You’re Telling Me This Is a Slice-of-Life?

That’s right—Yuuki was planning to pull the same trick again.

The Licker from before had delivered more than just a weapon; more importantly, it had revealed a pattern: the more radiant the moonlight, the stronger the gifts of the Red Moon. That was why he had chosen to remain in the parking garage, waiting for “judgment.”

Regardless of the outcome, controlling the terrain was never a bad idea.

[If my guess is correct, the Tyrant’s mutation should be hyper-regeneration.]

The greenish glow of the night vision goggles wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to let him navigate the pitch-black surroundings. The pounding, drumbeat-like footsteps behind him only heightened his focus.

A slash to the tendons, followed by two defensive grenades—no normal Tyrant should be recovering this fast.

He glanced at the silent radio. Li Dan was probably struggling. In the past, Yuuki might have been anxious, but now? He actually preferred for the other man to reveal a few more of his trump cards.

Lightly tapping the back of Sakurajima Mai’s hand, he signaled her to slow down. The two of them quickly ducked behind a support pillar. The underground parking lot had yet to open for use, meaning there wasn’t a single car in sight. Even so, the dense forest of concrete columns still provided some cover against the Tyrant’s line of sight.

The heavy footsteps immediately slowed. In the darkness, a pair of blood-red eyes flickered like ghostly flames, scanning the area with eerie precision. Each step was measured, deliberate, yet the weight behind them made Yuuki feel as if his own heart was being crushed underfoot.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Pressed against the cold concrete wall, Mai tapped out a rhythm on Yuuki’s palm—Morse code. She wasn’t very fluent, but it was just enough for him to understand.

“Dead end. Should we wait for Li Dan?”

“The Tyrant will take some effort to deal with. He won’t be here that fast.”

“Then are you planning to fight it one-on-one?”

“What do you mean one-on-one? I’ve got you, don’t I?”

Through the night vision goggles, Yuuki saw Mai freeze. The stiff expression on her face was unexpectedly amusing. Peeking out from behind the pillar, he observed the Tyrant cautiously scanning its surroundings about thirty meters away.

This thing was leagues ahead of the Licker in strength. Even without the Red Moon’s enhancement, an ordinary unarmed human would be nothing more than cannon fodder against it.

But of course, on this second night, none of the players—Mai included—were ordinary humans anymore.

That Regalia he had would also be useful in this scenario. If he went all out with reinforcement magic, they had a fighting chance.

Yuuki wasn’t panicking. Even after returning the chaos artifact to Hayasaka Ai, he still had several cards to play. But even so…

“It’s not the time to go all out yet. If my skills go on cooldown, I’ll be defenseless.”

His thoughts were sharp. In this hellish difficulty, he had to plan several steps ahead. For a brief moment, he almost forgot about the approaching footsteps as he mentally laid out all the options at his disposal—like filling in blanks on a test.

Firearms? No.

He barely had any experience with shooting, only at the beginner level at best. That was why he always went for point-blank spray-and-pray—his aim was trash at longer distances, let alone sniping.

Regalia? Too valuable to waste on a monster. That’s a trump card for later.

Reinforcement magic? Definitely. As long as he doesn’t push it to full power, the cooldown should be manageable. But without going all out, can he even take this thing down?

Yuuki felt that his hand wasn’t strong enough. His gaze shifted toward Mai.

Her innate trait had finished cooling down, but like the regalia, it was better left unused if possible. In terms of raw stats, she was a lost cause—her earlier spray of bullets had mostly ended up decorating the ceiling.

Wait… she had a new chaos artifact.

Yuuki hesitated for a moment before an idea clicked into place. “Use the Serene Dewdrop on the Tyrant. Nothing says it only works on players.”

“Huh? How?” Mai was momentarily confused, but then her eyes widened as she realized his plan. That bald brute didn’t seem like the type to obediently drink a potion.

Talking with smart people was easy—Yuuki didn’t need to explain every little detail. Instead, he simply pulled a golden-hued bullet from the front pocket of his bulletproof vest, rolling it between his fingers.

Mai’s eyes lit up. She nodded—once, twice, thrice.

“Good. You’re getting into the right mindset.”

Yuuki flashed her a smile, full of encouragement. He and Hayasaka Ai had taken care of the first “gift.” Now, it was Mai’s turn. For some reason, he found her just as reliable.

Ready—Attack!

With a quick hand signal, he loaded a fresh magazine. The moment Mai pulled out the chaos artifact, he charged.

Clink!

The sound of a magazine hitting the floor, the crisp snap of a bolt being pulled back—echoing through the dead-silent underground space like a gunshot before the actual gunfire.

The Tyrant snapped its head toward him.

Then it charged.

A human tank in motion—every step smashing through construction equipment in its path. It grabbed a bundle of steel pipes and hurled them like javelins from dozens of meters away.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

The ‘javelins’ speared into the concrete floor. Yuuki rolled aside, landing on one knee and bringing his rifle to bear. A bright muzzle flash tore through the darkness.

Thirty rounds emptied in seconds, sparks flying off the Tyrant’s flesh. Yet true to its name, the monster ignored it all and lunged forward, a fist hammering down.

Body Reinforcement!

BOOM!

A crater formed in the concrete where Yuuki had just been. The Tyrant turned its bald head, locking onto its target as Yuuki leapt several meters away.

It raised an arm to shield its face.

Tat-tat-tat-tat—

Another magazine emptied at near point-blank range, shredding its left arm into a mess of blood and flesh. Yet the Tyrant felt no pain. It took a single step forward—

And lunged for a hug.

Yuuki refused to be caught. The reinforcement magic had drastically boosted his reaction speed. He wasn’t as fast as he had been during the slaughter in the high-rise, but it was more than enough.

