A Reasonable Punishment

After leveling up and increasing his stats, Bai Tian noticed a slight increase in his damage with the sword. The difference could be ignored, being only around 2-4 damage higher, but it was still pretty good for a single point of investment into Strength.

Several minutes later, once Bai Tian killed his 25th Green Slime, a notification appeared before him.

<You have acquired enough information on 'Green Slime'>

Now when he looked at a Green Slime, he could see more than just its name and level.

[Green Slime] [Level: 2] [Health: 60] [Mana: 0]

[Possible Drops: Green Slime Substance(100%), Green Slime Core(0.5%)]

Bai Tian stared at the drops with slightly widened eyes, and he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.

'Green Slime Core only has a 0.5% drop rate? I already got four after killing just 25 of them!'

He wondered if he was blessed with insane luck today, or if it was due to his title 'Progenitor', which greatly increased his Luck.

However, he doubted that a mere title could increase his luck so exponentially, as that would be incredibly broken, so he believed that he was just really lucky today.

"This must be what they call Newbies' Luck." He mumbled to himself.

A few more Green Slimes later, he leveled up to 3, and once again, he placed three points into Spirit and one in each Strength and Agility.

Bai Tian returned to hunting shortly after.

However, his peaceful hunting session would soon be disturbed.

As Bai Tian found another target and approached it, he sensed something flying towards his direction from the right side, halting his steps.

The following second, a ball of fire appeared and struck the Green Slime before him, killing it with a single hit.

Bai Tian turned to look at the direction the fire ball came from to see a young man and young woman not far away, and they were smiling at him, their eyes filled with mockery.

It didn't take a second for him to realize that he'd just experienced kill stealing, KS for short, where others would purposefully steal others' prey.

This kind of situation was very common in the world of video games, especially in a VRMMORPG like High Fantasy Online.

Bai Tian wasn't new when it came to being KS'd. Although the concept baffled him when he was still brand new to gaming, he has gotten used to it since then, perhaps even comfortable.

After taking a deep breath, Bai Tian ignored the couple and went to another area.

However, when he noticed the couple following him, he stopped walking and turned to face them.

"Are you sure you want to play this game with me?" He asked them in a calm voice.

"Game? What are you talking about, you shitty Martial Artist?" The young man responded.

"Hahaha! What an unlucky fellow, to receive such a trash class." The young woman laughed out loud.

This caused Bai Tian to raise an eyebrow.

'Martial Artist is trash?' He wondered what they were talking about and where such information came from, as it hasn't been a day since the game was released.

In the end, he figured that they were just spewing bullshit to mess with him.

"Darling, look at him staring at me with those drooling eyes! I am scared!" The young woman suddenly said, even hiding behind the young man.

"Hey, you bastard! I know my girl is beautiful, but your staring is making her uncomfortable! You better look away if you don't want to die!" The young man pointed his spear at Bai Tian.

"If I look away, will you stop stealing my kills?" Bai Tian asked.

"Hahaha– No, I don't feel like it." The young man laughed.

"Is that so…" Bai Tian merely shook his head with a nonchalant look on his face.

He then mumbled in a low voice, "It's a little early, but I guess I will test out how Player vs Player works in this game."

"The hell are you mumbling about, huh?!" The young man shouted at him.

However, Bai Tian didn't bother responding, and he even started running at them at full speed.

"W-What do you think you are doing?!" The young woman exclaimed.

Seeing the killing intent in Bai Tian's eyes, the young man trembled in fear and subconsciously raised his spear in a defensive manner.

Once he was in range, Bai Tian suddenly increased his speed again. At the same time, he propelled his sword forward, aiming the tip of the sword at his target's throat.

Bai Tian's unexpected explosive speed caught the young man off guard, but even if he was focused, he wouldn't have been able to react in time.

In the blink of an eye, Bai Tian's sword flew past the spear and penetrated the young man's neck, who felt as though he'd been stabbed in the throat by a rod, followed by a sharp pain.

The pain went by in an instant, but it was still very shocking to feel such a real sensation inside a video game.

[Precise Hit: 99]

<You have inflicted Grievous Wound on your target>

<Grievous Wound: All damage received through the wounded area will be multiplied by 10x>

After piercing the young man's neck with his sword, Bai Tian, without hesitation, flicked his arm, severing the young man's head from his body.

[Critical Hit: 4,428]

<You have dealt a Fatal Blow>

<You have killed a Player>

Once the young man died, his body evaporated into thin air, leaving behind the spear he wielded.

Bai Tian immediately looked at the young woman after killing her partner with a calm expression on his face, unfazed by the terrified look on her face.

"P-Please… Spare me… I was wrong…" The young woman uttered with teary eyes.

Bai Tian ignored her plea and pointed his sword at her throat.

However, right as he prepared to move into action, a notification appeared before him.

<Due to your actions of killing another human near a Safe Zone, you have become a Criminal for 24 hours>

<Criminals are forbidden from entering Safe Zones until their status is lifted, doing so will extend the duration and face the wrath of the place. If you kill another human near a Safe Zone while being a Criminal, your status will be extended.>

Seeing this, Bai Tian thought to himself, 'So I am a Criminal now, huh? Since it's not permanent, it won't really matter for the time being.'

He looked at the young woman.

'If I kill her, my restriction will be extended, but for how long? Since I have 30 days to finish the quest, let's find out.'

Bai Tian retrieved his sword.

The young man released a relieved sigh after seeing his actions.

A cold smile suddenly appeared on Bai Tian's face, and before the young woman could react, he swung his sword at her neck, severing her head.

<You have dealt a Fatal Blow>

<You have killed a Player>

<Due to your actions of killing another human near a Safe Zone while being a Criminal, your status as a Criminal as been extended by 72 hours>

'Three days extension… A reasonable punishment, I guess.' Bai Tian thought to himself.

He then went to pick up the spear left behind by the young man, and the wooden wand left behind by the young woman, before tossing them into his inventory.

Meanwhile, the nearby Players that have witnessed Bai Tian's cruel actions quickly distanced themselves from him in fear of being attacked, leaving him a larger area to hunt Green Slimes.

Bai Tian merely smiled at their reaction before going back to hunting Green Slimes, acting as though nothing noteworthy had happened.