This Humble One, Reincarnation Stream Player

The recoil numbed his wrists, and Yuki entered a state of self-forgetfulness, even hearing a strange sound.

[Player Yuki, Firearms Proficiency increased to Mastery.]

The sound flashed by, and Yuki thought it was an auditory hallucination, but he had no way to verify it; the Glock in his hand was already locked open on an empty chamber.

The bullets had been spent, leaving the Tyrant riddled with bloody holes, its somewhat bulletproof leather trench coat shredded beyond recognition, yet it was clear that no vital organs had been struck.

Almost the instant the gunfire ceased, the monster rose from its cowering position, its massive frame nearly burying Yuki.

Rat-tat-tat.

Short, controlled bursts came from the distance, causing sprays of blood to erupt from its back, but the monster remained unmoved, fixated on Yuki as the greatest threat.

It's coming.

Yuki tilted his head back, discarded the pistol, swallowed hard, and without a word of nonsense, turned and ran.

Thump, thump...

At the same time, thundering footsteps echoed, and within a few strides, it caught up. Gunfire continued to ring out from behind, but most of the bullets seemed to fly off into nowhere.

'Marksmanship is abysmal, zero threat. Eliminate this male, and she will not live for another minute.'

The monster, acting purely on instinct, suddenly became rational; even its attacks became methodical. This time, it didn't strike blindly, instead striding past Yuki before twisting its body to deliver a sweeping kick.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by the sound of wind, a trench was carved into the concrete floor. Yuki jumped in advance, but as he looked up, his pupils constricted.

Bang!

A fist the size of a sandbag slammed into him, deforming the rifle he had raised to block. Yuki felt as if he had been struck by a car, flying several meters through the air before rolling across the ground multiple times.

Damn it.

Yuki struggled to prop himself up, his mouth tasting of rust. Ignoring his injuries, he looked ahead.

In his green-tinted vision, the tower-like monster approached. It didn't seem berserk, even finding a moment to glance at its own dangling right arm.

'Ligaments torn; power output insufficient to crush the male.'

As it walked, it raised its left hand to tear away the tattered leather coat, revealing its rotting, mutated torso. It casually picked up a nearby I-beam, dragging it across the floor to shower the area in sparks.

Rat-tat-tat.

The Tyrant's body faltered for a moment. Seeing the blood erupting from its abdomen, it didn't hesitate to hurl the I-beam.

Bang!

Stone shards sprayed from the pillar behind as Mai Sakurajima cowered, nearly letting out a scream.

It was terrifying. She didn't know why her shots had no effect, nor did she understand what kind of Conceptual Craft Essence Yuki possessed to dare such a gamble.

'She will not dare to show her head for a short time. Take this opportunity to kill the male.'

After throwing the I-beam, the Tyrant suddenly accelerated. Yuki had just finished loading two shells into his shotgun when the footsteps reached him, followed by a kick aimed straight at his face.

Boom—

The load-bearing pillar, several meters thick, cracked entirely. The Tyrant turned its head, having already analyzed what the rolling Yuki would do next.

'Use the injured right arm to shield the head, use the shoulder to absorb the second shot, then close in and use the knee to crush him into pulp.'

A sequence of moves flashed through its mind, and as it turned, it indeed saw its prey raising the gun with one hand.

Bang!

A bright tongue of fire flashed and vanished. The Tyrant's head jerked upward, its vision vanishing in an instant.

'Why?'

In Yuki's eyes, the Tyrant had done nothing, turning its head like a fool only to have its head shredded by a shotgun blast.

Muscle was erased, bone shattered, the eyeball exploded, and the neck split to reveal a pale spine; the body lost its balance. Yet, even so, it lunged forward, shoulder-first, but in this state, it looked more like it was throwing itself onto the muzzle.

Bang!

Yuki pulled the trigger without hesitation. A mangled right arm flew into the air, and since the Tyrant hadn't been steady to begin with, it tipped backward, resulting in a highly uncoordinated scene.

The upper body was falling, yet the lower body was still thrusting its knee. Yuki sidestepped the bizarre attack, dropped the shotgun, and drew the long blade from his waist.

Clang.

