Chapter 138: Chapter138-A new competitor

Lia's POV *** "You ugly monster!" I shouted in confidence, swinging my sword toward the arm of the massive beast in front of me... Chimo. The name alone makes it sound like some kind of cute, harmless creature. But that couldn't be more wrong. This thing was far from cute. With its like sick features, ugly face, and massive body, it shattered any first impressions you might have based on the name. Standing at a towering 10 feet tall, Chimo looked like a huge gorilla with two twisted horns jutting from its head. At first glance, you might mistake it for a minotaur, but its gorilla-like body and face quickly gave away its true nature. Right now, I was in full panic mode--and for good reason. The difference in our strength was massive. Yup... Massive... Chimo was a Gold-rank beast, one of the strongest there was. Meanwhile, I was only at Silver rank, so the thought of facing it head-on was terrifying. Defeating it wasn't even an option. But I wasn't trying to kill it. My goal was to paralyze it just long enough for me to make a quick escape. Even a beast as powerful as Chimo had its weaknesses. If I could manage to sever one of its arms, its body would be paralyzed for at least two seconds, giving me just enough time to flee. Killing it wasn't realistic. Its neck was as strong as iron, and the only chance of slicing through it would be if it were completely caught off-guard. Trying to kill it in that short window would be a death sentence for me. With that in mind, I aimed carefully at its arm, but... Chimo moved faster than I expected. It dodged my strike with ease, reacting much quicker than I had anticipated. My blade sliced through empty air, causing me to lose my balance. Chimo roared, a deafening sound that shook the field beneath my feet. Oh no, it's entered rage mode! I have to escape quickly before it attacks me. Just as I thought this... His enormous fist, as large as my torso, came hurtling toward me with terrifying force, his eyes blazing with fury. I reacted on pure instinct, trying to dodge, but... "Yikes, my foot!" My foot slipped. Instead of evading the punch, I found myself right in its path. No, no! I need to deflect it now, or I'll take a heavy hit. Panic surged through me. My heart pounded as I desperately raised my sword, hoping it would somehow block the incoming blow that was now just inches away. But... As they say not everything goes as planned... *WHAM!* Chimo's punch slammed into my sword with such force that I couldn't keep my footing. The blow drove my own blade into my face, sending a shockwave of pain through my body. "Arghhh!" Agony burst in my skull, and before I had time to react, I was thrown at least ten meters across the battlefield. "Ouhhh!" I hit the ground hard, my back throbbing from the impact, while my sword flew from my grasp, landing uselessly in the distance. Groaning, I tried to push myself up, but the pain was too much. I was defenseless, and Chimo was closing in, each of his steps making the earth shake beneath me. My vision blurred as darkness crept in from the edges. Even though this was virtual reality, the pain felt way more intense than it should have. This was because Marcus aimed to make the match as realistic as possible. My sister mentioned earlier that the pain sensors were calibrated to about 70 to 75 percent for everyone. The towering creature loomed over me, the distance between us vanishing quickly. Just as I thought it was the end and my eyes were about to shut, a sharp slicing sound pierced the air. What? Who is that? What's going on? I blinked in confusion and watched as Chimo's huge head suddenly separated from his body, tumbling to the ground and bouncing a few times before coming to a stop. His body swayed for a moment, then collapsed in slow motion. Who did that? As my world faded into blackness, I heard a calm, confident voice speak. "Looks like I arrived a bit too late," it said, just before everything went dark. *** "Ohh... What a way to steal a kill," I muttered, staring at the dead gorilla-like monster at my feet. I had no idea what it was called, and honestly, I didn't care. What mattered was that I'd somehow managed to kill it, even though it should've been really difficult for me, especially since I was still a rank below it. The thrill of defeating a Peak-ranked monster for the first time filled me with excitement. But--wait. Is Lia alright? I'd been so caught up in my victory that I completely forgot about her. She had been right behind me, and from what I remembered, she wasn't doing too well. A wave of panic hit me as I turned around, expecting to find her, but something was off. Huh? Where did she go? She wasn't where she was supposed to be. I quickly scanned the area, but she was nowhere in sight. Did I... lose her? Maybe she got knocked out or injured during the fight with the monster. But then again, was she even hurt? The last thing I saw was her defending