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Phuck! The fist wrapped with Stone Skin made contact with air. A dense sound could be heard.

“Greuh…” With a groan, Sangdo Han’s skill deactivated and revealed him. Even then, he trained the dagger he held on Taehyun’s throat. Cr-a-c-c-ck. It was difficult to believe that this sound had come from cutting someone’s throat.

Sangdo Han’s face twisted angrily. ‘This damned little brat!’ It had already been 5 minutes since they began exchanging blows. Sangdo Han no longer thought of the boy in front of him as an ordinary child. However, that didn’t mean he was skilled enough to be a Named.

The boy's strength was that of a C-Rank Player, or at most a B-Rank Player. On the contrary, Sangdo Han was a Named Yvelian who had defeated several B-Rank Players in the past. There should have been no one in the area strong enough to face him except for Hyunsoo Ahn, yet...

Crunch. Taehyun charged at Sangdo Han and blocked him just as he was about to activate his skill, flinging his body backward as the skill was canceled.

“Fucking brat!” Sangdo Han cursed as he gripped his throbbing arm. His Strength was close to 30, yet the arm that guarded the attack hurt considerably. ‘Damned bastard. He must be using a body enhancement skill.’

Sangdo Han’s stats were concentrated on his speed; his tactic using his Stealth skill and attacking in quick succession. That was why, despite being B-Rank, he was confident facing A-Rank Players.

Hyunsoo Ahn's senses were sharper than he had expected, so he failed to take his life. But the fact that his first surprise attack was successful made it evident that he was superior to the other B-Rank Players.

On the other hand, Taehyun, who didn’t seem to have any special attacks, was withstanding his attacks with a poker face. ‘He isn’t on the fast side.’ Rather, his attacks were simply perfectly timed.

Clang! Grabbing Taehyun’s back, Sangdo Han brought down his dagger. But Taehyun swung his arm wide around, sacrificing his back. Whoosh. Sangdo Han dodged it a step faster, his dagger coming down on Taehyun’s back once more.

Pshk. Though it was unable to penetrate deeply, he could feel the sensation at the tips of his fingers. Shhwt. Sangdo Han pulled out his dagger and retreated.

Grimacing, Taehyun brought his hand to touch his back. It wasn’t a deep wound, but there was blood flowing from it.

“Kekek. I found the weakness of that lousy skill. Looks like it can’t block an attack twice in the same spot, can it?”

“…”

Thinking he had achieved victory, Sangdo Han licked the blood on his dagger. Up until now, he had struggled against the boy due to his skill and give-and-take style of fighting...

‘That luck ends now.’ Having found a way to win, Sangdo Han took out another dagger. Taehyun’s expression shifted. He had been fighting at close range up until now, trusting the Stone Skin skill.

“Heheh. How should I dice you up, kiddo?” Sangdo Han passed by the charging Taehyun, cutting through his side twice in quick succession.

Looking at the blood dripping from the wound, Taehyun clicked his tongue quietly. ‘I didn’t think Stone Skin would have a weakness like this.’ He hadn’t found a proper weakness of the skill even while fighting C-Rank monsters, which was why had had confidently attempted to fight Sangdo Han. He was curious as to how strong he was after becoming D-Rank.

‘Named Players really are different.’ Looking at the grinning man, Taehyun smirked.

Sangdo Han, a B-Rank Yvelian associated with the Scorn Guild. He was notorious for hunting down Players and civilians. It had been largely thanks to his Stealth skill that he still hadn’t been caught.

After raising Stealth to its limits by killing countless people, it had become incredibly difficult for the average Player to detect him. ‘Surprise attacks increase the skill’s effectiveness by several times.’ He had seen how the man had crippled Hyunsoo Ahn’s mobility on the first strike.

Taehyun’s eyes sparkled. Unexpectedly, he found a skill that he wanted.

“Are you so shocked that you forgot how to speak, kiddo?” Having regained his confidence, Sangdo Han licked his lips.

‘As if.’ Seeming to mock Sangdo Han’s leisurely attitude, Taehyun curled up a corner of his lip. It was good that he discovered a weakness of Stone Skin. If it had been revealed in a future battle, it could have resulted in a critical wound.

‘It’s time to wrap things up.’ Taehyun thought of the two things he aimed to achieve from this gate break. The first was to gain experience by hunting monsters. He had achieved this since he was now D-Rank.

The second was to absorb skills from Yvelians, who used the gate break as a chance to go on killing sprees. Each and every one of them was notoriously strong, making it that much more likely for them to possess high-ranking skills. Selling the Scorn Guild rings he obtains from them is just a bonus.

‘Let’s try using it.’ He had never planned to face this man with just Stone Skill. It had only been a test to see for how long he could fight a B-Rank Yvelian with just physical strength. He’d obtained enough data in this matter.

Just then, Sangdo Han disappeared from sight, having activated his Stealth skill. Taehyun no longer had any desire to continue the hand-to-hand combat.

He used Devour.

Ding. With a light tinkle, a message appeared.

[Unique Skill Devour has been used. The target is determined by the user’s judgment.]

Whooosh. Light began pouring out of Taehyun’s body. The black-red mana settled under Sangdo Han’s feet, who was still using Stealth. It did not surprise Taehyun much, since he knew Devour had a detection feature.