"You think too much, it's causing too much lag!"

Yuki charged, arched his back, gripped the blade with both hands, and aimed for the Tyrant's mangled neck—

A decapitating strike!!

Chapter 37: You're Not Dead!? (First Update)

Mai hid behind the pillar, her face still throbbing with pain. A piece of the I-beam had protruded from above her head, and her heart was still pounding wildly.

Close, just a little closer.

If that thing had hit directly, it would have skewered me through and through. This monster is far too terrifying; it's not even in the same league as the one in the Ancient Castle, and that idiot is actually fighting it one-on-one.

I should have been able to help; the bullets were soaked in Quiet Dew, and I must have hit the fixed target several times, but wouldn't air friction evaporate the dew? If that monster possesses intelligence, wouldn't it be even harder to deal with?

Mai's mind was in turmoil, filled with both anticipation and trepidation, when she suddenly heard a dull, rhythmic thudding sound.

"Huh? What is that noise?"

After a moment of hesitation, she took a deep breath and peered out, only to see something round rolling along the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was a mangled, unrecognizable giant head.

The muscles had been stripped away, exposing the gums to the air, and it was continuously oozing disgusting slime. Fortunately, she had seen enough grotesque things to keep her composure; she simply nudged it away with the butt of her gun and stood up instantly.

The parking lot was riddled with shallow craters and shattered load-bearing pillars. A headless corpse lay in the open space, and a figure stood over its chest, repeatedly raising and lowering a blade like a focused butcher, hacking the body into pieces.

He was stained dark red from head to toe. Mai blinked, and ignoring the nausea, she stepped through the slick, bloody mess to approach him.

"What... are you doing?"

"Finishing it off. Even if the Crimson Moon is powerful, there's no way it can revive from this." Yuki leaned on his blade, panting heavily. Seeing Mai's calm expression, he didn't know what to say.

She had inevitably matured; the air of a youthful daily life was quietly fading away. At the very least, in essence, she was no different from him now.

"That was a good shot earlier. Being able to keep your hands steady and hit a fixed target accurately under those circumstances is impressive." Yuki glanced at the expressionless girl and spread his hands. "But remember to use short bursts next time. You almost hit me several times."

"Nonsense! I waited until you were far enough away every time I fired!"

"Oh? Is the senior so afraid of friendly fire? I'll never forget this concern, even to my dying day."

"Who's concerned about you? If you're going to die, go die somewhere far away," Mai snapped viciously, her calm face finally showing some life.

She really wasn't a straightforward person.

Yuki grinned, then looked down at the dismembered corpse at his feet. There was no doubt it had been a gamble; the Chaos Item had essentially buffed the Tyrant, making its straightforward attacks predictable.

If this had dragged on any longer, I would have been forced to use a Conceptual Craft Essence.

Yuki took a breath. As for Mai, she was no longer just a pretty face; she had repeatedly played a critical role.

Then, he could confirm the anomaly of this dungeon.

His expression turned icy. Killing a mini-boss and receiving no reward was simply unjustifiable.

I don't know what the normal difficulty of the Reincarnation Game is, but It can never violate its own principles. Killing a powerful enemy should yield a reward.

The options when unlocking traits, the sighs and gazes that followed—are these all just opening a door only to slam a window shut on me?

Yuki finally had an answer, but he didn't even bother to speculate, as it was all meaningless.

The Reincarnation Game wanted him dead, doing its best to seal off every opportunity for him to grow. But as long as it didn't erase him instantly, that opportunity would always exist.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Mai poked his stomach.

"Game settings." Yuki laughed instead, countering, "Senior, did your skill panel gain an extra skill?"

"How did you know?" Mai looked at her player panel; there was indeed a new entry in the skill list called Firearm Proficiency.

"As I thought. Reinforcement points are just a shortcut. Players can improve their skills through their own efforts, too. Hmm, it likely has to do with the environment."

Yuki pondered to himself. He had practiced at shooting ranges before, but shooting at a chest-shaped target was nothing like unloading on a Tyrant. According to the game's logic, the latter would accumulate experience points many times faster.

