Zero System: World's Only Classless Hunter

Chapter 4

The rain poured harder under the dark stone bridge, the smell of damp concrete and sewage heavy in the cold air.

The three street thugs stepped closer, their dirty boots splashing through shallow puddles.

The scar-faced leader tossed his low-grade System dagger from hand to hand.

Its faint blue edge cast a sinister, flickering light across the archway.

"Look at him shivering," the lead thug mocked, grinning savagely.

"No class. No status bar. He doesn't even have a basic defense stat!"

"Hand over the sword, trash," the second thug growled, swinging a heavy iron pipe against his palm.

"That rusted piece of junk might be worth two coppers at the junk shop. At least it'll buy us a mug of cheap ale."

Eldon sat on the muddy ground, his back pressed against the stone pillar.

His body was frozen from the storm, but inside his chest, a cold flame began to burn.

Ten years of blood, sweat, and endless repetition rushed through his mind.

He didn't have a status screen, but he knew the weight of a blade better than anyone in this realm.

"I asked you a question, cripple!" the lead thug roared.

He lost his patience and raised his glowing dagger.

A bright red aura suddenly wrapped around the weapon as he activated a low-tier skill: [Quick Stab].

To a normal person, the attack looked like a terrifying, high-speed flash.

But to Eldon, something strange happened the moment the red light flared.

As the System skill activated, the thug’s entire body went unnaturally rigid.

The floating interface took complete control of the thug’s muscles, forcing his hips, knees, and arm into a perfectly straight, linear thrust toward Eldon's throat.

The movement was fast, but it was completely locked on a single, unchangeable path.

The thug couldn't turn neither could he adjust his angle.

He was a passenger inside his own body, carried forward by an auto-aim script.

It's a straight line, Eldon realized instantly. He can't dodge while the skill is active.

Eldon didn't bother drawing his blade. He simply tilted his head two inches to the left.

SWOOSH!

The glowing red dagger whistled harmlessly past Eldon’s ear, slicing only empty air.

Before the lead thug could finish the forced follow-through animation of his [Quick Stab], Eldon moved.

He drove his weight upward, gripping the heavy iron hilt of his unsheathed, rusted sword with both hands.

CRACK!

Eldon smashed the solid iron pommel directly into the lead thug's nose.

Bone shattered instantly.

Blood sprayed into the rain as the scar-faced leader let out a agonized shriek.

The forced System animation snapped, and the man collapsed backward onto the wet stone, clutching his broken face and groaning in shock.

"Boss!" the second thug yelled, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Kill him!" the third thug screamed, panicking as he raised his own glowing weapon, activating [Heavy Slash].

The third thug leaped forward, his sword glowing with a blue System outline.

He tried to lock onto Eldon’s target signature to trigger the auto-hit feature.

Nothing happened.

The System looked for a target ID, a health bar, or a class marker to guide the blade.

But Eldon had none.

He was completely unindexed—a ghost to the magic interface.

Without a target lock, the System's auto-aim glitched.

The thug’s overhead chop swung wildly to the left, missing Eldon by a full yard and slamming hard into the stone wall of the bridge.

Sparks flew into the dark air, vibrating the thug's arms until his grip loosened.

Eldon didn't hesitate. He stepped inside the thug's open guard and drove a heavy, physical side-kick straight into the man's exposed knee.

SNAP!

The third thug screamed as his leg bent backward. He dropped his weapon and crashed into the mud, weeping in pain.

The second thug stood frozen in place, holding his iron pipe.

His hands trembled violently. He looked at his two bleeding companions on the ground, then looked at Eldon.

Eldon stood tall under the archway, his wet hair dripping onto his shoulders.

His dark eyes were cold, calm, and utterly devoid of fear.

He held his rusted sword loosely at his side, taking a slow, steady step forward.

"Monster..." the second thug whimpered, dropping his iron pipe into the mud.

"He's a monster!"

Without waiting another second, the remaining thug turned around and sprinted out from under the bridge, running into the pouring rain as fast as his legs could carry him.

The two injured thugs scrambled through the mud on their hands and knees, dragging themselves away into the darkness while crying out for help.

Silence returned to the stone archway, broken only by the steady hum of falling rain.

Eldon stood alone in the dark.

His breathing was heavy, and his knuckles were bruised and red from the impact.

He looked down at his bare, pale wrists, then turned his gaze toward the dark street where the thugs had fled.

A sudden, breathtaking realization hit him like a lightning bolt.

System skills didn't make people stronger—they made them predictable.

The floating screens gave users shortcuts, but in exchange, it robbed them of real control.

Every skill had a fixed animation, a forced path, and a set recovery time.

And because Eldon had no status screen, the System's auto-aim could never lock onto him.

Eldon tightened his grip on the rusted iron hilt, a cold, sharp smile slowly appearing on his face for the first time that day.

System users weren't masters of magic.

They were complete slaves to their auto-skill movements.