“What is... You bastard, you have multiple skills…?” Flustered by Taehyun’s new skill, Sangdo Han ran around to escape the mana beneath him. However, Taehyun had no intention of prolonging the fight.

[Select an area to devour.]

Just like it had for Hyuksoo Bae, Sangdo Han’s body was divided into red sections. ‘I’ll need to save the ring.’ So he selected all sections except for the hand with the ring as his target.

[Target has been selected. Devouring will begin.]

Crunch. The mana first consumed his feet, before spreading to his waist, chest, arms, then neck. Cruncch. Cruncch. Crunccch. With his mobility crippled, Sangdo Han screamed and rolled around on the ground.

Taehyun watched him with indifference. Unlike Hyuksoo Bae, this man had killed countless civilians. Such a person did not deserve any sympathy.

While testing it on monsters, he confirmed that he could select which parts of the target’s body to consume. It wasn’t any different for humans.

Cruncccch. Sangdo Han’s screams only stopped after the mana swallowed up his head.

[Devouring complete. Deactivating skill.]

Plop. Once the devouring ended, all that was left was a single arm holding a dagger. “Hah~ What a persistent bastard.” Taehyun slipped the ring off the hand and stowed it in his pocket.

[A new skill has been added.]

‘Nice.’ He clenched his fist victoriously once the anticipated message appeared, and checked his status page once again.

[Name]: Taehyun Kim

[Age]: 19

[Rank]: D

[Fatigue]: 71%

[Mana]: 5/20

[Stats]

– Strength: 13  

– Stamina: 16  

– Speed: 15  

– Mana: 20

[Skills]

– Devour (5%): Devour a selected target. (Required Mana: 10)

– Stone Skin (D): Harden your body. (Required Mana: 3)

– Stealth (D): Hide your body. (Required Mana: 5)

Despite devouring a B-Rank Awakened, he did not receive much experience. ‘Is it because my rank increased? Or was it because they weren’t dead…?’ He wasn’t sure; getting a grasp on this skill was difficult. Regardless, he didn’t feel too disappointed thanks to his newly added skill, Stealth.

[Unable to use Devour due to fatigue being above 70%. Cooldown: 28 minutes, 49 seconds.]

This was another feature that changed after upgrading the status page: the status page’s vague messages had become a little more detailed. He’d consumed a considerable amount of stamina fighting Sangdo Han. As a result, his fatigue percentage was high.

‘This is more than enough.’ He’d achieved everything he wanted from this gate break. As he was about to head towards Jaeyoung…

Banng! Something flew past Taehyun. That something, he soon realized, was a person.

“Damn it! You fucking monster!”

“Ahhh! My arm!”

“Dodge, don’t block it!”

Several screams were heard in succession. Taehyun peeked his head out of the collapsed building.

“Ghhrrh... Human... Hiding...”

“The Ogre’s talking...?”

“It’s a Half-Ogre!”

“Run! We can’t handle this monster!”

Watching the Players scattering in panic, Taehyun cocked his head. ‘Did Half-Ogres appear in this gate break?’

Half-Ogre, an A-Rank monster. Along with the Giant Ogre, it was one of the evolved forms of the C-Rank Ogre. They were considered one of the more dangerous monsters among the A-Rank monsters due to not only their great strength but also their high speed and intelligence.

‘But there hadn’t been any articles about Half-Ogres in the past.’

Cra-a-c-c-ck. Right then, another Player was folded in half. If this continued, it was evident that the other two would meet a similar fate.

‘Should I help them out a little?’ He’d just obtained a skill that would be useful in this situation. Just as Taehyun made up his mind, another Player’s skull was caved in.

[Skill Stealth has been activated. Duration: 5 minutes.]

Ssswssws. Taehyun’s body blended in with the space around him.

***

“Shit!” The curse word burst out of the B-Rank Associate Player, Jaejun Lee. He’d barely managed to survive the onslaught of the A-Rank Giant Ogre, and now he was facing an A-Rank Half-Ogre.

Hyunsoo Ahn, the A-Rank Player, was currently fighting the Giant Ogre that had broken Jaejun Lee’s barrier. Thanks to his assistance, he and the other Players who were dispatched with him were able to concentrate on eradicating the monsters and Yvelians who had spread out to the city. With this many reinforcements, he thought they would be able to end the gate break within an hour. However…

Crasssh. Jaejun Lee cursed again as the barrier he had set up broke down weakly. Another Associate Player broke into a scream in front of him. The arm they had been using to guard was crushed, and their skull shattered. For a B-Rank Player who had been recognized within the Association, their death had been a worthless one.

Jaejun Lee was a B-Rank Awakened and a B-Rank Player who passed the notoriously difficult Player Association exam. The weight of those two titles was not to be taken lightly, yet…

“Damn it!” The Half-Ogre’s red eyes turned towards Jaejun Lee. In the blink of an eye, the monster had arrived in front of him with its fist drawn back. ‘This is it…’ Just as Jaejun Lee had given up…

Pshkk. Blood shot out from the Half-Ogre’s shoulder. The monster swung its head around, confused by the sudden injury. The confusion was mutual for Jaejun Lee. ‘Wh… What?’

Both the Half-Ogre and Jaejun Lee were attempting to get a grasp of the situation when… Stab. A sharp object pierced the Half-Ogre’s throat. Jaejun Lee saw what it was when the monster spun around with a howl.

It was a dagger drenched in blood.