Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All

Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All

Author: Qing Xu

Synopsis:

If—just if—the minor enemies you killed in games were all real people, would you still enjoy mowing them down by the horde?

"What the hell? Why get all sentimental over a game?"

"If that day ever comes, I'll pick the blue pill first and travel to the original poster's place to slap him."

"Gotta go. Someone's checking the water meter at my door. Give me two minutes."

An Yu had transmigrated. He had a beautiful girl for a boss, Bronya; a fat older sister at home; and a job planning the worldbuilding for a game. His life was blissful and complete.

But I'm just playing a horde-slashing game. How can you say I'm guilty of some heinous crime?

An Yu pointed at his older sister. "If you insist that the enemies I'm mowing down are ordinary people, then turn into a Herrscher of Origin for me!"

"Go on, do it!"

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Volume One: Chapter 1: Horde Slayer

Survivor: An Yu

Level: 1

Skills: Gun Mimicry 1 [benefits from attack speed and attack power]

Gun Mimicry 1: Automatically aims at the nearest enemy in range.

Attributes: None

Fight! Fight!

Another headshot!

The flesh turned into experience points and fell to the ground. When An Yu drew within three meters, the experience points automatically chased after him and merged into his body.

[Ding-ding-ding! Congratulations, you leveled up!]

[Choose an upgrade]

Gun Mimicry 1 → 2

/!: Private>.∫ item [~ four turns: Attack Speed 0 → 1

Attack Power 0 → 1

Without a second thought, An Yu immediately chose his starting skill, Gun Mimicry.

Gun Mimicry 2: Can mimic several types of weapons at once.

"I'm telling you, who needs Elden Ring or Dark Souls? Horde-slashing roguelikes are where it's at!"

What was the point of going over there to get tortured? Technology was so advanced these days. Even if you honed your martial arts to perfection, what good would it do?

He tapped the virtual game panel and switched to first-person view.

His vision suddenly sank, and an ornate toy gun appeared in An Yu's hand. It felt a little heavy, but that sense of weight was one of the things drawing him into this new game.

That was how real a game should feel!

"That's what you get with an indie studio's forbidden game! This kind of illicit, banned game... is awesome!!!"

The monsters respawned. An Yu lunged forward. Bang, bang, bang!!!

Three headshots. The gun muzzles floating around his body also locked onto targets automatically.

Experience points were automatically collected within range, and the experience bar at the bottom of An Yu's view reset once more. His level rose to 3.

[Choose an upgrade]

Gun Mimicry 2 → 3

Movement Speed 0 → 1

Artillery Support 0 搜(°索Q group:岐＄死≌汣崚簱≤≠;≯粦→1

He still mindlessly picked his starting skill.

Gun Mimicry 3: When you kill an enemy, you can mimic their weapon.

?

"What a garbage upgrade. No wonder this can only be an illicit game."

Standing on the bloodied flesh, which had at least been blurred, An Yu focused his thoughts. A cleaver and a baseball bat, the sort ordinary enemies used to defend themselves, appeared in his hands.

"I hope these starting weapons get upgraded at level four. Otherwise, the designer's got a screw loose!"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. An Yu's vision turned red, and he watched a fifth of his health bar disappear in the bottom-right corner. He switched straight back to his primary weapon, and a hail of bullets instantly took down the elite monster.

After the elite monster died, a huge card appeared in his field of view. An Yu hurried over to pick it up.

[Additional attribute choice gained]

Attack Speed 0 → 1

Attack Power 0 → 1

Vitality 0 → 1

The sudden attribute choice gave An Yu pause. His health had dropped, and the enemies in this game didn't seem to drop health packs.

But!

He still chose Attack Speed.

Attack Speed 1: Your attack speed increases by 20%.

He didn't feel much of a difference, but when the next wave of enemies appeared on the street, An Yu could clearly feel his trigger finger moving faster.

"Where are the chests? Where are the quests? How does this game have nothing?"

An Yu sprinted along the street. The map that came with this starting character seemed to have a bug: enemies only spawned at fixed points, not outside his field of view.

So if he wanted to level up, he had to keep running around the map. ＇turn: two·: four∏№＜three≌▲five?liu

No wonder this could only be an illicit game! What a trash designer!

