1000 Kills Reward
Blasting through the wall, king created his own path to move towards the monster hordes. Days passed and when it was 150 points, he had some expectation but there was no notification.
But when it reached 200, it finally rang.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have reached A-rank.
Congratulation package is on its way. Good luck.]
He waited, but there was no further notification.
A small gift pack appeared in his hand, it was empty but then…
[Monster watcher has been upgraded. The range has been increased to 100km.]
After taking a long breath and small break to calm himself down he started moving again, "let's finish the task first."
…
Ding!
[Task: Slay 1000 wolf level threat monsters has been completed.
Reward: 100 attribute points. Note: Points cannot be divided.]
'That's it.'
Getting no more reply, at first he distributed points all the points equally, and dumped the 100 points reward in Perception.
[Attribute panel:
Strength 255, Physique 255, Agility 255, Perception 255 (+102)]
[[Congratulations! King Engine has leveled up.
King Engine (level 3): Your heartbeat can induce intimidation effect. ('Intimidating Aura' trait in use.)
You are able to use King fighting style when King Engine is in use.
1. King face: Your facial expression becomes more intimidating.
2. King hand: Touching the enemy's shoulder increase the level of intimidation.
3. King brain: Increases brain activity by 10%. Requires high enough points in Perception; activating with less perception may cause fatigue, and other sever side-effects.]
[Host has reached the limitation of human body. Further improvement can be only possible through 'removing limiter' or 'Death.']
"I choose the first option."
['The Limiter can be removed through near death experience' is the textbook reference. It depends on user whether to believe or not.]
'But you clearly said about making me the strongest man on Earth.'
[Yes. If host is unable to remove the limiter in next 24 hours, the system will automatically set to the default option 'Death'.]
One was near death, and another real death. He started to give it some thought.
After few minutes he gave a surprising answer, "Let's go with the second option."
[Initializing Death Sequence… Please be prepared.]
Suddenly his entire body was splashed with weakness, he fell to his knees and finally flat on the ground. Not even strength to even blink his eyes, slowly his consciousness started to get blurry and everything went dark.
…
24 hours later, somewhere in underground, a man covered in monster blood was standing up looking at front.
[Congratulations! You have broken through your limiter.]
'Death, I thought I will be passed out without feeling anything. But 24 hours of torture and unbearable pain, I couldn't have guessed this far.'
For the 24 hours he was tortured, whenever his consciousness was broken due to too much pain, it would be repaired again and the torture continues.
'Sigh'
[Attribute panel:
Strength 300, Physique 300, Agility 300, Perception 302 (+100)]
[Congratulations! You have reached S-rank. Congratulation gift is on its way.]
[Congratulation gift:
Please choose one option: 100 increase in a random attribute, Level up an ability by one, a random package gift.]
"Increase the ability level."
[[Congratulations! King Engine has leveled up.
King Engine (level 4): Your heartbeat can induce intimidation effect. ('Intimidating Aura' trait in use.)
…
King brain: Increases brain activity by 20%. Requires high enough points in Perception; activating with less perception may cause fatigue, and other sever side-effects.]
The only visible increase was in the brain activity, other text was exactly the same.
Ding!
[Releasing Task: Is it possible for someone to die just by hearing his opponent heartbeat? What do you think?
Reward: New Ability]
King stared at the task for a moment, 'Is this for real?'
"Maybe I can find someone with weak heart. I need to plan extensively this time." He couldn't help but chuckle at his own thought.
"Now I have finally reached the strength fitting my Rank," happiness spread though his chest.
…
Returning to the apartment, after taking a bath and relaxing for quite a bit he turned the TV on.
It was broadcasting new of a tall monster reaching sky in height, stomping on the B-city.
King mind jolted, 'Isn't this one of the brother? Sigh… He will be take care by that guy in no time. Looks like I really don't need to do anything.'
Beep… a message notification came in his mobile phone.
'Are they calling me for this big guy?' King looked at his mobile.
King, we would like to apologize to disturb you. But, most of the Rank-A heroes are sent to deal with the Giant appearing in the B-city. So, can you go as a backup in T-city, near the shrine?
'Well I can get some points. Why wouldn't I go? But what should I reply; as King I don't think I need to reply, right?'
Slowly climbing to the roof, he looked at the busy city and a smile appeared in his face.
'The rumors about king, everything will become true from today onward.'
With the new happiness and strength, King disappeared from the roof top.
Jumping through the building with a new found strength and speed, it gave him more ecstasy.
'They didn't send what level monster is there, l hope it is at least a demon level. I can take this opportunity to try the effects of King Engine.'
Reaching the T –city, a battle was going on, right on the front door steps of the shrine. Three heroes were already on the ground passed out and remaining four were having a bad time too.
'A lizard hybrid; this is definitely a demon level monster. But it seems to be on the weaker side.'
King didn't enter the battle directly, waiting at the sidelines, he waited patiently.
After few moments, two passed out and other two were badly injured to even move their body. They were going to be the witnesses of King fight.
King wasn't going to fight right in front of their eyes; they get to only hear his heartbeat.
Standing in front of the lizard monster, 'Let's see how this works…"
Controlling the King Engine, he let out a single heartbeat… DUM…
It wasn't too loud, just enough for the monster and the two heroes to hear.
When the King Engine was activated, the intimidation aura came into effect; the monster who was roaring was the most effected.
The monster got on his knees, covered both of his ears, started to wail in… pain. But the vision in front of king changed when he used the King Brain.
Everything slowed down in front of his eyes. The breathing of monster, its heartbeat, sound of muscle contraction and expansion, and the monster became like an open book in front of King.
King used his palm to pat the monster wailing in ground, it looked like a pat filled with care and affection, but the monster turned into liquid when the hand came into contact with the head.
'Damn, Brain activity is the way to go…'
[You have killed a Demon threat level monster. 5 free attribute point gained.]
King stopped himself from laughing and retreated to certain distance. While the King Brain was still in use, he checked his own state. 'Everything looks normal. Like an ordinary human. Looks like it doesn't work on myself.'
As for the five points, it will be quite profitable if he were to find a big gathering of demon level monsters.
…
Hero Association Hospital,
Today in room where two heroes Death Gatling and Twin Tail were admitted, four big cameras and many reporters were packed to the brim were making noises.
Although such behavior were prohibited in hospital, due to the representatives from Hero Association were also here, the interview was allowed.
This was the first time someone was able to witness the King in action.
"We didn't see the battle, we were too injured. We only heard a heartbeat and it was silence afterward, until the help arrived." The two heroes said the same thing again.
"We have heard King Engine before, is that what you are talking about?" it was a hero association who asked the question this time.
The two A- rank heroes gave each other a look, "I know the King engine you are indicating, we both have heard it too. But this time it was different…"
Looking at the fear in the face two heroes the room turned silent again.
"Please continue,"
"It was just one heartbeat we heard, not one more. But when the sound reached our ear, we felt like someone trying to squeezing our heart, we even forgot to breath. We passed out after that."
'A single heartbeat can make an A- rank hero loose conscious.' The reporters, the association, the public was in uproar.