Wu Yuan wasn't the only one stunned.
Yuan Feng didn't even know what hit him.
All he felt was a sharp pain at his throat, then—nothing.No thoughts. No feelings. Just… blank.
It all happened too fast. Too surreal.
By the time his brain registered what was happening, he was already dead.
The axe in his right hand clattered to the ground.His left hand, purely out of reflex, reached up to clutch his slashed throat.
Then his whole body gave out.
He collapsed—no, he knelt first.His knees hit the floor before anything else.Then his torso crumpled forward, slamming into the ground.
And just like that, a golden chest popped up from his corpse.
At the same time, Kai's system chimed in:
Ding! You have slain a player from the Level Leaderboard. Reward: 1x Golden Chest!
A golden chest?!
Even Kai, who had planned this entire setup, hadn't expected that.
In fact, he'd had the idea to kill Yuan Feng the moment he helped him earn the global announcement.
But he held off.
Not because of the whole "kneel and apologize" thing.
He was waiting for the Level Leaderboard to go live.
See, in this messed-up world, getting on the leaderboard was like earning a giant bullseye on your forehead.
In the previous timeline, everyone eventually realized the truth—
Leaderboard players were basically bosses.
Bosses with high-value loot drops.Bosses that every other player wanted to hunt down.
They even joked in the forums:
"Wanna get rich fast?Look at the rankings.Those names?That's your shopping list."
Because here's the kicker—Killing leaderboard players guaranteed chest drops.
And not just any chests.
The system worked like this:
Defeat a monster 1 level above you → 0.01% chance to drop a white chest.
2 levels above → 0.1%.
3 levels → 1%.
4 levels → 10%.
5 levels or more → 100% white chest drop.
And that's just for basic white chests.
Green, blue, purple, orange, red, gold?
Basically mythical.
You could grind monsters for days and still walk away empty-handed.
That's why killing leaderboard players became the meta.
Because even the #999-ranked player dropped green or better.
Sometimes, if you got lucky?You'd snag a blue chest.
As for killing the #1 spot?
Kai had never done it in his last life.
Back then, the top rank was held by a foreign powerhouse.Kai had been too busy grinding, surviving, and getting revenge to bother crossing borders.
And once he eventually climbed to the top himself?
He couldn't exactly kill himself.
He never dropped from #1 again.
So no, he never got to test what the #1 would drop…
Until now.
This time, he'd intentionally boosted Yuan Feng to #1—just to kill him.
He never expected that such a weakling, basically a paper tiger, would drop something this crazy:
A freaking golden chest.
It felt like stepping outside and finding Excalibur lying in a trash can.
Insane.Absurd.Utterly broken.
But hey—Kai wasn't complaining.
Free legendary loot? Hell yes.
His eyes were blazing with excitement as he stared at the golden glow.
Until…
A hand reached for the chest before him.
Kai grinned.
And then—
AAAAAGHHHHH!!!
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the room.
Wu Yuan.
Kai had stomped on his outstretched hand, grinding it underfoot.
Kai's stats were already ridiculous—every attribute above 2, with Strength nearing 3.
Under that pressure, Wu Yuan's fingers shattered like dry twigs.
He howled like a pig at slaughter, pale as a ghost and sweating bullets. Nearly passed out from the pain.
Only now did he finally realize—he'd f*cked up.
"P-Please! I'm sorry! I-I'll kneel, I'll be your dog—whatever you want!" he sobbed.
His mouth said "forgive me,"But his mind?Already plotting revenge.
After all, he was an S-rank talent. A rare national treasure, practically irreplaceable.
No way Kai would actually kill him. He was far too valuable.
Sure, Kai might beat him. Maybe humiliate him.
But kill him?
Nah.
In his mind, he just had to bide his time, find another powerful backer, and one day—
He'd make Kai regret everything.
Tear him to pieces.Flay him alive.Make him scream for mercy.
But all those thoughts evaporated the moment Kai leaned down and whispered in his ear:
"My favorite drama? Your Turn to Die."
Then—slice.
A clean cut across the throat.
Ding! You have absorbed S-Rank Talent: Blood Refining Ritual.
Silence.
Wu Yuan joined his brother in death.
Now, only Kai remained in Room 411.
Time to open that golden chest.
He tapped it. It opened with a metallic hiss.
Inside…
Four black rings, chained together.
His eyes widened.
No way.No freaking way.
Death's Grasp.
The legendary item used by the infamous Slaughter God in his previous life.
And now?
Kai got it on Day One.
He stood frozen, stunned speechless.
Then it hit him.
The Slaughter God must've killed the previous timeline's Rank #1 and looted this same weapon.
This life?
Yuan Feng was the sacrificial lamb.Kai was the killer.
And Death's Grasp now belonged to him.
He didn't hesitate for a second.
Blood-binded.
He slipped each of the four rings onto his fingers.
Normal gear didn't require binding.
Only artifacts did.
And this one?
Ranked #4 on the entire Artifact Leaderboard.
The top three?
Death's Scythe
Death's Mask
Death's Cloak
All items with the "Death" prefix.
Some players even speculated that if the game was backed by actual gods…Death himself might be the strongest of them all.
As Kai tightened the rings around his fingers, he smiled and whispered to himself:
"New goal: collect every Death artifact."