Chapter IV

Panic erupted as the second player fell victim to Zayn's uncontrollable strength. "He killed another! Run!" a voice shrieked, followed by a chorus of high-pitched screams from several players, mostly women.

"How dare you kill Cruz?! Die, you bastard!" A female voice shrieked from Zayn’s right side, filled with hatred. With lightning reflexes, Zayn pivoted his head, only to be met by the menacing sight of a metallic whip hurtling towards him. In a split-second decision, he braced himself. The whip struck his face with thunderous force, but to Zayn's surprise, it felt as if someone had hit him with a rope, which barely did any damage.

The female tried to retract the whip, but Zayn caught it in his hands and pulled the female player with force without moving his legs. He didn’t know what would happen if he moved his legs, where would his body be thrown? So, without moving his legs, he pulled the female player and caught her in his hands by her neck.

Before she could comprehend her situation, Zayn closed his right hand, unaware of his tightened grip. Before Zayn could feel his grip's strength, the female player choked, her face turned red, veins on her neck thick like ropes under tormenting pressure, and 'Crack,' her neck snapped with the unsettling strength. Having no control over his increasing strength, his hands crushed her neck, making a paste out of it. Blood gushed out like a fountain from her crushed neck, and her body and head fell to two different sides.

'Shit!' Everything happened in an instance, and before he knew it, warm blood again plastered itself on his face, with a few pieces of crushed bones and flesh remaining on his right hand.

Ding! You have killed a mortal.

Ding! You have acquired a weapon (low-grade Earth-ranked): Whip.

The notifications did nothing to calm his pounding heart. He took deep breaths in succession, not only from his nose but also from his mouth, and drops of blood entered his mouth while his nostril hairs felt burned as the strong metallic scent made them shiver.

The first time he didn’t even realise when he killed; the second time his eyes barely noticed things, but this time, though he didn’t fathom his own strength yet, he surely saw everything with his ashen eyes. He felt her crushed bone pieces and muscles on his hands, and again, his breathing accelerated.

He didn’t hear the shouts of players and their frantic movements, running away from him while many vomited.

'I killed again, huh! Strangely, I don’t feel any remorse; I just feel a triumphant feeling…this feeling, I feel like I won, huh!' He looked up at the panic that had ensued because of him.

A few girls were on their knees, vomiting and crying, horror filling their eyes.

"They’ll never play this beautiful game because of me; I did that; I traumatized them, but" a chuckle escaped his lips, and he kept his hands on his chest. "Calm, calm, calm, calm down! I thought of this before coming to the game. I have seen accidents far more gruesome as I continued working on construction sites: iron bars falling on someone, splashing their heads open. I remember that; even at that time, blood washed my face. This is nothing new; I’ve seen more death in the real world, and however realistic Heavenly Ascension is, it’ll never be compared to the real world."

As he thought of this, his pounding heart calmed. This was a game, and he would treat it as such. But even if it were the real world, he would hardly bat an eye. People of the outskirts like him had seen many deaths throughout their lives.

He calmed himself by calming his heart. He was too hasty in his previous decisions. He didn’t need to kill everyone; he only needed to kill the players with the camera icon hovering on their heads. This was Heavenly Ascension, not Dawn of Mana, where anyone could record. His instincts for that game still hadn’t vanished, and he made hasty decisions. However, in Heavenly Ascension, one had to buy the recorder feature to record videos. But unless those players were in the top 1000 player ranking list, they couldn’t do live streaming, and that only meant they could record and then post the video after they exited the game. Oh, how he wanted to thank the developers of Heavenly Ascension.

Zayn remembered only a player who had a camera icon hovering over their head. This player was unique, as Zayn had seen him constantly move his mouth while pointing at different things. Zayn gazed in the opposite direction; he could see distant things with more clarity. With his surging strength, his senses were becoming sharper too.

Zayn spotted that unique player; he had a round face, small hair, and puffy cheeks, and he hid amidst the chaos while recording him. He was more than 20 metres away, but Zayn gazed directly into the player's eyes. As the player noticed Zayn's gaze, as if life had been sucked away from him, he looked back in terror. The fat player frantically took a step back, his chubby legs showing through his blue robes.

Gulping hard and with a face full of horror, the player knelt on the ground, not attempting to run. Zayn raised a brow, surprised. Shouldn't that fatty run for his life?

Zayn had always been decisive. He didn't linger on useless thoughts. How could he? He was a big brother figure to his three friends, and if the eldest of the house wasn't decisive, then who would take strict actions?

The player with the camera had tears flowing through his eyes. Zayn's enhanced vision allowed him to see that clearly. They were thick tears of plea. The player was even shouting some things, his puffy cheeks gobbling up and down as he shouted pleas, but Zayn couldn't hear that. Zayn's lips parted, and with his blood-stained teeth, a predatory smile appeared on his face. That chubby player was the only target; no one else had a camera hovering over their head. It was a costly thing to buy, apart from the Nanobot injection and VR gaming helmet.

Zayn's mind was made up. He prepared himself for his uncontrollable clash and collision with players that were in-between him and the fatty. However, just as he was about to move his leg, a voice filled with certainty and confidence boomed from Zayn's left side.

"Everyone calm down; this guy can't control himself; maybe it's due to his innate strength or physique. If we work together—" Before the player could continue further, a blurred fist landed on his stomach, making his eyes almost bulge out of their sockets. The player spat saliva, a strangled cry escaping his lips, and was smashed into a towering tree. But a single tree couldn't stop his descent and shattered on impact. While a thick bark protruded from his stomach, making his intestines flow out like ropes, only his upper body remained in the shape of a C.

Ding! You have killed a mortal.

Ding! You have acquired a treasure (low grade mortal ranked): Blood Gourd Seed

Zayn didn't even glance at the player he'd eliminated, nor did he check the notifications. He stared at his hands. "I controlled my strength when I punched him, and I even propelled myself forward by pounding my legs. Maybe my strength is finally under control." His bloodstained smile widened with this realisation.

"This game heavily relies on luck and opportune moments," Zayn muttered, scanning the players around him. He could feel it—his vision had sharpened, complementing the ever-increasing strength coursing through his body. This only deepened the cruel smile that stretched across his blood-streaked face, a face that resembled a demon's. "If this world truly favours the fortunate, then I'll consider you all my opportunity," he whispered to himself, his chilling laughter sending shivers down the players' spines.

With an earth-shattering crack, Zayn slammed his leg into the summoning stone, pulverizing a chunk. He launched himself forward like a human cannonball, targeting a fleeing player. Before his fist could find its mark, Zayn's head connected with a sickening thud. The player's lifeless eyes stared blankly as he ragdolled through the air, slamming into another unfortunate soul. The second player, unable to withstand the brutal impact of the deceased projectile, crumpled to the ground, reaching a near-death state from the impact.

Ding! You've killed a mortal.

Ding! You've acquired Lesser Spirit Shard

"Damn it! I wasn't able to swing my hands properly. I still need to work on it," he grumbled, gazing at the terrified fatty. "Stay there, I'll come for you," Zayn shouted. He knew killing the fatty was an easy task, but first he had to delete the video. The fatty had already forfeited his chance to escape when he knelt and pleaded. Even logging out of the game wasn't an option since they were in a battle zone.

Zayn saw the number of players rapidly decreasing, and without hesitation, he leaped forward, his fist ready to strike.

Ding! You've killed a mortal.

Ding! You've acquired the equipment (low-grade-earth-rank): Ironwood Wrist Guards

Ding! You've killed a mortal.

Ding! You've acquired…

Ding! You've killed a mortal.

Ding! You've acquired…