Single Stat System

Chapter 42: Encountering Other Players

At the time when Sakim exited the cave, it was already afternoon. And the sun, although it would still take an hour or two for it to hide completely, the cold breeze of the night was already could be felt. Should he continue his journey to the beginner's village or take a rest for now?

But Sakim didn't feel tired though. Even after all the energy he spent killing many monsters, he wasn't exhausted at all. And although he hadn't eaten his lunch, he also didn't feel hungry too. Was there even a reason for him to take some rest?

With that in mind, Sakim decided to continue his journey. But before that, he walked closer to a certain yellow snail in the area as he tapped its shell. Sakim wanted to see what level was this type of monster and how much could he get if he stole their life.

Just like that, the System appeared again right in front of his face.

[Snail]

Rank: Common

Level: 4

HP: 200 | 200

And to his surprise, although this Snail was lower by one level compared to the Ghost Fire, it had a greater amount of HP. From the looks of it, this kind of monster was defense-based and probably had a weaker offense.

Steal!

After seeing its stat, and since there was nothing else he needed from that monster, Sakim didn't hesitate as he stole its HP. As if the blood of the Snail came out from its shell and was being sucked dry by Sakim's hand, the Snail had then become a dried corpse at a rate visible to the eye before finally turning into ashes. And Sakim couldn't help but smile.

Sakim swept his gaze in the area as he found more than 50 Snails crawling around slowly. It appeared that his harvest this time would be good as well.

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And just like that, Sakim had stolen the HP of every single Snail in the area. It was just a pity that no item was dropped this time around.

So knowing that his job was done here, Sakim found a certain route and took it so that he could reach the beginner's village already. He didn't even bother turning around just to see the cave where he came out. If possible, he didn't want to see it anymore.

Never he knew that the cave where he came out a little while ago was already nowhere to be found the moment he exited the cave. It closed in itself leaving without a trace. It was as if the cave didn't want to see him as well and was probably wishing for each other to never meet again. How dare this human brought daylight in its place?! It was really unforgivable no matter how it looked like.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Sakim's wooden sleeper then echoed across the woods as he continued to walk through the road. He didn't know how long this route would take or where was this route would bring him but as long as he continued moving forward, he knew that he would reach his destination sooner or later. Or perhaps, he would find himself being lost.

"!"

But then, behind the trees and grasses on the side of the road, Sakim suddenly noticed something. He stealthily walked towards it to see what was behind and sure enough, a group of humans, four of them, were walking cautiously at a distance away on the other side. They were clad in seemingly high-level equipment and from the looks of it, they were up to no good. Or perhaps, they were just on guard against any possible attacks.

Sakim hid behind the tree. It appeared that he finally met other Players in this world. But what he met was a kind of Player that seemed to love PKing as he could even feel their aura of hostility. If possible, he didn't want to involve himself with this kind of people.

"Are you sure that that star fell in this direction?" One of the other party, named Umaga, the one with the tallest stature and bulkiest body, and was as if acting the party leader, asked coldly. On his back was a great sword and he appeared as if ready to kill at any moment.

"Yes, that star has probably landed in this place. It should be nearby," Hapon, the one on the left side, replied with a slightly lowered voice and head. He was scratching the back of his head with a forced smile as he replied. He was pretty thin, but one could already see how nimble he was just from the way he seemed.

"We already traveled for a couple of hours just to reach this place. But how come there is still no traces of that fallen star..." Tanghali, the one on the right side, responded coldly. There was a sword on his waist and he was wearing a fine robe and a straw hat.

"..." While on the other hand, Gabi, the one who was lagging behind, and was walking leisurely with both hands on the back of his head, didn't say anything. He was the smallest among the four and one could see how careless he was.

Umaga, Tanghali, Hapon, and Gabi, the four of them continued to walk around unaware that someone was watching them.

And Sakim, who was watching them stealthily, heard their conversation. It appeared that they were looking for something. Star? Was there some kind of star that fell here? Sakim didn't see anything though.

But well, he was inside the cave for a couple of hours before so perhaps, that star fell from the sky while he was still inside the cave. If that was the case, then surely, he wouldn't have a chance to see the fall of that star.

But falling star in the day? Sakim really was astonished by the wonders of this world. Just how bright was that falling star for it to be seen in the broad daylight? Even in his past life, he doubted if there was such a thing that appeared on Earth.

Sakim followed them while keeping a good distance away from them as he did his best to stay hidden. But after some time, the four seemed to reach the dead end as they halted their tracks. What was ahead of them was a towering cliff that was as if saying, "Go back! There's no way here."

"Damn, it's already a dead end here. Did that star really fell in this direction?" Umaga gritted his teeth in frustration. Who would have thought that in a couple of hours of their furious searching from a faraway place, they would reach a dead-end in the end? Were they really supposed to climb this towering cliff?

"Yes," Hapon replied helplessly. He looked above as there was even an urge in him to go back home now.

"If that's the case, then, that star might have fallen on the other side..." Tanghali responded this time. He turned his head up as his gaze was fixed at the top of the cliff. He could only swallow a mouthful of saliva just by thinking about how much effort they needed to waste just to climb this cliff.

"It seems like it..." Hapon smiled bitterly. It appeared that that star really did land on the other side of the cliff. Just how unlucky were they to be forced to climb such a tall cliff?

"..." On the other hand, Gabi didn't say anything and only stared above calmly at how far his sight could reach.

Meanwhile, Sakim who was following them wondered why did these four suddenly stop moving. And since they stopped walking, Sakim tried to shorten his distance to them as he hid behind a certain tree. But when he caught sight of what was ahead, he was immediately taken aback.

This was the place where he came from just a little while ago, right? Sakim still recalled clearly that this was the place where he slaughtered many Snails before. Why did these people come here now?

But it was strange. Sakim suddenly found that something was amiss. He put more of his attention to it and he finally noticed something.

Where was the cave that he entered before? Why did it suddenly disappear now? Did he see it wrong? Was this place not the place where he came from not long ago? But he was more than sure that this was the place where slaughtered the many Snails. So how come did the cave suddenly disappear?

Sakim didn't know what was happening now but as he was bewildered by the thought of it, he suddenly made a step unconsciously as he stepped to a certain branch of a tree. It was a common trope that very likely to happen to someone who was peeking around. How could something like this happen to him as well? Veins couldn't help but popped out on his head for a moment before he took a deep breath to calm himself down. Although he didn't know what to do, he stayed rather calm and still hid behind the tree.

"Who goes there?!" The four people, on the other hand, had immediately turned around furiously as they took out their weapons. Their instinct was telling them that they were being watched. It couldn't be that those bandits managed to catch up to them, right?

"Maybe, it's only a rat?" Hapon said to appease the suspicions.

"Who knows? You go and check that tree," Umaga responded coldly as he pointed out the tree where Sakim was hiding.

Although Sakim didn't know what was the tree that the other party was pointing, he had this feeling that his hiding place was already spotted. He couldn't help but begin to sweat unknowingly as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Was he destined to fight these four? Sakim didn't know. But if he really fought them, could he even have the slightest chance to win against them? It had to be known that he was just a new player. And the other party, just by the way they seemed, it appeared that they were veteran Players that already lived in this world for already a long time.

But then, no matter what would happen next, Sakim wouldn't let himself be beaten up by them one-sidedly. He clenched his hand into a fist as he readied himself for a fight. Although he was weak now compared to them, with his passive skill and other trump cards under his sleeve, he was certain that he could put a fight or at least give them serious injuries.