As Alex touched the wooden crate with a white horizontal strip at its center, blue screens materialized before him.

[System: Host Alex, you have opened a Common Newbie Crate.]

[Loot: 12 Common Arrows]

[System: Host Alex, the obtained loot has been placed in your inventory.]

His lips dropped into a frown, and he mumbled, "What am I to do with arrows alone? At least pair them with a bow."

With disappointment clear in his eyes, he turned to look at the other Players and saw that a few of them were now wearing leather armor with thin metal plates at the abdomen and shoulders.

Many held weapons, and a few had miscellaneous non-combat items.

Those who had no weapon were staring at the armed with terrified faces.

Alex’s heartbeat slowed down for a moment. In his life as James, he had never thrown a punch, but here, he didn’t just have to be violent – he also had to kill other Players.

He retrieved one of the arrows from his inventory and snapped it from slightly under the arrowhead, then he placed it between his index and ring fingers.

The arrowhead protruded out like a dagger, and he dashed toward the next crate.

"How could I have thought that I’d be able to do what Alex had done without a shred of remorse?" He gritted his teeth and clenched the arrowhead tightly.

This quest wasn’t given to make them aware of this strange new world – instead, it was to instill the ideology that might makes right, or that the strong plunder while the weak cry, in every Player.

Even though Players couldn’t actually die within the tutorial period, once you gained the intent to kill a Player, you’d gradually lose the bounds that had caused you to hesitate.

The first Players had provided wisdom to the younger generation, and their words had become a code for everyone.

The first code was — Hesitation is a luxury that Players can’t afford.

With his overall physical condition improved due to the S-Rank skills, Alex wasn’t that far behind in terms of strength and speed compared to others.

He still wasn’t at their level, though – most of them had a Combat Value between 4 and 6.

While the other players eyed each other in vigilance, Alex reached the next crate and opened it.

[System: Host Alex, you have opened a Common Newbie Crate.]

[Loot: Common Loud Squeaky Duck]

[System: Host Alex, the obtained loot has been placed in your inventory.]

"..." Alex stared at the screen, speechless.

He had thought maybe he could obtain a weapon or armor, but it appeared that his luck was way worse than he had assumed.

"What shitty luck. Only if I could remember the exact location where Alex had originally been."

Most Players didn’t know this, but the system favoured those with better talents. So during the first call, those with talents were spawned further away from the Players so they wouldn’t get in any trouble.

However, this also made it hard for them to reach the center, much more so for Alex, as he had been spawned just a few hundred meters away from the dome’s wall.

He turned to look at the four crates with a light blue horizontal strip at their centers, placed at the heart of the Starting Zone’s dome.

If it wasn’t obvious, these four had much better loot than the Common Newbie Crate.

Alex’s gaze shifted to the left and landed on a young man with spiky short blonde hair and a sword in his hand. He had a lean body honed for swordsmanship.

Julian Bigratis.

Julian was already making his way toward the center with a poise that screamed of his affliction to a Highclan.

Julian is the one I have to be careful of. He is so good with the sword that in Villain’s Ascension, nearly everyone believed that he had a swordsmanship talent...

Suddenly, a worm of thought appeared in his mind.

What if I kill him?

With his [Monarch’s Gluttony] skill, he had a chance at obtaining Julian’s talent, which would be very helpful throughout his life, but it had one big problem:

How am I even supposed to kill him? I can’t even kill the weakest bunch here, let alone Julian.

"There is no need to fight," Julian shouted and pulled everyone’s attention to him.

Alex also came out of his thoughts and focused on him.

Yeah, there is no way he would try to fight everyone... Alex thought, and Julian continued.

"All of us have to kill ten bronze entities, but each Starting Zone only has a hundred Players, so even if we slaughter each other, only a couple of us would survive."

"What do you suggest for us to do then?" A young man with chestnut skin, brown eyes gleaming with confidence, and red hair tied into braids walked forward. His confidence wasn’t reckless as he was wearing armor and holding a one-handed axe.

Salak... he is the only one who can contend against Julian because of his B-Rank Perfect Shield talent. Alex remarked inwardly.

Julian offered Salak a smile and responded while pointing at the dome,

"This dome isn’t to keep us inside – instead, it’s to keep the beasts outside. Most of those would be bronze, so if we work together, we can complete this quest without any of us dying."

"He is right."

"If we work together, then we won’t have any problem."

"Yes! Let’s do this."

Other Players murmured.

Salak’s gaze moved to a frail young man, and he asked Julian, "What’s the point of helping the fodder? They would only become food for the beasts if not now then later."

Julian also eyed the Players and nodded.

"You are right... We have to get rid of the fodder first."

Just as those words escaped his lips, everyone’s heart sank to the deepest of depths, and he added.

"But we won’t kill them."

Everyone instantly heaved a relieved sigh. However, Alex didn’t join them.

Salak frowned. "What then?"

Julian’s smile widened into a demonic grin, and he muttered, "We will use them as bait to complete our quest."