'Never Rest in Peace, You Son of bitch.'
Finally, after Vio laid eyes on Hamim's motionless body, a deep breath escaped him, though his nerves were still on edge.
"Ah..."
But there was no time to catch breath. Waves of pain crashed through him, forcing him to push himself up with his legs while still lying on the ground. His hand reached for a rock that had survived the brutal fight, using it to prop himself up as he struggled to focus through the flood of messages bombarding him without mercy.
[Mission 'Kill or Be Killed' completed.]
[Grade: A.]
[All rewards x6.]
[Rewards obtained: 600,000 XP, 72 Plastic, 132 Metal, 30 Steel, 30 points.]
[A stronger enemy has been eliminated.]
[Alam's Chest obtained.]
[One of the Gray-Eyed has been eliminated.]
[Alam's Chest obtained.]
[Resource Chest obtained.]
[Coins Chest obtained.]
[Request: 'Make It Memorable' completed.]
[Congratulations to the hero for ensuring the requester will never forget this battle.]
[Coins Chest obtained, 7 Battery Cells obtained.]
'Activate Instant Repair.'
Ignoring the pile of chests that had appeared before him, Vio pressed his hand against his wounded neck, where Hamim's sword had pierced. If not for tilting his head at the last second, he would have been a corpse with a severed head by now.
Vio's brain remained connected to the spinal cord, which, of course, extended below his neck. As the nanobots worked to repair the damage, the sharp pain only intensified. But despite that, his mind replayed the battle, and now that things had settled, some details became clearer.
Hamim hadn't been attacking randomly. Every strike precisely targeted vital points, even with the shield obstructing his attacks. He must have believed Vio's body was normal.
'Was he stronger than the demon?'
So far, only two opponents had truly pushed Vio to limits... Well, now three.
The first was the bear. Without a doubt, the strongest of them all.
The second was the demon, a never-ending headache thanks to his seemingly limitless energy. No matter how hard Vio tried to close the distance, he was always forced back. And even when he finally managed to reach him, landing a direct hit became another struggle.
Hamim, however, was the complete opposite. Reaching him had been easy—he was the one charging in without hesitation. But every time Vio landed a strike, that damn green barrier absorbed the impact without fail.
'I'll say he's stronger than the demon.'
As the pain gradually faded, Vio's gaze fixed on the body half-buried in the rock.
"What exactly was his status to make me the eternal enemy of Baniaasif?" he muttered under his breath before pushing himself off the ground, shifting full attention to the chests earned.
A smile almost crept onto his face, but disappointment took over as his eyes fell on the cracks running along his Gauntlets of Fury, the dagger with its dulled edge, and worst of all, the completely shattered shield.
Swiping away the flood of screens, he focused on something new that appeared.
[Request: 'Make It Memorable.']
'System, what is a Request? And how does it differ from a Mission?'
[A Request is a type of task given by an individual that the hero must accept, while a Mission depends on time, location, circumstances, and other factors.]
That explained why Vio had never encountered a mission that rewarded battery cells—it had been a request instead.
Amid the chaos, he took steady steps toward Hamim's body, ready to search it.
"Tsk. Are you messing with me? How could someone important like you not have anything valuable?" he grumbled, sifting through the wreckage left by their battle.
It made no sense for Hamim to carry nothing of value. Lifting rocks and smashing scattered branches, he searched every inch until something finally caught his eye. But it wasn't what he expected.
'Why is this still here?'
Hamim's sword lay among the snowdrifts, right where it had flown during their last clash. Vio had long since stopped wasting time trying to take Baniaasif's weapons, knowing they vanished moments after their owners died. Yet, for some reason, Hamim's sword remained.
His hand reached out instinctively, but hesitation struck. Every attempt to grab their weapons had always resulted in a mysterious force repelling him—without even the slightest chance to resist.
Eyes locked onto the blade, he hesitated for a moment longer. But when it still didn't disappear, a decision formed.
His fingers wrapped around the hilt, and nothing happened.
