Mission

Ignoring the information displayed by the system for now, Wang Ji quickly surveyed his surroundings.

It was a dilapidated little building. Broken stones, weeds, and vines were scattered everywhere inside. The doors and windows were all damaged.

Wang Ji tightened his grip on the War Blade and cautiously edged toward a window to look outside. There was quite a commotion out there.

"Hm?"

Outside, a young warrior was fighting a monster that looked like a wild boar.

"It's a Steel-Bristle Pig! A Primary Beast Soldier Level monster! Tough defense, great strength, and no slouch in a short-distance charge, either! Its weakness is poor agility!" Information about the Steel-Bristle Pig surfaced in Wang Ji's mind.

Wang Ji was in his final year of high school. The required course on monster studies accounted for 60 points on the college entrance exam, as much as biology had before the Cataclysm. In modern society, becoming a warrior was every teenager's dream. Wang Ji's predecessor had dreamed of the same thing. Though he barely had time to train each day, at seventeen he'd managed a punching force of just over 500 kilograms, only enough to cross the threshold into the intermediate trainee level.

"Good thing I'm a transmigrator! Good thing I have this cheat! I'll definitely rise to the top!" The loser office worker from his previous life made up his mind.

"Boom!" The Steel-Bristle Pig and the warrior were locked in a fierce battle outside. Shards of old concrete and clods of dirt flew everywhere!

Wang Ji could barely keep up with their movements. They were simply too strong! Their speed and strength were more than twice his own!

Half a minute later, "Boom!"

Wang Ji stared wide-eyed at what was happening outside.

"How could... How could this be..."

The warrior's blade had plunged through the soft flesh of the Steel-Bristle Pig's neck and into its chest! But the pig's tusks had also slammed hard into the warrior's head!

They'd both been mortally wounded! They'd taken each other down!

Had the warrior's combat experience been too green? Or had he let his guard down at the last moment? Wang Ji hadn't seen clearly!

When Wang Ji looked at the warrior's head, the familiar dent from an impact and the familiar cracks came into view!

"It's that one! That helmet!" Wang Ji jolted. It was his damaged helmet! So its owner had been this young man? The young man's eyes were already unfocused, and a red-and-white fluid trickled down from beneath the helmet.

Perhaps it was the last flicker of life. In the final instant, the young man's gaze suddenly cleared, and he saw Wang Ji hiding inside the window. "Help... @#&..." After uttering a string of unintelligible words, his eyes dimmed.

Wang Ji was still reeling in shock. He'd always treated this instance as a game. But seeing the young man's eyes flicker and go dark, seeing that damaged helmet, had left him confused.

This was real! Even if it wasn't happening now, it had truly happened at some point in the past!

While Wang Ji stood there, stunned for over half a minute, another roar rang out. Then a nimble figure lightly sprang down from a tree branch, landing without a sound.

"Damn! A Shadow Cat!" It was a monster about the size of a leopard from his old world. Its whole body was dark gray. It was good at ambushes and incredibly fast, making it even more troublesome for beginner warriors than the Steel-Bristle Pig!

Before Wang Ji could hide, the Shadow Cat sensed something. It edged closer and spotted him!

"Swish!" A searing pain tore through him! The War Blade Wang Ji swung didn't even touch the Shadow Cat before its claws slashed open his throat!

"Shit!" Wang Ji cried out as he jolted awake in his bedroom. He fearfully felt his neck. Thank goodness, it was still there!

So dying in the instance space didn't kill him in real life. That had scared the hell out of him! He'd never forget the terror of dying in that instant.

Wang Ji grabbed some boiled water that had cooled and gulped down several mouthfuls before he finally started to calm down. Then he steeled himself. "Enter!"

"Roar!"

Wang Ji carefully crouched by the window and watched. This time, he gradually started to understand what was happening. The young warrior was fighting fiercely, but his reactions were clearly inadequate. Several times, he'd only just managed to dodge at the last possible moment!

He lacked agility! The Steel-Bristle Pig wasn't agile either, but at least it was fast in a short-distance charge, and a wild beast's instincts for attacking were innate. The young warrior was already at a disadvantage!

Wang Ji kept thinking of the young warrior's final look. He wanted to save him, but neither fighter's speed nor strength was within his reach! Wang Ji was nothing but a weakling who'd only just passed the intermediate trainee threshold of 500 kg punching force. If he went out there, he'd be killed instantly!

Half a minute later, "Boom!"

The young warrior poured everything he had into plunging his War Blade into the Steel-Bristle Pig's chest, but the pig's dying counterattack slammed its tusks into his helmet! The two-ton Steel-Bristle Pig struck with tremendous force. Even the Kro Alloy helmet couldn't withstand it. A dent the size of an egg caved in instantly, and two long cracks split the helmet!

The young warrior's gaze dimmed...

"Now!" Wang Ji steeled himself and suddenly charged out!

With the strength of an intermediate trainee, how could he kill a monster? It was impossible!

This was his only chance!

The Steel-Bristle Pig wasn't dead yet, but its wound was fatal. This was the only chance he'd get to kill the monster!

The young warrior murmured something when he saw Wang Ji charging out, but Wang Ji couldn't spare him a thought. He rushed into the battle zone and pulled the War Blade from the Steel-Bristle Pig's chest.

"Shit! It's so heavy!" At least forty kilograms! But Wang Ji wasn't the weakling he'd been in his previous life. The Steel-Bristle Pig still had the strength to struggle, but Wang Ji steeled himself and chopped down hard with the blade!

"Chink!" The blade bit deep into the Steel-Bristle Pig's neck, but only sank a dozen centimeters or so!

"Oink!" The Steel-Bristle Pig thrashed violently, trying to attack Wang Ji. Wang Ji's gaze remained clear. With a thought, he thrust the blade forward, then again! At last, he drove it back into the wound that had already pierced the pig's neck!

It was the same wound, but from a different angle. Wang Ji deliberately aimed for the heart. Finally, the Steel-Bristle Pig struggled violently a few more times, then stopped moving, twitching.

Wang Ji couldn't dodge in time, and his left arm was clipped, too. It instantly felt as though it had been broken, and he couldn't put any strength into it.

"At last..."

"Roar!"

"What!" Wang Ji swung his blade!

"Chink!" A dark gray shadow flashed by. As searing pain tore through him, his vision went black, and he suddenly sat bolt upright in his bedroom again!

"Fuck! I forgot about the Shadow Cat!"

"Ding! In this instance, monsters killed: 1/3; mission assessment incomplete!

Mission reward: Essence Source*1"

Essence Source? What was that? Wang Ji focused his mind, and a faintly glowing particle appeared in his hand. A vague understanding came to him. With a thought, the particle melted into the flesh of his palm.

A rush of intense pleasure washed over him, but before he could savor it, it quickly faded away, leaving only a pleasant lightness in his body. Was this something that could strengthen his physique?

Wang Ji wondered and tried to explore other possibilities. A moment later, a translucent, pale blue interface appeared before him.

"Name: Wang Ji

Age: 17

Strength: 540 kg

Speed: 17 m/s

Neural Response: Failed Beginner Warrior Standard"

It was a simple interface, with no points to allocate or any other abilities.

Even so, Wang Ji was quite satisfied! At least he had a stat panel now! He remembered that the last time he'd tested his punching force, it had been 530 kg, so... did one Essence Source add 10 kg of punching force?

"Again! I'm going to clear this instance! I'll fight till dawn!"