Chapter 121 - Map-Changing Fist
As the spectators were watching the 21-thousand-odd participants turning into fishes on the chopping board for the level 5 user, some of them began taking out virtual communication devices to spread the news.
On the Hunter World's forums, Beginner City's filtered section was buzzing with new trending topics.
[Strongest newcomer to take the stage in Beginner City! The scariest generation
[Epic 20-thousand+ Battle Royale in Beginner City's Battle Arena! Must come and watch!]
[Boosted Level 5 User is not a fat sheep. Do not be fooled! Watch out for the big bad wolf!]
[TheStrongestWizard dominates the King of the Hill! Just what is his power level?!]
[The strongest newcomer steals the spotlight of Beginner City! Who is he really?]
Inside of a complex apartment within Beginner City, Tok Sikman sipped his hot coffee before musing, "It's been over half an hour since I posted the article now. I wonder how many views it has reached now..."
"That boosted newbie must have suffered big losses by now..." Tok added with a cold smirk before hopping on his PC to check.
Shortly after, Tok's expression changed into a frown as he scrolled down from the main page on the Hunter World website, filtered to Beginner City's news only.
"My article isn't even in the top 10 trendings? No, not even top 20 or 30!"
While scrolling further down the page, Tok's expression became uglier and uglier until he finally found his article on the list.
"Top 89 on trending topics? Why is it so low? A boosted level 5 newbie should be big news!" Tok complained with a deep frown.
"78k views is not bad for half an hour's worth of time, but my view count is slowing down in growth while activity is booming instead. This doesn't make sense..."
"Let me see what my readers are talking about..." Tok furrowed his brows before clicking on his article and scrolling down to the comments.
...
[KeyboardWarrior12: Teacher Tok, where are you at? You're in trouble now! Hahaha!]
[SilverTongue51: Goodbye, Teacher Tok. May you rest in peace. We will remember you. Hahaha!]
[LordMischief701: Teacher Tok kicked an iron plate this. He better pray the person doesn't find out about this article or else he will be in loads of trouble!]
...
After reading a few comments, Tok's expression immediately darkened with veins protruding on his forehead.
"What the hell? These people are all my staunchest followers and readers! Why are they cursing me as if I am about to die?!"
Suddenly, his eyes flickered with a thought before returning to look at the top trending topics.
"TheStrongestWizard dominates the King of the Hill map? Isn't this person supposed to be the newly ascended level-5 user?" Tok quickly exclaimed in surprise.
"Sh*t! This person isn't a small fish! He's a big fish—No! He is a big fat whale! A small figure like me will not be able to endure this person's wrath!"
Upon realizing that fact, Tok immediately deleted the article and remove the only proof of his sh*t posting.
However, the comment thread remained behind, along with the article title—even though the article content was removed.
[LordMischief701: Oh, the article content just disappeared. Teacher Tok must have found out now, hahaha!]
[MrOpportunist49: Don't worry, Teacher Tok. Your secret is safe with us. But there's no guarantee that my tongue won't slip—not unless I see some $$$, hehehe. *evil grin*]
[TeacherTok: What secret? Don't spout rubbish. I don't know what you are talking about!]
...
Meanwhile, Albion continued to slaughter the participants at the top of the hill like butchering chickens.
Their corpses piled like mountains, and blood flowed down the hill like rivers, painting the map in a crimson color.
<Time elapsed: 6mins 32 secs>
<Remaining participants: 17,574>
The game status continued to update on a holographic screen above the top of the hill in real-time.
At the same time, the fallen participants continued to revive in the surrounding spectating hills as spiritual entities without their material vessels.
"Man, that was too scary! Which idiot said this person was a newbie? Come out right now! I swear I won't beat you up!"
"Dammit. The newcomers are so strong and terrifying these days. I might have lost 500 credits, but it was worth it!" A male spirit spoke.
The average price of a coffee in real life was around the same value as 500 credits. He could afford such loss without feeling salty.
"Still, TheStrongestWizard is way too strong for a newcomer, no? If I wasn't aware of the fact that smurf accounts cannot be made in Hunter World, I would have thought some A-ranker was trolling us."
"Right! I'm quite curious who this person is in real life! All the A-rankers and above are all well-known faces. I know all of their names in Hunter World. But this person is unfamiliar."
As the spectators began making guesses regarding Albion's identity, the surviving participants inside the King of the Hill battle map were running for their lives.
Suddenly, one of the escaping participants stopped fleeing and shouted, "Everyone, this is a game and a battle royale! Why are we running?!"
"Yeah. Why are you all running?" Albion casually asked before slapping the male Hunter to death with a single strike.
The person's soul flew out of the person's body like a ghost being exorcised as the head drew an arc in the air, and the body flopped onto the ground, motionless.
"Your sister! Why shouldn't I be running?!" A male Hunter immediately cried before continuing to escape from Albion.
If he dies, he will lose his chance at winning the big prize money! The hard work of taking down the monster can be left to the others!
In a short instance, changes took place among the surviving participants.
Some continued to flee selfishly while others united their strength in hopes of taking down the biggest threat standing in the way of their prize money.
"Die, Wizard! Have a taste of my ultimate attack! Fiery Fist of Burning Heavens!"
"Oh? You're a brave one. Allow me to show you my respect with a serious attack of my own, Serious Punch!"
Boom!
Two fists collided before the male Hunter instantly disappeared along with a powerful shockwave, sweeping away hundreds of participants in its path!
Swoosh~!
A strong gust of wind billowed before a stretch of devastated land was revealed along the ground like a large mass of earth had been shifted elsewhere.
"What the f*ck was that?! A strong wind just blew away everything obstructing its path!"
"That wind ability was too powerful! It must be A-rank, at least! But I thought special abilities were disabled?!"
The participants were immediately shocked.
At the same time, a chunk of earth slammed against the transparent barrier situated at the bottom of the hill, mixed with bloody messes within.
Rumble!
The barrier shook with visible vibrations due to the strong impact.
As if an error or glitch had appeared in the system, multi-colored pixels were also visibly shown on the transparent barrier!
=====
<Status update>
<Time elapsed: 9mins 12secs>
<Remaining participants: 15,639→15,214>
=====
The screen continued to update in real-time while the participants and spectators alike were greatly shocked by the change in the map's environment.
"Nani the f*ck!" a surviving participant cussed with a dumbfounded expression while looking at the missing stretch of soil on the hill.