Swinging it, he found it to be just an ordinary sword—well-made but nothing special. The blade's surface bore marks from the electric sparks during their fight, even carrying faint traces of the Gauntlets of Fury's impact.
"Does this even make sense?" Vio muttered. "He was supposed to be important, so how is his weapon worse than what the other soldiers had?"
Regardless of the answer, the sword suited him fine. Stepping toward a nearby tree, he struck with a swift slash.
"Shink!"
The trunk split effortlessly, bringing a smile to his face.
Dagger was on the verge of breaking, and nothing was better than a sharp, reliable weapon.
Before opening the chests, he decided to take care of a few things first. Opening the store, he purchased an additional core.
[Core purchased.]
[Mission 'Purchase First Core' completed.]
[Alam's Chest obtained.]
Summoning the dagger, watched as its color faded to gray, dark veins spreading across the blade.
'You've served me well, but it's time to let you go.'
Pressed its tip against cyborgblood.
[Foreign substance detected.]
[A similar sample was previously found.]
Before the system could start an unnecessary, time-consuming process, Vio quickly cut it off.
'Yes, analyze it.'
[Please specify the number of cores to use in the analysis.]
'Can their power be combined for a single process?'
[correct.]
'And how does that help me?'
[Speed up the process and improve the accuracy of results.]
Vio raised an eyebrow, realizing the implication.
'Wait... Are you indirectly telling me that you might miss something in your analysis?'
[Of course.]
[Note: It is recommended to reanalyze when time permits.]
That made him recall when he had tried analyzing the strange substance from the bear's jaws earlier. The system never finished the analysis because the material vanished too soon.
'Use just one'
[Analyzing…]
Letting out a sigh, he was about to open the chests when something caught his attention in a certain direction. Curiosity drove him forward, leading him to a tent at the end of a branching path.
A smirk formed as he stepped inside. Just as expected, it was far more decorated than usual.
On a wooden desk and bed, scattered letters lay about. He grabbed a handful and began converting them.
[Evaluation completed: 93%.]
Moving to a large metal chest in the corner, he already knew what was inside before even opening it.
The moment the lid lifted, a bright glow filled the space—glowing rocks. Same size, same shape.
'There's no way he hunted them alone.'
Vio counted by pushing them into inventory, and read the number under their marker—26.
'If 16 gave me around 20EP, then 26 should give me close to 30EP.'
Thinking twice about obvious things was a sign of stupidity, so he quickly absorbed them.
[EP: 181/200]
Once finished, he examined the tent further, searching for more clues. Something still felt off about Hamim being used as a trap himself. Sure, Vio knew he was strong, but something about this didn't sit right.
His gaze landed on a set of hanging clothes.
'Hold up—why was this idiot bare-chested?'
The upper garments were excessively luxurious, confirming his theory about their class system. By the number of feathers on Hamim's robe—and the fact that the Evaluation percentages hadn't risen—he knew Hamim wasn't from the highest class. But what was he, then?
'Well, not high-status… but definitely high-value.'
[Evaluation completed: 102%.]
Vio smirked. This was a good way to confirm what he believed to be true. It wasn't just about guessing randomly—he had to truly believe in the correct information for the Evaluation to increase.
'Since my clothes are ruined, I'll take yours. Not like you'll need them anymore.'
Currently, Vio was wearing torn fabric. He put on the robe, and as usual, the fit wasn't great. He tried adjusting it a little but had learned not to try too hard. After all, without Shama's help earlier, he wouldn't have been able to arrange his clothes properly. He didn't even remember how she did it before.
Once done, he stepped out and looked at the map. He knew the direction he needed to go. He was close to the edge of the map, close to escaping.
But before rushing ahead, he moved toward Hamim's corpse. Studying it closely, unease crept in again. Just in case, he opened the inventory and sent the body inside.
Now, a corpse sat in his inventory. As long as something was classified as an object, he could store it, and a corpse was nothing more than a lifeless object.
With that done, he stood still and summoned all the chests before him.
[Evaluation completed: 2%.]
'Open.'
The Aiz's Chest began to unlock.
[Blueprint obtained: 'Laser Pistol'.]