MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

The only question was how to go about it...

The safest bet was to simply go underground and emerge once a victor was decided...

But the safest option also tended to be the one with the least reward.

If he did that before being marked or tagging an enemy, Ash was certain nothing would drop. Plus, there was a possibility of one side dominating the other, voiding the point of hiding in the first place.

So, naturally, that option was ruled out.

Which left path number two: conduct the fight himself.

While casting [Focus] was too risky in the midst of a three-way melee, he could help either side in his glitched state, guiding the battle and curating who held the advantage.

Looking to his right, Ash greeted the wolves who’d reached him slightly faster than the Snow Crawler.

"Hello... mutts."

The savage beasts growled and chomped at the air, skidding their charge to a stop.

"Raghr!"

’Seems they behave like normal wolves.’

Ash hadn’t cowered or run, forcing the pack to abandon their initial rush, transforming from attack to spy and hunt mode.

Taking a step toward the wolves, all four jumped back, then spread out.

Moments later, the Snow Crawler arrived with a roar.

"Urruragh!"

’I see.’

The wolves quickly snapped their heads toward the rampaging yeti and put even more distance between themselves and Ash.

’They’re fairly smart.’

The wolves wanted to be the ones exploiting two others fighting, not the ones caught between them.

The Snow Crawler, meanwhile, seemed to have no care for danger assessment, instead charging straight at Ash.

’This is not gonna be easy.’

Ash met its ferocity by running toward it, his only goal being to ensure it didn’t accidentally step on his boots.

Just like the first Snow Crawler, with voracity staining its mind, it fell upon Ash, phasing right through him and faceplanting into the ice.

The wolves didn’t waste time trying to understand what had happened.

Seeing the opening, they rushed the Snow Crawler, biting and clawing wherever they could, though most targeted the gigantic beast’s ankles.

During the scuffle, Ash found his own opening.

[You have unequipped [Snow Crawlers]]

When the Snow Crawler finally regained its bearings, the wolves backed off. Then all four looked around quizzically, licking their bloody lips.

The Snow Crawler spun back toward Ash only to find nothing.

Ash had gone underground for a moment.

As he understood it, he still hadn’t properly flagged combat, but before doing that, he needed the wolves to take some meaningful damage — something that wasn’t going to happen while the Snow Crawler remained focused entirely on him.

From beneath the ground, Ash listened intently to the beasts above as they recovered from their confusion and turned on one another.

’Combat should only start once damage is dealt, whether to an entity or an item’s durability.’

That meant his glitched state gave him an easy way to trigger it. All he needed was for something to attack his boot. Even if the hit dealt zero durability damage, the system should still register the boot as having been attacked. The Marauder killed by the Goddess of Spring had already proven something similar.

Anyway...

After waiting thirty seconds or so, Ash sprang from the ground and landed atop the bow, balancing on the thin wood like a tightrope, then immediately resummoned [Snow Crawlers].

As they formed on his feet — a bit slower than usual, perhaps exposing a flaw in his assessment — Ash took in the current fiesta of carnage.

The Snow Crawler had one wolf trapped between both hands and was lowering its jaws toward the creature’s head, while the other three relentlessly went for its neck every time it stuck it out.

The moment the boots formed, Ash charged.

With its target already chosen, the Snow Crawler paid little attention as Ash kicked it in the ass.

It froze for a moment.

In that split second, Ash dashed through its body and kicked the wolf it held.

Finally, Ash phased back through the Snow Crawler to its opposite flank and intercepted another wolf mid-lunge with a kick, halting it in the air.

That brief opening was all the Snow Crawler needed to finally slip its monstrous maw around the poor wolf’s head and chomp.

[You have slain a Seal Stalker]

[First Kill Bonus]

[+30 EXP]

[Condition...]

’Seal Stalker...’

Ash was practically certain he was still inside the seal, but that finally confirmed it.

Not letting himself get too distracted, Ash deftly spun and sent a back heel into a wolf that had lunged at him. The strike stopped it in midair, presenting it directly to the Snow Crawler.

The yeti seized it at once.

Reeling it in with a bear hug, the abomination once again tried to bite off its head.

The other two members of the pack instantly threw themselves at the Snow Crawler.

Hesitation and fear flashed in their eyes, but apparently saving their packmate outweighed both.

’Prime example of altruism’s flaw.’

Ash stepped forward and delivered a kick to the last one he’d yet to tag.

The other wolf flew by him and latched onto the Snow Crawler’s neck, but the one he kicked stopped in its tracks.

’There we go...’

Having completed his goal, Ash disengaged and watched the bloody spectacle unfold.

[You have slain a Seal Stalker]

[+11 EXP]

[Condition...]

The Snow Crawler had killed the one it grabbed, but in the process, it had suffered a vicious wound across its neck and was now bleeding profusely.

It had, however, managed to catch the wolf responsible and return the favor.

[You have slain a Seal Stalker]

[+11 EXP]

Its one-track mind was ultimately its downfall. While it mauled the wolf in its grasp, the last wolf shoved its snout into the open wound and bit down on its jugular, severing it.

As the Snow Crawler staggered around, dying, with the surviving wolf still clinging to its neck, Ash made his move.

Before the wolf could realize Ash was back, Ash slipped from behind the Snow Crawler, cast [Focus], and hurled himself onto it, dragging the beast to the ground.

Behind them, the Snow Crawler finally perished.

[You have slain a Snow Crawler]

[+15 EXP]

Pinned onto its back beneath him, the wolf flailed, clawing and tearing at Ash’s flesh. Ash struggled to hold it down while searching for a clear grip on its throat.

’Gugh!’

[Scale Armor] activated each time the sharp hooks bit his flesh, forming black scales, but the claws still easily ripped through nonetheless.

"Die, mongrel!"

Despite Ash being clearly underleveled and the raw strength gap being vast, the wolf was fairly worn down and had already taken several blows from the Snow Crawler.

Another second of violent struggling ensued, but then...

Slipping past its writhing limbs, Ash stopped trying to shield himself and let the beast tear freely at his body.

The pain of menial scratches was incomparable to losing a limb.

The reward for his crazed persistence was both his hands finally closing around its throat.

’Goodbye!’

Ash squeezed as hard as he could.

Blood sprayed through the air, covering him.

[You have slain a Seal Stalker]

[+11 EXP]

[Condition to reach level 5 has not been met!]

As the wolf’s corpse shivered, then burst into nothing, Ash fell face-first into the ground, [Focus] having ended.

’Oh, fuck!’

Just like he’d once feared, he was completely upside down in the void, held aloft only by his boots.

He didn’t panic. He was able to pull himself up using the drops or by summoning the tome above him — something he’d tested.

After waiting a moment...

’They’ve probably appeared.’

Ash swung his torso up and began poking his hand around, looking for a slab of meat to grip.

That was when his hand collided with something hard.

[You have acquired Super Rare item...]

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