, an extra option had appeared, asking if he ’wanted to hide his codename’.

Lloyd had given it a try, and the effect was decent enough. He just didn’t know if it was a perk for making it into the Hall of Fame, or a privilege granted because he was mistaken for some ’existence capable of touching greatness’.

Coincidentally, the Attendant was just approaching with a smile to congratulate him, so Lloyd took the opportunity to ask about this ’hide codename’ function.

"Oh~ It seems you’ve discovered the surprise I specially prepared for you! That’s wonderful! I have prepared little surprises like this for you in many of the events, and I look forward to you discovering each and every one."

the Attendant explained.

’Looks like he’s really gone to great lengths to get me to come play more often...’

Lloyd really wanted to ask him to explain just what ’an existence capable of touching greatness’ meant. But with the shipment still missing, he was afraid he might slip up and blow his cover, causing this guy to refuse to help him retrieve the large truck.

So, he could only suppress his curiosity and change the subject back to business:

"I’ve played a round of the game. How much longer until that truck is recovered?"

"Well... by my estimation, it should be out right after you’ve experienced our latest popular game."

the Attendant replied.

Lloyd wasn’t sure if it genuinely took that long or if he was required to play the new event first. But the other party clearly had the upper hand right now, so he could only nod and say:

"Alright, then. But as you should know, I’m not a fan of those boring and dangerous events."

"Of course, I know. In fact, I remember every word you’ve ever said to me. So please rest assured, this new event will absolutely meet your requirements."

After speaking, the Attendant stepped aside, revealing a black wooden door behind him.

Lloyd pushed the door open and walked in, immediately hit by a wave of noise and clamor.

The place looked like the ticket hall of a train station. Rolling and flipping blackboards hung everywhere, displaying all sorts of information that he couldn’t make sense of yet.

Hundreds, maybe even a thousand people were gathered around, talking, shouting, and scurrying about. It really did feel like a train station.

’What kind of game requires this many people? A fortress siege?’

As Lloyd was wondering about this, the Attendant followed him in and began to explain the game’s rules.

To put it simply, it was a ’racing game’ called *Extreme Speed*. You just had to be the first to drive your car across the finish line. The rules were very simple.

Players could form groups of two or three to organize their own races, or they could participate in official tournaments to win various point rewards. There were also betting pools where you could wager points.

’It sounds like a pretty standard racing game, nothing special.’

But the key point was...

The game had only that one rule—

Just be the first to cross the finish line.

Whether you did that by being faster than all your opponents, or by eliminating all of them... that was entirely up to you...