Dust billowed from the shattered doorway. A heavy, metallic scent of blood filled the room.
From the darkness of the hallway, a massive hand gripped the doorframe. The wood splintered like dry crackers.
A creature stepped in.
It was seven feet tall. Its skin was a dark, bruised purple. It wore crude iron plates over its chest and shoulders, and in its hand, it dragged a stone club that looked heavy enough to crush a sedan.
[Elite Monster: Hobgoblin Enforcer]
[Level: 3]
[Strength: 18 (Fatal)]
[Agility: 4]
[Status: Enraged]
The students screamed. This time, it wasn't just panic; it was the primal sound of prey realizing there was no escape.
"Back!" Su Chen shouted, his voice cutting through the noise. "Get behind the desks!"
For once, they listened. The surviving students scrambled over the chairs, piling up a barricade of furniture in the back corner. They were shivering, crying, praying.
Su Chen stood alone in the center aisle. He held the rusty pipe—the Sealed Dragon-Tooth Blade—in a loose grip.
The Hobgoblin roared, spittle flying from its tusks. It looked at the crowd of students, then at Su Chen.
It raised the stone club.
Su Chen didn't move. He stared intensely at the monster. His pupils constricted as the Golden Data flooded his vision.
[Analyzing Target Weaknesses...]
[Head: Protected by Iron Helmet. Success Rate: 0%.]
[Chest: Protected by Iron Plate. Success Rate: 0%.]
[Limbs: Thick Muscle. Damage Reduction: 80%.]
It seemed invincible. A Level 1 human with a pipe couldn't scratch it.
But Su Chen's eyes saw what the game developers tried to hide.
A small, faint red glow pulsed on the Hobgoblin's left knee, just between the iron greaves.
[Hidden Injury: Old Arrow Wound.]
[Structure Integrity: 15%.]
[Effect: If struck with >10kg of force, the leg will snap. Balance will be lost for 3 seconds.]
"Three seconds," Su Chen calculated. "That's all I get."
The Hobgoblin charged.
The floor shook with every step. It was fast for something so big. It closed the distance in a heartbeat, swinging the club horizontally.
"He's dead!" a girl screamed from the back.
Su Chen dropped.
He didn't jump back. He dropped flat onto the linoleum floor, sliding forward like a baseball player stealing a base.
WHOOSH.
The stone club passed inches above his nose. The wind pressure alone made his ears pop. The club smashed into a row of desks, turning them into splinters.
Su Chen was now directly under the monster.
"Now!"
He rolled, coiled his muscles, and swung the rusty pipe with every ounce of strength he had. Ideally, a rusty pipe would bend against monster hide. But this was a Sealed Unique Weapon. It was indestructible.
CRACK.
The pipe slammed into the glowing red spot on the left knee.
The sound was sickening—like a dry branch snapping.
"GRAAAH!" The Hobgoblin howled. Its left leg buckled inward. The massive beast collapsed, falling forward onto its hands and knees.
Its neck was exposed.
[Fatal Weakness Exposed: Vertebrae C3.]
[Lethality: 100%.]
Su Chen didn't hesitate. He didn't wait for the monster to recover. He scrambled up the monster's back, grabbed the rim of its helmet with his left hand, and yanked its head back.
With his right hand, he drove the pipe down into the gap of the neck armor.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Black blood erupted like a fountain, coating Su Chen's face.
The Hobgoblin thrashed wildly, trying to grab him, but its strength was fading. Su Chen kept stabbing, his expression blank, his motion mechanical.
Finally, the massive body went limp. It crashed to the floor with a heavy thud.
[You have slain a Level 3 Elite Hobgoblin.]
[Experience +300.]
[Level Up! You are now Level 2.]
[You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.]
Su Chen panted, wiping the gore from his eyes. He stood on top of the corpse, looking down at his shaking hands. It wasn't fear. It was adrenaline.
"Is... is it dead?" Mike's girlfriend, a girl named Sarah, whispered from behind the barricade.
Su Chen hopped down. "For now."
He looked at the corpse. A white glowing orb floated above it.
Loot.
He reached out and touched it.
[System Notification: Loot Dropped.]
1. [Goblin Club (Common)]
2. [Minor Healing Potion x1]
3. [Skill Book: Heavy Strike (Common)]
Su Chen frowned. Trash. All of it. The system was stinging on the drops.
But then, his [Eye of Truth] flickered. The text re-wrote itself.
[Hidden Drop Detected.]
[Your high Luck (Hidden Stat) + First Clear Bonus has triggered a rare drop.]
Su Chen knelt and reached *inside* the Hobgoblin's armor, pulling out a small, silver ring that nobody else could see.
[Ring of the Shadow Walker (Rare)]
[Effect: Increases Agility by +5.]
[Active Skill: Fade. You become invisible to enemies under Level 10 for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.]
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. An invisibility item at Level 2? This was a game-changer. He immediately slid the ring onto his finger. It resized to fit perfectly.
He stood up and turned to the class.
They were looking at him differently now. Five minutes ago, he was the quiet weirdo. Now, covered in black blood, holding a steel pipe, he looked like a warlord.
"Su Chen," one of the guys stammered, stepping out from behind a desk. "You... how did you do that? You saved us!"
"Yeah!" Another student chimed in. "Man, you're amazing! We should stick together. You can lead us!"
Su Chen looked at them coldly. He saw the numbers above their heads.
[Target: Student. Status: Terrified/Opportunistic.]
[Loyalty: 0%.]
[Thought Process: "Let him fight the monsters while we hide."]
"I'm not leading anyone," Su Chen said, walking toward the shattered door.
"Wait!" Sarah cried out. "Where are you going? You can't leave us here! There might be more of them!"
Su Chen stopped at the doorway. He looked back at the carnage, at Mike's body, at the dead student who touched the staff.
"The noise from that fight will attract more," Su Chen said calmly. "This room is a death trap. If you stay, you die."
He pointed his pipe down the dark hallway.
[Hallway Safety Rate: 30%]
[Stairwell Safety Rate: 80%]
"I'm going to the roof," Su Chen lied smoothly.
He saw the text clearly: [Roof Hazard Level: Extreme. Flying Monsters detected.]
He wanted them to go to the roof. He needed bait to distract the flying monsters so he could escape through the basement.
"The roof?" The students looked at each other. "Yeah, the helicopter pad! Rescue might come there!"
"Good idea, Su Chen!"
They rushed past him, heading for the stairs that led up. They thought he was their savior.
Su Chen watched them run toward their doom without a shred of guilt. In this new world, stupidity was a terminal illness.
He turned and walked the other way, heading down toward the basement.
[Hidden Route: Maintenance Tunnels.]
[Loot Chance: High.]
"Let the game begin," he whispered.