What did the Creator want? What could possibly be his purpose in sending us here? I was now certain, just like everyone else, that creating and destroying a world was nothing to him.
When it was obvious that dealing with a few billion mortals like us would bring him no gain, what was the reason for all this trouble?
No matter what, an opportunity had been presented to us. How could I possibly lounge around in front of the door opened for us to escape the situation we had fallen into?
"Even if it's not 500 mobs but 500 thousand, I will keep slaughtering them until I finish this job!"
After maxing out my determination, I furiously dove back among the Fallen, increasing my kill count while keeping an eye on my stats.
In case of any mishap, the eight-hour torment was waiting for me with open arms. After starting to hunt, I realized something else and managed to figure out the true purpose of this punishment.
I had taken down more than 500 Fallen just to go up 1 level, and this caused me to spend over four hours. Right now, perhaps because I hadn't experienced its horror, the fear of the eight hours I would lose was greater than the torment itself inside me.
For this reason, I started checking on my party members every hour. By learning their skill progression and Fallen-killing speeds, I was trying to come up with ideas regarding our future plans.
Five hours had passed since we started hunting separately from each other. Looking at the results, I saw that my job was going to be very difficult.
Rimel, upon my command, was only using her skill. She had performed Purify 230 times in the past time, but unfortunately, she had absolutely zero Fallen kills. The most interesting piece of information I received regarding her would be learning that her Goodness Points had reached 100.
Even though I hadn't thought of it initially, many of the mobs in her zone were passive. This meant that some of the people who had 10 seconds of immunity under the effect of her skill mustered the courage and managed to kill a Fallen.
I immediately asked if a skill book had dropped. The last five hours showed that having a skill made things a lot easier.
Unfortunately, the answer I'd get was negative. I suppose getting a book on the first kill was one of the privileges granted to us.
Toraman was a bit more balanced compared to the little girl; he had managed to kill 200 mobs and use his skill 225 times. If you ask me, this was only true for the beginning; just like me, the oversized teen would increase his scores even more as time passed.
Even though Toraman was doing well, the surprise of the day came from an unexpected place and hit me with a right hook. In the moments I didn't see him, Sukrucuk had practically turned into the Terminator. Because he focused solely on killing Fallen without using his skill, he gave us the news that he had annihilated 900 mobs.
Okay, with 780 mobs and 540 skill uses, even though no one could beat me in terms of efficiency, the man's farm speed was very high for a tank. While this seemed like good news at first, it made me a bit anxious about the future.
In online games, there were many players whose class was tank but who chased high damage in parties. I never got along well with these types who neglected their primary job and chased after showing off. The moment he leveled up, I had to team Sukrucuk up with Rimel; I had to prevent him early on from being deceived by his kill speed and forming other ideas in his head.
I wouldn't have to wait long for the task I planned. Not even half an hour had passed before a voice rang in our heads.
"Darlings, I leveled up to Tier 2. The moment I killed my 1000th Fallen, a metallic voice was heard in my mind and told me what I gained!"
When Sukrucuk spoke with a slightly excited tone, all of us, including me, were filled with curiosity. When we stayed silent so as not to interrupt him, he too sank into silence, as if waiting for a move from us.
"Come on Big Bro, tell us already, you're killing us! Tell us what happened!"
Toraman was the first person to step forward in this tense environment. These moments were a great opportunity to learn the behavioral patterns of my party members.
"I gained two points I can use to increase my stats, and also, because I was among the first ten people to successfully level up in The First Layer of Hell, I was gifted an armor!"
When I heard the latest news, I was completely floored. The system had sent equipment to the first ten people who leveled up.
"Big Bro, did you get the armor? How are its stats?"
Me, who had been calm up until a moment ago, was now rushing as if my ass had caught fire.
"I didn't get it, brother Max, I don't even know where to get it from!"
I should have guessed this situation. There were two options: the item would either come by mail, or it would be picked up from the shop selling armor.
"Big Bro, could you say 'Open Mailbox'?"
Since Sukrucuk didn't know these things, I had to guide him on certain matters. Luckily, he had started listening to my words without hesitation now.
"A panel appeared in front of me, at the very top it says 'Congratulations, your gift is inside the message'."
"Very good, open it!"
To be quick, I was trying to explain myself using short sentences.
"I opened it, Max. A page like a letter popped up in front of me. 'You are the eighth Sinner to successfully level up in The First Layer of Hell, you have earned the Child of Sorrows armor!'"
"Man, what the hell is Child of Sorrows?"
When Sukrucuk heard the name of the given item, he was coming out of his shock by going into a frenzy. While his problem was this name reminiscent of Little Emrah, I was stuck on his ranking within the top ten.
"I'm going back to slaughtering Fallen. Big Bro, you take the armor and put it on right away!"
If the brother-in-law hater was in eighth place, there were still two empty spots to get a gift. I said screw the skill usage and stuff, and started slaughtering the alcoholics directly.
The fear of dying had been replaced by the rush to benefit from the event. When my energy ran out, I didn't wait for it to fully refill; I dove into the mobs with whatever I had.
Ever since I learned that 1000 mobs were enough to level up, my expectations had risen. If I took down 220 Fallen, I could enter the top ten too.
Since I didn't need energy to use my skill, I was stepping into Tier 2 when an hour was almost up.
"Congratulations!"
While the system message echoed in my brain, the palms of my hands started sweating from excitement. Even though I felt regret deep down for not focusing solely on leveling up right off the bat, I was still waiting for the good news with a sliver of hope.
"You have gained 2 points to increase your stats!"
After what I heard, I waited for ten seconds without breathing, hoping the metallic voice would continue speaking.
When a minute passed, I had given up hope. To satisfy a curiosity gnawing at my mind, I spoke this time.
"What is my ranking among those who leveled up to tier two within The First Layer of Hell?"
The reward had slipped away; even if it was bitter, I had to accept it. What really bothered me was not knowing by how much of a margin I missed it.
Don't mind me lashing out at the system as if demanding an explanation to find out what happened; a voice inside me was hoping I missed it by a huge margin.
How interestingly the human brain worked. Just ten minutes ago, I was tearing myself apart to get into the top ten, but the moment I learned I lost, I started wishing success was far away from me.
"11!"
While lost in thought, my ranking number slowly appeared before my eyes. Thanks to two lines standing side by side, I would understand that I had missed the gift by a hair's breadth.