Chapter 12

The arrow hit the exposed back of the head as if it were being sucked in.

The player disappeared in a flash of light with a single hit.

"1 kill! First kill!"

At the same time, the system voice echoed.

I did it... I took down a player!

Honestly, I thought it wouldn't feel good to shoot someone, even in a game.

But it was different.

This is still a game.

I can purely enjoy the victory!

It's no different from the excitement I felt when I got my first kill in the first battle royale game I ever played.

Awkward aim, clumsy movement, messy shooting...

Still, I was happy to take someone down.

That feeling is the same even in a VR game.

"Hurry up and loot the loot box!"

A treasure chest appears where the killed player was.

The chest contains the items the killed player had.

In this case, it's empty.

This person must have just warped in and didn't have time to pick up any items.

I got carried away.

Also, it's obvious that you can't take equipment.

If you could easily take equipment that someone worked hard to get, no one would participate in this event.

The only thing you can take is the chips you get during the event.

"Well, I don't want to stay in the grassland for too long..."

The grassland is surrounded by mountains.

If you want to use your range, you should take the high ground.

Climb the mountain while being cautious of enemies.

If you see an enemy, try to kill them if possible.

This is my rule for this event.

If you let an enemy go and run into them later, you'll be at a disadvantage.

Long-range attacks are useless in close combat, and you can't react to surprise attacks.

Identify the enemy's position first and take them out preemptively.

I don't want to deviate from this basic strategy.

"Hey, there's a building... No enemies in sight, let's gather some items."

Four wooden houses stand on the mountain slope.

The doors are closed, so they might not have been looted yet.

But closing the door is all it takes.

This assumption isn't absolute.

I quietly pressed against the outer wall and peeked inside through the window.

Several chips were scattered around.

It's unlikely they were left as bait.

In the early stages, it's more reasonable to focus on boosting your stats and aiming for kills rather than using such tactics.

It seems this place hasn't been looted.

I opened the door and went inside.

I left it open.

This way, if someone comes later, they'll know and be cautious about entering.

I collected all the chips.

Two "Attack +10" chips.

Three "Unique +10" chips.

A total of five chips, all for stat boosts.

"Unique" refers to class-specific stats.

For a warrior, it's "Spirit," for a mage, it's "Miracle," and for an archer, it's "Range."

This is about how many chips you can get from a building of this size.

I checked the second floor too, and now to the next building...

Wait, there's someone in the forest!

"Sure enough, with tens of thousands of participants, it's easy to encounter enemies...!"

I was lucky to spot him through the window.

A man is staring at the open door.

He hasn't noticed me yet.

Now, how should I take him out...

The enemy's weapon is a "gun."

It's a pretty cool gun.

It looks more like an SF gun that can shoot beams rather than a realistic one.

I have the range advantage, but his bullet speed seems faster.

If I suddenly rush out and engage in a shootout, I might lose.

I want to attack from a distance and overwhelm him.

But if I move now, the sound of my footsteps will give away my position inside the house.

Unlike in regular games, walking slowly doesn't eliminate footstep sounds.

Moreover, this is a wooden house.

Walking will make the floor creak, and it might even reveal that I'm on the second floor.

In this game, buildings can be destroyed by attacks.

If he can make high-power shots, he could shoot through the walls and hit me from the outside.

It was a mistake to stay here too long.

There are principles in VR battle royale.

Especially the risk of being inside a building is higher than usual.

The turtle strategy is not favorable here.

"But I can get through this if I use my skills well."

I twisted my body to avoid making noise and drew my bow.

I shot an invisible arrow, the "Clear Arrow," through the open balcony at the window of the adjacent house!

*Crack* *Shatter* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack*!

The window shattered with a loud noise.

The enemy player wouldn't understand why the window broke.

Naturally, his attention would be drawn to it.

I took this opportunity to shoot him with the "Infight Arrow"!

*Whirr* *Whiz* *Thud* *Thud*!

Two arrows pierced the player's head and chest.

Both are vital points.

The player disappeared in a flash of light, helpless.

"2 kills!"

"Phew..."

This was a victory of my strategy.

It was tense, but the exhilaration of taking someone down is special.

Now, let's collect the chips from the dropped loot box.

After taking down one more...

I had been noticing something.

The player I took down was unusually concerned about his back.

He was probably being pursued by an enemy he had discovered but couldn't take down.

I'll use the loot box dropped by the corpse as bait to lure that enemy.

But if no one comes after 30 seconds, I'll assume I'm overthinking it.

Just then, a player with a sword appeared.

He was fully armored in metal and even had a shield.

I see, that explains his boldness.

He must have thought that with this armor, he could withstand several arrows without flinching.

"Unfortunately, there are arrows like this too."

I used the "Web Arrow" to cover the armored player in sticky web.

The armor seems quite heavy.

If he falls while entangled in the web, he won't be able to get up.

All I need to do is shoot through the gaps in his armor to finish him off.

"3 kills!"

"Not bad for my first event. I'm doing well, me."

I want to think there are no more enemies, but I'll wait a few more seconds.

...Okay, no one is coming, and there's no sound.

I collected the chips from two players and the chips from the unexplored buildings.

I'll check the contents later.

This isn't my favorite terrain.

I'll leave quickly and head further up the mountain.

*11/23 Slightly revised the description around the balcony.