"This world is dangerous. It's rare to meet someone else who was transported here. How about we form a party?" said Kenta Yukita, approaching them while discreetly moving one hand behind his back, gripping a hidden dagger.
"Nice to meet you," replied Shū Tsukikawa, stepping forward with a broad smile.
Seeing the other boy approach, Yukita felt a rush of excitement.
"Guys, let's take him out first. The girl… well, even if she's not much, you can still have some fun with her," Yukita muttered, glancing slightly toward the three male students behind him.
Both groups slowly closed the distance between them.
Just as they were about to enter striking range, a twisted smile appeared on Yukita's lips.
"Die!" he shouted, drawing the dagger in a sudden motion, ready to stab.
Leveling up had granted him reflexes beyond those of a normal person, and his attack was fast.
However, in the next instant, he looked up—only to see a steel hammer crashing down toward his head.
It was the [Skull-Crusher Hammer], a green-rank weapon Tsukikawa had obtained recently.
Tsukikawa had dropped all pretense of friendliness. His smile vanished, replaced by cold indifference.
When it came to speed, Tsukikawa was even faster than Yukita.
Yukita's face went pale. He immediately shifted from offense to defense, trying to block the hammer with his dagger.
Clang!
The dagger shattered in two, and a sharp pain shot up Yukita's arm, leaving it numb.
That's when Yukita understood: the man before him wasn't just higher level—his weapon completely outclassed his own.
Yukita's dagger was a white-rank item, but that hammer was at least one tier higher.
"Don't just stand there! Attack!" Yukita shouted to the others.
The three students, furious, charged into battle.
They didn't know Tsukikawa's exact level, but they figured that numbers would give them an advantage.
But then, a voice filled with despair rang out.
"Do you really think you're strong?"
It was Hitori Gotō, once again wearing that empty, distant look.
"We're all the same… just society's trash."
"Even in this world, we're still miserable. And when we return to the real world, the people at the top will keep exploiting us…"
"What's the point of fighting?"
Her words fell like a bucket of ice water on Yukita and his group. A wave of negative emotions washed over them.
"She's right… What are we even fighting for?"
"It'd be better to die now. Going back just to live like slaves is worse than death."
"In this hopeless world, we'll all die anyway. At least if it's by another human's hand… it might hurt less…"
The three students, once aggressive, now had vacant, hollow eyes. They'd lost all will to fight, and even their breathing became heavy and sluggish.
Yukita too felt an overwhelming urge to give up—maybe even end it all.
"No… This has to be some cursed skill! Don't let it affect you!" he shouted, barely holding on thanks to his higher level.
But the other three had already dropped their weapons, frozen in place.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Tsukikawa didn't miss the opportunity. He swung his hammer mercilessly, smashing the skulls of all three students.
Blood and brain matter splattered across the ground.
Tsukikawa didn't care whether they were decent people in the real world. In this moment, in this world, anyone who posed a threat had to be eliminated without mercy.
Yukita's face went ghostly white.
Run! I have to run!
But his body wouldn't move. The flood of negative emotions had overwhelmed his mind, leaving him paralyzed. All he could do was stare up in terror as the hammer descended, growing larger in his vision—until everything went black.
Once the four students were dead, Tsukikawa put the hammer away.
"How disappointing. Their level was pathetic," he muttered, dissatisfied.
He had planned to put up a proper fight, but after killing them, it was clear they hadn't stood a chance.
The student council member from Kaibin Integrated Academy who had seemed vaguely familiar was barely level 8. The others were around level 5 or 6. Tsukikawa, being two to three times their level, could have taken them down bare-handed.
On top of that, none of them had unlocked a class.
Without a class, there were no skill cards to obtain.
The only skill Yukita dropped was:
[Strength Boost (Basic)]
Effect: Increases strength and speed by 10% for 30 seconds.
Pretty mediocre.
"But better than nothing."
Once some form of order was established in this world, he might be able to trade the skill for something more useful. Skills were hard to come by—you either got them from the system at a certain level, or found them while exploring the map.
The truly unlucky players who didn't acquire any would have to barter with others to get them.
Gotō approached, staring at the corpses in nausea.
It was the first time she had seen someone die, and the scene was horrific.
It was also the first time she had killed someone… even if not directly.
Will I end up like this too, someday?
But then, a warm, firm chest pulled her into a calming embrace, soothing her shaken heart.
"These guys had blood on their hands. They weren't good people," said Tsukikawa, giving one of the corpses a light kick.
Several objects spilled from the pocket of its uniform: two pink phone cases, small wallets, and jewelry. Clearly, they had belonged to girls.
The other bodies also carried valuables: watches, cash…
It was obvious they had planned to sell it all upon returning to the real world.
"Judging by the number of phones, at least two girls and three boys fell into their hands."
"Killing players gives more experience than killing monsters of the same level."
Tsukikawa analyzed the situation coldly.
If killing players granted more experience, it wouldn't be long before many started hunting others to level up faster.