At this rate, my swordsmanship isn't far from leveling up either. It's a good thing I didn't waste my Reinforcement points on common skills. Only things like Reinforcement Magecraft, which have no real-world equivalent, are worth using points on.

Yuki let out a long sigh, relieved he had guessed correctly. Just as he was thinking this, his stomach was poked again.

"Hey, should we regroup with Li Dan and the others?" Mai asked, hesitating. The appearance of the Tyrant meant too many things.

"Of course we have to."

"But didn't you say there was something wrong with him?"

"If there's a problem, we solve it. We can't hide forever. Besides, if we hide, what happens to Hayasaka?" Yuki bent down to pick up his shotgun, sliding shells into it one by one. "The probability is shifting, but to survive this dungeon, I still need Li Dan's strength."

Mai's lips moved, but she finally sighed softly. She couldn't bring herself to abandon Hayasaka, and besides, everything was still just speculation. Perhaps things weren't as bad as he thought.

Ding-ling.

In the deathly silence, the sudden notification sound was startling. Mai turned to see the man pull out a mobile phone; it looked like he had scavenged it from the enemy.

"Wait a second, there's a network?"

"Ours is gone, but the dungeon's natives haven't lost theirs."

"Even the living corpses send messages? There shouldn't be any normal people left in the dungeon now."

"Who said that?" Yuki opened the messaging app and saw a video. He tapped it, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"Aren't we players normal people?"

The ground was burning, the wreckage of several crushed cars lay scattered about, and a few streetlights were embedded in a nearby wall.

Hoo, hoo, hoo.

Li Dan leaned on his knees, gasping for air. His revolver hung low, blood dripping from the barrel.

He lifted his head, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his thick features. A 'V'-shaped trench had been carved into the wide main road; the further out it went, the wider it spread, and the end had even blasted a small building in two.

Before him, two thick, muscular legs remained in place, but the upper body was nowhere to be seen.

A loss. I didn't expect this monster to be so tenacious, and it wouldn't let me go.

In this place where the moonlight was at its peak, the Tyrant's regeneration speed was too fast. Even with half its head blown off, it kept attacking, either ripping out streetlights to throw or charging while holding a car. The revolver's destructive power was too low; even with infinite bullets, he couldn't break through its muscle.

Li Dan decided to activate Death Knell, the true power of this Chaos Item, but he couldn't charge it up at all while being entangled.

She runs way too fast, truly useless, she doesn't even have the courage to provide cover.

Li Dan cursed inwardly, quietly putting away a kaleidoscope-like item; he had just used this thing to slow down the Tyrant before blasting it to death with a single shot.

Confirmed, there is definitely something abnormal about this dungeon. A monster this fierce, and it didn't even give me a single reward?

It's definitely not my fault. Damn it, if I can't grow rapidly, is this forcing me to solve the trouble at the source?

Is it really him? But he still has his uses.

Li Dan was hesitant, only to have his thoughts interrupted by a round of applause.

Clap, clap, clap.

"Brother Li, you were so cool just now! I was stunned watching you; it was even more thrilling than in the movies!"

Following the enthusiastic applause, the blonde girl ran out from the alley where she had been hiding, her face full of admiration as she clicked her tongue in wonder at the destruction on the ground.

Useless trash, where were you earlier?

Li Dan's mouth twitched, but he couldn't bring himself to criticize her too much. He turned around, only to step right into a shallow pit, stumbling several steps and nearly face-planting into the dirt.

"Brother Li, are you okay!"

"I'm fine, just a bit tired." Li Dan waved his hand with some indifference, though he knew this was a side effect of the Chaos Item. He tensed his nerves and suddenly stepped half a pace to the side.

Thud.

A bent streetlamp crashed down right beside him, nearly cracking his skull open. Hayasaka Ai blinked her pure, innocent-looking eyes, while her mind analyzed the situation incessantly.

He seems to be very unlucky? He's completely on edge.

Glancing at Hayasaka Ai once more, Li Dan simply stood where he was and refused to move. He cast a sidelong glance at the fatty, and almost without delay, the latter began to scream in terror.

"We're done for, we're done for! This monster is much stronger than the one in the Ancient Castle. Brother Li, that means the progress won't reset!"