Chương 16: Chapter 16: Next victim[GTG]

"Damn it! Who the hell is that?!" screamed a young man who had painstakingly gotten to his feet after being blown back by a sudden explosion.

It didn't make sense. Just like the others hiding and waiting for the right moment to strike, he had been biding his time, crouching by one of the aisles, trying to pinpoint his targets. His teammates were scattered around as part of a strategy, but now everything had gone up in flames—literally. A high-ranker seemed to have made their entry, and to make things worse, his graphto watch indicated that his teammates had all died in the explosion, respawning somewhere far from his current location. That meant only one thing: he was screwed.

"Damn it," he cursed, rushing toward a more hidden spot.

However, as he rounded a corner—

"Argh...! What... what the hell is... ARGH! ARGH!"

[You know there were better options, so why in the goddess' name did you pick a digger?]

"Shut up and show me the mission tab," Leo muttered, holding up a bloodied digger, staring at his fallen victim.

[Mission in progress:

Let the game begin.

Objective: Earn 200 points on the first day [00:19:58:42].

Progress: 50%

Reward: A shadow skill.

Failure: All stats set to negative.]

"Tsk! I've killed two people, and I'm only at a hundred points?!" Leo grumbled, annoyed by the absurdity of the situation.

Just like the unfortunate student caught off guard by the explosion, Leo had been confused at first. He knew the explosion would flush out everyone who had been hiding—either out of fear of being caught or to take advantage of the chaos it caused.

That left him with one problem:

Weapons.

He needed a weapon—not just for defense, but to earn points. The problem was, he had no memories of the character he was inhabiting, meaning he had no idea what weapons Leo was proficient with. Plus, without any sword skills, using one would probably be the death of him.

He glanced at the archery option. It looked promising as a long-range weapon, but there were two major issues. First, his accuracy. Leo was certain he'd miss his first ten shots without question. Second, archery left him defenseless in close combat, meaning he'd be done for in a melee fight.

He scrolled further through the options. Every weapon, though promising, came with its own drawbacks—most of which outweighed the benefits.

Then, he stumbled upon the tool section. It was supposed to be filled with survival tools, but to his surprise, he found a weapon there. Choosing a tool wasn't the same as selecting a weapon, which meant he could pick this one and still select a weapon later.

He was stuck between two choices: a shovel and a digger.

The shovel seemed promising, but it had a flat edge, meaning it couldn't deliver a lethal blow—just knock opponents out, which would be unlikely since most students used mana to enhance their bodies.

That left the digger. It could one-shot enemies with repeated strikes, but the problem was its ability to penetrate properly if they were using mana to enhance their defenses.

His only chance, then, was to sneak attack when they least expected it. And shockingly...

It worked.