Punishment Round

Wang Zhifan then walked over to the giant boar sprawled on the ground and drove nearly the entire blade of the Wolf Slayer Blade into its body, piercing its heart with the tip.

Throughout the process, the giant boar before him showed no sign of struggling and did not even let out a single grunt. Clearly, its soul had been so severely damaged before its physical death that it had become an idiot.

Less than two seconds later, the giant boar before Wang Zhifan began to dissipate like smoke across the vast grassland. At the same time, two system messages flashed before him.

You have advanced to Lv2. Strength Attribute increased by 1 point. Personal Space capacity increased by 1 cubic meter.

Please select your Dungeon rewards independently (up to 3 items may be selected).

Common Grade (98% drop chance)

Short Axe (Common) X0–3...

Fine Grade (1% drop chance):

Short Axe (Fine) X0–2, Handgun (Fine) X0–2, Short Blade (Fine) X0–2...

Wild Boar Armor (Fine) X0–2, Wild Boar Mask (Fine) X0–2, Boarhide Knee Pads (Fine) X0–2...

Handgun Ammunition Box (Fine) X0–2, Submachine Gun Ammunition Box (Fine) X0–2, Rifle Ammunition Box (Fine) X0–2...

Unyielding Ring (Fine) X0–2, Fury Ring (Fine) X0–2, Tusk Ring (Fine) X0–2...

Warrior Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2, Mage Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2, Summoner Class Skill Upgrade Scroll (Fine) X0–2...

Rare Grade (0.01% drop chance):

Iron Mountain Belt (Rare) X0–1

"Leveling up gave me 1 point of Strength and increased my Personal Space capacity. Not much different from what I predicted."

Wang Zhifan first confirmed the effects of his upgrade. He felt no particular excitement, as they were more or less what he had expected. Then, with a thought, he closed that system message and opened his personal panel for a look.

Name: Wang Zhifan.

Status: Normal, Tiger Force.

Level: Lv2.

Experience: 29/100.

Class: Blade Warrior.

Constitution: 18.

Strength: 20.

Agility: 17.

Spirit: 16.

Skill: Basic Saber Art Lv3.

Equipped: Wolf Slayer Blade (Rare), Wolf Pelt Armor (Fine), Chapter of Gloom (Rare).

Personal Space: Handgun (Common), Fine Grade Handgun Bullets X10.

As the panel showed, Wang Zhifan had indeed reached Lv2, and his Strength Attribute had risen to 20 points—more than double the average strength of a healthy adult man. His Personal Space also contained an additional Common Grade handgun from the deceased windbreaker youth. As for the ten Fine Grade Handgun Bullets, they were what remained after he had sold off part of his ammunition at the Player Mall on Tianhua Street in Dongjiang City yesterday, just enough to go with his newly acquired handgun.

"Not bad. Now let's take a good look at what rewards I can choose this time."

This Dungeon had brought him an unexpected gain, putting Wang Zhifan in a good mood as he prepared to carefully select his Dungeon rewards.

But just as his gaze swept over the Common Grade reward section, which he had been too lazy to examine closely, a new system message suddenly appeared over the reward panel before him, filling the center of his vision.

You are about to enter the Punishment Round. Please prepare for battle. Countdown: three, two, one... Transmission commencing...

"Huh? A Punishment Round? Is this some kind of mistake?"

When Wang Zhifan saw the system message, he could hardly believe his eyes. He believed cutting off the windbreaker youth's hand had been entirely self-defense and did not constitute a violation. Besides, it had not been him who killed the windbreaker youth afterward—it had been the Dungeon Boss, the giant boar. He should not have been dragged into a Punishment Round.

But at this point, there was no use in Wang Zhifan dwelling on it. The unknown great existence that created these Dungeons had never communicated with the players, nor was there any channel for player appeals. The message displayed before him was merely a notification, not an invitation to negotiate.

Thus, three short seconds later, Wang Zhifan, still somewhat dumbfounded and not even having had time to properly read through the Dungeon reward list, suddenly found that his surroundings had changed.

He had originally been standing beneath blue skies and white clouds amid a vast expanse of grassland, but in the blink of an eye, he had arrived atop a mountain beneath a high-hanging moon.

Beneath his feet lay rocks bathed in moonlight. Above him was an almost full moon. Before him was a mountaintop of limited breadth, its edges all sheer cliffs, as well as a figure standing at the cliff edge opposite him.

Before Wang Zhifan could even make out whether the figure across from him was male or female, it suddenly sprinted toward him at high speed, drawing the long saber at its waist. The entire sequence was incomparably swift and carried an intense killing intent.

"The opponent seems to be an expert."

As a Blade Warrior, Wang Zhifan immediately judged that the enemy charging at him could not be underestimated. It seemed this Punishment Round would not be easy; he would have to go all out.

Before this enemy could reach him, he immediately considered switching to his handgun to attack. But he quickly abandoned the idea and instead raised the Wolf Slayer Blade in his hand, charging toward his opponent.

But do not mistake his decision to forgo the handgun for a desire to uphold martial virtue. In truth, he simply judged that under these conditions, he might not hit this enemy with a gun, making it riskier than using his blade.

Clang! In the blink of an eye, the two Blade Warriors' weapons collided atop the Moonlit Mountain Top. The tremendous force behind their swings sent a string of sparks flying through the air, accompanied by the strange sound of a long saber's edge breaking apart.

"This masked man is weaker than me, and his blade isn't as good as mine."

During that first exchange, Wang Zhifan not only saw that his opponent was a masked man, but also discerned some useful information: the Masked Saberist before him was inferior to him in both strength and weaponry. That meant Wang Zhifan held a considerable advantage in this battle.

But the enemy before Wang Zhifan seemed unconcerned by the wail of the weapon in his hand. Seeing that he could not match the young man before him in strength or weapon quality, he suddenly shifted the direction in which he applied force with his saber, beginning to use binding and twisting blade techniques against Wang Zhifan.

Wang Zhifan countered each move as it came without yielding even half a step. After all, his saber art had reached Lv3, the level of a skilled practitioner. He would not lose his composure the moment his opponent began relying on technique.

Soon, a series of ear-grating metallic clashes rang through the air atop the Moonlit Mountain Top.

The two Blade Warriors first fought fiercely for a short while near the center of the mountaintop. Then the Masked Man's saber suddenly broke, and he retreated, fleeing toward the cliff's edge. Wang Zhifan pursued closely, the Wolf Slayer Blade in his hand pressing hard after him.

But at the cliff's edge, the Masked Man, holding his broken saber, suddenly launched a desperate counterattack against Wang Zhifan. At the same moment the Wolf Slayer Blade in Wang Zhifan's hand pierced through the Masked Man's chest, the Masked Man's broken saber also stabbed into Wang Zhifan's waist and abdomen.