The Contest

Games often had plots like this: the player and the BOSS fought over the same item and arrived at nearly the same time. Yet every time the player went through endless hardships to finally reach the destination, they discovered that the BOSS had taken the item, forcing them to continue chasing the BOSS to reclaim the Holy Relic...

Once or twice was one thing, but when practically every game plot worked like this, Duanmu Huai could no longer stand it.

Why the hell?

Why did the BOSS get to rush ahead of me? We started from the same starting line, yet you always crossed the finish line before me?

Could anyone put up with that?

Of course not!

"Hraaaaaaah!!!"

Duanmu Huai gripped the Thunder Warhammer and charged down the corridor like an out-of-control dump truck, smashing aside everyone in his path—those Nuns and priests who had once lived in the monastery had now become zombie-like monsters. Scarlet light shone from their eyes as they lunged at him with outstretched hands like rabid dogs.

Then they were sent flying, reduced to charred black corpses beneath the blazing thunderbolts.

"Boom!!"

Duanmu Huai burst through the encirclement, swept his gaze around, then grabbed the Novice Priestess.

"Where's the Sacred Gear?"

"The, the Sacred Gear??"

The Novice Priestess's face went deathly pale as she desperately shook her head.

"I-I don't know anything about any Sacred Gear..."

"Does this monastery have any forbidden area? Somewhere no one's allowed to go?"

"A forbidden area... a forbidden area..."

Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the Novice Priestess racked her brains.

"The Underground Tomb! There's a place in the Underground Tomb. The abbess said it sealed away a Dark Secret and told us never to go near it..."

"Where is it?"

"J-just below us..."

Hearing the Novice Priestess's answer, Duanmu Huai did not hesitate. He raised his Warhammer and slammed it down at the floor!

"Boom!!!!"

The instant the Warhammer struck, the entire floor rippled like waves across the sea before collapsing and exploding apart. The Novice Priestess screamed as she, Duanmu Huai, and Okegis plunged into the deep pit below.

That single blow had smashed straight through the entire Underground Tomb. The Novice Priestess felt wind whipping past her ears, frightening her so badly that she could barely open her eyes. Just before they reached the bottom, Duanmu Huai grabbed her, and the Jetpack on his back activated instantly, blasting out air to counter their descent. Then Duanmu Huai landed heavily on the ground.

"Thud!!"

Standing in the pitch-black, gloomy tomb, Duanmu Huai raised his head and looked ahead. There stood a pale man dressed all in black and wearing a pointed hat. In his hand, he held a battered old woman—judging by her clothes, she was likely from this monastery.

"Abbess!!"

Seeing the old woman in the man's grasp, the Novice Priestess cried out in shock. The man turned around as well and stared at Duanmu Huai in surprise.

"How is this possible? I clearly set traps and an Army of the Dead throughout the tomb..."

That's exactly why I didn't walk through the damn place! Otherwise, wouldn't those things have annoyed me to death?

That was why Duanmu Huai had smashed open the Underground Tomb. Usually, at times like this, the villain sent a mountain of underlings to delay the protagonist, then escaped with the item by the time the protagonist finally arrived, panting and exhausted... Duanmu Huai was not about to indulge that nonsense. You wanted me to navigate the map? Wasn't smashing through the wall much more convenient?

Who the hell wants to play your game?

Duanmu Huai tossed the priestess aside, gripped his Warhammer tightly, and fixed his gaze on the Vampire before him.

"Okegis! Kill him!"

At Duanmu Huai's command, Okegis leaped from his shoulder. Threads shot rapidly from her hands, wrapping around the man's body in the blink of an eye. The man reacted quickly as well. The instant Okegis caught him, his body suddenly split apart into countless bats that scattered in all directions. But Okegis clearly had no intention of letting him go. Her fingers trembled slightly, and the threads spread like a spiderweb, enveloping the swarm of bats.

Then Okegis clenched her hand. With a scream, the bats were instantly sliced apart, more than half killed or wounded. The remaining bats swiftly gathered together, transforming into a bloodied man who fell to the ground howling.

"Damn Vampires. You bastards are what piss me off most."

Holding the Warhammer, Duanmu Huai strode over to the Vampire and glared down at him before raising his Warhammer high. The Vampire Necromancer's expression changed drastically at once.

"W-wait, you can't kill me! I'm—"

"Take my road rollerrrrrr!!!"

Before the Vampire could finish, Duanmu Huai roared and brought the Warhammer down with all his strength. Amid a shriek, the Vampire was blasted apart by thunder and lightning, transformed into a scorched mass of flesh.

"Trying to steal from me? You're asking to die."

Duanmu Huai spat at the charred Vampire fragments before him, then raised his head and walked over to the old woman. The Novice Priestess was kneeling before her, crying as she tried to heal her wounds, but judging from the old woman's condition, she was clearly beyond saving.

"Ah... greetings... noble Grail Knight..."

When she saw Duanmu Huai approach, the old woman slowly opened her mouth and greeted him.

"Hello. I assume you know why I'm here."

By all rights, Duanmu Huai should have gone over first to offer words of comfort, waited until the old woman closed her eyes, and only then moved on to the next step—but how many people had failed because of that?

It was better to be straightforward. Finish the mission first, then they could come back and mourn afterward.

"Of course..."

At Duanmu Huai's words, a faint smile appeared on the old woman's face.

"Long ago... we knew... this day would come... evil and evil... always draw one another together..."

As she spoke, the old woman looked toward the Novice Priestess beside her.

"Don't cry... child... when we came here, we had already resolved to use our lives to protect all of this... I'm only sorry... that we dragged you into it..."

With that, the old woman opened her mouth, reached inside, and forcefully pulled out a jewel-encrusted tooth, handing it to Duanmu Huai.

Duanmu Huai took the tooth and walked to the sealed door. He aimed the gemstone set in the tooth at the groove before him and placed it inside. Soon, the sealed door slowly opened, revealing a staff inlaid with a skull, floating in midair while bound by layer after layer of chains.

"Whew..."

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly, he had been afraid he would open the seal and find nothing inside—if that happened, then according to the usual game flow, he would have to search for clues, open up more of the map, and keep searching... What a waste of time that would be!

Now, at least, it seemed this would not turn into another one of those game plots and throw some new nonsense at him.