Time sped up, and night soon fell. An Yu swiped through the interface.

Survivor: An Yu

Level: 9

Skills: Gun Mimicry 5, Artillery Support 3

Attributes: Attack Speed 3, Skill Frequency 2

Gun Mimicry 5: Everything within sight is your subject.

Artillery Support 3: The shells evolve according to the strongest weapon you can currently imagine.

Attack Speed 3: Your attack speed increases by 60%.

Skill Frequency 2: Your skills activate 40% more frequently.

"No boss?"

"And why did they make the weather system so realistic in a roguelike horde-slashing game? Is the designer's brain full of holes?"

An Yu sat on a rooftop. He seemed to have killed all the enemies on this map, and there had only been three elite monsters in total.

There's no way I have to run to the next map myself, right?

Looking at the system's directions to a map about six kilometers away, An Yu jumped straight off the skyscraper.

The building was dilapidated, yet still stood straight. As his thoughts shifted, it began to tilt, and a skateboard appeared beneath his feet. Even the nearly hundred-meter drop took only a few dozen seconds to glide down at high speed.

"This feels incredible!!!"

He had mimicked the latest high-speed hover vehicle, and An Yu planned to race all the way to the next map.

There were a few scattered enemies along the road, but the gun muzzles around his body automatically killed them, while experience points raced after the vehicle.

The thrill of mowing down hordes continued... until he saw the boss: a young girl with pink hair and a determined gaze.

She raised her bow, blocking the way. She was trying to stop the hover vehicle hurtling toward her.

Hmph! Foolish! Reckless!

An Yu's gaze was just as determined. Let's see what my latest 2060 model can do!

Turn into an attribute card!

Bang!

[game over]

An Yu lay in the game pod, stunned for a long time. How did I die?

I didn't see what happened.

Was this garbage game missing the later maps? Did I get killed by the game's mechanics the moment I left the map?

When he tried to enter the second stage, a message told him he hadn't cleared the first one yet. The clear condition was to reach level 15.

He clicked on the first stage again, only to find that the game had a playtime limit. He would have to wait at least half an hour before he could play again.

"Garbage game."

"I'll play it at home."

An Yu pushed open the game pod and stretched lazily.

"An Yu, quit gaming. The boss says if we can't come up with a complete, cohesive world setting, the whole planning team's getting kicked out."

His colleague wore a worried, helpless expression. He didn't even seem to have the energy to complain. He looked like a model corporate drone.

"Did they throw the previous worldbuilding into the trash again?"

"By the way, is that dumbass lead writer still stuck in a rut?"

An Yu looked as if he'd known all along.

His colleague hurriedly gestured for him to stop. Before An Yu could take it back, a cool voice came from behind him.

"Do you have a problem with Bronya?"

A beautiful silver-haired girl leaned against the corner of a desk, arms folded. One long, silk-white-stockinged leg kept bouncing. She didn't seem to be in a good mood.

An Yu: ...

"Who started that rumor? How could I possibly have a problem with you, boss?"

Even though the boss hadn't made it to the finals of the Game Competition in five years.

Last year, she'd been eliminated in the round of 16 before a huge audience, after failing to make it past the first round in her home country, Russia.

Still, making it through all sorts of qualifiers every year only to get eliminated at the world championships counted as a kind of skill.

At the thought, An Yu almost laughed, but managed to hold it in.

"I hope you're being so glib because you've got a new idea."

Bronya's voice was faintly reproachful. She wasn't blind to how An Yu mocked her in private: "Washed-up duck, washed-up duck—round of eight every year, round of 16 now and then. Useless duck!"

An Yu hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Ahem. I remember you made a name for yourself with Imaginary Energy and the Honkai worldbuilding."

Back when she was still young, Bronya had fought her way to the finals. Though she'd narrowly lost to a veteran game company from Austria, she'd still been hailed as a genius game producer.

That game still had plenty of fans and spin-offs.

For example, the bloody, illicit roguelike horde-slasher An Yu had just played—one that couldn't be released to the public. ...★∈

Volume One: Chapter 2: Boom!

Bronya lifted her eyes. "What are you trying to say?"