Leaning backward, he tossed his spent rifle away, watching as the monster’s massive hand swiped past his face.

Then, his right hand drew a second weapon.

Barrel pressed against its chest.

Bang!

Point-blank shotgun blast. The buckshot forced the giant back, stumbling half a step. Yuuki planted his left hand on the floor, rolling to his feet.

Clack!

Pump action. The next round slid into the chamber.

As the Tyrant steadied itself, its fist the size of a cooking pot came barreling toward his face.

Yuuki didn’t dodge.

Expression cold, he pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The second shot was a shotgun blast. Amid the eruption of fiery shards, he saw its battered fist torn open, flesh and blood scattering. But the Tyrant stood unfazed, taking a step forward as if nothing had happened, lifting his leg for a kick. As he rolled away, he felt a gust of wind brush past him.

Boom!!

The kick was faster than the gunfire, slamming into a support pillar and shearing off a massive chunk of reinforced concrete. Before the Tyrant’s foot even touched the ground, Yuuki, kneeling on one knee, had already pulled the bolt of his shotgun.

Clack—Boom!

A second shot. A third. A fourth…

The 12-gauge M870 roared repeatedly, its sheer force driving the Tyrant back step by step. Yuuki, moving like a machine, emptied all eight rounds before drawing the handgun at his waist, unloading every last 9mm round into his foe.

The recoil numbed his wrists, but Yuuki had entered a trance-like state—so much so that he almost thought he heard a voice.

【Player Yuuki: Firearms Handling has been upgraded to Mastered.】

The voice flickered and vanished. Yuuki nearly dismissed it as an illusion, but there was no time to confirm. His Glock locked open—empty.

The barrage had riddled the Tyrant’s body with gaping wounds, shredding its supposedly bullet-resistant trench coat into tatters. But none of the shots had hit anything vital.

Almost the moment the gunfire ceased, the monster rose from its crouched defensive stance, its massive frame nearly burying Yuuki in its shadow.

Tat-tat-tat.

Short bursts rang out from a distance, sending small bursts of blood from its back. But the creature was unfazed—its eyes locked onto Yuuki, the biggest threat.

It’s coming.

Yuuki swallowed, tossed his handgun aside, and turned to run without a word.

Thud. Thud…

The rumbling footsteps followed immediately. Within mere strides, the monster was upon him. Gunfire still crackled in the background, but most of the bullets flew wildly, missing their mark.

[Terrible aim. No threat. Eliminate the male first—she won’t last a minute.]

The creature, moving purely on instinct before, suddenly showed calculated intent. Even its attacks became more precise. This time, it didn’t strike blindly—it surged ahead in great strides, overtaking Yuuki before twisting around, sweeping out with a leg.

Whoosh—

The sheer force of the kick gouged a deep groove in the concrete. Yuuki had already leaped into the air, but the moment he looked up, his pupils contracted sharply.

Boom!

A fist the size of a sandbag slammed into his raised rifle, warping the barrel. Yuuki felt as if he’d been hit by a car—his body flung several meters before tumbling violently across the ground.

Shit.

Struggling to his feet, he tasted iron in his mouth. No time to check his injuries—he looked up.

Through his hazy vision, he saw the ironclad monster striding toward him. It wasn’t blindly rampaging—it even spared a glance at its own wobbling right arm.

[Ligament torn earlier. Insufficient force to kill the male.]

It muttered as it walked, lifting its left hand to tear off its already tattered coat, revealing a grotesquely mutated, rotting body. Without hesitation, it reached for a steel I-beam nearby, dragging it along the ground, sparks flying.

Tat-tat-tat.

The Tyrant’s body jerked slightly as fresh bullet wounds bloomed across its abdomen. Unfazed, it simply hurled the I-beam.

Boom!

The column behind Yuuki exploded into a shower of rubble. Sakurajima Mai barely had time to duck, stifling a scream.

Sheer terror. She had no idea why nothing was working against this thing, nor did she understand what kind of Regalia Yuuki possessed to dare take such a risk.

[She won’t dare show herself for a while. Use this chance—kill the male.]

With that thought, the Tyrant abruptly accelerated.

Yuuki had just finished reloading two shells into his shotgun when the pounding footsteps reached him. The moment he looked up—a football kick came straight at his face.

Boom—

A support pillar, several meters thick, cracked apart entirely. The Tyrant turned, already anticipating Yuuki’s next move.

[Injured right hand will cover head. Left shoulder will take second shot. Then, close the distance—crush him with a knee strike.]

The sequence played out in its mind. As it turned, it saw exactly what it expected—its prey raising the shotgun single-handedly.

Boom!

A flash of fire. The Tyrant’s head snapped back. Its vision blacked out.

[Why?]

From Yuuki’s perspective, the monster had just… turned to look at him, like an idiot—only to take a shotgun blast straight to the face.

Muscle peeled away. Bone shattered. Its eyeballs burst, its neck split open, revealing stark white vertebrae. Its body swayed, balance lost.

And yet, it still lunged forward, trying to ram him with its shoulder.

But in its condition, it only succeeded in throwing itself straight into the gun barrel.

Boom!

Yuuki pulled the trigger without hesitation. A mangled right arm flew skyward. Already unstable, the Tyrant lurched backward—its upper body collapsing even as its lower body tried to press forward.

An unnatural sight.

Upper body falling. Lower body still kicking.

Yuuki sidestepped the bizarre attack, dropping his shotgun and drawing the blade at his waist.

Shing.

“You’re overthinking too much—that’s why your network latency’s through the roof!”

Yuuki surged forward, body arching back, both hands gripping the blade—aiming straight for the Tyrant’s ravaged neck.

One clean decapitation!!