บท 24: Chapter 24: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Under the dim light of a streetlamp, growling sounds echoed against the iron gates that separated the apartment from the outside world.

A sharp arch of light sliced through the gap between the bars, accompanied by a gust of wind that injured the Blood Slaves attempting to climb over the gate.

The creature's sharp, glaring gazes locked onto any movement within their view, flickering like a strobe light among the shadows that swarmed like bees around the gate.

Another pause, and another slash. The beheading of yet another Blood Slave, clean and precise, left no room for error.

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

…

Gasping for hot breaths, sweat drenching her body, the young lady crouched down with a firm stance, sword at her waist and tightly gripped in her hand, eyes scanning her surroundings.

Her heaving chest swelled and contracted, sending an alluring scent to the predators of the night: the Blood Slaves.

The black tank top she wore was stained with dark red blood, making her blend into her surroundings. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Fuuu~," Wei Jingyi, the woman whom Jin had left at the entrance of the apartment, had already slaughtered over ten Blood Slaves by herself.

Her eyes were cold and her face was furrowed in a frown as she gazed at the stack of Blood Slave corpses scattered around her.

"Why is he taking so long? Did he encounter a problem?" After Jin had left her, Wei Jingyi had already suspected that the Blood Slaves would attack once the sky gradually darkened.

As she crushed the gems just like Jin had done, a surprising power surged into her body. With this discovery, all the mysteries surrounding Jin suddenly became clear!

"Hufff~" She closed her eyes for a moment and straightened her back, raising her head to look at the pitch-black sky, now deadly for humans to stay in for too long.

After calming her emotions, her gradually relaxed body suddenly tensed as she heard a familiar growl behind her. Her long hair tied in a ponytail swung as she launched another sword slash.

SLASH~!

Another Blood Slave, sneaking up from behind, was injured but found out due to her skills. Its limbs were severed and its teeth were cut off.

With a cold gaze, Wei Jingyi walked towards the struggling Blood Slave, using the tip of her sword to twitch the vital part of its heart.

SQUEAK~!

The Blood Slave was eventually killed, evidenced by the transparent game screen that flashed before her eyes. Wei Jingyi looked around with vigilance and hope.

The front gates were now filled with Blood Slave corpses, but many glittering lights were resisting among them, making her effort worth it.

"I need to rest and level up as much as I can," Wei Jingyi muttered to herself as she collected the magic crystals from each corpse.

As her hands touched the disgusting flesh, her face contorted with disgust and she shuddered, shaking her hand to get rid of the remaining blood.

"Hmph!" she snorted, remembering how she had been frightened in front of little Jin, whom she had always considered no more than a moving statue.

Now that she had power, why would she need his protection again? The thought made a satisfied smile curl up on her cherry lips, as she fantasized about showing off before him.

But just as she lost herself in thought, countless Blood Slaves climbed the walls and entered the apartment. Their numbers were so great that the joy on her face turned into pale fear.

They were coming from outside the apartment, climbing over the tall wall and entering with gaping mouths, drool dripping as if they had found a delicious prey.

"I need to help him!" Her gaze was full of worry. The previous fear had been replaced by her wild imagination of Jin pleading for help.

She didn't think twice as her body moved on its own, while her hands were busy crushing the magic crystals one by one.

…

Meanwhile, on the second floor of the apartment, the long corridor that was already filled with corpses of Blood Slaves suddenly trembled as a body flew at a high speed, passing through and colliding with the elevator on the other side of the corridor.

BOOM!

At the same time, another shock wave was sent as the surrounding wall cracked, and a mass of Blood Slaves were blasted by the impact of the attack. They growled at the towering man, who held the skull of one of their kind in his hand.

The long, narrow corridor was already lacking in space due to the corpses, but with these new batches of Blood Slaves coming out of nowhere, it became even more cramped, without any room for maneuvering.

They could only line up and even use their comrades' bodies to advance and attack the young man, but suddenly...

CRUSH!

"GRRR!" The Blood Slaves let out painful screams as their heads were crushed for a moment before the light in their gazes flickered and dimmed down.

At the same time, the man who had just killed the Blood Slaves effortlessly sat atop the corpses of Blood Slaves with his expressionless face, leaving only the slit pupils and amber eyes glaring at the remaining Blood Slaves.

None of the Blood Slaves dared to attack or even stay near him. It seemed they finally knew what fear was as they were afraid of this young man.

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

The young man was, of course, Jin. Seeing the notification pop out in the side of his view, he chose to ignore it and put power into his grip.

CRUSH!

The magic crystal he held was destroyed in the process, turning into many dust particles that scattered and absorbed into his body. He was expressionless as he crushed the magic crystal.

However, his apathetic facial expression turned into joy as he momentarily gazed at the new screen that was popping out on his view.

[You have leveled up!]

[You gained 2 points to freely distribute between your attributes!]

[

· Name: Jin Tianyi

· Class: -

· Level: 10

· Race: Human

· Health: 216/216

· Mana/Stamina: 125/125

]

[Free Attribute: 4]

"Well, this is unexpected." He grinned broadly as he muttered to himself while observing his stats.

While he was killing this new batch of Blood Slaves, Jin had already destroyed 90 more magic crystals, bringing him a plentiful gain: a +2.6 boost to his Agility, and +1 to his Intelligence and Strength.

Only after acquiring attributes other than Strength could he make a base assumption about what attributes he would get in the future.

"Basically, it depends on the creature I kill. So if I kill a horse, it might probably give me an agility boost. As for Blood Slaves that were once human, the stats I get would depend on their life when they were human back then."

Now Jin was already very strong; his level was already two times that of the gigantic vampiric bats he faced. In addition, his strength had already touched 50 points.

The changes that came with 50 points were apparent in front of him. He could easily lift and even play with these Blood Slaves without much effort.

"Now, should I clean up the rest of you?" Jin spoke, his tone either excited or showing emotions. These Blood Slaves were no longer precious to him like before.

His aim now was to find another higher-level creature that would bring him another huge stats reward, like the Level 5 Vampiric Bats.

SWOOSH!

Without wasting any more time, Jin charged like a bull at the group that was crammed in this narrow corridor. His arrival was like a tide that swept the entire shore.

"GRRR!" The Blood Slaves resisted, trying to scratch and fight back with their raw strength. But the moment their hands touched Jin or his companions, their bodies were ripped apart.

SPROUT!

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

Blood blasted, and now the entire wall in this corridor was dyed red. Jin, amidst the killing, felt no emotion as his hands relentlessly killed these creatures cruelly.

His legs kicked to the side, causing several Blood Slaves to be pushed back several meters away, giving him more room to maneuver.

BOOM!

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

Jin's feet stomped the floor below. He no longer cared if the floor could withstand his weight or force, as he had already confirmed the location of the tenants.

SPROUT!

[You have successfully killed a Tier 0 - Level 0 Blood Slaves!]

"Hmm," Jin hummed as his hands took out another head and crushed it easily, moving on to the next target without stopping.

...

Ten minutes or so later, the long corridor was now completely blocked by the corpses of Blood Slaves.

It was impossible to advance to the other side of the broken windows unless someone moved the corpses one by one.

Jin, who was returning to the intercept, now looked at the group of tenants who had just finished their battles and were still recovering.

"NOW!" However, just as Jin was about to ask for their decision, his instincts told him that something was coming out from below the floor and trying to grab his feet.

BANG!

At the same time, a gunshot was heard from the direction of the group.