The Juggernaut System

Chapter 6: The Harvest

Thwip.

The sound of the crossbow firing was barely audible, but Alex heard it.

His [Agility +3] kicked in instantly. The world seemed to slow down for a fraction of a second. He twisted his torso to the left, his boots digging into the dirt.

A steel bolt whizzed past his ear, missing him by an inch, and embedded itself deep into the tree bark behind him with a dull thud.

"He dodged it?!" The Crossbow Hunter’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Shoot him! Kill him!"

But Alex was already moving. He wasn't running away. He was closing the gap.

Ten meters became five in a heartbeat.

The Hunter with the Chain Flail stepped forward, swinging a heavy iron ball covered in spikes. "Get back, you rat!"

He swung the flail horizontally, aiming to crush Alex’s ribs. It was a wide, clumsy attack, relying on brute force.

Alex didn't stop. He didn't even slow down. He slid on his knees across the muddy ground, ducking under the swinging chain. The iron ball whistled harmlessly over his head.

"What—"

Before the Flail Hunter could recover, Alex was already inside his guard.

Slash.

Alex’s combat knife, held in a reverse grip, sliced upward. It severed the Flail Hunter’s wrist tendons, forcing him to drop the weapon. Then, with a fluid motion, Alex drove the blade into the man's armpit—a weak point directly to the heart.

The man collapsed without a sound.

[Target Eliminated.]

[Plunder Successful: Strength +1, Agility +1]

The rush of power was instantaneous. Alex felt lighter, faster.

"You bastard!"

The third Hunter—the one with the twin Sickles—lunged from the side. He was faster than the others, his blades aiming for Alex’s neck.

Alex had no time to dodge. He raised his left arm to block.

Clang!

The sickle struck Alex’s forearm. But instead of slicing through flesh and bone, it made a sound like metal hitting hard leather.

[Passive Skill: Iron Skin triggered.]

[Damage reduced by 30%.]

The blade cut the skin, but it got stuck in the dense muscle fibers. It didn't reach the bone.

The Sickle Hunter froze, staring at Alex’s arm in horror. "What are you?!"

Alex looked at him, his eyes glowing faintly in the twilight. "I'm the Hunter."

Alex dropped his knife, grabbed the Hunter’s wrist with his terrifyingly strong right hand, and squeezed.

CRACK.

The sound of wrist bones shattering echoed in the clearing. The Hunter screamed, dropping the sickle. Alex caught the falling weapon in mid-air and swung it in a brutal arc.

The Sickle Hunter’s head was separated from his shoulders.

[Target Eliminated.]

[Plunder Successful!]

[Obtained Skill: Dual Wielding Mastery (Basic)]

[Obtained Item: Night Vision Goggles (Damaged)]

Two down. One to go.

Alex turned slowly to face the Crossbow Hunter.

The man was trembling. He was fumbling with his crossbow, trying desperately to load a second bolt. His hands were shaking so hard he dropped the ammo.

"Stay back!" the Crossbow Hunter shrieked, backing away. "I... I'll split the money with you! Five million! Just let me go!"

Alex walked towards him, stepping over the headless corpse. His boots squelched in the blood-soaked mud.

"You tried to kill me for money," Alex said, his voice void of emotion. "Now you want to pay me with money?"

"Please! I have a family!"

"So did I," Alex said softly. "I had a life. You people took it."

The Hunter turned to run, but Alex threw the sickle he was holding.

It spun through the air and buried itself in the Hunter’s back. The man fell face-first into the dirt, twitching once before going still.

[Target Eliminated.]

[Plunder Successful!]

[Obtained Skill: Basic Marksmanship (Crossbow/Bow)]

[Obtained Attribute: Perception +2]

Silence returned to the jungle.

Alex stood amidst the carnage. Three bodies. Three kills. Less than two minutes.

He took a deep breath, feeling the burning pain in his left arm. The adrenaline was fading, and the wound from the sickle was throbbing. But he felt strong. Stronger than he had ever been in his entire life.

"Sarah," Alex called out, not turning around. "You can open your eyes."

Sarah peeked out from the cave entrance. She saw the bodies. She saw the blood dripping from Alex’s fingers. She gagged, covering her mouth to stop herself from vomiting.

It was a massacre. And Alex was the monster standing in the middle of it.

"Grab the crossbow," Alex ordered, pointing at the dead man. "And the bolts. We need everything."

He bent down and picked up the Night Vision Goggles from the headless body. One lens was cracked, but the other still worked. He strapped them onto his head and flipped the switch.

Hum.

The dark, terrifying jungle instantly turned into a bright, green world.

He could see everything. The heat signature of a rat scurrying in the bushes. The footprints on the ground.

"Are you... okay?" Sarah asked timidly, walking over to him. She avoided looking at the severed head.

Alex looked at her through the green lens of the goggles.

"We have weapons. We have eyes in the dark," Alex said, picking up his combat knife and wiping it clean on the dead man's shirt.

"We're not hiding anymore, Sarah."

He looked towards the center of the island, where the Skull symbol was marked on the map.

"The hunt is coming to us. So we're going to kill our way to the center."

[System Notification]

[Kill Count: 4 / 100]

[Current Rank: 1st among Pigs]

[Warning: Elite Hunter "The Butcher" is moving towards your location.]

Alex smirked.

"Let him come."