herself with her sword. What happened after that? Oh, right--she probably took a hit to the back. That monster's powerful punch could've easily slammed her into the ground, hard enough to knock her unconscious. That must be it, right? Yeah... Wasting no time, I sprinted off in a random direction, eager to find more monsters as quickly as possible. Why the sudden rush? Because... Just a minute earlier, I glanced at the holographic leaderboard floating in the sky, only to see that I had lost my fifth-place position to someone I knew well. The leaderboard now read: 1) Anna Parkour: 1680 points 2) James Wilson: 1650 points 3) Solos Kamstur: 1570 points 4) Mira Lapele: 1550 points 5) Zeras Voidman: 1520 points Zeras Voidman... I had expected him to be in the top 10, but reaching the top 5 with so many stronger competitors? That was impressive. He's definitely a smart player. I was sure he had used some kind of strategy--probably the loop tactic--to jump up to fifth place, especially since he wasn't anywhere near the top 5 just minutes ago. I glanced at the time: 11:31 a.m. That left only 29 minutes before the match would end. With that thought, I double checked the leaderboard one last time and pushed myself to run even faster. I needed to find and defeat more monsters before time ran out. *** After running for a few minutes, I finally came upon a small pack of monsters. It was a group of Eight Iron-Fanged Wolves. I stopped, pulled out my daggers, and met their gaze. The distance between us was short, probably around 50 to 100 meters. They glared back at me, hunger evident in their eyes, with saliva dripping from their mouths as if they hadn't eaten in days. It was clear they were ready to attack at any moment. Suddenly, one of the wolves let out a roar and charged toward me, with the other seven following closely behind. That must be the leader. I didn't waste a moment and rushed straight at them, eager for the battle. I had to hand it to the A.I.--these virtual wolves looked and behaved just like the real deal. Except for one thing... And that was... In a matter of seconds, the pack leader and I had nearly closed the distance between us, with only a few meters left. The wolf leaped into the air, claws extended, aiming straight for my face. Fear... But just as it came within a meter, claws stretched out and mouth wide open, revealing sharp fangs, something unusual occurred according to it... It looked like an invisible line slashed across its face, followed by a sharp "Shriiin" sound cutting through the air. I quickly dodged the attack, stepping aside as its claws barely missed me. The wolf sailed over my head as I came to a stop, my dagger still dripping with blood. Three seconds later, the sound of its body hitting the ground echoed behind me. I didn't need to look to know what had happened, but I turned around anyway. The once-roaring pack leader now lay dead, its face horribly slashed, with blood streaming from the deep wound. Yeah... it was over, and I had done it. But even then, I wasn't satisfied. I had aimed for its eyes with my right-hand dagger, but my aim and control were so poor that I ended up slashing across its nose instead, leaving a bloody straight line on its face. It wasn't the clean hit I had wanted. Then... I turned to confront the remaining wolves, their eyes filled with rage at the sight of their fallen leader. I could feel their anger aimed directly at me. I glanced at each of them, then wiped my right-hand dagger with my left before shouting, "Don't waste my time! Come at me first--I have a lot to get done!" Whether they understood me or not, they howled in unison and charged at me from every direction. *** "Hooo~ that took a lot less time than I expected." My voice echoed around the surroundings as I stood amidst the dead Iron-fanged wolves. Blood covered the ground--some wolves had their stomachs ripped open, while others sported deep gashes on their faces, blood streaming out. I've always preferred targeting vital spots; a single hit to a critical area can take down a monster in one blow. This fight was tough but manageable. The wolves were ranked Early Uncommon, one rank below me, so I was confident I could defeat them. Only Mid and Peak Uncommon monsters truly posed a challenge--not these smaller ones, but the larger threats. Anyway, at the moment, the biggest danger to my life was the weather. The temperature was rising rapidly with each passing minute... It felt like I was in the middle of a desert. I glanced up at the sun, now directly overhead, and noticed my shadow was almost gone. That signaled that noon was approaching. My shadow appeared smaller than my actual height, reminding me that even in this virtual game, the A.I. had created an environment that felt very real. With the wolves taken care of, I began sprinting again, eager to continue my hunt. As I ran, I looked up at the hologram floating in the sky to check the leaderboard. The leaderboard showed: