“Wh-What the hell is this...?”

Siegfried was so bewildered by the notification that he read it a few times to make sense of it.

Who was he supposed to kill? There was no way he was supposed to kill his allies, right?

“What kind of dogshit is this?”

He looked around to see if maybe there were monsters, but there was not a single monster in sight, no matter how hard he looked.

All he could see were the millions of people who had joined the raid.

Just like Siegfried, they seemed to have gotten the same notification, judging by their confused reactions.

“Wh-What’s with this mark?”

“It’s telling us to kill each other...”

“Who came up with this bullshit requirement?!”

Every single one of them voiced their frustrations at the Mark of Bloodshed floating above their heads and the notification that popped up in front of their eyes.

They had entered the Void to stop the destruction of the world, only to discover that the enemies were not monsters but their own allies.

Everyone who had joined this raid was their enemy.

As expected of a dungeon with a thirteen-star difficulty level, the beginning itself was far from ordinary. The very first stage was already something nobody could have expected, and it showed that this made the dungeon’s difficulty level painfully clear.

Ding!

A quest window popped up in front of everyone’s eyes.

[Alert: Quest has been forcefully accepted!]

[Alert: You have accepted the Quest – Slaughter to Survive!]

The contents of the quest were the following...

[Slaughter to Survive]

[Kill the people around you and satisfy the required kill quota to stop the Mark of Bloodshed's explosion.]

[Type: Forced Quest]

[Reward: Survival]

[Time Limit: 60 minutes]

[Note 1: The required kill quota to remove the Mark of Bloodshed differs from person to person.]

[Note 2: The quota is based on one’s effect on the laws of causality.]

[Note 3: Be sure to check your quest window to see your required kill quota.]

[Warning: Failure to clear this quest will result in instant death.]

None of them had accepted the "Slaughter to Survive" quest; the system had forced the quest upon them.

[Required Kill Count: 1,000,000]

Siegfried needed to kill a jaw-dropping one million people to remove the Mark of Bloodshed.

“What the hell is this dogshit piled up on bullshit transition?!” Siegfried screamed and cursed at the top of his lungs.

One million? There were roughly three million people participating in this raid, and there were so many people that the crowd stretched out all the way past the horizon.

And he was supposed to kill a third of them? He had to kill allies? Siegfried was not some sort of infamous mass murderer, yet his required kill quota was absurdly high.

“How am I supposed to kill a million people?! I know this raid is supposed to be difficult, but this is going way too far!” Siegfried raged.

“Kyuuu? You have to kill a million, owner punk?” Hamchi asked.

“Yeah.”

“Hamchi only has to kill ten thousand! Kyuuu!”

“What?! Why are you ten thousand yet I have to kill a million?!”

Actually, even ten thousand was a lot. Telling someone to kill three allies would already make it a difficult quest, so ten thousand was far beyond manageable for most.

Compared to Siegfried's kill quota, ten thousand was practically nothing.

To put it into comparison, Siegfried had to kill one hundred times more people than Hamchi to remove the Mark of Bloodshed.

“Why is mine a million?! Damn it!” Siegfried exclaimed, furious.

Cheon Woo-Jin appeared and said, “It says it’s based on the laws of causality. It’s basically saying that you’re equivalent to a million people.”

“Is that so...?”

“I also got ten thousand. And when I thought about it, it kinda makes sense. The laws of causality are basically like the laws of equivalent exchange, right? You gain something, you lose something. When a person takes action, there must be a reaction.”

“Hmm...”

“So the reason you got one million is that you’re that strong. From the dungeon’s perspective, you’re the biggest threat here. So it gave you an insane kill count to reduce the number of enemies proportionally.”

“I-Is that so?”

“The weaker ones probably have only one or two required kill quotas. Or maybe three at most.”

“You think so?”

“Anyway, this dungeon is going to be quite annoying. It’s definitely living up to its name of Festival of Bloodshed,” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a troubled look.

The first stage, Void: Festival of Bloodshed, was terrifyingly true to its name. Just imagining the endless, serene grassland being dyed red with blood and corpses piling up into mountains was horrifying.

Even if this was just a game, witnessing such a grotesque sight could cause real psychological trauma or perhaps even PTSD.

“Damn it...” Siegfried growled under his breath.

Even though he could easily kill a million people, he couldn’t act rashly.

How could anyone justify massacring a million of their own allies just to survive?

While Siegfried could be ruthless at times, he was not heartless enough to slaughter his own allies without hesitation.

“I seriously have no idea what we’re supposed to do here...” Cheon Woo-Jin bit his lip and grumbled.

He, too, couldn’t make a move—and so was everyone else.

No one was willing to attack an ally just to clear the quest and survive.

They came here to clear the dungeon together and protect the world, so they couldn’t help but reject the idea of killing each other just for the sake of survival.

***

The entire raid group fell into chaos after receiving the forced quest.

“...”

Nobody moved a muscle; they just glanced around nervously at one another.

Siegfried couldn't decide on what to do, either. He knew very well that if he wanted to clear the Void, he absolutely had to survive. Unfortunately, he had zero desire to slaughter his own allies.

‘Isn’t there another way? There must be some kind of method... anything other than this...’ he tried to think of an alternative.

No matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of any solid alternative.

Meanwhile...

[Alert: 56 minutes and 31 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 56 minutes and 30 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 56 minutes and 29 seconds remaining!]

[Alert: 56 minutes and 28 seconds remaining!]

Time ticked away, refusing to give even a moment of respite.

Just then, one of the Adventurers stepped forward and said, “Excuse me...?”

“Mr. Siegfried.”

“Yes?”

“What are you hesitating for?”

“Huh?”

“Just do it.”

“D-Do what...?”

“Do what you have to do.”

The Adventurer flashed a faint smile and grabbed the Annihilation’s Grasp.

“Eh? W-What are you doing—?”

“To be honest, I really don’t want to admit this, but...”

“...?”

“This world has always been unfair, hasn’t it?”

“I’m not exactly sure what you’re—”

“A person’s life isn’t equal. In this dungeon, my life doesn’t hold the same worth as yours.”

“Well, that’s because...”

“The odds of me clearing this place versus the odds of you clearing it... The difference is clear for all to see.”

“Hmm...”

“If only one of us could survive and proceed with this raid, I would want it to be you.”

“What are you trying to say—"

Shwik!

The Adventurer pulled the Annihilation’s Grasp and impaled himself with it.

“W-Wha—?!” Siegfried flinched in shock.

Blood dripped from the Adventurer’s mouth as he said, “I truly... hope... you will succeed...”

He was only Level 299; both his stats and gear were far too low compared to Siegfried. Even a mere graze from the Annihilation’s Grasp was enough to kill him in a single blow, but he actually impaled himself with it.

“I don’t... have the power to... protect this world I love... But if I can be of even a little help... If you can clear this dungeon, then I... won’t hesitate to—”

That was as far as he got.

“...”

He lost all strength and went limp.

“Ah!” Siegfried gasped, fully understanding what the man just said. The man didn't have the ability to protect the ones precious to him, so he chose to sacrifice himself for Siegfried's sake.

And that desperate hope touched Siegfried’s heart.

“I will definitely protect this world for you, Cheonae.”

He called out the man’s name and accepted the heavy burden given to him.

A notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes.

[Alert: You have killed Cheonae!]

[Alert: Kill Count has increased by 1!]

***

Cheonae’s noble sacrifice moved not only Siegfried but those around him as well.

Cheonae's actions lit a flame inside everyone else.

“I volunteer tribute!”

“Me too! Kill me, too!”

“Please make sure you... do it quickly...”

“We don’t have time. Hurry!”

Those who judged themselves to be weak gathered around Siegfried and volunteered to be killed.

In order to clear the Void, everyone knew that they had to ensure Siegfried's survival until the very end. That was the only way they stood a chance of preventing this world from being destroyed.

Thus, everyone agreed to sacrifice themselves and help Siegfried fulfill his required kill quota.

“I will never forget your sacrifices. I will treasure each and every one of your hearts...” Siegfried said solemnly.

He accepted the sacrifices of his allies and quietly unleashed the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain. He planned to let the aura blades kill those who willingly offered their lives, instead of him having to kill them one by one.

Even if they had willingly offered themselves, Siegfried knew that the guilt of hacking away at them would be too much for him to bear.

‘But can I really kill one million in less than an hour...?’

However, he couldn’t help but be anxious. No matter how many people had volunteered to be sacrificed, killing one million people in just an hour was far too tight. In fact, time was so short that he would probably have to start killing everyone in sight without hesitation at some point.

‘It's a thirteen-star dungeon indeed. So it’s trying to say that a dungeon where the Creator himself is the final boss should be at least difficult,’ Siegfried thought.

“Aaaaghh!”

“Kekeke! Die, you bastards!”

“Die! Die! Die!”

Chaos suddenly erupted all over the grassland, as Adventurers killed each other indiscriminately.

The reason they started slaughtering each other was simple—not everyone wanted BNW to continue. People were bound to be jealous when others are happy.

Among the millions of people who had joined this raid, not all of them had the same noble intention of protecting the world.

Some of them had already accepted the fact that their characters were too weak and getting anywhere near the ranking was simply impossible for them, so they wanted BNW to reset, giving them another chance at becoming a Ranker.

Others were simply sociopaths and just wanted to see others suffer, while some were just psychopaths who wanted to kill others for fun. Of course, not all of them harbored ill intentions, as some just chose to attack for fear of the harsh death penalties.

Whatever their reasons for attacking, battles erupted everywhere until things started getting out of control. The serene grassland quickly transformed into a battlefield.

The noble spirit of those who had volunteered their own lives for the greater good became meaningless.

“In the end... they decided to kill just to survive....” Siegfried muttered, biting down hard on his lower lip.

Before he knew it, the entire grassland turned into a massive colosseum where it was every man for themselves. Corpses piled up into mountains, and the blood flowing from them formed rivers.

‘This can’t be stopped anymore. Do I have to start killing, too?’

With a heavy heart, Siegfried tightened his grip on Annihilation’s Grasp.

***

The grassland turned into a living hell in an instant.

One Adventurer sprinted across the place packed with millions of people.

Running through the chaos was no easy feat, as he could easily get embroiled in the intense battles erupting all over the place.

‘I have to reach him! I must reach him!’

The Adventurer named ChungChung ran with every ounce of strength he had left and headed in the direction where Siegfried was located.

“Move! Huff! Huff! Please get out of the way! I need to get to Siegfried! Please get out of the way!”

Even though he desperately shouted for others to give way, reaching his destination was no easy task.

Why? Well, it was all because ChungChung was a magician wearing a long green robe and a short wand in his hand.

Cutting across such a chaotic battlefield as a magician was extremely difficult—no, even, downright impossible.

“I’m sorry!”

Someone swung their sword at ChungChung.

“No! Don’t!”

“What do you mean, don’t?! I’ll die if I don’t kill you!”

“Please, move! I need to get to Siegfried!”

“Just die!”

ChungChung barely dodged the sword that came flying at him before channeling his mana into his wand and summoning a swarm of bees.

“Aaack!”

The Adventurer who had attacked him swung his sword wildly to shake off the bees buzzing around him.

“Wh-What?!”

The Adventurer stood frozen and blinked, looking shocked.

“W-What the hell is this...?” he muttered.

However, none of that mattered to ChungChung right now.

He didn't even spare a single glance at the person who tried to kill him and simply kept running toward where Siegfried was located.