Chapter 44 | 20 Crimson Mark!
Chapter 44: 44 | 20 Crimson Mark!
[Jk: What do you say to your sister when she’s crying?]
For more than 5 hours, Andrew hadn’t even seen the beginner village since he entered Heaven’s Domain. He had been too busy fighting, extracting, and growing stronger and focusing on the mission.
It took 3 minutes to head outside the cave, following the path he had taken earlier.
As he emerged from the darkness of the cave he squinted slightly as his eyes adjusted to the brightness.
Outside, the battlefield was littered with corpses. Dead rats and players covered the area.
Andrew began heading back toward Beginner Village.
With his new boots his movement speed increased and he was like a shadow in the forest.
While traveling through the forest, he heard a sound and noticed three players fighting a Level 5 grey hound monster.
The beast was large and muscular, with matted grey fur and sharp yellow teeth that it bared at its attackers.
The three players were struggling, their movements uncoordinated and their attacks ineffective against the monster’s thick hide.
Andrew watched them for a moment and turned to leave.
But one of them seem to have a sensory talent as he shouted.
"Why are you saying and watching us? You want to kill steal this beast right? Come out this instant!"
He said with a thick tone.
Andrew sighed and came out but the moment they saw Andrew approaching, their expressions changed drastically.
One of them with a sword caught sight of Andrew’s. and his face went pale.
"Run!" he shouted to his companions, abandoning the fight entirely.
Without a second thought, all three players turned and fled into the forest, leaving the grey hound monster behind.
The beast, confused by the sudden retreat of its prey, turned its attention to Andrew.
Andrew frowned in confusion as he watched the players disappear into the trees.
Why would they run from him? Was it because of the gold treasures and legendary treasures he wore?
He hadn’t even done anything threatening.
Without paying much attention to the fleeing players, he casually raised his hand and the new Crimson Fang Sword appeared on his palm.
"Slash!"
The blade cut through the grey hound’s neck with ease as it died.
[Extraction Successful]
↳ +3 Strength
He don’t even check what it dropped and placed it in his inventory.
Andrew continued walking. The he remembered something from his predecessor memories.
People could actively hide their treasures.
The effect would remain but the treasure won’t be visible.
"System, activate treasure glam."
[Ding! You’ve selected to make your equipped treasures invisible.]
[Note: this doesn’t work for weapons]
Very soon, he was a normal looking teenager with worn out tunic, battered trousers and no shoes.
He continued walking and a short distance later, he encountered another group fighting a Level 3 wolf like monster
There were five players this time, and they seemed to be doing better than the previous group, though they were still struggling.
The moment they noticed Andrew approaching —
"Fuck! Run!"
The also abandoned the battle and ran away. One of them even dropped his weapon in his haste to escape.
Andrew finally realized something was wrong. It wasn’t a coincidence that both groups had fled at the sight of him. There was something about his appearance that was terrifying them.
Not long after, he encountered a third group. This time, there were seven players fighting against a pair of Level 6 Iton-Tusk Boar
Just as they turned to flee upon seeing him, Andrew causally took a step forward and activated the Shadow Dash ability
In an instant, he flash stepped beside one of the youth and grabbed his shoulder.
That youth’s eyes widened and he dared not move as he remained lie a statue in his running pose.
Swear dirtying down his forehead as the death god look him in the eye.
Andrew was puzzled and he asked, "Why is everyone running away from me?"
The terrified player slowly turned his head to look at him with trembling lips.
"Are you blind?" his voice cracking with fear. "There are twenty Crimson Marks above your head!"
Andrew was startled. Crimson Marks? He hadn’t noticed any marks above his head. But then again, he had never thought to check.
"That means you’ve killed twenty people ! We’ve only been here for a short time, yet you’ve already killed twenty people. Of course everyone is afraid of you! You’re a monster!"
Only then did Andrew understand. Whenever a player killed another player, they received a Crimson Mark of their player-killing activities. The more players someone killed, the more Crimson Marks they accumulated above their head like some gruesome crown.
Normally, players carrying Crimson Marks were banned from entering any NPC-controlled village, town, or city until their penalties were cleared. It was a system designed to discourage wanton player killing and protect new players from being hunted.
Andrew nodded as he understood what was going on.
He turned to the youth still trembling and smiled. "You didn’t have to call me blind though, did you?"
"S-sorry sir. I-I always fucking curse and insult when I’m nervous. It’s instinct."
Andrew patted the youth shoulder. "We are the same age and level. There’s no need to call me sir."
"Pa!" "Pa!" "Pa!"
By the third pat, the youth groaned as his knee struck the ground with force and shattered under Andrew’s pat.
"Ugh!"
Andrew rolled his eyes and ignored the guy as he headed towards the village.
The youth ran in one leg and drag the other to move further away from Levi.
As soon as the village gates came into view through the trees, nearby players saw the many crimson marks floating above Andrew’s head and immediately moved aside in fear.
Some abandoned the level 1 slimes they were fighting and retreated to a safe distance.
"Fuck! This many marks? Just how bloodthirsty is this guy."
"Shut the fuck up! You don’t know his talent, he might be listening."
"I heard heard you have to drink baby’s blood or kill one to maintain such thick blood mark."
A female students spoke in fear.
Another student immediately snorted. "Just like you did yours when you got pregnant right?"
[Punchline: Are you having a crisis?]